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|ENDURO RACER (Sega Master System) |
}----------------------------------------{
|Time Attack Guide |
|FAQ written by yeoldestuff |
|Starting date: 2012/10/23 |
|FAQ (c)2012 yeoldestuff |
|Enduro Racer (c)1986-1987, 2008-'09 Sega|
`----------------------------------------'
-------------------
(1.0) FAQ History
-------------------
Version 1.11
Begun: 2013/04/30
Ended: 2013/04/30
Notes: Added a trick in the hints section that I found to be very useful.
Version 1.01
Begun: 2012/10/23
Ended: 2012/10/24
Notes: Fixed some writing mistakes and updated paragraph 9.0
Version 1.0 (Initial Release)
Begun: 2012/10/23
Ended: 2012/20/23
Notes: This is the initial release, somehow written in only a day.
-------------------------
(2.0) Table of Contents
-------------------------
1.0 - FAQ History
2.0 - Table of Contents
3.0 - Foreword
4.0 - Game Basics
* Controls
* Obstacles
* Tune-up
5.0 The Actual Time Attack Guide
* Obvious Hints
* Stage 1
* Stage 2
* Stage 3
* Stage 4
* Stage 5
* Stage 6
* Stage 7
* Stage 8
* Stage 9
* Stage 10
6.0 Fastest Times
7.0 About...
* ...the game
* ...the author
8.0 Frequently Asked Questions
9.0 Legal Stuff
10.0 Contact Info
11.0 Closing
----------------
(3.0) Foreword
----------------
Welp. This is my umpteenth attempt at writing an FAQ. My third or fourth one,
I think. I kinda lost count. I gave up on all the other FAQs I tried writing
beforehand, as I simply lacked the motivation quarterway through. As of writ-
ing this, I'm not very confident I can complete /this/ guide if all the others
failed, but there's a first time for everything, right?
I freakin' love Enduro Racer. It's one of those games that I hold in high re-
gard, thanks to it being a short game, and thus having a lot of longevity.
Several years ago, I watched a YouTuber going by the nickname of talbot1939
play through the game and complete the race in less than 6 minutes. This made
me want to be just as fast, and so I adopted his strategy, and it really did
help my finish time considerably. At one point I even broke his record, but
that's a feat that has yet to be repeated a second time.
That's the exposition. What comes now is the meat of this dish. I hope you'll
enjoy reading this FAQ, as well as find it useful. Please note that this FAQ
deals only with the Western releases of Enduro Racer, as opposed to the 256KB
version that the Japanese got, with ten unique tracks, and more stuff in gen-
eral.
-------------------
(4.0) Game Basics
-------------------
This may be a rather unnecessary thing for an in-depth FAQ on how to acheive
the fastest possible time, but I still wanted it to be there. To refresh your
knowledge on how the game works and stuff.
So, let's start with...
Controls
--------
Enduro Racer is a single-player game, so there's no need to go and look for
a friend to play with, unless you need someone to cheer you on. The Sega
Master System Control Pad possesses a D-Pad, which you can move into any of
the eight cardinal directions, as well as two buttons, labeled 1/Start and
2. There's also a Pause button, but you'd have to jump to the console and
hit it on there (if you're playing on a Master System Model I, be sure you
don't accidentally hit the Reset button).
Now that you know what buttons there are, let's see what they do.
D-Pad - Moving the pad left or right will make your biker move into the cor-
responding direction. Move it down, and he'll make a wheelie, which
is needed to clear ramps without slowing down (more on that later).
Button 1 - Starts the game on the title screen, makes selections during the
tune-up parts, and makes you hit the brakes. A button you don't
really need to touch at all during this game, really.
Button 2 - Starts the game on the title screen, makes selections during the
tune-up parts, and accelerates your bike up to 200km/h (or 263,
if you purchased an Engine). Since this is a time attack run,
hold this button down during the races as if your thumb were made
of lead.
Pause - Pauses the game. Resumes the game if it's paused. Does not start the
game from the title screen.
Obstacles
---------
As you may have guessed, these races aren't just a straight line from start
to finish. Nah, that'd be too easy and you wouldn't feel like you got your
fortune's worth (or bandwidth, if you downloaded a ROM image of the game).
But I don't want you to run into this game blind, so here's a rundown of the
stuff you can encounter.
Ramps - You'll find these in every stage, and they're unavoidable 95% of the
time. If you just race at them, they'll make you lose speed, and if
you do a wheelie right before hitting one, you might not lose any
speed, but they'll still prevent you from gaining any, which makes
it a bit hard getting to top speed if there's a lot of them around.
Check the advice section on how to deal with them properly.
Stuff that slows you down - Off-road, brush, puddles, water (if you're going
fast enough)
Stuff that damages you by 4 - Smaller rocks, smaller cacti, pot-holes
Stuff that causes you to crash - Contestants, trees, signs, larger rocks,
ruin architecture, larger cacti, water (if
you're going too slow), cliffside
Crashing makes you take 10 damage, lose a lot
of time, and strips you from your tune-ups.
Tune-up
-------
At the end of each race, you'll receive a point for every contestant that
you passed (those that crashed before you passed them don't count). You may
then spend these points in the subsequent screen, which is a list of parts,
accompanied by their point value.
NOTE: After stage 5, the price of parts doubles.
Accelerator - 5 points - Increases the acceleration rate of your bike. It's
a decent alternative for when you can't afford an Engine.
Handle - 5 points - Increases your horizontal speed, meaning you can move
left and right faster. Useless, and actually contraproductive, as
your movements are getting erratic due to that.
Tire - 5 points - Completely eliminates slowdown on off-road segments. Would
be useful if you had the points to spare, which will never be the
case if you follow this guide.
Engine - 10 points - Increases your maximum speed from 200km/h to 263km/h.
This shaves off a CONSIDERABLE amount of time, so make this your
first choice if you have enough points to afford one.
Suspension - 10 points - Eliminates slowdown from ramps. Useless, especially
if you know how to handle them. Later on in this FAQ, I'll tell
you how, anyway, so just pretend this tune-up doesn't exist.
Item - 10 points - Now that's an interesting one. If you purchase an "Item",
some of your bike's damage will be alleviated. How much depends on
the icon that appears. In parentheses is the probability with which
you might get that item.
Tool box: -10 damage (~24%)
Med kit: -12 damage (~45%)
Can: -16 damage (~ 8%)
Fuel tank: -18 damage (~10%)
Battery: -24 damage (~ 2%)
Person: -30 damage (~ 9%)
Key: -50 damage (~ 2%)
In the optimal case, you shouldn't have to use an item at all. Why is
this even here, you ask? If your damage hits 99, your time depletes
twice as fast. However, learn the track layouts and avoid crashing.
That way you'll never have to put up with it at all.
------------------------------------
(5.0) The Actual Time Attack Guide
------------------------------------
After plowing through all the expository and refreshing crap (or just skipping
it altogether), you've finally arrived here, where I'm actually gonna talk a-
bout the actual stages and what to look out for to beat them as fast as poss-
ible. There's just one thing that needs to be put out of the way, and that's..
Obvious Hints
-------------
AVOID CRASHING. Driving into stuff that hurts you a little is fine, as long
as you don't do it repeatedly, but try your best to avoid crashing into the
big stuff. The 10 damage you take are the least of your concerns. What's
worse is that you waste several seconds just lying around, sinking into the
swamp water, or careening off the cliffside, AND you lose your tune-ups. The
earlier in a stage you crash, the more this particular loss hurts. A way to
prevent crashing is to slow down, but not so in Enduro Racer. If you want to
acheive a record time, you have to have a lead thumb, and in most cases,
slowing down makes you even more susceptible to crashing. Nope, no sir. The
only way to avoid that is Learning By Doing.
LEARN HOW TO MOUNT RAMPS PROPERLY. Ramps are the bane of every casual Enduro
Racer player, as they slow you down, and since there's usually a lot of them
in quick succession, you might end up being halted to a crawl. The way to do
it is to wheelie right before a ramp, and let go of Down the second you hit
it. It takes a lot of practice to get the timing down, and even then you
won't clear every ramp every time, but hey. At least it'll allow you a some-
what better time.
USE AND ABUSE RAMPS. Despite all the mainly negative things about ramps,
they still have one thing going for them: While you're in the air, you are
invincible. This doesn't sound like much, but it can really help you getting
out of a pinch, e.g. when you're cornered by a contestant. Learn how to use
this invincibility to your advantage and you could reduce the amount of
crashes substantially.
STAY IN THE AIR LONGER. When you've purchased an engine and are going at top
speed, take a ramp successfully (see "LEARN HOW TO MOUNT RAMPS PROPERLY")
and then, when you're in the air, repeatedly tap Button 2. This causes your
bike to almost literally float in the air, which leads to faster times (the
times shown below were accomplished without knowledge of this trick). Thanks
to ian from Sega8Bit.com for finding this out.
That's the hints. So here's the main attraction. That which you have been held
up for with all these words. The ACTUAL actual freakin' guide. I'm gonna do it
this way:
EXAMPLE
Stage x
-------
Location: This is the general environment in which this part of the race
takes place (shouldn't span more than one line)
Obstacles: Line 1 lists what the off-road looks like
Line 2 lists the stuff that hurts you a little
Line 3 lists the stuff that makes you crash (sans contestants)
My Time: This shows my average time for five different attempts at this
stage (again, should be only one line)
Difficulty: Ranges from Snoozefest (*....) to OMGWTFHAX (*****)
Notes: Things of note in this particular stage. Duh. May be blank if my
mind is also a blank on this stage in this regard.
Here goes! Starting from here, it's all proper guide now.
Stage 1
-------
Location: Plains
Obstacles: Grass
Rocks
Trees, Signs
My Time: 0'45"13
Difficulty: *....
Notes: In order to reach maximum speed quicker at the beginning, skip
the first ramp by passing it to its right. Then, if you jump each
ramp successfully, you shouldn't lose any speed at all. Thusly,
0'45"13 is the fastest possible time for the first stage.
If you're doing well enough, you'll pass between 6 and 8 cars.
Don't buy any parts yet; save up for your first engine.
Stage 2
-------
Location: Desert
Obstacles: Brush, Brown dots in the sand
Rocks
Ruin architecture
My Time: 0'44"20
Difficulty: **...
Notes: Easy stage. The reason it got another star was because of how you
are being faced with ramp after ramp in quick succession, also
because of the inevitable slowdown. On my five attempts, I passed
as little as 6 and as many as 9 bikes. For some reason, I passed
9 when it took me the longest, though. Anyway, you should now
have enough points to purchase an Engine, so go and do that.
Stage 3
-------
Location: Prairie
Obstacles: Grass
Rocks, Small cacti
Large cacti
My Time: 0'29"74
Difficulty: **...
Notes: With the Engine, this stage is a complete and utter cakewalk! But
be careful not to fail a ramp, as they are again in rapid succ-
ession, which makes it hard to recover. I passed between 8 and 9
cars. Buy another Engine; you should be able to afford one.
Stage 4
-------
Location: Swamp
Obstacles: Wet grass, Puddles, Water (if you're going fast)
Rocks
Water (if you're going slow enough), Trees
My Time: 0'31"57
Difficulty: ***..
Notes: In order to reach max speed as soon as possible, jump the first
two ramps, then stick to the right in order to skip the next
three. At some points, getting slowed down by the wet grass is
inevitable, and sometimes you might come into contact with the
actual water, but don't fret if you do. As long as the contact is
a brief one, you'll be fine. I consistently passed 10 bikes. From
this point on, I won't mention buying another Engine, as that had
better seeped in by now.
Stage 5
-------
Location: Cliffside
Obstacles: Rocky road
Smaller rocks, Pot-holes
Larger rocks, Cliff
My Time: 0'32"19
Difficulty: ***..
Notes: Though infamous, Stage 5 isn't as hard as people make it out to
be. Your greatest concerns here are evading the pot-holes, as
well as the contestants, who start weaving around a lot now, and
that could cause a crash if you're unlucky. You might pass 9 or
10 bikes in this part.
Now, the five stages repeat, although with a few differences.
Parts now cost twice as much.
There are more contestants to compensate.
Only 50sec. are added after each stage instead of 60sec.
Stage 6
-------
Location: \
Obstacles: > Same as Stage 1
/
My Time: 0'34"59
Difficulty: **...
Notes: For the most part, it's the same as Stage 1, so there's not much
to add. I found that the best possible time acheivable with an
Engine is 0'34"45, which I got in 3/5 runs. I also consistently
passed 19 bikes.
Stage 7
-------
Location: \
Obstacles: > Same as Stage 2
/
My Time: 0'35"34
Difficulty: *....
Notes: With the Engine, this stage actually became /easier/. The compe-
tition is still as stupid as ever, and they don't seem to come in
as much an overwhelming quantity as in the other stages of the
2nd half. You should pass about 17-18 bikes.
Stage 8
-------
Location: \
Obstacles: > Same as Stage 3
/
My Time: 0'30"18
Difficulty: **...
Notes: Theoretically, you should have the same time as in Stage 3, but
practically, that won't be the case. Huh. Anyway, aside from more
bikes, it's still the same overall, and you're gonna pass between
17 and 19 bikes.
Now here comes the fun thing in regards to tune-ups, though.
Chances are, you won't have enough points to afford an Engine,
and even if you do, you mightn't be able to afford more than an
Accelerator in the final stage. So for the subsequent two stages,
I'll give two average times: One with the Engine and one with the
Accelerator.
Stage 9
-------
Location: \
Obstacles: > Same as Stage 4
/
My Time: 0'32"14 (with Engine)
0'39"38 (with Accelerator)
Difficulty: ****.
Notes: No notable changes from Stage 4, but the contestants might start
ruining your shit. All in all, a foreboding of what is to come.
Passed 19 bikes with Engine, 17-18 with Accelerator.
Stage 10
--------
Location: \
Obstacles: > Same as Stage 5
/
My Time: 0'31"89 (with Engine)
0'39"71 (with Accelerator)
Difficulty: *****
Notes: I was contemplating whether to give this stage 4 or 5 stars. With
the Engine, it'd be 3 stars plus one, due to your having to be
extremely careful not to crash. Why? Because if you have either
nothing or only an Accelerator, this stage's difficulty rating
goes all the way to 5 stars! The pot-holes are now your lesser
concern. It's the contestants with their large quantities and
copious horizontal movement that will cause crash after crash
after crash after crash. This stage had killed my < 6 minutes run
FAR more than once. It's just awful. Pray to whatever deity you
worship that you get through safely. You can pass 19-20 bikes
with the Engine and 14-17 with the Accelerator.
Not like you need any more points after that, because, under the assumption
that you could buy an Engine every time...
CONGRATULATIONS!
YOU SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED
ALL OF THE STAGES!
RECORD 5'46"97
Now enjoy the philosophical ending.
Enjoyed it? Good. Get back here, then. This FAQ isn't quite finished yet.
---------------------
(6.0) Fastest Times
---------------------
This little section is where you can enlist yourself among the fastest Enduro
Racers to be lucky enough to have stumbled upon this guide. Simply drop me an
e-mail (see below for more details) with your score, and I'll put you in.
However, you need to have proof. Either...
If you played on an emulator, take a screenshot. However, don't just use the
screenshot hotkey of your emulator, as that might be too easily editable. In-
stead, hit the Print key to take a screenshot of your entire monitor screen,
then crop it, or...
If you actually own the game, whip out a camera and take a picture of your
TV screen. I don't know about capture cards, but if you have one, you could
somehow take a picture with that.
RANK TIME NAME
1st 0'00"00 ??????????
2nd 0'00"00 ??????????
3rd 0'00"00 ??????????
4th 0'00"00 ??????????
5th 0'00"00 ??????????
6th 0'00"00 ??????????
7th 0'00"00 ??????????
----------------
(7.0) About...
----------------
...the game
-----------
(Information taken from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enduro_Racer and
reworded)
Enduro Racer had initially been released for the arcades in 1986 by Sega and
looked somewhat similar to Sega's other motorcycle racing games Hang-On and
Super Hang-On. The key difference was that not just the sides of the road had
obstacles to themselves, but the road also had rocks and ramps, among other
things, perhaps. This particular gameplay was ported to various other
systems. The Sega Master System got its port in 1987, but changed the view to
an isometric perspective. The American and European releases came on a Mega
Cartridge (128KB), while the Japanese version was on a Two-Mega Cartridge
(256KB) and had more content. The game would be re-released on the Wii's
Virtual Console in 2008-2009.
...the author
-------------
As of writing this guide, I've just begun my 17th year of life. I'm a guy who
has been intoxicated with games since when I was only a few years old, so to-
day, I'm what you could call a gamer, though I'm mainly fixated on retro
games; anything past the PS1 doesn't have as much of an appeal to me. My
native tongue is German, and I also speak English fluently, while also learn-
ing Russian and Japanese.
Enduro Racer was, to me, at the beginning, just some game I'd downloaded to
my PC. I didn't really like it at first, but it started growing on me. A few
years ago, I found the game for sale in a local second-hand shop, along with
World Grand Prix and Super Tennis, which I bought seperately in that order.
A few days ago, I gave this game another spin after not having touched my
Mega Drive in quite a while, and I found myself composing a guide in my head.
The very guide I'm writing now, actually...
----------------------------------
(8.0) Frequently Asked Questions
----------------------------------
There's nothing I've been repetitively asked yet.
But perhaps that'll change once the mails start rolling in.
-------------------
(9.0) Legal Stuff
-------------------
This FAQ is copyright of Maurice Kaltofen (aka yeoldestuff). As the copyright
owner, it is my privilege to decide what you may or may not do with my guide,
and whether or not you have to apply for permission to do such.
You may:
- read this guide
- bookmark it in your favorite web browser
- print it out, as long as you keep it to yourself
With permission, you may:
- publish this guide on your website (as long as you publish the ENTIRE guide
instead of just parts, do not change anything in any way, and update it to
the most recent version at all times. You'll always find the most recent
version on GameFAQs)
You may NOT:
- sell this guide or profit from it by any other means
- publish it on your website in fragments or changed (see corresponding bullet
point above)
The following websites have permission to host this guide:
GameFAQs -
http://www.gamefaqs.com/
Neoseeker -
http://www.neoseeker.com/
CHEATCC.COM IS UNDER ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCES ALLOWED TO USE THIS GUIDE IN
ANY WAY.
---------------------
(10.0) Contact Info
---------------------
So, here's how to contact me if you wish to contribute to this FAQ in some way
or would like to ask permission to publish this guide to your website.
My e-mail address is maurice[dot]kaltofen[at]web[dot]de.
Be sure your e-mail has a descriptive subject (e.g. "Enduro Racer Time Attack
FAQ"), as otherwise I might just ignore your mail altogether. There's also no
need to act like an obnoxious brat. Being friendly with each other is the best
way to solve problems, after all.
----------------
(11.0) Closing
----------------
Thank you so much for having read my FAQ on how to go around attaining the
fastest times on Enduro Racer. I'm actually amazed I wrote this from start to
finish in one day. Again, I hope you found this guide useful and I'll be look-
ing forward to writing more guides in the future.
Special Thanks go to:
Sega, for making this great game, as well as two great consoles (Master Sys-
tem and Mega Drive) and a converter to allow me to enjoy the best of both on
only one console.
Mom, for getting me both the converter and a Master System Control Pad for
greater authenticity.
The local second-hand shop, for having this game on display and giving it to
me for a meager 2 euros.
talbot1939, for indirectly giving me incentive to improve on my best times,
then writing a guide on it.
ian from Sega8Bit.com, for finding a trick that is very helpful when it comes
to acheiving fast times.
Lastly, but not leastly, you, for taking time out of your day to read this
FAQ. There'd be no meaning to this without you.
Enduro Racer - Time Attack Guide
Version 1.11
(C) 2012, yeoldestuff
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