The Game Paradise (Saturn version) ================= FAQ v1.2 -------- written by Alan KWAN Shiu Ho 12 Oct 99 The Game Paradise is copyright 1997 Jaleco. Field Combat is copyright 1985 Jaleco. Mahjong is copyright expired and is now public domain. Suchie Pai is copyright 1993-? Jaleco. This FAQ is copyright 1999 Alan KWAN Shiu Ho. (But I guess it doesn't really matter, since The Game Paradise is a rare Japanese Saturn game that no one knows about in the West.) Raymond provided no particular assistance towards the composition of this FAQ, other than sitting on his throne being the founder of the Sonoda-ism religion. Mr. Sonoda likewise provided no particular assistance towards the composition of this FAQ, other than sitting on his throne being the subject of worship of the Sonoda-ism religion. This FAQ can be downloaded from http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot/Games/GeTenFAQ.txt Version 1.1 contains some references which have been missed in version 1.0 . Version 1.2 (20 Aug 2003) explains the /bonus/ pun and the /Jaleco/ pun. Jaleco official homepage: http://www.jaleco.co.jp/index.html The Game Paradise info page: http://www.jaleco.co.jp/consumer/ss_game.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents ----------------- Q1. How does the scoring work? Q2. What is happening in the karaoke world? Q3. What is up in the Nakamura schoolgirl part in the console world? Q4. What is up with the big round fortress player ship in arrange mode? Q1. How does the scoring work? --- This is explained in detail when you play "arrange mode -> time attack -> practice stage", by the Japanese speech while you play. Which means that, the explanation is totally useless unless you understand Japanese, and even if you do, it is difficult to catch the explanation while you are playing, unless you divert your attention from the game play to listen. When you defeat certain enemies, stick-eggplants appear in 3 different sizes. In Japanese, "stick" is read "bou", and eggplant is read "nasu". Together, they make "bounasu", a pun for "bonus". (Hereafter, this pun will be written as /bonus/, italicized as a foreign word, and pluralized the oriental way, namely with no "s" ending or anything.) Small /bonus/ are worth 1000 to 10000 points each. The first one is worth 1000 points, and as you pick ones up successively, the score value increases through 2000, 3000, 5000, and 7000 to eventually 10000 points per small /bonus/. You must not have a pause of 1 second or longer between picking up successive /bonus/, or the score value will reset to 1000. When you destroy certain big enemies, a big /bonus/ will appear. It is worth only 50 points, so you should not pick it up. Instead, shoot at it to blow it up into 6 small /bonus/. (Often after destroying a big enemy, you will instantly blow up the big /bonus/ too, so it will seem as if the big enemy gives you 6 /bonus/ when destroyed.) While the "next /bonus/ score" is at 10000 points (i.e. after picking up a small /bonus/ for 7000 or 10000 points), if you shoot at an enemy or a big /bonus/, instead of the small /bonus/, medium /Jaleco bonus/ will appear. Each is worth 48050 points, so try to go for these whenever possible. "4805" can be read as "shi-ya-rei-go" in Japanese, which is a pun for "Jaleco". Picking up /Jaleco bonus/ will also prevent the "next /bonus/ score" from resetting to 1000, as long as there is no pause of 1 second or longer. It is recommeded that, besides the normal mode, you play the time attack mode too, for it has some depth and is quite playable. Q2. What is happening in the karaoke world? --- Cute little Misato (played by KOOROGI Satomi) is dancing and singing a song called "Lovely Star". The words which appear to attack you are the lyric of the song, for the purpose of karaoke singing. If you are playing the shooting game seriously, you should shoot the words to prevent them from shooting at you. For each word you shoot, one point is added to the karaoke scoring machine on the right side of the screen. When the score reaches 100, the karaoke machine breaks down and you clear the stage. (Evidently, the machine has been on the verge of breaking down, considering the erratic manner in which it displays the words.) However, if you are playing to enjoy The Game Paradise in the way it is supposed to be enjoyed (i.e. as a "character game"), you should avoid shooting the words, so that you can watch the whole song and sing along with the words. And then you will realize that you can't really pay attention to the dancing and singing while dodging so many bullets, so you will connect the Saturn to a VCR and tape the show. After watching the tape once, you will rewind the tape and watch it again in slow motion, so as to study the animation of cute little Misato frame-by-frame ... Q3. What is up in the Nakamura schoolgirl part in the console --- world? If you are asking this question, you evidently do not know mahjong or Suchie Pai. You need to find a copy of any Suchie Pai game and attend Raymond as an apprentice of Sonoda-ism. ^_^ Ideally, it is best to attend Mr. Sonoda himself, but that is impossible because no one has ever seen his face. Anyway, the title screen says "Tokidoki Memory". After the longest loading screen *ever* in any Saturn game, Nakamura shows up in high school girl uniform. (This is befitting, since Nakamura /is/ a gorgeous 16-year-old high school girl.) Then the boss appears to attack you. The boss is composed of mahjong tiles. It alternates between two forms: 1. The Sun: a "1 of circles" surrounded by 8 "red dragon" tiles. It will fire some shots at you. In this form, the boss is vulnerable to damage. 2. The Hand: one of 3 "maximum" winning hands of mahjong. In this form, the boss is invincible. The content of the hand determines the form of the attack, and there are safe spots against each attack form, as follows: Thirteen Orphans (koku shi mu sou): dodge right Big Three Dragons (dai san gen): hide near the middle, some distance off to the left or right Nine Connected Sacred Lamps (kyuu ren poo too): dodge left If the above description doesn't make sense to you, you'll need to learn mahjong. Get a Suchie Pai mahjong game (except the original one on the SFC, since that one has no auto-play feature), set it to auto-play, and watch and try to figure out what is happening. (Also notice what happens when you win.) To read a description of Modern Japanese mahjong scoring patterns, get the looong article at http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot/Mahjong/mj_jap01.txt When you defeat the mahjong boss, Nakamura's apparel will be reduced to her high school girl sports class uniform. (Normally, the loser in mahjong should be reduced to even less apparel than this ... If only there were no censorship ...) Tokidoki Memory is copyright 1997 Yamada Ltd. WARNING: You must not misspell or abbreviate "Tokidoki Memory". Doing so may constitute copyright infringement, possibly resulting in relentless prosecution by a certain hostile, greedy company. Q4. What is up with the big round fortress player ship in --- arrange mode? This is the "Genesis3" moving fortress in Field Combat, a 1985 Jaleco game. By itself, it is probably the most clumsy and impotent player ship *ever* in shooting game history. Note that the normal "blaster" shot from your ship has collision detection only at the cursor. That sucks, really. This is not a bug, but rather, design intent, because it is like that in the original game. (Actually, it is even worse in the original, since there is no rapid-fire fire rate: you can fire only one shot at a time, and the shot speed is slow as a cow.) The original game was probably the most innovative, advanced, and fun shooting game at its time. In fact, it is one of those classic games which I miss sorely today. In Field Combat, the Genesis3 has the ability to capture enemy units and command them as friendly units (although "command" means no more than summoning them into the battlefield). The game also has some realistic details, such as terrain (affecting movement speed and line of fire) and rotating tank turrets. If only Jaleco were making classic game collections ... In The Game Paradise, the Genesis3 does not capture enemy units, but rather its old allies from the original game join you from the start. They will automatically home in on enemies and attack, and their firepower far exceeds your own, so all you really need to do is to concentrate on evasion. The Genesis3 is a Saturn original character in The Game Paradise, and can be used only in arrange mode. END OF DOCUMENT ---- "Live life with Heart." Alan Kwan / tarot@netvigator.com http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot (hard-core game reviews)