Swing FAQ by Sitorimon
PlayStation 1
Software 2000
1 -2 Players
3 Memory Blocks
FAQ Version 1.0 created on 18/07/02
Contents:
1) What Is Swing all about?
2) The Controls
3) The basics
4) Scoring And Levels
5) Losing
6) What Do All The Extra Balls Do?
7) Tips Of Play
8) Random Game Facts
9) Thank You
What Is Swing All About?
Well, Swing is quite possibly the most complex puzzle game ever
created. Swing is all about balance.
You are a trusty crane and below you are 4 sets of scales making 8
platforms. Above you are 8 lanes of balls, with each ball containing
a number. The number equals the weight of the ball. Basically what
you have to do is lower the balls onto the scales and get the colours
in horizontal lines of 3 or more to make them disappear. The more you
get to disappear the more points you get and the higher your level
goes. The problem is, the higher your level the more different
coloured balls arrive and it all gets a bit frantic...and that's just
the 1 player mode!
What I haven't mentioned yet is that with each ball having a weight,
if you place the wrong ball on the wrong end of a scale, the balls on
the other side will flip up and go flying onto your other scales or
even off the screen and cause you LOTS of grief! It's a fiendish game
indeed.
THE CONTROLS
Left = Move the crane one slot to the left
Right = Move the crane one slot to the right
X = Drops or picks up the ball above you
Square = Quick start game on the main menu
THE BASICS
The main screen is divided into 2 sections with the crane splitting
the two. Once you've moved left and right and selected your first
ball and dropped it onto a scale, it'll be time for your next ball,
which drops straight into your crane from the slot above where you
dropped your last ball off.
Now look at the number. If it is larger than the one you've just
dropped, move to a different scale and drop it there. Try to continue
this pattern by keeping colours to their own parts of the area at the
beginning; it makes the game a bit easier later on.
Now sooner or later you'll get the same colours again. Try and place
them either directly above or next to the other ball of the same
colour. At the beginning its best to go for the directly above option
and build up a few rows and then build across. Throughout all this
you've got to watch out for the weights of the balls. If you're
overweight and your going to tip the scales, the scales will flash!
There are 3 specific moves that you MUST pay attention to.
a) The 3-in-a-row
This is how you score points if you have 3+ balls of the same colour
in a horizontal line they will dissolve and you'll get lots of
points! This is the key move in the game.
b) The vertical tower
This is another key move! In you place 5 balls of the same colour on
top of each other; they will crush down into just one ball with the
combined weight of all 5. This move rakes in the points in used
continuously as the score is determined by the balls weight. Be
careful though, the heavier the ball, the further it will fly when
the scales are tipped!
c) Scale Tipping
Scale tipping is generally NOT advised unless you have a desire to
make things worse for you or you have no other alternative but to try
and flip balls to where you want them to go. I would generally wait
for the right colour to come along. When you tip the scales, the
balls will try and jump for the highest column or failing that, the
lowest. If things are even or you've made a bit of a mess and REALLY
catapulted them, they go fly off the playing area and come back on
the other side as a special ball that is usually 10 times harder to
get rid of or to get into a trio!
SCORING AND LEVELS
1 level consists of 50 balls and from level 6 onwards, at every
second level; a special ball will come into play. The current level
you're playing at also determines the score.
The scoring formula is:
(Total Weight) x (number of balls) x (level) x (bonus) x (playing
level i.e. easy, hard)
Bonus refers to the shining lights that occur when the balls are
taken out of play. If you get another 3-in-a-row before the lights go
out, a bonus is added!
LOSING
The only way you can lose is if a column of balls reaches your crane.
This can be from 6-8 balls high depending on whether the scale is
down, equal or up. When that happens its game over.
THE EXTRA BALLS
Apart from the coloured balls, there are many other special balls
used in play they fit under 3 categories:
-Non-level specific
-Level specific
-Arcade mode only
NON-LEVEL SPECIFIC BALLS
SILVER STAR
-One is given every 50 balls used
-If 3 of these are in a 3-in-a-row then the whole playing area in
cleared, but no points for it
GOLDEN STAR
-Occurs when 2 silver stars are on top of each other and they become
a golden star
-If you get a 3-in-a-row of these, the playing field is cleared and
you WILL get all the points for it!
QUESTION MARK
-It can be ANY ball in the entire game (including arcade only ones)
-While it's waiting to be craned away, it will remain blank until you
get it
HEART
-This is what a ball turns into when it's thrown out the playing area
-If a heart is thrown out it become a bomb!
STONE
-Same as a heart only this can only be destroyed by using a cutter or
zap ball
SHADOW
-Makes the balls go black so you don't know what they are! They still
carry the same characteristics they had before though.
LEVEL SPECIFIC BALLS
LEVEL 6 - JOKER
-Can be any colour it wants to be as well as a heart
LEVEL 8 - BOMB
-Will explode an area 3x3 around it
LEVEL 10 - CUTTER
-Drop this and it will destroy a whole vertical line!
LEVEL 12 - COLOUR ZAP
-Whatever colour it lands on, it will take away all the balls that
colour
LEVEL 14 - TINT
-Turns the whole vertical pile into the colour of the top ball
LEVEL 16 - FLASH
-Will change 2 random balls per line within a triangle based on the 2
walls and the flash ball, into the colour the flash ball landed on!
LEVEL 18 - COLOUR JOKER
-Turns all the balls of the colour it lands on into Jokers
LEVEL 20 - DIAGONAL ZAP
-Zap but diagonally
LEVEL 22 - TOP ZAP
-Zaps all balls on the top of each column
LEVEL 24 - TINY DEPOT
-Turns all the bottom row into the colour it lands on
LEVEL 26 - FLASH DIAGONAL
-Changes around all balls diagonally beneath the ball it lands on.
LEVEL 28 - COLOUR BOMB
-Turns all the balls of the landed colour into bombs
LEVEL 30 - ZAP HORIZONTAL
-Zap but horizontal
LEVEL 32 - MULTICOLOUR ZAP
-Deletes the whole vertical row beneath it
LEVEL 34 - TINT 3X3
-Changes all balls in a 3x3 area into the colour you landed on
LEVEL 36 - TRIANGLE FLASH
-Turns all balls within a triangle underneath the ball you landed on
into that colour!
ARCADE MODE ONLY BALLS
THE LEVELLER
-Changes all weight on the vertical line to 0
SHADOWMAKER
-Makes a 3x3 part of the playing area dark
SHADOW CLOCK
-Makes the whole playing area dark
STING
-Punctures the balls above and below it
-It can only do this when all its spines on the ball are extended
STONEMAKER
-Changes all balls in a 3x3 area into stones!!!
COLOUR STONE MAKER
-Turns all balls on the colour it lands on into stones
TWISTER
-Scoops up every ball from a vertical scale and scatters them
everywhere!
TOWER
-Fills a vertical row full to the brim with stones!
BLOCKER
-Blocks the squares the left and right of it and until its gone,
nothing can be dropped or thrown into those squares!
TIPS OF PLAY
-Keep your colours together in batches for as long as possible
-Keep your bombs and your stars as far apart as possible!
-Keep your extras (the nice ones) for as long as possible
-Don't tip your scales and if you do, tip the very small ones!
-If you ever get stones, put them in the corner!
-Your special power-up balls won't work if they land on an empty row,
they MUST land on top of something remember that!
RANDOM GAME FACTS
-The game was put on hold for over 2 years even though it was
finished
-The actual game is broken as the mission mode has not worked on all
4 Swing CD's that I've had!
-The game music can be played on your CD player; all of the games
music is looped as track 2.
THANK YOU'S
-Software 2000 for making a great game!
-gamesfaq.com for hosting!
Any questions not answered in this FAQ, please mail me at
[email protected] and I'll answer them personally (but maybe not
straight away!)
