================== MILO'S ASTRO LANES ================== Nintendo 64 Table of Contents: 01 - Introduction 02 - Basic Gameplay & controls 03 - League Mode 04 - Items/Specials 05 - Tips/Strategies 06 - Other junk ============================================================================== Version History: ============================================================================== 1.0 - October 2018 - First whack. ============================================================================== 01 - Introduction ============================================================================== Milo's Astro Lanes is a bowling game for Nintendo 64. It presents itself as a quirky/funny game that features bowling, rather than a serious bowling sim. It's tempting to rip on the game for all its faults, but honestly it's a silly game that can be fun in short bursts. ============================================================================== 02 - Basic Gameplay & controls ============================================================================== Choose a character and a ball. As far as I can tell, there's no difference or advantage from one character or ball to the next, it's just a matter of what you think looks cool. When it's your turn to bowl, use the D-pad or C buttons to move your character left or right on the lane. You can do this before you pick up your ball, which may or may not be a good idea. (see the "Tips/Strategies" section.) After you pick up your ball (by pressing A) you use the control stick to adjust how hard you throw the ball (tilt the stick UP or DOWN) as well as put spin on the ball. (tilt the stick left or right. More tilt means more spin, indicated by how sharply the arrow turns.) If you put spin on the ball, the ball will roll straight until it gets close to the pins, then the spin will take effect. Typically, throwing the ball straight at the pins will rarely knock them all down, but it happens every once in a while. Adjusting your starting location and adding spin can help knock down more pins. Decide how you like to play. The good news is that once you determine a good combination of location/spin, you can usually replicate it for every throw and get a similar result. There's no timed power bar or anything. You just set your strength and spin, then press A. After you've picked up your ball to bowl, or after you've thrown it, cycle through your Specials with the B button, and use them with the Z button. See the "Items/Specials" section below. If you're unfamiliar with how bowling is scored, you basically get 10 pins to knock down on your turn, and a point for every pin you knock down. If you knock them all down with 1 ball, you get 10 points plus the points of your next 2 throws. If you knock down all the pins but it takes you 2 balls to do it, then you get 10 points plus the points you get on your next throw. This is why the scorecard doesn't show your total score right away when you get a strike (indicated by a letter "X") or a spare (indicated by a "/"). On the very last frame of each game, you get to throw a 3rd ball if you manage to knock down all the pins with 1 or 2 throws. Search online for more clarification if this terrible explanation is not sufficient. This is a silly, cartoony bowling game, but it does use standard scoring. ============================================================================== 03 - League Mode ============================================================================== In League mode, you start in the first of 3 "domes," called Planet, Galaxy, and Cosmic. Each dome has portals to bowling areas, tunnels to the other domes (which are blocked off when you start), and a GAME SAVE? thingy, which does exactly what you think it does. Just walk up to the portals to activate them. The first time you enter each bowling area, you play against a CPU opponent. After you beat the CPU, you can re-enter the area for a "bonus" mode, where you try to knock down all the specially-placed pins using a total of 3 balls. Feel free to use Specials here, becauase it seems like in some levels the pins are heavier. You must complete this bonus mode in order to advance to the next cup in each area. To open the tunnel to the next dome, complete the Bonus mode in each area in the current dome. When you earn a cup in an area, that cup will show in the portal to that area, to show that you earned the cup. Re-enter an area to try for a higher cup, progressing from the Cosmium Cup, to the Gold Astro Cup, to the Astrolight Cup. Once you earn the Astrolight Cup in all 12 bowling areas, you'll see a CONGRATULATIONS screen, followed by credits. The manual calls this mode "League Elimination" mode, and it says that if you lose a match against a CPU player, you have to "start over." But you can just re-enter the area and try again. You don't have to re-earn the Cosmium Cup or anything. At the main menu, you can select TOTALS, which will show your high score in each bowling area, and how many of each trophy/cup you've earned in League mode. ============================================================================== 04 - Items/Specials ============================================================================== There are items in the game that you can use while bowling; the game calls them "Specials." You collect them by rolling your ball over colored stars in your lane. Each item can be used as a power-up while you are bowling, or as an obstacle when your opponent is bowling. The game calls it an "Anti-Special." In the later levels, when the CPU starts using Specials against you, you have no choice but to use them right back, and that's when the game gets really stupid. But here's what you need to know about the 4 Specials. (I got the names from the game's manual) 1. Blue Star SPECIAL: Clone Ball SPECIAL ICON: Shows 3 balls SPECIAL ABILITY: Adds another ball to the left and right of your ball ANTI-SPECIAL: Bomb ANTI-SPECIAL ICON: A bomb with yellow spikes coming out of it ANTI-SPECIAL ABILITY: Plants a bomb right in front of your opponent's ball. When the bomb blows up, the ball is gone. NOTES: More useful when you use it right before the pins, especially on lanes with uneven terrain. 2. Red Star SPECIAL: White Dwarf Ball SPECIAL ICON: Looks like a shiny white ball SPECIAL ABILITY: Doubles the ball's weight and impact ANTI-SPECIAL: Bouncy Ball ANTI-SPECIAL ICON: Looks like a mess of purple bubbles ANTI-SPECIAL ABILITY: Makes your opponent's ball bounce out of control NOTES: I've never noticed any difference using this Special. More useful as an Anti-Special. 3. Green Star SPECIAL: Speed Ball SPECIAL ICON: Looks like a ball with fire coming out the back SPECIAL ABILITY: Makes the ball go really fast ANTI-SPECIAL: Cosmic Goo ANTI-SPECIAL ICON: A bowling ball with green goo hanging off the bottom ANTI-SPECIAL ABILITY: Makes your opponent's ball shrink into nothing NOTES: If you want a useless Special, this is the one for you. Every time I try to use it, I watch the ball speed toward the pins, literally knocking over 1 or 2 before bouncing to the side. Does it also turn the ball into a ping pong ball? Needless to say, this one is much more useful as an Anti-Special. 4. Yellow Star SPECIAL: Mega Ball SPECIAL ICON: Looks like a giant ball crashing through small pins SPECIAL ABILITY: Makes the ball huge, knocks over more pins ANTI-SPECIAL: Pea Ball ANTI-SPECIAL ICON: Looks like a tiny ball in a bubble ANTI-SPECIAL ABILITY: Makes your opponent's ball tiny, can fit between pins NOTES: This is the best special, you can almost always get a strike. Don't waste it as an Anti-Special. The manual to the game says that you can collect these items, and use them in the current game or save them for future games. At first I thought that meant I could save them up and go into new matches with a huge inventory of each kind of Special. But it seems like you can't carry more than one of each Special at a time, and I've seen them disappear without me using them. Not sure what the rules are. You'll notice that sometimes when you use an Anti-Special against a CPU opponent, the CPU will sometimes "counter" the Anti-Special by using another Special. If you dwarf the CPU's ball, it might use the Mega Ball to return it to normal size. Or speed up to avoid the goo, or split into 3 so that only 1 ball gets blown up by a bomb, etc. You can do this too, but it's a better idea to just never use anti-specials at all, and hope the CPU does the same. See my rant at the very end of the FAQ. ============================================================================== 05 - Tips/Strategies ============================================================================== COLLECTING STARS - Throwing the ball through a star will add a Special to your inventory. But if you wait too long to line up your shot, you'll see the stars rise up and disappear from the lane. That's why I like to move my bowler left or right BEFORE I press A to pick up the ball, because that's when the stars appear and the timer starts. Then I can press A and quickly push the control stick where I want it, then throw the ball and collect the stars. If you don't care much about the items/specials, then take your time. HAZARDS - Some lanes have environmental hazards that can affect your game, like a huge alien that closes its teeth onto the lane, blocking your ball from reaching the pins. I find that these hazards operate on a timed loop, so you can anticipate and avoid them. For example, if you pick up and throw your ball right when the alien's teeth come down, they will lift back up before your ball reaches them, and it won't be a problem. USING ANTI-SPECIALS AT ALL - Just a final note/essay on why you should generally avoid the use of Anti-Specials. As you re-enter each area in League mode, the CPU opponents will ostensibly get tougher to beat. In some cases, this means they will use more Specials when they bowl, and also more Anti-Specials against you, largely preventing you from knocking down any pins. You can sometimes counter the Anti-Specials and knock down a couple, but you have to use Anti-Specials yourself to keep the CPU's score down if you want to win. To be clear: when you and the CPU are both use Anti-Specials against each other, it reduces the game to a silly slapping match, which has nothing to do with bowling, and it isn't fun. You have to aim your ball toward the stars, so that you'll have something to attack the CPU with, since you know the CPU will keep your ball from reaching the pins anyway. It's dumb. It's way better to actually figure out a way to consistently get lots of pins down (using Specials when you have them) and have a "real" bowling match with no Anti- Specials. I can't say for sure, but it seems like the CPU only uses Anti-Specials against you if you use them first. I've played many rounds that were very civil and ordinary, but as soon as I used an Anti-Special against the CPU, it relentlessly used them on me until the end of the match, sometimes carrying over into subsequent matches. I tried swearing them off, and eventually the CPU stopped using them against me altogether. If I did in fact toggle that "mode" in the CPU player, then I have to include a recommendation to never use Anti-Specials unless the CPU uses them first. Sure, if you're in a close match and you think you might lose, you could try using one against the CPU on its very last throws, when it can't retaliate against you. But since I've seen "grudges" carry over into other matches, I personally wouldn't risk it. ============================================================================== 06 - Other Junk ============================================================================== This FAQ was written by me; my name is Splain. Copy it if you want, but credit me. Comments, questions, or corrections can be sent to peoppozo.msn@com. But, you know, switch the . and @ around. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------