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).
*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
--- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ --- ^ ^ ^ ^ --- ^ ^ --- ^
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.
