“ | A general-purpose weapon that employs a revolutionary deformation mechanism, it was devised by Dr. Graham Helirobo who has an authority on robotics. | „ |
~ Official description from Shattered Soldier |
Mr. Heli-Robo is a miniboss in Contra: Shattered Soldier. It is a robot that transforms into a helicopter.
His model reappears later in Neo Contra, where it serves as a platform for "Bill Rizer" and Jaguar so they can fight an enemy carrier.
Description[]
Mr. Heli-Robo is a transforming helicopter used by the Blood Falcon army.[1] It first appears in its helicopter form flying from the foreground at the Blood Falcon's Fortress area, and then proceeds to launch missiles at the bridge from which the player was standing on, making them fall onto a snow-covered mountain below where they continue the battle by riding on snowboards. It later reappears near the end of the same stage, where it attempts to halt the heroes advancement toward the Blood Falcon Fortress by charge its laser cannon as a would-be vehicular boss. Suddenly it gets crushed and blown into pieces by Slave Beast Taka, who falls out of nowhere from above.
Another model later appears in the Sanctuary stage, where it attempts to hunt down the player while standing above a support aircraft but was destroyed by the heroes. Due to the enemy commander's previous death, it is possible this model was reprogrammed by the Triumvirate in an attempt to stop the heroes' progression toward the Moirai Relic. It is also possible that this robot has not yet had its programming deactivated during its activation and is still obeying the will of Blood Falcon despite the death of the organization's commander.
Battle[]
Mr. Heli-Robo is battled in Contra: Shattered Soldier at the Sanctuary, at the top of a plane heading to Jupiter, where the Triumvirate resides with the Moirai Relic. The robot has two phases:
- Phase one
Mr. Heli-Robo starts off his appearance by flying in the background. He sways to one side of the screen horizontally, then sways to the opposite side and fires a volley of cannon fire. As he reaches a side of the screen, he extends his leg joints and each leg fires an electrical beam outward, surrounding the plane. The arch will close in centering around his center and the robot will slowly move the arch to the other side of the plane, unleashing homing missiles aimed at the heroes. Once on the other side, he retracts his legs and returns to the background, repeating the entire battle pattern all over again.
Mr. Heli-Robo's legs can receive damage and are the only weakness available. Both legs count as one whole joint. Destroying his leg joints will reward 500 points and add 5% to the Hit Rate. The robot himself will burst into explosions and will retreat into the background, however this does not mean the end of the transforming bot.
- Phase two
In the second phase, Mr. Heli-Robo flies in the background from a certain angle and then transforms into a mecha to perform an attack, then flying away afterward to repeat the pattern. Players should keep an eye out for his position when flying toward the plane as it will hint at one of the robot's following attacks performed:
- The robot flies toward the center-left of the plane and transforms, landing to the tail of the plane. Pointing his gun downward, he fires a ground projectile three times in a row before flying off. simply jump to avoid the projectiles.
- The robot flies toward the far right of the plane and transforms in mid-air pointing his gun leftward. He travels to the front of the plane while quickly charging his gun, then bunkering down on the plane's nose and immediately unleashes a large laser beam lasting a few seconds before flying away. The laser beam can only be avoided by crouching. The charged Machine Gun, Fire Whip, and the charged Diver Mine can all hit the robot's body while crouching during this attack.
- The robot flies toward the center-right of the plane and transforms in mid-air, then quickly landing in the middle-right of the plane. He stands for a second before he performs a quick transformation and flies away. Stay behind him before he transforms to avoid both being stomped and being trapped on the right of the plane where he will "kick".
His limbs are just as lethal to touch as his entire body. His chest is his only vulnerable weak point and can be targeted by weapons fire when he is attacking. Enough damage to the chest area will defeat the robot, granting 1,500 points and 15% Hit Rate.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Models[]
Artworks[]
Trivia[]
- According to his official description, this "general-purpose weapon that employs a revolutionary deformation mechanism" was devised by Dr. Graham Helirobo, and thus bears his name.
- Mr. Heli-Robo's miniboss fight in Contra: Shattered Soldier borrows aspects from other miniboss fights from previous games in the series. The perspective and situation in which he is fought –on top of a plane seen from the front with the enemy chasing and attacking from above– is very reminiscent of the Wonderbird miniboss fight from Contra: Hard Corps. The attack where he traps the player between two extending limb-like beams and then shoots destroyable missiles at them is very similar to the Tri-Transforming Wall Walker's second form from Contra III: The Alien Wars.
- The helicopter model used by the E.M.C. in Contra: Operation Galuga bears a strong resemblance to Mr. Heli-Robo (in its helicopter mode).
- Mr. Heli-Robo is probably inspired by the concept seen in The Transformers franchise, where the main protagonists are a race of robots that can take many forms.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ A Blood Falcon insignia is seen on the side of the helicopter (see model).