No More Heroes Boss Guide: How to Beat Speed Buster

First Travis Touchdown has to deal with a murderous magician, and right after that he has to face off against an old lady with a massive railgun the size of a bus!

Luckily the fight against Speed Buster is more or less a cakewalk if you’re paying attention to your surroundings. But if you mess up, you’re definitely going to eat some laser-flavored punishment. Let’s get into it.

You find out exactly what Speed Buster is capable of thanks to Travis’ late mentor, Thunder Ryu. Speed Buster sits multiple football fields of distance away, and fires a massive laser all the way through the area.

Speed Buster herself isn’t a physical threat, so all Travis has to do is reach her. Easier said than done of course.

No More Heroes Boss Guide: How to Beat Speed Buster

The laser continuously fires, with a laser blast lasting several seconds then giving you a few more during a cooldown period. Then when it’s time for the gun to shoot again, it’ll make a distinct charging sound to let you know you’re about to be roasted.

If you get caught in the laser you aren’t immediately done for, though. Travis will block the shot with his sword and you’ll get a button-mashing prompt. But while you’re jamming on the button, Travis still takes damage. 

No More Heroes doesn’t have a cover system, but here you still have to find cover anyway. You’re in a bit of a dilapidated residential-looking area, with lots of ruined structures lining what we’ll call the Laser Hallway.

You can get behind walls that are still standing to avoid damage, and in some cases enter a house off to the side. While there are nooks and crannies you can fit into, the best way forward is watching your map for red dots.

These mark doors you can bash in with your sword, letting you get out of the way entirely.

Related: No More Heroes Boss Guide: How to Beat Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarski

With this method, you can find a Trading Card, as well as some health and battery pickups you’ll need if you take a hit. But, of course, you’ll also run into enemies hiding around the wreckage, so in many cases ducking through a door means you’ll have to be ready for a fight.

These are all just standard enemies though, so just don’t get sucker punched and you’ll be fine.

As you might expect, the further up you get the less time you’ll have between shots since the laser doesn’t need to reach as far. Your margin of error shrinks as you move up, basically. But be careful as you get close, you can’t just reach Speed Buster and take her down while the gun is active.

You gotta bring that thing down. For that, you’ll need to make sure you’re on the left side of Laser Hallway as you get close, then find the telephone pole (it’s directly in front of you so you can’t miss it). Bop that a few times and it will fall on the gun, letting you approach Speed Buster for the killing blow at your leisure. 

We’re on the home stretch now, which is real sad for me at least. I’ll have to leave No More Heroes behind… for now. If you want to share your experiences or tips about No More Heroes with us, feel free to do so over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!