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WILD SNAKE - FAQ and GAME GUIDE v1.0
FOR NINTENDO GAMEBOY
WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY KANE O'RILEY, COPYRIGHT 2006
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) VERSION HISTORY
2) INTRO
3) GUIDE
a) Game Info
b) Controls
c) Snake Types
d) Options
e) Rankings
f) King Cobra Challenges
4) CREDITS AND SUCH
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1 - VERSION HISTORY +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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17/03/2006 - First release, YAY!
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2 - INTRO +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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If you have any suggestions, comments, corrections, requests, or anything
you would like to say about this guide, feel free to e-mail me at
[email protected], and I'll see what I can do. Just make sure you mention
this faq in the e-mail subject.
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3 - GUIDE +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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a) Game Info
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Wild Snake is a puzzle game, which is quite unique. It has a similar feel to
games such as Tetris or Columns, but instead of blocks falling down, you have
snakes. The idea is simple, to stop the snakes from piling up and reaching the
top of the screen.
You do this by making a snake land on another snake of the same type, which
cause the falling snake to eat the one it lands on. As a result of this, the
snakes directly around the eaten snake will move forward if they can, and
possibly set off a chain reaction. Keep this up for as long as possible, and
attempt to get the highest score you can.
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b) Controls
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The controls in Wild Snake are fairly simple. As the snakes are falling, you
can attempt to move them left or right, but they will also fall at the same
time. When the snake lands on another snake, if it is not the same type, you
can hold left or right to make the snake move only horizontally, but as soon as
it reaches the side it will begin to fall again. If you don't press a direction
after the snake lands, it will choose a direction and slither downwards and
across, until it either hits a snake of the same colour, or runs out of room
to move and stops.
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c) Snake Types
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There are three different main types of snake to worry about.
Normal Snake:
The normal snakes are the ones which appear most often, and they act in the
normal manner. You must match these up to other snakes of the same colour, in
order to get rid of some of the snakes. These come in two different colours,
and several different patterns, but you shouldn't have any trouble seeing which
ones match up. There are a total of 10 different types of these normal snakes.
As your score goes up, or as you progress in King Cobra mode, you will start to
encounter more and more of the different types, until eventually, you will be
faced with all 10 at once.
Big Snake:
These snakes do not appear very often, but when they do they can be very handy.
You cannot control these snakes, but they will eat any snake they land on
during their fall, and won't stop until they reach the bottom of the screen, or
hit an obstacle (if you have them switched on). The eggs in King Cobra mode
will also act as an obstacle. The Big Snakes are a pale yellow in colour.
Flashing Snake:
These snakes will flash when falling, and you can control these ones. What it
will do, is once it lands on another snake, all the snakes matching the one it
landed on will be eaten, which can often help clear out the screen and make
your life much easier.
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d) Options
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There are several options to choose from upon starting this game. I will now
run through them, and explain each.
Difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard, King Cobra
The Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties just change the speed at which the
snakes will fall down, but the King Cobra difficulty is slightly different, in
that it is actually a set of challenges which you must complete. A more
comprehensive look at the King Cobra difficulty will be provided in its own
section.
Preview: Yes, No
This simple turns on or off the snake preview window. Only turn it off if you
want to add an extra bit of challenge to your game.
Grid: Standard, Hour-Glass, Flask, Inverted-T, X, Cris-Cross, Zig-Zag
Over-Hang, Orbs, Bowl
This changes the grid type you want to play with. I will try to demonstrate
each one with a small ascii diagram below (hopefully its understandable).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| | | | |xxxx xxxx| |xxx xxx|
| | | | |xxxx xxxx| |xxx xxx|
| | |x x| |xxxx xxxx| |xxx xxx|
| | |xxx xxx| |xxxx xxxx| |xxx xxx|
| | |xxx xxx| |xxx xxx| |xxx xxx|
| | |x x| |xx xx| |xxx xxx|
| | | | |x x| | |
| | | | | | | |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Standard Hour-Glass Flask Inverted-T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| xxxx | |xxx xxx| |x xx| | |
| xx | |xxx xxx| |xx x| | |
|x x| |xxx xxx| |x xx| |xxx |
|xx xx| | | |xx x| | xxx|
|xx xx| | | |x xx| |xxx |
|x x| |xxx xxx| |xx x| | xxx|
| xx | |xxx xxx| |x xx| |xxx |
| xxxx | |xxx xxx| |xx x| | |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X Cris-Cross Zig-Zag Over-Hang
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| | | |
| xx | | |
| xx | | |
| xx | | |
| xx | |x x|
| xx | |xx xx|
| xx | |xxx xxx|
| | |xxxxx xxxxx|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Orbs Bowl
Hope that clears things up, if not, most of them are pretty self-explanatory
anyway.
Obstacles: Yes, No, Wink
This option decides whether you wish to have obstacles placed on the grid.
If you select no, there will be no obstacles. If you select yes, there will
be a set of permanent obstacles on the grid, which you need to avoid. The
wink setting means that the obstacles rotate between off and on, which can
be quite tricky if your not careful. The obstacles themselves are just small
squares which prevent the snake proceeding.
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e) Rankings
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As I have previously stated, the whole point of this game is to destroy as
many snakes as possible, and gain points. As well as points, you also have
a 'name', which is shown at the bottom left of the screen, which changes as you
eat more snakes. A list of the possible rankings is below. Please note that the
requirements are not exact, but a rough guide (The actual value needed seems
to change, something I'm looking into).
0 Eaten, 0 Points - Nestling
15 Eaten, 1000 Points - Grass Snake
30 Eaten, 2000 Points - Black Snake
45 Eaten, 3000 Points - Water Snake
65 Eaten, 4000 Points - Bull Snake
85 Eaten, 5000 Points - Asp
100 Eaten, 6000 Points - Boa
120 Eaten, 7000 Points - Coral Snake
140 Eaten, 8500 Points - Viper
160 Eaten, 10000 Points - King Cobra
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f) King Cobra Challenges
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King Cobra mode is slightly different to the normal gameplay, as you are given
a series of 8 challenges to complete. Before each challenge, there is also a
qualifying round, where you must eat 20 snakes to qualify, and if you fail to
do so, you must start again at the first challenge. If you manage to qualify
but then fail the challenge, you can retry but you must perform the qualifying
round again first.
There are three different types of goals in the challenges, and I will outline
each of them for you. Note that several challenges feature combinations of
these goals.
You must eat xx snakes:
As the name implies, you must eat the given amount of snakes in the allotted
time.
You must eat x eggs:
The eggs must be eaten by a PLAIN snake of the same colour. Any snake with a
pattern on it will not work, and neither will a snake of the wrong colour.
This is normally easy to achieve, provided the game gives you the right snake.
Sometimes it can be impossible, as the game simply doesn't make a snake of the
right type appear, and this can be quite frustrating.
You must have xx snakes on-screen:
As the name again implies, you need to have at least the amount of snakes on
screen equal to the requirement when the timer runs out. This is the only time
when you will start to hate the Big Snake or the Flashing Snake, as they can
decimate the number of snakes you have. Just hope you don't get one too close
to the timer running out.
Now, to the challenges:
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Challenge #1:
To complete, you must eat 30 snakes
You have 130 second
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In this challenge, there will only be 4 different types of snakes to worry
about. This is very simple, and if you struggle to beat this challenge, it
might be time to turn off your GameBoy :p
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Challenge #2:
To complete, you must eat 2 eggs
You have 60 seconds
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The first of the egg-related challenges. This one shouldn't prove too hard,
but as I mentioned earlier, the game may or may not choose to even give you the
right snake. If not, try again and it shouldn't take too long to pass. Oh, and
you have 5 different snakes coming down now.
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Challenge #3:
To complete, you must eat 30 snakes
Also, you must eat 2 eggs
You have 130 seconds
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Basically a combination of the first two challenges. Simply worry about eating
as many snakes as possible, until you have one that matches the eggs, and try
to get both eggs with the same snake. There are 6 different types of snake now,
but you should get the right one with minimal fuss.
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Challenge #4:
To complete, you must eat 30 snakes
And have 15 snakes on-screen when time is up.
You have 150 seconds
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OK, your first time when you have to have a certain amount of snakes stay on
the screen. It is harder then it sounds, but luckily you now have 7 different
types of snake, so you should be able to make 30 matches, and then keep the
matching snakes separate for the rest of the time. Good luck.
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Challenge #5:
To complete, you must eat 50 snakes
You have 200 second
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8 Different snakes now, but by this stage, it shouldn't be anything you can't
handle. Just try to keep as many snakes open as possible, to increase your
chances of finding a match. Personally, I find the previous challenge trickier
than this one.
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Challenge #6:
To complete, you must eat 4 eggs
You have 70 seconds
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Not much to say here, except that there's now 9 different types of snake. Other
than that, use the same advice as for Challenge #2.
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Challenge #7:
To complete, you must have 20 snakes on-screen
Also, you must eat 6 eggs
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The only challenge with no time limit. The full ten types of snake take part
in this one, but even so, there isn't anything too challenging. Just keep the
snakes low until you get one that matches the eggs, eat all the eggs, and let
the snakes build up. Even if you have some Big Snakes or Flashing Snakes get in
your way, you can't really lose as you have forever to get the 20 snakes on the
screen.
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Challenge #8:
To complete, you must eat 50 snakes
Also, you must eat 3 eggs
You have 170 second
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Basically the same as Challenge #3, except a few more snakes, an extra egg,
and a few more seconds to do it in. Follow the same advice I gave for #3, and
you should have no trouble at all.
And now........ Congratulations! You have conquered the mighty King Cobra mode
and become a champion of Wild Snake. Your prize? A beautiful credit sequence.
OK, so maybe it's not the most rewarding end-game experience, but you can
still be proud of yourself for getting this far.
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4 - CREDITS AND SUCH ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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I would firstly like to thank CJayC for a great site and for hosting this file,
and anyone who has taken the time to read it, comment on it, or in some way
made the whole thing worth doing.
Wild Snake is (C) Bullet-Proof Software.
