/=======================\ |Micro Machines for XBox| \=======================/ ------------------------------------------ -FAQ for unlocking all the Bonus Features- -------------By Jim Taylor---------------- DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT EXPRESSED PERMISSION. ============ INTRODUCTION ============ This is the first FAQ I have written. If it is not written or formatted how you might be used to then this is the reason. I am just someone who liked the game and wanted to share what I found. If there are any mistakes or things I have missed, email me: jim@taylor143.freeserve.co.uk with "Micro Machines" in the subject line. The purpose of this FAQ is to gain access to the Bonus Features of Micro Machines. The FAQ is split into two sections. The first explains what the Bonus Features are and how to unlock them in general terms without specifics. It is designed to be 'spoiler-free' and just point you in the right direcion, giving hints on how to discover the Bonus Features for yourself. The second section is a walkthrough of exactly how to Access the Bonus Features and a description of the prize! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========= SECTION 1 ========= Q. What are the Bonus Features? A. The Bonus Features can be found by going to Options -> Gameplay -> Bonus Features. There are 9 different features that can be unlocked, some considerably better than others. Once a feature is unlocked, you can activate it by highlighting it and pressing the A button. Q. How do I unlock Bonus Features? A. The Hidden Vehicles Bonus is unlocked by completing all four series (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) in the "Race" mode. The 8 other Bonus Features are unlocked by racing Single Race in "Micro GP" mode. There are 8 tracks and each track relates to a Bonus Feature. To unlock the Bonus you must pick up the 3 "Star" power-ups in the race. These look like normal power-ups but they are orange in colour and have a five-pointed star as the icon. At least 2 in each race are usually well hidden. You will know that you have unlocked a bonus because "Bonus Feature Unlocked" will appear across the screen. You can keep track of your progress towards reaching the bonuses on the Options -> Gameplay -> Bonus Features screen, It does not matter in which order you pick up the Stars and you do not have to pick them all up in the same race. Once you have picked up a Star it will not come back. You will know if you have successfully picked up Stars in a race because you will be prompted to save your progress to the hard disk after the race. Q. Any hints for finding Stars? A. 1. Keep your eyes peeled. There is usually one Star in the race that can be seen while you are racing if you are looking for it. 2. Break things. Often stars can be hidden inside things that break when you drive into them, eg crackers, party poppers, rocks, snails etc. 3. In "Micro GP" mode, the camera tries to stick behind your car as much as possible. This often means that you cannot see behind scenery, and drive straight past the Star. Check behind that wall/ramp/box/pillar! 4. Sometimes when the track curves, try driving straight for a bit. Quite a few stars are hidden by being just outside your normal field of vision. Q. Any hints for completing all four series in "Race" mode? A. 1. It doesn't matter what difficulty setting you do this on, it will still unlock the Bonus -- so put it on Easy, it'll be easier! 2. Practice! In my opinion Micro Machines as a game is far more a test of memory than it is a test of skill. So the more you race a track and get used to which turns are coming when, the more you will be able to anticipate the corners and get better results. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========= SECTION 2 ========= In this section are locations of all the Star power-ups and brief descriptions of the Bonus Features. For each track, the order I have listed the stars in is the order that they are around the track, so the first will be nearest the start of the lap etc. Beachside --------- This track will unlock the "Micro Soccer" bonus which is by far the best prize. It is great fun multi-player and very frenetic (Hint: go for the magnet power- up every time!). This was also the track where I had most difficulty in finding all the stars, but here they are: 1. Tucked away behind the water jump at the very start of the lap. 2. When you reach the old-fashioned divers' helmet in the water, instead of heading through it, go around in on the left hand side and you should see the star. 3. The final star was an absolute bitch to find! When you are driving in the sand you will come across a beach ball followed by a right turn, just before the bridge across the treasure. Just before you get to the beach ball turn left and it is sneakily hidden behind the sandcastle. 911:Emergency ------------- This will open up the "Micro Marble" bonus which is also great fun multi-player. It surrounds your vehicle in a metal cage-like ball. It actually reminds me of the Atlaspheres game from the Gladiators TV show (just to show you how sad I am). It makes your vehicle impervious to most power-up attacks, and makes other cars fly off far better when you barge them! Here's how to get it: 1. You can see the first star from the start line. Turn right instead of left at the first corner and the star is above a drain, which is also a nifty short cut. 2. You can't get this star if you take the short cut mentioned above. After the first corner you will see some cardboard boxes on the right hand side. It is between the first and the second box. 3. After going down a series of stairs and before going up the green ramp that follows them, take the time to look behind the wall on the left. This Ol' House -------------- This will unlock the "Big Heads" bonus, which does exactly what it says on the tin: 1. It is hidden behind the jack-in-the-box near the start of the lap. 2. When you go across a narrow bridge in the rafters, there is a green Christmas cracker about half way along. Burst this (it will probably hurl you into oblivion) and claim the star within. 3. After driving left across the cobweb, there is a right hand hairpin turn. Directly after this bear left off the track and drive into some sort of tube. This is a short cut and will drop you off right next to the third star. Toy Town Sci Fi --------------- This unlocks the "Mirror Tracks" bonus which is actually really freaky. I thought it would be just driving around the same tracks but backwards a la Gran Turismo, but actually they have made a complete mirror image of the track so that all left turns are right turns and vice-versa. It is very confusing after playing the standard tracks for a while. This is where the stars are: 1. After the first teleport turn right (you might have to reverse a bit first) on to the arm of a chair. 2. When you make a jump before seeing the man playing with his levers, the star is in plain view on the left hand side, behind what looks like a cup of coffee. Again you might have to reverse, this time in order to build up the necessary speed to get between the coffee and the console. 3. The third star is easy to drive stright past. On the floor there are a series of speed boosts with power-ups either side. The last one has a time stopping power-up on the right. Adjacent to this on the right is a grey pillar, behind which is the star. Jungle Jamboree --------------- Getting the stars here will get you the "Concept Art" bonus, which I think is a gem. It's fantastic to see how the game has evolved from the original drawings. 1. Just like on the first track, a star is hidden behind a jump in the water. 2. When you head into a blue-coloured room, turn left into the first fireplace along the wall, which is also a teleport. 3. After taking this teleport, there is a drop down and the track curves to the right. Instead of turning, keep going straight and the star is hidden behind a broken statue's head. Hicksville Hoedown ------------------ Probably the easiest bonus to unlock, and also the worst. Who wants to play the game with a green screen? I tried it a few times to see if there were any other tints but it just seemed to be green. How boring, but here's how anyway: 1. When driving on the rafters there is an "Electro Charge" power up. After this on the right is a party popper. Burst this and take the star. 2. Drive slowly when jumping down from the rafters and changing into a sports car. The star is on the bail of hay on the way down. 3. This one is in clear view. When you drive past the people's feet, it is under the woman's tapping foot. Perilous Places --------------- Ah, this bonus is a trip down memory lane with "Bird's Eye" mode, just like the original Micro Machines on the Sega Megadrive. It is very, very hard to win against the CPU in this mode because once you get ahead, you can see *nothing* of the track before you. This is where the stars are located to unlock it: 1. I found this to be one of the hardest stars to locate. After the two big horizontal spikes that pull back and before turning right onto what looks like bubble wrap, there is a big box with a bomb printed on it if you drive straight on instead of turning. You can carefully drive around the left hand side of this to find the star behind it. 2. After driving across the lava there is a speed booster. In the section directly after this there are a number of glowing orange rocks which explode if you drive into them. The star is in one of these, I believe the last one on the right. 3. After you have driven up the ramp with a wall on your right and stairs on the left take an immediate left to find the star. Ghoulish Graveyard ------------------ This will give you "The Team" bonus which shows you a couple of cartoons of the development team. 1. It is on the left before the bridge with the skeleton blowing the party horn. 2. When driving up the ramp made out of a coffin lid there is a snail on the right hand side. Drive into him a couple of times to squish him and the star will be there. 3. After the big drop turn right instead of going straight and the star is underneath a ghostly teleporter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please feel free to point out any mistakes, inaccuracies, improvements, omissions, comments etc. Email me with "Micro Machines" as the subject: jim@taylor143.freeserve.co.uk If you want to put this FAQ on your site you must email me and ask first, just common courtesy. Copyright 2003 Jim Taylor