##### X**********X ###### ####### X ********** X ########## ###### X ********** X ##O ##O ## #### X**********X ########## ###### ****** ########## ####### **** ########## ##### **** ## ## ## PAC-MAN FEVER FAQ by Darrell Wong (DKW 001) Table of contents ================= i. Stuff for CJayC ii. Gratuitous editorializing 1. Overview 2. Fever (main game) 3. The mini games 4. Miscellaneous/wish list i. Stuff for CJayC ------------------ date completed: 1/31/03 version: Final homepage: http://home.hawaii.rr.com/dkwff ii. Gratuitous editorializing ----------------------------- This was one of a number of games a friend of mine brought back from a trip. I've never really been a big fan of "party" games (due in no small part to a powerful aversion to parties in my younger days), so I set this aside. Well, during a recent get-together at my home, a couple of my cousins, who are far less inhibited about jumping right into new games than I'll ever be, gave this a spin. I watched. And they were having the time of their lives. So then of course I had to try it. Well, at first I was frustrated about the sheer randomness of seemingly everything...awards and penalties, events, the chances of me winning events, the board layout, etc. etc. Blind luck is the one thing that's the most guaranteed to completely turn me off to a game (other than being too friggin' hard, of course). But then, something weird happened. I learn to appreciate the randomness and wildness and luck. I learned to stop worrying so much about position and just sit back, cut loose, and have a romp. There were still moments of frustration, of course, but nowhere near as bad as I feared they'd be. See, that's the thing about party games...they're only fun if you don't take them too seriously and play them the way they were intended. Don't worry about getting zinged or zapped or given a raw deal. You just gotta laugh it off and keep playing. It helps, of course to not have to go it alone against the computer, which, as any veteran fighting gamer can tell you, can be cheap as hell when it wants to be. Every time I went it alone, I was astonished by how many times I got thrown back. It's like The Amazing Race; I get to a big lead under my own power, only to see it evaporate in seconds due to the dang way the game is set up. And every time things did go my way, I blew by my AI competition like they were standing still. With all due respect to those who don't have a choice, playing the computer in Pac Man Fever is the most pointless thing ever. I recently got the PS2 multitap *just so I wouldn't have to take on the computer anymore* (and no, I do not yet have a clear idea of what other games I'm going to use it for). That's how bad an idea it is. In any case, I'm glad that Namco had the courage to release a game that, frankly, is completely unlike any other PS2 game in existence, and I hope that other companies will realize that what matters is playability and *fun*, not stretching every last bit of processing power to the breaking point. And I'm also glad that I've grown to appreciate this type of game and no longer worry about things that used to give me a heart attack. I strongly recommend that you get a multitap if you don't already have one and play Pac-Man Fever the way a party game is supposed to be played...with friends giving their all and having a good laugh whenever someone gets unfairly dinged. Oh yeah, and read this FAQ thoroughly, because, like in all my FAQs, there's a lot of stuff no one else is gonna tell you. 1. Overview ----------- Don't know what a party game is? Well, imagine a big board game with all manner of features and events and special spaces. Except that instead of rolling dice or drawing tiles, your ability to actually play a game determines how good your standing is. Your fate isn't entirely in your hands, however, because the other players have the ability to slow you down if you start running away with it, and the "board" itself can trip up even the strongest player. The challenges themselves are incredibly simple, especially for the potent PS2, so much so that even a child can do them (doing them well is another story, however). No big strategies, massive campaigns, life-or-death situations, or battles against impossible odds...just one big, wild game with a lucky winner at the end. Everything revolves around the individual games, called "mini games". Before each mini game, you can read the directions on how to play it along with a hint or two (so I won't be covering them here). The only active controls in Pac-Man Fever are the joystick directions, X, and O; the instructions, of course, will tell you which ones to use. There are always four competitors no matter what; the computer plays anyone not taken by a player. Depending on whether you're playing Fever or a series event (Pentathlon or Decathlon), you get either spaces or "medals" (points) depending on how well you did in the mini game; the numbers are the same in either case. 1st place is worth 5, 2nd is worth 3, 3rd is worth 2, and last gets 1. Ties complicate the matter a little. A 2-way tie for 1st is worth 4, one for 2nd is worth 2, and one for 3rd is *usually* worth 1, but on some occasions is worth 2. Unfortunately, I don't know what causes this; it might have something to do with the scores the 1st and 2nd place finishers get. A 3-way tie for 1st is worth 3; the same for 2nd gets 1. A total dead heat, i.e. a 4-way tie, gives everyone 1. In a team event (2 players vs. 2 players), the winners are considered tied for 1st and the losers tied for 3rd. A draw is handled the same way as a dead heat in a regular game. In short, the possibilities are 5321, 5221, 5311, 5322, 4421, 4411, 4422, 3331, 5111, and 1111. And no, despite what these characters are like their original games, there are NO differences in their abilities in Pac-Man Fever. You're not gonna win Cart Dash *that* easily. :-) 2. Fever (main game) -------------------- The objective is to get from the starting point to the finish by playing the mini games. It sounds simple...until you actually have to deal with the spaces, not to mention your opponents. Winning will require not only mini game aptitude, but good situational awareness, a sharp eye for what your foes are doing, and above all else, iron nerves so you don't fall apart after getting sent back six spaces or losing a Challenge. In addition to winning, you're also playing for tokens. These can be used to buy various items in the stores, which are described below, and also come in handy at the end of the game (again, explained below). At the end of every turn, the space you end up on activates and does a specific thing. Except for the end spaces, only one person can occupy any space at any time. If a move puts you on an occupied space, you keep moving until you reach an open one. The same is true if a Mystery or shop item forces you to return to a space that's occupied. The players always go in order from 1P to 4P. Here's a rundown of the spaces, what they look like, and what they do: SPRING (green/a segmented arrow): Advances you 3-8 spaces (or in RPG terms, "1d6+2") and activates the space that you land on. The number is always completely random. RETURN (red/a segmented arrow): Same, but throws you back 1-5 spaces. TOKENS (cyan/a token): Gives you 5-20 tokens. GHOST (navy blue/a red Pac-Man ghost): Takes away exactly half of your tokens, rounded down. REVENGE (a sneering purple face): Takes half the tokens of the opponent of your choice and gives them to you. MYSTERY (violet/a question mark): Spins a wheel full of awards and penalties, giving you one at random (no, you can't influence the wheel in any way). They are: move ahead a number of spaces, go back a number of spaces, win tokens, lose tokens, and take tokens from the other players. TOKEN GAME (yellow/an open treasure chest): You take on one of four special solo contests. The objective of each is the same, maneuver your bucket or trampoline under the tokens to either catch or bounce them. You also have to avoid the anvils thrown by the monkey, which take away all your collected tokens when they hit. CHALLENGE (white/crossed swords): You pick one player to take on in a head-to-head mini game, chosen at random from the ones available for the board you're playing. This game has less time than a normal mini game, and high scores are not recorded. The winner gets 20-50 tokens. Challenging the opponent with the most tokens will *usually* result in a prize on the upper end of that range, but not always. STORE (cyan/a cash register): A number of items are available for sale here, each costing a certain number of tokens. You can only buy one item per visit. You can advance a number of spaces, send a player back, send *all* players back, or move double or triple the number of spaces you win in the next mini game. You can also buy raffle tickets, which greatly increase your chances of winning the raffles. Unless you only pick up a single cherry ticket (which is free), prices are 1 token per cherry, 2 per orange, and 3 per banana. You can buy up to 99 tickets of any type per visit. Finally, you can gamble for tokens. There's no gameplay involved here; just make your bet and hope for the best. The number of tokens you can win or lose is limited to the amount you bet, and winning is a strictly 50/50 proposition. RAFFLE (green/a cherry, orange, or banana): A raffle is held for the corresponding fruit. Everyone starts with one ticket per fruit; additional tickets can be bought at the stores, and the person who lands on the space the first time gets a free ticket. Winning a raffle nets you redemption tickets at the end of the game. Obviously, the more tickets you have, the better your chances. However, the proportions aren't exact...e.g., if you have 27 tickets and your opponents have one each, your chances, although quite good, are somewhat less than 90%...and there seems to be a diminishing returns effect. Additionally, every once in a while, the game will "throw one" to a player with very few tickets regardless of how many everyone else has (I've seen this happen too many times for it to be a coincidence). END SPACE (bigger than a normal space, initially with a raffle symbol) - There are 3 of these at the end of the course. When you reach the first space, you automatically stop on it. You must be 3rd or better in the next mini game to advance to the second space. From there, you must be 1st or 2nd to reach the final space, and then 1st to advance to the finish (which wins the game). Once the raffle is held, the end space changes to Tokens. The spaces are big enough to fit all 4 competitors. The full (Long) course is 120 spaces long plus the end spaces. The Normal course cuts off the first third, so it's 80 spaces long, and the Short course cuts off two thirds and is 40 spaces long. The course layout is the same for all three boards. A random layout is created when you make a save file, but it never changes. The layouts vary widely; the only constant is that there's always 1 cherry, 1 orange, and 1 banana raffle, in that order, in the first 40 and the second 40 spaces (so you're cutting out exactly one series of raffles with Medium and two with Short). At the end of the game, redemption tickets are awarded. On the Short course, the winner gets 5 tickets, the person closest behind gets 3, and the second runner-up gets 2; these are doubled for Normal and tripled for Long (dead last is always worth nothing). Tickets are also awarded for remaining tokens, I believe 1 for every 50. Finally, raffle winners get tickets, 1 for every cherry raffle win, 2 for orange, and 3 for banana. Redemption tickets are used to buy mini games, and you also need a ticket to enter the Decathlon...i.e. the Mini Game Cup...so these are vital to have. Note that the ONLY time you can buy mini games is after a game of Fever, so get 'em while they're hot! Hints and tips: * Because the layout never changes, it's a good idea to copy down the entire course, so you always know what's coming up. * Winning isn't everything. There are many instances where you'll deliberately want to not win to avoid a Ghost or Return. Also, if you're close to a Spring and have some distance to make up, landing on it is almost always a better idea than taking 5 steps. * Don't get cocky even if you're way ahead. With Springs, Returns, Store-enforced retreats, and 3x moves, even the biggest lead can evaporate in a hurry. The CPU is notorious for using sendbacks to make life difficult for leaders, especially on the Jungle board. * Try to avoid bunch-ups, particularly in an area with a Return. All it takes is a logjam in front of that red arrow and a little bad luck with the mini games to totally ruin your day. * Don't be a miser. Buy as many raffle tickets as you can afford, and keep buying until you have plenty for every fruit. (10 at the absolute minimum; 30 is a decent number). If you have hundreds of tokens the first time you land on a store, spend it *all* on raffle tickets, making sure to get at least a fairly equal amount of each fruit. Trust me, it's worth it: The endgame token bonus is peanuts compared to what you can win through the raffles. Furthermore, hoarding wealth just means that you lose more to the inevitable Revenge and Ghost hits. Better to empty the coffers for something of value than to lose your bankroll piecemeal and get nothing to compensate. * If you decide not to splurge on tickets (say, your opponents have already done so and you don't like your chances), take advantage of the other goodies the stores have to offer. A 3x can be devastating after a mini game win or even 2nd. Use sendbacks to "make things interesting" for a tough rival; someone who's just passed a Return is a perfect victim. ("Thought you were safe, huh? Well, tough noogies, you gotta go through it AGAIN!") Since players always move in order, a sendback is also a great way to get someone to land on a space you want, especially a Ghost or Raffle. * A REALLY cheap, dirty (i.e. absolutely great) use of a sendback is to waylay someone who's on an end space. End spaces are treated exactly the same as normal spaces in this regard, and losing all that hard-won progress is a crushing blow, especially if you're right on their heels. I should know...it's happened to me twice. 3. The mini games ----------------- Provided here are winning tips for each of the mini games by board. I've rated them as follows. Type Individual: The characters have their own lanes/balls/targets/etc. and don't directly compete with each other. Battle: Direct, cutthroat competition between the characters. Melee: Anything with lots of objects popping up completely at random. Wild, unpredictable, often frustrating...hence the name. Target: A first-person perspective target shooting game with the characters replaced by crosshairs. 2 on 2: One of the three team games. The characters are always paired at random before EVERY game, even in Fever. Unfairness One of the dirty little secrets of party games. There's a massive disparity in the fairness of the games...ask anyone who's played Point Blank. In general, the more randomness involved, the greater the chance of some brat who picked up the game ten minutes ago walking all over the competition. All you fighting game veterans know what I'm talking about. ;-) 0: The same contest every time. It's all up to you. 1: A little luck involved; might spell the difference in a tight game. 2: About 50/50 luck and skill. 3: A chancy game that produces a lot of weird, fluky winners. 4: A horribly unbalanced game; nearly everything depends on blind luck. CPU difficulty In general, how tough it is to beat the AI field. *In general*, now; don't be surprised if you occasionally see someone do unusually good (or bad). 0: You have to be throwing the game to not beat them. 1: Easy. Unless you completely mess up, it's an easy win. 2: About average. You'll probably won't win all the time. 3: Hard; they play to win here. 1st place is a challenge. 4: Insanely difficult. 1st place is next to impossible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +TOKEN GAMES+ There are a total of four, Token Chain, Token Drop, Token Bounce, and Token Trampoline. For the first two, the objective is to catch the tokens in a bucket, while the latter two have you bouncing them off a trampoline. In the bucket games, the anvils never leave the screen; in the trampoline games, they do, so it's harder to tell where they're going to land. The bucket games are self-explanatory; grab the tokens and avoid the anvils, simple as that. For Token Bounce, your best bet is to get right below a number of tokens and bounce them repeatedly. Since there's no limit to how many times you can bounce a token, you can really clean up with a good 4 or 5 coin juggle. Move only to avoid the anvil, and do so at all costs. The monkey will always aim directly at you, so wait until after the toss to dodge. Token Trampoline is pretty much the same, except that the coins get thrown in from the sides. This actually makes it easier to avoid the anvils while rebouncing tokens, so this is probably your best strategy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +BACKLOT+ (these appear on all boards) Cart Dash type: Melee/Battle unfairness: 3 CPU difficulty: 2-3 Quantity (getting lots of fruits) and quality (getting bananas) are both important, and sharp reflexes are a must. In general, taking a ramp is always a good idea unless someone's already heading toward it. In that case, cut away from the ramp *hard* and keep your eyes open for a banana. Don't be afraid to muscle out other cars and even shove them into obstacles or barriers...it's all good strategy, and they'll do the same to you. This is the toughest and definitely wildest Backlot game, so don't be upset if you get hammered. Dart Toss type: Target unfairness: 0 CPU difficulty: 1 Aim for the bullseye, of course. The good thing about it is that even if you barely miss the big 30 point target, you still get a hefty 20 for the outer bull. Once you get the rhythm down, racking up bullseyes will be like... well, throwing darts. If you mess up the vertical setting, make sure you get the horizontal one centered to nail a 10-pointer. Beating the computer tossers should never be a problem, as they rarely hit consistent bullseyes. Fruit Mash type: Individual unfairness: 0 CPU difficulty: 1 The key here is timing, not speed. Hit X at the right time to get the banana, and do this as many times in a row as possible. (The same-fruit bonus doesn't kick in until *after* the second fruit in a row that you squash, which is why consistency is critical.) If you're off, it's best to be early, so you get the next most valuable fruit and can just hit X rapidly to nail the banana. Since the computer players almost never get more than three in a row, a decent banana-buster will easily mop them up. Ghost Whackers type: Individual unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 0 Child's play. Aim for the most valuable ghost that you see and swing away; that's all there is to it. I guarantee that it'll take you no more than three tries to completely master this. Raise The Flag type: Individual unfairness: 0 CPU difficulty: 1 Anyone with even average reflexes should be at full mast in no time. Punch the commands in as soon as you see them; you don't have to wait for the plane to finish the sequence. Vend-A-Fruit type: Individual unfairness: 0 CPU difficulty: 1 If you controller has the rapid fire feature, just hold down X and watch your machine spit out nature's candy like an assault rifle. (The rapid fire has to be *really* fast, so this doesn't work for some controllers.) Otherwise, the best tactic is to hit X three times very quickly, then take your time with the remaining half. As with Fruit Mash, timing is what matters here, so don't rush it. The computer opponents rarely get more than 3 dispensings, so they're easy opponents even without rapid-fire. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +TROPICAL+ 10-Pin Alley type: Individual unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 1 Ideally, you want your first roll to have a good chance at a strike and give you an easy leave even if it doesn't. Your best bet is a curving shot that hits either pocket flush. Don't waste time waiting for the arrow to get into perfect position; use the joystick to put the ball where you want. Accuracy matters more in this game than in any other, so it's advisable to buy this as soon as possible. It's not hard by any means; you'll just need some practice to get consistent high scores. Go Fish type: Melee unfairness: 4 CPU difficulty: 4 Okay, you'd *think* that the winning strategy would be to always cast your line as far as possible, then reel it in as much as you need to in order to snag your prize. However, the appearances of the fish are so maddeningly random that this hardly matters. The computer players have a HIDEOUSLY unfair advantage; they know where each fish is the instant it enters the river. This game is just pure torture, and you definitely shouldn't feel ashamed if you never get comfortable at it. Jungle Jog type: Individual unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 1 Button mashing time! Ah, this takes me back. :-) Use rapid fire if you have it, obviously; otherwise, jam like crazy on X, pausing only to leap the hurdles. Don't use rapid fire on the O button; it doesn't work. Pier Pressure type: 2 on 2 unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 1-2 Since a lot depends on your partner and the appearances of the balls, no one strategy will work here. There is one ironclad rule, though, and that is to attack a 5-point ball the INSTANT you see it. Drive it home as quickly as possible, and don't let it land on your dock! If an opponent attacks it hard as well, just *stay with it* until it's safely out of play. It's also a good idea to break up big ball clusters ASAP to protect yourself from ricochets, which can be really nasty in this game. When going after a single ball, make sure you line up the character's *feet* with it...not the breath, head, or anything else...to get maximum force on it. Snappy Shells type: Melee unfairness: 3 CPU difficulty: 2 Grab everything you can and keep your eyes open for the red shells. If the crab chases you, run like hell and you'll *usually* get away. Running behind one of your opponents, if you can manage it, is even better. Because the crab's actions and the appearances of the shells are impossible to predict, you'll need more than a little luck to win. Tiki Shootout type: Target unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 1 There's no penalty for missing or even spraying wildly, so rapid fire 'em if you got 'em. Attack as many targets as possible regardless of their value; the high-point targets are really hard to hit, and fine-tuning your aim to get them just wastes time. Pay attention to where your opponents are aiming, too; you can rack up a lot of points getting what others overlook. Torpedo Pond type: Battle unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 3 You should always be doing one of three things: 1) attacking, 2) getting in position to attack, or 3) running like hell. If you're not sure who to go after, just *keep moving* and don't make yourself an easy target. Favor the edges of the pond to avoid crossfires, and don't hesitate to suicide your craft when you think you're about to take a hit. Don't be picky about who you want to take out; if you see a target, take the shot. The torpedoes are slow and easy to avoid, though, so aim carefully. Tropical Tag type: Battle unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 3 Similar to Snappy Shells (the crab behaves exactly the same); complicated by the fact that the "it" character moves faster than everyone else. When you're not it, try to always keep something between you and the it character. If you're tagged, *immediately* go after one of the other two characters; don't bother waiting five seconds for a tagback opportunity. Because of the way this game is scored, it's going to be tight no matter what, so every second counts. Water Balloon Splash type: Melee unfairness: 4 CPU difficulty: N/A Ugh. Looks like lottery balls, *plays* like a lottery. By far the *stupidest* mini game in Pac-Man Fever. The only strategy, if you can call it that, is to protect your goal as well as you can and pray that everyone else messes up more than you. Good luck. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +SPACE+ Abduction type: Melee unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 2 The aliens tend to beam in away from where the characters are, and they like to cluster. If you keep a distance from the other characters, there's a good chance that you can snap up the greenies just as they enter. Avoid big clusters, no matter how tempting they are; they invariably have someone that's about to explode. It's also best not to chase after anyone who's running away from you; there's a good chance that you'll take a hit, and you're passing up other aliens even if you don't. If you have quick hands and can get used to the aliens' unusual movements, this one's definitely winnable. Disc Duel type: Battle unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 3 The disks have a limited homing capability, so don't worry about lining up the perfect shot. As with Torpedo Pond, stay on the move constantly, and always go after the person closest to you. Launchball type: Melee/Battle unfairness: 3 CPU difficulty: 2 The physics of the launchballs will take some getting used to; a soft touch on the controller definitely helps. Your favored targets should always be the four bottommost red spaces. Don't be tempted by the other red spaces, even though they're so close; it's *really* hard to get your ball onto them (I found this out the hard way). In fact, don't go for any space that'll require you to reverse or nearly reverse your direction; it's usually a lost cause. If none of your favored spaces are open, take whatever else you can get. Don't bother knocking around the other players (even though they'll do it to you); just concentrate on staying in control and putting points on the board. Meteors type: Melee unfairness: 4 CPU difficulty: 2 The unusual movement, randomly-appearing meteors, and randomly-appearing crystals make this game an adventure. Avoid the meteors at all costs, even if you have to sacrifice a valuable crystal. Moonball type: Individual unfairness: 3 CPU difficulty: 4 The best time to swing is just *before* the ball reaches the plate. The pitcher always alternates fast and slow pitches, starting with fast; time your swings accordingly. The more to the center of the screen the ball lands, the better your timing was (and the more points you get); if you hear a fanfare, your timing was perfect. The window for getting this perfect swing is EXTREMELY tiny (hence the unfairness rating), so *really* concentrate here. The computer contingent always has at least one ace, and beating it won't be easy. Rocket Blast type: Target unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 1 Another game that works best with rapid fire or a really fast trigger finger. Aim as close to the center of the warheads as possible. Solar Soccer type: 2 on 2 unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 1 Basic strategy: stick to the baseline and play defense when you don't have a ball; rush the center and attack when you do. Always move before shooting; your momentum adds a *lot* of speed to the ball. Don't hang onto a ball for too long, because other balls bounce off you when you're loaded, and it's easy to accidentally knock one into your own goal this way. If you face a barrage of balls, snag one and block the others back (if you can) before going back on the offensive. If you're teamed with a friend, one should play "goalkeeper" while the other takes an offensive position up front. Space Junk type: Melee unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 1 Against the computer, hold the X button, fire the instant you have a junk piece lined up, then immediately hold the button again and repeat. Because your shots are so fast, you can "beat 'em to the punch" almost every time. Your movement speed will suffer, of course, but you'll be scoring so many points that this won't matter. If you have tougher competition, your best bet is to quickly run over to the piece and fire a quick shot. Wait until the last moment for big points only if you actually have the opportunity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +MEDIEVEAL+ Bell Tower Climb type: Individual unfairness: 0 CPU difficulty: 0 Self-explanatory. You don't need my help for this one. Cannon-Tac-Toe type: Battle unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 0 If the other players all fight like mad for the 2x, just make lots of regular 4-pointers and laugh your way to victory. If not, go for the 2x if you think you can make it; otherwise, pick a side of the board that's not getting a lot of action and make 4-pointers. Against the computer, just use the 2x over and over, reshooting any spaces your opponents shoot. (Shooting the ghost changes it to your color, so if you can do that as well, so much the better.) The computer players invariably attack each other so much that they hardly score any points...4-8 is typical...so beating them is less than nothing. Feudal Foozball type: 2 on 2 unfairness: 2 CPU difficulty: 2 If you have the front pole, go after every ball If you have the rear pole...go after every ball. Really, there isn't much to this; it's all reflexes, timing, and just the right amount of luck. Fool's Hockey type: Melee unfairness: 4 CPU difficulty: 4 Easily the worst Medieval mini game; I guarantee that you'll *never* get comfortable with it. Shoot it right along the wall and you can usually get it past the computer opponent. That's about the only decent strategy here, other than block and pray. Gauntlet Golf type: Individual unfairness: 3 CPU difficulty: 4 Here we have the classic "contingency" game. I.e., you want a putt that has a good chance of getting past the knight, and which, even if it doesn't, will at least get by the dragon. Make sure that big lizard's out of your way before taking the shot. If you hit the gate, *wait* until the gate rises and lowers before taking your next shot, or you'll invariably hit it again, and you're *really* in a hole (it's happened to me about six times). The computer has a keen sense of timing and will challenge you. Homerun Castle type: Individual unfairness: 2-3 CPU difficulty: 3 The best time to swing is when the ball is at exactly waist level. As with the other home run contest, use the ball's landing spot to judge the proper timing. Against the computer, expect to see 2nd place a lot. Knightmares type: Melee unfairness: 4 CPU difficulty: N/A Because everything depends on the appearances of the knights, no strategy will avail you here. Get what you can and hope for the best. Don't bother trying to steal from someone else's well; this takes way too much time (and leaves *your* well open for pilfering). Market Maul type: Target unfairness: 1 CPU difficulty: 1 See Tiki Shootout; this is essentially the same game. 4. Wish list -------------------------- 1. There's way, WAY too much randomness. There really should be some kind of control for things like tokens awarded and the number of spaces a Spring advances...if not available on the outset, then at least unlockable. And there should also be an option for the order of the mini games, so I don't have to deal with the annoyance of getting Water Balloon Splash or Fool's Hockey time after time. Check that, getting Water Balloon Splash or Fool's Hockey *at all*. And would being able to custom-design an entire board be totally cool? Since this isn't the type of game where you're supposed to be a man or have honor or play it the way it was intended or any of that garbage, I don't see any reason why full customization shouldn't be an option. 2. Way, waaaaay too many springs. 4-6 for the long board should've been plenty. Sometimes I don't *want* to get thrown ahead a random amount of spaces, and it's annoying to have to pick through a minefield of enforced advances every game. 3. Some of the mini games could definitely have used some improvement or even been thrown out together. Water Balloon Splash, for example. Who the *hell* came up with this one? And there should have also been an option for blocking out the team mini games in Fever. 4. Theater mode. It takes a while to get enough redemption tickets to buy all the mini games...I'd like the privilege of seeing the thieving ghosts get their comeuppance more than once. (Some character-related videos would also be nice.) 5. I think others will agree with me that even Namco could've come up with more than 6 characters. What about Albatross and Leila from Rolling Thunder (or even the alien boss, for that matter)? A Final Furlong jockey? Or even Jr. Pac-Man and Baby Pac-Man, if you wanted to keep it "within the family". 8 or even 12 would've been very feasible. Also, there should've been some way to get everyone in the Mini Game Cup and make it more than just a standard 4-player game that's just a little longer. 6. Minor nitpick...there should've been a completely separate option for Mini Game Cup, so there's no chance of entering with someone you don't want to enter with. Also, I don't see why Mini Game mode couldn't just have you pick the character and the computer characters be chosen at random for every game. No big deal...just something that I think would make things more convenient. BTW, I'm keeping a high score list for this game for some weird reason. Check it out on my website under Other Stuff. ================================================================================ ================================================================================ FAQ copyright 2003 by Darrell Wong (DKW 001) All rights reserved