Pengo(arcade) FAQ version 1.0.0
copyright 2003
by Andrew Schultz [email protected]

Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent.
This FAQ is copyright 2001 Andrew Schultz.  If you write me a note
specifically using my name and this FAQ's name I will likely approve
your request.  This document is largely for nostalgia purposes in
addition to the strategic insights I hope it provides.

   ****AD SPACE****

My home page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762

================================

     OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. BASICS

   2-1. MOVEMENT(YOU)

   2-2. MOVEMENT(ENEMY)

   2-3. SETTINGS

 3. LEVELS

   3-1. NOTES ON LAYOUT

   3-2. METRICS

   3-3. INTERLUDES

 4. SCORING

 5. LEVEL COMPLETION STRATEGY

   5-1. KILLING ALL SNO-BEES

   5-2. GETTING 5K/10K

 6. CONCRETE EXAMPLES

   6-1. MACHINE-RESET LEVEL

   6-2. EASY 10K SETUP

 7. VERSIONS

 8. CREDITS

================================

 1. INTRODUCTION

 Pengo is a fun looking little game with lots of pretty colors and cute
moments. You control a red-and-green penguin as it moves across a grid
filled with ice blocks and three diamond blocks. You can push the
diamond blocks into Sno-Bees, your enemies, and either you or the Sno-
Bees can destroy blocks. There's no real end to the game, but getting to
the later stages and seeing the skits there(with a blue friend popping
by) may be a reason to try to get better.

 Fortunately the machine has a few dip switches(which are easy to
access on MAME) which make stuff like cycling through all sixteen levels
much easier.

 The dip switches are as follows:

Easy/medium/hard
3/4/5 guys to start
Extra guy at 30k/40k/50k
[note: you may have more than 5 lives left, but the screen just won't
show them.]

 But this game is as cold hearted as the ice plain where I'd guess it's
located. You'll need to learn the rules--which are clearly slanted
against flightless waterfowl--and you'll also need quick reflexes,
concentration, and the ability to size up a random level in a second or
two.

 2. BASICS

   2-1. MOVEMENT(YOU)

 The standard four directions, and when you face one direction and push
a button, if there's an ice or diamond block there you will

1. push it in that direction until it hits a wall or another block, or
2. dissolve the ice block if it can't be pushed any distance.

 Dissolving a block takes more time than pushing, so if Sno-Bees are on
your trail you may want to find a block you can push a way as it may
also open up new passages. However if Sno-Bees are just beginning to
dissolve an ice block then your block won't go through...yet. Timing is
critical.

 You can also jostle the side of the wall. If a Sno-Bee is next to that
wall, you will stun it. However, they tend to move out of the way
quicker on higher levels and just stay away from walls in general.
Jostling the wall next to a stunned Sno-Bee doesn't re-stun it. Sno-Bees
are stunned for approximately four seconds.

 Note that you can only perform one operation(i.e. push an ice block or
a wall) at a time. So if you have just fired an ice block across the
screen, you can't shake the wall until it stops, and you can't fire two
blocks at once if Sno-Bees are approaching from two sides. This is a
definite handicap.

   2-2. MOVEMENT(ENEMY)

 Sno-bees start out a bit slower than you. They seem more persistent
and better at tracking you if you set the difficulties harder. Also as
levels increase they take less time to turn and seem to have a better
sense of where you are. They have a tendency to go straight so turning
and doubling back works well as long as they are not too close. They can
move through each other and are also restricted to moving one grid
square at a time. However they can catch you from a half-square behind.

 In general you can wait until Sno-Bees are 1 square diagonally from
you and then you can move away as they move at you, but there's no
assurance they'll go to where you left. They move very randomly. But
generally if you're in their lines of vision you can count on them
running at you.

 Sno-Bees can also dissolve blocks, which slows them down(short term
advantage: you) but they cannot dissolve diamonds or blocks where future
Sno-Bees are hidden(if one backs away this is a clue where one might be
hidden.)

 You may shoot a block through Sno-Bees if 1)they are just forming or
2)it hits the end of its path just as a Sno-Bee goes through it, which
is very unfortunate for you. So timing can be important to learn.

 With one sno-bee left it will search for you a bit and then try to go
into a corner and dissolve. What's really nasty is that if it catches
you the game re-starts with the Sno-Bee in a corner and usually it
dissolves and that's it. What a chicken.

 On later levels the Sno-Bees tend to get rather smart and can even run
away when you fire an ice block. They're lethal in open spaces.

   2-3. SETTINGS

 Easy, Normal and Hard settings provide for different challenges. I've
never been able to get through level 16 on normal and usually need all
five levels on Easy. Although the number of enemies remains the same,
their speed does not. One big asset you have is that you can turn
quickly to offset your being slower. On hard the Sno-Bees can turn very
quickly and are quite fast.

 3. LEVELS

   3-1. NOTES ON LAYOUT

 There are sixteen total levels(well, acts) before the game cycles
back. While the placement of ice blocks is random, there does appear to
be a randomization algorithm that relies on a seed, and you'll see many
patterns come up again and again. If you can remember some of them and
where Sno-Bees or flashing blocks appear, you can get a very nice jump
on the level.

 The levels themselves are on a 13x15 grid. Considering the top corner
to be (0,0) you have an ice block appearing at every (2x+1, 2y+1) and no
ice blocks at (2x, 2y) and at the level's beginning you will have a path
drawn out that removes ice blocks so as to connect any two default non-
ice-block points.

 Note that there are always 111 total squares of the 195 that are open.
This is because when you are making a maze, each block with coordinates
(2x, 2y+1) or (2x+1, 2y) that is dissolved can add on one more (2x, 2y)
square to the chain in the maze, and the game's algorithm doesn't permit
linking two squares that are already in the big chain the expands as the
level starts. This leaves 81 ice blocks and 3 diamond blocks.

   3-2. METRICS

Level # | Total | Bees    | Color   | Sno-Bee speed
       |  Bees | At once |         | vs. you(normal)
--------+-------+---------+---------+------
1       |   6   | 3       |lt green |slower
2       |   6   | 3       |red      |as fast
3       |   8   | 3       |yellow   |as fast
4       |   8   | 3       |pink     |as fast
5       |   8   | 4       |orange   |as fast
6       |   8   | 4       |yellow   |as fast
7       |   8   | 4       |lt blue  |as fast
8       |  10   | 4       |yellow   |as fast
9       |  10   | 4       |lt green |faster
10      |  10   | 4       |red      |faster
11      |  10   | 4       |yellow   |faster
12      |  12   | 4       |pink     |faster
13      |  12   | 4       |orange   |even faster
14      |  12   | 4       |yellow   |even faster
15      |  12   | 4       |ly blue  |even faster
16      |  12   | 4       |yellow   |even faster

As the levels go up the Sno-Bees take less time to turn and eventually
get faster than you. Also when fewer appear they go faster.

   3-3. INTERLUDES

Interludes appear every other level. Levels 2-8 feature penguins in a
chorus line coming in from the left(yellow, aqua, yellow, orange, pink,
yellow) and dancing. Then they exit right. From 10-16 a blue penguin
removes four blocks to show Pengo as he moves right across the screen.

In level 2 the penguins face down and wiggle, left and wiggle, and right
and wiggle.

In level 4 the penguins face right and wiggle then up and wiggle.

In level 6 they give you a sidelong glance before walking out.

In level 8 they face you and then start trying to fly off the screen,

The interludes for levels 10 and 14 are the same--this holds for 12 and
16 too.

In level 10 Pengo is sitting on a tall chair playing a cocktail cabinet
video game. He pauses to look at you.

In level 12 Pengo is behind the machine and jumping up to try to see it.

 4. SCORING

The big one--10000 points--you get for aligning three blocks together
such that not all are touching the wall. If they're against the wall
it's just 5000 but in fact it's rather risky to put the diamond blocks
against the wall(and a lot of other ice blocks were probably crushed in
the way) so you might as well concentrate on the 10K. As the 10K dwarfs
the time bonus, if you think you can do it, don't try to shortcut to get
there. Use standard procedure, whatever it takes, to fake the Sno-Bees
out. This stuns the Sno-Bees as well.

You get 400 points for nailing one Sno-Bee, 1600 for a second, and 3200
for three. I've never gotten all four but I suspect that would be 6400.
You only get 100 points for walking over a stunned Sno-Bee, but you can
smash it with a block for the same point scheme. In fact this is good
strategy.

For every ice block you crush, you get 30 points.

You've probably seen the bonus points chart but here it is for
posterity.

5000 points for winning within 19 seconds
2000 points for winning in 20-29 seconds
1000 points for winning in 30-39 seconds
500 points for winning in 40-49 seconds
 10 points for winning in 50-59 seconds
[the most insulting bonus ever]
  0 points for winning in 1 minute + but you still get the skit.

Generally you can tell when you've slipped from one bonus slot to the
next as the music generally tends to get faster.

It's also usually worth it, at the end of a level, to try to hit a Sno-
Bee with an ice block instead of walking over it. From 30-49 seconds
you'll notice that you lose on average 50 points per second. But using a
block gets you 300 points so if it takes less than 6 seconds it's a good
gamble.

You can also break up blocks after killing the last Sno-Bee; the game
seems only to check if you're finished after each second has passed, so
sometimes you can get an extra(whoopee, hooray) 90 points out of it.

Cycling through the levels on easy I find I score 150000-160000 points
or so, with returns tailing off in later levels when I can't get the
10K.

 5. LEVEL COMPLETION STRATEGY

 Whatever strategy you use, it's important 1)not to be in limbo between
the two and 2)to revert to 5-1 if you see your best laid plans for 5-2
have gone wrong. Because of the variety in levels it's hard to pinpoint
any specific moves, but hopefully 5-4 will cover the sort of thing that
could really apply to 5-1 and 5-2.

   5-1. KILLING ALL SNO-BEES

 This is the least risky way to do things. Simply you will just try to
hurl blocks at Sno-Bees or bang up against the sides to stun them or
just shatter the right blocks to prevent Sno-Bees from appearing in the
future. If you can hide behind an ice block and let a Sno-Bee run at
you, that is good. You'll also want to keep track of flashing blocks. If
you can take out a few, it will certainly make things easier in the long
run. But you will want to be exact. The thirty points you get for
blasting an ice block isn't really worth it compared to the wide open
spaces that favor the Sno-Bees; when they're restricted to a maze, you
can determine where they'll go.

   5-2. GETTING 5K/10K

 At first I tried to bring the blocks closer together. After all, two
adjacent diamond blocks flash, which looks cool. I often got them in an
L, which seemed close, but actually it wasn't. The really important
first step is to get all three aligned either horizontally or
vertically. Then you can come back later and push them together with no
problem, eliminating ice blocks between them when the Sno-Bees aren't on
your tail.

 In general you should be able to hone your skill so you know in five
seconds if you can line up the diamonds. And if Sno-Bees barge in and
destroy an ice block you needed to push a diamond against--don't try too
hard to recoup. Sometimes you'll be able to push ice and diamond blocks
around with just two Sno-Bees left(especially if you can stun them) but
you'll want to survive first.

 If two diamond blocks are already aligned, then you should probably
try to get the third in place if it's before level 13, even if it's far
away.

 Example:

   X
   X
 *XXXXXX*

   X
   X
   X
   X
   X
   *

 Here you can dissolve the block in the T that connects the three
diamond blocks(*) and then push all the X's on the bottom to the
left/right and push the final block up. The big risk about going over
such distances is that Sno-Bees have time to upset the apple cart by
dissolving the wrong blocks.

 Here's another example:

    X

 *XX XXX*

    X
    X
    *

 Here you can push the block above the lower diamond right, the one
above that up, and the diamond up to align all three.

 Finally a third example, where nothing is aligned, but you can push
the two right blocks at the top down and slide the right diamond over
and push the two left blocks at the bottom up and slide the left diamond
over. Or you can slide the left/right ice blocks right/left and align
the diamonds vertically.

XXXX*
X   X
X *XX
X   X
*XXXX

 If the diamonds look all over the board, don't bother unless something
fortuitous happens. But if you can push a couple of diamonds two squares
to align them, or two are already aligned, you should consider it. Just
try to push blocks so Sno-Bees in the immediate vicinity are crushed.

   5-3. WHEN TO SWITCH FROM (2) TO (1)

 In the beginning you can afford to go out of your way a bit to try for
5K/10K but actually by the end the sno-bees are moving so fast that you
can only really get the 10K if the diamond blocks are already well
aligned. On later levels they are best used as bunkers. It's easy to get
a fit of hubris("I've improved and I gotta show it!") and think you can
put the blocks together, have Sno-Bees crush a bunch of them, and lose
several guys in the process.

   5-4. MISCELLANEOUS BUT IMPORTANT NOTES

--at level's start, unless you can quickly get 10K focus in on one Sno-
Bee to kill and one or two eggs to disrupt. Repeat the process after
your first kill. It can make things go quite fast.
--after you die, you're put in the center and any remaining Sno-Bees are
at the corner. They start moving immediately, which is worse than the
level start especially if the center is cleared.
--with one Sno-Bee on the board, the little scale down turns it into a
sort of Fry Guy looking thing and it heads for a corner. You can still
jostle the walls to stun it and often if you time things right you can
use the utter lack of bad guys to put the three blocks together. Also
note that the Sno-Bee vanishes very slowly into the corner but you can't
kill it then, so you may have the time to push that last block into
place for 10K.
--each block you dissolve or push against a corner creates that much
more wide open space for Sno-Bees to run around in. Try to have a good
reason to open the game up. Obviously crushing a Bee-egg or a Sno-Bee is
worth it, but pushing stuff against the side is dangerous and makes any
necessary sprint to the side also more perilous in turn.
--getting stuck on the sides can be dangerous. Often all you can do if a
Sno-Bee comes along and hovers one square away, moving parallel to the
wall, is just move along back and forth until you see an opening.
--If you are diagonal to either an unhatched Sno-Bee or a diamond block,
with ice blocks next to you, you have a fortress. You can wait for Sno-
Bees to come to you.
--If sno-bees are in a passage they rarely turn around. If you're on the
other side of ice blocks, they are easy picking.
--Sno-Bees can move towards you while you're bouncing the wall, and this
can be lethal.
--Often if a Sno-Bee is near and, say, 1 right and down, you can gain on
it by having it run through a block--in the time it takes to dissolve it
you can mve ahead, turn around, and fire a block at it.
--the corner is obviously a dangerous place. Try to stay out of it.
--often Sno-Bees will plow through several ice blocks to get to you,
which makes it pretty obvious where they're going to go.
--at the start of a level, you'll want to wait for Sno-Bees' eyes to
appear before chucking a block at them. You can also get a big jump this
way as the blocks that hold eggs will flash a bit more.
--one good trick on later levels is to fire a block that holds an egg at
a Sno-Bee and then dissolve it. If it's a great distance and you're
unlucky, the egg will hatch before you get there, but if not, it's a
great method of defense.
--avoid dead ends.
--it's really nasty but if you've just gotten 10000 points for aligning
blocks not all Sno-Bees can be stunned. I recommend, as you're about to
place a block, just to face it and press. The Sno-Bees can catch you
before all three blocks come together so don't slack off and sit back
yet.

 6. CONCRETE EXAMPLES

   6-1. MACHINE-RESET LEVEL

..............
X   X     X .
X XXX XX* X .
X     X   X .
XXOXXXX XXX .
X       X X .
O XX*XXXO ! .
X   Xu  X X .
XXX XXX X X .
X X X   X   .
X X X XX! X .
  X   X   X .
X XXX X XXX .
X X   X   X .
X * XXXXX ! .
X         X .
..............

u = you
O = where first sno-bees appear
X = ice blocks
! = flashing blocks
* = diamond blocks

 If you reset the machine and start a game before any demo screens pop
up, you'll get this level. It's not exactly trivial, and it's a good
introduction to the sort of moves you need to make.

 First you can move one square right then fire the ice block up one.
Wait until you see the Sno-bee's eyes to the right, and push the block
into it. Right, up, and at the top push the block left. Go right and
turn up and decimate the first block to the left. Then up, right, and
fire the two blocks down. If you were quick the Sno-Bee below is locked
out of running at you. Then right, down, push the diamond to the left.
It's now vertically aligned with the middle diamond. Head left past it
and if you have the time wipe out the ice block between the diamonds--
you can push it and the ice block to the left down, then push right.

 The next part is a bit tricky but if you go to the bottom you can go
to the right of the diamond block and either destroy the first ice block
or push it up. Then push the diamond block right. Everything's lined up
now, and you will want to reduce the field to two enemies and push out
the remaining ice blocks between the diamond blocks. Then push the
diamond blocks up/down into each other--you may find it convenient to
push the ice block above the top diamond to the left to make space. You
can probably flush out the two bad guys pretty easily.

   6-2. EASY 10K SETUP

 Often you'll get a situation where the diamond blocks are very close,
like so:

* *

*

(There may be rotations, but the logic is the same.)

 You may think this seems tailor made for an easy 10K, and you'd be
right. There are two cases: either you have a situation such as

       X
X* *    * *
    or
*      *

 Or the blocks are positioned like so:

 X

X * *

 *

 The first is far more common and much easier. First you push the
center block. If you have

X
X* *

*

 you'll have to push one of the blocks I pointed out first. Now

                *
X* *    X  *    X  *
    =>  *   or
*       *       *

Push the unaligned block in. With the start of the level you should
have more than enough time to do this although you may want to save
aligning all three until you have managed to dispose of all the Sno-Bees
that you can, easily. Either way it's a huge jump on the level as you
should be able to stun four Sno-Bees and get ten grand off the bat.

End of FAQ proper

================================

 7. VERSIONS

1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQs 5/24/2003, first draft, probably missing
some good strategy pointers I can fill in later.

 8. CREDITS

The usual GameFAQs crew even if I haven't seen much of them lately. But
I'll be back, just concentrating on writing at the moment.

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