Rat Attack FAQ Sony Playstation Year: 1999 Version 1.11 By edwithgames Created: June 2007 Updated on 02/09/2011. Spelling mistakes corrected and walkthrough altered a bit. Updated on 19/09/2011. Reformatted the section headings and slightly altered the wording in the Walkthrough to make it flow better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Introduction ****** Greetings and welcome to my walkthrough for Rat Attack on the Sony Playsation. I created this walkthrough because there are no FAQs of this game on the web that I could find. This game is one of the games that was created for little children to enjoy and is a far cry from the more violent games on the console such as Resident Evil and Doom. The game is easy but that is to be expected seeing that little kids are supposed to play it. Don't let that put you off playing it though as Rat Attack is a very fun and addictive game to play by yourself or with a friend. This FAQ is split into several sections. These are: -Technical Information -My Experience With The Game -Story/Object Of The game -The Main Menu -How To Play -Floor Pads -Items -Chests/Crates -Onscreen Display -The Scratch Cats -Rats -Walkthrough -Final Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Technical Information ****** Rat Attack was released for the Sony Playstation in 1999 by Pure Entertainment and Mindscape Entertainment. The game was awarded 90% and was called a "Triple A Title" by Station magazine. The game is compatible with Sony's multi-tap device and can therefore allow for four players to play the game simultaneously. The game also uses the left stick and the vibration functions of the analog controller. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** My Experience With The Game ****** I first played the demo of this game back in 2000 on a demo disc. I thought it was a good demo so years later I got the game second hand. I then thought it was boring but being bored can have a strange effect and so I played it and completed it in a day. The game is surprisingly easy but there are plenty of laughs as you do it from the characters and the things that happen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Story/Object Of The Game ****** (From the manual) "Over 40 years after they were blasted into orbit as part of an early space experiment, the laboratory rats Washington and Jefferson have returned to Earth. Equipped with some fiendish gadgetry of a strange alien design, they are leading a rodent revolution to take over the planet. Houses, gardens, museums and factories are all being systematically destroyed by a rat plague of biblical proportions. With mankind powerless against the cheese chomping horde, our only hope is an elite band of feline freedom fighters. Known only as the Scratch Cats, the fate of the world lies in their paws!" The object of the game is to capture rats and ultimately to defeat Jefferson and Washington to save the planet. The plot is nonsensical and as I said before the game is designed for kids so the whole game looks like a cartoon or a game like Ape Escape or Crash Bandicoot if you've played them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** How To Play ****** Controls are as follows: T - Use Special Move S - Jump X - Hold and use D-pad to increase size of eraticator O - Swipe R1 - Drop cheese R2 - Fixed camera L2 - Move on screen display Start - Pause menu Select - Player indicator (multiplayer) D-pad/left stick - Move As I have explained the object is to capture rats. To do this, you have to use the eraticator. Press and hold the X button and move around. A circle should form. Release the X button when rats are inside the circle you created. The rats will be captured. Walk over to the red destructor pad and the rats will be permanently destroyed. If you are hurt or fall foul of any other hazards before you go to the destructor pad, the rats will be released and will have to be caught again. To make the job easier, press the O button when next to a rat to stun them. Depending on the cat you chose, the rat will be stunned for a certain amount of time. You can catch the rats more easily this way. Kill the number of rats required to finish the particular level and the exit door will appear. You have ten seconds to go into the door otherwise you lose a life and the level will have to be repeated. Rats destroyed in these last ten seconds are worth double points. There are other ways to destroy the rats too: hazards such as lawnmowers or vacuum cleaners can destroy them too and will count towards your tally; these hazards can hurt you too though. If you take too long in a level, "Hurry up" will be displayed. This means the rats will go faster so don't panic as there is no level time limit. However, the rats must be caught quickly otherwise the objects they chew will be destroyed. If that happens, you lose a life so capture the ones that are chewing first. The objects are the things that fall down at the start of a level and include basic furniture to toys and other items. The rooms are virtually empty except for them, hazards and rats so you'll know what to protect. Don't forget that chests and crates count as items too. If an object is about to disintegrate it will flash red first and will then disappear whereupon the rats that chewed it will go searching for the remaining items to destroy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** The Main Menu ****** The main menu is very simple and has few options. These are: -One Player -Multiplayer -Options I will discuss the options category first. Memory card will let you load or save a game. After you have completed a level, the game takes you to the next one immediately and so you might think you have no opportunity to save. If you quit when you have done the level, it will take you to the main menu. Save here and your data will be saved. The game also has an auto-load feature so you can just turn the system on and play your saved game immediately. Skill select will allow you to choose EASY, NORMAL or EXPERT. More about that later. Controller will allow you to change which button does what on your controller. Custom allows you to change whether you want HELP TEXT, BRIEFINGS, and GOLD RAT on. Help text is the messages in the game telling you what buttons to press. Briefings are the messages before all levels and the boss help messages given during boss fights on all bosses unless you have it on expert mode. Gold rat is for the multiplayer. Sound allows you to change the volume on sound effects and music. Screen adjust is pretty self-explanatory. High scores will display a list of the highest scores achieved and by whom they were obtained. Choose One Player to start the single player adventure and save the Earth. Choose Multiplayer to select a 2-4 player game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** On Screen Display ****** In the bottom left corner of the screen, you should see a picture of a cat's face. This is the character's symbol. It will change if you change cats. To do that you must return to the main menu. You will also see a small green cat to the right of the picture. This is your health status. Green is healthy, yellow is OK and red means one more hit and you lose a life. One hit from a dangerous object, a rat, a boss or spikes will cause you to get hurt. Being hit while holding rats will cause you to stay healthy but lose rats. This is very similar to Sonic the Hedgehog and his rings. You will have to collect all the rats up again so try to avoid this. Next to the health status is a number. This is how many lives you have left till it's game over. The large (in size) number underneath the lives remaining number is how many rats you still have to catch to open up the exit door. Below this wil be a bar. This bar will be black at the start and, depending on your performance throughout the level, will gradually go green then yellow then red. This shows how much damage the room has taken. When the bar is completely green and full, a life will be lost. It's a good idea to go for the rats that are nibbling furniture first. The object will disappear when it is destroyed and cannot be repaired. Under that will be some grey circles. This shows how many coins you need for a special move and how many are needed. The number of circles is how many you need and the number of yellow circles shows how many bonus coins you have. On the bottom right corner your score is displayed. You will notice some rats have letters on them. Catch them to spell out "EXTRA" and you will be awarded an extra life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Floor Pads ****** During the game you will notice several buttons on the ground. When pushed, these pads do either disastrous or helpful things. Destructor: This is a red pad and there is one on every level except boss levels. Walk on this to destroy all of the rats you have stored. The more you destroy in one go, the more chance there is of getting a bonus coin or other reward explained later. Scratch Pad: These have a paw print on them and can be activated by cats or rats. They usually turn on appliances or fans. Other times they cause the destructor to appear or make cheese appear. You have to try them and see what they do. Experiment! Teleporter: These have a cat's face on them. These pads come in sets of two and transport you from one to the other. Simple as that. Duplicator: These have two rat heads on them and are for rats only. When a rat walks over them, a second darker rat is produced. Luckily the same rat can only do this once. The darker rat must be caught as it behaves like a normal rat but when destroyed it will not count towards your quota of rats that you need to complete the level. It's a good idea to prevent the rats from walking on this floor pad. Mutator: This is red and green with a rat head on it and it's for rats only. If a white rat ("genetic blueprint rat") walks on this it will be transformed into one of several mutant rats. More on them later. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Items ****** Items appear on the screen every time you destroy more than one rat at a time or open a chest. Collect all of them as they are very useful. You can only have one at a time except with the eraticator boost. Remember to get the item before it disappears. Eraticator Boost: This increases the range of your eraticator by up to three levels. Bonus Coin: Pick these up to get the ability to perform special moves. Shield: You gain temporary invincibility. Catatonic: A white cube with a red cross on it. You gain a life. Cat Nip: Lightning bolt. Increases speed. Room Repair: A spanner. A very useful item as it completely restores all the objects in the game to full health that have not been destroyed. This item can change your fortunes in an instant. Rat Freeze: An ice lolly. Freezes the rats on screen and stops more coming for five seconds. This sounds really useful but you will find that it doesn't help you much. Cheese: Pick this up and drop it using the R1 button. All the rats nearby will crowd round it until it's eaten up. This does two good things: it draws the rats away from the objects so they aren't destroyed and also makes it easy to catch the rats all in one go. Big Cat: A potion. Makes your cat very big so you can squash and kill rats without trapping them and using the eraticator. You can still trap the rats and use the eraticator if you wish but this is much easier. You cannot kill the mutants like this though; these must still be trapped and killed using the eraticator. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Chests/Crates ****** In the game you will come across chests and crates with numbers above them. Here is an explanation of them. Remember to get the chests before they are destroyed as you will lose the item inside and both chests and crates count as objects so try your best to protect them from the rats. Remember to get the item before it disappears too. Wooden Chests: Destroy any way possible the number of rats shown above the chest. An item will come out. Silver Chests: The exact number of rats must be destroyed at the same time in one go to gain an item. Gold Chests: Same as silver chests except they can be opened again and again. Crates: Crates are bad and are like the silver chests. Something bad will come out if either destroyed by rats or the number of rats required are destroyed at the same time. A mutant rat will come out which can be very annoying or one of four Power-Downs are released. Power-Downs are skull and crossbones that will chase you and are very hard to avoid. Keep running away and they will disappear. Once they touch you, you will leave a green trail and be affected for five seconds. Here's a list: Rat Scat: Your eraticator will release all the rats it has stored. Slow Down: You move VERY slowly making it impossible to catch rats and avoid things. Reverse Controls: The controls get reversed which is very confusing. Sometimes I get used to it and can go to the destructor pad before I am hurt. Cat Nap: The instructions say this is only in the multiplayer but it is also in the single game too. You fall asleep for five seconds. This can drastically alter the tide of the level you are playing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** The Scratch Cats ****** The scratch cats are the eight cats with which you can play the game. You choose one and play until you want to play as another. The ending is the same whichever one you choose. However, they do all have different attributes which are represented by bars on the cat selection screen. I shall explain these here. -SPEED This is the green bar at the top. The more speed a cat has, the faster he will run on screen. -ERATICATOR RANGE This is below the speed bar and is pink. The more range the eraticator has, the number of rats that can be caught in a single area will be greater as the circle can get bigger. -STRENGTH The red bar at the bottom represents the cat's strength. The more strength the cat has, the longer the rats will stay dazed after you swipe at them. -COINS Above the bars will be a number of yellow circles. This represents the number of coins that are required to perform the special move. Below is a list of all eight cats that can be used to play the game. I have described each cat's strength, speed, range, coins required for the special move and what the special move is. NOTE: I have discovered that the special moves are not worth the effort of collecting coins and should not be planned as the coins take ages to get. Do them if you have the coins but don't specially get coins for the purpose. The moves are weak and only work on the rats within your immediate close vicinity. In other words, the special moves are useless; there are too many rats on the screen in the later levels for one useless move to handle. -HAI JINX Speed: Average Strength: Average Range: Average Coins required: 4 A good all round cat. Hai Jinx is neither good nor bad and is the ideal cat for beginners. The special move just shoots lightning bolts on the rats that are in close range and kills them. -SPARKY Speed: Excellent Strength: Weak Range: Low Coins required: 4 Sparky substitutes strength and range for brilliant speed. If you like speed, choose him. I personally don't use him as his range is so low it gets so that rats are difficult to catch with him. His special move puts a curse on the rats in close range and turns them into rabbits and frogs effectively destroying them. -MANX Speed: Slow Strength: Very strong Range: Excellent Coins required: 2 Manx is a very strong cat and the low speed is a small price to pay for the srength and range. The special move just throws all the close range rats against the wall. -MUFFY DUPONT Speed: Excellent Strength: Very weak Range: Average Coins required: 5 Muffy is OK but her weakness makes it difficult to trap the rats. The special move throws hearts on the rats and kills them. -BOB CAT Speed: Slow Strength: Strong Range: Very good Coins required: 1 Almost the same as Manx but a little worse. This is made up for by his needing one coin for the special move which involves Bob Cat punching all the close rats. Choose Manx instead. -SMOKEY Speed: Average Strength: Weak Range: Average Coins required: 3 Not a bad cat but not good either. Special move makes targets appear on close rats then killing them. -BANUBIS Speed: Excellent Strength: Outstanding Range: Excellent Coins required: 1 This cat is unlocked after completing the museum level. Once you get this cat don't bother using the other cats. The special move causes a wide flaming circle to surround Banubis for a while. -PEARL Speed: Outstanding Strength: Excellent Range: Excellent Coins required: 2 Pearl is unlocked after completing the factory. She is very good and after getting both Pearl and Banubis, you needn't bother with the other cats ever again. The special move is almost identical to Banubis's move. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Rats ****** There are many different types of enemy you will encounter during the game. These are explained below. Soldier Rat: Early on in the game they will be grey and will move to blue to green to red as you progress through the levels. The rats will become faster and cleverer i.e. they will jump when you are about to eraticate them. Bennett the Dog: Not a rat but just as dangerous. In some levels, a sleeping dog will be present. If he wakes, he will chase you and hurt you before falling asleep again. Genetic Blueprint Rat: If these white rats go into the mutator pad, they will be transformed into several mutant rats which can also come out of crates. The early levels have the easy mutants while the later ones have the most difficult. It's a good idea to eraticate these before they head for the mutator pads, especially on the later levels. Mouth Rat: This is just like Bennett and will chase you. Eraticate and destroy it. Jelly Rat: This will destroy an object in one go so destroy as soon as possible. To do this you must jump on it. If you eraticate it it will split into two which both must be destroyed so do not eraticate them! Mummy Rat: Like the Mouth Rat only it has to be eraticated twice to capture it. After the first eratication it goes smaller. Genius Rat: One of these will go to an object and start pulsating its brain. When it does this it cannot be eraticated. It will destroy the object in one go so eraticate it when it is moving to an object. Vampire Rat: This will fly from object to object quickly demolishing the objects and shooting fireballs. Eraticate while on the ground. This can be tough as on the later levels other rats can get in the way. It's best never to let these come. Devil Rat: These are basically harder versions of the Vampire Rat and will just hurt you. Eraticate immediately. This can be tough as on the later levels other rats can get in the way. It's best never to let these come. Martian Rat: These are like the Devil Rat only extremely difficult. Don't let these loose as they are very hard to deal with. Again I cannot stress enough that you should never let these appear. NOTE: Another feature of this game is that some rats have letters on them. Capture them with a letter and you get that letter on the side of the screen. Spell "EXTRA" and you gain an extra life. It's too hard to pull this off to be useful. Don't bother trying to do it as you'll end up doing it by accident anyway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Walkthrough ****** Here is a description of the levels you will encounter as you progress through the game. The game is split into eight stages. Each stage has a certain number of levels in it between four and six. The last level is always a boss except for Stage 7. I will explain the hazards, the enemies and the bosses you will encounter. A good strategy on some of the later levels is to go in the exit immediately and as soon as you can as one more second could spell doom. Please note that different levels have different numbers of rat holes from which the rats will come. It should come as no surprise that the more holes there are on the level, the harder the level will be. You get the opportunity to save only after completing each stage so if you die on the last level of a stage you'll have to go all the way back to the first level of the stage. This can be very frustrating, especially on the later levels of a stage. I will not explain the number of rats needed for each level because I went through the game not paying attention to it and just completed each level without really knowing how many rats were needed. ******************************************************************************* 1. The House The House is the first stage and is a good, easy introduction to the game. Try to get accustomed to the controls so you're ready for the more difficult stages. There are six levels to complete here. Leisure Lounge: One hole and five objects makes for an easy level. Bathtime: A bit trickier with four objects and two mouse holes. Bedroom Bonanza: A vaccum cleaner makes this even trickier but it's still fairly easy at this point in the game. Three objects here. Play Away: Three objects to worry about here and your first mutant rat pad. The mutants are always Mouth Rats and are easy. Kitchen Kapers: Use the scratch pad to turn on the food mixer and the cooker to help kill the rats. Boss: Yippy Yappy Simply wait for him to charge up and stand by a target. Jump out of the way and he will get hurt. Repeat until dead. He will only get hurt when he hits a target so make sure he hits it. ******************************************************************************* 2. The Garden This next stage is a bit trickier as you are informed that duplicator pads are around. Remember that clones do not go towards your quota. Teleporters make their first appearance too. There are five levels to complete here. Back Porch: Watch out as Bennett is around. Three objects about which to worry as well as a teleporter to help you escape Bennett but you shouldn't need it. Sundial Showdown: Again there are three objects which include a wooden chest. Don't forget that the chest is an object. The lawnmower can be a problem but it also kills rats for you. Fountain Of Fun: As the title suggests, one of the five objects is a fountain. There are two silver chests here: don't worry too much if you can't open them. The destructor pad can only be gotten to with the teleporter which might cause a problem. Compost Corner: Another lawnmower is present and a mutator pad which will make Mouth Rats. Three objects to protect. If playing on expert difficulty, this can be tricky believe me! Boss: Beefy Bennett I don't know whether this is the same Bennett or a different one as the normal one continues to be in the normal levels. Regardless, here is how to defeat him. Do not try and attack him. Jump on the bin and jump off just as he strikes. If successful, he will hit the bin and make a noise which annoys the neighbours who will throw slippers etc. Avoid the items they throw as they will hurt you as well as Bennett. You want them to hit Bennett so try and lure him into the objects path. Repeat this until he dies. ******************************************************************************* 3. Funhouse Things get more hectic as racing cars and other hazards appear in this stage. There are six levels to complete in this one. Bouncy Castle: Here is the first appearance of the dreaded crates. Do not let them be opened. Here is also the first appearance by an irritating feature of this game: the fan has to be turned on to allow the destructor pad to be functional. The fan will also blow you away from it too. Just keep trying and you will succeed. Three objects to protect here. Rifle Range: Five objects here and a radio controlled car which works the same as the lawnmower from previous levels. Bumper Cats: Three objects plus a fan to get past if you want the destructor pad. Pinball Machine: Watch out as Jelly Rats and a duplicator are present here but with six objects they shouldn't pose much of a problem. Poker Face: Four objects and an annoying fan which is needed to jump the gap to the destructor. This level is an optical illusion too but you should get used to that. Boss: Rat Clown This can be tricky on expert level but the strategy is the same. Run around and press the scratch pads to shoot a dart which will hopefully hit the clown. If it doesn't just try again on a different pad. You also have to hit the centre one in-between the outside pads. Feet will follow you which cannot be destroyed so just run away from them while following the same strategy. ******************************************************************************* 4. Haunted House This is where the game can get very annoying and hard. Just keep trying and you'll get there. There are six levels to complete here. Ghostly Gatehouse: Bennett is around again and so is a duplicator. The four objects can be difficult to keep here so the level can get very hectic. Creepy Chapel: A weird slime ghost acts like the lawnmower here. With three objects and the duplicator in an awkward position, this level can be difficult. Haunted Hall: Three objects plus you have to teleport to get to the destructor. A ghost can cause more problems than solutions on this level too. The Pit: Four objects plus the destructor is fan operated plus(!) a duplicator. Good luck! Ghostly Graveyard: Four objects plus the dreaded mutator that now produces vampire Rats but other than that it's fairly easy for a later level. Boss: Ghostly Ghoulies Simply run around pressing the scratch pads releasing the bombs. Eventually he will be hit. Avoid the green things and repeat until dead. ******************************************************************************* 5. Museum The rats have mutated to harder green ones: they are faster and will destroy objects more quickly. Laser beams make an appearance too so don't forget they will kill rats. There are six levels to complete here. Dead Old Stuff: Four objects plus a metal detector makes this difficult. A laser beam prevents easy access to the destructor as well. Fossil Frolics: There are four objects, a laser beam and a mutator which now makes Mummy Rats. Catlantis: Four objects plus the fan activated destructor pad. The Mummy Rat makes this one of the most frustrating levels in the game. The crates are the top priority to protect. I Want My Mummy: Four objects here. Nothing too serious about this level apart from the spikes: be careful the fan doesn't blow you onto them. Although surprisingly, the spikes do kill rats as well which helps. Dino Drama: Very hard especially on the expert difficulty. It was cruel of the designers to put this one at the end of the museum level. Four objects. The duplicator is right in front of the only rat hole. This effectively doubles the number of rats you need to kill. Boss: Scarab's Palace Just trap and kill the beetles using the destructor while avoiding his attacks. Simple. ******************************************************************************* 6. Art Gallery This is much harder as the levels have fewer objects on average and the ghastly Genius Rats make their first appearance. There are five levels in this stage. Pop Art: Three objects plus a mutator. Kill the Genius Rats quickly and use the metal detector to your advantage. Renaissance Nuisance: Three objects and a duplicator. The Destructor is awkward too. Artful Dodgings: Two objects. I suggest ignoring the upper object and focusing your efforts on the crate. The metal detector should take care of most of the rats. The upper most scratch pad will produce a shield so use it to get past the laser beam which can only be turned off from one side. Art Attack: Possibly the hardest level in the game simply because of Bennett and the fact that most of the five objects are crates. This is also the one level wherein it would be easier with fewer objects. The spanner is useful too and can quickly turn your fortunes around. Boss: Yippy Litter Let the biggest hit the front of one of the glass cabinets three times then the middle one and finally the little one. This can be tricky; just jump and use all of your skills to get away from the little dogs and lure them into hitting the glass. On easy they only need one hit to kill them. ******************************************************************************* 7. Factory Here the rats are red and there are even more mutant crates. The yellow liquid will kill rats and sometimes they walk into it. There are five levels to complete here and at the end of them there is no boss. Control Room: There are four objects plus a mutator which makes devil rats. Be careful of the fan which you need for the destructor. Frying Tonite: Named after the famous phrase uttered by Kenneth Williams? There are three objects and it's fairly easy. Again, beware of the fans. Carry On Conveyor: Another one; Kenneth Williams was in all carry on films. Six objects. Beware of the crates and mutants. The destructor is difficult to catch too. Best Little Warehouse: Three objects. Given the small number of objects, the Genius Rats can make this quite tough. Conveyor Crisis: Four objects plus an annoying conveyor belt. This isn't too difficult. ******************************************************************************* 8. Space The Martian Rats make an appearance here. Also there are lots of floors where a laser gun will shoot you if you stand on it. Most levels here aren't too tough. There are five levels to complete here. Transporter Room: Named after the room on Enterprise from Star Trek perhaps. There are four objects and a weird device that acts like the lawnmower. Just jump over the teleporters to get to the destructor. Laser Locomotion: Four objects plus a ray gun. Don't let the Martian Rat appear as it will make the level much more difficult. Mutator Creator: Eight objects but most of them are Mutant Crates. The only advice I can give is to protect the crates as much as possible and when you see the exit, go for it. Livid Lasers: Four objects and a laser. The destructor pad is invisible but pressing the Scratch Pad will make it visible temporarily. Boss: Space Showdown Swipe the posts one by one until Washington and Jefferson are visible. Then stand between them and let them attack each other. Repeat this process until dead. ******************************************************************************* Congratulations! You have completed Rat Attack and saved the Earth. Try it on Expert Level if you haven't already. It's a big challenge and very frustrating! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Final Notes ****** This guide can be found on the following sites: www.gamefaqs.com www.gamewinners.com www.supercheats.com www.neoseeker.com If you wish to post this guide on your site, please send me an e-mail first to the address below. I hope you enjoyed reading this. Rat Attack can be an addictive challenge to play every once in a while. Having trouble? E-mail me at edwithmj (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk and I will respond. Thanks for reading. Good Day.