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|Micro Machines for XBox|
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-FAQ for unlocking all the Bonus Features-
-------------By Jim Taylor----------------
DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT EXPRESSED PERMISSION.
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INTRODUCTION
============
This is the first FAQ I have written. If it is not written or formatted how you
might be used to then this is the reason. I am just someone who liked the game
and wanted to share what I found. If there are any mistakes or things I have
missed, email me:
[email protected] with "Micro Machines" in the
subject line.
The purpose of this FAQ is to gain access to the Bonus Features of Micro
Machines. The FAQ is split into two sections. The first explains what the Bonus
Features are and how to unlock them in general terms without specifics. It is
designed to be 'spoiler-free' and just point you in the right direcion, giving
hints on how to discover the Bonus Features for yourself.
The second section is a walkthrough of exactly how to Access the Bonus Features
and a description of the prize!
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SECTION 1
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Q. What are the Bonus Features?
A. The Bonus Features can be found by going to Options -> Gameplay -> Bonus
Features. There are 9 different features that can be unlocked, some
considerably better than others. Once a feature is unlocked, you can activate
it by highlighting it and pressing the A button.
Q. How do I unlock Bonus Features?
A. The Hidden Vehicles Bonus is unlocked by completing all four series (Bronze,
Silver, Gold, Platinum) in the "Race" mode. The 8 other Bonus Features are
unlocked by racing Single Race in "Micro GP" mode. There are 8 tracks and each
track relates to a Bonus Feature. To unlock the Bonus you must pick up the 3
"Star" power-ups in the race. These look like normal power-ups but they are
orange in colour and have a five-pointed star as the icon. At least 2 in each
race are usually well hidden.
You will know that you have unlocked a bonus because "Bonus Feature Unlocked"
will appear across the screen. You can keep track of your progress towards
reaching the bonuses on the Options -> Gameplay -> Bonus Features screen,
It does not matter in which order you pick up the Stars and you do not have to
pick them all up in the same race. Once you have picked up a Star it will not
come back. You will know if you have successfully picked up Stars in a race
because you will be prompted to save your progress to the hard disk after the
race.
Q. Any hints for finding Stars?
A. 1. Keep your eyes peeled. There is usually one Star in the race that can be
seen while you are racing if you are looking for it.
2. Break things. Often stars can be hidden inside things that break when you
drive into them, eg crackers, party poppers, rocks, snails etc.
3. In "Micro GP" mode, the camera tries to stick behind your car as much as
possible. This often means that you cannot see behind scenery, and drive
straight past the Star. Check behind that wall/ramp/box/pillar!
4. Sometimes when the track curves, try driving straight for a bit. Quite a
few stars are hidden by being just outside your normal field of vision.
Q. Any hints for completing all four series in "Race" mode?
A. 1. It doesn't matter what difficulty setting you do this on, it will still
unlock the Bonus -- so put it on Easy, it'll be easier!
2. Practice! In my opinion Micro Machines as a game is far more a test of
memory than it is a test of skill. So the more you race a track and get
used to which turns are coming when, the more you will be able to
anticipate the corners and get better results.
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SECTION 2
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In this section are locations of all the Star power-ups and brief descriptions
of the Bonus Features. For each track, the order I have listed the stars in is
the order that they are around the track, so the first will be nearest the
start of the lap etc.
Beachside
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This track will unlock the "Micro Soccer" bonus which is by far the best prize.
It is great fun multi-player and very frenetic (Hint: go for the magnet power-
up every time!). This was also the track where I had most difficulty in finding
all the stars, but here they are:
1. Tucked away behind the water jump at the very start of the lap.
2. When you reach the old-fashioned divers' helmet in the water, instead of
heading through it, go around in on the left hand side and you should see
the star.
3. The final star was an absolute bitch to find! When you are driving in the
sand you will come across a beach ball followed by a right turn, just before
the bridge across the treasure. Just before you get to the beach ball turn
left and it is sneakily hidden behind the sandcastle.
911:Emergency
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This will open up the "Micro Marble" bonus which is also great fun
multi-player. It surrounds your vehicle in a metal cage-like ball. It actually
reminds me of the Atlaspheres game from the Gladiators TV show (just to show
you how sad I am). It makes your vehicle impervious to most power-up attacks,
and makes other cars fly off far better when you barge them! Here's how to
get it:
1. You can see the first star from the start line. Turn right instead of left
at the first corner and the star is above a drain, which is also a nifty
short cut.
2. You can't get this star if you take the short cut mentioned above. After the
first corner you will see some cardboard boxes on the right hand side. It is
between the first and the second box.
3. After going down a series of stairs and before going up the green ramp that
follows them, take the time to look behind the wall on the left.
This Ol' House
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This will unlock the "Big Heads" bonus, which does exactly what it says on the
tin:
1. It is hidden behind the jack-in-the-box near the start of the lap.
2. When you go across a narrow bridge in the rafters, there is a green
Christmas cracker about half way along. Burst this (it will probably hurl
you into oblivion) and claim the star within.
3. After driving left across the cobweb, there is a right hand hairpin turn.
Directly after this bear left off the track and drive into some sort of
tube. This is a short cut and will drop you off right next to the third
star.
Toy Town Sci Fi
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This unlocks the "Mirror Tracks" bonus which is actually really freaky. I
thought it would be just driving around the same tracks but backwards a la Gran
Turismo, but actually they have made a complete mirror image of the track so
that all left turns are right turns and vice-versa. It is very confusing after
playing the standard tracks for a while. This is where the stars are:
1. After the first teleport turn right (you might have to reverse a bit first)
on to the arm of a chair.
2. When you make a jump before seeing the man playing with his levers, the star
is in plain view on the left hand side, behind what looks like a cup of
coffee. Again you might have to reverse, this time in order to build up the
necessary speed to get between the coffee and the console.
3. The third star is easy to drive stright past. On the floor there are a
series of speed boosts with power-ups either side. The last one has a time
stopping power-up on the right. Adjacent to this on the right is a grey
pillar, behind which is the star.
Jungle Jamboree
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Getting the stars here will get you the "Concept Art" bonus, which I think is a
gem. It's fantastic to see how the game has evolved from the original drawings.
1. Just like on the first track, a star is hidden behind a jump in the water.
2. When you head into a blue-coloured room, turn left into the first fireplace
along the wall, which is also a teleport.
3. After taking this teleport, there is a drop down and the track curves to the
right. Instead of turning, keep going straight and the star is hidden behind
a broken statue's head.
Hicksville Hoedown
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Probably the easiest bonus to unlock, and also the worst. Who wants to play the
game with a green screen? I tried it a few times to see if there were any other
tints but it just seemed to be green. How boring, but here's how anyway:
1. When driving on the rafters there is an "Electro Charge" power up. After
this on the right is a party popper. Burst this and take the star.
2. Drive slowly when jumping down from the rafters and changing into a sports
car. The star is on the bail of hay on the way down.
3. This one is in clear view. When you drive past the people's feet, it is
under the woman's tapping foot.
Perilous Places
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Ah, this bonus is a trip down memory lane with "Bird's Eye" mode, just like the
original Micro Machines on the Sega Megadrive. It is very, very hard to win
against the CPU in this mode because once you get ahead, you can see *nothing*
of the track before you. This is where the stars are located to unlock it:
1. I found this to be one of the hardest stars to locate. After the two big
horizontal spikes that pull back and before turning right onto what looks
like bubble wrap, there is a big box with a bomb printed on it if you drive
straight on instead of turning. You can carefully drive around the left hand
side of this to find the star behind it.
2. After driving across the lava there is a speed booster. In the section
directly after this there are a number of glowing orange rocks which explode
if you drive into them. The star is in one of these, I believe the last one
on the right.
3. After you have driven up the ramp with a wall on your right and stairs on
the left take an immediate left to find the star.
Ghoulish Graveyard
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This will give you "The Team" bonus which shows you a couple of cartoons of the
development team.
1. It is on the left before the bridge with the skeleton blowing the party
horn.
2. When driving up the ramp made out of a coffin lid there is a snail on the
right hand side. Drive into him a couple of times to squish him and the star
will be there.
3. After the big drop turn right instead of going straight and the star is
underneath a ghostly teleporter.
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Please feel free to point out any mistakes, inaccuracies, improvements,
omissions, comments etc. Email me with "Micro Machines" as the subject:
[email protected]
If you want to put this FAQ on your site you must email me and ask first, just
common courtesy.
Copyright 2003 Jim Taylor
