Sanrio Carnival(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by schultw.andrez@sbcglobal.net
(typo to discourage spam)

Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting 
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and 
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I 
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if 
you'd like to post it on your site.

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            OUTLINE

  1. INTRODUCTION

  2. CONTROLS

  3. DIFFERENT SUBGAMES

  4. CHEATS

  5. VERSIONS

  6. CREDITS

================================

  1. INTRODUCTION

Sanrio Carnival is one of those block drop games that are a lot like Columns, 
where you drop 1x2 blocks that are combos of 6 possible squares. Line up 3 in 
a row of any one block, and they vanish. However, it is interesting because 
it has some quest stages where you need to go for specific combinations or 
even 4 or 5 in a row. There are chains(1 combo before another) and x-
folds(several combos at once.)

The NES version has several advantages over the GB version. First, the play 
field is 7x12 and not 6x8, leaving more room for silly errors. Second, the 
piece you rotate around is highlighted, letting you concentrate even more on 
the board below. Third, the controls don't stink, so you can push the piece 
where you want it more easily. Finally, there are a few more levels, 
challenges and ideas. There's also a stats meter saying how many of what 
piece dropped, but that is not a functional improvement.

Unfortunately, Sanrio Carnival NES accounts for this relative ease by just 
making the combo quests too long, even at the later levels when pieces seem 
to fall immediately. Unless you know good cheats. Then anyone with an ounce 
of heart feels lousy cheating in a game with Hello Kitty regardless of how 
unfair or tedious it is.

This FAQ focuses on the quest/challenge aspect of the game. The rest of the 
game is basically--get 3's when you can and set up whatever combos are most 
convenient.

  2. CONTROLS

This game wasn't translated by the same folks who translated the GameBoy 
version, so to get to the puzzles, choose the 3rd-lowest option. Then you can 
choose between 1 and 6 pretty easily. If you want to choose between 7 and 12, 
hold down A and B on pad #2 and push A or start on pad #1. That gives you 7-
12. The rest needs no translation. Thanks to odino for translating the screen 
that showed this!

I tend to select the blocks instead of the Sanrio characters, as the Sanrio 
characters can be confusing to separate. They have obvious differences, but, 
well, I'm more familiar with colors, and you probably are too.

A rotates clockwise, B rotates counterclockwise. The highlighted block is the 
one you want to use.

When a piece hits bottom you have a split-second chance to move it 
horizontally or rotate it, if physically possible. This is handy on later 
levels. You also get a pause at the top to adjust a piece where you want. You 
can push a piece down for extra points and even pause the game and still be 
able to view it. 

  3. DIFFERENT SUBGAMES

    3-0. SPECIFIC SHAPES

The first option in the original menu will get you to try several shapes:

...  .    . . .   .   .   . . ...
 .  ...   .  .   . .  ..  ..   .
 .   .  ... . . .   . . . . .  ..

It is decent practice for the real games. You may need all 5 columns of the 
5x6 board to create the ^. Most of the time you'll only need 3. Remember to 
place the linking block--that makes the triads--lats. In the case of the +, 
you need a monochrome block. This is a bit nasty as there are 25 
possibilities(only 5 colors.) You can make these of any color--strawberries 
are what pops up when you clear something.

??

For the challenge levels, you get a picture for each one you solve

1+7: Hello Kitty in a roller coaster
2+8: Hello Kitty plus Pokopon the raccoon
3+9: Tabo the boy appears by the planet at the top
4+10: Keroppi the frog appears below the coaster
5+11: Tangyodon the fish appears in the castle turret

    3-1. 30 LINES

This is very easy as with 6 colors to spread out over 7 rows, you should have 
plenty of ways to hack through things. You don't need any fancy tricks and, 
in fact, given a monochrome block and a choice between making a 3- and a 4- 
with it, you should go for the 3-. The less fancy the better. Always look to 
the "next" to see 1) that you aren't blocking a triad it could make and 2) if 
it, with your current piece, could make a triad. The probability you share no 
colors in common is

5/6*4/6*3/6=5/18=27.8%, so you can usually match 2 colors together, and 
usually there will be a bunch of different colors at the bottom. You should 
plan things that way. When possible, create a 2-link so that a 3-link will 
work. Remember that at least 60% of your blocks should match something, 
unless you get a combo, and try

1. to keep columns balanced
2. not to place a piece horizontally so it blocks squares below, unless you 
can easily kick half of it out

You'll probably only see horizontals first, and verticals are easy with a 
monochrome block, but look for diagonals later on. They can help cut down an 
unbalanced column without having to build up to it. You should also hack at 
an unbalanced column from the side.

    3-2. 50K POINTS

This requires you to perform a few tricks, because levels go up at a constant 
rate, but even something like a 2-fold

aaa
bbb

or a 4- or 5-wide(aaaa or bbbbb) or a simple chain

  b
  b
aaa
  b

Will get a lot of points. I found the best way to win this was just to have a 
2-chain set up and, when you can, place something so it will drop to make the 
3 chain if the right things happen. If you can link a few of these together, 
especially at a later level, you can get several thousand a pop, which works 
for you. Of course you can play defense if you need to, but you should get 
comfortable with setting up 2-folds or chains. Chains are actually more 
lucrative and easier than 2-folds, so try and play for them, while avoiding 
4- and 5-folds unless they drop out at you clearly. And if you do get a 4- or 
5-fold, try to make it so that it is at the end of a combination i.e. instead 
of

  b
  a
  v

aa a

 ba
aa a

Then match the b's later. If you can put a chain before the b's that is even 
better. The basic chains are:

  b
  x
  v

c
c
bb
c

  b
  a
  v

aa bb

b
v

ba
b
 a
 a

As above, practice with horizontal/vertical but look for diagonal.
 
The chains that need just one color from a block to work are the best.

    3-3. 10 DOUBLES

Doubles are tricky as you need the right piece for making something of 2 
different colors ie

  b
  a
  v

bb
aa

The solution is to go in for a 1-color double, along the lines of:
  ?
  a
  v

aa
.a.
a..

Since you have 7 columns you can work on each side to drop something in, and 
this will get done easily enough. Just remember if you get a lot of the same 
color, don't go for a quick 3. Line it up and get a double.

    3-4. 5 5-WIDES

In a 6-wide as the GameBoy has, this is nearly impossible. However, with a 7-
wide there is a trick where you can proceed with 2 projects at once.

     b-
     b-
      |
    -b|
aa aab-

Here we can fit an a or a b in. Then we can proceed to build up whichever 5-
wide has faltered. You will want to start out covering the bottom row for the 
1st 5-wide but you may have to move up as the level goes on. Also look for 
the possibility of a diagonal. Remember chains and 4-wides don't help you 
here. You need space cleared out so columns will get imbalanced, making this 
a bit tricky. I'd play aggressively to try to get a quick 5-wide on the 
bottom, and if it doesn't work, just try again. You can always keep re-trying 
til you get lucky.

    3-5. 10 CHAINS

Chains are easier than doubles because they can be made with any two colors. 
There are so many ways to get chains but the simplest involves making a 
broken triad and using the square that breaks it in another triad. Avoid 
impulsive triads unless needed to clear space. Also lining up pairs works 
well as often you can get a chain you didn't see.

  c
  .
  v
b
b
cc
b

    3-6. TRIPLE AND 50 LINES

The 50 lines aren't hard so concentrate on the triple. A good way to set it 
up is:

  y
  v

   yy
 yy
y y

This takes a bit of time to build and you have to waste things, but it's best 
to sort the triples out early on. They are the hard bits, and you don't want 
to have to try for them when blocks come down quickly.

Another possibility is:

y
.y
.. yy
.y.
y..

In general, find a good locus--it may be for blocks several squares away--and 
build around or towards it. Note the locus must be in the middle 3 rows.

    3-7. 50 CHAINS

See above. You need to be more efficient about not wasting stuff, and you 
probably need to make a 2-chain or two. Those get you extra bonus lines.

b
v

 ac
 .a
 bbcc
...a

  a
  v
..b
..ca
bbacc

Try and visualize something. See where pairs are close by and maybe even 
overlapping. Pause the game to draw it out the first time. Once you get the 
triple, the lines are easy.

    3-8. 10 2-CHAINS

See above for how to make a 2-chain. Do so quickly and don't waste a lot of 
just single triads. Dropping in something from overhead may be useful to 
start ie

ba
b  c
..aacc

This is pretty easy to visualize, and while it takes away area, you have 
places to dump other blocks. While doing so, keep like colors together so you 
can dump even more over there. The tough part is being able to create 2 
different possible 2-chains at once while still working through stuff. Use 
diagonals in the UR in the example above for that to start working okay.

    3-9. 5 3-CHAINS

Again you need to visualize in advance how to do this. This is as good a way 
as any, though you want to make sure you have at least one diagonal in there. 
If a horizontal tips off a vertical, you will have no way to continue things.

dbc
ccb
daaa
d..b

Also, you can start things off with an overhead chain reaction ie
b
v

ba
b
..aa

etc. This allows you a little more space to create a 3-chain.

    3-10. 1 7-FOLD, 100 LINES

There's a lot of restriction on how to get a 7-fold. First, you need to have 
2 different colors in a block, and they need to be the right ones. Second, 
you need to have things set up right. You'll have a lot of failures even if 
you do things right, so here is my suggestion--basically a 4-fold with 1 
color and a 3-fold with another. Once you've got this the 100 lines are no 
problem.

  b
  a
  v

    b
   ba
bb a.
aa b.
..aab
..a.a

You have a 1/18 chance your piece will fall at the right time. That's if you 
get this set up. You have gutters to the side, but you also need to make sure 
that the a's are in place and the b's come down. Very tricky and you may need 
to use the side rows to weed out a few quick triads. Leave the empties on the 
right side.

    3-11. 1000000 POINTS

See above about efficiency. You will get the most points by constructing 
chains when it's going fast. So pause a lot then and plan things out. You 
always have time to move something into place, though your reflexes may wig 
out every so often, so back up the save state when you do something right.

    3-12. LEVEL 99

Not much here other than use your survival instincts, view the next when a 
piece falls into place to see how to use 2 pieces in a row, and pause the 
game frequently once you are about to place 1 piece and have a next. This 
really takes forever, so see the cheats to get around it.

  4. CHEATS

Cheating what you need to do is pretty easy.

0x220 = level - 1
0x221 = what you have left of what you need to do. 0x61 also gives this info 
but relies on 0x221. You can adjust this to 15 in level 12 if you are lazy 
and want to see the ending.
0x222 = stage - 1
0x224-0x226 = your score, where that is tracked
0x261 = what you have left of the other thing you need to do. For instance, 
in stage 10 you have 1 7fold and 100 lines. Set 221 to 0 and this to 1 to do 
2 lines.

Cheating the playfield is rather complicated as you have to write out the 
board twice, but it can be done. The top row is at 0x330, and the bottom is 
at 0x3e0.

Bytes 0-6 and 8-e determine the playfield. 7/f are not used.

Byte x must match x+8 for any row, where 0<=x<=6.

When I say match,

((Byte x) & 0xf) - 9 = (byte x+8)

If you are playing with character blocks, bytes 0-6 will have a high nibble 
of 1.

1=Hello Kitty
2=Frog, Keroppi
4=Fish, Tangyodon
3=Pokopon, Raccoon
5=Berry
6=Tabo, Kid

Otherwise
1=red
2=green
3=blue
4=yellow
5=light blue
6=pink

Fortunately this is not as hard to remember as it sounds as you match (letter 
of alphabet) with (place in alphabet) and you leave the high nibble the same.

(0/1)F<>6
(0/1)E<>5
(0/1)D<>4
(0/1)C<>3
(0/1)B<>2
(0/1)A<>1

If you do not adjust both sides of the data, then you get weird blank pieces 
and spaces all over.

You can make x-folds easily by putting a lot of the same colors together. The 
game checks for matches ANYWHERE after things fall down.

End of FAQ Proper

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  5. VERSIONS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/29/2007, complete

  6. CREDITS

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they 
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done. 
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow 
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and 
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message 
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of 
mine.
Thanks to the NES Completion Project folks for keeping it going.
Special thanks to odino for notifying me about this game AND for translating 
the screen that tells you how to choose 7-12, and for letting me post the 
code.