Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat FAQ
Version 1.1

By chessjerk (John Kearsley IV)

Created - August 21, 2006
Updated - February 18, 2012

Questions?  Comments?  Contact me: [email protected]

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Welcome to my Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat FAQ. You've got to love old-school
driving games. Four player fun for the whole family!

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Table of Contents:
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I. The Object of the Game
II. Controls
III. List of Tracks
IV. Upgrades
V. The Opposition
VI. Race Prizes
VII. Playing the Game
VIII. Strategies
IX. Credits/Disclaimer
X. Version History

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I. The Object of the Game
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The object of the game is to win each race in the season and collect enough
points to outrank your opponents. Each season has nine races, and each race
offers cash and points based on each car's finishing position. Cash is used to
upgrade your car until it cannot be stopped. Points are accumulated and totaled
at the end of the season. Higher cumulative point totals offer cash rewards at
the end of each season.

If you lose to computer-controlled opponents three times, you have to use a
Continue to keep playing. Once three Continues are used, you cannot continue
any more and the game is over. As far as I can tell, the game does not have an
ending. The players simply keep going until each player's Continues are
exhausted.

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II. Controls
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Up         - No use
Down       - No use
Left/Right - Turn car left/right
B          - Use turbo
A          - Accelerate
Select     - No use
Start      - Pause the game

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III. List of Tracks
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Here is a list of the tracks and the number of laps for each race:

Location             # of laps

W. Canada             5 laps
New Jersey            5 laps
S. California         5 laps
Michigan              5 laps
Illinois              8 laps
Ohio                  5 laps
E. Canada             5 laps
Colorado              5 laps
Tradewest Speedbowl  12 laps

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IV. Upgrades
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Here is a list of upgrades you can purchase between races:

Turbos ($30,000): Provides a short burst of speed (10 per purchase)
Brakes ($30,000): Quicker stops by releasing accelerator
Tires  ($40,000): Quicker turns and less skidding while turning
Crew   ($40,000): Quicker pit stops
MPG    ($50,000): Extends range between pit stops
Engine ($50,000): Increases speed
Danny's Choice  : If you're unsure of what to get, pick this option, and the
                 computer makes your purchases for you. The choices seem to be
                 random, so use this option if you don't know what to get or
                 just don't care.

The maximum turbos you can have at any one time is 200, the maximum number of
upgrades you can have per item is 9 (you start with one unit of each, up to a
maximum of ten units). If you cannot buy any more items, unused funds carry
over to the next race.

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V. The Opposition
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This game can be played by up to 4 players, with each player receiving a
corresponding car color. Any unused car colors are operated by the computer
under the following names/colors:

1st player   (red): Mark
2nd player  (blue): Trev
3rd player (green): Chris
4th player (white): Steve
Computer    (gold): Danny

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VI. Race Prizes
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Money and points are awarded at the end of each race:

1st: $100,000 and 20 points
2nd: $90,000 and 16 points
3rd: $85,000 and 14 points
4th: $80,000 and 12 points
5th: $75,000 and 10 points

Double points are awarded for the 8 lap Illinois race. Double points and prizes
are awarded for the 12 lap Tradewest Speedbowl race.

At the end of a season of all 9 races, each driver's points are tallied up and
an additional award is issued based on the end of season rank:

1st: $200,000
2nd: $180,000
3rd: $170,000
4th: $160,000
5th: $150,000

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VII. Playing the Game
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Start by choosing a player, entering your name and selecting your face
portrait. Once all players have done so, the game begins.

Each player starts with $100,000 in the bank and 60 turbos at their disposal.
Each player may spend as much money as they choose on various upgrades (see the
Upgrades section). When finished, select Start Next Race. Once all players have
done so, the first race begins.

You'll see various features on the screen to tell you what's going on. On the
bottom of the screen, you'll see each player's car's status, including either a
CAR OK or a PIT NOW message, an RPM gauge, a fuel gauge, and a turbo gauge. On
the track somewhere, you'll see a pole with the current ranking in that race.
From top to bottom, each color car is represented by a number, the number is
the lap that car is currently on (e.g. if Danny is in second place and on the
4th lap, the second number from the top of the pole will be a gold 4). The pole
also indicates how many laps the race is and the time spent on the current race
in seconds.

Another important feature to notice while the race is going is a group of
people holding up signs that say PIT, one for each color car. When you see your
color sign, it might be a good idea to get to the pit.

Finally, you may also notice icons on your car as you race. If you see a
flashing dot behind your car, you are out of fuel and can only drive very
slowly. You may also see a fire on the front or rear of your car, either from
hitting too many walls or the other cars bumping you too much. Again, you can
only drive very slowly and should pit immediately. Turbos still work in these
cases; use them to get to the pit quicker.

Once a driver reaches the finish line, the race is over. The awards stand is
then shown, with the points and money allocated to each driver based on their
position at the time the leader finished the race, as well as their average
speed for the race.

This takes the players back to purchase more upgrades. If any player loses to
any computer car three times, that player must choose to continue the game
within 10 seconds. Each player has three continues to use, once they are used
up, the game is over for that player, and the computer controls that car until
all of the other players use up their continues and the game is over.

After one season of nine races is completed and the end of season awards are
issued, the next season begins.

At the end of the second season and every season thereafter, you also see a
cumulative leader board for all the previous seasons, not just the most recent
season.

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VIII. Strategies
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"Danny's Tips" as provided in the game are as follows:

Use turbos for speed boost - Self explanatory, really.

Use pit stop when out of gas or on fire - Again, self explanatory.

Turbo button will exit pit early - When in the pits, hit the turbo button to
exit before your fuel gauge is full.

Knock other cars off their jacks - When driving through the pits, aim your car
behind another car that is receiving fuel and use a quick turbo to blast them
off their jacks. If done quickly, that car likely has to refuel again very
soon, thus costing them a lot of time.

Some more tips from me:

Upgrade importance - Pit crew and MPG are the most important to your later
survival, as they allow you to refuel faster and pit less often (or not at
all). Build these up in order to employ the "Follow the leader" strategy
(explained below). Build up your tires and engine next, leaving the brakes for
last.

Manage your turbos - You can only carry 30 turbos in your car at a time, so try
to save them for when you need them if you plan on using a lot in that race.
Your turbo stock is replenished when you take a pit stop.

Cause fires on the other cars - This trick is tough to pull off, but if you can
do it reliably, it's very effective. Position yourself directly behind another
car (hopefully Danny's) and blast your turbos. If you hit the back of his car 5
or 6 times in a row, it may cause a fire, crippling him until he can reach the
pits. However, given Danny's mobility, this is very hard to accomplish in
actual gameplay.

Time your turbo use - Unless you're trying to cause fires on another car, try
to space out your turbo usage to maximize the speed you get from each turbo.
This is very useful when navigating a series of easy turns, but be careful on
sharp turns, as you may slam into a wall and cause a fire on yourself.

Watch out for obstacles - On the racetrack, you may see grassy or rocky areas.
Avoid these areas as they greatly reduce your speed and hinder your movement.

The "Follow the leader" strategy - This applies more in single player games
than in multi-player games. The other cars (besides Danny's gold car) normally
do nothing besides get in your way during the race. Danny's car is the car to
beat to keep you from using your Continues too fast. However, he has the
unusual ability to constantly outrun you no matter what you do at times, so you
have to employ some strategy.

There are a few different ways to do this. First, if you see in the pits that
Danny's pit is behind yours on the track, follow closely behind Danny until he
has to pit, then follow him in and knock him off his jack as quick as possible.
This alone should win you the race, since he'll likely run out of fuel and lose
a lot of time getting back to the pits.

Second, if the first case doesn't apply, then try to judge when Danny has to
pit and go to your pit the lap before he does. This works since when Danny is
way ahead of you, he slows down, thus allowing you to pit and then catch up to
him. When he pits, zoom past him and don't look back.

Third, when you've built your car up quite a bit to the point where you don't
have to pit at all (except at the 12 lap Speedbowl), don't follow Danny closely
the whole time, or else he simply speeds up and won't need to pit either, and
you'll likely never catch him. Lag behind him a bit, causing him to slow down
and take an early pit stop. When he does pit, take advantage of this and zoom
past him.

On some courses, especially later on, Danny never needs to pit; he will simply
drive fast and your only hope to catch him is to blast your turbos on the last
lap and hope you can outmaneuver him at the finish line.

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IX. Credits and Disclaimer
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This FAQ is copyright 2006/2012 by John Kearsley IV.  This FAQ may be
distributed freely as long as it is not altered and I am credited for its
existence.

Thanks go to everyone else involved with the NES FAQ Completion Project, of
which I am proud to be a part.  Also, thanks go to GameFAQs.com and SBAllen for
hosting a great site.  Keep up the good work!

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X. Version History
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Version 1.0 - Original FAQ submitted
Version 1.1 - Minor spelling/formatting changes

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