_ _____ _____ __ __ _____ _ _ _____ | | | _ | | _ | \ \_/ / | _ | | | | | | _ | | | | |_| | | | | | \ / | |_| | | | | | | | |_| | | | _ | | | | | | | | _ | | | | | | |_____ | |___ | | | | | |_| | | | | |_| | | |_| | | |_| | |_____| |_| |_| |_____| |_| |_____| |_____| |_____| Copyright Universal 1982 Written By Brian P. Sulpher E-mail: briansulpher@hotmail.com Version 1.6 Date Written: February 1st, 2004 I dedicate this to my Uncle Donald for showing me this great old video game system (called the Colecovision) all of those years ago. It truly is a cherished childhood memory, and I will never forget the time we spent playing these great COleco games together. Also, for Cougar, Howler, Koonce, and Gracey. I miss you, and I hope you are living it up in the afterlife as you did in this world. You will always be in my memories, and you will never be forgotten. ----------- Version 1.0 ----------- -Submitted guide on February 1st, 2004 ----------- Version 1.5 ----------- -Submitted guide on June 2nd, 2004 -Decided a format update was in order, as it would help the FAQ flow a little bit better ----------- Version 1.6 ----------- -Submitted guide on February 7th, 2005 -I added in Honestgamers as a site allowed to use my FAQs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------Table Of Contents------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Introduction 2) Controls 3) Enemy Stats 4) Points 5) Bonuses 6) Strategies 7) Final Word ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------Introduction--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Lady Bug is a unique stab at a game that is crying out "I AM NOT A PAC-MAN CLONE!" Does it succeed? Well, yes it is different than Pac-Man, but it fails as a complete game trying to stand all on it's own. It has some really ingenius ideas in the letter colours playing into the spelling of bonuses for your Lady Bug, the Vegetables, and the Poisons, but the poor play control and enemy speed make it far too tough game to play. Still, well worth a look over as it is a superbly fun game none the less! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------Controls------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) This section will outline the Menu Options as well as how to control your Lady Bug in the efforts to find all of the dots while dodging the other insects, with their evil intentions! o--------------o | Menu Options | o--------------o The number equaling to the option you want will be entered on the keypad when you are prompted to do so. With each skill level you raise it by, the difficulty equals that of the second time on those levels on the previous skill level. 1 = Skill 1 / One Player 2 = Skill 2 / One Player 3 = Skill 3 / One Player 4 = Skill 4 / One Player 5 = Skill 5 / Two Player 6 = Skill 6 / Two Player 7 = Skill 7 / Two Player 8 = Skill 8 / Two Player o------------------o | In-Game Controls | o------------------o Joystick---> Each direction pressed will move your Lady Bug in the corresponding direction. So, ths means that UP moves the Lady Bug up, DOWN mves the Lady Bug down, RIGHT moves the Lady Bug right, and LEFT moves the Lady Bug left. Left Fire--> No apparent use. Right Fire-> No apparent use. o-----------------------------o | Advanced Movement Knowledge | o-----------------------------o i) The most important movement knowledge to note is that the Lady Bug will NOT move past a halfway block movement to turn in a new direction. This means that if you turn too early, you will smash into a wall instead of making the turn, thus leaving your Lady Bug vulnerable to the insect enemies. ii) To move a door, you do not need to move the whole way through the portal of said door, rather, you just need to nudge it quickly. This is a great way to change the maze set-up, holding off enemies and allowing your Lady Bug easier access to more pellets. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------Enemy Stats------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) This section will look at all apsects of Enemy behaviours. o------------o | Enemy Nest | o------------o i) This is where your insect enemies will be located at the beginning of the race through the maze. ii) They are released by the coloured counter on the outside of the maze, it circles the maze. Watch as the counters turn colour, releasing an insect every time it makes one complete rotation. Note that Poison (skull icons in the maze) will knock the insect that ingests it back into the nest to be spit out once the timer lets them loose again. iii) Once all four insects are loose, this area become home to the level's Vegetable. See the Bonuses section for more details on the Vegetables. o------------------o | Enemy Outwitting | o------------------o i) Enemies will generally not come after your Lady Bug unless you go near them. By ghosting their areas instead of charging near them, you can keep their movements random and not purposely aggressive. ii) If an insect is on your tail, use the doors to your advantage. Move through a door and swing it closed before the insect can follow, thus escaping their tenacious chasing. However, try to avoid this by manipulating the doors ahead of time, keeping the enemies out of your hair the entire time. o-------------------o | Enemy Information | o-------------------o i) After the enemies have been loose for a while, they will speed up the longer the time you spend in the level. This means that hiding from the rampaging hordes may allow for some time to plan, this will also work against your Lady Bug's chances of getting by the increasingly agile insects. ii) The enemies also get faster as you progress through the game, speeding up after every level or two. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------Points---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) This section will look at the basic points that wait to be collected. Note that the Bonus Items base points are listed. Hearts : 100 while blue, 300 while yellow, 800 while red Letters: 100 while blue, 300 while yellow, 800 while red Pellets: 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------Bonuses---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) This section will look at all of the Bonuses that your Lady Bug can partake in as she moves around the mazes. o--------o | Hearts | o--------o i) For every Heart that you collect within a level, the multiplier counter moves one to the right. It begins on nothing (or X 1), but each time you grab one the counter will progress through X 2, X 3, and X 5. ii) Every time you reach a new level, the counter resets to X 1, but three more Hearts will be placed within the maze. o---------o | Letters | o---------o i) The Letters are the only ones that the Bonuses depend on their colour. ii) The Letters will be Blue for 24 seconds of the time, switching to Red for about one second, and then becoming Yellow for about five seconds. This makes spelling the two coloured words really difficult as the two coloured words are Red and Yellow (Blue letter collecting will not add onto either word). iii) E-X-T-R-A is the yellow word, and every time that you manage to spell this word, you will get an extra Lady Bug to use in your fight against the evil insects of the mazes. You will also skip ahead to the next level, regardless of the current state of the maze you formed the word in. iv) S-P-E-C-I-A-L is the red word, making it the toughest word to spell. If you manage to get this elusive word finished, you will be taken to a maze that is empty, save for five Vegetables. Every time you collect a Vegetable, another vegetable will replace it. This will continue for a limited time, then your Vegetable Harvest will be over with. You will also skip ahead to the next level, regardless of the current state of the maze you formed the word in. o------------o | Vegetables | o------------o i) Vegetables appear when all four insect enemies are loose in the maze. When grabbed, the Enemies will be frozen for about five seconds, allowing the Lady Bug to move freely to chase those hard to reach Pellets. ii) The Vegetables values increase by level, as the following values will demonstrate: _______________ ______ | Vegetables |Points| |_______________|______| |Cucumber | 1000 | |_______________|______| |Eggplant | 1500 | |_______________|______| |Carrot | 2000 | |_______________|______| |Radish | 2500 | |_______________|______| |Parsley | 3000 | |_______________|______| |Tomato | 3500 | |_______________|______| |Pumpkin | 4000 | |_______________|______| |Bamboo Shoot | 4500 | |_______________|______| |Japanese Radish| 5000 | |_______________|______| |Mushroom | 5500 | |_______________|______| |Potato | 6000 | |_______________|______| |Onion | 6500 | |_______________|______| |Chinese Cabbage| 7000 | |_______________|______| |Turnip | 7500 | |_______________|______| |Red Pepper | 8000 | |_______________|______| |Cherry | 8500 | |_______________|______| |Sweet Potato | 9000 | |_______________|______| |Horseradish | 9500 | |_______________|______| Once you reach Horseradish, it appears that no more new vegetables appear, so that is the highest value that can be collected. iii) Due to their positioning, one must be careful not to get trapped by an Enemy, as the Vegetable may freeze them, but if you are blocked in your Lady Bug will be unable to slip out to enjoy the freedom of no enemy movement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------Strategies------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) This section will offer a few strategies to increase your chances of succeeding. a) Immediately upon entering a level, head up to the area right around the Enemy Nest. Do your best to remove as many of the Pellets there as possible, leaving a second or two ahead of the Enemy Insect that is about to come out of the nest. This will make clearing all of the maze easier, allowing you to reach farther on the levels. b) Collect as many Hearts early into the maze as you can, increasing your point totals as you do so. These xtra multipliers really come into play when grabbing the Letters and Vegetables, increasing your score by hundreds and thousands at a time. c) Poison (skull icons in the maze) will kill your Lady Bug, but eating one will remove the whole set of them from the maze (the only "bonus" to dying by Poison). Use this if you are cornered by rampging insects, with less Poison around than Insects for it to kill (this way you will open up the pathways of the maze for your next turn). d) Always position the doors in a manner that cuts off the insects from an area you plan to raid or one that you are planning to rest in for a moment to plan your moves in peace. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------Final Word---------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) As is the usual, this walkthrough is copyright property of Brian P. Sulpher, 2003. The only website, group, person, etc. to have access to post it is www.gamefaqs.com, www.ign.com, and www.honestgamers.com. You must ask for permission before posting this, as doing so without consent is a violation of international copyright law. If you liked it, hated it, have anything to add, then please E-mail me at briansulpher@hotmail.com. You can also contact me through MSN messenger through the same E-mail address. I really do appreciate games like this as I have always enjoyed playing them. Despite some game designs done in an effort to suck out quarters (as it was an arcade game originally that was ported to a few systems), it's cool features outweigh the crappy ones that also exist. Enjoy playing this fun little pellet eater of a game!