Klax is a little interesting game by Atari. It steals inspiration from both
Tetris and Four in a row so it isn't really original. Nonetheless, it is still
a fun puzzle game for when you want a quick game. Instead of a big playfield
like that of Tetris, it uses a small playfield like 4 in a row. It also uses a
bit of Pong, you have to catch the Bricks with your paddle. This FAQ was made
as a part of the Sega Master System Completion Project. It is a project on the
GameFAQs FAQ Contributors Board to make FAQs for every game.
[1] [Q]. What are those numbers like [A300] next to the title of every section?
[A] It is the search engine of this FAQ. Press Ctrl and F. Type in the
search code for the section you want to go to. You should be there in
two steps.
[2] [Q]. What are those colour-changing bricks?
[A] They can be used as any kind of brick so they're useful when performing
large Klax and combinations.
The Controls are fairly easy; the Master System version only uses five buttons
to work (Not hard when it only has six buttons). Some of the other versions
only use six.
>> CONTROL PAD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Control pad has the most important functions. You have to press <- (left)
and -> (right) to move the platform so that you can catch the bricks. If you
press Up, you'll throw back one of the bricks. This is handy when you want to
change the order of the bricks but it isn't recommended. If you press down, the
bricks will come down faster as long as you press it.
>> OTHER BUTTONS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Only two buttons remain, 1/Start and 2. They can both be used for the following
purpose. If you press one of these buttons while in the game, you flip the
brick so that it falls onto his place. It is also used in the menus to confirm
your choice or change the options.
There are multiple ways to score points. You get five points for every brick
that comes down but you won't get far with only five points. The main way of
scoring points is by making Klax and combining Klax. You can get more
information about the different types of Klax in section [A303]. You can get
info about combo Klax' in section [A500]. You can also get bonus points for
skipping levels for going immediately to Wave #6 or Wave #11 for instance. If
you finish the level, you'll get your bonus points, respectively 100,000, and
200,000 points). There are also other ways to earn points like forming an X.
You also get points after beating the Wave. You get 25 points for each point
that is on the playfield. You also get 25 points for those that are still on
the conveyor belt. But you get more points for empty places on the playfield,
each of them gives you 200 points, eight times as much. You also get a bonus if
you have more points than required. You also get extra points for forming an X.
This section explains the basic types of Klax, how many points you get for them
and for how many Klax they count. The S stands for the bricks you need to
complete the Klax, the R are the bricks that you need to perform it as a side
dish.
Vertical Klax are very easy to perform. There are two types of Vertical Klax
but they don't give many points. The first type is three bricks on top of each
other; the second one is four.
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | | Placing three bricks on top of each other
| | | | | | is the easiest combination. That is why
+------+------+------+------+------+ you only get 50 points for each of them.
| | | | | | This counts as one Klax.
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| S | | | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| S | | | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| S | | | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
To form a four row vertical Klax, you need to do a combo. You need to put two
bricks down, then place one of another colour on top it. Than you need to get
rid of that brick by using horizontal and diagonal rows. Due to the small
playfield, it is impossible to do a five one. A four one gives you 10,000
points and counts as two Klax.
The Horizontal Klax is the second easiest type. It is the easiest type to get
four and five Brick long Klax for. You can get between three and five bricks
long.
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | | Just place three Bricks next to each
| | | | | | other. Just place the other, useless
+------+------+------+------+------+ bricks on top of the useful ones. This
| | | | | | counts as one Klax. You get 1,000 points
| | | | | | for one.
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| S | S | S | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
The explanation for the four and the five Klax is practically the same. You
have to make it in two parts. After that, you only have to place in the last
brick to connect the Klax. The four brick one gives you 5,000 points and counts
as two Klax. The five brick Klax gives you 10,000 points and counts as three
Klax.
The Diagonal Klax is the hardest to perform but you need to learn it. There are
a lot of levels that require you to form this type of Klax. You'll need
different types of bricks to actually pile up the bricks.
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | | Pile up two stacks, one containing one
| | | | | | misc. brick and a second with two bricks.
+------+------+------+------+------+ After that, you only have to place three
| | | | | | bricks from the same colour on it in one
| | | | | | line.
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | | S | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| | S | R | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| S | R | R | | |
| | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+
The explanation for the four and the five Klax is practically the same. You
have to make it in two parts. After that, you only have to place in the last
brick to connect the Klax. The four brick one gives you 10,000 points and
counts as two Klax. The five brick Klax gives you 20,000 points and counts as
three Klax.
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | S | | | | | | S |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | S | R | | | | | S | R |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | R | R | | | | S | R | R |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | S | R | R | R | | | S | R | R | R |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| S | R | R | R | R | | S | R | R | R | R |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
The game consists out of five types of levels. The five types of levels are
KLAX, SCORE, SURVIVAL, DIAGONAL and HORIZONTAL.
>> KLAX >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In this type of level, you only need to get the number of Klax that is
indicated. You can use Diagonal, Horizontal, and Vertical Klax. It is best to
use Vertical Klax if you want to finish the level quickly.
>> SCORE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You need to get a particular amount of points. The best way to do that is by
using Diagonal Klax who gives you 5,000 points per Klax and Combinations. You
should also try to get bonus points by using a long combination right before
you reach the right amount of bonus points. For instance, when you only have 50
points left and you use a Diagonal Klax, you get 4,950 points extra.
>> SURVIVAL >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The point of this type doesn't require you to do much. You have to survive the
amount of Bricks listed. At the start, you have to perform little Vertical Klax
of three Bricks. At the end of the game, you can also drops bricks randomly
until there is only one place left. You can also gather five bricks on the
platform.
>> DIAGONAL >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The point of this game is to perform as much Diagonal Klax as is indicated.
>> HORIZONTAL >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The point of this game is to perform as much Horizontal Klax as is indicated.
The playfield in each level is the same. The playfield isn't empty in all
levels. For instance, in level five you can easily perform a five Horizontal
Klax.
You can make all the combinations you want with the eight types of Bricks there
are but they'll only be cleared when you get three or more from the same colour
in a row. Therefore, you'll have to plan carefully while getting the bricks
down.
It is easy to get a "Game Over" in this game. For every set of five waves, you
get a number of drops. If you let more bricks than the amount of drops, fall to
their fiery death, it is "Game Over". If the playfield is completely filled, it
is "Game Over" too.
Each stage differs in difficulty. The first set is still fairly easy but after
that, the speed of the Bricks differs according to the number of Klax,
Diagonals and the like you have to form. Therefore, if you only have to form a
couple of Klax, the speed will be very high.
Wave | Type | Amount
_______________________________________________________________________________
In this section, I'll list the basic combinations that you can perform. There
are four basics sets but you can also set it up so that when one Klax
disappears, another one is formed. The score for combinations is calculated
using the following formula: # Number of Klax * (The added up score for all the
Klax). For instance, if you form a Horizontal and a Vertical Klax at the same
time, you'll get 2 * (1000 + 50) = 2100 points.
>> FORMING AN X >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
+------+------+------+------+------+ Making an X is one of the hardest combo's
| S | | | | S | this game contains. It is one of the most
| | | | | | rewarding though because you get half a
+------+------+------+------+------+ million bonus points for them and they
|******| S | | S |******| warp you many levels ahead. As you can
|******| | | |******| see, you'll have to fill up a big part of
+------+------+------+------+------+ the level with useless blocks, you have to
|******|******| |******|******| make sure you don't form other Klax that
|******|******| |******|******| could ruin your combination. After setting
+------+------+------+------+------+ up the playfield like this, you only have
|******| S |******| S |******| to drop one last brick of the same colour
|******| |******| |******| as the other ones, in the middle.
+------+------+------+------+------+
| S |******|******|******| S |
| |******|******|******| |
+------+------+------+------+------+
This type can be done with any length of Diagonal and Horizontal Klax. The five
by five is one of the hardest to perform though. It gives you 60,000 points if
you are able to pull it off.
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******|******| |******| S | |******|******| |******| S |
|******|******| |******| | |******|******| |******| |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******|******| | S |******| |******|******| | S |******|
|******|******| | |******| |******|******| | |******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| S | S | | S | S | | S | S | S | S | S |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******| S |******|******|******| |******| S |******|******|******|
|******| |******|******|******| |******| |******|******|******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| S |******|******|******|******| | S |******|******|******|******|
| |******|******|******|******| | |******|******|******|******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
Horizontal - Vertical Combinations can use any length of horizontal
combination. I'll show it with a 5 Horizontal. This particular example gives
you 20,100 points.
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| S | S | | S | S | | S | S | S | S | S |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******|******| S |******|******| |******|******| S |******|******|
|******|******| |******|******| |******|******| |******|******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******|******| S |******|******| |******|******| S |******|******|
|******|******| |******|******| |******|******| |******|******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
You can also two four Klax. That is a little harder to set up but gives you
30,000 points. It also counts as four Klax just like the previous but uses two
colours. When the Horizontal is cleared, the vertical is formed.
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | R | | | | | | R | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | | R | | | | | | R | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
| | S | S | | S | | | S | S | S | S |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******|******| R |******|******| |******|******| R |******|******|
|******|******| |******|******| |******|******| |******|******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
|******|******| R |******|******| |******|******| R |******|******|
|******|******| |******|******| |******|******| |******|******|
+------+------+------+------+------+ +------+------+------+------+------+
