Puchi Carat FAQ
By Eab1990/EricAB690
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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Version History
3. How to Play
4. 1-Player Mode (Puzzle)
5. 1-Player Mode (VS.)
6. 2-Player Mode
7. Characters
8. Copyright & Contact Info
9. Credits & Closing
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1. Introduction
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Here I am, making a FAQ for another obscure, cute, Japan-only game, this
time, for the Arcade game Puchi Carat. Why? Well, my little brother
introduced this game to me via MAME emulator, and with its cute characters
and puzzle qualities, I got hooked. The controls were difficult, and to some
people, completely unplayable (if that is even a word), but using savestates,
I spent long hours trying to complete the game with each character.
Eventually, I began to love the game so much that I made a FAQ on it.
Made in 1997, this is basically a Break-Out! type of game, which, in case you
don't know, consists of a paddle and a ball (much like Pong, but not
tennis/ping pong), and also, a destructable field. However, this is more than
just Break-Out. It has other similar puzzle elements. The puzzle mode is
similar to Tetris, if the field were inverted. The VS. system is similar to
that of the Puyo Puyo or Bust-A-Move series, while the field looks a bit like
the Magical Drop series. The characters are also silly and light-hearted
(most of 'em, at least), saying lines for every little thing, just like a
true Japanese puzzle game. b(^_^)b
An interesting tidbit about this game: The name is very similar to an anime
character in Di Gi Charat, by the name of Petit Charat, or Puchiko (she has
another name; on her own planet, she is known as Cappuccino). Di Gi Charat is
a Y2K anime, made in the year 2000, in the coming of the 21st century.
"Charat" is pronounced the same way as you would pronounce "Carat," the name
of this game; in other words, almost like the word "carrot," or even the word
"carat," used to describe gold quality. Anyway, a brief history on the anime.
Originally, it was used to support a Japanese store called Gamers by starring
their mascot Dejiko, in their own 16-episode, 5-10 minute anime. Dejiko hails
from the planet Di Gi Charat (and her real name, Di Gi Charat, is named after
the planet, and as you'll notice, resembles Puchiko's real name, Petit
Charat; Puchiko and Dejiko are not related, however, but are friends;
Dejiko's name on her planet is Chocolat). Anyway, Dejiko is a cute green-
haired alien dressed as a catgirl (she has shown to have taken off her cat
ears and tail) with a mischievous personality and a goal to become a star
idol. The anime, although low-budget, was so popular, however, that the
series got several OVAs (also known as OAVs, Original Video Animation, or
Original Animation Video, NOT Original Adult Video; an OVA is an anime sold
at a store without having aired on TV before), spinoffs, a prequel, a sequel,
and a movie. The Gamers store also opened in other locations, even in the
USA. The sequel even broke away from Gamers to tell its story in a lighter
way. Overall, the series includes:
-Di Gi Charat (the original 16 episodes, Dejiko and company arrive at Earth
and crash-land in Akihabara, Japan)
-Di Gi Charat Specials (season OVAs)
-Summer Special #1-4 (introduces Pyoko)
-Summer Break #1-4 (Dejiko's tour of the USA)
-Christmas Special #1-4 (???)
-Hanami Special #1-4 (Hanami is Japanese for the cherry blossom/Sakura
viewing)
-Leave it to Pyoko! (spinoff series featuring Pyocola Analogue III/Pyoko, Di
Gi Charat/Dejiko's cute nemesis)
-Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat (prequel to Di Gi Charat, takes place on Di Gi
Charat planet, when young Dejiko trains to be an idol)
-Di Gi Charat Nyo! ("nyo" is Dejiko's catchphrase, similar to "nya," Japanese
onomatopoeia for a cat's "meow"; Nyo! is the "sequel" to Di Gi Charat, and is
a retelling of Dejiko's road to becoming an idol)
-Di Gi Charat: A Trip to the Planet (the movie)
Anyway, that was a rather long summary. If you want to learn more, check out
AnimeNewsNetwork or Wikipedia for more info.
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2. Version History
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Version 1.0:
10/1/06 - Started FAQ
11/19/06 - Finished FAQ
11/19/06 - Submitted FAQ to GameFAQs
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3. How to Play
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Although Shiimondo explains the game to you after inserting a coin, and even
though the field is there to show you what she is talking about, the dialogue
and directions are still all in Japanese. So, I'll sum up everything here.
You start the game with a field of 3, 4, or 5 lines of stones or gems,
depending on the level of difficulty. The object of the game is to bounce the
ball using the paddle towards the collapsable field. Bounce the ball to
destroy the gems and keep it away from reaching the bottom. As you destroy
gems and continue hitting the ball, the field will move down by one line
automatically. In addition, if you miss the ball, you will, of course, be
penalized, by way of pushing your field down three lines each time the ball
hits the bottom of the screen. If the field exceeds the line where your
paddle is (past ten lines), the game is over.
There are three difficulties: Beginners, Middle, and Expert (Puzzle/2-
Player)/Super Gamer (VS.). Beginners Mode is the easy mode. You start out
each game with three lines, and your paddle is (about) 4.5-cm paddle (about
the size of two of the "symbol" blocks on the bottom of the screen).
Beginners Mode is also limited play, so use it only for practice. Middle Mode
is the regular game, starting out with four lines and a 3-cm paddle (about
the size of one "symbol" block). Expert/Super Gamer is the difficult game,
with five lines and a 3-cm paddle.
When you start the game (with a Ready... Go!), the field moves down while
your paddle has your ball ready. Move the paddle left and right and press the
button to shoot the ball. If you don't shoot after a while, the ball is
automatically released by itself. When playing, hit a gem with the ball to
get 20 points. For each gem you drop, you get 10 points. By dropping an
excess amount of gems by hitting a gem and causing it to disconnect it from
the rest of the field, you can attack your opponent and/or score lots of
points.
Besides the regular colored gems, there are several special and unique gems.
They include the following...
Flashing colored gems, when hit, will destroy all of the gems of the same
color (dropping gems below that color in the process), EXCEPT for any other
flashing colored gems of that same color. Don't ask me why. In Puzzle Mode,
these can be your ticket to an easy PERFECT. Hit the flashing gem when
everything in the top row that is holding the field below is comprised of the
same color as the flashing gem. Just don't drop 'em or miss your chance.
Silver metallic gems take two hits to destroy, and generally serve as a
hinderence. However, in Puzzle Mode, you may benefit from these with a
multiple-hit combo and score mucho points.
Gold metallic gems cannot be broken by being hit. As with silver metallic
gems, hitting a gold metallic gem will count towards a combo. Make use of
this as best as you can, but if your field is low, then... Best to drop 'em,
hopefully for some bonus points.
Rainbow flashing gems are rare, but if you hit it, your field will be cleared
of all gems, and the field will start anew with 3, 4, or 5 lines (depending
on the difficulty). Take care NOT to drop these. It should be obvious, but in
case not, hitting these in Puzzle Mode is an instant PERFECT. At the end of
Puzzle Mode, it can also help to clear the game.
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4. 1-Player Mode (Puzzle)
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In this mode, using any character, you must clear a certain number of lines
(think Tetris), depending on the difficulty. On Beginners mode, you must
clear 50 lines, and on Middle and Expert mode, you must clear 200. It sounds
a lot, but as mentioned before, you can make it easier on yourself by hitting
certain gems and dropping lines. In this mode, the character you pick doesn't
affect gameplay, just the background and the audio. For all characters, the
field layout is generally the same, only changing depending on difficulty and
various occurances during the game.
The similarities between this mode and other modes include a 10-line field,
starting with 3, 4, or 5 lines depending on the difficulty, and a 3-line
penalty if you miss the ball.
On the left is a counter of how many lines you have cleared out of 50 or 200,
and how many stones you have destroyed. Your hit counter (which appears after
five consecutive hits), as well as bonus points, are briefly shown here too.
Note that it only counts how many stones are hit directly by the ball; not
gems that fall as a result of broken stones. And finally, a LEVEL UP (and
sometimes, a LEVEL DOWN) will appear when you destroy/drop a certain amount
of gems. Not sure what either do, though. On the right's some Japanese I
can't understand, but doesn't seem to affect gameplay much.
When you do hit the ball, if you hit a lot of gems without having the ball
return to you and the game counts up your hits, or if you drop a lot of gems
at once, your character will "attack." This is a combo. The more hits you get
before you have to hit your ball again, or the more gems you drop at once,
the more bonus points you get. When you do pull off a combo, your character
does one of four attacks.
If you hit 5 or more gems with one bounce, your character will do their
fourth attack repeatedly.
If you drop a bunch of gems at once, your character will do one of the first
three attacks, depending on how many you drop. The following values are
estimated... For 6-10 gems, the first attack is done; for 11-20, the second
attack; and for 21+, the third. Anything less than five gems, and the
character will not attack.
As you run low on gems on your field, the field will automatically move down
(again, dependent on the difficulty). However, if you are quick and slick
enough to clear your field before this happens, by way of hitting flashing
gems, rainbow flashing gems, or simply by hitting the top row gems, causing
the bottom to drop, you may get a PERFECT bonus and an eyecatch of your
character will appear. You'll also get 10,000 points. Get another PERFECT
bonus and a different eyecatch will appear, and you'll get 20,000 points.
When you hit the fifth PERFECT bonus (a feat which seems only possible on
Middle/Expert, and at least around line 50), a third eyecatch will appear,
and you'll get 50,000 points. As you might be able to tell, for each PERFECT
bonus, you get 10,000 points times the number of bonuses (or 10000 more than
the last bonus). For each individual character's eyecatch, see the Characters
section.
If you hit 100 lines, you will get a bonus of 100,000 points on Middle, and
200,000 points on Expert! For some reason, though, I lose a level around this
part. Don't know why.
As you approach the "end of the line" (I mean, field... whatever), you will
see a rainbow gem on the last line. On Beginners Mode, once you see this, the
field will start moving down. Fast. So get the gem quickly to end the game.
On harder difficulties, the field will move fast near the middle/quarters of
the game, making it even tougher to complete. :/
If you complete the game, you get a congratulations message and a PERFECT
bonus for clearing all 200 lines for an extra 200,000 points for Middle, and
400,000 points for Expert! On the next screen, your character, time, level,
max. hit, and number of PERFECTs are recorded. Afterwards, the credits will
play, in which your character does a few of their poses (mainly, their idle,
win, and attack poses) through each stage as the credits roll. At the end of
the credits, your character says a select quote, then you are brought to the
high score list.
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5. 1-Player Mode (VS.)
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12 gems resting on an altar, scattered throughout the land of gems...
12 select individuals, each come across and carry their own birthstone...
To grant their wish, one must battle the others to collect all 12 gems...
From my point of view, this seems to be the general idea of the story. You
choose a character, and help them collect everyone else's gems in order to
achieve their ending.
Note that the gem in the middle of the altar, the blue crystal, which seems
to be the game's symbol, is also the stone belonging to the secret character.
Each stage, or Episode, is played in a competitive 1-game styled matches. The
goal of the game is to force your opponent to get their field below 10 lines,
or to survive before the opponent happens to force themselves to lose (highly
unlikely, but still a possibility). If you win, you clear that level, and you
move onto the next. If you lose, insert another coin or lose the game. As in
Puzzle Mode, you get points for destroying and dropping gems. You also get a
Time Bonus, depending on how fast you defeat your opponent. It seems to take
a LONG time before you get no points for time bonuses.
When you drop a certain amount of gems, the remainder will be carried over
onto your opponent's field as gray garbage gems. A character "attacks" and
the garbage will come in every time the opponent deflects their ball with
their paddle. The garbage gems, in accordance to the character's attack
pattern, start from the topmost empty spaces, and work their way down, up to
five garbage gems at a time. Each "attack" occurs consecutively, as long as
there is leftover garbage. If the character attacks more than four times, the
fourth "attack" is repeated until the garbage empties or the game ends (for
either attacker or opponent).
Depending on the character you play as, the order in which you face everyone
may be slightly different. For the twelve regular characters, there are
eleven Episodes. For the secret character, there are twelve (because she does
not have a traditional birthstone, she must fight all twelve for her ending).
When you beat the last stage, the gems are placed back on the altar, and the
ending plays, consisting of two pictures of the epilogue, and the credits. As
in Puzzle Mode, the credits consist of the character posing idly, attacking,
or winning. Then, the high score table is shown, and the game is over. In
addition, if you cleared Super Gamer mode, you'll get the code and
instructions. More on that later.
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6. 2-Player Mode
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I've never played 2-Player Mode (hey, it's difficult playing two-player on an
emulator/computer/keyboard), but I imagine that it isn't much different from
the one-player modes. With that in mind... Next!
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7. Characters
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Ah, here is the bulk of my FAQ. One thing I tend to look for in my games are
cute characters to become attached to. And this game has a few of them for me
to enjoy this game!
There are 12 characters in the game, one for each month, as well as one
secret character, of which you can unlock by inputting a code after putting a
coin in. This code is revealed to you by the game by beating VS. mode on the
Super Gamer difficulty. Of course, since the code is a simple one, you might
have the luck of guessing it, or you can simply just look up the code on this
FAQ or on GameFAQs.
Here's how I'll break down each character.
_________________________________________________________________________
# (of month/episode/etc.). Name (Romanji translation/English translation)
*Names: Self-explanitory. Beware, the names are rather obsolete to their
characteristics.
Month: The month they represent. Generally, the episode number is close to or
around the month number, if not exactly it, but the order in which the
characters are fought varies with the character chosen to play as. It is
quite possible that the character was born on this month as well.
Birthstone: What gem the character carries, and where it is carried. Ties
into the story mode, where the characters must collect all 12 gems. Based on
the month they represent/were born on.
Symbol: The symbol that appears on the bottom of their field.
Gender: Male/Female
Description: My description of the character. Includes notes on appearance,
occupation, and personality.
Eyecatch 1: In Puzzle Mode, the eyecatch that appears with the 1st, 3rd, and
every third PERFECT bonus from 6.
Eyecatch 2: In Puzzle Mode, the eyecatch that appears with the 2nd, 4th, and
every third PERFECT bonus from 7.
Eyecatch 3: In Puzzle Mode, the eyecatch that appears with the 5th PERFECT
bonus, followed by every three bonuses.
Attack Pattern: In VS. Mode, when they give garbage to their opponent, this
determines where the garbage gems will end up. Each character has their own
separate attack pattern, and thus, their strengths and weaknesses from it.
I'll describe the attack pattern by stating which columns are filled,
starting from the left, from 1 to 9.
Comments: My comments on the character. Usually consist of my opinion on the
character, an explanation of what Japanese phrase they like to repeat, the
character's field, etc.
Story/Ending: Their story in the VS. Mode and/or their ending. Spoilers
alert! (But who really cares, with a game like this?) The ending consists of
two pictures, and some dialogue or caption that I can't read.
_________
1. Garnet
Month: January
Birthstone: Garnet, on his wrist
Symbol: A thumbs-up sign
Gender: Male
Description: Red clothes, a bandage on his nose, and on his back... A
telescope?
Eyecatch 1: He's blowing a flower, spreading the seeds.
Eyecatch 2: He's... stretching out his mouth and sticking his tongue at you.
Cheeky bastard...
Eyecatch 3: Sitting down with crossed legs, Garnet is looking through his
telescope.
Attack Pattern: #1-3, #5, #7-9, the left side, the right side, and the middle
Comments: Not a very masculine name. Seems to me to be the adventurous type.
He's always the first character to face, unless you choose to be him or Paz,
that is. As such, I consider him hardly above generic and beginner level. Of
course, that doesn't mean he actually is mediocre. Then again, there really
is no "better" or "best" in this game, it's all pretty balanced, with just a
difference in CPU level. That said, this guy doesn't last long as a CPU in
VS. mode.
Story/Ending: His ending has him beating up the last guy, Paz, then posing to
the screen. Wow. Not much earned in completing his game, huh?
________
2. Shyst
Month: February
Birthstone: Amethyst, on her hat
Symbol: A ribbon
Gender: Female
Description: Shy, blue-haired glasses girl
Eyecatch 1: A shot of her from slightly above, with her facing up, looking at
the screen.
Eyecatch 2: Weirdest eyecatch yet. With a ^_^ on her face, she demonstrates a
rope trick.
Eyecatch 3: She's removed her glasses. Does she look cuter with or without
them?
Attack Pattern: #1, #3-4, #7-9
Comments: Double pun on her name. Her personality, and her gemstone. Shyst is
a shy, blue-haired girl who probably hangs out in a library, based on the
fact that she wears glasses. An awful stereotype, I know. But hey, I "have"
glasses, due to near-sightedness, but I rarely use 'em.
Story/Ending: Not exactly sure what she wishes for. Hm.
_______
3. Aqua
Month: March
Birthstone: Aquamarine, on her forehead
Symbol: A parasol
Gender: Female
Description: Pink-haired woman with cheerful disposition, always seen
carrying a parasol and almost always has a ^_^ on her face
Eyecatch 1: Aqua is wearing yellow pajamas (with green ribbons!) and yawning.
Eyecatch 2: Wearing a skimpier, white top and skirt, Aqua is brushing her
hair with a green brush.
Eyecatch 3: It's the swimsuit edition! Sporting a green bathing suit, pink
hair in braids, and an innertube in tow, I must say, Aqua is actually quite
cute here.
Attack Pattern: #3-7, center field
Comments: She's not even aqua-colored! What's up with her name? Whatever.. In
any case, I'm all for pink-haired, but I find her a bit dull at times. Like
Shiimondo, she has a tendency to say "desu," but she doesn't pronounce the
"u," and actually says "desu wa." Her eyes always seem "closed." >_<
Story/Ending: Again, I can't distinguish much from her ending.
___________________
4. Shiimondo/C-Mond
Month: April
Birthstone: Diamond, on her (left) arm or in her (left) hand
Symbol: A teapot
Gender: Female
Description: Small, green-haired fairy maid
Eyecatch 1: Shiimondo is leaning on the petals of a red rose, with a content
expression on her face.
Eyecatch 2: Shiimondo is standing atop the corner of a book labelled "Diary"
in cursive. She is carrying a pencil and facing the screen.
Eyecatch 3: Shiimondo is sewing, it seems. Kneeling down, she has a needle in
one hand, thread in the other, and a bunch of pins in a pincushion and a
spool to either side.
Attack Pattern: #1 (leftmost), #3-7 (middle, 5-column), #9 (rightmost)
Comments: C-Mond... Diamond... How lame. Right, her name's Shiimondo in my
book. Anyways, remember when I brought up Di Gi Charat in the Introduction?
You can imagine my surprise seeing Shiimondo and her green hair and her maid
costume... Er, outfit. She looks like Dejiko! No? Maybe perhaps a little?
Well, I find her adorable anyway, so it's no surprise that Shiimondo is my
favorite and most used character. Shiimondo, as her appearance/occupation
states, is a tiny fairy (also the smallest character in the game), who has a
routine of doing maid-like duties and constantly squealing "-desu" through it
all. "Desu" is Japanese as a form of being, but is normally pronounced with
the "u" silent. When anime characters like Shiimondo pronounce the "u," they
are trying to sound cute. In Shiimondo's case, it works well, yes? ^_^
Story/Ending: Shiimondo, when she's not attending to her maid-like duties, is
constantly looking left and right. For what, or for whom? It seems to be none
other than a soul mate. Why do I say that? Well, there's not much else to
allude to with that diamond ring she carries. What else do you give at
weddings, anyway (no, don't answer that)? If you clear Shiimondo's game,
she'll find her lucky soulmate... A human! Perhaps... you? >_> In any case,
she'll change her hairstyle and dress for the wedding, too. Probably the only
ending I can understand solely on the pictures. >_<
_______
5. Rald
Month: May
Birthstone: Emerald, on his tie
Symbol: A wrench
Gender: Male
Description: Glasses-wearing mechanic, carries a wrench and a bag
Eyecatch 1: In an electrician suit, holding a clipper and a blue wire
Eyecatch 2: In a scholarly suit.
Eyecatch 3: How should I put this...? He's cuddling with his giant robot
thingy. :/
Attack Pattern: #1-8, all columns except the 9th, rightmost
Comments: Let's get one thing straight. I HATE THIS GUY. His fourth attack is
so bastardly annoying after hearing it ten times in a row. Not to mention
that he's pretty difficult for being the fifth guy you face. Still, he's not
the worst character character-wise.
Story/Ending: I guess he's some kinda genius mechanic. At the end, he builds
and controls a giant robot to crush Paz' castle.
____________________________
6. Paaru/Pearl & Deeru/Dearl
Month: June
Birthstone: Pearl, on Paaru's chest, in the middle of her ribbon (oddly
enough, Deeru has a silver pearl)
Symbol: A bottle of potion
Gender: Both Female
Description: Twin sister (I assume) witches; Paaru is the energetic one with
teal-colored hair and white dress, and is usually in the front; Deeru is the
shy one with blue hair and dark violet robes.
Eyecatch 1: Paaru poses by standing on one arm, with the rest of her body in
the air.
Eyecatch 2: Deeru sits down, reading her spell book.
Eyecatch 3: ZOMG hawt twincest! Paaru happily kisses Deeru on the cheek,
leaving Deeru with a wide-eyed blush. I was right! They are lesbian twins!
.. How disturbing that I guessed right. >_>;;
Attack Pattern: #2-#9; All columns except the first, leftmost.
Comments: Ah, born on the same month as me. My second favorite characters,
though Paaru is cuter than Deeru. Paaru and Deeru have a habit of saying
"kanji," and though I'm not too sure what it means, it seems to mean "to
win." I could easily be wrong, though. Their outfits are rather interesting
too. Their charm points are their hats, and the ribbons on their chest.
And... God, this feels like Leave it to Kero! on Card Captor Sakura omakes.
One more thing... These sisters seem a bit close, don't ya think? A little...
too close.
Story/Ending: Having seen the 3rd eyecatch, the ending makes a whole lot more
sense! While I was confused before, I had some idea as to what it really
meant. It seems that Paaru really DOES love Deeru, and Deeru becomes braver
for Paaru. A shot of Deeru carrying Paaru is shown.
______
7. Bee
Month: July
Birthstone: Ruby, on his belly
Symbol: A paw
Gender: Male, perhaps...? Otherwise unknown, but I think I'll go with male.
Description: Cabbit (cat-rabbit hybrid) carrying a pickax, and incapable of
Japanese speech, only some sort of Japanese onomatopoeia
Eyecatch 1: Closeup on his face, where Bee has a glint in his eye.
Eyecatch 2: Carrying a muddy shovel, Bee holds his ruby gem up to the screen.
Eyecatch 3: Bee's backpack is slightly emptied, revealing random contents of
"treasure," like a frog doll. He is also polishing an item in his hands.
Attack Pattern: #3-9, all columns except the two leftmost
Comments: This definitely has to be a ripoff of another cabbit... After all,
how many cabbits exist in anime? I'm thinking Ryo-Ohki from the Tenchi Muyo
series. Of course, there's also Rabicat from Twinkle Star Sprites. Both of
which came before Puchi Carat.
Story/Ending: Not much I can offer here. Seems like Bee takes a hike on a
moonlit night.
__________
8. Perydot
Month: August
Birthstone: Peridot, at the end of her collar
Symbol: Lips
Gender: Female
Description: Voluptuous, green-haired animal-girl hooker
Eyecatch 1: Were you expecting a show of more skin? Ha! In this one, she's
actually wearing MORE clothes... Here, she wears a sort of showtime outfit
for her top (y'know, the kind for stuff like magic shows, or something).
She's only got panties and leggings below.
Eyecatch 2: She's back in her usual clothes, and this looks a little like her
first attack, with the addition of her S&M (not really... perhaps) whip.
Eyecatch 3: A rather disturbing shot of her ass pointed towards the screen.
Hey, at least I found out where she keeps her birthstone. >_>
Attack Pattern: All columns except for #2
Comments: Clearly put into this game for sex appeal. I'm not sure what kind
of animal-girl she is supposed to be. In any case, I prefer Shiimondo or
Paaru and Deeru, or even the secret character over her (cuteness before
hotness >_>).
Story/Ending: Needless to say, I did play as this animal woman, as I was
interested in seeing how her ending would turn out. Frankly, I was
disappointed and rather scared. She enslaves the four males of this game, and
armed with a whip, becomes their dominant queen. Scary.
___________
9. Sapphire
Month: September
Birthstone: Sapphire, at the tip of her wand
Symbol: The gem on her magic wand
Gender: Female
Description: Purple-haired witch
Eyecatch 1: Closeup to her face, where she's got a rather evil smirk.
Eyecatch 2: A body shot, where her hair and clothes have a windy appearance.
Eyecatch 3: She's removed her crystal crown/headdress, and is applying makeup
and powder to her face. Her clothes seem different, a little more loose than
before. Hey, even evil, busty witches need to keep a good appearance! >_>
Attack Pattern: #5-9, the middle and right four columns
Comments: A purple-haired witch named Sapphire? Sigh... Well, witches are
cool, but this one seems a bit cold. She's pretty badass with her spells,
though.
Story/Ending: Having defeated Paz, Sapphire takes over the castle and in the
background, to add to the drama, lightning strikes.
_______
10. Opa
Month: October
Birthstone: Opal, in his left glass eye
Symbol: A rose... Could this guy get any more questionable?
Gender: Male *shudder*
Description: Ugly ogre/giant, carrying a stick made of some animal bone
Eyecatch 1: Opa faces the screen in a push-up position.
Eyecatch 2: He's cheering by flexing his muscles and lifting his chin.
Eyecatch 3: He's happy, and there are flowers in the background. -_-
Attack Pattern: #2-8, all columns excluding the sides
Comments: Ugh, I hate this guy even more than that mechanic genius. I can't
tell if he's being manly, a sissy, mocking, or some combination of the
previously mentioned qualities. One thing's for sure, he represents his month
well. Scary. I hate seeing him in other characters' endings. Especially nude,
or with a schoolgirl outfit, my God... Anyway...
Story/Ending: I was hoping he'd change his appearance to something less of an
eyesore, but instead, we get a hot spring scene (thankfully, he doesn't look
half as scary as him in other endings), with him surrounded by a few girls
(and one boy). Dot, looking surprisingly different without her animal
costume, is being carried on Opal's left hand. Sapphire is to Opal's right
shoulder, while, even more to my surprise, Shiimondo is in the water,
enjoying the bath as well and blushing towards the screen with her ever-cute
^_^ face. In towels are Garnet on the left and on the right, while and Paz
are water-spouting statues behind Opal.
_______
11. Paz
Month: November
Birthstone: Topaz, heck if I know where it is
Symbol: His cape covers just about the whole of the bottom of the screen...
Like Sapphire's symbol, it looks like a round gem on a magic rod, though.
Gender: Male
Description: Sorceror in black robes, wears spectacles
Eyecatch 1: Paz's cape is outstretched, and his hat is off, revealing long,
flowy blue hair. He ALMOST looks like a bishounen (pretty boy) here. And I
hate them, with the exception of a select few. *coughJunWatarasecough* Wait,
he's a trap. Never mind...
Eyecatch 2: Paz is reading a green book. Nothing spectacular.
Eyecatch 3: Facing the screen, Paz's left hand is outstretched.
Attack Pattern: #1-4, left four columns
Comments: Can't make much out of this guy, but he seems to be all important.
Story/Ending: Well, he's maintained control of his castle... Now what? :/
________
12. Ruco
Month: December
Birthstone: Zircon, on her pet's forehead
Symbol: The face of her pet, two eyes, a mouth, and the gem
Gender: Female
Description: Red-pink hair, freckles, has a yellow devil on her head
Eyecatch 1: She carries her pet in her arms.
Eyecatch 2: She wears a burglar's hood, along with her pet, and carries a
large bag of the same pattern as the hood. Take note of her slippers similar
to her pet.
Eyecatch 3: What a ripoff. Plainest eyecatch ever, and for all the time it
took... She stands facing the screen with a ^_^ face. Her pet is also smiling
atop her.
Attack Pattern: #2-4, #6-8, the left-middle and the right-middle columns
Comments: I'm not sure if this girl is trying to be cute, evil, or some
combination of the two. I'm sure she's both. Her little devil pet (I don't
know what it is) on top of her head copies her emotions exactly.
Story/Ending: Yet again, another character I can't make heads or tails of her
story.
____________
13. Patoraco
Month: ???
Birthstone: ??? (The blue gem)
Symbol: A pyramid
Stage: A temple
Gender: Female
Description: Egyptian girl, has a sphinx headband and a white dress with a
cut on one leg
Eyecatch 1: Patoraco dons an adorable little catgirl outfit, complete with
ears, paws, tail, ribbon, and bell. Maybe she could do the "Neko Nyan Dance!"
Or some other cat-like dance popular in a few anime... Nekomimi Mode?
Eyecatch 2: Next, Patoraco sports a gym uniform, carrying a baton and
winking. Not exactly my favorite type of fetish, but still cute.
Eyecatch 3: Ooh, a nurse cosplay this time around. Patoraco is dressed in all
white, with a needle in one hand, and a clipboard in the other. Top it off
with a little hat. The whole whiteness is a bit plain, but again, still cute.
Attack Pattern: #1-3 and #7-9, the left and right three columns
Comments (on How to Unlock): After experiencing much difficulty in completing
the Super Gamer difficulty with Shiimondo, even with the use of save states,
I discovered the game gives you a code at the end. It read, "A, A, A," and
some button which I later found out to be "Start." Of course, the rest of the
directions were in Japanese, so I didn't know where to activate it. After
reading up the Codes & Secrets section on GameFAQs, I now know that this code
is inputted after the inserting a coin, while Shiimondo explains the
directions. Then, at the character select screen, she can be chosen at the
top, in place of the blue gem. (Note: You can beat the VS. Mode with any
character, even Patoraco herself, on Super Gamer difficulty to get the code.
You get nothing if you clear Expert mode on the Puzzle game.)
Comments: My third favorite character, falling just short of Paaru's cuteness
(However, Deeru is ranked fourth on my list; I had conflicting issues with
ordering the ranks... Paaru and Deeru together are higher on the list than
Patoraco). Anyway, being a secret character, she is certainly an oddity.
First of all, her paddle is made of small blocks and is carried by mummies,
and her field of gems has bird imprints. Secondly, she lacks a month of birth
and a traditional birthstone (hers is the blue crystal that is at the center
of the altar of the 12 birthstones). I know there aren't 13 months, but
seriously, WTF? And thirdly, she also has a tendancy, like Shiimondo, to say
"desu" with the "u" pronounced. Not as cute as the fairy maid, but still gets
points for being cute. Not to mention, IMO, her catgirl outfit is simply to
die for! Based on her eyecatches, she likes cosplay, it seems.
Story/Ending: Because of her crappy attack pattern, it was very difficult to
clear a few stages... *coughRaldcough* In any case, again with the
schoolgirls? That's basically the gist of the ending here.
---------------------------
8. Copyright & Contact Info
---------------------------
.. Do I really need to do this section? It should be common sense to
anyone... If someone works hard at something, and publicly displays it, it
should be obvious that this work shouldn't be stolen. At the very least, ask
for permission if you need to, and give credit, as I have done to my
sources...
*sigh* Fine, fine, I'll get this over with. Just to be official, here's my
copyright... (I hope there aren't any loopholes in it or anything... It seems
simple enough, but I'm no lawyer or anything...)
This FAQ is Copyright (c)2005 by me, Eric/Eab, and (currently) belongs only on
GameFAQs @
http://www.gamefaqs.com and Neoseeker @
http://www.neoseeker.com.
Feel free to use this FAQ for your own personal use, but do not take credit
for it, or any part of it, and claim it to be yours.
If you have any questions or comments on my FAQ, or my FAQ is too illegible
for you, or you see this FAQ posted elsewhere besides GameFAQs and I have not
given permission or anything, or whatever, you can e-mail me at
[email protected]. Please, no Spam, Flames, Useless Junk E-Mails (asking
questions my FAQ answers, for example), or anything of the sort. Any of these
E-Mails will be ignored, so don't waste your time doing so.
In addition to the above, do not ask me for ROMs. I'd give them to you, since
this game is Japanese only, but to waste my time to point it out, and that
I'd rather not be caught and fined or anything by doing something illegal
like that, chances are you won't get them from me. Sorry.
Like my last and first FAQ, I doubt this FAQ will get much publicity either.
Oh well. Most people on GameFAQs type up stuff for the hell of it, right? >_>
--------------------
9. Credits & Closing
--------------------
We're at the end of my FAQ. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I
realize my FAQ is incomplete near the end. The last section is currently
already being worked on, and I have a lot of info, but they are still
incomplete. As a result, these sections will be blank until I complete them.
Thanks to the following for their contributions and helping me with this FAQ!
I'm keeping the Credits short this time around. >_>
GameFAQs/CJayC - For their great site, boards, and for posting this FAQ.
Taito - For making the game.
You - For reading the FAQ.
Benpc91 - A puzzle gamer on GameFAQs and a good friend of mine. Currently,
the only other person I personally know who plays this game.
Message board buddies - You know who you are. ^_~
Desu~
