American Dream(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough version 1.0.1 copyright 2007-2008 by Andrew Schultz schultz.andrew@sbcglobal.net Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if you'd like to post it on your site. ================================ OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION 2. CONTROLS 3. THE MACHINES 4. WALKTHROUGH 4-1. THE BRONX 5. CHEATS 6. VERSIONS 7. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION American Dream looks like it combines two cool concepts: gambling and an RPG. Only problem is, it combines them lamely. You have a few items to stumble on, then you basically have to find a hot machine where the odds are tilted in your favor. Then you just have to wait things out. It will take a little while. A long while, actually. The object is to control your blobby Pachio character so he parlays $100 into $100000000. On the way he will fight slot machines and gamblers. Once you get enough money, Pachio can go to the next island over, where the stakes are higher and you need more money to get to the NEXT island. Sometimes you find money on the ground, and while the slot machine encounters are amusing, there are a lot of random incidents like getting mugged and the weird meetup with Al Capone, who I thought was 1000 miles west, before the end. The game's a mishmosh. But it showed me how addictive slot machines could be. Heck, I could've cheated my way past them and sat there playing on them for a bit. I just can't see how people would be expected to play for as long as the need to make $100000000 would take, unless you can gamble a lot more in the VIP room. 2. CONTROLS Arrows move Pachio around. When faced with an enemy you have a pretty simple menu, and when you go into a casino you need to push button A to drop a coin into the machine, then pull down. In the casino, you generally have four rooms. You need to go to a bank for tokens. There, you can hit left and down once you buy the tokens, so you can buy as much as possible. There's no sense buying less, as when you move to a new room, you re-change things back. However, to exit the casino, you must "payout." Each casino has several floors, and as you go forward in the casino, the minimum bet increases. You can cycle all the way around, or go back right away for the maximum bet immediately. 3. THE MACHINES First of all, if you want to muddle with save states, note they affect what goes on in outside combats--how long you wait affects the random seed. Indoors, you can a lot, too, except if you start a Pachi Slot machine going. It looks like it is spinning around, but it's predetermined where it will stop. Pot o Gold is probably the best machine, as it pays 1000 gold for 3 7's, which appear to be a 1/343 occurrence. That is a great payout, and getting a bunch of cherries along the way will probably sustain you til you get the big cash-in. If it doesn't work, reload and try again. You get a cute cut scene if you get all 7's. Most machines give you 2 coins for 2 cherries and 4-5 for 2. This usually helps keep you afloat until something good comes along. If you pay 3 coins, then there is a 3*2/7*6/7 + 6*1/7*1/7*6/7 expected value back, assuming each of 7 possibilities shows up equal, and not including other wins, which in the case of Pot of Gold would be 3*(10/343+15/343+20/343+30/343) Summing all these, this means that you will lose about half your money on each try, unless you hit the big 7-7-7, which gets 1000, which is usually enough to advance, and which takes the 50% payback to 300% or so. However, I think the game is nice enough to allow you a bit better than 50% payback before you hit it big. In practical terms this means that if you have enough money for 150 tokens, you can expect to win pretty easily. With emulator save states, it's even easier. The Lucky 7 machine, the one with the watermelon, is probably just break even. I seem to get winners more consistently there than with any other machine, though I don't break the bank as with the Pot o Gold. Of course, it is best to drop in as many tokens as you can at the highest stakes machine. That way, if you get lucky, you can save the password, or the emulator save state, if you get on a hot streak. Lucky 7: 2 for cherry, 4 for 2 cherries, 10 for 3 oranges, 15 for 3 plums, 20 for 3 watermelons, 30 for 3 bells, 100 for 3 7's. The "7*" is a wild card which comes up a lot and really helps. The Double Cocktails machine is also good for some quick wins. These are the machines you want to seek out--get quick big wins, save and try again. Each area has a different set of random encounters and values at casinos. Brooklyn: 1-5-10-25 in 1 casino, 1-5-25-50 in the other, 10-25-50 random encounters Queens: 5-25-50-100, 50-100-250 random encounters The Bronx: 10-25-50-100-250, 250-500-1000-2500 random encounters Manhattan: 50-100-250-500, 500-5000(?) random encounters New Jersey: 100-250-500-1000, 1000-2500-5000-10000 random encounters 4. WALKTHROUGH Basically, this game is about making lots of money, getting to the next level, and making even more money at the next level. Getting through the game is not hard though the "combats" (read: sessions pulling a casino machine arm) can get repetitive. Basically, here is the progression, with money needed to pass: 10k 100k 1 mil 5 mil 100 mil Brooklyn -> Queens -> Bronx -> Manhattan -> New Jersey The amount you need is always much more than the toll, which is: 5000 to Queens, 20000 to Bronx, 30/50k to Manhattan(without/with the tour, the 2nd being more expensive and longer) and 70k to subway to New Jersey. This ensures you won't be wiped out at the very start. Thankfully, the amount of money you can gamble in each area gets much higher. So you can just try to smash and grab with a lucky spin on a gambling machine, and that will eventually work. One thing I am not sure about is how to retreat from the Bronx to Queens. If there is no way to do so, then you may get stuck on Manhattan a bit without the lighter and with the pistol--you then need to get arrested by the police, get mugged, and then take the subway to New Jersey. The game also gets fuzzy if you have, say, $10 left in Manhattan. You aren't quite broke, but you can't spend that amount, which is a fraction of a chip. 4-1. BROOKLYN You start in Brooklyn. Head east til you see something blue and white to the southeast, behind some trees. That is a mailbox. Touch it to get the pass. Now you can get into casinos. Go back NW and turn N when the lake is to your east. When you see the Rainbow Bridge above, go west. Go SW along the coast, between the sea and the building, and on the west edge, you will find a card. That will let you into the VIP rooms. VIP rooms let you bet more, and because there are slot machines slightly in your favor, this will be good in the long run. You can also go the emulator-reload route, if you want. I find that Pot O Gold and the Double Cocktail games work the best. I'll explain the odds later. Also, always bet the maximum you can. That speeds things up--and if you go broke, you can always reload. That's one advantage you don't have in real life gambling. Along the way you may encounter some enemies. They are not a big deal, as you randomly win or lose against them. You have a break-even chance of defeating them. They should not be frequent enough to cause you a real problem. There is a square where you can continually fight enemies, but it is not worth it. This square is just east of the bridge. You may also find lots of money on the ground, which is even dumber than being a blob with high top sneakers, but hey, take what you can get. Wandering around a bit will probably get you close to $200. Now with the pass, go east and enter the casino. You'll probably want to start with the $5 chips. Not enough to lose it all right away, but enough to make a bit of a profit. If you like you can go with the $25, especially if you have a saved state, then jump to the $50 after you win first. Once you get to about $1000 there is little or no risk you will drop back down to being broke. Still, I'd save after every big win, whether with a password or emulator save state. For $25 games, you need 400 tokens to get to Queens. For $50 games, you need 200 tokens to get to Queens. Use the rainbow bridge to get to Queens. It is NW of your casino. 4-2. QUEENS The casino nearby where you start is a ghost casino. Basically you need to choose the route that gets you to the randomly appearing exit, or the skull(where you get to try again,) or you will lose money. If you hit a pile of dollar bills, you lose $100. There is a 2/3 chance that will eventually happen. The casino to the right of that is a crooked casino. You will get rolled if you get there. And you do literally roll back to the Bronx. This is not all bad. If you forgot the VIP card, it is worth going back to get it. You don't lose any money, except for the $5000 you need to pay to get back to Queens. So you probably just want to go north to the only casino in Queens. You can move back to the $100 room, then move all the way right and go up to get to the VIP room. This casino has Pot o Gold, Bonus Slot, Pachi Slot, Jack Pot. You need to get 200 tokens to advance. I generally go with the Pot o Gold, and a few lucky shots should get me the 200 tokens I need to advance. In fact, with the Pot o Gold a lucky 7-7-7 will get you 500000 gold, which puts you halfway through the Bronx. You may wish to stay here to get the full $1000000. Then you can pretty much skip the Bronx. Pay the $20000 to get to the Bronx, but go behind the second bridge on the little island to get the lighter before continuing. 4-3. THE BRONX You start out right by the hospital. That is where you go if you get mugged in Manhattan. There's a note SE of the casino in the north, on the other side of the first. The east casino is similar to Queens. The $100 room has Pachi Slot, Jack Pot, Double Cocktail, and no VIP room. It's not worth it. So go to the north casino, but detour to go N past the hospital and E between the buildings and the forest, for the pistol. This may cause you some small financial problems later, but it is better than getting booted back here. The pistol shows up again if police confiscate it in Manhattan and you then get robbed. The north casino has a $250 room with Pachi Slot, Bonus Slot, Jackpot, Pot o Gold, and Pachi Slot. It also has a VIP room. That is $500. It has Double Cocktail, Bonus Slot, Pot o Gold, and Pachi Slot. On the lower west coast, you have two choices. The harbor goes to Manhattan-- the tour costs $20000 more and doesn't tell you anything, though it does show you the Statue of Liberty and where casinos might be. So save the money if you want to visit Manhattan. You can actually skip to New Jersey right away, though you may risk a few more "game overs" before things actually work, versus if you go through Manhattan. However, this is less inconvenient than navigating Manhattan. Take the "S" at the very south of the west coast. 4-4. MANHATTAN The Manhattan area is interesting and a sign of what the game could've been if they hadn't settled back on silly randomized gambling that slightly favors you. For instance, east of the building you see to start, there is a mugger. If you have your pistol, he is no problem. But the mugging scene is rather cute even if it kicks you back to the Bronx where you will need to get the pistol and return to Manhattan. The $10000 doctor fee is nothing. The police may catch you with a gun, too. If they do, they confiscate it, but that makes it easier to go down the coast. You have to pay bail, but oh well. There are other places where you can get trapped without a gun--the forests here. Avoid them. There's also an air force base directly south that is useless. Head SE down the coast, then get the cigar before going west to the casino. I'm not sure what the cigar is good for, but get it anyway. If you have the lighter and want to have some fun, look at the cannon and then you can kick yourself to New Jersey. This is useful if police shut down gambling in the area, as they do. The casino on the south shore does, however, have a VIP lounge. It costs $5000 per token, so here's where you want to stay. The games are Double Cocktail, Jack Pot, Pot o Gold, Pachi Slot and Bonus Slot. 4-5. NEW JERSEY First, the basic stuff. Just NW of the harbor, or S of the subway(you can't return via either) you will find a ghost casino. Don't go through it. You'll lose $10000. When you see three buildings, go west and back up. Look! There's Al Capone's! If you have 100 million, enter, play him in Rock Paper Scissors, and win. Win again. Game over. I haven't managed to lose to him yet, and I tried a few times. There may be a bunch of draws, which is stupid, but you'll get there eventually. So out of interest, what else is there to do in New Jersey? (Oh STOP laughing!)The casino by there is lousy--10, 100, 500, 1000. You need big money now. The casino to the west along the coast isn't much either--50, 100, 250, 500. If you take the one in the NW corner, same deal. But wait! If you push NW to the NW corner, then go back east--a VIP lounge! $100000 per token! A Pot o Gold machine, first thing! But first, save and get a password. Then, just keep trying to get lucky(oh STOP again! This is Jersey, not Vegas!) There's also a casino if you go east and north at the mountain fork, but it only offers $50000. It's worthwhile to take the longer route. Items: Cigar(SE coast of Manhattan, use unknown, won without it) Lighter(uses cannons on S Manhattan, free trip to Jersey) Pistol(avoids muggers taking your money) Card(Lets you into VIP) Pass(lets you in casinos) There are also three different types of notes in the game. They are not critical to the game--just advertisements. The first is in NE Brooklyn, by the mountains. "TRY GAME PARTY! GREAT FOR CROWDS!" (It is also found SW of the N casino in the Bronx.) Another is NE of the helipad in Manhattan. TRY PACHINKO TIME FOR GAMEBOY! A third note is in the Bronx, SE of the N casino. TRY I LOVE SOFTBALL TODAY! 5. CHEATS There are two ways to cheat, with passwords and with save states/memory. Passwords below. You have the VIP card in the first two and all items in the second three. Queens, $5k: AFFF FGAF FKFG AFFF FGAF FFFG AFFG GGAF IFGF FFFA Bronx, $80k: AIII INAI QIIN AIII INAI IIIN AIIJ JNAI NINI IIIA Manhattan, $1 million: AOOO OJAX VOOJ AOOO OJAO OOOJ AOOP PKBP UOJO OOOA New Jersey, $5 million: AFFF FNFF FFFN AFFF FNAF FFFN AFFG GOBG OFNF FFFA New Jersey, $100 million: BBBB CJBB BBBJ BBBB BJBB BBBJ BBBC CKCC KBJB BBBB You don't actually need any of the items mentioned in the walkthrough to get this. Each one of these will get you to the next area. With adjusting memory, the dollar amounts are in the bytes from 0x3d8 to 0x3e0. 0x3e0 is the ones, plus 0x30, 0x3df is the tens plus 0x30, etc. For save states, you may have to tack on something to the offsets where things are. For FCEUXD, it is 0x54. You can also pick up items by adjusting the right areas in memory. 50 = pass 51 = card 52 = pistol 53 = lighter 54 = cigar Set any of these values to 01. End of FAQ Proper ================================ 6. VERSIONS 0.7.0: sent to GameFAQs 3/26/2007, mostly done but with questions about the best random machine. 1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 2/10/2008, complete 1.0.1: sent to GameFAQs 2/28/2008, with new codes 7. CREDITS Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of mine. Thanks to the NES Completion Project folks for keeping it going. Thanks to romhacking.net for having the translation available and Pale Dim for the original translation--and warning that I should not play this game, which I did not heed.