Bump N Jump FAQ(arcade)
version 1.0.0
copyright 2004 Andrew Schultz [email protected]

Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent.
However, if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by
name, then I will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I
am bad about answering e-mail. Sorry.

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================================

           OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

 2. MOVING AROUND

   2-1. DRIVING

   2-2. JUMPING

   2-3. BAD GUYS

 3. POINTS

 4. GENERAL STRATEGIES

 5. LEVEL MAPS AND STRATEGIES

[ctrl-f and type 31 * to search for level 31]

 6. VERSIONS

 7. CREDITS

================================

 1. INTRODUCTION

 Bump N Jump is a wonderful game to tinker with when you're no good, and
it's fun to slam around enemy cars when you get better. It's an overhead view
driving game where you have a car that can accelerate from 20 to 220 MPH,
although these numbers are partially just for display, and if you're going
over 100, you can jump. You speed up and slow down based on if you jump or if
you hit cars from ahead or behind. Roads narrow and widen and you also have
lakes or rivers to jump over--sometimes you can sneak down a bridge, others
you can't. You get minimal points for surviving, but you get good points for
each car you crash, with a very nice bonus at the end of a course

 There are only so many pattern wrinkles Bump N Jump can throw at you, but
it's easy to get caught up in the whole driving aspect and lost track of what
should come next. Bump N Jump retains its longevity this way--and also with
being very random and not really giving any time constraints. In fact
sometimes you can slow down to knock off a car behind. Bump N Jump is one of
my favorite early arcade area games and once you get started it will be yours
too--despite the 'exclamation mark of death' that pops up before a huge body
of water and chides you when you fail to jump the water.

 2. MOVING AROUND

 The first thing to notice is that, before the end of the level, the game
speeds up slightly. This can cause you to overcompensate a move. I generally
just try to hit the jump button and land safely. There's no warning or course
progress, but the game does alter when you're about to win, and I've crashed
out near the end too often. It's the only really icky unfair part of the game
I've found.

 That, and always push forward when restarting a level. You may start near
an edge, and also there are other cases where you need to make a jump at full
speed a few seconds later to survive.

   2-1. DRIVING

 Your joystick moves you in the direction you want to go--no earth
shattering news here--but you go farther up the screen as you go faster. This
means it's tough to see the obstacles ahead. However, going slowly has its
risks too as cars can sneak up from behind.

 The obvious part about driving is that you can cut between other cars and
bump into them, but how you bump into them affects where you spin out to.
It's easy to keep your foot on the gas the whole game but sometimes you'll
need to hold up, especially if a car seems to be pushing you into a wall in
the one-on-one fight you currently have.

 Crashing into a car in front of you kicks you back and slows you down.
Tapping one approaching from the rear speeds you up. There are never any
ties, and you should also note that crashing into something from the side
sends you back pretty sharply whether you were just barely to one side or
not.

 Note that when driving if any part of your car goes out of bounds, you
crash. If you're 80% on a bridge, tough luck. Same goes for jumping when you
land, which I'll discuss in the next section in more detail.

   2-2. JUMPING

 You need to be at 100 MPH to jump, and each jump costs you 32 MPH in
velocity once you land. Jumping should only be used for defensive purposes
and not just 'whenever.' It's particularly dangerous when you think there
might be water ahead as you can land in the water or not have the speed to
jump. You can steer left and right as you jump and, if you start on one edge
of a wide road, go off the screen and land on the other edge. This is fun to
try once, but it's actually useful if you know there is a bridge ahead--i.e.
the roads are jagged and you see the exclamation point sign.

 When looking for where to land, note that it's possible to land and take
out two cars, but if you land on one you'll bounce as if you'd crashed into
them. When in doubt, go to the center and pull ahead.

 Another example of defense occurs after a bridge ends. Often the course
curves in from the left, and you can jump over that obstacle onto the center.
The alternative is a possibly blocked path to the center, at a slow speed,
with a sharp turn to start.

 Often you may need to jump just after crashing another car into the wall.
Especially in narrow areas. But if you have water on both sides, you don't
want to jump if you're going very fast.

 On later levels you may need to jump twice in a row over a lake. Keep alert
for an exclamation point sign after you land.

 You can jump onto an island instead of a bridge, but there's no real way to
gauge where the islands are, so only try to land on an island if you can't
make the bridge.

 Also one of the big tricks you can pull is to jump just before the road
cuts off and you land in the water--but just AFTER you have crashed into
other cars waiting by the water. The timing here is tricky and in fact it's
best to hit a car in front which hasn't made it to the edge. That causes a
real chain reaction.

   2-3. BAD GUYS

****************
* 200-pointers *
****************

--blue tractor, yellow/black front: hit this from the front or not at all. If
you reset the machine and start play immediately, you may be able to ping
pong between two tractors until one is killed. But otherwise they just slow
you down.
--green car, fat, wide wheels: these appear very stupid and frequently get
trapped against the side.
--blue wide X shaped car: another stupid car that will be your staple as you
slam helpless trapped into the wall.

****************
* 300-pointers *
****************

--narrow green, wide wheels: a relative lightweight you can push into the
sides easily
--black, green/red trim: this seems a bit tougher to take out, but I could
just be fooled by the bigger size
--yellow racer: see above but even more so
--blue bulldozer, black/yellow treads: very very hard to push although it can
provide a good boost if you smack into it from the side and above. Mostly
though you'll want to avoid this. Maybe if you get lucky you can jump on one
and crush it.
--blue dump truck with dirt clod: these really are chicken. They stay ahead
of you and drop dirt piles which you can crash into with only the slightest
bit of warning. Don't follow them, don't land behind them after you jump, and
don't crash into their paths while they still have dirt. Once they've emptied
their loads you just need to touch them to kill them. They can get caught up
in the sides when the road narrows or taken unawares if you accelerate after
a crash. Also you can crash another enemy into them, and they will explode on
touch. On later levels you may have a phalanx of three dropping dirt behind.
You may need to park in a lane between them then.

****************
* 500-pointers *
****************

--white dragster, brown wheels. This one isn't terribly difficult to run into
a wall, but it's also comparatively rare. You can deal with it as with the
earlier racers.
--black hearse, skull and crossbones. This one is very hard to budge, but
frequently it gets trapped on the sides. It's great for banging into another
car via a chain reaction, and it frequently travels in packs of 2 or 4. Best
bet is to get ahead of it and tap it.

 3. POINTS

 You get 8 points for each second you survive. There is a 50000 point bonus
for winning without crashing against cars. Although you crash against fewer
cars later on, it is harder to get the bonus because you need to crash
strategically. Otherwise you get 300*(# of cars) for the first level, 400*(#
of cars) for the second, and 500 per car after that. You get 1000 for landing
on an island when there's a highway to the left, but this isn't really worth
it.

 Cars are worth from 200 to 500 as you'll see in the demo. You get the same
points if you land on them or smack them into a wall or pinball another car
into them. You don't get points if they fall into ditches whether or not you
push them, or they get stacked up against the water, although you can touch a
car that's stacked against the water and then jump. It's less risky as it
sounds but does require some timing.

 Don't try too hard to get a 500 point car if a 200 point one is easy to
get. Remember that you get the same bonus for the number of cars destroyed at
the end, and this evens things up a good deal.

 Default high score list:

SAW 10012
KIS  7684
SUZ  5328
KIT  3236
YOS  1982 [incidentally, this is an impossible score as it is not a multiple
of 4. The highest impossible score in BnJ that's a multiple of 4 is 92.]
(all scores below this are zero.)

 I find that the first levels can net 10000 for cars crashed and 10000 for
the bonus. The more defensively you have to play, the fewer you kill, but
there are plenty of opportunities early on to take cars out on the side.

 4. GENERAL STRATEGIES

   4-1. REGULAR PLAY

--the key to scoring well is to notice how cars bounce back and forth, when
they start going the other way, and when they get stuck. I found when I
started playing, I jumped because it was fun and powerful and I felt safe.
Safety doesn't pile up the score, though. You need to determine if a car is
vulnerable instantly  and, if it is, go after it. You also need a feel for
which cars run into the barriers(the 200 point ones) and which stay in the
center(300/500.)

--pay attention after you lose a guy. Always push forward. It's possible to
get killed in less than a second if you go left/right, the most probable time
being when you're put on the left side of the split highway. If you crashed
out on a double jump, you can accelerate forward--DON'T touch any enemy cars-
-and jump just before the water and jump again to make it across. The
difference between being at 180 and 182 MPH is critical here--you just miss
at 180 but just make it at 182. Note that if you land in a narrow area after
jumping across a lake, you need to beware another jump is coming up. Also,
three dump trucks may appear ahead on later levels after you lose a guy. Go
between them. You also may be sent off to a left tunnel sometimes. Also if
you crash just before the end of the level, and there's no double jump ahead,
things will start off sped up.

--sideswiping cars that are impeded by a bend in the road is very suicidal
indeed. However, nicking the cars just before they get there, or if they have
a curve ahead, is excellent form. The former action doesn't bounce you away
from the edge enough.

--blazing through the level isn't necessarily the best way to go about
things. Slow down and look for cars that are heading for the edge. Wait a
half second, adjust your speed so you're near them, and run into them. Also,
going at 180-190 mph seems to be the ideal speed for the tricky double jumps
that occur in later levels although you can also jump a bit early at 130 MPH.

--if you don't nail an enemy car on the first try, you'll probably get wiped
out if you extend the fight for too long. Especially if your speed drops
below 80. They tend to keep ramming you. Slow down if possible and go around
them. But don't play Captian Ahab. Plus the second time you bounce, you seem
to go further than the other car.

--you can't really slow down going around construction vehicles. Tractors are
very nasty and slam you into a curb. Jump over them.

--if there are two cars ahead of you that you wish to split and then bash,
hit the center one first. That's because if you hit the one near the wall
first, you'll bounce away from the wall, into the other car, and back towards
the wall, which is risky.

--always pay attention to how cars waver back and forth. If you hit one and
it doesn't quite go into the wall, you might have an easy time knocking it
into the other wall later.

--try not to crash into anyone with the lake on the left unless it will
accelerate you. If anything goes wrong you have to jump and that leaves you
open to falling in the water.

--if it looks like you're about to fall into the water, or it'll be close,
tap the jump button continually after a long jump. There's no recovery time
between jumps.

--chain reactions usually work well although it may be better to duck under a
car and run at one by the wall

--staying on the right side is safer than the left. Because when the road
shrinks, the lake is always on the left side. Also later on you'll have the
left tunnel, but that really just cuts down the space you have on the right.

--Try never to jump with the lake on your left. Usually there'll be water
ahead, and you are a sitting duck when in the air.

--Certain areas come after certain others. For instance, bridge areas only
come after when the course weaves back and forth, lakes on the left only come
after straightaways with no bushes, and lakes to jump over come only after
you have water on the left.

--Small rivers aren't tough to jump over and can net you points if you jump
just after running into an enemy car. However you don't want to crash before
then due to tight quarters and often you want to jump. Beware though as
there's some spare dirt just off the right edge.

--If the exclamation mark appears and you can't get the speed to jump, just
slow down and go to the left. You shouldn't be followed by any cars, but if
you are, try to crash and immediately jump.

--A crash on a bridge is fatal, so be sure to jump on an enemy there if you
must and do it again. Also if you know you're going on a bridge, keep right
and possibly scroll off the screen when you jump. Cars won't follow you then.
If a dump truck is on the bridge, watch it closely and jump when it
overturns.

--If you must jump on an island, a speed of 182-184 seems about right for
jumping just before the edge, but if you're going faster jump earlier. I've
gone in the drink at 220. You also have to jump immediately again and for the
long bridges there's no assurance anything is there.

--If a car ahead crashes into a ditch, you can run over it while it's still
combusting without losing a life. But don't count on doing so regularly.

--Freeways are the best places to take out enemy cars as you have the lowest
risk and they're most likely to get stuck there. Often in narrow areas you
must crash against a car and jump--or crash one car into the wall and use
another as a bunker against the other wall.

--If you're trapped before a lake or bridge area, crash into as many enemy
cars as possible. Often you can touch two and tip them in the drink.

--Slowing rapidly can clear the screen nicely, but if you go slow to catch
someone behind, be careful as they might drop out of sight. Don't chase the
issue then.

   4-2. NO-CRASH BONUS

 This strategy is really most feasible on level 1. It's worth losing a few
games on, because with practice you'll learn how to avoid all the other cars
and cruise to victory. The other levels can get a bit long. As in regular
play, 190 MPH is best with other cars around as you don't know when you'll
need to jump, and if there are too many cars around you'll land on one. If
you're going at 220 MPH and it's kill or be killed, you may drop onto an
enemy after you're forced to jump. Although you have an interesting gambit
here--you can die and try again with an open road. It's worth it. I find I
can get up to 20000 points on level 1 playing regularly. With one life lost
and 50000 in bonus, you get that extra life back!

 In order to avoid even crashing into enemy cars, you'll want to go to one
side, wait for the other cars to come around, and jump back to the other. If
about four cars are circling around you, you may want to pull back.
Frequently they'll fly ahead and you can start over with fewer impediments.
You get just over 500 points if you complete the circuit, and this should
tell you how far along you are, so if you crash another car super early, or
are in a kill and be killed situation, you can evaluate what to do.

 Be careful jumping from right to left on a freeway as the left may turn
into a lake.

 I find I need to remember that I should crash into bad guys again at the
start of level 2 when I get through 1 unscathed. Sadly level 2 takes too long
to clear without conflict(at least with my ability.)

 5. LEVEL MAPS AND STRATEGIES

 Levels consist of several types of road:

1. freeway, very wide, less frequent as levels go on
2. shrubs, like freeway at first, but they often give way to small curves
back and forth. The twists vary but they only get really narrow just before a
bridge area.
3. lake on the left--this narrows the road and frequently there's...
4. a bridge out, or water to jump over, ahead.
5. Later levels give a double-jump scnario, where you must land on a small
island and jump again in short order.
6. a bridge on the left with islands on the right. This usually occurs
between curved shrub areas.
7. a split highway has a narrow area on the left--usually safe from enemies
but hard to reach--and an area with a piece of dirt or two, usually along
with a small river to jump over, on the right.

[my first attempt at saving an input file left something unreadable, so I'll
need to try again. Only have 1-4 so far.]

[ctrl-f and type 31 * to search for level 31]

***********
* LEVEL 1 *
***********

You start on a straightaway. Switch to bush edges and back to straightaway,
then water on the left and a small water gap. Back to bushes, a relatively
short lake with an island, edges, fairway, bushes, and then a bridge area.
After the next bridge, the level ends. Nothing's too narrow here and it's
pretty straightforward.

***********
* LEVEL 2 *
***********

 Dump trucks now overturn dirt. They didn't in level 1. You'll want to stay
out of the way as one is probably near the start of the level. Here is your
first introduction to zig zag shrubs. Then water on your left, then shrubs.
Things get narrow before you have a bridge and island. Shrubs, fairway, left
water, then a jump is necessary. Shrubs then zigzags, lake on left, shrub,
bridge. Shrub, left out, lake to jump, shrub, and short bridge. End of level
2.

***********
* LEVEL 3 *
***********

 You now may have to deal with dump truck phalanxes. Highway, shrub edges,
bridge, highway, lake on left, and jump. There will be more shrubs and the
course will split to the narrow area on the left and the wider on the right.
There's no river ahead just yet. More shrubs, left lake, then a bridge. Long
series of shrubs and roadbends and then a very long bridge you just go down
the left of.

***********
* LEVEL 4 *
***********

 Here you have two two-jump bridges which really necessitate keeping your
speed at 190 when the exclamation point appears--and not crashing into
anything! Don't even try!

 There are shrubs and bends in the road, and then you will have the first
river once the course splits. Again, keep right whenever possible. There'll
be a highway, another river, two bridges, highway, left lake, an island to
jump on and off--this two-jump is tricky--then another river to jump, a
bridge, the left lake out, and two jumps. The big jumps you need are
telegraphed here. On later levels things get very mixed up. They don't expose
any new tricks, but they put them together in all sorts of combinations. But
many future levels have the necessary double-jump at the end, and those that
don't have a surprise in the middle.

End of FAQ proper

================================

 6. VERSIONS

1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQS 4/15/2004. Should be complete although I am
futzing around a bit confusedly on the later levels.

 7. CREDITS

Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang. They know who they are, and you should,
too, because they get some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer,
daremo, falsehead, RetroFreak, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, and others
I forgot.

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