Home Alone FAQ Version 1.1 for the Sega Genesis (A.K.A. Mega-Drive.) by: Kevin T. Raffa E-Mail: KTRaffa84@aol.com AIM: KTRaffa84 ICQ: KTRaffa84 Table of Contents: I. Introduction II. Storyline/Plot III. Main Menu/Basic Controls IV. Basics of Game Playing V. The Houses VI. The Traps VII. The Weapons VIII. Strategies IX. Special Thanks/Closing Notes X. Disclaimer Section I: Introduction This is my, Kevin T. Raffa's FAQ for Home Alone on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive systems. This FAQ is designed to fully appreciate this wonderful and creative game. If you have comments, questions, or if there are errors in this FAQ, please E-Mail me with your query to KTRaffa84@aol.com. Please place Home Alone FAQ in the subject line. If you have AOL Instant Messenger, message me at KTRaffa84. Finally, if you have ICQ, my number is 57681991. If you do not have AOL Instant Messenger or ICQ, they can be found at www.aol.com and www.icq.com respectively. Section II: Storyline/Plot Home Alone is based on the movie of the same name. You take the part of Kevin, the child who was accidently left home, instead of vacationing. The plot follows that of the movie for the most part, in that robbers are ransacking homes, and it's your job to set traps and create weapons to stop the criminals while you wait for the police to arrive. While you wait, you rack up points based on the traps you set, the weapons you create, and how well you prevent the crooks in their quest to rob all the houses in the neighborhood. III: Main Menu/Basic Controls Main Menu: The main menu of this game is fairly simple, as they have made the options prompt appear when you begin the game. Upon starting, you see the following options: High Score: This is set at zero the first time you play the game. If you beat it and play again, the high score will become that of the score you received when you beat the game. This is similar to most video games. Difficulty: Either Normal or Expert. On Normal difficulty, you have 20 minutes to hold off the crooks before the cops arrive. On Expert setting, you have 40 minutes, along with additional traps to set and weapons to build. (See Section VI for traps and Section VII for weapons.) Controller: Upon beginning, the settings of the controller buttons will be as follows: A: tire, B: fire, C: jump. These, of course, can be altered to your preference. Music: From here, you can listen to the various musical score of the game. Sound: From here, you can listen to the various and whimsical sound effects of the game. Exit: Selecting this exits the option menu and brings you straight to the game. Controls: (As predetermined upon start of game.) Start has the same function both indoors and out. This will bring you to the weapons prompt screen. This will also pause the game. (For more information about the weapons screen, check Section VII.) Outside: All buttons have the same function outside. They charge up your sled, allowing you to travel faster. In a house: A: Tire B: Fire C: Jump Tires are collected throughout the game. They are used to jump upon to access higher portions of a house that cannot be reached by a normal jump. The fire button is used to shoot off whatever weapon you are currently equipped with. You begin the game with a BB Gun. (For more weapons, please check Section VII.) Jump is exactly what it states. Your character jumps. Section IV: Basics of Game Playing Upon starting the game, you will see your character in the center of the screen. In the upper left hand corner exists important information. They are: Score: This is your score. By winning houses and collecting and building weapons, your score goes up. ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival. This is how much time you have left to fight the crooks before the police arrive. Houses Left: This is the amount of houses that have not been completely robbed by the crooks. Tires: This is the amount of tires you currently possess. In the upper right hand portion of the screen exists the most important of information. Right now, it says Charge. That is the amount of juice left in your sled. (For some reason, Kevin's sled is electrified and can achieve speeds that of a car.) Upon entering a house, this will change to Ammo. That will represent the amount of ammo left in the currently equipped weapon. Underneath that will exist Loot. This is the amount of loot stolen by the crooks in this house. As of now, this will be empty. If the crooks are in the same house as you, a third bar will exist, Pain. The pain bar will go up as you inflict pain upon the crooks. When the Pain bar reaches full, the crooks will drop all their loot and leave the house. Upon entering a house for the first time (usually before the crooks arrive there,) you will access that house's blueprints. Here, you set up the traps for the house. The traps are located on the left. Move the hand to the trap you desire, press any button, move right and select the location you wish to place the trap. (More information about traps, such as descriptions and locations to where traps can be set can be found in Section VI.) Pressing Start in the blueprint screen will make you enter the house. Leave the house and travel to the others to set traps in those houses too. To win the house, you must max out the Pain bar. This is accomplished through traps and weapons. Once you max out the Pain bar, you have won the house. You will be sent to a new screen, where points are tallied, and a whimsical scene is shown, based on the last weapon you used on the crooks. You score more points for the traps used in the house and the amount of weapons used. Section V: The Houses In his game, there are five houses for you to save. Upon starting the game, you will see the first house, the Mansion. West of that exists the Ultra Modern House. East of the Mansion is the Colonial House. Two other house exist, a bit to the south. The Old House in the west, and the Country House in the east. Mansion: This is intended to be Kevin's house in the game, and it serves its purpose just fine. The Mansion has three floors, and is inhabited by a spider that crawls on the ceiling. The spider will reach down now and again, and if touched, the character, whether crook or Kevin, will fall to the ground in a faint. After a few seconds, the character to come to and continue about his business. Ultra Modern House: Like the Mansion, this too has three floors. The house has a security system of its own, a robot with electrocuting powers. It will go up and down the floors, arms outstretched, electrocuting whoever is in its path, whether it be crook or Kevin. Colonial House: This house is the only house will five floors. It can be the hardest house of them all, but it's not, as the loot is spread out over the house. The house is haunted by an old ghost. He will appear out of the walls and shoot electric bolts from his hands. Whoever is in the way of these bolts will be shocked. Old House: This house has three floors. The blueprint may allude you to think four, but the top floor cannot be reached. This house is the only one not possessed or guarded. This house however, is old, and ridden with weak floorboards. When you jump on one of these weak spots, the floor will give, and you'll drop a floor. As such, these weak points exist only on the second and main floors. Country House: This house, unlike the others, has four floors. The guardian of this house happens to be a cat. The cat can be found on any floor, and it is always found sleeping. Jumping on the cat or touching it wakes it up and smothers you. Pressing the control buttons will shake the cat off you. Section VI: The Traps. As aforementioned, traps can only be accessed and placed at the blueprint screen of a house. They exist on the left hand side of the screen, and once placed are placed for good. The traps are: Torch: can only be placed in door jams. Once used by the crook, it disappears and cannot be used again. Tacks: (**Only exists in Expert mode**) placed on floor sections of the house, these tacks can be used twice times before disappearing. Be careful, as even you can step on the tacks. Ice: like tacks, these are placed on the floor sections. These also can be used three times before disappearing, and you can also slip on the ice. Grease: (**Only exists in Expert mode**) like tacks and ice, grease can be triggered three times before it disappears. Yes, you can slip on the grease too. Tar: although not damaging, tar, in my humble opinion, is the best trap in the game. It can be used an infinite amount of times, and yes, you can get stuck in the tar. Tar only slows a crook down, giving you more time to escape or shoot him with a weapon. Toys: a simple trap, Kevin's toys serve as means to hurt a crook. They can be triggered once before they disappear, and like other ground traps, you too can trigger them. Marbles: another simple trap that the crooks slip on. They are down for a short amount of time, so be forewarned. These can be triggered three times before disappearing, whether from you or from the crooks. Section VII: The Weapons As you play the game, you collect various items used to build weapons. These items are found in snowmen outside, or on shelves in the houses. Pressing Start at any time accesses the weapons prompt. On the left exist all the weapon parts you have collected. An arrow is above all of the parts, and there is one below the parts. The arrows will cycle through all the parts you've collected. In the center, Kevin demonstrates whatever weapon he is currently equipped with. Above Kevin's demo exists the name of the weapon he is currently equipped with. To the left and right of the name are arrows, used to cycle through all the weapons you have built. On the bottom exists the three parts of the weapon construction. In order, they are Platform, Operator, and Ammo. I will explain these shortly. To the right of the weapon construction are a wrench and a hammer. The wrench will put a weapon together, the hammer will take one apart. In Normal difficulty, weapons will be pre-made. That is, when you collect enough items that satisfy the requirements for a weapon, press Start, and the game will have pre-made a weapon for you. Click the wrench to build the weapon. The Platform is what the weapon is primarily made of, or what holds it together. These include a crossbow, a can, a blow dryer, an ice cream scoop, and in expert mode, a camera, and a cd player. The Operator is what is used in conjunction with the Platform, whether to hold the Ammo, or to use as a slingshot. These include rubber bands, balloons, and wire. Ammo is the most important of the three, as once you run out, you'll need to find more, and unlike the Platform and Operator, Ammo is usually the hardest to find. Here are all the weapons that can be made in this game, listed in order of Platform, Operator, and Ammo. Rifle Weapons: Rifle Weapons are fast, use low ammo, but inflict little pain. Probably the best overall. They shoot in a straight line, making them the best to use for beginners. Crossbow + Balloons + Glue = Glue Rifle Crossbow + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Rifle Crossbow + Wire + Coals = Hot Coal Rifle Mortar Weapons: These are hard to get used to. They fire in a great arc, but can be useful. I tend to stay away from mortar weapons unless it is early in the game, or I'm up for a challenge. Can + Rubber Bands + Snowball = Snowball Mortar Can + Rubber Bands + Super Ball = Super Ball Mortar Can + Balloons + Glue = Glue Mortar Can + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Mortar Can + Wire + Coals = Hot Coal Mortar Bazooka Weapons: Slower than Rifle Weapons, the Bazooka Weapons pack more of a punch. They take up more ammo, but are very worthwhile. They too, shoot in a straight line. Blow Dryer + Balloons + Snowball = Snowball Bazooka Blow Dryer + Balloons + Glue = Glue Bazooka Blow Dryer + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Bazooka Launcher Weapons: Like the Mortar Weapons, these fire in an arc. The arc is not as large as a Mortar Weapon, which makes it easier to aim and use. Scoop + Rubber Bands + Snowball = Snowball Launcher Scoop + Rubber Bands + Super Ball = Super Ball Launcher Scoop + Balloons + Glue = Glue Launcher Scoop + Balloons + Pepper = Pepper Launcher Scoop + Wire + Coals = Hot Coal Launcher Expert Only Weapons: Besides the aforementioned weapons, some weapons exist only in expert mode. They are: CD Player + Wire + Battery = Sonic Wave Gun Camera + Wire + Flashbulb = Flashbulb Shotgun Can + Wire + Magnet = Electrical Grenade Crossbow + Rubber Bands + Rope = Rope Rifle Can + Rubber Bands + Rope = Rope Mortar Scoop + Rubber Bands + Rope = Rope Launcher Section VIII: Strategies Here I will detail some strategies in a somewhat logical order. - If you're playing this game for the first time, start on Normal difficulty. You'll understand the game's mechanics and what weapons you favor, etc. - It takes one minute for the crooks to enter the neighborhood. In that one minute you have free, visit every house, place traps in the houses, and quickly move to the next house. Do the same there and continue along. - The crooks will enter the neighborhood from the south road all the way on the right. Unless you lose a house, they will always enter from here after you win a house. - In the house, you can run or jump into the crooks. If this happens, you will be placed on a hook. There is a hook on every floor of every house, so you won't leave the floor. To get off the hook, press the control buttons rapidly. - Mix weapons up. Ammo can last a while, so change the weapon around a bit. Make a Snowball Bazooka. Then, disassemble it and make a Snowball Mortar. If you win a house, you get 100 points for every weapon you used in that house, and changing the weapon around a bit constitutes a new weapon. - For fun, you can go at max speed on the sled, and ram into a fire hydrant to net 50 points. Section IX: Special Thanks/Closing Notes In closing, I'd like to thank my parents for buying me the original Sega Genesis, way back in the early '90s. Thanks to my sister for selling me Sega Genesis 2 when the original one broke. Thanks to Toys 'R' Us for stocking the new Sega Genesis 3, so I could re-live the older games I used to love. Many thanks to CJayC for creating GameFAQS so I could put this walkthrough online. Section X: Disclaimer This walkthrough, authored by Kevin T. Raffa, is copyright 2000 under United States law. It should only be found on www.gamefaqs.com and nowhere else. If you found this FAQ on another site, please contact me immediately, as they have violated United States law. This FAQ is not to be re-distributed in any way, shape, or form, whether electronically, or in a magazine of some sort. Thanks, and enjoy this wonderful game.