Home Alone FAQ Version 1.1
for the Sega Genesis (A.K.A. Mega-Drive.)
by: Kevin T. Raffa
E-Mail:
[email protected]
AIM: KTRaffa84
ICQ: KTRaffa84
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. Storyline/Plot
III. Main Menu/Basic Controls
IV. Basics of Game Playing
V. The Houses
VI. The Traps
VII. The Weapons
VIII. Strategies
IX. Special Thanks/Closing Notes
X. Disclaimer
Section I: Introduction
This is my, Kevin T. Raffa's FAQ for Home Alone on the Sega
Genesis/Mega Drive systems. This FAQ is designed to fully appreciate
this wonderful and creative game. If you have comments, questions, or
if there are errors in this FAQ, please E-Mail me with your query to
[email protected]. Please place Home Alone FAQ in the subject line. If
you have AOL Instant Messenger, message me at KTRaffa84. Finally, if
you have ICQ, my number is 57681991. If you do not have AOL Instant
Messenger or ICQ, they can be found at www.aol.com and www.icq.com
respectively.
Section II: Storyline/Plot
Home Alone is based on the movie of the same name. You take the
part of Kevin, the child who was accidently left home, instead of
vacationing. The plot follows that of the movie for the most part, in
that robbers are ransacking homes, and it's your job to set traps and
create weapons to stop the criminals while you wait for the police to
arrive. While you wait, you rack up points based on the traps you set,
the weapons you create, and how well you prevent the crooks in their
quest to rob all the houses in the neighborhood.
III: Main Menu/Basic Controls
Main Menu:
The main menu of this game is fairly simple, as they have made the
options prompt appear when you begin the game. Upon starting, you see
the following options:
High Score: This is set at zero the first time you play the game.
If you beat it and play again, the high score will become that of the
score you received when you beat the game. This is similar to most
video games.
Difficulty: Either Normal or Expert. On Normal difficulty, you
have 20 minutes to hold off the crooks before the cops arrive. On
Expert setting, you have 40 minutes, along with additional traps to set
and weapons to build. (See Section VI for traps and Section VII for
weapons.)
Controller: Upon beginning, the settings of the controller buttons
will be as follows: A: tire, B: fire, C: jump. These, of course, can be
altered to your preference.
Music: From here, you can listen to the various musical score of
the game.
Sound: From here, you can listen to the various and whimsical
sound effects of the game.
Exit: Selecting this exits the option menu and brings you straight
to the game.
Controls:
(As predetermined upon start of game.)
Start has the same function both indoors and out. This will bring
you to the weapons prompt screen. This will also pause the game. (For
more information about the weapons screen, check Section VII.)
Outside:
All buttons have the same function outside. They charge up your
sled, allowing you to travel faster.
In a house:
A: Tire
B: Fire
C: Jump
Tires are collected throughout the game. They are used to jump
upon to access higher portions of a house that cannot be reached by a
normal jump.
The fire button is used to shoot off whatever weapon you are
currently equipped with. You begin the game with a BB Gun. (For more
weapons, please check Section VII.)
Jump is exactly what it states. Your character jumps.
Section IV: Basics of Game Playing
Upon starting the game, you will see your character in the center
of the screen. In the upper left hand corner exists important
information. They are:
Score: This is your score. By winning houses and collecting and
building weapons, your score goes up.
ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival. This is how much time you have
left to fight the crooks before the police arrive.
Houses Left: This is the amount of houses that have not been
completely robbed by the crooks.
Tires: This is the amount of tires you currently possess.
In the upper right hand portion of the screen exists the most
important of information. Right now, it says Charge. That is the amount
of juice left in your sled. (For some reason, Kevin's sled is
electrified and can achieve speeds that of a car.) Upon entering a
house, this will change to Ammo. That will represent the amount of ammo
left in the currently equipped weapon. Underneath that will exist Loot.
This is the amount of loot stolen by the crooks in this house. As of
now, this will be empty. If the crooks are in the same house as you, a
third bar will exist, Pain. The pain bar will go up as you inflict pain
upon the crooks. When the Pain bar reaches full, the crooks will drop
all their loot and leave the house.
Upon entering a house for the first time (usually before the
crooks arrive there,) you will access that house's blueprints. Here,
you set up the traps for the house. The traps are located on the left.
Move the hand to the trap you desire, press any button, move right and
select the location you wish to place the trap. (More information about
traps, such as descriptions and locations to where traps can be set can
be found in Section VI.) Pressing Start in the blueprint screen will
make you enter the house. Leave the house and travel to the others to
set traps in those houses too.
To win the house, you must max out the Pain bar. This is
accomplished through traps and weapons. Once you max out the Pain bar,
you have won the house. You will be sent to a new screen, where points
are tallied, and a whimsical scene is shown, based on the last weapon
you used on the crooks. You score more points for the traps used in the
house and the amount of weapons used.
Section V: The Houses
In his game, there are five houses for you to save. Upon starting
the game, you will see the first house, the Mansion. West of that
exists the Ultra Modern House. East of the Mansion is the Colonial
House. Two other house exist, a bit to the south. The Old House in the
west, and the Country House in the east.
Mansion: This is intended to be Kevin's house in the game, and it
serves its purpose just fine. The Mansion has three floors, and is
inhabited by a spider that crawls on the ceiling. The spider will reach
down now and again, and if touched, the character, whether crook or
Kevin, will fall to the ground in a faint. After a few seconds, the
character to come to and continue about his business.
Ultra Modern House: Like the Mansion, this too has three floors.
The house has a security system of its own, a robot with electrocuting
powers. It will go up and down the floors, arms outstretched,
electrocuting whoever is in its path, whether it be crook or Kevin.
Colonial House: This house is the only house will five floors. It
can be the hardest house of them all, but it's not, as the loot is
spread out over the house. The house is haunted by an old ghost. He
will appear out of the walls and shoot electric bolts from his hands.
Whoever is in the way of these bolts will be shocked.
Old House: This house has three floors. The blueprint may allude
you to think four, but the top floor cannot be reached. This house is
the only one not possessed or guarded. This house however, is old, and
ridden with weak floorboards. When you jump on one of these weak spots,
the floor will give, and you'll drop a floor. As such, these weak
points exist only on the second and main floors.
Country House: This house, unlike the others, has four floors. The
guardian of this house happens to be a cat. The cat can be found on any
floor, and it is always found sleeping. Jumping on the cat or touching
it wakes it up and smothers you. Pressing the control buttons will
shake the cat off you.
Section VI: The Traps.
As aforementioned, traps can only be accessed and placed at the
blueprint screen of a house. They exist on the left hand side of the
screen, and once placed are placed for good. The traps are:
Torch: can only be placed in door jams. Once used by the crook, it
disappears and cannot be used again.
Tacks: (**Only exists in Expert mode**) placed on floor sections
of the house, these tacks can be used twice times before disappearing.
Be careful, as even you can step on the tacks.
Ice: like tacks, these are placed on the floor sections. These
also can be used three times before disappearing, and you can also slip
on the ice.
Grease: (**Only exists in Expert mode**) like tacks and ice,
grease can be triggered three times before it disappears. Yes, you can
slip on the grease too.
Tar: although not damaging, tar, in my humble opinion, is the best
trap in the game. It can be used an infinite amount of times, and yes,
you can get stuck in the tar. Tar only slows a crook down, giving you
more time to escape or shoot him with a weapon.
Toys: a simple trap, Kevin's toys serve as means to hurt a crook.
They can be triggered once before they disappear, and like other ground
traps, you too can trigger them.
Marbles: another simple trap that the crooks slip on. They are
down for a short amount of time, so be forewarned. These can be
triggered three times before disappearing, whether from you or from the
crooks.
Section VII: The Weapons
As you play the game, you collect various items used to build
weapons. These items are found in snowmen outside, or on shelves in the
houses. Pressing Start at any time accesses the weapons prompt. On the
left exist all the weapon parts you have collected. An arrow is above
all of the parts, and there is one below the parts. The arrows will
cycle through all the parts you've collected. In the center, Kevin
demonstrates whatever weapon he is currently equipped with.
Above Kevin's demo exists the name of the weapon he is currently
equipped with. To the left and right of the name are arrows, used to
cycle through all the weapons you have built. On the bottom exists the
three parts of the weapon construction. In order, they are Platform,
Operator, and Ammo. I will explain these shortly. To the right of the
weapon construction are a wrench and a hammer. The wrench will put a
weapon together, the hammer will take one apart. In Normal difficulty,
weapons will be pre-made. That is, when you collect enough items that
satisfy the requirements for a weapon, press Start, and the game will
have pre-made a weapon for you. Click the wrench to build the weapon.
The Platform is what the weapon is primarily made of, or what
holds it together. These include a crossbow, a can, a blow dryer, an
ice cream scoop, and in expert mode, a camera, and a cd player. The
Operator is what is used in conjunction with the Platform, whether to
hold the Ammo, or to use as a slingshot. These include rubber bands,
balloons, and wire. Ammo is the most important of the three, as once
you run out, you'll need to find more, and unlike the Platform and
Operator, Ammo is usually the hardest to find.
Here are all the weapons that can be made in this game, listed in
order of Platform, Operator, and Ammo.
Rifle Weapons:
Rifle Weapons are fast, use low ammo, but inflict little pain.
Probably the best overall. They shoot in a straight line, making them
the best to use for beginners.
Crossbow + Balloons + Glue = Glue Rifle
Crossbow + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Rifle
Crossbow + Wire + Coals = Hot Coal Rifle
Mortar Weapons:
These are hard to get used to. They fire in a great arc, but can
be useful. I tend to stay away from mortar weapons unless it is early
in the game, or I'm up for a challenge.
Can + Rubber Bands + Snowball = Snowball Mortar
Can + Rubber Bands + Super Ball = Super Ball Mortar
Can + Balloons + Glue = Glue Mortar
Can + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Mortar
Can + Wire + Coals = Hot Coal Mortar
Bazooka Weapons:
Slower than Rifle Weapons, the Bazooka Weapons pack more of a
punch. They take up more ammo, but are very worthwhile. They too, shoot
in a straight line.
Blow Dryer + Balloons + Snowball = Snowball Bazooka
Blow Dryer + Balloons + Glue = Glue Bazooka
Blow Dryer + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Bazooka
Launcher Weapons:
Like the Mortar Weapons, these fire in an arc. The arc is not as
large as a Mortar Weapon, which makes it easier to aim and use.
Scoop + Rubber Bands + Snowball = Snowball Launcher
Scoop + Rubber Bands + Super Ball = Super Ball Launcher
Scoop + Balloons + Glue = Glue Launcher
Scoop + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Launcher
Scoop + Wire + Coals = Hot Coal Launcher
Expert Only Weapons:
Besides the aforementioned weapons, some weapons exist only in
expert mode. They are:
CD Player + Wire + Battery = Sonic Wave Gun
Camera + Wire + Flashbulb = Flashbulb Shotgun
Can + Wire + Magnet = Electrical Grenade
Crossbow + Rubber Bands + Rope = Rope Rifle
Can + Rubber Bands + Rope = Rope Mortar
Scoop + Rubber Bands + Rope = Rope Launcher
Section VIII: Strategies
Here I will detail some strategies in a somewhat logical order.
- If you're playing this game for the first time, start on Normal
difficulty. You'll understand the game's mechanics and what weapons you
favor, etc.
- It takes one minute for the crooks to enter the neighborhood. In that
one minute you have free, visit every house, place traps in the houses,
and quickly move to the next house. Do the same there and continue
along.
- The crooks will enter the neighborhood from the south road all the
way on the right. Unless you lose a house, they will always enter from
here after you win a house.
- In the house, you can run or jump into the crooks. If this happens,
you will be placed on a hook. There is a hook on every floor of every
house, so you won't leave the floor. To get off the hook, press the
control buttons rapidly.
- Mix weapons up. Ammo can last a while, so change the weapon around a
bit. Make a Snowball Bazooka. Then, disassemble it and make a Snowball
Mortar. If you win a house, you get 100 points for every weapon you
used in that house, and changing the weapon around a bit constitutes a
new weapon.
- For fun, you can go at max speed on the sled, and ram into a fire
hydrant to net 50 points.
Section IX: Special Thanks/Closing Notes
In closing, I'd like to thank my parents for buying me the
original Sega Genesis, way back in the early '90s. Thanks to my sister
for selling me Sega Genesis 2 when the original one broke. Thanks to
Toys 'R' Us for stocking the new Sega Genesis 3, so I could re-live the
older games I used to love. Many thanks to CJayC for creating GameFAQS
so I could put this walkthrough online.
Section X: Disclaimer
This walkthrough, authored by Kevin T. Raffa, is copyright 2000
under United States law. It should only be found on www.gamefaqs.com
and nowhere else. If you found this FAQ on another site, please contact
me immediately, as they have violated United States law. This FAQ is
not to be re-distributed in any way, shape, or form, whether
electronically, or in a magazine of some sort. Thanks, and enjoy this
wonderful game.
