Super Pac-Man(arcade) FAQ version 1.0.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my permission. It required a good deal of effort, and I do not look to profit off my work. However, if you ask me nicely, mentioning my name and this specific game, I will hopefully be un-lazy enough to reply to you. ** AD SPACE ** My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 ================================ ****OUTLINE**** 1. INTRODUCTION 2. CONTROLS 3. ENEMIES AND HOW THEY THINK 4. LEVEL INFO 4-1. OBJECTS, POINTS AND GENERAL SCORING 4-2. MAPS 4-3. SKITS AFTER 4-4. BONUS LEVELS 5. STRATEGIES 6. VERSIONS 7. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION Super Pac-Man is a tough sequel to Pac-Man, on the strength of Ms. Pac-Man and general Pac-Mania. Sadly it's a bit annoying to play, but it allows you to do cool stuff: make a bigger Pac-Man, enter the ghost pen, and enjoy bonus levels. There are even new skits. The addition of keys and gates makes this game feel like a bit of a maze but with the ghosts often faster than you during critical points the game is not for the faint of heart or light of pocket. 2. CONTROLS "Oh! That's easy! Just a joystick." Not so fast. It's a bit tougher than that. Pac-Man is a bit unwieldy here and although you still have just a joystick, note that there are fewer bumpers and more walls in Super Pac-Man. That means you have to be more exact with your turn-offs. You can pre-empt them, but you have to be careful. I.e. if you're running up and want to turn right, you can tap that way before. You can also wiggle Pac-Man back and forth, and he stops if he runs into a wall. You cannot turn into a wall and stop--the game assumes you are pre-empting. The nastiest thing to control is when you get the Super Pac-Man power- up. This makes you very big and in fact obscures the passages. It's best to stick to bumpers(i.e. areas without a lot of crossroads) when you flash white, unless you really need to get somewhere, as turning down the wrong passage can be tough luck for you. Especially since you go faster. So when you eat a green pill, be sure to have a short path mapped out and be sure to make your turns quick. You'll need to develop intuition since you're going to turn down the very corridors you're obscuring. One cool thing you can do is to enter the ghost pen. It's pretty risky but it's the sort of thing you have to try once. Control is slipshod and if anyone's in there you're in trouble, even if you just ate a power pill. 3. ENEMIES AND HOW THEY THINK The ghosts pretty much know where you are. They'll try to run straight for you after executing an initial pattern, which they restart if you eat them. If you die on a level they don't give you a break on the restart, though. The ghosts' algorithm isn't too bad. If you're in the direction they're goingi.e. they're getting closer to you,) they continue that way. If there's a wall blocking them, they determine which way would be closer and continue. The nice part about this is that if you're running at each other in adjacent lanes, you'll often run past each other, and this will be a great fake-out. Surprisingly this algorithm breaks down in close range and often just when it looks like things are hopeless you'll escape. Sadly the first few times you'll be so shocked you'll blunder again, but get used to having this last gasp chance. Ghosts slow down when going through 1) the side warp tunnels and 2) the row where you start out, beneath the pen. 4. LEVEL INFO 4-1. OBJECTS, POINTS AND GENERAL SCORING 10-160 points for each 'food' The foods are listed below: apple 10 banana 20 doughnut 30 hamburger 40 egg 50 corn 60 shoe 70 cake 80 peach 90(looks like cotton candy) lime? 100(green fruit) coffee 110 mushroom 120 bell 130 shamrock 140 galaxian 150 gift box 160 After level 16 everything above is worth 160 points. You get 100 points for a green pill(makes you grow big and move faster) or a yellow pill(makes monsters blink.) Both last less as you gain levels. If you eat a green pill and then a yellow, the yellow will keep you huge until it runs out. The ghosts will return to normal at the same time, too, so watch it! You get 50 points for every key you eat. You don't need to eat all keys to get through a board, but each key opens at least one gate. You get 200 for breaking down a gate that you didn't open with a key yet. The 'debris' will be left behind until you get the corresponding key for that gate. Two gates--below the top yellow power pills--don't have keys in any level. All the rest do. 200/400/800/1600/2000/5000 points for getting the star. 2000/5000 if the goodies on each side of the star match, and you tend to get 5000 if you get there earlier. I'm not clear on the logic of point scoring otherwise, but it seems that the higher your level, the more likely you are to get close to 1600. I find I get an average of 5-6K total on the non-bonus levels, 8-9K overall, and 17K on the bonus levels. 4-2. MAPS The layout is always the same, as follows below, but different keys open up different doors, and of course you have different foods each level. Borders ------- L1-2, 15-16 blue L3-6 pink L7-10 purple L11-14 green 0-f = keys x = gate z = gate you can't open with a key # = super sizer * = power pellet ~ = gate to ghosts' home(you can go in there if you want) . = dot Template: +---------------------+ |1 2| | +x+ +----x----+ +x+ | | |*| x. . . . .x |*| | | +x+ +---------+ +x+ | | 3 4 | | +z--+ +--~--+ +--z+ | | |. .| | | |. .| | | +x+ | | | | +x+ | |5 |.| | | |.| 6| +-+ | | +-----+ | | +-+ x.x x.x x.x x.x +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |7 8| |!| |9 a| | +x+ +x+-+ +-+x+ +x+ | | |.| |# .x x. #| |.| | | | | | +-+ +-+ | | | | | |.| |.| b |.| |.| | | +x+ | | +-+ | | +x+ | | |.| |.| |.| | | +x+ +x+ +x+ +x+ +x+ | | |*|c d|*| | | +x+ +----x----+ +x+ | |e x. . . . .x f| +---------------------+ Note that no two keys open up the same door and that the doors on the edges are counted as one. Also below the keys are a-o and the doors they open are A-O. Levels 1-3, 16 +---------------------+ |a b| | +A+ +----C----+ +B+ | | |*| C. . . . .D |*| | | +A+ +---------+ +B+ | | c d | | +z--+ +--~--+ +--z+ | | |. .| | | |. .| | | +E+ | | | | +F+ | |e |.| | | |.| f| +-+ | | +-----+ | | +-+ K.E E.H I.F F.K +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |g h| |!| |i j| | +G+ +H+-+ +-+I+ +J+ | | |.| |# .H I. #| |.| | | | | | +-+ +-+ | | | | | |.| |.| k |.| |.| | | +G+ | | +-+ | | +J+ | | |.| |.| |.| | | +N+ +L+ +K+ +M+ +O+ | | |*|l m|*| | | +N+ +----L----+ +O+ | |n L. . . . .M o| +---------------------+ Here, the keys are very close to the gates they open, so you won't have to run around too much to open things up. The only potentially asymmetric part is that the keys on the left open up some gates in the center. The pattern for later levels doesn't work here and in fact you may need to be careful coming up the side--for levels 1-2 you can get keys h, g, n, l, k, m, o and now you may have to fake out the red monster to get to the upper right(go left instead of up at the next branch--then double back,) after which the upper left should fall-- eating a power pill should really disorient the monsters. You can also try for the full 3000 points for eating monsters here. Near the end you can eat a green pill then loop around for a regular power pill. Then you can chase the bad guys down and frequently run past them and cut them off. For level 16 and up you'll need to be a bit more careful as the yellow ghost may make a beeline for you. In fact you may want to get h-g-e and pull back for k(wait to get the ghosts stuck) in order to make the tunnels marginally operable. Levels 4-7 +---------------------+ |a b| | +A+ +----A----+ +B+ | | |*| C. . . . .D |*| | | +A+ +---------+ +B+ | | c d | | +z--+ +--~--+ +--z+ | | |. .| | | |. .| | | +E+ | | | | +F+ | |e |.| | | |.| f| +-+ | | +-----+ | | +-+ K.G G.E F.H H.K +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |g h| |!| |i j| | +L+ +D+-+ +-+C+ +M+ | | |.| |# .H I. #| |.| | | | | | +-+ +-+ | | | | | |.| |.| k |.| |.| | | +L+ | | +-+ | | +M+ | | |.| |.| |.| | | +N+ +H+ +L+ +I+ +O+ | | |*|l m|*| | | +N+ +----K----+ +O+ | |n N. . . . .O o| +---------------------+ The keys are still pretty close to the gates they open, but the only exception is how you can't just walk right onto the green power pills. That's probably a good thing, though, as you'll want to be a bit conservative right now. h, g, n, l, m, o, j, i is a great start here. You may have to nip back quickly to avoid the pink ghost, but once you do you should be able to get f and d. Now if there are a lot of ghosts, switch to the other side and try to use the tunnels to slow the ghosts down, but otherwise you can get the UR power pill and then double back, right and up to get a ghost and another key. The disorganization should let you clear out the upper left. This pattern works for all the levels. Levels 8-11 +---------------------+ |a b| | +C+ +----E----+ +B+ | | |*| F. . . . .F |*| | | +C+ +---------+ +B+ | | c d | | +z--+ +--~--+ +--z+ | | |. .| | | |. .| | | +A+ | | | | +B+ | |e |.| | | |.| f| +-+ | | +-----+ | | +-+ K.N A.A B.B O.K +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |g h| |!| |i j| | +N+ +L+-+ +-+M+ +O+ | | |.| |# .L M. #| |.| | | | | | +-+ +-+ | | | | | |.| |.| k |.| |.| | | +N+ | | +-+ | | +O+ | | |.| |.| |.| | | +H+ +G+ +G+ +J+ +I+ | | |*|l m|*| | | +H+ +----I----+ +I+ | |n G. . . . .O o| +---------------------+ The gates and keys are even more jumbled up now, but fortunately the basic formula remains the same. For a general look(level 16+,) H opens one power pill, then N and O open the gates and you can probably get k running between them. Fortunately the same pattern works here as for 4-7 except the monsters are a bit faster at the end. The gates aren't really a factor here if you just make sure to get the corner keys and the one below where you start. Then you can warp between the left and right. You also can feel free to use a pill to clear out the upper left quadrant or the bottom/top rows of five, which become more critical as monsters go even faster with food reduced. You'll want to be as close as possible to the exits after each raid for food. Levels 12-15 +---------------------+ |a b| | +O+ +----L----+ +N+ | | |*| M. . . . .L |*| | | +L+ +---------+ +M+ | | c d | | +z--+ +--~--+ +--z+ | | |. .| | | |. .| | | +J+ | | | | +G+ | |e |.| | | |.| f| +-+ | | +-----+ | | +-+ E.J J.I H.G G.F +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ +-+ |g h| |!| |i j| | +D+ +B+-+ +-+A+ +C+ | | |.| |# .B A. #| |.| | | | | | +-+ +-+ | | | | | |.| |.| k |.| |.| | | +D+ | | +-+ | | +C+ | | |.| |.| |.| | | +E+ +C+ +I+ +D+ +F+ | | |*|l m|*| | | +B+ +----H----+ +A+ | |n O. . . . .N o| +---------------------+ This is a very nightmarish level set, and the monsters seem to act a bit randomly. My advice is to get h, l, n and g. The yellow monster will run by you, and you can probably sneak in for E. Note that you'll need four keys to operate the tunnels, which should be a high priority--waste a power pellet if necessary to get all you need, and note that e-f-g-j are near the tunnels themselves but it will be tough to flip from one side to the other. You'll also find a lot of power pellets where you must run to get them and turn around at the gate. By now power pellets will be most useful as a way to deflect oncoming ghosts or disorganize them generally. You'll only want to pick up one area/block of food each time you fake the monsters out through the tunnels or center and come back around, and it's critical to use a power pill to get the five on top/bottom. Don't worry about extra points here--it's enough to get through the level. Also don't worry too much about getting all the keys. You'll also note that the green pills can't break down too many gates-- they can't even get to the inoperable ones. Open the tunnels early, use the middle extensively, use extreme guerilla tactics, and don't chase a monster unless you're running right at it after you eat the power pill. 4-3. SKITS AFTER Skit 1 is after scene 2. R/P/B/Y chase Pac-Man to right. They freeze, and Pac-Man comes back, super-sized, flying above them to the left. Skit 2 is after scene 6. Big red monster chases Pac-Man to the left side. Pac-Man comes back bigger and chases the ghost that's now turned blue. Skit 3 is after scene 11. PR chase Pac-Man from left, BY from right. Pac-Man vanishes going right when he gets to the center. Then Y looks up, gets scared and turns blue. The others turn blue as they are crushed by a Pac-circle. Skit 4 is after scene 15. 8x4 sheet of ghosts chases after big Pac-Man. Then off screen an 8x4 armada of small pac-man returns chasing after 4 ghosts. YBPRYBPR RYBPRYBP PRYBPRYB BPRYBPRY Things cycle after level 16. 4-4. BONUS LEVELS +---------------------+ |1 XXX XXX 2| | +X+X+----x----+X+X+ | | |X|XXXXXXXXXXXXX|X| | | +X+ +---------+ +X+ | | X 3 4 X | | +X--+ +--~--+ +--X+ | | |XXX| | | |XXX| | | +x+X| | | |X+x+ | |5 |X| | | |X| 6| +-+ |X| +-----+ |X| +-+ XXX111XXXXX2XXXXXXxXXXX +-+X+-+ +-+X+-+ +-+X+-+ |7 X 8| |X| |9 X a| | +X+ +x+-+X+-+x+ +X+ | | |X| |XXXXXxXXX| |X| | | |X| |X+-+ +-+X| |X| | | |X| |X| b |X| |X| | | +X+ |X| +-+ |X| +X+ | | X |X| |3| |X| X | | +X+ +X+ +3+ +X+ +X+ | | |X|c XXXXXXXXX d|X| | | +X+ +----x----+ +X+ | |e XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX f| +---------------------+ My strategy for the bonus levels is to go left then down before the tunnel to get the first power pellet. Right and up at the power pellet. Right through the tunnel and up when I can get the next dot. Left, up and to the top edge. Right, down, right to clear out the top compartment and up, right, down to clear out the final pellet. Turn left to get another and then down. Left and then down to get the star and from here you can go left to get super sized. Down, right, up for the dead-end food, down, right, up and left, and you've cleared the bonus level. Best I can do is 6900 remaining and with all the gates I burst through as Super Pac-Man I seem to get quite a nice score in all this even if I don't steer perfectly. However I find if I preempt the controls I do OK. The diagram has your path in X and the 1/2/3 indicate where you need brief overlaps(turn down to start.) It is in fact best for your points if you don't bust side doors or try to pick up any keys. You'll nail enough doors on the way. 27 doors(200) + 6 pills(100) + 31 food + star(200+) + bonus(~6600) = (rough total) 12800 + (from 930 to 4960) + extra 5. STRATEGIES The best direct early strategy is to get all the keys when the ghosts are disorganized. As you get later this will not work and frequently you'll want to juggle back and forth by a slow area(i.e. the tunnel or center) or even run up against a wall below/above a pellet. It's possible to push towards the power pill and away and wait. You'll also want to open the keys to the tunnels, as it's very possible you'll get stuck in there. As for specific monster evasion strategies you may note that if you don't plan to get some treasures, it may be best to leave a one-way door for a bit. Also you can specify a treasure to leave for last and not worry about a one-way door onto it. Obviously running into a dead end yourself is not cool. When monsters appear to be converging on you, try to see if one goes past an intersection. The yellow one especially tends to avoid you. To sucker more monsters into the tunnel, waver by it and wait for them to come in. Then quickly make your move. There aren't many bunkers where you can fake monsters out, but if there's a long wall between the two of you, you may want to try the following: u ------- --- --- |m| If (u) you want to avoid the monster(m) then go the way you don't intend and then double back. It'll 'follow' you and lose serious time. On harder levels you must CONSTANTLY look for the warp tunnels at the side if you don't have a power pill. Even the yellow guy(speed is red > pink > blue > yellow) can catch up to you if he stays on track. You'll want to bag at least two monsters and make sure the others are confused. Follow monsters but also keep an eye on if they pause and shake--this is usually a blessing(you can run past them) if not for long(they get faster. It seems to be a function of time) and note that they will turn off if they sense they are going at a right angle to you. Bad guys will generally keep going the direction they were in if there's no reason to do otherwise. They don't make 180's although they can be goaded back into the pen. So if you are below and to the right of a bad guy, and he is headed right, he'll keep going right even if you're more below than right. If you position yourself above a top power pill, monsters may circle around below until you make your move, and you may not want to until they are near heading back up towards you(on the right--they seem to go clockwise) or moving left(on the left.) End of FAQ proper ================================ 6. VERSIONS 1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQs 7/23/2003 functionally complete with all maps covered 7. CREDITS --mame.net for allowing me to cheat(freeze enemies, learn strategies) --Thanks to bloomer, daremo, falsehead, RetroFreak, Snow Dragon, etc. and others I like to talk to on AIM and also to ZoopSoul whose joint FAQ I delayed a bit to put this one out :P--although it inspired me in other ways.