Marvin's Maze(Arcade) 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.

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     OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. CONTROLS

 3. STRATEGIES

 4. WALKTHROUGH

 5. VERSIONS

 6. CREDITS

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 1. INTRODUCTION

Marvin's Maze is a 2-level maze-chomp game, where you don't have a lot of
dots, but you do have a lot of ways to kill your enemies. Getting a power
pill allows you to shoot your robonoid enemies, who are generally persistent
in following you, until you go up/down one of the elevators. You can pass
enemies in the elevators with no harm done. You can also kill enemies by
switching over L-shaped blocks while they have almost reached you, causing
them to fall in. You complete a level after eating all the dots or killing a
fixed number of enemies. The game gets repetitive after a few levels, but
it's a good diversion from regular Pac-Man for a bit.

 2. CONTROLS

You can move up/down/left/right as expected. You can also anticipate turning,
which is important, as enemies move at the same speed you do, so if you only
move at an intersection, you'll lose a bit of time, which will eventually
kill you. The only way to stop Marvin moving is to run into a wall or the end
of an L shape. If you move to the side on an L shape, the way you went is not
removed. You cannot trap enemies running across a single orange block.

Fire button makes Marvin fire. You're invincible while you shoot, but it's a
bit of a waste to use shooting to get out of a jam.

100 for a dot.
200 for a power pill.
500 points for getting a robonoid to fall.
500/1500/3500/7500/15500/23500/8000 more per anything else for each robonoid
shot with one laser

500*(# of enemies killed) bonus at the end of the level. This can be a few
more than the # of enemies you need to kill, if you shot a bunch to end the
level.

1st bonus can be at 10000, 20, ..., 80000, and 2nd can be at 2*, 3*, 4* or
not at all. Default is 10k/20k.

 3. STRATEGIES

Monster eye color does not matter.

Moving between the top and bottom level shakes enemies off for a bit, but
watch out for enemies who will hit you once you get to the top. You can also
move right back down after moving up.

To make a robonoid fall, when you get on an L shape, head to the center and
wait. Push away from the robonoid when he is on the border of the L and the
actual maze. This doesn't work automatically at later levels when you may
have enemies waiting on the other side.

Leave about a half-block between yourself and enemies when you want to turn
around and fire, as you can't do so right away. You can also try to get lots
of enemies to follow you for more points.

Monsters can also be suckered to fall through gaps while well away from you,
although I'm not sure exactly how--I think they move randomly toward you to
close in on you, so they may run over a gap instead of a single orange piece.

The more enemies you have to run against, the more you can line up.

Try to avoid corners if you are stacking up enemies, as you'll be kicked to
the other level.

I found it's more fun to go and try to kill monsters instead of eating dots,
but eat a few dots for each power pill.

As in Pac-Man, never leave a dot for last.

If you are playing to shoot enemies down, try to sweep across the top/bottom
so they know where you are and can run after you. Then go down the center
once they are near the top.

You can follow enemies that bounce back out of a dead end, if you are on an
orange square. This fakes them out. You can also fake him out by being 1
square over from a robonoid and seeing which way it is going to go.

If playing for points, realize that you will probably only stumble on a row
of 5-6 enemies by accident, so you need to work on just being on the right
plane at the right time, and eventually you'll get a big bunch in a row. Get
one enemy to follow you. You can also lead enemies to a dead end and turn and
fire on them.

When on the plane with fewer enemies, grab dots. When with more enemies, look
for a big shot.

Take your time shooting enemies. You don't have to fire right away.

Look to make sure an enemy is not 2 squares away before going up/down a shaft.

Never die with a shot still to fire. You don't get it when you regenerate.

Watch out for the corners if you have a lot of guys lined up. They have a
choice to go up the shaft, but you don't.

Note you don't get credit for robonoids you kill if you die too soon
afterwards, and it is possible to get through a level without killing them,
especially the later ones that go faster.

Enemies have no clue where you are when they get off the chutes, so if you're
almost trapped, that is a way out.

Don't try for big bonuses every time--cut the board down to 1 or 2 pills,
shooting 1 or 2 guys as you go, then see about the big ones. It's easy to get
trapped even after a big shot.

Watch for dead ends along the edges. If you can, turn the Ls to face them,
and try to have a power pill to cover the edges so you can fire at enemies
and be safe.

A risky strategy if you want to kill robots instead of clear the board: get
500-bonuses to ward off immediate enemies, then with lots of enemies on the
board, then go for the big shots.

 4. WALKTHROUGH

There's no real way to go about a walkthrough, so I will just detail the
first three levels and how I got through them.

Level 1 has 4 enemies at the start, so no opportunities for real bonuses
unless you wait around for a while. This is actually not too bad, because you
can practice faking enemies out, using the tubes, and getting all but one dot.
Try to line up 2 guys at once. Note with 8 power pills and 16 enemies, you
can just shoot 2 enemies per power pill. Try stepping off an L for 500 too if
you miss with a shot, but the game is slow enough you should be able to
muddle through and avoid traps.

For level 2 you can pick off 5 dots per power pill to make sure you can bail
out. Monsters appear more quickly.

For level 3 you can sucker enemies to get trapped on the inner bits to start
out. There are fewer dots but more dead ends.

Around level 11 the dots appear in a different order but it is not a huge
deal.

End of FAQ Proper

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 5. VERSIONS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs.com 2/5/2008, complete except for maybe level maps

 6. 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.

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