*Note: Please view Chapter IX for Copyright information and important stuff, By reading and saving/using/printing this document, you must follow my rules: 1) Do NOT sell this guide to people, it is meant to be free! 2) Do NOT sue me over this guide, if I have facts wrong or my techniques have made you lose instead of win, I am SORRY! 3) Do NOT change my name to your name and take credit for this guide, you have my full permission to use this guide for personal use, and if you want to have stuff in it in your own published document, you have my FULL permission to do so... just please give me credit! Okay, here it is the wonderful Joust II Guide! |***********| ***** ***** ______ * * _ __ ___ | | * * | | | | |_ | | | _* * | | | | | | | | * * * |_| |_| __| | _|__|_ * * * ***** Joust II - Survival of the Fittest -------------------------------------------- [FAQ] V: 0.6 (Not yet complete...) Written by Arcade Zombie *Note: This game was written from memory on many parts, some facts and such may be distorted. Also this is version 0.6, it does not yet have all of the information, tips, and level guides that I would like for this guide to have. Since there was not already a Joust II guide, I decided to quickly throw one together to please the public! ================= Table of Contents ================= Introduction (Joust II) Chapter I (Basics) Chap. II (Controls) Chap. III (Jousting Strategy) Chap. IV (Monster Guide) Chap. V (Scoring Chart) Chap. VI (Level Guide) Chap. VII (Hints and Tips) Chap. VIII (FAQs) Chap. IX (Copyright Information) Conclusion (More About Joust) O Introduction == |\ _______________________________________ | | / | | Joust II - Survival of the Fittest / | |____________________________________/ |/ O- This document is a tribute to the classic arcade game, Joust II - Survival of the Fittest. I wrote this guide to help Joust players with Joust II. Thoughout this document, you will find different things like tips, secrets, in depth strategies, information on Joust II and much more! Now please allow me to sink your mind into the bizzare and dangerous world of JOUST II - Survival of the Fittest... O Chapter I == |\ ____________________ | | / | | Joust II Basics / | |_________________/ |/ O- Joust II has plenty of basics that you should know before jumping into the game... The object of the game is to make it as far as you can through each level (which are called waves in the game) jousting opponents from your mount. As levels (waves) progress, the game gets harder and harder. Attached is a skill level chart from the game itself. It's highly recomended to watch the preview video from the game to learn how to play the game. Skill Level Starting wave Points awarded at completion of wave =========== ============= ==================================== Serf 1 0 Page 6 50,000 Squire 11 125,000 Knight 16 200,000 Lord 21 275,000 King 26 350,000 Points are useful for gaining extra lives as long as getting a high score. O Chapter II == |\ ___________________________ | | / | | Controling thy Animals / | |________________________/ |/ O- MOVEMENT, FLAP and TRANSFORM are the different controls for the game. the movement button moves your character left or right. As you start to move, your osterich will start to walk and then pick up speed until it runs, if you try to turn around while running, your osterich will slide. You must learn how your animal moves before you expect to become good at Joust. The FLAP button allows your osterich to fly, press the flap button rapidly to start to pick off from the ground and start flying, most of your jousting will be in the air. The TRANSFORM button allows you to transform from an osterich, to a pegasus. The osterich is much faster (which can make it hard to control sometimes) and can fly quite well. The pegasus has poor flap power and can not fly well at all, though the pegusus is good for ground combat, and can be slower and easier to control in certain situations. It is recomended to use the pegusus for hatched warriors so you don't have to worry about them easily killing you. *NOTE: For rookies, it's a good idea to use the first level to get used to controling your animals. Just don't go straight for the kills and practice running around and flying with your osterich and your pegusus! :) O Chapter III == |\ ____________________________ | | / | | Jousting thy Opposition / | |_________________________/ |/ O- Jousting is a where you use your lance to hit other riders and such in the right spot to have them knocked off of their mount. When you joust a buzzard rider, you will want to aim for their upper front area or their upper back area with your lance. A cool technique that I like to use is drop on opponents' heads! So your osterich's feet touch the buzzard rider's heads, that way makes it much less likely for them to attack your upper area with their lances! REMEMBER, if you fly into a buzzard rider and their joust is HIGHER than yours when you two collide, you will DIE! Even if the buzzard rider is NOT facing you! The pterodactyl is much different than the buzzard riders, don't try the old THE HIGHEST LANCE WINS trick on this beast, you'll end up dead! Also don't try dropping on him, that could be fatal for you! Here is a trick I found that works for me, though I usually avoid the pterodactyl since I usually end up dying on encounters with it (It can be difficult to master the trick) PTERODACTYL LANCING TRICK: "The easiest way to lance these guys is to be on flat ground and have a pterodactyl chasing you, then transform into the pegusus, and turn and face the pterodactyl, because your joust is lower, you will hit it in it's soft spot; killing the mighty beast! (This is repeated under Chap. IV) O Chapter IV == |\ ________________________ | | / | | Beasts and Buzzards / | |_____________________/ |/ O- This is an advanced beastery which will include all the *official* names for each opponent, and their description, and also tips and such to defeat them. (In parenthesis after creature name is the POINTS awarded upon creature death) I. Bounder (500) Red knight on buzzard. (See *) II. Hunter (750) Grey knight on buzzard. (See *) III. Shadow Lord (1500) Blue knight on buzzard. (See *) **Strategy for I-III is same, higher levels are harder to defeat and are much more aggressive in combat. Each one drops eggs when they are killed. Usually refered to as buzzard riders, to defeat, you must joust them either in their backs or above their lances** IV. Pterodactyl - Flying dinosaur, swift and deadly. They are much harder to lance than all of the buzzard riders and other creatures. The easiest way to lance these guys is to be on flat ground and have a pterodactyl chasing you, then transform into the pegusus, and turn and face the pterodactyl, because your joust is lower, you will hit it in it's soft spot; killing the mighty beast! It seems that the pterodactyl is much easier to kill in Joust 2 than in Joust 1! V. Knight (5000)- Giant robotic creature. Stands still, buzzard riders come out of chest. You must lance the 4 red pins on the knight to defeat it. Knights also have the ability to release red lightning from their head, which is easily avoided. The top left and right pins are easy to lance, while the bottom left and right pins are much harder to lance. You will be rewarded with a whopping 5000 points when you defeat the knight! VI. Mutant (500) - Creature which forms when an egg goes into the lava. They form shortly after the eggs falls into the lava (or water) and will come up and fly around at very fast speeds. They are like the normal buzzards in apperance except a few minor changes and a much longer tail. VII. Deceptus, The Mechanical Buzzard - The mech buzzard will fly in at a slow speed and can drop objects that create lance-nosed crystal bats! Fly on top of the mechanical buzzard (landing on him) to kill it! VIII. Lance-nosed Crystal Bat - Fast moving deadly creature. Simmilar to the buzzard riders, but do not drop anything and are very fast. Jousting these guys are quite simple, unless if they are in large groups (which often happens) and they all come at you at once! Keep your lance slighly above their lance-noses to get them. IX. Hatched Warrior (250)- Walking knight on ground, carries a long lance. Hatches from eggs laying on ground for certain period of time. Lance is so short that he can kill you by running strait to him on the ground. Kill them by running into their backs, or by usin the pegasus. NOTE: In the original Joust they were not deadly, they now are VERY deadly if you don't know how to deal with them! X. Lava Troll - A giant troll that lives in the lava, you will only see it's hand, as it will come up and grab riders that come to close to the lava, this can be used as an advantage as it may grab buzzard riders and make them easy targets for you to lance! The lava troll is unkillable! XI. Sea Monster - Simmilar to the lava troll, comes out of water and grabs you and pulls you under. Also, you will want to stay away from the water since sea monsters are UNKILLABLE! O Chapter V == |\ ___________________ | | / | | Scoring Points / | |________________/ |/ O- Here is a basic chart with scoring information for Joust II: (Every 25,000 points, you recieve an extra life) OBJECT COLLETED/KILLED POINT TOTAL ====================== =========== Bounder------------------------------------------------------500 Hunter-------------------------------------------------------750 Shadow Lord-------------------------------------------------1500 Egg-----------------------------------------------------250/1000 *Golden Egg--------------------------------------------------500 Pterodactyl-------------------------------------------------1000 Knight------------------------------------------------------5000 Hatched Warrior----------------------------------------------250 Mutant-------------------------------------------------------500 *When you collect the golden egg, a bonus button will appear, you can rush to hit the button in time and recieve an award (Either lots of points or even an extra life!) [I am planning on fully updating this list in the next FAQ update! Right now it just has basic scoring guide of things that are common.] O Chapter VI == |\ ____________________ | | / | | Levels and Such / | |_________________/ |/ O- This is a simple level guide. It will provide you with descriptions of the different levels, along with tips and other stuff. Depending on the skill level, you may start on a different wave. (see I - Joust II Basics) Wave 1 - The Ruins This level starts you out in an area with a bunch of collums and two islands in the sky. There are four buzzard riders riding about, which are all bounders. Try to get up on the top islands and get height advantage on the other riders and swoop down and joust above their lances. A trick I like to do is to drop down on their heads and 'stomp' them, this is an easy technique to use against bounders. (See Jousing, III) Wave 2 - Survival Wave This level is a bluish color, and has parts near the bottom where you can fall into lava. Again try to stick to the island and be careful of eggs falling down into the lava! It starts out with 5 bounders. Also because of the lava, some eggs may fall near it and make it hard to collect the eggs before they hatch without falling into the lava. Wave 3 - Altar This level has three levels, which are all islands in the middle, there is lava near the bottom on both sides, there are 4 bounders, 1 hunter, and a mechanical buzzard at the begining (which can swoop in at the begining and take you by suprise!) Make sure you jump up on top of the mech. buzzard and stop him with your osterich's feet! Careful, hatched warriors may mount back on buzzards as shadow lords! Wave 4 - Crystal Bat Attack This Level has multiple islands on it, and does not have anywhere you can fall into lava. At the begining tons of crystal bats who will fly at you pretty fast at the begining! Just make sure your lance is facing the bats and you will be just fine. Then after a little while, two bounders will show up. Kill a few crystal bats and then make your way up to the top and kill the bounders, while still watching the surviving crystal bats. Wave 5 - Egg Wave This level has some funky shapes such as a weird island in the middle and a strange tree that might be slightly tough to maneuver around if you're not that good at flying. The good news is you can't fall into the lava in this level. At the begining there are a ton of eggs, so try to collect as many as you can to avoid having them get on buzzards! The more you collect, the less buzzard riders you have to fight! Wave 6- Lair of the Vultures This is a tricky level, you start out on a bottom island with lava all around it that is easy to fall in (CAREFUL!) and there are other riders out around the level, in the upper level, there is an island with two bird heads on each side, from the birds are two buzzard (or I guess vulture..) generators which are also on knights. Fight off the vultures and because there is soo much lava, be prepaired to fight mutants! Wave 7 - Arena Survival Wave This level has an immediate danger in front of you, lava, also there are plenty of islands in the air, which can be a problem if you are flying fast and bump into one. The pterodactyl also comes at the begining, which makes things complicated. Go lance the bounders and hunters, while trying to collect the eggs for points and try not to let them hatch or go into the lava. I'ld try focusing on the hunters first, since they are tougher than the bounders. Another potential danger is getting grabbed by a lava troll when trying to fly across the lava under the island. Also, the pterodactyl that is at the beginning STAYS around unless if you kill it, and after time another one will come! Wave 8 - Sir Magix, The Pulverizer This wave introduces the boss like creature, the knight. This level has it's share of traps, it has lava, buzzard riders, and a mechanism under the knight that will go down and crush who ever is under it. Most of the buzzards will be hunters, and there is aslo a bounder at the begining. A mechanical buzzard will come early on in the level. Also, the buzzard riders will sometimes go into the lava trying to get on the lower island. (See chapter IV on information about the knight and how to defeat) Also, because of the lava, the lava troll may grab a buzzard rider and hold on to them. making them vulnerable. Sir Magix also seems to not release any buzzards, which is VERY nice! =D Wave 9 This wave looks like a big open, cyber pyramid. There are lots of crystal bats at the begining which immediately swoop towards you to attack. After a short period of time, some hunters will come into the level and start to attack you. There is also plenty of lava, and because of the pyramid shape, eggs are likely to fall into the lava and produce mutants. The total of starting hunters are 4. Wave 10 - Egg Wave This level starts you out in a level with big islands, which make going around easier than some of the earlier levels. At the begining, there will be plenty of eggs, some which automatically hatch at the begining! Try and collect as many as you can to avoid fighting less buzzards, and you won't have to worry too much about the lava, it's easily avoided in this level! The odd reddish plant near the bottom can zap you, so be careful around there. I tend to stay to the area right of the red plant. as it is kinda boxed in and has a good amount of space to manuever. Wave 11 - The Sentree This level has a a big island with columns and stuff in the middle and flat islands at the top. At the bottom, there is water (not lava) be careful to keep away from the water because you will sink or become grabbed by the sea monster (see chap. IV) Six buzzard riders will come into play, being mostly hunters, though there is a bounder. Also look out for the crystal bats that come, At the begining, I usually fly to the top and kill a few buzzard riders as they come, then I sink down, and as they come down to get me I get a few, then go back to the top again. (Also note: The crystal bats come from the RED gems on the top islands, so avoid being by them near the begining.) Using the pegusus in ground combat is a very good technique for this level! Wave 12 - Enter. The Knight Lord Survival Wave This level has two tiny islands at the top, one medum island in the middle, and two medum islands at the bottom. On the middle island, there is a knight and two red gems. The knight's armor will produce a couple buzzards, and the gems will produce crystal bats. Also, other buzzard riders will be out and about. Keep away from the water and the sea monster! For this level, I kept in the middle, fairly close to the knight so that I could lance all his pins. To lance the bottom two pins easily, just stand on the ledge by the pin and walk towards it with the osterich. Be warned, a mechanical buzzard may appear! Also remember, you only need to defeat the Knight Lord to beat the level! Wave 13 - The Magistree This level has a floating island with a big tree on it in the middle area, and it has other islands near the bottom, which makes it so you shouldn't have any problem accidently falling into the water. There are three red gems at the beginning a few buzzard riders, and a pterodactyl, start off by attacking you. The hunters are not that though, and can easily be jousted. I stayed in the upper left area to defeat the riders. At one point I went back down to the ground, and used my pegusus to kill a hatched warrior before he got a mount. This level should go by pretty quick. Wave 14 - Branches of Terror This wave is pretty simple, there is plenty of flying room, and there are 10 crystal bats hanging down by their feet at the beginning! Look out for the sea monster near the bottom, and early on in the level some buzzard riders come out to suprise you. I flew near the water early on in the game, and when the hunters followed me, they fell into the water and and sank! All the while, I was still lancing some crystal bats. I also did not use the transform button at all this level. Wave 15 - Egg Wave This level contains, several eggs, like the other egg waves, hurry and collect as many eggs as you can! Though, most of the ground is flat in this level, there is a tree top in it that will make it possible for you to slip and fall into the water if you're going fast. I collected the eggs on the top island first, before dropping down to the middle area and transforming into the pegasus to defeat the hatched warriors before they became mounted. Also the level flashes, which can make you loose focus, So be prepaired to focus! Wave 16 - Pyramid of Power This level doesn't have many good places to land, though, in the tunnels, the pegusus can prove to be handy! Be VERY careful when you are flying, to not slip on the edge of the pyramid and slide down towards the lava. The pyramid slopes also make it great for eggs to slip right down into the lava. Look out for the traps in the pyramid hall ways, they will easily come down and crush you. At the begining there are some buzzard riders, a mixture of bounders, hunters, and shadow lords, also a pterodactyl stalks you from the begining! Try your best to avoid the bottom halls, because you can get trapped! Wave 17 - Survival Wave This wave is pretty basic, you'll have some steep sloped islands near the top that you will want to be careful of. The buzzard riders should not be to much of a threat for you, keep your eye on the pterodactyl, and your character out of the lava! Most spots in this level are good spots to stay while knocking out the buzzard riders. This level also uses the flashing lights to distract you. Wave 18 This level is very nice if you tend to fall into lava sometimes, because there is only a small pool of lava that is easily avoided! This level flashes like previous ones do, but, it flashes slowly, making it not that big of a distraction. Also if you try to go across the lava under the lower island, the lava troll WILL grab you! And between the two mid islands, there is a trap, so AVOID it! Keep your eye out for the buzzard riders, which are all hunters, except one shadow lord, the two crystal bats, and the pterodactyl. Wave 19 This level has several islands, with a pterodactyl, SEVERAL crystal bats, and a couple buzzard riders, including a bounder and a shadow lord. There arn't many places to hide in this level, so you'll want to stick towards the middle, or some place where you are more comfortable of and prick off the bats and buzzards, occasionally moving away from the pterodactyl if you have problems with them. You can go on the BAT BLASTER island with the pegusus to pick off some monsters, but don't stay too long on it. Wave 20 - Egg Wave [End of level strategies for now... there are still many more to come!] ** I have gotten farther than wave 20, though I haven't written about them yet, I will be sure to update this section as soon as I can!** O Chapter VII == |\ ___________________ | | / | | Hints and Tips / | |________________/ |/ O- Here is an assortment of basic hints and tips (Note: Some may have already been mentioned in earlier chapters.) *Knowing the monsters' capabilities before fighting them will keep you prepaired of what to do, preventing you from dying as easily! *When you lance buzzard riders, try droping down from top of them and STOMPING them to get the kill, it's a much safer practice than hitting them face on! (Basically drop on them and stomp on their heads!) *Try finding areas that are easy to defend and let the riders come to you, sometimes it's easier for rookies to have a wall on one side, and be in flight, prepaired for buzzard riders to come attacking from one side! *Use the pegusus for ground combat, if you become good at knowing when to change your animal, you will become that much better at Joust II overall! *Try not to take very long beating levels, after a while a pterodactyl will appear, and pterodactyls are hard to beat, ecspecially if you're a rookie! *When fighting knights, try not to focus too much on hitting the red pins for a long period of time, if you keep your guard off of the buzzard riders for a while, you are DEAD MEAT! [More tips will be added in FAQ update...] O Chapter VIII == |\ _______________________________ | | / | | Frequently Asked Questions / | |____________________________/ |/ O- Here I've included questions that people have quite frequently asked me about Joust and Joust II: Q: How do I kill the pterodactyl? A: I have found a way that is easy for me to remember and works great! Look at the beastery section (IV) And go under pterodactyl to read. Q: How many levels does Joust II have? A: I believe (I think I read this from an advertisement for the game) there are 99 or 100 levels, I personally haven't gotten that far... YET! ;) Q: What is the difference between Joust and Joust II? A: The gameplay is basically the same, though Joust II has more monsters, different level designs, a TRANSFORM option, and many sugnificent changes! Q: Where can I get Joust II? A: You can either play it at an arcade (very few carry it though...) buy a Joust II arcade machine from somewhere, and if you have a PlayStation, you can get the Midway's Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Midway Collection, Vol. 2 for PlayStation... this port is a VERY good arcade port, but has a few graphical glitches! I would stick with the PSX version, since it is reasonably easier to get, and can save money on quarters if you're a Joust fanatic! The best option I would prefer is to get the Midway Arcade Treasures. (that version runs better!) Q: What is the animal that the character is riding? A: That is an osterich! If you have two players, the second player rides a stork! =D Also, there are no differences in gameplay between the two animals! The pegusus however is very different from the osterich/stork. [More questions will be added later in FAQ update!] O Chapter IX == |\ _________________________ | | / | | Copyright Properties / | |______________________/ |/ O- Joust and Joust II - Survival of the Fittest are copyrighted by Williams, Though now is Midway Games =) This Joust II guide was written by Arcade Zombie, and you have his full permission to copy this guide for personal use. If you wish to copy portions of my guide for your personal guide that you wish to publish, you have my FULL permission, as long as you credit me with the parts that you copied! :) THANK YOU! O Conclusion == |\ _______________ | | / | | Thy Legend / | |____________/ |/ O- You may want to check out the ultra-cool Joust and Joust II ports on Midway Arcade Treasures 1 for PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and PC! =) The 1st Joust can be found on Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play for PSP. Information on the Joust series can be found on the internet, or from any Joust experts or Joust fanatics (me!). Thank you for reading this document! --Arcade Zombie