>From the makers of Action 52....


   ___         __  __  _____  _                    __    __    _____ _____ 
  / __\ /\  /\/__\/__\/__   \/_\    /\  /\/\/\    /__\/\ \ \   \_   \\_   \
 / /   / /_/ /_\ /_\    / /\//_\\  / /_/ /    \  /_\ /  \/ /    / /\/ / /\/
/ /___/ __  //__//__   / / /  _  \/ __  / /\/\ \//__/ /\  /  /\/ /_/\/ /_  
\____/\/ /_/\__/\__/   \/  \_/ \_/\/ /_/\/    \/\__/\_\ \/   \____/\____/   
v0.35
                                 


FAQ/WALKTHROUGH

v0.35 - Completed 5/22/01

Written and maintained by Adam Lamontagne (alamont1@maine.rr.com)
Copyright (c)2001 Adam Lamontagne

A Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game by Active Enterprises Ltd.  
Cheetahmen II was not designed, manufactured, sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo.



=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================

I.    Revision History
II.   Introduction
III.  Story
IV.   Controls
V.    Characters (still to come)
VI.   Walkthrough (still to come)




===================
I. REVISION HISTORY
===================

5/22/01: v0.35
-Added a Table of Contents
-Found out that there is actually a way to play the final 2 levels...as the 
hidden Cheetahman Aries!
-Changed to my current email address.

4/2/01: v0.3
-Added a little to the Introduction.
-Added Controls section.

3/31/01: v0.2
-Started this FAQ/Walkthrough.
-Added ASCII title.
-Added Disclaimer.
-Added Story.
-Added Introduction.



================
II. INTRODUCTION
================


I'm pretty sure Active Enterprises thought they were on their way to starting a 
huge Cheetahmen phenomena here.  Cartoons, T-shirts, comic books, movies...the 
sky was the limit!  The Cheetahmen would make people forget those Mutant Turtle 
things...They first appeared on the infamous Acrtion 52 cartridge...52 pseudo-
games stuffed into one overpriced cartridge.  They probably thought they had 
trapped lightning in a bottle with this idea until they realized that the 5 
young children from Guam they hired to program the game had faked their resumes 
and were not really graduates of MIT.  Action 52 pretty much bombed and the 
Cheetahmen never got the recognition they deserved.

Enter 1996.  I happen to be looking through one of the newsgroups, either 
rec.games.video.classic or rec.games.video.marketplace...it was probably the 
latter.  Anyway, I see a rather vague subject line reading something like, 
"Cheetaman for Nintendo."  I email the guy, Sean Roche, and he tells me he has a 
ton of these games sitting in storage.  They were never officially released and 
had been sitting in a warehouse for a few years.  He would rather sell them in 
bulk and tells me if I help him find a buyer he'll send me a copy of the game 
free of charge.  Silly me.  I still kick myself in the ass for not buying the 
whole freakin' stash.  I contact a couple dealer friends of mine, who thank me 
for the tip, and 2 weeks later I get a package in the mail.  Two copies of 
Cheetahmen II and a copy of Action 52 for the Sega Genesis, just for helping 
this guy out.  My dealer friends get a ton of Cheetahmen II carts and make a 
fortune.

This was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me, but little did I 
know the goldmine that was under my nose.  These things hit the market and 
collectors were paying absurd prices for them.  I remember seeing one go on eBay 
for $70!!  I suppose I should just be happy for getting my free copies of 3 
pretty rare games, but I'm still kicking myself in the arse for being so "wool-
headed."  I never did ask Mr. Roche how he had gotten ahold of all these 
Cheetahmen II carts, but then again I probably don't want to know.

Anyway, I'm not going to tiptoe around the obvious: the game sucks.  That's 
paying it a compliment.  You can take as many polls as you want on what the 
worst NES game of all-time is, but don't waste your precious time.  This game is 
that dog you all know and love...the 3-legged dog trying to bury a turd on a 
frozen pond.  Why waste time reviewing this thing.  Take every aspect of a video 
game that you find appealing, like graphics, sound, gameplay, play control, etc.  
Now whatever scale you use to rate games, expand it down below zero by about 10 
points.  You see, this game makes Bad Street Brawler seem charming and sets off 
every rating scale known to man.  

The game is so horrid that it can't even be beaten.  Apparently the 5 kids from 
Guam that were programming this went out for recess and never came back to 
finish the job.  When you get to Level 4 (which is actually called Level 
3...apparently they thought it neat to have two Level 3's in the game), you get 
to the final boss (Ape Man/Man Ape) and after beating him you get to explore the 
screen for......eternity.  You're simpy stuck at a dead end.  The boss is gone 
and you're all by your lonesome.  If this were Simon's Quest I'd figure you 
could kneel down and a whirlwind would wisk you off to the next level, but no 
such luck here.

Another point of interest is the cart itself.  Nowhere on the actual cart is 
even a hint of a Cheetahman.  It is actually the same exact cartridge used for 
Active Enterprises' one other NES game, Action 52.  I'm not sure why this is, 
but something tells me they had plenty of Action 52's lying around, so why not 
recycle!

A real cool dude named TheRedEye actually Tile Layered the game and found 
sprites for Dr. Morbis and the last Cheetahman that you should get to play as 
for the final 2 levels, so either there is a secret trick to get to the next 
level or there is a bug similar to the one in the old Impossible Mission game 
that prevents you from finishing the game.  Either way, I'd like some feedback 
from you (yeah, you!) on what you think is going on here.


!!!!!!!
NOTE: SOMEONE HAS ACTUALLY FIGURED OUT A WAY TO PLAY AS ARIES!  IT INVOLVED A 
LITTLE ROM HACKING, BUT YOU CAN ACTUALLY PLAY THE FINAL 2 LEVELS OF THIS 
GAME...MORE TO COMEIN THE NEXT UPDATE!
!!!!!!!


I'm tackling this game because (1) I haven't written a FAQ in about 5 months and 
(2) I promised I'd continue my trend of writing FAQs for games that nobody plays 
or cares about.  My goal is to get as little fan mail as possible, so if you are 
reading this you're really wasting your time.

Anyway, have fun playing Cheetahmen II (I smell oxymoron) and prepare to wallow 
in the filth that is Cheetahmen II!



==========
III. STORY
==========

Since the game doesn't have a manual, this is the story we get from the back of 
the box (please note that the following is transcribed word for word...I guess 
proofreading wasn't that important to these guys):

"DR. MORBIS IS AT IT AGAIN!"

"In CHEETAHMEN II Dr. Morbis seeks to destroy the CHEETAHMEN with all new traps 
and dangers."

"Beware, the even more dangerous sub-humans."

"This time CYGORE and DR. MORBIS are getting in to it!"

"See if you can get the CHEETAHMEN through the jungles and to Dr. Morbis's 
secret laboratory, but beware of the many traps along the way.  Then, when you 
finally think you've gotten through, you will have to do battle as only the 
CHEETAHMEN can."

"APOLLO will have to fight Dr. MORBIS, ARIES battles CYGORE and HERCULES goes 
head to head with the newest sub-human...THE MAN APE."

------

Alright, we kind of have a sense of what's going on, but there's more.  Fire up 
the game and let the title screen sit for a few seconds.  We now get even more 
of the story (again, this is typed EXACTLY as it appears in the game):

"DOCTOR MORBIS IS BACK WITH A NEW SUB HUMAN!  HE WANTS TO STOP THE CHEETAMEN 
FROM RUINING HIS EVIL PLANS!"

"HE CREATES THE APE MAN.  THE STRONGEST SUB HUMAN YET!"

"DOCTOR MORBIS PLANS TO USE THE APE MAN TO DESTROY HIS FAILED 
EXPIREMENT...ARIES!  APOLLO! AND HERCULES!"

"YOU MUST HELP THE CHEETAHMEN FIGHT DOCTOR MORBIS AND HIS EVIL TEAM OF MUTANTS"

"STOP DOCTOR MORBIS BEFORE ITS TO LATE FOR THE CHEETAHMEN.  YOU CAN NOT LET HIM 
DESTROY THE CHEETAHMEN."

"DURING THE GAME YOU WILL HAVE THREE CHEETAHMEN...A DIFFERENT ONE IN EVERY 
SECOND LEVEL TO FIGHT FOR YOU......"


So from the box and the intro screens we can gather that the 3 Cheetahmen, 
Apollo, Aries and Hercules were created by this Dr. Morbis...does that mean that 
the Cheetahmen are the original sub-humans?  Anyway, somewhere along the line 
the Cheetahmen realized that Morbis was an evil bastard and they turned on him.  
Now our 3 heroes must hunt down Morbis and take out 2 of his new creations, 
Cygor and the Ape Man (or Man Ape...who knows which one is correct).

Go get 'em, cheetah!



============
IV. CONTROLS
============

Yes, even the controls are screwy in this game.  Each Cheetahman has his own 
controls, but because of the bug in the game you only get to play as 2 of the 3 
Cheetahmen, so control them like this:


                -----------------------------
               |                             |
               |     +                       |
               |   +++++           (*)  (*)  | 
               |     +     ==  ==   B    A   |
               |           SE  ST            |
                -----------------------------



For the first 2 levels you control Apollo.

APOLLO:

Left/Right: Moves Apollo to the left or right

B Button: Jump

A Button: Fires Crossbow



For the next 2 levels you control Hercules.

HERCULES:

Left/Right: Moves Hercules to the left or right

B Button: Jump

A Button: Punch & Kick at the same time

A&B Buttons together: If you rapidly press these 2 buttons together, you will 
not only punch and kick while jumping, but you will actually be able to 
basically work your way up the screen.  You can use this to get to those 
unreachable platforms in the air and can safely avoid just about every enemy.



There are apparently 2 more levels in the game where you would control Aries.  
There must be SOME way to reach these levels (the game won't let you pass the 
end of Level 4), so if anyone figures out how to do it, please email me.


!!!!!!!
NOTE: SOMEONE HAS ACTUALLY FIGURED OUT A WAY TO PLAY AS ARIES!  IT INVOLVED A 
LITTLE ROM HACKING, BUT YOU CAN ACTUALLY PLAY THE FINAL 2 LEVELS OF THIS 
GAME...MORE TO COMEIN THE NEXT UPDATE!
!!!!!!!


ARIES:

Left/Right: ???

B Button: ???

A Button: ???



Here are the other controls:

START Button: Starts the game.  Also Pauses the action during gameplay.

SELECT Button: If you pause the game during gameplay then press SELECT, the game 
will reset back to the title screen.



=============
V. CHARACTERS
=============

(Coming Soon)



===============
VI. WALKTHROUGH
===============

(Coming Soon)



5/22/01:
IN THE NEXT UPDATE: When I get time I will go through the major characters in 
this game (both enemies and heroes) and bang out a quick walkthrough.  I will 
also go into more detail on the ROM hack to play Levels 5 & 6.  I also would 
like to include a hints & tips section.



==========
DISCLAIMER
==========

This FAQ/Walkthrough is not endorsed by Active Enterprises Ltd or Nintendo of 
America. The information contained within this document is provided without 
guarantee.  All copyrights and trademarks are recognized.

This walkthrough may be reprinted, posted in newsgroups, or placed on web sites, 
as long as the proper credit is given to the author.  The most recent version of 
this walkthrough can be found at:

www.gamefaqs.com
www.vgstrategies.about.com


(c)2001 Adam Lamontagne (alamont1@maine.rr.com)
                                    
