Super Bagman(Arcade game) FAQ version 1.1.0 copyright 2003 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net 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. **** AD SPACE: **** My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE BASICS 2-1. CONTROLS 2-2. SCORING 2-3. WAYS TO DIE 3. GAME MAP 3-1. LEDGER 3-2. LEVEL 1 3-3. LEVELS 2+ 4-4-4. LUCKY SPECIAL TEXT BONUSES 4. GENERAL GAMING STUFF 4-1. WARDENS 4-1-1. WHAT THEY DO, IN GENERAL 4-1-2. HOW THEY SPEED UP 4-1-3. ROUGH AI 4-2. OTHER DETAILS/TRICKS 4-3. ITEMS 4-3-1. MONEY BAGS 4-3-2. PICKAXES 4-3-3. BOMBS 4-3-4. THE BIG MONEY BAG 4-3-5. THE WHEELBARROW 4-3-6. THE ELEVATOR 4-3-7. THE CRANE 4-3-8. THE MINE CART 4-3-9. THE GUN 4-3-10. THE KEY 4-4. MISCELLANY 4-4-1. MUSIC 4-4-2. STUFF BAGMAN SAYS 4-4-3. NASTY BUGS 4-4-4. LUCKY SPECIAL TEXT BONUSES 5. SCREEN TRICKS 6. WALKTHROUGH(MORE GENERAL AS YOU GO ON) 6-1. STRAIGHT THROUGH LEVEL 1 6-2. LEVEL 2 AND BEYOND 6-3. BONUS SCENE 6-4. WHAT IF I LOSE A LIFE? 7. VERSIONS/CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION Super Bagman is the sequel to Valadon's _Bagman_ and although the characters are essentially the same, you get new gadgets to play with and two new screens to trek through. Here's the story: you're an escaped convict in red and white stripes. Wardens chase you around a maze of ladders and tunnels while you try to *ahem* liberate bags of money and bring them to the top where you put them in the wheelbarrow before your bonus runs out. You've got lots of ways to mess with the wardens: drop a money bag on their head, take a pickaxe to them, or put the wheelbarrow over them as they climb up the stairs. And that's just the legacy from Bagman. In Super Bagman you have an escalator and shafts you can slide down. You need to be clever and drop money bags at the right time(usually this loses time as you have to go back down.) There's a crane but you also have your traditional elevator and mine cart friends from Bagman. There's also a gun. Great in a pinch, but wardens shoot to kill afterwards. Then the bonus round after that features you trying to grab a heavy key in the same map and rescue your pal who's locked up--which means an extra life. With all this though the game has a few near-fatal flaws: first, random bugs make the wardens take physically impossible leaps, and sometimes the wardens will run back and forth, which is unsportsmanlike. Second, when you're 90% done with a level and you die, it's so hard to get that last bit that you may feel ripped off. Third, the pixelation provides an unrealistic appraisal of just exactly what's going on. So you wind up with some weird deaths to avoid. Super Bagman is an extremely punishing game and should only be undertaken by those who want a stiff challenge. Even with infinite lives on MAME I find it hard to get through one of the tougher levels. In fact for original arcade players it surely must have been frustrating to get to a new place, have no clue what to do next, and die in short order. 2. THE BASICS 2-1. CONTROLS You have a joystick, action and a fire button. Fire only works if you have the gun. Action does several things. It can drop/get a money bag or retrieve other special items. It also makes you jump; there are standing and running jumps. The main thing to watch out for with controls is how you can jump when you mean to pick up the wheelbarrow or a money bag. This can be fatal if you're being chased or near the edge. You'll jump if you want to grab, or vice versa. Often you need to carry a money bag away from an edge and then jump. Another thing to note is that horizontal movement overrides vertical movement. Sometimes diagonal movement can help you just get that extra half-second. Beginners will also need to learn how to slide down the 45 degree slopes and jump--it's 3 steps and then you run across. Keep holding that joystick down. Picking up a bag slows you down by half--the blue bag does so by half again. Other items don't do anything. Generally unless you have to do a tricky move, wait 'til you're fully over the item until you get it. You also often need to learn to tip your joystick one way to make Bagman face a certain way i.e. to drop money off a ledge. This seems rather unscientific, and you'll have accidents. But note that if more than half of him is over a chasm, he will fall down. 2-2. SCORING 300 points for each screen you walk across. This takes approximately 3 seconds. 4000-100 to your bonus every second or so, for each bag you put in the wheelbarrow 100 points for catching the mine cart 500 points for each warden you kill. This includes them shooting each other, you shooting or pickaxing one, bombing him, or dropping a wheelbarrow or money bag over his head. 3x bonus for either 1)getting the blue bag or 2)rescuing your friend in the bonus level(which also nets an extra life.) 2-3. WAYS TO DIE There are a lot. Basic ones include running into wardens, getting shot, running out of time, getting hit by the mine cart, elevator or crane, falling off a ledge(or sliding and then jumping wrong,) or being around when a bomb goes off. However there are some weird ones such as being around a second bomb when you placed the other. You also die if you descend from the mine cart. Note wardens can also catch up with you when you make a turn. 3. GAME MAP 3-1. LEDGER X = dirt x = handhold for mine shaft H = ladder & = pick $ = gold + = 3x bonus gold | = wall to use pickaxe on /\= slope up or down. The steeper ones, you fall through ^ = elevator up ^v= crane JA IL= jail where your friend is held g = gun W = wheelbarrow ' = bomb 3-2. LEVEL 1 Here is the map for the first level. | SCREEN 1 || SCREEN 2 || SCREEN 3 || SCREEN 4 || SCREEN #5 ' W $ XHXXXXXXXXHXXXXXHXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXHXXHXXXXXXXXXHXX^XX $HXXX ^^ H $H \XXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXHXXHXXXXXXXXXHXX^XXXXXX\\\ XHXX ^^XXXXXXXXXXXX\ \XXXHXXXXXXXXXXXHXXHXXXXXXXXXHXX^XXXH&HXXXXXX^vXX XH ^^XXXXXXXXXXXJAXX\ \XXH $ &H H $ HXX^XXXHXH ^vXX XH-XXXX $ XXXXIL X\ \XHXXXXHXX\ \XXXXHXX XXXXXXXXX^XXXHXHXXXXXX^vXX XHXXXXXHXXXHXXXXXXXHXX\ HXXXXHXXX\ \XXXHXX $ & ' ^ $ H H $ ^vXX XHXXXXXH H XXHXXX XHXXXXHXXXX\ $ HXXXX XXXHXXX^XXXXXXXXXXXX^vXX XH-\ XXHXXXXXXH HXXX XHXXXXHXXXXX XXXHXXXX XXXHXXX^XXX XXXXXXX^vXX XHXX-\ HXXXXXXHXXXXXX XHXXXXH g'XX XXXHXXXX XXXHXXX^XXX+ XH | ^vXX XHXXXX-\$HXXXXXXH $ $ H XXXHXXxXX XXXHXXxX XXXHXXX^XXXXXHXHXXXX^vXX XHXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXHX$H $ H H$ ^ XXXXH HXXXX^vXX H & H XXX XXX XXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXXX^XXXXXXXXXXXX^vXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXH ' H ^ ' $ ^vXX 3-3. LEVELS 2+ For levels 2 and beyond, the money bags are slightly shifted, but you have the same gadgets. | SCREEN 1 || SCREEN 2 | ' W XHXXXXXXXXHXXXXXHXXXXXXXXHXX HXXX ^^ H $H \XXXXHXX XHXX ^^XXXXXXXXXXXX\ \XXXHXX XH ^^XXXXXXXXXXXJAXX\ \XXH XH-XXXX $ $ XXXXIL$ X\ \XHXX XHXXXXXHXXXHXXXXXXXHXX\ HXX XHXXXXXH H XXHXXX XHXX XH-\ XXHXXXXXXH HXXX XHXX XHXX-\ HXXXXXXHXXXXXX XHXX XHXXXX-\ HXXXXXXH$ $ H X XHXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXH H $ & H XXX XXX XXXXH XXXXXXXXXXXXXXH ' Screen 4 also has an obnoxious money bag right of the elevator where the mine cart can't reach. 4. GENERAL GAMING STUFF 4-1. WARDENS 4-1-1. WHAT THEY DO, IN GENERAL Roughly, the two wardens try to chase after you. If wardens touch you, you die. Often wardens blip entirely off the screen. I know on the left of screen 2 with a warden coming in from the top left and me just below, he sometimes disappears. Wardens take time before they fire a gun and so you are usually quicker on the draw than they are. You can also run off the screen to avoid a shot. Wardens seem smarter than in the original Bagman and often can fall down on top of you to kill you--this is especially relevant in the bottom of screen 2. Also in the bottom of screen 2 an interesting part of warden AI comes up. If you've dropped the bag on the island, stand on the left part of the platform between the stairs to get a warden coming down to go left. Otherwise he will cut you off; this way he will start jumping randomly. Whether or not he falls is also random, but usually you can bolt up the stairs when he drifts away and then you can make it to the top. Wardens also move back and forth on the crane in screen 5 just so they don't get stuck on it. Wardens also split up more than in the original; if you hit them on the head with the wheelbarrow one after another they'll still wake up at the same time, but when they get to the top/bottom of a ladder and can't see you it's possible they will break off in different directions. In some, they do get stuck(DL of screen 2) until you leave the screen, and you can take advantage of that. 4-1-2. HOW THEY SPEED UP Wardens start off half as fast as you but speed up every 10000 points and eventually reach your speed at 40000. So at the start you are their equal if you're carrying a bag, but later you have to rely on hiding to get to certain areas. 4-1-3. ROUGH AI Wardens generally see you if you're on level with you. They'll run right at you whether or not a gap is in the way. For the smaller gaps, they can make it across, so be warned. If they see you have a pickaxe they'll probably run away, the exception being when they are on the crane and automatically shuffle back and forth. Then they may leave and run into you anyway. Wardens can also sense if you're above or on the same screen, but often they get stuck in a corner. They never reverse direction unless 1) they're at the top of the ladder with nothing to do or 2) you appear behind them. The key to psyching them out is often to move onto one screen, wait for a while, and watch them go off that screen. They don't change direction very much, so say you're on screen 2 and go right to 3. Stay on the left edge. They'll try to follow and usually wind up on 4. Then you can go back left and duck in to pick up a tough money bag. One key thing to note is that, right of the long ladder on screen 2 in the cave to level 3, you won't be followed if a warden was on the ladder behind you unless he is close enough behind to follow you right. Wardens also seem to take different directions randomly. So although it's fun to pack two of them together it may not work all the time. Also they do not go up or down if on a separate screen from you--they just run at yours. Often this creates potential for them to fall although you should be aware they can jump over gaps when you can't see them. 4-2. OTHER DETAILS/TRICKS If a warden misses you on the escalator, wait at the top. He'll drop down the stairs and take himself out of the action. 4-3. ITEMS 4-3-1. MONEY BAGS Money bags are what you bring to the top and put in the wheelbarrow so you can get a bonus. But they can also slow you down when you carry them. This becomes a problem once you reach 10000 points and bad guys then go faster than you. You can drop money bags down a ladder or chute and in fact one thing you need to master that you didn't in the original Bagman is the art of dropping a bag down a shaft to make it easier to get to later. To knock out a warden below, you must drop the money bag straight down the center of the ladder. You can also pile up tons of points by standing above wardens and dropping a money bag as they wake up and repeating until you really should get to the top or die because you don't get your bonus. The number one annoying thing about money bags is that they can stop you from jumping if they are near a ledge. Also it's hard to pull the trick of dropping a money bag when facing away from the ledge, which is necessary to get rid of some of them without dying. On the other hand, if you die with a money bag in hand or falling, it doesn't reappear. Usually this helps you get through the level a bit quicker, but if it's the last one you skip the bonus, which is really a nice variant. If you die with a money bag(or key) falling it is counted as disappeared for your next life. If you die with the final money bag, you jump to the next level with no congratulations or bonus round. 4-3-2. PICKAXES Pickaxes are useful for keeping wardens at bay. But don't think they're TOO useful. If you manage to catch up with a warden, the pickaxe will stun him. In fact you can pick one up right as he approaches and BANG. Pickaxes last for eight paces before they disappear; you can put them down and pick them up again to "recharge," so to speak. Still they're only of limited use on level 1(hold one on the crane, or with bad guys on the crane,) and on level 2 you might as well use guns. In fact if you're climbing up stairs you can't use the pickaxe, and it's tough to nail someone on the way down. At least they hold off wardens even if they're authorized to use guns, and you can use them on a lift or the crane. One thing to beware of is that if you hold a pickaxe and the bad guys run over a gap, they may have jumped over it. 4-3-3. BOMBS Bombs are very fun and stun the wardens more spectacularly than pickaxes but are not as helpful as they might seem. Push action to pick them up and you can move them around until you push it again. Dropping it above a warden is not lethal, but it will still explode. Also beware; it takes two seconds for a bomb to go off, and even if it takes a warden out, he'll lunge at you as a reaction from the explosion. It's easy to die this way. If you manage to get both wardens, a very confusing picture will appear--one may still be standing up, in place. You can run by. The most useful bomb is at the top of the first screen. You can move the wheelbarrow to the right, release it, push the bomb to the right, and then run by the stunned warden. 4-3-4. THE BIG MONEY BAG The big money bag is blue and behind a wall you have to use a pickaxe on. I suggest you drop it down the short ladder on the left, and if a bad guy gets in the area, SHOOT HIM as you have nothing left to lose anyway. The blue bag also makes you very slow. If you run out of time be sure to HOLD ON to the bag. If you break down the wall to the money it won't reappear if you die, which is a nice break. You also don't want to leave the blue bag for the very last, as if you die, there's a snowball's chance in hell of getting to it and then the wheelbarrow in time. No bonus round for you! The 3x bonus from this bag probably won't get you much, but it makes for a good challenge. 4-3-5. THE WHEELBARROW The wheelbarrow is probably your most useful offensive weapon in the game. My best solution consists of letting wardens chase me upstairs and leaving the wheelbarrow at the top--then they fall down. With the wheelbarrow, you don't want to spend too much time moving it, but it's best to move it from left to right and never backwards. Interestingly it's not always best play to move the wheelbarrow one screen at a time and get everything under it and so on. Some locations access others more/less easily than you'd think. The wheelbarrow can be put on the crane and you can take it across the elevator, but you can't bring it to the bottom on the fourth screen. In fact taking the wheelbarrow down the crane on screen 5 makes things easier. If you try to conk a warden going up on the elevator/crane, he'll lash out a little at you before getting stunned. Oh--on the human side, sometimes if I grab the wheelbarrow too soon I go jumping. Best to hit action when clearly over it; it doesn't slow you down. 4-3-6. THE ELEVATOR The elevator isn't really terribly useful, but it makes four stops(1 second apiece) on the way up before an express trip down, and you can exit it each way. From my experience the only thing to use it for is to run the wheelbarrow across when you get to the top. However you can possibly sucker wardens into taking it, running right to screen 5, and getting the blue bag. This will preclude them from waiting for you at the bottom. You can also use the elevator to move the pick from screen 4 to 5. If the wardens are coming up the elevator, keep a respectful distance and don't brain 'em when you get on board. Then leave to the right, one floor above them, or you can even hope to go all the way back down to get to the crane. Wardens will wait for you on the next stop even if you've got the pick(and face away if you do,) and if you 'just miss' the elevator you'll fall down the shaft to your death. You can make it a third of the screen. 4-3-7. THE CRANE The crane stops at each of five levels on the way up and down, which makes it thorough and reliable and can make you impatient. It also allows you to move the wheelbarrow, which you should--to the center. However it's a bit unforgiving about getting the blue bag. Standard play leaves bad guys waiting at the bottom for you as you unearth it and try to leave. You really don't want to mess with this until you are near the end, and in fact I advise you to, when dealing with the crane, wait to put a money bag in the wheelbarrow until just before the crane comes up. That gives the most time for, say, getting the blue bag--more a question of survival than piling up the points. 4-3-8. THE MINE CART First: you can't change the direction you face in the mine cart, never go down from it, and never exit it the way it's going. You'll need the mine cart to get bags on screen 4--fortunately you can pick up bags from the cart. It seems to go about 50% faster than you(a round trip of its path takes 800 bonus points) and although it doesn't harm the bad guys it will harm you. You need to grab a handhold and wait for it, which is dangerous. Be sure bad guys are well out of the way. You can go up the stairs from it conveniently but not down. The mine cart can really ambush you on the right handhold(check the bonus timer to see if you've got the time) but remember that you don't need to haul around money in its path--just get in the cart, go right/left, get the money and place it in the wheelbarrow! The cart also renders you invisible to gunshots and blocks gunshots in general, although it's fun to watch your guy sit back and pick off the wardens! The only really thing about the cart is that if you follow it too closely off-screen, you jump ahead of it. Then it catches up, and you lose a life. 4-3-9. THE GUN Shooting a warden lets them use their guns although this is moot after the first scene. Missing with a shot does nothing. Be sure you have the gun icon flashing below the playfield before you walk out of the gunsmith's. Nice things about guns is that you can hold another weapon too and for instance with a pick you are really tough stuff. The gunsmith's is nicely hidden away on the third screen and if you come from the left you can walk in unmolested unless wardens were hot on your trail. Even if they were you can shoot your way out or(better) leave a bomb behind just right of the stairs. The gun is great to use in the minecart but on all but level 2 you only get six shots before it disappears and a new one appears. Be sure you hear the noise before firing again, and you may want to wait for the wardens to take the first shot if they're lumped together. That is because the one who does will lag behind and maybe take his friend out, so you only need to use one bullet. It's often wise to shoot someone while he's far away; your first need to shoot shouldn't be until you get to the crane or elevator with the wheelbarrow. If he's far away approaching from the left you have more time to react in case he wakes up. Also you may need a gun to get to the final money bag in the bottom of screen 5. Just shoot the warden. The person coming from above has a slight advantage firing the gun, but the wardens don't take advantage of that. Bullets don't go between screens. 4-3-10. THE KEY The key is like the blue bag. It slows you down tremendously, and it's important to consider where you need to take it before you lug it around. It doesn't even have offensive value, as it doesn't hurt anyone if you drop it down the stairs--although doing so can speed your trip tremendously. One thing about the key, though, is that it is placed randomly on any of the first three screens. To have any hope of getting the key anywhere if it's on the second or third screen, you'll need the gun. Which is fortunately nearby. 4-4. MISCELLANY 4-4-1. MUSIC Music plays whenever you hit scene 1, 3 or 5. "You are my Sunshine" is one but I don't know about the others. "Auld Lang Syne" plays once you've lost all your lives. 4-4-2. STUFF BAGMAN SAYS Ai-yi-yi=lost a life Greeef = takes handhold Aba-weba=put gold in wheelbarrow Hey-hupa=jumped in mine cart 4-4-3. NASTY BUGS I've had bad guys appear from the right when going U/L from the gunsmith. There's also the matter of having two bombs on one screen(around the unlit one? tough!) Also you can pass the mine cart when switching screens and then it catches you. 4-4-4. LUCKY SPECIAL TEXT BONUSES [all appearing in a sort of typewritered-out way:] On getting your friend out of jail: CONGRATULATIONS GOOD LUCK FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE BUT WARNING!! POLICE HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO SHOOT ON SIGHT On solving one level: FOUND THE KEY AND RESCUE YOUR FRIEND / GOOD LUCK! 5. SCREEN TRICKS This is hinted at in other places, but here I'll summarize the one used over and over again, especially when you can't outrun the wardens any more: you'll need to remember if bad guys are to the left or right of you. If you can hide where they won't find you(i.e. no ladders nearby) they will run directly right/left when off the screen and continue that way when you can see them. They won't even chance to turn around until a good deal later. You can fake out the wardens by briefly going onto an adjacent scene and then cutting back as well. This is especially useful when you want to cause them to miss the elevator or the crane. You also seem to get a bit of a jump as you switch from one screen to the next. 6. WALKTHROUGH(MORE GENERAL AS YOU GO ON) 6-1. STRAIGHT THROUGH LEVEL 1 This walkthrough assumes you don't lose any guys on the way. It's my feeling that with practice it will become clearer and only the blue money bag poses a real problem, ultimately. Of course the further you get into the game, the bigger the penalty is for losing a guy. Given your job this is morally correct(harsher punishments for repeat offenders,) but it's a bit rough on your average gamer. Screen 1: The first thing to do is to go straight up, get the money bag, and go down by the elevator. Wait for the warden to climb down the stairs and go right. If the warden follows you, loop around to get the wheelbarrow and place it just right of the long left ladder. Otherwise if he goes to the bottom, wait a bit to climb up the stairs--he should head off right- -and then put the money in the barrow and drag it left. The next two money bags are tougher, and you want to get them while the wardens are still very slow. The other warden may become a factor soon as well and as they both act randomly there's no clear route through the game. Still what I like to do is to go down the ladder(if one warden is coming up them, grab the wheelbarrow and have it hit him on the head) and then jump down the stairs to the right. Get the one money bag and drop it, then go into the circle on top and after climbing back down above the lower right ladder, drop THAT money bag. This saves time in the long run from carrying the bags down. Also dropping the bag just left of center saves fractional time. If you've been expedient enough, you can run to the right to the second screen for a detour. Go down, jump over the gap, take the money bag, go to the right edge, tap left, and drop the bag, which should fall below. This takes a good deal of skill and just general knowledge about when you fall and when you won't, which can seem random at times. Once you get it right you can jump back across the gap and onto screen 1, although you may want to wait a bit until any wardens below are well to the right. You have more time than you think--1500 is probably necessary to get a money bag in the cart in the worst case. Moving the money bag up is the big problem here. First you may need to get by a warden. Climb up the lower ladder with a money bag and be prepared to drop it on his head--if at all possible wait to use the pickaxe, although if you must, move the money as far left as possible and try to pick up the pickaxe just as the warden is close, so you can brain him and run by and up the stairs with your bag. If you have no idea where the other warden is(one is probably on the bottom,) you can probably sneak to the top and dump the money in the wheelbarrow. You may also get trapped between two wardens at the top; in this case you may need to use the bomb as a safety valve and go right, down, and right. To get back down, you may wish to use the wheelbarrow to conk any warden climbing up, then circle around on the stairsteps and down to get the money bag. However here two wardens may come after you and you may have to drop the money bag several times. You may even have to drop it on both of them, which gets good points but brings up another problem-- once you get 10000 the wardens get faster. On the way back up you should be able to make it past a knocked out warden up the stairs to the wheelbarrow. You can either use the pick or drop the money on his head from a small height and then climb up. The transition to screen 2 may be tricky without the bomb. With it you just need to knock any warden coming up the ladder on the head with your wheelbarrow, bring the wheelbarrow forward and if a warden comes in from the right you can let go, retreat to the bomb, and leave it to explode over him. Screens 2 and 3 aren't in some hard and fast order, and sometimes it'll make sense to take out something in scene 3 or 4 first before getting the stuff on the bottom of scene 2. If the wardens are very far off to the left, try for 3/4. If they're off to the right, try for 2. Screen 2: You might as well get the two money bags in the upper left right away. The first can go right in the wheelbarrow after you leave the barrow right of the short ladder. The only trickery is if the bad guys follow you--you'll have to duck down and left and when both bad guys are on screen 1 you can double back right, up, and right. Put the money in the barrow and head to the right side of the screen. Release the wheelbarrow and go down and right at the first opportunity. The money below is much harder to get, but you'll want to get to it before you get to the easier stuff on screen 3, as having the wardens go as slowly as possible most beneficial here. The basic trick for screens 2-3 is to go down and right from where you left the wheelbarrow, wait for the warden(s) to head off to the right of the third screen, and circle back to screen 2 to do what you need to. It's important NOT to take the bag in the upper left of screen 3. That is most useful when time is running out and you can't carry a money bag of your own too far. In fact the first time in level 3 instead of waiting for wardens to go right you can go into the chamber to get the gun, which you won't need for a while--you can even get the money bag tucked in the lower left as the extra time you take there won't be wasted, as it should make wardens go further to the right. Then one trip will be to get the money at the very bottom, if you've followed this walkthrough. If not you'll need to drop the money bag to the bottom. I actually started off by grabbing the money bag and falling just to get to the later parts, and I still do it by accident. And in fact you'll first need to get the money bag to the right and bring it up before you can actually take a running jump over the gap, go to the right of the island, face left and drop the isolated money bag. This all requires time and it's very anxious with bad guys set to appear from the upper right without notice. If you can remember whether the bad guys are on the top or bottom then that helps too--both lumped together make it easier for you. The bottom bag is even harder and in fact you may need to circle all the way to the left, up, and right just after placing one money bag(you do have the time) to deposit this one, as opposed to waiting one screen right and doubling back(especially if bad guys are on the top and bottom.) If there is a bad guy coming down as you get the money you'll want to stand at the bottom, between the long ladder and the hole to the left. He'll run left to try to fall on you and you can circle right/up/left. You can also back up, use a bomb, and run past a bad guy, or even bring the pick in from the screen to the left, although this may be too complex and time consuming. Marginal luck is involved here but if you can get both bad guys on screen 4, then you can track back. If they follow you closely on the way up, run right and let go of the money bag. If one still follows you then you can move quickly to place the bomb at the edge of the gun chamber and the warden following may just miss you before going unconscious. Screen 3: You should find consistent shelter in the area I mentioned. The bag below the gunsmith shouldn't be a problem. However at some point you need to get a rather tough bag(a 2-part solution) on screen 4 and for that you will want to go left and wait on screen 2 for a bit. I'll present this hard bit first, as once you've got the controls and ideas down it describes what you want to look to do ASAP, but you may want to skip this next paragraph to get acquainted with the easier stuff. The sooner this tricky part's done the better, as very fast wardens will make it even tougher. Let the bad guys almost find where you are and run right. Fall down the slope and after three steps, jump. The timing here is sticky and at first you'll probably fall off or touch the edge and then fall. Timing is tricky here. At least although the wardens don't learn from their mistakes, you do--one thing that is tougher to learn is how to go left, drop the bag so it falls to the level with the mine cart bouncing back and forth, and then go right. At this point you'll need to have a good idea of where the mine cart is. You can go right and get on the handhold if bad guys are close, or you can wait for the mine cart to pass by, then go down, right, up the stairs on scene 4, left, jump left over the gap, and get and release the money bag on the ledge. It will fall down. Run left to get a start back right to be sure you bridge the gap. If bad guys are following you, take up the pick and run down as soon as they're past. Here you don't need to pick up any money, as you should have the gold bag in the UL of level 3 still available. But you'll need to judge where the cart is, and you can probably run a bit behind it and take the right stairs on scene 3 up, wait for it to pass, and go down. If the bad guys are too close behind you can get the pick right of the slide down and circle around R-U-L-D-R to get the money. I often wind up cutting it close here, but after this there's a lot of repetition. Given that you've dropped the bags on the ledges in screens 3 and 4 the rest is about walking or riding along the mine-shaft level and getting back up to the wheelbarrow on screen 2. For the scene 4 stuff you'll definitely have to use the mine cart--hold the joystick up near the stairs for the biggest jump--and you can probably take a trip back and forth if bad guys are too close to the left ladder on chasing you. In fact you'll probably get chased by them a lot, but the transitions between screens tend to give you a bit of a jump, enough to get back to the wheelbarrow. You shouldn't have to use the gun here but if the last trip is a close shave, there are worse things to do. Most of the time, though, you'll need to nail a warden or two on the head with it before going on your next piece of business. Wardens can't see you from the left in the hidden area, but they can from the right. You'll also want to keep track of how many bags you have left on the mine cart level. You don't want to move the wheelbarrow until they're all gone. Screen 4: Once all gold has been cleared from levels 2 and 3--and only two are left on screen 4, both well above the mine cart--take the wheelbarrow and move it right. You won't strictly need a big jump, but it's best to try to get the bad guys to go down(they should be after you take the mine cart) and hit them with the wheelbarrow as they climb. Then you can move the barrow one screen east, go down and right to screen 4, and get the money bag on the left there. It's a short walk back to the ladder. Next here you can goad the wardens up the ladder and knock them down with the wheelbarrow. You should bring it to the right next. The next task is to get the wheelbarrow past the elevator. With the bad guys knocked out this is easier. Stay at the top, and if you miss the elevator as it comes up, you may wish to switch between screens so that the wardens are running away from the elevator as it's coming up to you. You may have to use a bullet or two to get rid of them--here it's better to leave them far away than near. Run across the path and don't worry about the gold on the right--yet. Screen 5: This is the screen that seems the most chancy and forces you to waste the most time--at least as I see it with my strategies. I used to think this of all of them. Nevertheless there are a few things that can be done for the best shot at winning cleanly. Once you bring the wheelbarrow over, try to get on the crane. Move down two steps to the center platform and leave the wheelbarrow a square left of the edge. Now bring down the pickaxe if you have the time. Note here that you don't want to place the bag in the cart right away; the crane takes up time, and time is more important than points. Even if you lose out here, you at least want to get over to the blue bag, which is a nuisance to remove and won't give many points anyway. Riskier souls might try to place one yellow bag in, get the blue bag, place the second yellow bag, and drop the blue in right after, but I find myself barely getting through and suspect those who just want to see the bonus levels do too. So the next bag to put in is the one on screen 4. Here it's best to try to get the bad guys to come after you, sort of. First you really do want the pickaxe in place(just by the crane,) and in fact you can use it very nicely. First, you may want to go to the elevator on level 4 and pretend to wait. Let the wardens get in it going up, then go off to the right. They'll be able to follow you, but that's a good thing. Pick up and put down the pickaxe(they'll run to the other screen, but you don't want it to expire) until the crane's at the top. Then put the bag in the wheelbarrow and fend the bad guys off with the pickaxe. You might even start this a bit earlier but the point is to put a yellow bag in and then IMMEDIATELY attack the blue bag. Go right onto the crane and the bad guys should come running back after you, much too late. **NOTE: once you start after the blue bag, get it and HOLD ONTO IT. Even if it means you'll run out of time. Otherwise you won't have the time to get it later without losing another life. ** If you've managed to hold the bad guys at bay, with a little luck they DIDN'T fall down the shaft on level 4. That means they'll come right looking for you and instead of the bottom of the crane, which is a better place to wait for you, they'll come in in the middle. But then they'll get on the crane and go up, which is away from you, instead of either 1)waiting for you to come down or 2)going up on the crane from the bottom and right at you. In either case you have to get a bit lucky with a shootout then, which is nice and dramatic, but it will probably end in tears. So if you manage to get back and bury the blue bag, the next stop is the very bottom. You should be able to make it to the barrow in the center and back before the crane comes down. The final bag is in the lower right and if any wardens are waiting for you there, be sure to have turned left and then FIRE AWAY. I actually prefer going down quickly without the wheelbarrow and staying on the right side to give breathing space but with good timing you can face left, fire and get out. You'll want to keep firing once the stars disappear over the wardens if you leave the barrow at the bottom, or if you just go down there, don't be scared to use a bomb and also fire a shot--or even better you might want to go off left and see about THAT elevator. You can always peek back right and fire to discourage anyone over there--you should have the bullets. Most levels end with a shootout, a nice dramatic way to do things. However there is a catch; if you die with the final bag on you, there's no chance for the bonus scene. With it, you get something that is really intriguing when it's not relegated to triviality by a random factor and not as impossible as it first looks otherwise. 6-2. LEVEL 2 AND BEYOND This is a bit rough as I'm really not that GOOD at level 2--often I play Super Bagman just to get through the first level, and I feel very accomplished afterwards. Level 2 is the same as level 1 except you need to be aware of wardens firing shots. It shouldn't be too hard since they take longer to aim. Obviously there is more of a challenge to get stuff up to the top in the first scene, and there's no "gimme" to start out. Still with infinite bullets against shoot-to-kill guards you can afford to be reckless in some different ways. The first one is a real doozy. You can lead the warden over to the right ladder on the bottom(see if you can drop the money bags above it down the shaft first,) drop the bag that was between the ladders on him, run left and fire right at the ladder. If it looks like you can't make it up then take the escalator and then move the wheelbarrow to the left. You'll have to repeat this later, and don't be afraid to fire away at the top, either. On one of the trips over you may want to get the bag near the jail. Drop it down the ladder and then carry it left to screen 1 where you can drop it down the right ladder on screen 1 again. During all this the bad guys will probably be off to the right--you can stand around a bit to encourage them that way, but you may need to fire a shot before you climb the ladder. You'll need the same sort of procedure for the bag below it and it'll be tough to drop the bag on the island to the left side this time in the middle of a run. You'll want to carry everything up and to the left, and a pickaxe works well for scaring bad guys away just long enough. The fourth scene also contains a challenge in the form of another bag. Once you've pushed the wheelbarrow to the far right, you can stand at the very edge with a pickaxe facing left, drop the pickaxe when the elevator is near, run across to get the bag, get back to the elevator quickly, and exit right on the next stop. Level 3 is even nastier. You have to reload your gun after six bullets. Still so few people will get here that I feel justified in not writing a walkthrough for this other than to say "get over to the gun shop every so often for new bullets. Watch your supply and try to use the edge of the screen to avoid the violent conflicts." 6-3. BONUS SCENE In the bonus scene, there is a big key that you must carry to your friend in jail, where you push the ACTION button to unlock the jail, and you carry him off the screen. You then get an extra life for your efforts. Given that the big key acts like a money bag in weighing you down, and you'll probably have 60000 points at the start of the first bonus level, it seems easy for bad guys to catch up. UNLESS...YOU...HAVE...THE...GUN! The key appears randomly on one of the first three screens, and you have 4000 bonus points(in time) to get there. When it's far away, you need to be precise. Note that if you're caught or run out of time with the key, you lose a life and the next level starts. So if you're somewhat close to rescuing your friend, it may be worth it to die and pick up the key again and bring it around the rest of the way as you'll get that life back. This all seems a bit arbitrary and the path isn't immediately obvious, but after a few tries you should have this down. Now it's entirely possible that they key will appear on the first screen. In that case, walk up the right ladder, R/D/R/U/L and you're done. Even if the key appears on the top, you can run up, drop the key down the long ladder, and run around a bunch. In fact the key(rim shot) thing to remember is that as you cannot jump with the key, the main task is to get the key to the bottom of screen 1, below the right ladder, and if you've got 1000 time you should be able to make it to your friend's cell. If a key is on the top of the second screen, drop it down the long ladder, go inside for the gun(pushing the bad guys to the right,) and drop the key to the right down the short stairs once you return. Get the key and start going left. Someone's bound to come in from the right. Shoot him immediately and keep going. Shoot him again just before you get to the edge. This should give the time to climb up the stairs on scene 1 and off to the right. If a key is on the third screen, it is a bit tougher. As before you'll want to hide out in the corner and get the gun. If the key is on the mine cart's level, take it left and drop it down. If it's on the top you may want to wait for bad guys to go way right, take the key and push it left, shooting right. Drop the key down the long ladder in level 2. Anywhere else and you may want to drop the key down screen 3's long ladder and then drag it left as you fire right to get rid of followers. In any case it's a real breakout with lots of firepower, and it's a pity that even people who solve the first level may not get to see much of what it's about. 6-4. WHAT IF I LOSE A LIFE? REAL robbers are fearless of that sort of thing, and they only get ONE! So suck it up. Err...seriously...losing a life is very nasty in Super Bagman, as in the original, because it interrupts the flow of the game AND kicks you back to the left part of screen 1. If you're in the right part of screen 5, this makes it very hard indeed to get back and do anything in time. If you lose a life on the first screen, proceed as normal. Dig the gold out from the right corner. If you lose one on the second scene, you may want to wait for a bad guy to come from the right, brain him, and bring the gold chest on the bottom up to the wheelbarrow--it's a relative freebie. On the third scene, push up immediately, take the escalator, run right, fall down the diagonal shaft and jump over the next one. Then go R-U-R to screen 3. You can then pick bags off the bottom. Losing after clearing screen 4 is another matter. Again take the escalator and the first diagonal shaft. You'll probably need the gun, so pop in for it before going back up and down the slope. Right, up(fake past a guard if necessary) and right should get you to the elevator. Shoot at anyone appearing behind you, and you'll have 1000-1500 units of time to place the next bag in. The exception to this is if you only have the DR bag in level 5 to go. In that case just go DR after you get the gun--watch out for the cart-- and fire a gun at anyone trailing behind. Then make your stand by the crane, go up the crane with the money bag, and stay on the left so you can walk out and solve the level. End of FAQ proper ================================ 7. VERSIONS/CREDITS 1.0.0 Submitted to GameFAQs 4/22/2003 with basic level info, walkthrough for the 1st level(which should satisfy most people,) the bonus level, rants about how hard it was, and funny Franglais. 1.1.0 Submitted to GameFAQs 4/25/2003 with item detailing Thanks to MAME for letting me get infinite lives until I figured out strategies. Thanks to classicgaming.com for featuring this and Bagman as "Game of the Week." I think I saw this game in arcades once and always wanted to try. The usual GameFAQs crew. They know who they are, and I don't know where that cut-and-paste piece naming them is.