Hottaman no Chisoko Tanken(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.0.0 by [email protected]

Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.

This FAQ has an accompanying map at GameFAQs which should help you
considerably.

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           OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. CONTROLS

 3. STRATEGIES

 4. WALKTHROUGH

 5. CHEATS

 6. VERSIONS

 7. CREDITS

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 1. INTRODUCTION

Hottaman no Chisoko Tanken(Hotman) is a game where you dig up dirt beneath
the surface, find keys behind four doors, and then find the door to the next
level. The most obvious game to compare it to is Dig Dug, but without the
boulders and with cool weird power ups like teleportal doors, speed, dynamite,
and a wet suit.

While it's a fun little jaunt it'll very likely leave little long-term
impression, as the main part of the game is mapping it out(so don't read my
map if you don't want things spoiled,) but while it lasts, it's fun.

 2. CONTROLS

You move around like in Dig Dug. You can create mazes as in dig dug, with
edges guarding the main squares, which restricts the movement of enemies, but
on the other hand, you can shoot through these. This gives you a big
advantage in ambushing enemies.

If you just tap the controller to the side and then move at a right angle,
you can sneak in, fire and sneak out. This is useful against enemies that
take a lot of hits.

One thing you need to watch is that if you run into a wall, you may not be
able to turn. This seems like a big bug, so just run away from the wall and
turn if this happens.

Watch for stumbling when you get in/out of water.

Start pauses.

Select selects the power ups. B uses them. The only one I really used/needed
to use was the dynamite.

Z=heat suit, allows you to go across desert
R=??
S=??
F=drop a blue thing??
N=drop a red thing??
D=dynamite, blasts in each direction til it hits a wall and destroys the
blocks you can't run through. You need to wedge yourself into the wall and
unhook by retreating a bit.

You can have a maximum of 4 of any power-up, and here are hte colors.

text     background
white on orange = 1
green on white = 2
white on black = 3
black on white = 4

For points, 10 for a regular square, 20 for a large square
50 points for bombing a brick
100 for getting bomb/speed (or other powerups??
300 for getting key
500 points for most enemies
2000 for a crab
5000 points for fish boss, level 15

Extra men at 10000

 3. STRATEGIES

You can just stand by an egg and shoot enemies. Watch for blinking enemies,
as they indicate ones that are about to appear. This is good if you are near
to an extra man.

You can also anticipate where opponents are going to go.

You don't need to walk over a key again to get it--only stuff that appears
when you step over an egg. Monsters may appear if you step over an egg--it
takes a few seconds for an egg to break--and they may return to eggs.

Watch for blinking stuff under you as it means an enemy is about to appear.

Don't bomb anywhere you can teleport to, unless you know you have the bombs.

Teleports are random, so keep crashing into them til they send you where you
want them to.

 4. WALKTHROUGH

Level 1:

Go left past the egg to the door(k). Open it and go right and back down onto
the door below the portal. Back up if you want for dynamite and the speed. Go
down and left to get the door on the left side of the bricks. (k) Retreat and
get the speed in the dead end and go back right. There are two doors along
the way with non-keys as you go to the edge. Go back left and up. The door is
to the side. (k) A fake door may appear DL of you, but you will want to go up
and left, 2R of where you started.

Level 2:

You need to use dynamite here. You can use teleports to avoid using dynamite.
Go right and turn down for a stick, then blast a hole 1U or 1D of the door
trapped in the checkerboard. (k) Go all the way to the left edge and down for
key #2.(k) Walk up into a teleport and mope around til you get to the bottom
bit--you don't have to do it this way, as you should have enough dynamite
even if you blast to the bottom. But it can save time. Use dynamite to get to
the trapezoidal area below. That door has a key, too. (k) Blast your way into
the triangular structure below the checkerboard.

Level 3:

The door below has no key, and neither does the one to the right, but you
might as well get them and the dynamite by the second. Don't open the water
bits, but do go DL to get more dynamite. Go down and left around th ewater
and get the door and the dynamite 1D1L. Head in the bit to the left and get
your first key. (k) More dynamite--then go up and place dynamite 2R2D of the
trapped door.

Go to the right and down. Dynamite is at the edge. Hook around the wall
blocking you from the door. You can go to the top if you like for more
dynamite. The final key is below the walls on the bottom. Go D L and walk
into the DR. The exit is below the main central horizontal wall, 3R from the
edge.

Level 4:

A key is in the door on the 2x2 island left of where you start. (k) Get the
speed and the dynamite DR of it. Get the dynamite off to the left and keep
using the door until you wind up in the UR. There is a field of bricks with
an egg 2U2L, and there is a door in a bottom niche. There's dynamite around
here, so pick it up. Then bomb your way to the embedded door for key #2. You
can either use teleports to the DR or bomb your way through--there's a key by
the DR corner, touching the river. Now you pretty much need to walk to the
DL-go to the UL of this lake, then follow the oath D of the 2nd lake, and
bomb facing left at the egg. Walk in, get the key, and return to the square
room, which has the exit.

Level 5:

Pick up the dynamite, head DL for another dynamite, and go left, around two
walls, to get a key door. Go back to the center and down and bomb through to
get a key in the door surrounded by walls. Go UR, past the lake and to the
right, for yet another key. Follow the river back DL and when you see an egg,
go S, bomb that area, and go through to get a key. Return to the center along
the river, where you have the level door.

Level 6:

You need a couple armor power-ups here to make it through the desert. First,
get the nearby dynamite, then go down into the cross for an armor power-up,
detour D for a dynamite, then go 4L 2D and left for a key and return. Go back
to the cross, then go right and follow the path UR. Retreat along the path
and at the 2x2, go right to enter a key door. Now go UR and D to get to a
teleporter, and bounce around until you get to the very DR.

Use dynamite 2R of the egg and then enter the key door for #3, and then use
the teleporter. Go south of the central lake and place a dynamite(if you need
one it is L) above the single square of desert below--it will have walls N
and S. Put the armor on and get the final key. Put another armor on to return.
The exit is in the center of the lake.

Level 7:

You don't necessarily need an armor power-up here. Go down until you reach
the 2x2 open space, then left for a door. Go right and back up and over the
rock, then go beyond and up for your first key. (k) Get the dynamite and
teleport around a bunch til you get to the left side--or a teleporter with a
long U/D clear path that is 1L. There's dynamite you can pick up. Do so. Now
go to the extreme DR and set up a bomb so you can go to the right. Now you
can bomb above the door below and then along the right wall. The exit is UL
of the door behind these.

Level 8:

Across the river you have a door, dynamite, speed up and a portal. Ignore the
portal as it is tough to enter, but get the dynamite below that. R D L to the
door below for a key, then L D R to another area with a key door, but avoid
the egg--nasty monster. Use the portal there to get around. When at the
center of the spiral, get the key door below.

You can bomb right if you want to the other door, but either door can
teleport where you need to go eventually. You just have to muck about a bunch
til you teleport to the DL. The door to the DL is in the desert below that,
so you need to teleport back out, (or if needed/if the teleports are stubborn,
walk) to where you got your first and second keys, set off a bomb when you
see the level exit, and use the heat shield.

Level 9:

There's a lot of dynamite here, and a lot you need to bomb to get to doors.
So which doors are relevant? See the map.

Go DL for the first bunch, then bomb right of the door you see for 1 key.
Then go back UR and DR past the egg. Bomb right and get the second door key
and the bomb behind that. You can exit now and use the teleports to get into
the very DR. There's a key in that isolated area. Then return to the main
part. You need to go to the bottom of the outside diamond. You can't place a
bomb in the lake, so you have to go to the 2x2 square at the bottom(there's a
bomb to the left--get it first if you need it) and work up on the bricks from
there.

Level 10:

Go to the DR for the speed power up and go back up a few squares for your
first door key. Retreat left, and up around the wall is your second key. Get
the armor under the egg as you walk around, too. Go south from key 2 to the
teleportal(you can swim south for another bomb if you want) until you are
kicked to the DL--you'll see a door D4L of where you exit. That one has a key.
Now mive in and out til you go to the DR--there'll be 2 walls separating you
from a key door. Bomb to the left at the bottom so you have access to the
desert, then bomb above the green door, swoop in, get the speed and put on
your armor and run to the level door left of you in the desert.

Level 11:

Go left, get the bomb and use it to knock off the door surrounded by walls.
Go all the way back right and collect the key on the right edge, then get the
bomb DL. Go down and keep pushing D then R til you see a triangle off the
right edge with a door in it. Bomb to get the third key. Get the dynamite
below. Continue to the bottom then go back UL and bomb just over the entombed
door, again. The exit is back in the UR so retrace your steps there.

Level 12:

4 bombs, 3 hidden doors, and you need all your bombs to be used
constructively. Go U R DR for one bomb, then take out a wall guarding the
door below(from the right, so you can continue down then DR.)

There's another bomb to the left. Continue clockwise, then in the UL with an
entrapped door, bomb to open it. Get the bomb to the left. Now loop back to
the DR and bomb 2R and 1R of the entombed door.

(Note--you can probably go counterclockwise and save a bit of time. But I am
too lazy to edit this right now.)

Winning this gets you a weird screen I can't translate. Then you go to level
13 after clicking the red button.

Level 13:

Go right of the 2x3 structure, get the bomb and use it to break in for the
first key. Back past the egg for a bomb, then get the entombed door key below.
There do seem to be a lot of these. Pick up the speed and go 2R and D. Get
the bomb but don't use it--just go straight right onto the island, which has
a key. Then up and right through the break in the wall and up.

Now back around and in the DR there is a bomb you will need. Then you need to
go to where you bombed for the first key, U and L at the egg. Go up and left
so a bomb will get you right next to the door.

Level 14:

Get the dynamite below and go down so you can get the key door entombed in
the 2x1 cave. Go DR and then R and up the path and UR when you see the door
in the 3x1 cave. There's dynamite up there, so get it and return to bomb out
the door key in the cave. Back to the center, then go left abomve the first
door-key to the left edge, wind D and go right and get that door. Use a bomb
to shortcut to the exit UR of you if you want.

Level 15:

Lots of bricks here. Use the teleports to get into the water, and swim to the
center below the first transporter you entered. 1R, then down. The fish is
not tough to kill. Drop down, let him fire, and sneak in a shot. Repeat a few
times. For some reason you can't kill him from the left. Enter the door above
to...level 1. Which doesn't seem any more difficult the 2nd time around.

 5. CHEATS

Here is the list of what to hex edit, where:

0xb6 hi byte = Z
0xb7 lo byte = R
0xb8 hi byte = S
0x87 lo byte = F
0x88 hi byte = N
0x88 lo byte = D
 (maximum of 4 for any of these)
0x171 = level # - 1
0x19f = lives left(0 = game over)

0x200-0x2ef = 15x16 UL map
0x2f0-0x3df = 15x16 UL map
0x3e0-0x4cf = 15x16 UL map
0x4d0-0x5bf = 15x16 UL map

End of FAQ Proper

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 6. VERSIONS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 2/8/2008, complete

 7. CREDITS

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done.
Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of
mine.
Thanks to the NES Completion Project folks for keeping it going.
Thanks to romhacking.net for hosting the translation.
Thanks to Six Feet Under for translating it.
Special thanks to odino for notifying me about this game.

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