*********************************************************************** * * * TETRIS BUTOU GAIDEN * * AKA Tetris Battle Gaiden * * * * FAQ v. 1.1 * * By Hiryuu (Troy J. Chastain) * * hiryuu_shoten_ha (at) yahoo.com * * * *********************************************************************** Legal disclaimer: Since I've taken the time to write this and make my own credit for this, I would appreciate it if it stayed that way unless otherwise noted. I've only allowed submission of this document on the following website(s): http://www.gamefaqs.com Anyone that needs to ask a question or give information that could contribute to this FAQ should consider e-mailing me at the e-mail address listed above. Now that you're done with the legal mumbo-jumbo, how about we learn the game, ya? *********************************************************************** ======== CONTENTS ======== For easy navigation, copy the line (minus the dashes in section 4) for the section you want. Then hit CTRL+F, CTRL+V and hit ENTER. This should bring you to the section you want. 1) ABOUT THE GAME 2) STARTING UP 3) BASIC GAMEPLAY 4) CHARACTER BIOS - a) HALLOWEEN - b) MIRURUN - c) SHAMAN - d) ALADDIN - e) PRINCESS - f) BIT - g) NINJA - h) WOLFMAN 5) SECRETS - a) DRAGON - b) QUEEN 6) CLOSING *********************************************************************** 1) ABOUT THE GAME ----------------- TETRIS BUTOU GAIDEN, which is known by more as Tetris Battle Gaiden, is a Japan-Only SFC/SNES game released in 1993. The main gimmick of this game in comparison to any of the Tetris games that are currently on the market is that this one sports a 'magic' system and characters to play as. You can choose between up to 10 characters to do battle with each other or a story mode, each with their own set of attacks or defense that are given by clearing lines with 'crystals' added in. The game play, for the most part, is nearly identical to that of the traditional Tetris that many have known for ages. This addition factors in a LOT (and I do mean a LOT) of strategic additions and a heck of a lot of reasons for human players to butt heads than just your simple battle Tetris. You'll find that this game is, indeed, in Japanese – a large turnoff to most people. I couldn't even begin to tell you what the Story Mode comprises of for a storyline that this game has which could, for some reason, be a turn off for some. That is a task left to a translator. A large reason that this title stays in ambiguity is BECAUSE it is primarily in Japanese. For the most part, however, you do not need to worry about being about to read that language to play this game. It is a very basic and easy game to pick up. After reading even the basics of what does what in this guide, you should be able to pick this up in no time. *********************************************************************** 2) STARTING UP -------------- Upon loading the game, you'll be taken to the BPS screen, a copyright and credit screen and then the title screen itself. You'll have a bunny-like cursor to choose which mode you wish to play. The modes listed on the bottom right are roughly: STORY MODE BATTLE MODE OPTIONS This is the order they are in from top to bottom. Choose what you wish by highlighting the option and pressing the A button. //////////// -STORY MODE- //////////// Story Mode allows you to pick one of the default eight characters and play their story by means of elimination of the other seven that exist in the 'world' that is shown upon selecting a character in the character select screen after the book opens up. After the book opens, choose a character by scrolling up or down with the directional pad on your controller to choose. Though you likely won't be able to decrypt it, the list shows the eight characters on the left page and then the highlighted character on the right with a list of 'spells' that each characters possesses, labeled 1 through 4. Every character has four spells that are different for each character and will be described later on for each character in particular. Highlight the character you wish and confirm with the A button. You can also choose to back out with the B button to the title screen. This mode will play through each character's 'story' and will pit your character against everyone else. The games play out similar to the Tetris games you've likely played in the past. The first to get two wins takes the match. At the end of beating all the characters and bosses, you have your ending. This is likely a good mode to start in for people not used to the game's concept. Beat these opponents to learn your character more and become familiar with each opponent in terms of their attack and defense styles. You may learn that there's a character you like better than the one you have chosen. I'll go into detail for game play in the next section. /////////// BATTLE MODE /////////// In this mode, human players do battle with their favorite characters and duke it out until one is left standing. Afterwards, you may choose to start again with new characters or quit the match. Like Story Mode, the person that gets two wins is the victor of the match. You can freely choose to change either player's handicap by using the OPTIONS selection on the title screen to further configure your matches to better suit your mood. By default, each player is able to select the eight characters that you can access in Story Mode. However, there is a way to go beyond those eight... /////// OPTIONS /////// This mode allows you to configure settings as you wish for a 1P or 2P game. I'll go over as much as I have figured out in the experience I've had with the game. From top to bottom: SPEED CHANGE: On/Off This option can be turned on or off. It is ON by default. This causes the pieces that drop on either player's screen to slowly fall faster and faster as the game progresses. Since the game works without you freely choosing your speed unless you are in this mode, you'll need to tell the OPTIONS what you want ahead of time. This is valid in both 1P and 2P mode. CRYSTAL: 1/A number (00-07) This option determines the dispersion rate of the crystals that are given off per piece over a set period. In layman's terms, if a Crystal Dispersion Rate is 1/05 (like default) then every 1 out of 5 pieces, taken from the center, will have a crystal in it. If it is 1/3, it is one out of three. Yes, this means you can make the game give 100% crystals at 1/1. A setting of 1/0 eliminates crystals altogether. Modify this setting if you want to make it a more difficult or easy to gather crystals at any given match. This is valid in both 1P and 2P mode. COM LEVEL: Easy/Normal/Hard/Expert Adjusts the game play of the CPU to match your game play style in Story Mode. By default, this is left at Easy. This is valid only in 1P mode. GAME MODE: Tetris/Battlis/Rensa Adjusts game styles that can be used within the game. This is valid in both 1P and 2P mode. See the description below for details: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tetris: If you've played the game, you know how it works. This is the standard Tetris game played without any crystals or tricks or gimmicks meant to be thrown in by the game. This is played if you just want to kick back with the classic style of the game. By using this mode, you will disable most of the features used here in the OPTIONS menu (revolving around crystal features). Battliss: This is the intended mode of play for the game shown. This is the same Tetris game play with crystals allowed in game. These crystals can be used to activate 'spells' by characters throughout the game. Probably the game you'll want to play most of all. Rensa: RENSA mode is Tetris but a little different and slightly complex to explain. Upon placing pieces, you may not see what the difference is until you start getting some holes in your structure. In normal Tetris, when you get a line, the holes are left there. This is sort of like Puyo Puyo, if you're familiar with the game. In RENSA mode, however, when you create a line the holes fill themselves in with blocks from above. This means you can –chain- lines cleared and unleash devastating amounts of lines on the opponent if you have a large enough cleared. With crystals, however, a crystal will STAY in the exact place that it was placed even after a RENSA chain is made with a line clear. Any blocks above said crystal will ALSO stay. This mode is probably best if both you and the second player or the CPU want to go at it in a different style than you're used to, though you may burn yourself out quickly. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BACK GROUND: Various options and 2P BG. This allows you to freely choose what background and music you want displayed in playing a game. You may choose any character's particular graphic (aside from characters not listed by default) or have it fall on 2P's shoes that it will be based on by the character they have selected (or alternatively how the CPU is anyways by default). Whatever they choose is the background that will be played. No, there isn't a 1P option. This is probably a thumbs-up for being a 2P person if you want a small victory. This is valid only in 2P mode. 1 or 2 PLAYER SPEED / POWER: 00-07, 01-05 respectively. 1P or 2P stats can be modified for handicap or play purposes. If this is a 1P story mode game, the 2P stats are NOT modified but rather reflect the same as the 1P stats. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Speed: This number can be modified between 00 (Slow) and 07 (Fast) and determines of how fast you want the pieces to fall outside of holding the down key. This is 00 by default. Power: This number, between 01 and 05, determines the number of crystals necessary to perform a spell in any particular level. For instance, this is left at 1 by default so if you wanted to do a level 1 attack it would follow the formula: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Power x Level = Crystals needed ~ +(Level – 1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The tilde (~) indicates variance or the fact that you may have a range in some case of crystals you can have. Anything excess will NOT be left over. You are set back to 0 after using a spell. So... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) x (1) = (1) ~ +(0) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You would need –1- crystal to perform this move and nothing but. A level-1 spell takes 1 crystal. Not hard. In the case of default, basically all you need to worry about is that every crystal you have determines what level spell you'll use by pressing the up key. You'll likely never have to worry otherwise. Of course, there's always a time that it might not be this way. Now, let's say that you had your Power set to 4 and you needed to do a level-3 spell. How would you go about knowing what the heck you needed in terms of crystals? Well, aside from the BOUNCING ARROW that is shown on either playing field indicating the max needed for any spell level with a BOUNCING PURPLE ARROW that expresses the max level you can obtain, you'll be scratching your head without this formula. That said... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P x L = CN ~ +(L-1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (4) x (3) = (12) ~ +(3) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 12-15 crystals needed to perform this spell under these conditions. You would need 12 with a range of up to 15 crystals, since 16 would be a level-4 spell INSTEAD of a level-3. If you had 11, it would be a level-2 spell. You will NOT have crystals left over if you choose to do this, however. This established, the minimum amount necessary to perform a level-4 spell is 4; the maximum is 20. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BGM/SE/STEREO: Allows sound test features to view every sound and music in the game. Press the A button in order to listen to any given sound or music. The default option is STEREO on the bottom option but can be changed to MONO by scrolling right. AFTER ALL OF THESE OPTIONS ARE SET UP TO YOUR LIKING... Press the START button to confirm your settings. You will be brought back to the title screen and you may then do battle accordingly. *********************************************************************** 3) BASIC GAMEPLAY ----------------- When you play Tetris, your main objective is to make sure that you do not reach the top, given any circumstance. That is basically it. Based on placement of the blocks given and clearing lines by creating a row of blocks all the way across will yield the results of long plays based on many, MANY game plays. You may play this game your whole life and still not become quite a master at something so relatively basic. On the game field, 1P is in the left box, 2P in the right. The game plays both simultaneously until one puts a block that goes over the top line. The opposite player scores a point. After two points, best out of three, the winner is awarded. In story mode, this would mean that you go to the next character to beat unless you've beaten the boss at the end...then hurrah! You've beaten Story Mode. Hopefully it's a human player you're beating. It's more fun that way. Anyways, blocks play out similarly to Tetris: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LEFT/RIGHT: Moves piece left or right on the screen. Holding the direction button allows the piece to scroll all the way to the given side based on how long you hold the key. You can also choose to tap the key for more precise movements. DOWN: Hurries the fall of a piece. The longer you hold the down key, the longer the piece will fall. You may also choose to release the down key during fall, if necessary. A/B: Rotates the piece clockwise or counter-clockwise, respectively. Holding will not cause continuous rotations. UP: This is specially used for crystal spells. Upon pressing up, BOTH players will lose the piece that they had and the particular spell, based on the formula mentioned earlier, will be used. Game play will resume shortly afterwards, sometimes with an extended effect on either or both users depending on the spell. There are special skills that do NOT cause both pieces to be lost as well. The other buttons, especially L and R, are not used by default. However, there may be cases where X and Y are used. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ///////////// BASIC TACTICS ///////////// Clearing lines, which is done by making a SOLID line of blocks WITHOUT holes from left to right on a screen, will lessen your load by one level and will give the opponent a line at the bottom with a hole in it, causing their stack to rise. You will also be able to collect any yellow 'crystals' that may be included in lines cleared. These crystals will then be shown on your respective players side in a gauge that scrolls up your side of the screen. If you need to keep count of what you have, refer to that. You may clear multiple lines at once provided that you set up a scenario where multiple line clears are possible. This will send MORE lines of garbage to your opponent and clear your rows faster. Knowing how to clear singles, doubles, triples and Tetris (4, the supposed maximum) are key steps in getting better at this game, generally. You may only clear –4- lines at a time. However, you can chain up more in a RENSA MODE, let's say, than 4 at any given moment but the program likes to work in such a way that it takes steps to clear over said amount. This situation should never happen unless it is otherwise set up by a crystal spell. A maximum of 10 lines of garbage is shown on the screen but more can be given. There are also special blocks called bricks. These appear in spell attacks and take TWO line-clears to get cleared completely. Keep this in mind if you see something like this. The center of the screen shows the piece box that simultaneously gives out pieces to both players and only one at a time. If a player is fast enough, they can manipulate what pieces they get. Say if they needed a piece that had a crystal in it or a 'stick' (a 4-piece straight line) they could rush or wait out the opponent and time grabbing the piece. The next three pieces are shown here. Directly below this box, denoted by smiley faces, is the amount of how many games either side has won (red vs. blue). The top of the play field denotes the –current- piece about to fall. The bottom of the play field on either player's side, in Japanese text, will denote the current crystal spell that can be used (or is sometimes IN use). Pressing the START button at any time will PAUSE the game and show a scene with the current characters battling it out and some text. Unless you read Japanese, don't bother decrypting it. Two smiling faces equal the match. Once a winner is declared, you will need to press the A button to confirm either yes or no (Left or Right) in cases of player-versus-player matches if you wish to continue or not. In Story Mode plays, you will just get a victory screen which you can press the A button to cycle through. That is basically it...but wouldn't you want to know just what these characters could do? Keep in mind that the above can be manipulated based on crystal spell attacks. For instance, clearing lines to be sent to the opponent may just end up reflecting damage back at you, be ineffective or even take lines OFF OF THEM...be wary. *********************************************************************** 4) CHARACTER BIOS ----------------- This will detail all of the characters' abilities that are available by pressing the UP key in battle. Recall that you need the NECESSARY CRYSTALS to perform these attacks. If you don't, you're out of luck until you have the opportunity. The spell you need cannot be manipulated past the number of crystals you currently have. If you have enough crystals for a level-3 spell but want a level-2 spell, you're out of luck there as well until you reset to 0 after spell use and go up the ladder again. Also keep in mind that when you use these attacks you will USUALLY forfeit the piece you have as well and so will the opponent. You may choose to time this in order to get a specific piece coming up as a tactic. There ARE specific names for these spells in Japanese but I don't know their exact names given my lack of the Japanese language so I will substitute names for descriptions that sound good enough. Anyways, let's start chipping away at these guys and gals... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ========================== a) HALLOWEEN (Pumpkin head) ========================== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Causes the bottom three rows of your structure to become full lines. In this case, crystal pieces are destroyed and brick pieces are NOT changed. + Pro: It's a quick and simple move that requires very little to make. This can be an easy attack and defense move, considering that it clears three lines for you at any given time and gives at least three lines of damage to the opponent. - Con: If you have any crystals that you wanted down there, kiss them goodbye. This move clears them out completely. Also, this does not take care of bricks completely. It will only fill in holes and attack once but you will still get your 3-line damage. +++ LEVEL-2: Causes the opponent's screen to be turned dark except for a small light that shines directly from the piece that they are trying to place. This move lasts three of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: A decent move to confuse and slow down the opponent. Unless they have accurate memorization of the current play field (some opponents are that good) this will likely take some kick out of their assault for a short while. - Con: Honestly, it's really not that much of a move and worse it can be negated by other moves. After you've been against the attack, a large amount of the time you're used to the concept and it's not too hard to deal with. +++ LEVEL-3: Causes the screen to go foggy and bats to fly out and steal any orbs that are on the opponent's side of the field. + Pro: Honestly, if timed right, this can be a –very mean- move. A perfect set for this is having the opponent think they are about to claim a decisive shot by using a LEVEL-4 spell against you and then you use this move. Not only does it completely eradicate their supply of crystals but it also sets you up for the LEVEL-4 spell that HALLOWEEN has. - Con: If you don't look and randomly use this, it's a waste. Literally. If there are no orbs to steal, bats will come out and then run away. If you aren't in it for the need of crystals, don't bother. +++ LEVEL-4: Devastates the opponent's playfield with explosions and causes major holes to their current structure. + Pro: Considering the follow-up I mentioned, this is just icing on the cake. Usually this isn't an easy move to bounce back from, especially if the opponent is high up on the play field. They'll usually need some sort of crystal spell to help themselves out of this and by then you'll probably be working on piling up lines to knock them down. - Con: Nothing too apparent. If the opponents have magic to get themselves out of it, don't expect to revel in your destruction for too long. There are simple ways around this move. -Overall- 7/10 – A good, average player with some nice, low-level spells that will keep most new people happy but not a whole lot else. Not exactly a one-trick pony but nothing spectacular either. =========================== b) MIRURUN (Electric Bunny) =========================== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Stomps the ground that causes the player's structure to crumble four levels. + Pro: If you're in heat about position, this is an easy and quick fix. Stack a few of these level 1s up and you'll be back towards the bottom if you're sweating from being too high. - Con: The only problem with losing lines like this is that you also lose anything you may set up in terms of crystals and potential lines. Be sparing about this unless you absolutely don't care and want to use this move with reckless abandon. +++ LEVEL-2: Inverts controls to where the opponent must move their pieces by a set key pattern. The effect of this attack lasts for three-piece drops. RIGHT: Rotate piece clockwise. UP: Rotate piece counter-clockwise A: Moves piece left. B: Allows crystal spell, if available. X: Moves piece down. Y: Moves piece right. DOWN/LEFT: Not used. + Pro: Honestly, there aren't a lot of drawbacks from using this move. If the opponent were high up, this would be akin for going for the jugular. It's a very difficult move to overcome. Pull this on someone constantly that has just started and they won't be your friend. - Con: Unless you go against someone who knows the above key pattern by heart, there really aren't many cons about this move but timing does have a factor in this...be sure to use this when you know it will hurt. +++ LEVEL-3: MIRURUN hops front and center to pounce on a hammer block three times. He jumps for one...two...FIVE lines of garbage damage against the opponent. + Pro: Nail in the coffin, sometimes. A move that assures five lines of damage topped off with whatever you have in store? Can't really complain too much. - Con: Don't be trigger happy with it. If this move is used too early, the opponent will have an opening for five lines of open-holed damage, which can result in a Tetris or more back in your face. Use it wisely. +++ LEVEL-4: Reverses block and hole formation on the opponent's playfield based on a few things: First, if the opponent is up to a said number of lines, the effect will only work with that much of the playfield. If they're 1 line high, it'll only affect that one line's area. Second, if there is a hole there will now be a block, if there is a block there will now be a hole. Third, if there is a crystal, there will still be a crystal after this attack takes place. + Pro: About as effective as HALLOWEEN's Level-4 blast, maybe better in some aspects. - Con: Based on the amount of space and the way the opponent has their blocks arranged it may not even hurt them that much, if at all. Sometimes it might just help them. Be careful using this. -Overall- 7/10 – Although he has some solid uses of pushing the opponent around, especially with his Level-2 attack, there really aren't many more things you can do with him aside from structure management. His level- 4 attack has much to be desired, honestly, in comparison to some of the other ones available and there aren't any real strategic follow-ups with him as well. I'm not too big of a fan of using him. ================================= c) SHAMAN (Witch Doctor/Tiki Guy) ================================= -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: As if parting the Red Sea, the user's playing field is split in half and shifted either way by two block's length. Other blocks will also fall as if in RENSA mode and will create a hole-less side unless blocked by a crystal. If a crystal is present, anything below said crystal would fall and order up. Anything above the crystal will stay there. + Pro: A very good move at usually any time. Stack this at least three times and you clear the board. This will easily make your games last longer, EVEN IF you are limited by POWER and CRYSTAL constraints in competitive play. - Con: Aside from the crystal problem on the divided there isn't that much of a problem. If you had anything set up or crystals being saved on the edges prior to this move, kiss them goodbye. +++ LEVEL-2: Causes the opponent's pieces to psycho-spin if DOWN is pressed to heighten their fall. Additionally, the spinning for turns with A and B has no stop upon holding the button and is VERY touchy. The effect lasts through three of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: Slows the opponent down, no doubt. Irritates the heck out of n00bs who can't tell how they'll get their pieces to stop. - Con: Honestly, if you push the pieces down in such a way that you stop just before the bottom to where you can somehow maneuver the piece around in the way you want it you can overcome this. Otherwise, wait it out. While the opponent is using this move, you cannot use another until they are done. +++ LEVEL-3: Calls up a curse on the opponent's side to send BRICK line damage. A minimum of 5 brick lines are sent per drop and MORE are sent if the player adds on during the curse. The effect lasts five of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: Stacking this is just asking for the opponent's demise. Unless the opponent consistently clears his or her field by use of their own spell attacks, they won't survive this for long. - Con: Considering it's a L3 spell, it takes time to get it that far up there. You cannot use another spell while this is in play, as well. +++ LEVEL-4: Calls up a thunderstorm that randomly selects a LEVEL-4 spell attack FROM SOMEONE ELSE'S listing. + Pro: Never the same and a good way to get several, sometimes very nasty, attacks in. - Con: Some of the LEVEL-4s out there just aren't worth it and you don't get free pickings on what does what. -Overall- 9/10 – Honestly, I can't find too many problems with him. He can be used for endurance with level-1 and he can be used to annihilate the opponent for successive uses of level-3 and 4 attacks. Considering his level-4 is a wild card use more than anything he doesn't get a completely perfect score, but he's VERY powerful as a player nonetheless. If you have two of these people going at it, it'll likely be a long fight. ========== d) ALADDIN ========== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Jacks up the opponents playfield in the air by two levels and then takes the bottom two lines that you have on your field and hammers them over to their side. + Pro: A quick way to do some damage, especially if your structure is currently not too great or covered with bricks, and recover. - Con: It's really only two lines, not exactly a lot of help. +++ LEVEL-2: Creates a wall of energy that doesn't allow enemy garbage through after they clear lines. Lasts seven of your own piece drops. + Pro: Since the effect lasts a nice amount of time, it does allow you to bounce back, especially if the opponent is ready to send you a lot of garbage. - Con: Only works with lines sent. Take Al's Level-1 attack, for instance; if he sends that at you when you're using this Level-2 defense, it will still work. Not a lot of help outside of that. It would do well to stop a Curse from doing too much from SHAMAN but this defense is really limited. +++ LEVEL-3: Faxes the current image of the player's field over to the opponent to make it the exact same as yours. + Pro: A decent way to have revenge if the opponent is currently winning and you're about to hit the wall. - Con: Two things I can think of and one of them is timing. If you fax a nearly empty playfield over to the opponent it will likely HELP them NOT hurt them. The second thing is that even if you sent a really devastating image over it may just be turned right around by a spell from the opponent and since you'd be left with no crystals and you should be high up this may end up making you lose. A risky gamble, really. +++ LEVEL-4: Takes control of the opponent for two of the opponent's piece drops and manipulates their pieces however they want on the playfield. Your pieces also move while this happens. + Pro: A death-move if it is done right. If the opponent is high up and has been stubborn to lose, you can do this and they will not have a choice of losing. You can line the pieces so that they automatically go over. A cheap end, sure, but it's an end. - Con: It's only two pieces. If you do it any sooner it really won't make much of a difference. Timing is everything here. -Overall- 5/10 – Honestly, Al is lacking. Aside from his cheapskate level-4 move that can make the game the rest of his spells are really not that good and can be done better by other players. I'd really consider avoiding him if at all possible. I guess this would be okay if you're looking to handicap yourself a bit against new players but considering how technical you have to be with timing it becomes a bit of a pain for ease of use. =========== e) PRINCESS =========== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Calls up a 3-block wide laser to completely clear a line off the playfield which can be manipulate with the directional pad and confirmed by the A button. You have three seconds to position yourself otherwise it will fire wherever the cursor is. + Pro: A solid way to gain back some ground if you're tight on being up high, especially if you have certain areas that are full of holes that you would like to fix. Four of these would literally clear the field. - Con: Three seconds, three columns. That's about it. +++ LEVEL-2: Creates a reflective barrier silently to impede oncoming spell attacks and defense. This attack DOES NOT cause the opponent to lose their piece but it DOES cause the user to lose theirs silently. This effect lasts –10- of your OWN piece drops and at any time should the opponent use an attack or defense crystal spell it will reflect onto them if it's an attack or onto her if it's a defense spell. Basically the exact opposite of what the opponent wants. After the reflection is triggered, you lose it. + Pro: If the opponent isn't watching and/or doesn't know 'what to expect out of a girl' this can end up being their fatal downfall, especially if it's a move like NINJA's level-4 or anything else that is meant to devastate someone when the opponent is near their end. It's akin to putting their nail in their own coffin. I've literally made a few people quit the game over doing this move because they sincerely didn't understand what the heck happened. It's a very good move to say the least. - Con: While the effect lasts, you're restricted from using any other spell attacks/defense; you must wait 10 turns or until it is triggered to use whatever stock you gain after activating this move. If your opponent is wary of the situation, which is denoted by you not having any crystals, usually, and/or the Japanese text that signals that you have this in effect or could have this in effect...you may end up not getting a reaction out of them at all. Most trained souls are wary of this move from Princess. That's not to say you couldn't stalemate spells during game play by continuously using this move but it does limit yourself if you decide to do that. +++ LEVEL-3: Casts a spell that paralyzes the opponent's playfield; any rotation attempted will not work. The opponent must place their pieces the way they come out from the top. This effect lasts three of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: A good way to stop the opponent from attempting the Tetris they so want to do among other things. - Con: For a level-3, it's really not all that useful. The key thing to note here is that timing is a helper in this. If the opponent is ready to do something and you have a lot of S or Z pieces coming, for instance, you may want to incorporate this move. Just in a window that allows a decent use of it...otherwise it's not worth your time. +++ LEVEL-4: A copy machine brushes over the opponent's playfield. A piece of paper that looks exactly like said playfield is then inserted into the player's playfield. + Pro: If you're in trouble and the opponent is looking to do some damage with their structure, this is a very good move that will save many. Even if their structure isn't that great, it is usually better than when you're about to die. - Con: Timing issue. If the opponent is ready to go and you use this dumbly, you'll end up eating it usually. Many people that aren't ready to use this move use it at random to see what it does and it ends up screwing them over. It's a double-edged sword. -Overall- 8/10 – My opinion of her over the years has grown rather nicely. I didn't used to think much of her until I started playing with her competitively and figured out the use of her level-2 defense spell in conjunctions with game play. That right there is enough to really make her a solid player if you're used to using her. She's not really a character you can use if you're new to the game, because she does have some things about her that most n00bs wouldn't understand, but it is a character that can grow on you if you know how to use her. ========================= f) BIT (The five dwarves) ========================= +++ LEVEL-1: Drops nine stars in random locations on the player's field. If the star falls inside of a hole and not on the very top of your structure, the line space that it lands in will clear. This does not send garbage your opponent's way. + Pro: At best, this can clear nine lines of your field. That's not something to shake a stick at. This especially helps if you have a lot of garbage and holes in your playfield; this move tends to even that out. - Con: Since the stars fall at random, they generally ricochet off the top more often than not in a lot of player situations. If your top has only one hole or so, this move won't help out a whole lot if at all. +++ LEVEL-2: Causes the playfield to turn LUCKY 7 - whatever piece that was used last on the player's side that activated this (i.e. the piece sacrificed to do this) will cycle through the center piece dispenser, which is currently covered. This effect lasts until 7 pieces are placed from both the user and the opponent. Afterwards, there will be 3 of the same piece in the center dispenser, now uncovered, for a grand total of 10. + Pro: A great way to get some lines if you have some damage you want to give your opponent via 'stick'-death (or 4-piece line blocks). - Con: This affects both playfields so anything you get your opponent gets. Honestly, the only thing this spell usually amounts to is a diversion. Additionally, you have to wait for seven piece drops to do anything else. +++ LEVEL-3: Hires thieves to steal ALL crystals from the opponent's side of the field. Anything stolen goes directly to your gauge. + Pro: If the opponent has a lot of crystals they wanted to use and you perform this move, it will usually not make them very happy, especially since this tends to set people up for a level-4 move. If you have a lot of crystals you find and the POWER in the OPTIONS is set high, this also helps in play considering that anything you do steal the opponent wouldn't get and now has to wait a lot longer to get to that point. If crystal dispersion rate is high, you'll get a lot more that much faster. - Con: Though this move generally has a lot of potential and it halts the progress somewhat of the opponent, it doesn't do much more. Even if set up to where you get a lot of crystals, it may just put you back at square one or worse. If you don't get any crystals, this move is a waste. +++ LEVEL-4: Mambo, anyone? Stops game play for a second to randomize the opponent's playfield up and down. This is not based on any piece amount and can generate more or less than what you started with but usually fills the side with a lot of holes. + Pro: If this is a follow-up to a level-3, it's pretty much kicking them when they're down. Even aside from L3, there's a lot of kick in this move. - Con: Careful on using this – you may end up giving lines by using this move. Say that HALLOWEEN uses his L1 spell that changes the bottom three to lines and you perform this move...this attack may help that out even greater instead of getting rid of it (which this is sometimes used to negate said spell). I've seen times where a three- line was turned into a four-line help because of this and I have also seen random lines created from nothing by using this. Though it generally doesn't happen, be wary of it. -Overall- 4/10 – Not enthused about using them in default play. They're better outside of it and even then they're more or less a sub-par for the player. Unless you're there just to annoy the heck out of the opponent by using him, there really isn't that much that these guys can do. ======== g) NINJA ======== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Causes own field's structure to shift all the way to the left, pushing the holes in with them. All holes are moved to the right. Crystal pieces are moved to their respective positions from the left minus said holes. + Pro: A skilled Tetris-player's dream. Even if you're new to the game and are really hyped on using 'stick'-deaths in your arsenal, this move is just for you. If you keep it to where there is one hole in every line that you have in your structure, you will end up having a straight line open for stick pieces on the very right, which most players recommend having anyways in the game. - Con: If you have more than a single hole, this won't really help you out that much. If your playfield has been devastated, this may only make it worse in certain cases. +++ LEVEL-2: Causes the opponent's pieces that fall to be different than what was intended. This attack lasts for four of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: Definitely good at slowing opponents down that rely on what's coming to help them on their progress...especially if they wanted a line. Anything that comes from the center will not be what they get. - Con: Honestly, it's not a major help for just four piece drops. Unless they're high up, this won't do much for you. +++ LEVEL-3: NINJA shoots a web on the opponent's field. Any lines cleared on the opponent's side during the time this is up will cause the stack to stay in the air as it was EVEN THOUGH the line has been cleared, causing holes in the structure. This attack lasts six of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: A good way to harm the opponent's structure. While they're like this, you should pile on the garbage blocks, since this effect doesn't negate any incoming garbage blocks – it only stops loss of structure level. - Con: While this move is in play, you cannot use any successive attacks or defenses of your own until the opponent has dropped six pieces. This is increasingly notable to understand if you're in a situation where you're about to lose and you attempt this attack. It won't help you if the opponent isn't that high up AND you run the risk of losing by not having access to your crystals. +++ LEVEL-4: Causes Medusa to come turn the opponent's structure into bricks, which take TWO line clears to erase. Any crystals that are there remain the same but leave holes when cleared only once. + Pro: Usually a devastating move, especially if the opponent is high and has a lot of holes. This move can easily be the decisive one. - Con: All about timing. If your opponent's structure looks like he's ready to draw stick-death at you, using this move could actually harm YOU. In fact, his L3 spell is better than this to negate it. Take for instance NINJA's L1 attack. If an opponent uses that and has a large stack and you attempt that attack, you'll likely end up helping them because they're given twice as many opportunities to create Tetris now. This also means that if there were any stale lines that haven't cleared yet (see HALLOWEEN's L1 attack) this move would allow them to clear TWICE, causing double damage to you. Don't forget that this move can be reflected. That Princess thing I mentioned? Yea. This is the exact reason why people quit, perhaps permanently. Keep your eyes open BEFORE you use this move. -Overall- 8/10 – Solid character and a very easy one to start with when you're first starting out. Those of you that are more used to Tetris than anything else will likely enjoy the heck out of this character if not for his L1 move. All-around he is very much a winner. ======================== h) WOLFMAN (the samurai) ======================== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Calls a swordsman to slice through the top four lines with a katana. Said severed four lines peel off the screen. If there are less than four lines in a player's structure, the playfield is cleared. + Pro: Simple and quick move to get your bearings straight if you're in trouble. - Con: Like so many of these moves, if you had something that you wanted in terms of structures or crystals you will lose them by doing this move. +++ LEVEL-2: Causes the opponent's down button to stop working for three of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: HEAVILY slows down the opponent. If the person you're going up against is a pro and relies on speed as a tactic, you'll enjoy using this on them. If they're near the top and you want a way to seal the deal with a lot of garbage, use this to slow them down when they probably don't want to be. This is also good for forcing pieces into the opponent's throat, since they have no control over their descent speed while this is in effect. - Con: You cannot use other attacks while this move is being used. If the speed has already begun to climb in long battles, using this move won't really help all that much. +++ LEVEL-3: If you wanted to be all Mortal Kombat about it – FRIENDSHIP!! ~ Basically, this attack causes the opponent's garbage to LOWER your own stack by how many lines they have sent. The inverse of this does not happen. The opponent can take on more garbage lines in their stack while this is in effect. This attack stays around for seven turns based on the opponent's drops. + Pro: A good move for getting yourself lowered on the screen, especially if the opponent is trigger-happy with Tetris attacks. - Con: Easy to avoid. If the opponent does nothing for line clears in the seven turns they have while this is in effect, it becomes pretty much useless. +++ LEVEL-4: Causes RENSA mode by freezing the player's field. On line clears, blocks on top fill in line holes. The crystal pieces that are on the field maintain their position AND hold up any blocks directly above them. This effect lasts four of your own piece drops. + Pro: You can literally reach the 10-line maximum in one move of this by sending that many garbage blocks against them and perhaps even more than 10 because of the lag of having to take every 4, wait, every 4, wait, etc. I've literally had places where I was in trouble of losing, grabbed this attack and cleared 12 lines at once, annihilating the opponent. This is very much a come-from-behind move. - Con: Doesn't do much if your stack is low and considering that the crystal pieces that are there cause your stack to remain the same above said piece, this might end up hurting you if you're in a game that has a high crystal dispersion rate or if you have a lot on your field. Additionally, if you ARE in RENSA mode this attack, obviously, does absolutely nothing. -Overall- 9/10 – Honestly a VERY good player. If you're outside of RENSA mode and know how to use him effectively, the results can be fatal for the opponent with his L4 attack. Even his other spells help out tons in any given situation. There are really not a lot of drawbacks for using him unless you're not familiar with how to use him effectively. Even still, his L1 attacks being used over and over can easily keep you in the game. *********************************************************************** 5) SECRETS In Story Mode, you'll eventually have to do battle against DRAGON and QUEEN in that order to beat the game after you've defeated the other seven characters that are in the default selection. Though you can't play as either of these characters in 1P Story Mode, you CAN however play as them in 2P Battle Mode. At the initial load-up, you'll have your BPS screen. The next screen is the 1993 copyright screen. ON THIS SCREEN, input the following code: B, B, X, X, A, Y, A, Y, up, left. If you've done it correctly, the text will turn dark blue. In my experience of using this, it's usually good to wait a moment to where the screen lights up to show the copyright info and then immediately input the code but not too fast (about a rate of three keys a second). If you don't do it at a certain speed and timing it usually doesn't cause the screen color to change. It's very fickle about it for whatever reason. That's part one of it. The second part is choosing the character in question that you want. When you go into battle mode, you'll only see 8 characters to choose from. Choose any particular one that you want to 'fake' and then wait for the opponent to input his or her own. When the versus (VS.) icon comes into the center, hold either of the following until the screen blacks out to become either the DRAGON or the QUEEN: L+A: DRAGON R+A: QUEEN You can confirm that you are either by hitting the START button upon starting your play. Again, you CANNOT use these in Story Mode. Now I wouldn't leave you hanging without SOME information on these two, would I? ========= a) DRAGON ========= -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Smashes the blocks on the playfield into the center, negating any holes that may be there. Anything on the LEFT five columns is ordered to the right with the holes on the left. Anything on the RIGHT five columns is ordered to the left with the holes going to the right. Crystal structures are based akin to NINJA's L1 defense spell. Basically, it's an attempt to make it look like a pyramid structure, for most cases. After this is done, the structure is stomped down three levels. + Pro: A good way to lose holes AND lose lines. If nothing else this can help out restore order if your pieces are having trouble in structure. - Con: For the most part, it doesn't help out much more than the down stomp. If you have an inconsistent amount of holes in your structure, the initial smash may be somewhat of a burden. Said smash DOES NOT get rid of any blocks, either...only the stomp. +++ LEVEL-2 (Re-edited): Causes Japanese text to roll around the user's structure for four turns. While this happens, the user is allowed ANY PIECE by rotating through by using the L or R buttons. + Pro: Obviously, this means any piece at your disposal. I used to believe this did nothing. Quite a little secret I've uncovered. - Con: Nothing much. This allows a lot in your favor. +++ LEVEL-3: On the use of this, play stops until the opponent presses the A button to stop the controller roulette from spinning. On pressing the A button or waiting until it stops, the opponent's button configuration will reflect the image shown on their side of the playfield. This last for three of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: Like MIRURUN's L2, attack, except the button configuration is randomized. This will likely stop any person in their tracks unless they can read Japanese and can instinctively adapt in an instant. - Con: Nothing much really. Unless the opponent can adapt, this will likely mess with them. You can't use other attacks while this is in effect, however. +++ LEVEL-4: Swaps both of the players' fields by use of teleportation. + Pro: If you're behind and the opponent isn't, this is a 180 move that can change the odds in your favor. - Con: It's another timing attack. If your opponent isn't really that well off and you are it's more or less suicide. -Overall- 7/10 – After re-evaluating DRAGON, I've figured out what his L2 move finally does and that kicked him up a point in my opinion. Still, he doesn't really have much more than an average front otherwise. Though the move that I've uncovered for use is great...it doesn't help make him all the much better. ======== b) QUEEN ======== -Spells- +++ LEVEL-1: Casts a spell to fill in the holes in the bottom four levels of a player's structure, changing any bricks that are in said structure lines into regular blocks. Any crystals that are in said lines ARE NOT destroyed but rather kept. + Pro: A HELLISHLY good move to use over and over again. Not only does it give you a Tetris, but it also gives you access to any bottom crystals afterwards and it changes your bricks, if any, into regular blocks. It is a ridiculously good move. - Con: Unless you had a stick-death with bricks strategy you wanted to use on the opponent, there really isn't a Con here. +++ LEVEL-2: Casts a directional spell on the opponent. Left becomes right and rotations of pieces are backwards. The effect lasts four of the opponent's piece drops. + Pro: Nice move if you're wanting to confuse the opponent a bit. - Con: Not really as devastating as MIRURUN's or even DRAGON's version of this. There really isn't too much needed to be thought about to overcome this. The piece rotation part may be what gets most but that's about it. +++ LEVEL-3: Casts a spell that causes garbage blocks sent by the user to DOUBLE the damage. A single would send two lines, a double sends four, a triple sends six and a Tetris eight. + Pro: An even more ridiculously good more. If paired with the intent of stick-death, this would likely annihilate the foe. With a Tetris, that is eight lines of damage sent to the opponent. On follow-ups with the length of this attack, you could literally overcome the opponent with this attack alone. - Con: Unless timed effectively, this might not do much for you. Keep your eyes open to allow your structure to get in a position where you can use this, otherwise it will just be a waste of eight turns waiting for another chance to use a spell. +++ LEVEL-4: Causes your playfield to be annihilated in a flash of light, reducing it to the starting state of no blocks. + Pro: Need I go into this? It literally wipes your entire field in one fell swoop. If you're about to die, use this. - Con: Unless you had something that was necessary to set up a death in the other player, there's no drawback for using this. However, it's more or less intended as a desperation move than anything else. -Overall- 10/10 – She's not perfect, but she can hold her own forever if she needed to and since two of the attacks are devastating, another that can confuse the opponent, and the L1 spell that can instantly send a Tetris the opponent's way AND collect crystals AND clear bricks quickly...I really don't need to say anything else otherwise. Unless you've allowed this in a game, however, I wouldn't use her. She can be overly cheap in some people's minds. However, if both of you are looking for a challenge on either one's mind, I would. She can be overcome just like any other character if used right and she's not invincible if the POWER is turned up in the options, forcing more crystal rakes than anything. Heck, even Bit has a chance to shine against her because of that case. *********************************************************************** 6) CLOSING ---------- I created this, my first truly submitted FAQ, in a couple of days because I believe that such an FAQ deserves to be submitted for access around the Internet. This game is quite a gem that not many have delved into because of the lack of information on the topic. Hopefully, this document will help alleviate that problem and allow more people to get the hang of this game so that everyone can benefit from it. Considering I'm a busy 23-year-old computer tech that barely has time to do anything much less this on the weekends, I doubt I'll update this again any time soon, if ever unless given information otherwise. The game, for now, is too obscure to really be given any help towards but I make this to advance more information in people's minds on a fantastic game that could easily drain hours out of people's time without regret. You can catch me on said e-mail or forums such as Bemanistyle (http://www.bemanistyle.com) under 'Hiryuu' and other such forums related to the signature I have there. ////////////// SPECIAL THANKS ////////////// Can't have an FAQ without some inspiration. Xkeeper (Alex) – This is for mostly for giving me the incentive to make an FAQ on this by going 'yea, you should' and for being there for me if nothing else for target practice. ACMLM community and next-gen JUL community – For being around and expressing interest in this off and on. Hopefully, this will help you guys get even better at this. Michael P. (strife-sama/neozackstrife) – Even though he doesn't know I'm writing this, he's been there for a good decade to bounce ideas off of and the gaming sessions we've had for all games including this one have helped me tremendously over the years. Can't really thank him enough as a help and a friend. You, for reading this – If you're in it for the pursuit of knowledge, then you're doing great, I think. *********************************************************************** Written on Saturday, October 06, 2007. Copyright 2007 Hiryuu.