Face Raiders

Not to be confused with 3DS title Face Racers: Photo Finish.

Face Raiders is an application for the Nintendo 3DS. This game makes use of the 3DS cameras, which is required to create enemies. At the first playthrough, only the 3DS' inner camera can be used to take pictures of the players' faces. After their first play through, they may utilize the outer cameras to take pictures of other people's faces, or they can take another one of their own face by swapping the inner and the outer cameras. If desired, a player can even use a face from a photograph, even if it is online.

Game play
The player's objective is to shoot down floating heads of whatever face picture is taken. They can move their 3DS Camera and press A to fire at the enemies. If they commonly show a certain face in many stages, it will receive a crown that they have showed it in many levels.

Normal Face


Normal Faces are faces that commonly appear in many stages. All the Normal Face does in Stage 1 and the Intro Stage and the first Show a Friend stage is float around for a bit, and then fly into the background to crash into the it, causing Wall Fragments. They cannot crash into the background in the Show a Friend stage and the Intro stage. Also, they sing and fly into the background if not hit. In Stage 2, they fight back by shooting balls. If the player fights four of them, the one on the bottom right corner is sleeping and will fly away if not hit. More Normal Faces show up in Stage 2. In Stage 3, Normal Faces make minor appearances when they fly into groups to crash into walls. There are lots of Normal Faces in the Final Stage. In the first wave, they will shoot balls until they get sucked into a blackhole. In the Extra Stage, all Normal Face appears in all stages, except the third. In Stage 1, they not only fly into the background to send Wall Fragments flying, but they shoot balls. Most of them are summoned by the Samurai Face during the battle. In Stage 2, there are a very few Normal Faces, like in Stage 3. In Stage 4, there are lots of Normal Faces which can shoot balls, making the stage harder with Table Tennis Faces.

Kissing Face


The Kissing Face attacks by kissing the player before flying away, taking some of their health. This attack is unavoidable and must be shot down. It only appears in the First Stage, the Intro Stage, and the Extra Stage.

X-Spike Face


This unnamed Face, nicknamed the X-Spike Face has a huge letter X on the back of it, indicating that it will fly back when you hit the X. The player must wait until it turns around to defeat it. In addition, X-Spikes will not turn until they hit the Normal Faces on screen. Sometimes, they must wait until a Normal Face is behind it and then fire. X-Spikes are tougher than the ones in the Extra Stage, because they move around. This face only appears in the First Stage, the Intro Stage, and the Extra Stage.

Butterfly
Butterflies are objects which come in different colors: blue, yellow, and red. They do not try to harm the player at any point. All it does is fly for a bit until it disappears. If the player shoots it, it will give them health. Butterflies appear in every stage, except the Bonus Stage, the Extra Stage and the second Show a Friend stage.

Face Bomb
Face Bombs are objects that sometimes appear when a face breaks the background. They look like bombs in a glass cube. Shooting it will give the player a bomb to throw. To use it, they must press B to throw the bomb which clears all enemies in the area. Bombs are often found in space. They appear in all stages but the Final Stage, the Bonus Stage, the Extra Stage and the second and third Show A Friend stages.



Golden Face
This face appears from time to time with a different face to the one currently used. If the player has more faces in their collection, this face will appear more often. After they complete each round, they get an extra 1,000 points for each golden face defeated. This face does not appear in some of the Show a Friend levels and the Extra Stage. Some Golden Faces fight back.

Projectiles
There are several types of projectiles in the game:


 * Wall Fragments - Wall Fragments are flying projectiles that are caused by crashes. If a Normal Face, Red and Blue Face, X Spike Face, Flip Face, or the Twin Face crash into the background, a Wall Fragment will be flying. Another variety of Wall Fragment is caused in by the Sun Face in Stage 3. Wall Fragments appear in all stages, except the Intro Stage, the Show a Friend stages, the Bonus Stage, and the Final Stage.


 * Ball - Balls are fired by many enemies. They are found in every stages, except the Bonus Stage and the second Show a Friend stage. Another variety of ball is fired by the Racquet Face, so it must be hit multiple times until it gets dizzy.


 * Missile - Missiles only appear in Stage 3 and the Extra Stage. They are either fired by the Puzzle Face or the Golden Panel Face. They are found only in the European versions of Face Raiders.


 * Armor Plates - Armor Plates only appear in the Final Stage and the Extra Stage. They are thrown by Disco Ball Face.

Red and Blue Face
This face only appears in Stage 2 and the Extra Stage. If the player hits it, it will turn blue. If the player does not shoot it, it will revert to red, so it is best to shoot them when they have turned blue. After it stays for a few seconds, it will escape by breaking into walls to cause fragments flying. If there are squares, the player must lure them to a wall and then kill them. Sometimes, these faces will shoot balls. If they're hit, two will ram into them. This attack is unavoidable.

Diver Face
This face appears in the Bonus Stage,the second stage, and the Extra Stage. It takes five hits to kill. The player must keep it in the air or they will drop it. In the Bonus Stage, if they drop it, the game ends. The Green Diver Face starts with 3, when they shoot it, it will split and start with 2. The Purple Diver Face is the hard one, it can make the player easily lose. There is a Golden Diver Face that can rescue the player's faces, but it can quickly drop once shot.

Panel Face
This face only appears in the third stage and the Extra Stage. Some panels will retreat and some will shoot balls at the player (unlike the missiles fired by the helicopters in the arcade game Panic Museum, but only one ball). Some will summon stag beetles. On the final wave, some will shoot missiles. A large amount of Panel Faces in the Extra Stage in Stage 3.

Big Rectangle Face
Only one appears in Stage 3. If the player shoots it, it will have two harmless panel faces and one red panel face. Kill the three of them.

Red Panel Face
This face only appears in the third stage and the Extra Stage. After a few seconds, this face will roll into the player (like many flying enemies in the arcade game Panic Museum). When it starts rolling, it is unavoidable and must be hit. There are only a few of them in the Extra Stage when you're fighting the Puzzle Face.

Flip Face
This face only appears in the Third Stage and Extra Stage. The player should it the one that is not upside down. Some will shoot balls and some will retreat.

Stag Beetle Face
This face only appears in the Third Stage and Extra Stage. They are from Panel Faces. They will begin to eat the walls, which can cause fragments flying until they fall into Outer Space. Stop them by shooting them and deflect the fragments.

Puzzle Face
Only one appears in the Third Stage and Extra Stage. The player must hit the squares to make a face correctly. If they do not solve the puzzle, the mini-boss will shoot four balls. It is tougher in the Extra Stage, because the player is also ambushed by Panel Faces and Red Panel Faces.

Racket Face
This face only appears in the Final Stage and Extra Stage. If the player shoots the Racket Face, it will shoot a ball. If it stays after a bit, it will go away. The player should deflect the balls at the racket to defeat it. In the Extra Stage, there are two rackets and one will shoot a ball. The balls can be shot down.

Table Tennis Face
This face only appears in the Final Stage and Extra Stage. Some will not attack the player and some will crash into them. Avoiding does not protect them against them, so they must be shot. There are more Table Tennis Faces in the Extra Stage.

Samurai Face
Samurai Face is the first boss in the game. In the intro, it will kiss the player much like a Kissing Face does, so they should shoot the jewel on its forehead to deal damage. In the first stage, the player must shoot it three times until its barrier comes. It will summon two Normal Faces and an X-Face. To deal damage, the player should knock the X-Spike Faces into it. They should also kill the Normal Faces and then shoot the X-Spikes into its barrier. In the Extra Stage when it does bot have its green barrier, it summons tons of Normal Faces. The player should defeat some of them and then attack the boss. It is the same while wearing its green barrier, but they must hit the X-Spike Face either up or down to beat it.

Twin Face
Twin Face is the second boss in the game. Twin Face will keep changing its appearance. The player must shoot the real face, but not the fake face. First, Twin Face will show two faces at once. If they do not hit it for a while or shoot the fake face, it will send lots of Wall Fragments flying. After it is damaged a few times, it will spin around. If it spins too long, it will destroy the background to cause more Wall Fragments. After damaging it in the second phase, it will open a window, where it will move and change its appearance in Outer Space. In addition, it summons Normal Faces. The player should defeat the Normal Faces and shoot the real face. However, in the Extra Stage and the third Show a Friend stage, it will shoot lots of balls at them. During the third round, it is tricky and will show its normal face. In the last Show a Friend stage, it is trickier, because it can be a scatterbrain and hide into Outer Space.

Sun Face
Sun Face is the third boss in the game. It will spit out 5 flip faces, and will change its appearance by the faces it shoots out. The player must hit all of the flip faces (not the ones who are hit) upside-down to change Sun Face back to normal. They then must shoot the jewel on its forehead three times. If they do not hit the ruby all three times, it will destroy the background. After the fifth crash, it will ram into them. This attack cannot be avoided and must be countered by hitting its jewel or throwing a Bomb. After they hit the ruby three times, it will do it again, but it is trickier, so are the Flip Faces. If it crashes the background five times again, it will ram into the player without showing its ruby. This attack cannot be avoided and must be countered by throwing a bomb after the third hit. The player should repeat the process and then hit its ruby thrice to defeat the boss. Without hitting its diamond, it will crash into the wall. After five times, it will ram into the player. This attack is unavoidable and must be countered after the second hit by hitting the ruby or throwing a Bomb. In the Extra Stage in Stage 3, it will shoot a ball and will ram at them after crashing into the background three times.

Disco Ball Face
Disco Ball Face is the fourth boss in the game. It will spin in a clockwise and a counter clockwise direction. There are eight crystals the player must hit to fire the beams back at Disco Ball Face. Also note, during this time, which way the thing is rotating. Once the cannon lights up, the player should start shooting the crystal above the cannon, then shoot the ones further around it, going against Disco Ball Face's rotation. (Example: If it is going clockwise, they must shoot counterclockwise, and vice versa.) If they do not shoot them in time before a cannon is destroyed, the boss will shock them. This attack is unavoidable. It is very fast with its cannon in the Extra Stage. When all of the cannons are destroyed, it will reveal its face. It will shoot fragments at the player. The Face takes sixteen hits to kill. After a few seconds if not hit, it will go up. If they hit it eleven times, it will throw more fragments. The second phase is much tougher in the Extra Stage, since it shoots more fragments.

Disco Afro Face
Disco Afro Face is the fifth and final boss in the game. It appears right after Disco Ball Face is defeated. Disco Afro Face will throw its afro at the player. As its afro is flying, they must hit the Face five times when it appears left or right before the afro hits them, which can cause massive damage. If you shoot the afro, it will shoot large stars that deplete a third of their health. This attack is unavoidable. After hitting it five times, they can shoot the jewel to destroy it. It will take a small peak like Twin Face in the Extra Stage.

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