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Silent Dragon (Arcade) (1992)
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Silent Dragon Copyright 1992 East Technology and Taito
This document is created by Faididi and Co. (faididi@yahoo.com)
Copying or distributing this, in whole or in part, for profit
without the explicit permission of the author is prohibited.
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[-] Document Version History
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Version 2020 (2020-07-19 Sunday)
- Initial release.
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[0] Contents
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[1] Overview
[1.1] Story
[1.2] Characters
[1.3] Controls
[1.4] Items
[1.5] General Tips
[2] Strategies
[2.0] Prologue
[2.1] Stage 1: Marina
[2.2] Stage 2: Streets
[2.3] Stage 3: Truck
[2.4] Stage 4: Mountain
[2.5] Stage 5: Base
[2.6] Epilogue and Staff Credits
[3] (reserved)
[4] Sound Check (Sound Test)
[4.1] Sound Effects and Vocal Effects
[4.2] Background Music
[5] Reference
[5.1] Game Source Information
[5.2] Really Small Details
[5.3] Document Credits
[6] Contact Information
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[1] Overview
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East Technology's Silent Dragon is an action fighter that features
4-Player support, graphics-scaling effects, extra-detailed backgrounds,
and music that includes an unusual amount of sound samples.
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[1.1] Story
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In the year 19XX, Joe, Lee, Kato, and Sonny are best friends who seem to
spend a lot of time working out together. The evil Dr. Bio wants to control
the city with his army of henchmen and has kidnapped Joe's girlfriend.
Now the good guys need to go kick his ass.
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[1.2] Characters
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Joe (Speed: 5, Power: 4)
The fighter with the blue jacket, 18 years of age (and a very buff-looking
18 years at that). Joe has fast punches, but his uppercut combo ender has
a short range. He sure loves his denim, lol.
Lee (Speed: 6, Power: 3)
The kung fu warrior with the red tunic, 25 years of age.
Lee is supposedly the fastest, but his backhand combo ender
has the longest delay. He is just too buff. D:
Kato (Speed: 3, Power: 6)
The ninja with the bluish gray pants, 23 years of age. Kato, despite his
look, is a heavy slugger. We think "Steroid Ninja" might be more apt. XD
Sonny (Speed: 3, Power: 6)
The GI commando with the green pants, 30 years of age. Sonny, except for the
differences in appearance, is essentially a twin of Kato.
Dr. Bio
The evil scientist. Dr. Bio and many of his subordinates, like the
villains in Technos' Double Dragon, are obviously ripped off from
Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star).
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[1.3] Controls
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Movement Stick - Move. When grabbing an enemy, press away to release him.
Attack Button - Perform a standard attack. Hold straight Down and press this
to slidekick, which can immediately knock enemies downward and forward (so
they will fall over and behind the heroes). Also press this to take an item.
When standing over a detonator, press this to grip the plunger, and then
press this again, the Special Attack Button, or the Jump Button to actually
push down the plunger, or press Left and Right to leave the detonator.
Jump Button - Jump. When carrying a weapon, press this to throw it.
Special Attack Button - Perform a special attack, which can immediately
knock down all nearby bad guys, but it costs a little Life if at least
one enemy is hit, and it causes the heroes to drop any weapons. The heroes
can also perform special attacks while moving laterally or jumping, after
which Kato and Sonny can further move upward or downward.
Start Button - Use a Credit.
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[1.4] Items
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Sushi - Adds 100 Points and restores some Life. A dish of rice and fish.
Soda - Adds 100 Points and restores some Life. A can of sweet beverage.
Apple - Adds 100 Points and restores some Life. A fruit with red skin.
Pizza - Adds 200 Points and restores some Life. A baked pie with cheese.
Chicken - Adds 200 Points and restores some Life. A fried drumstick.
Beer - Adds 200 Points and restores some Life. A mug of golden beer.
Lipstick - Adds 800 Points. A small tube of glossy pink substance.
Camera - Adds 1000 Points. A photography device with a black casing.
Gem - Adds 2000 Points. A red precious mineral cut to perfection.
Crate - Can be thrown. A large wooden box.
Barrel - Can be thrown. A large metal drum.
Sword - Can be swung or thrown. A long-bladed weapon of clear purpose.
Car Battery - Can be swung or thrown. A heavy, blocky device for engines.
Special Power-Up (East Technology Icon) - Renders the hero invulnerable and
allows special moves to be performed without costing Life for 10 seconds,
as indicated by the red glow on the hero. This item is dropped by the
short, wild-looking enemies.
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[1.5] General Tips
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- The Difficulty Setting, depending on the game's settings, determines how
much defensive strength the enemies have.
- The more Players there are, the more regular enemies and minibosses there
will be. During boss scenes, having two heroes results in one additional
enemy, while having three or more heroes results in two additional enemies.
- The bosses and some minibosses will perform recovery attacks if the heroes
are near them when they get back up after being knocked down. Stay away when
they are getting back up, and then approach them from the sides.
- The heroes have an unusually long punching reach, allowing them to hit
most enemies first from the front. However, their combo enders have a delay
that can allow enemies to strike back. If this happens, the heroes should
counter with special moves.
- The heroes are invulnerable when grabbing or knee-smashing enemies.
The heroes can grab almost all enemies (including bosses, except the
flying monsters). The knee-smash can be rapidly performed several times
before the grab ender, causing a lot of damage that looks funny as hell. XD
- All of the heroes walk at the same speed, regardless of their stats.
- The dynamite is fun to detonate and can deal decent damage, but the heroes
should avoid the blasts, lol.
- The swords can be fun to use, but they aren't very powerful or fast
to swing, and they can interfere with the attack controls if the heroes
are trying to fight while standing over them.
- Weapons that are thrown will cut through any enemies in the way and then
disappear off the screen, not stopping against walls or other objects.
- Items won't disappear, unless they are scrolled off the left or right side
of the screen.
- Dip Switch B3 adjusts the enabling of friendly fire.
The default setting is Off to disable friendly fire (good),
but this may be changed to On to enable friendly fire (bad).
- The heroes can keep hitting the same regular enemy simultaneously
to continuously damage him without performing combo enders that will
knock down the bad guy. This allows the heroes to quickly wear down
the enemy, who can then be killed with a jumpkick or a slidekick.
Even if friendly fire is enabled, two heroes can still obtain similar
results by punching the same bad guy from the left and the right sides.
- After the boss dies, any remaining regular enemies will immediately
keel over and die. Until then, they can still attack the heroes.
- The heroes' health is partially restored at the end of a Stage.
- The Timer slowly counts down if the heroes don't attack enemies. If the
Timer goes past 0, all of the heroes immediately keel over and get wasted.
- If the heroes get wasted, they have 20 seconds to continue from
the same point, and then they have 10 seconds to continue from
the beginning of the section. (The Girlfriend's messages change
as the Timer counts down: "Hold it!" "Why do not you help me?"
"Hurry up! Help me!" "Chicken! I hate you!" lol)
- If it's Game Over, the game will go to the Name Entry Screen or the
High Score Screen and then return to the beginning.
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[2] Strategies
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[2.0] Prologue
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Introduction:
A.D. 19XX, the city lay in ruins.
Dr. Bio is planning to produce
the mutant monsters using his
controlling DNA substance and
rule the entire city.
Now the four warriors have
risen to oppose Dr. Bio.
Girlfriend:
"Help me!"
Dr. Bio:
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
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[2.1] Stage 1: Marina
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Pier:
The heroes begin at the waterfront, by jumping off from their boat, the
Sea Hanter (Sea Hunter?). Just after the Port d'Italy Public Center and
Marina Delrey Fish Market, break apart the vending machine to find Soda.
The background will change from a sunny midday to a brilliant sunset.
The sumo miniboss has a palm ramming attack. Stay away when he is getting
back up, and then approach him from the sides.
Parking Lot:
The heroes slidekick to somehow destroy the gate's wooden arm, and the
parking lot attendant has no idea what is happening, lol. Break apart
the red sports car to find Pizza, but don't touch the flames. The
bandage wrestler boss has a short-ranged projectile attack and a
fast air-ramming attack, so stay away when he is getting back up,
and then approach him from the sides.
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[2.2] Stage 2: Streets
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Street:
The whip girls can perform evasive back flips, but that won't save their
bodies from a quick beating, lol. The car battery can be used to repeatedly
hit enemies without knocking them down, helping to defeat them faster.
There is a hole in front of the cheering construction crew. Enemies
who are knocked into this hole will fall down and die, so hit them
with jumpkicks from the left for easy kills.
Clothing Store:
Just after the starting point, break open the rectangular shelf to find
a sword. WTF, right?
Intersection:
When the truck stops and its trailer doors open, look out for two molotovs.
The blade boss has a multi-hit blade-swiping attack, a multi-hit kicking
attack, and a jumping blade-slashing attack. Approach him from the sides
to minimize exposure to that last attack.
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[2.3] Stage 3: Truck
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Truck Trailer:
This Stage consists of only a single section, but the background
will change from the city to the surrounding mountains and deserts.
The heroes can freely move back and forth across this trailer area.
After blowing up the sides of the trailer, the helicopter will run out
of missiles, but it will drop off the boss, who looks like Jagi, lol.
The masked boss has a multi-hit blade-swiping attack, a short-ranged
multi-shot projectile attack, and a jumping blade-slashing attack.
He also has a blurring dashing movement, but the heroes can punch
him out of it. When he dies, he falls apart into a nasty mess. Eeeewwww. XD
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[2.4] Stage 4: Mountain
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Mountain Forest Trail:
The monkey randomly throws down Apples and molotovs. The dogs can pounce
and knock down the heroes. Avoid them, because they will quickly run off
to the sides.
At the bridge, enemies who are knocked down will automatically fall into
the pit and die, so hit them with jumpkicks or slidekicks for easy kills.
The heroes themselves can't fall into the pit here. (The whip girls who
are beside the head of the bridge can back flip right into the pit, lol.)
Cave:
The vents and the puffs of gas are harmless, but the barrels marked with
skull symbols will create flames when they are broken. The pill bug miniboss
has an arcing flame tongue attack (which is bad for jumpkicks, lol), and
he can spin in place to throw out embers, which will briefly linger on
the ground. He moves normally by jumping. He also has a continuous rolling
attack (which can occur directly after an ember attack), but the heroes
can slidekick him out of it.
Totem Site:
The flying monster miniboss has a long-reaching swiping attack and
doesn't get knocked down until he dies. The green claw boss has a
swiping attack and a pouncing attack. If he is defeated first, the
flying monster miniboss will also die.
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[2.5] Stage 5: Base
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Main Gate:
The two laser guns periodically fire bolts in a simple repeating pattern.
Stay right in front of the gate to avoid the shots.
Base Interior:
The bandage wrestler returns as a miniboss, and his back still bursts open
when he dies, but nothing emerges this time. Talk about reused graphics, lol.
The wall lever switch can be hit to open and close the background door.
When the door is open, there will be a vacuum that sucks characters
toward it. Anyone who goes to the open door will fall out and die,
so hit enemies with jumpkicks or slidekicks for easy kills. However,
the blade miniboss will always walk or jump away from the door, so he
must be beaten the hard way. If left open, the door will automatically
close when the heroes proceed past this miniboss.
Break through the green pipes to find a large gap. Enemies who are
knocked into this gap will fall down and die, so hit them with jumpkicks
from the left for easy kills. When this part is clear, the heroes will
safely jump down to the lower level, where there is a power generator.
The heroes can knock enemies into the wall of heat to deal extra damage.
Top Deck:
The heroes can freely move back and forth across this top deck area.
Despite how the place looks, the characters can't fall off the edges.
The dark blue statues at the left and the right can be broken, but
they don't hold any secrets.
After the first few whip girls are defeated, the final boss will appear.
In his first form, Dr. Bio moves around with his hover platform and fires
his machinegun, but the heroes can punch the bullets out of the air, lol.
In his second form, Dr. Bio has a buzz saw lunging attack, a longer-reaching
chain saw lunging attack, and a missile barrage attack, where he launches
a lot of missiles that will fly up and then quickly crash down. Stay away
when he is getting back up, and then approach him from the sides.
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[2.6] Epilogue and Staff Credits
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After Dr. Bio dies with his ass sticking up and explodes, the heroes gather
together for a badass pose, and then Joe hugs and kisses his girlfriend,
who has come out from nowhere. The End. XD
Staff
Program
E. Ogura, Y. Katumata, T. Kaki, T. Kim, T. Oda
Music Composed by
T. Nozaki
Sound Effect
T. Nozaki, H. Tsuda
Voice
Nozaki, Hasyepon, Irisawa, Sakai, Takeda
Special Thanks of Sound Samples
A. O. N, J. BS, C. C, P. R. N, R. S, D. B, I. S, M. D,
909, Pro 5, Mini MG, K. Miyauchi
Character Design
K. Sakai, T. Chida, T. Irisawa, N. Wataya, Y. Takeda
Special Thanks to
Junk, Gen, Ebinuma
Supervisor
N. Takioka
Presented by
East Technology Co., Ltd. 1992
See You Again.
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[3] (reserved)
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[4] Sound Check (Sound Test)
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Press Up to change to the sound effects. Press Down to change to the tunes.
Press Left and Right to cycle through the current sound effects or tunes.
Press Attack to play them. Press Start to exit. (Player 1's controls only.)
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[4.1] Sound Effects and Vocal Effects
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## Effect (SE Data) ## Effect (128 total)
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00 (silence) 42 female die
01 (silence) 43 Joe's "YIAH!"
02 soft bump 44 Lee's "AJOO!"
03 Special Power-Up, Name Entry 45 Kato's and Sonny's "EEIH!"
04 Item - Life ("Vital Up!") 46 Dr. Bio's "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
05 Item - Points ("Thank You") 47 Girlfriend's "Help me!"
06 "Go!" Indicator (five beeps) 48 long crash
07 Character Select highlight 49 helicopter blades
08 laser bolt (high-pitch chime) 4A fiery boom
09 Character Select choose 4B dive
0A Stage Preview beep 4C truck horn
0B Credit 4D flapping
0C long ring 4E dull thwack
0D Section Continue beep 4F punch, swing (heavy swish)
0E long buzz 50 flesh hack
0F base door 51 saw
10 scale tone 52 whip
11 scale tone 53 vehicle rumble
12 scale tone 54 missile attack (light swish)
13 scale tone 55 light thud
14 scale tone 56 barrel break (metal clang)
15 scale tone 57 crate break (broad thwack)
16 scale tone 58 glass shatter
17 scale tone 59 slidekick
18 scale tone 5A dull boom
19 scale tone 5B dull crash
1A scale tone 5C loud boom
1B scale tone 5D machinegun burst
1C scale tone 5E dog bark
1D scale tone 5F dynamite explode
1E scale tone 60 monkey screech
1F scale tone 61 bang
20 to 2F (silence) 62 short grunt
30 to 3F (blank) 63 to 77 bang
40 hit (sharp thwack) 78 to 7B periodic banging
41 male die 7C to 7F (blank)
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[4.2] Background Music
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## Time Tune (BGM Data) ## Time Tune (128 total)
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00 ---- (silence) 0E 0:06 Game Over (alternate)
01 0:06 Game Over 0F 0:41 Dr. Bio
02 1:49 Stage 2 10 ---- (silence)
03 1:18 Stage 1 11 ---- (silence)
04 1:21 Stage 3 12 ---- (silence)
05 1:22 Stage 4 13 ---- (silence)
06 ---- (silence) 14 ---- (silence)
07 ---- (silence) 15 0:05 Stage Clear
08 ---- (silence) 16 0:08 Character Select Screen
09 ---- (silence) 17 1:29 Epilogue, Staff Credits
0A ---- (silence) 18 to 1F (silence)
0B 1:26 Stage 5 20 to 6E (blank)
0C 0:26 Boss 6F to 7E (speed-up effect)
0D 0:20 Title, Prologue, Demo 7F ---- (fade-out effect)
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[5] Reference
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[5.1] Game Source Information
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Name: Silent Dragon
Developer: East Technology
Producer: Taito
Genre: action fighter
Players: 2 or 3 or 4
Save: none
Publisher: Taito
Release Date: 1992------
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[5.2] Really Small Details That Make You Want to Say, "OMAE WA MOU SHINDEIRU."
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Item Effects Duplication Trick
The heroes can take an item at the exact same time to duplicate the effects
for all of them. This includes gaining Bonus Points, restoring Life, and
acquiring temporary invulnerability, but not grabbing weapons (which results
in minor animation glitches for the heroes who aren't actually holding them).
True (Background) Colors
If the screen is showing the bottom-most part of an area when
a screen-shaking effect occurs, the solid color behind the
background artwork will be revealed.
It's Still Three-Dimensional Space
Similar to the characters in other arcade games like Double Dragon, the
enemies here have upward- and downward-facing walking animation frames.
However, the heroes in Silent Dragon have only lateral-facing frames.
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[5.3] Document Credits
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East Technology
For developing Silent Dragon.
Taito (www.taito.co.jp)
For producing Silent Dragon.
Spherelanders
For playing through the game and figuring out the best tactics.
Extra thanks to Alex Round for actually authoring this document
and to Koyume for the item effects duplication trick and
for providing support, along with always joining us despite
all the big, buff dudes punching other big, buff dudes. :D
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[6] Contact Information
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mail: faididi@yahoo.com
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