Q*bert FAQ version 1.0 By Elkovsky E-mail: aelunthebard at gmail dot com GameFAQs: Elkovsky Copyright 2012 Elkovsky ------------------- -Table of Contents- ------------------- * Introduction (Why a Q*bert guide?) * The Basics * The Baddies (and other noteworthy objects) * Scoring * Advanced Strategy * "Polarity" of the board in 5-1 and on * Enemy Spawn Patterns (what you came here for) * Acknowledgements/Conclusion --------------------- -Why a Q*bert guide?- --------------------- Let me start by saying this: Q*bert on NES is a brutal game, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It starts off innocently enough, but when get to round 5-1, expect to watch your lives bleed away as Coily continues to hound you incessantly and Sam repeatedly destroys everything you've worked so hard for. The NES version is much more manic than the arcade version and much less predictable towards the end, and the levels start to speed up as well. Trying to beat this game was a living nightmare for me, and I'm apparently not the only one: on Electric Frankfurter's list of the 30 hardest NES games of all time (out of approximately 750 titles), Q*bert was #3. Fortunately, anyone who wants to beat this game has one thing working in their favor: the order in which enemies appear in a given level is more or less fixed. By putting together transcripts of these enemy appearance patterns, I was able to take out Sam the moment he appeared and grab those precious green balls at just the right time, allowing me to finally finish the game once and for all. After posting on NintendoAge about my victory as part of their "Can NA beat every NES game in a year?" thread, I got a PM from one member asking about the information, and a suggestion from another that I should put together a FAQ for the game. Given that I'm trying to play through the entire NTSC-region NES library myself (Q*bert was #125 on my list), I'm aware of how that many NES games still aren't well-documented enough, and I'm more than happy to fill this little gap in the internet's collective compendium of NES knowledge. To anyone who's been itching to finish this game once and for all, I hope this information proves useful. ------------ -The Basics- ------------ The goal of Q*bert is to change all of the cubes on a seven-tiered pyramid from their default color to the target color indicated in the top-left corner of the screen. Every four rounds, the rules for changing cubes get a little trickier; after round 5-1, the rules remain the same for the rest of the game. Unlike the arcade version, the NES version has a definite ending, which appears once you finish round 9-4; after this, the game will return to level 1-1 with no changes (at least as far as I can tell) and continue to cycle through the same levels until you die or decide to call it a day. Just getting through once, however, is enough of a feat in and of itself... The rules of cube-changing for each level (there are four rounds per level) are as follows: Level 1: One hop will change a cube to its target color. Level 2: One hop will change a cube to its intermediate color; a second hop will change a cube to its target color. Level 3: One hop will change a cube to its target color; a second hop will change a cube *back* to its original color. Level 4: One hop will change a cube to its intermediate color; a second hop will change a cube to its target color. A third hop will change a cube *back* to its intermediate color. Levels 5 through 9: One hop will change a cube to its intermediate color; a second hop will change a cube to its target color. A third hop will change a cube *back* to its original color. -------------------------------------------- -The Baddies (and other noteworthy objects)- -------------------------------------------- All of this cube-hopping would be easy enough in and of itself, but the game throws plenty of enemies at you to make make things more complicated. During the early levels, you won't always see every enemy type, but as things pick up, the game will start throwing everything and the kitchen sink at you, and will do it faster and faster as the levels progress. The following enemies appear throughout the course of the game: Red ball: Bounces down the pyramid starting from the second row from the top. The path these balls take is random. Purple ball: Bounces down the pyramid in a similar fashion to the red ball, but somewhat faster. When it reaches the bottom row, it hatches and turns into Coily the Snake. Coily the Snake: Pursues Q*bert doggedly throughout the level; fortunately, he's a little slower than Q*bert, which makes evasion a little more manageable. The arcade version's FAQ contains additional info regarding movement patterns, which supposedly translates over to the NES version (although knowing this information is not necessarily essential for beating the game). Spinning disk: Not actually an enemy, but worth mentioning here. If you jump on a spinning disk while Coily is chasing you, he'll continue to pursue you, and if he gets close enough, he'll hop over the edge of the pyramid after you and plummet to his death. For some reason, this causes all the enemies on the screen to vanish, giving you a second or two to hop across the board in solitude. Ugg: The kind of fellow that would make M. C. Escher proud. In complete defiance to the laws of physics, he appears on the bottom row of the pyramid and hops on the left edge of the cubes, making his way from left to right. Wrong-Way: Similar to Ugg, except he hops on the right side of the cubes and makes his way from right to left. (Note: I might have Ugg and Wrong-Way switched, but for my money it doesn't necessarily matter. The rest of the guide assumes this naming to be correct.) Regarding both Ugg and Wrong-Way, I've heard it said that by watching their eyes carefully, you can figure out which way they're going to jump. The FAQ for the arcade version of Q*bert attests to this, but I am not certain whether or not this holds true for the NES version. Based on my own testing, Ugg's eyes always face the same way when he is standing still, and Wrong-Way's one eye only changes direction *after* he jumps in a different direction. Sam: Probably the most annoying foe in the game. You can actually touch him without getting hurt, which will knock him out and score you some points, but if you let him run free, he'll hop down the pyramid and change the colors of the cubes. Depending on the level, he'll alter the cubes in different ways, either changing them to a fixed color or toggling them to the next or previous color in their natural cycle. Like the red and purple balls, he appears on one of the two squares on the second row from the top. Green ball: Like the spinning discs, they're not technically an enemy; if fact, they're immensely useful for clearing the board more quickly and easily. They hop down the board just like the other balls and Sam, but they're a little faster; catch one, though, and everything on the screen freezes, allowing you to solve a large chunk of the board without worry. While the enemies are frozen, you can move freely through them, although you can still die by jumping off the edge of the board. Running into an enemy (except for Sam) causes you to lose a life; you start with five lives (your current one plus four spares), and once you run out, it's game over. You have three continues, however, and using one will allow you to start on the current level with both your score and the condition of the board reset. By the way, landing on an enemy square may or many not cause you to trigger the square; this seems to depend on timing and how fast the level plays out. If you hit the enemy before the square changes color, you go back to the previous square on your next life; if you manage to toggle the square the enemy occupies, however, you'll start the next life on that square. --------- -Scoring- --------- Changing a square to its intermediate color: 20 pts Changing a square to its target color: 30 pts Grabbing a green ball: 100 pts Catching Sam: 300 pts Defeating Coily: 500 pts Winning a round grants you a bonus that is dependent on the level and round number. Rounds 1-1 through 4-4, the formula is as follows: Round bonus = (level number x 1000) + ((round number - 1) x 250) In other words, your bonuses for rounds 1-1 through 1-4 are 1000, 1250, 1500, and 1750 pts. For the next twelve levels, the pattern continues: 2000, 2250, etc., up to 4750 pts. for round 4-4. All rounds in levels 5 through 7 give a straight-up bonus of 5000 pts. Rounds 8-1 through 8-4 give a bonus 6000 pts., and rounds 9-1 through 9-4 give a bonus of 8000 pts. You earn a new life at 6000 points, and for every 12000 points thereafter. Although your lives counter only displays a maximum of nine lives, the game will keep track of any lives you have above this amount (although you'll have to be playing pretty darn well to see this happen - I've only witnessed this once in my own attempts to beat the game). ------------------- -Advanced Strategy- ------------------- *In later levels, it is better to tackle the bottom corners of the pyramid and/or the bottom two rows first. When you're getting close to finishing off a round, hang out on the top square and wait for the green ball to show up. Make sure you don't wait so long that Coily has a chance to waltz up to the top and kill you, though; following the enemy spawn patterns in this guide, however, will help you time this properly. (Also, in rare cases, Ugg or Wrong-Way may be able to get to the top square and hit you as well, so be careful.) *Later on, concentrate on turning like-colored pairs of squares back to their proper color whenever possible. The arcade Q*bert guide on GameFAQs has more to say on this, but once you hit 5-1, you'll find that this will save you a lot of time and potential grief. *In rounds 5-3 and beyond, I personally like to use the spinning disc in the bottom-right corner of the pyramid early on in my run, even if I don't take out Coily in the process. If you approach the corner properly, fixing squares two at a time, you can solve the bottom two rows much more quickly - or, at the very least, the bottom-right corner. This, of course, is partially dependent on how much the enemies are crowding you in (especially Sam), but I've found it to be helpful in many circumstances. *At the beginning of most rounds, it is best to let Sam do whatever he wants to the board. In the later rounds, you should only worry about taking him down when the bottom two rows of the board are finished. *Save the spinning discs towards the top of the pyramid for last if you can. In early levels, this is hardly necessary, but later in the game, when solving the bottom part of the board first is all the more beneficial, it's not a good idea to undo too much of your work just to get away from Coily. *A few rounds early on - namely 2-3 and 2-4 - give you very few spinning discs and a lot to do. Round 2-3 is often where I lose my first life on a run, since it's only possible to defeat Coily twice. It's best not to use your spinning discs too early in these rounds unless you absolutely need to, since you could end up with Coily on your tail and nowhere to go while Sam is busy resetting half of the board. Instead, let Coily chase you a bit before luring him to his death, and try to fix a few cubes along the way. *It is possible to jump through an enemy without losing a life if your timing is just right. This is most easily done with Ugg or Wrong-Way, but I've managed to pull it off with the red balls and even Coily on occasion. I wouldn't necessary rely on this technique for the latter two foes, but if things are getting crowded, it's something to consider. --------------------------------------- -"Polarity" of the board in 5-1 and on- --------------------------------------- Beginning in round 5-1, it is possible for the playing area to be temporarily forced into an unwinnable state. It's kind of tough to explain (see the FAQ for the arcade version of Q*bert for a more detailed breakdown), but depending on what goes on during the course of a level, you can end up in a situation where all of the cubes are the target color *except* for the square you're standing on, which is the intermediate color. If you're in this situation (or one that could produce it), there is no way to turn every square to its target color unless one of three things happens: 1. Sam shows up and alters an odd number of squares on the board (1, 3, or 5) before you catch him. 2. You jump onto a disc that's adjacent to a cube on an odd-numbered row of the pyramid. This causes you to jump from an odd-row cube to an odd-row cube (rather than odd to even, or even to odd), fixing the problem. 3. You jump off the side of the pyramid on purpose from a cube on an even-numbered row of the pyramid. This causes you to appear at the top square of the pyramid without altering its color, allowing you to alter two even-row squares in a row. This temporarily unwinnable scenario is something I refer to as "bad polarity," and using one of the above fixes returns the board to "good polarity." It is still technically possible to squeak through a level without knowing anything about this concept, but planning your strategy around it will make your life *MUCH* easier. As you're getting close to the end of the round and waiting for a green ball to appear (assuming that you need one), pause the game to check the polarity of the board - in other words, solve the last few cube-hops in your mind and see if it's possible to complete the board or not. It takes time and practice to polish this strategy, but doing so is vital to finishing the last 20 rounds of the game. Although the third method of polarity reversal will cause you to lose a life, a well-placed suicide is better than running around the board in a panic and screwing up the whole board, potentially forcing you to waste a continue. In general, there are a few good reasons to consider killing yourself: *To stop Sam in his tracks (all enemies vanish when you die), especially if he's about to reset some out-of-reach squares or put the board in bad polarity *The board is almost solved, but Coily's on your tail and you're out of spinning discs *Doing so would allow you to finish the level almost immediately upon respawning (and would leave the board in, or restore the board to, good polarity) Remember, you get an extra life every 12000 points after the first 6000, which means you can afford to die a time or two in a level without screwing up your run completely. ----------------------------------------------- -Enemy Spawn Patterns (what you came here for)- ----------------------------------------------- As important as the above information is to completing the game, the real key to winning Q*bert is knowing what enemies will appear in a given level, and how often they will appear. In each round, enemies spawn in a fixed pattern, ranging from 5 to 32 enemies in length, which repeats continually until you finish or fail the round; this order never changes between playthroughs of the game. The only exception to this involves Coily - if he is next in line to appear but he is already on the board, his next appearance will be skipped, since there can only be one Coily on the screen at a time. (Keeping close tabs on this can work greatly to your advantage, since preventing Coily from spawning, in essence, saves you a spinning disk.) Also, the enemy appearance pattern will temporarily stop while Q*bert is riding a spinning disc to the top of the pyramid. For each round, I have listed the enemies present, Sam's behavior for that level, and the enemy spawn pattern for that stage. The letters should be self-explanatory, but just to be safe, here's a key: R = Red Ball C = Coily (purple ball) U = Ugg W = Wrong-Way S = Sam G = Green Ball On my own hand-written transcriptions of the enemy appearance patterns, I added a few visual markers to make the patterns easier to read while I was playing the game; a similar system has been implemented here. Every appearance of Coily has an asterisk over it, and every appearance of Ugg or Wrong-Way has a carat symbol below it (to indicate that they appear from below, and that the two squares on row two are therefore safe to hop on). Sams and green balls have a box around them to make them stand out, since you'll want to be close to the top of the board to grab them once the bottom of the board is stabilized. Generally, the less the Sam/green ball ratio is slanted towards Sams, the better; stages like 6-3 and 8-2, which contain four Sams for every green ball, are probably the easiest to screw up. An explanation of Sam behavior types is provided here: To default: Changes a cube to its original color, regardless of the current color. To intermediate: Changes a color to its intermediate color, regardless of the current color. Back a color: Reverts a cube to its previous color, as if to undo Q*bert's previous move. Forward a color: Changes a color to the next color in sequence, as if Q*bert had stepped on the cube himself. Give the nature of some of the color-change rules, Sam behavior in some of the rounds could fall under more than one category, although the way I have them listed *should* still be true to the way the level plays out. The only elements not accounted for here are the speed of each level and the amount of space between spawns. Knowing a level's speed in advance is not particularly helpful; the only difference this really makes, aside from decreased reaction time, is that enemies will travel further across the board during a spinning disc ride on faster levels, since the travel speed of a spinning disc seems to be fixed across all levels. Including the amount of space between enemy appearances in the spawn patterns below would simply muddy up the list, and this information isn't incredibly useful either (especially since dying or riding a disc will disrupt this pattern somewhat anyway). You'll notice, by the way, that some of these patterns are remarkably similar to each other (or exactly the same!); taking note of this can make some of the later stages easier to beat. For many of the later rounds, the first ten enemies in the pattern are almost always the same, which makes things a little more manageable. There are also several later stages where a green ball is preceded by two Wrong-Ways and a red ball; even if you start to lose track of where you are in the sequence, this grouping is a good cue to make your way to the top of the board and prepare to clean up. One last bit of advice: don't be afraid to use the pause button! During my final run of the game, I can't tell you how many times I paused to get my bearings and figure out which enemies were coming up next. The last thing you want to do is get into a panic and dash across the board like a madman, running into enemies and letting Sam do whatever he wants. It's all too easy to waste all your lives on a single level and start digging into your stock of continues prematurely. And, without further ado, the spawn patterns themselves... ---------------------------------------- Round 1-1 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball Sam behavior: N/A Enemy spawn pattern: * C R R R R ---------------------------------------- Round 1-2 Enemies present: Coily, Ugg, Wrong-Way Sam behavior: N/A Enemy spawn pattern: * * * --- U W C U W C U W C U W |G| ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ---------------------------------------- Round 1-3 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: to default Enemy spawn pattern: * --- * --- R R R C R R R |G| R C R R |S| R R --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 1-4 Enemies present: Coily, Ugg, Wrong-Way, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: to intermediate Enemy spawn pattern: * * --- * --- * --- U W C U W C U W |S| U W C |G| U W C |S| ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ---------------------------------------- Round 2-1 Enemies present: Coily, Ugg, Wrong-Way, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: back a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- --- * --- --- * W |G| U |S| C U U |S| U W W U |S| U W U C U W W ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 2-2 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: back a color Enemy spawn pattern: * * --- * --- --- R R R C R C R R R |G| R R R C |S| R R R R R |S| --- --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 2-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: to default Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W C U R |S| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 2-4 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: to default Enemy spawn pattern: * --- * --- R R R C R R R |G| R C R R |S| R R --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 3-1 Enemies present: Coily, Ugg, Wrong-Way, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- --- * --- --- * W |G| U |S| C U U |S| U W C W U |S| W U U C U W ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 3-2 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: * --- --- --- C R R R R R |S| R R R R |G| R R R R R U |S| R R W R R --- --- ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 3-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W U --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 3-4 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: * * --- * --- --- C R R C |S| R R R C R |G| |S| --- --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 4-1 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: back a color Enemy spawn pattern: * --- * --- --- * * * --- C |S| R R C |S| R |G| U W C U W C U W C U W |G| --- --- --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ---------------------------------------- Round 4-2 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: back a color Enemy spawn pattern: * * --- * --- --- C R R C |S| R R R C R |G| |S| --- --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 4-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: to default Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W C U --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 4-4 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: to default Enemy spawn pattern: * --- * --- R R R C R R R |G| R C R R |S| R R R --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 5-1 Enemies present: Coily, Red Ball, Green Ball, Sam Sam behavior: to intermediate Enemy spawn pattern: * * --- * --- --- C R R C |S| R R R C R |G| |S| --- --- --- ---------------------------------------- Round 5-2 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: to intermediate Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |G| R U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W U --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 5-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U R R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W R U R |S| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 5-4 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U R W R C U W W R |G| R C W R U |S| R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 6-1 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U |G| W R C U W W R |G| R C W R U R |S| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 6-2 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U U W R C U W W R |G| R C |S| R U R R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 6-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- --- * * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U W |S| R C U W W R |G| R |S| W C U R R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ --- --- ^ ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 6-4 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |G| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W |S| U R R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 7-1 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U R R C U W R |S| C U W W R |G| R C W |S| U R R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 7-2 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U R R C U W R |S| C U W W R |G| R C W |S| U R R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 7-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * --- --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |G| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W |S| U R |G| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 7-4 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U |G| R C R U |S| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C |S| W U R U C W --- ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 8-1 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U W |G| C R U W W R |G| R C W C U R |S| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 8-2 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * * --- --- * --- * R |S| C W U R R C R U |S| R C U W R R C U |S| W R |G| R C W |S| U R R C W --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 8-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * * --- * R |S| C R U W R C R U |S| R C U |G| W R C U W W R |S| R C W C U R |G| C W --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 8-4 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * --- * --- * --- * --- --- * --- * R |S| C W U |G| R C R U |S| R C |G| W W R C U |S| W R R |G| C W |G| U R R C W --- ^ ^ --- ^ --- --- ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 9-1 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * --- --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C U |G| U R |S| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 9-2 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C U |S| U W R C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 9-3 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * --- * --- * * --- * --- * R |S| C W U |G| R C R U |S| R C U R W R C U W W R |G| R C W |S| U R R C W --- ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ---------------------------------------- Round 9-4 Enemies present: All Sam behavior: forward a color Enemy spawn pattern: --- * * --- * --- * --- * * --- * R |S| C W U W R C R U |S| R C U |S| W R C U W W R |G| R C W C U R |S| C W --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^ ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------- -Acknowledgements/Conclusion- ----------------------------- Special thanks again to NintendoAge board members scaryice and Crabmaster2000 for encouraging me to write this! Considering that this is one of the nastier games in the NES library, I'm hoping that this information proves useful to those of you who have had trouble beating it. Also, regards to ASchultz for his arcade Q*bert guide, which helped me pin down the issue of "polarity" so I could extrapolate on it further here. Hopefully all of the above is correct, but if you see any typos or errors (particularly in the enemy spawn patterns), send me an e-mail at the above address! Make sure to read the FAQ thoroughly first, though, to make sure your question is answered there. And... that should do it! See you next FAQ!