Minna no Tabou no Nakayoshi Daisakusen(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough
aka Tabo's Tactics
Version 1.0.0 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.

Thanks to the romhacking.net folks and the original translators of this nice 
game.

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

            OUTLINE

  1. INTRODUCTION

  2. CONTROLS

  3. CARD GAME

    3-1. STRATEGIES

    3-2. WALKTHROUGH

  4. CUBE GAME

    4-1. STRATEGIES

    4-2. WALKTHROUGH

  5. CHEATS

  6. VERSIONS

  7. CREDITS

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

  1. INTRODUCTION

Tabo's Tactics is two games in one: the relatively simple card game, which is 
concentration with enemies chasing you around, and a more esoteric one where 
you kick squares around. Being a Sanrio(think: Hello Kitty) game, you'd 
expect it to appeal to kids, and the first of two definitely does. Each one 
has 25 levels and passwords for each level. So you don't have to solve a 
bunch at once.

Concentration is on a 5x4 board with four tunnels that flip around randomly. 
There may be posts to block intersections between the cards, and this may 
trap enemies for the moment. When you match two cards, they disappear, and 
there is one wild card that matches another card with no apparent twin. You 
have power-ups as well: 1ups, revealers, invincibility, and slowing and 
freezing enemies.

The cube game has a 5x5 grid of squares with possible obstacles between or 
around them. You can kick a square in any direction. If you do, it moves a 
square ahead and pushes the next square 1 forward. The one on the edge comes 
back to you.

x x x x x
x x x x x
a b c 1<x

So in the above example abc1 goes to bc1a. Now if you fill in a row, column 
or long diagonal, with all the same blocks, they turn into tulips on top and 
may turn into ghosts underneath. Ghosts cost a life if you kick them, but 
there may be no way not to if you play wrong.

At first blush it seems you have to deal with ghosts, which can be random 
and, at the later levels, always appear. But once I worked through the later 
levels, I realized I could apply those strategies to the early ones, flipping 
a pair of blocks to start a chain reaction to clear the whole board.

In each level and game, the number of respective squares does not change from 
game to game, but their positions do. This makes for replayability, but it 
makes for some potential confusion in the FAQ. It may be more convenient for 
you to, say, make a row of frogs and not a column. You can either turn the 
instructions 90 degrees or take the extra time. As with building the chain 
reactions in the first place, I recommend doing as I do. You may have/want to 
mirror actions, but that is less tricky.

Overall Tabo's Tactics has enough for a breezy playthrough or a more serious 
challenge. As I was able to retry the earlier levels with what I'd learned on 
the later ones, I'm impressed with how the game is constructed. It might be 
too tough for kids to solve in one go, but it's fun and makes you think.

One more word: there is a translation at romhacking.net. I did not need the 
patch to view the ending on fceu. But if you use it, I recommend the ninja 
app--and backing the rom up beforehand.  You might also find the rom tough to 
look for. But I gave you the Japanese name above. Creative googling.

  2. CONTROLS

Your guy moves cards or cubes by kicking them. He must be right up against 
them. He can move diagonally, but that cuts his speed in half, making that 
useless. You can kick several times in a row if need be. If you go through a 
tunnel in the card game and hold the control down, you'll keep going the way 
you exited--ie enter the UL and exit the UR going down and you'll continue 
that way while holding up.

Points are straightforward--1000 per time unit remaining(flashing clock = < 
1/2 unit, 10 in cube game, 4 in cardgame), 100-500 for each concentration 
match. 100-500*(# in chain reaction) for the cube game, which is very 
generous and tends to eliminate single blocks first for maximum bonus. Yes, 
if you have something like

xxxxx
xxxx.
xxxx,
xxxx^
^%!xx

That's 6 extras to tack on. The number of items in the current reaction does 
not matter. Extra man at 50000--you start with 5.

Squares under tulips are kicked around just as visible ones, annd tulips act 
as wild cards.

As for enemies, frozen ones can kill you, and power up music does not warn 
you it is ending.

  3. CARD GAME

    3-1. STRATEGIES

Some of the levels are straightforward enough that pretty obvious general 
advice should be all you need, so I left them blank. The pink guys move 
randomly but the blue match up horizontally or vertically then run at you and 
are thus more dangerous.

--avoid dead ends
--use the doors to sucker blues to you before moving, but be sure you know 
the way out and no pinks are by the other doors
--in general, move quickly through the first 8. The odds for a match are very 
good. 17/19 * 15/18 * 13/17 * 9/15 * 7/14 * 5/13 = the chance it won't < 10%. 
And that's factoring the wildcard match as no match. So if you move down the 
side or across the top, you'll find a match.
--see if enemies are trapped and try to open all squares until they are. That 
allows space to run away.
--use your invincibility at the start to run past ghosts if you feel trapped
--block a blue ghost with an unflipped card, or keep 1 or 3 paces diagonal 
from a blue ghost in each direction to run by it. You're faster than they, 
but they can catch you. However if you're good you can move so they are not 
able to move down. The secret is to move when they would be on a halfsquare(a 
card being 2 squares) as their movement is confined to specific grid-roads. 
So if you are 2 away, they may be able to run at you, but if they are just 
diagonal from you, you can see which way they run at you and run past.
--no penalty for opening something again(besides time lost) and no bonus for 
a perfect game, so flip with abandon. Remember the easiest. I found the cat, 
tiger and horse hard to differentiate, so I avoided remembering them. Pick 3 
to remember(say 3 in the UL) and look for them, and if any recent/close match 
pops up, go after that. More likely than not, 2 adjacents will match.

Anyway, this is pretty fun, being Concentration for the impatient where you 
get a chnce to peek under the deck.

    3-2. WALKTHROUGH

Level 1: bird chick chick bird

1<>4, 2<>3
1 pink guy

  1     2
xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx
  3     4

Level 2: squid chick chick fish

1<>3, 2<>4
2 pink guys

  1     2
xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx
  *     *
xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx
     *
xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx
  3     4

Level 3: bird, chick, frog, squid

1<>2, 3<>4
1 pink, 1 blue

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  *        *
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  *        *
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 4: bird, chick, frog, squid

1>2>3>4
2 pink

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  *        *
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  *        *
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

You need to use the doors here to get through.

Level 5: bird, frog, bird, bird

1<>4, 2<>3
2 pink

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
           *
xx xx*xx*xx xx
xx xx*xx*xx xx
**          **
xx xx*xx*xx xx
xx xx*xx*xx xx
  *
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 6: squid frog bird fish

2 pink, 2 blue trapped
1<>4, 2<>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx*xx*xx xx
xx xx*xx*xx xx
   **    **
xx xx*xx*xx xx
xx xx*xx*xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Match all you can that are not directly N/S of the ghosts. That goes for if 
you can match the flag, too. Note carefully what is where, and you can even, 
if you know 2 squares match, use one as cover to see where everything matches 
before releasing the enemies. But it should not be necessary. You can outrun 
the blues the length or height of the playfield.

Level 7: bird frog hen squid

1 blue, 1 pink
1<>2, 3<>4

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx*xx=xx=xx=xx
xx*xx=xx=xx=xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4
 
Level 8: squid frog fish frog

2 pink
1<>4, 2<>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
      ==
xx xx=xx xx xx
xx xx=xx xx xx
      ==
xx xx xx=xx xx
xx xx xx=xx xx
      ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 9: hen chick star bird

1 pink 1 blue
1<>4

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  =        =
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
     ====
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  =        =
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

The game forces a quick way out here--with random draw you have a

14/19*13/18*12/17*11/16*10/15=.172 chance of being trapped. You can also wait 
to release the enemies from the bottom center by poking everywhere else 
first, but don't work too much. You can get half the squares before you have 
to move in, and they will still be immobilized.

Level 10: turtle chick star fish

1<>3, 2<>4
2 pink

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
== ==    == ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
== == == == ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
==    ==    ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 11: hen chick fish squid

1<>3, 2<>4
1 blue, 1 pink

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 12: hen chick turtle frog

2 blues
1<>4, 2<>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 13: hen frog squid bird

3 pink, 3 blue
1<>4, 2<>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

A great level to start at with all the 1UPs. Grab them right away and, for a 
perfect round, use the doors. Staying near them throws the blues off your 
track, but if you're caught, no big deal--only 8 or 9 guys instead of 10.

Level 14: turtle frog squid fish

1>4>2>3

2 pink

  1        2
xx xx=xx xx xx
xx xx=xx xx xx
     =
xx xx xx=xx xx
xx xx xx=xx xx
===        ===
xx xx=xx xx xx
xx xx=xx xx xx
        =
xx xx xx=xx xx
xx xx xx=xx xx
  3        4

You actually can reach all squares initially with the exits, but see about 
the 14 on the edge before working in. At least 8 will match.

Level 15: hen frog turtle squid

2 pink
1<>3, 2<>4

  1        2
xx=xx xx xx xx
xx=xx xx xx xx
  =
xx=xx xx xx xx
xx=xx xx xx xx
  =
xx=xx xx xx xx
xx=xx xx xx xx
  
xx=xx xx xx xx
xx=xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 16: hen hen frog frog

1<>4, 2<>3
2 blue, 1 pink

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx=xx=xx=xx=xx
xx=xx=xx=xx=xx
  =  =  =  =
xx=xx=xx=xx=xx
xx=xx=xx=xx=xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Several maps here. The few times I played, the inner 6 squares were all 
linked, so check if that is the case. At the very least, see which squares 
you should NOT open. Leave the blues til last.

Level 17: chick bird chick bird

2 pink, 1 blue
1<>4, 2<>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
==          ==
xx xx=xx=xx xx
xx xx=xx=xx xx
== ======== ==
xx xx=xx=xx xx
xx xx=xx=xx xx
==          ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Quick start is important here--use tunnels to fend off blue guy til you get 
some space.

Level 18: star bird chick fish

6 blues
1>4>2>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  =  =  =  =
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  =  =  =  =
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  =  =  =  =
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

See about matching everything except the UL here. Keep working until you have 
to release an enemy. Take good notes. You need to use the tunnels to escape, 
until the board is free enough. I got a 1up and invincibility here, and I 
imagine they expect you to make mistakes.

Level 19: chick bird frog squid

1>4>2>3
2 pink, 2 blue

  1        2
xx xx=xx=xx xx
xx xx=xx=xx xx
     =  =
xx xx=xx=xx xx
xx xx=xx=xx xx
     =  =
xx xx=xx=xx xx
xx xx=xx=xx xx
     =  =
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Use the tunnels to fake out the first guy near you. Match what you can on the 
sides. Then go in. You will need to wait at the bottom and use the tunnels to 
sucker the top blue guy up at the end. The tough part is going up the center. 
Wait to use invincibility etc. if it appears. It's most valuable near the 
end.

I was able to pick off pairs on opposite edged(4R/L from each other) so it is 
worth it to try to map everything out before getting past the final blue.

Level 20: chick bird hen frog

1 blue, 1 pink
1>1, 2>2, 3<>4

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
   == == ==
xx=xx xx xx xx
xx=xx xx xx xx
      == ==
xx=xx=xx xx xx
xx=xx=xx xx xx
         ==
xx xx=xx=xx xx
xx xx=xx=xx xx
  3        4

Again have faith matches will be there.
Level 21: chick hen bird bird

2 blue
1>2>4>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
== ==    == ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
== ==    == ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
== ==    == ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

The exits allow you to fake enemies out as needed. You should need one or two 
matches to get to the center. Once you do you can duck from the enemies a lot 
more easily. I got invincibility to help me along.

Level 22: star hen bird fish

2 blue, 1 pink
1>4, 2>3, 3<>4

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx=xx=xx=xx=xx
xx=xx=xx=xx=xx
      ==
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Use invincibility to run right through the enemy. Flip squares as you go. You 
need a bit of luck to get out of the original mess, and the one way exits may 
be a nasty trap, but staying in the DR early on is safe, and there is usually 
a way out. If not, note what's where and clear the way when you die and 
regenerate.

Level 23: chick hen hen squid

2 blue, 2 pink
1>3>4>2

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx=xx=xx=xx=xx
xx=xx=xx=xx=xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Level 24: star hen fish frog

4 blue, 2 pink
1>2>4>3

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

Lots of timers here, few real blocks. Pay special attention to where the 
"real" blocks are, but start opening cards everywhere. You want to get rid of 
the real blocks before the timers. Try to open a big square area if possible. 
I counted 6 timer pairs and 4 non-timers. Beware of enemies blocking passage 
and, if you want, delay opening a card until a where you need to get is 
unblocked.

Level 25: frog bird star bird

1>3>2>4
5 pink, 1 blue

  1        2
xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx

xx xx xx xx xx
xx xx xx xx xx
  3        4

This is not a tough level; once you find one power-up, you can work that into 
finding others. Use your invincibility at the start to flesh things out.

I wound up with just under 150000 points for this.

  4. CUBE GAME

    4-1. STRATEGIES

This is a considerably tougher game, At first I just dealt with the ghosts, 
but that is less precise and it is harder to describe. So I will assume that, 
when you run a combination, ghosts will appear under the tulips, except in 
levels that are tailored for another approach or where you can't win all at 
once. Then I will show you how to make combos. First you need to know some 
basic moves.

The most basic is narrowing the rectangles. Let's say you have a 5x5. And you 
have 5 of 1 animal. Lining them against the top is not bad. Kick what you can 
to the top and the rest R/L and U. Now you have a 5x4 area left. You can make 
a 4-wall against the left, rotating the previous solution. Just don't push 
any of the tulip blocks or into them. That may produce a ghost. Keep cutting 
down the rectangles. It gets easier as they get smaller. There is always a 
way out except in extraordinary circumstances.

But in later levels you can't just walk anywhere. You need to set up a 
combination. For that, you ALMOST get things working and act like you already 
matched the stuff above.

To start, almost make a row on top.

21111 < you have 5 of #1, 4 of #2
1     < push the remaining 1 here. Push down from below the 1's and left.

Now push the other 2's to the left. Then you can push up on the left 1 to 
start a reaction.

There are some twists to this--if you have 4 of an item you can keep going 
with rows but 3 needs a diagonal, and here is where not making the tulips is 
good. They are wild cards but the squares under them, while they can be 
recycled early on, may also be ghosts.

But you can still work

21111
14434
253
23
25

You may ask, how can I place the 4s behind the 3s without disturbing things? 
Well in this case

1) push the top 3 right
2) push the 4 to 1L of the 3
3) push down on the 4 from below the 1's
4) push 3 back, or push 1R1D of UL 1R to fit another 4 in.

This sort of shoehorning(move a piece on the right square to the side, slip 
something next to it, move it back--or extend) is a common maneuver it's 
worthwhile to get comfortable with on early levels. With mobility restricted 
it gets tougher.

You also shouldn't be too disappointed if enemies are out of order. Look at 
the example below.

u1 2 3

Kick right for 2-3-1 and 3-1-2. Or go 1R and kick right for 1-3-2 and then 
back left for 2-1-3 and 3-2-1.

If a block is shielded you need to take that into account and try to maneuver 
around it or place the right block there early on. You may have to circle 
around to flip two nearby blocks.

  x
 x1x2 3
  x
  4 3 4

The 2 would need to go S E N here.

One other thing to note is that you cannot expect to place a piece in the 
right position and keep it there if you need other pieces around it. Let's 
say you need, on the right,

xxxxx
xxxx1
xxxx2
xxxx3
xxxx4

Kick the 4 to where the 1 is. Move 3 U R to above the 4, kick it down, then 
repeat for 2 and 1. You can do this for the 4 rows and then use the top one 
to shuffle the order of the last--a bit harder but the same principle. It's 
all like that stupid motivational book arrow-outside-the-box with the 
juggling around but it's more sensible and deeper.

Enemies are generally a nuisance and not worth bothering with. They'll get 
you when you're concentrating. No big deal. A worse fate is running out of 
time(rare, but game over) or getting the blocks in an impossible situation. 
If enemies' random bouncing gets you impatient, resurrection makes you 
invisible, which is nice.

You have one powerup specific to this game--a regenerator which changes all 
ghosts to their original squares. It's useful if you forgot what went under a 
tulip, in the cases where a combo clears about half of the board and you need 
that last guy.

At the very end any single squares under a tulip turn to ghosts, combo or no, 
so you have to be very careful there.

Oh and whenever setting up a combo be sure to leave a stable switch to flip 
to get a combo started. Accidentally starting part of a combo can muck 
everything up.

Ideas for formation with few similar blocks:

1   2
31323
  1
 2 1
2   1

In some rare cases the right set of blocks made may protect you from touching 
ghosts when you cannot make the full combo. A good example is making two 
edges--though it is more convenient to almost make them and not have tulips 
or an accidental diagonal to deal with.

I piled up ~500000 points for this game running through in one try--with save 
states of course.

    4-2. WALKTHROUGH

Levels keep the number of piece types constant but shuffle them randomly each 
game.

Level 1: squid star chick bird

2 squirrel,4 frog,3 fly,1 chick,2 cat,2 bird,1 sheep,1 bear

First let's see how to go by brute force, matching a row of 4 and column of 
3, then a diagonal as so:

1111
2 3
23
2

For 3 you can fire down above 1 and right from left of 2 to match enemies and 
avoid ghosts as needed. But it relies a bit on luck, and teasing out the non-
ghost squares uses about as much time with practice.

Now let's look at the way to complete this level without having to make more 
than one chain reaction. The points for planning dwarf the time bonus--time 
bonus is <5000 and a good combo will get 10000+.

Getting the maximum of 8 requires a setup as follows, where 6-8 are the 
animals there is one of:

1115
2341 < last 1 after 5
24..
26.6

Then flip the 1 and 7.

First, set up the 3 left 1's and 2's, then the 3 next. You should be able to 
push the right from 1R and down from 1D of the 1's to drop this piece in.

Similarly you can push a 4 right til it is 1R of the 2, then push D from 2D  
of the 1's if you need to pull it up 1. Then push 2R of the 2 to bring the 4 
back, then push D when 1D of the 4. Similarly you can kick the 5 into place 
and then the last 1 and then the 6's can be pushed to the bottom row then R 
from 1R of the 2 as needed. That leaves the 7's. If they are:

.77 <push D above left 7, R left of where it was
6.6

Then swap the 1 and 5 for the chain reaction.

If you want to be sure you mastered this, try it at a diagonal.

Level 2: bird star chick fish

1 snake,1 bunny,4 hen,1 rat,2 goat,2 giraffe,2 tiger,3 elephant,.

Same as before but with a pink enemy who should not be a distraction.

Level 3: squid star frog squid

4 shell,3 fish,2 crab,2 jellyfish,2 giraffe,1 dog,1 seal,1 dolphin,.

! ! ! !

! !*! !
  ***
! !*! !

! ! ! !

A bit tougher again with the borders. The blue guy is a bit smarter than the 
pink. The toughest part for a full combo is pushing the 3 from the above 
picture in if it isn't there, so 

1111
244
2
2    <put 3 here, then push 4 down

The rest should not be bad. If you can scramble a pair and a single guy into 
1 3-row the rest will collapse. With 2 possible pairs in 6 rows there is no 
way to get out of it since 5 squares are in rotateable rows(ie the bottom row 
and right column.)

Level 4: squid star hen frog

1 pig,5 bluefish,5 star,4 turtle,1 squid,4 dog,3 seal,2 dolphin.

Your first 5x5 map. The rest will be, too. Ignore the pink guy and proceed as 
before--well, sort of. Put the bluefish and stars on the bottom 2 rows

bssss
sbbbb

Use the left column to flip the left two as needed. If you put the bluefish 
on the bottom, fire up from 1u of them to put the stars above. Now line up 
the turtles above that and the seals on the left. The chicks should be easy 
to align now. Just get them in a line(or 3 of them) and work the upper 4x2 
box. Even if the 7's are split, they won't be when the 6/8 disappear first.

36778
35555
34444
12222
21111

Level 5: squid fish bird bird

2 pink guys.

! ! ! ! !
 x     x
! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !
 x     x
! ! ! ! !

1 frog,2 fly,3 snake,5 sheep,5 bear,4 giraffe,1 tiger,4 elephant,.

This level is not functionally different from level 4, except you may wind up 
in a dead end if you don't watch it, and you have an additional distraction.

Level 6: bird fish bird fish

3 TIME,3 squirrel,1 snake,5 chick,4 bunny,2 hen,3 bird,4 horse,.

Here it's tougher to go for perfection so I just work as follows:

1. line chicks on the top
2. line bunnies on left, horses on right(don't tap any tulips w/o tapping 
ghosts back into place)
3. line clocks on the bottom

Now I can line squirrels and birds, as I find them, in the center. The 
outside insulates me from ghosts, and I shouldn't have released any ghosts. 
It's best to form a diagonal once you get to 3x2 in the center as everything 
collapses.

Level 7: squid, fish, hen, squid

3 INVIN,2 1UP,5 dolphin,2 jellyfish,2 giraffe,2 turtle,2 squid,3 seal,4 
dolphin.
 *       *
*! ! ! ! !*

 ! ! ! ! !

 ! ! ! ! !

 ! ! ! ! !

*! ! ! ! !*
 *       *

Having the corners cut off is annoying but not too bad.  You should just fill 
the corner square with what you want. If you can place both 1ups so they are 
part of a single row in a chain reaction, that is an extra extra life. 
Otherwise, try to get at least one.

A good pattern here is to start with:

1 1 1 2 1
        2
        2
        2
        2

Then work the inside rectangle. You may hae to twiddle stuff after completing 
4 so a 3-item is next to center and in the middle, to make

11121
33332
..541
..541
..541

Then to break up the 1ups, go

66
u7
7u

Flip the UR 2-1 and then you are home free. The 7's make a diagonal but the 
1ups don't.

Level 8: bird, fish, fish, frog

1 blue, 1 pink
2 TIME,3 REGEN,2 SLOW,4 shell,3 fish,5 crab,4 giraffe,2 dog,.

!*! ! !*!
*   *   *
! ! ! ! !

!*! ! !*!

! ! ! ! !
*   *   *
!*! ! !*!

Line up the crabs and giraffes/shells as in L7. Then the giraffes/shells on 
the left and the people on the bottom. Push the fish and the regen to the 
bottom. You may be able to reorganize other stuff before triggering the final 
reaction, but if not, don't worry.  The important thing is to get the 
regenerators(people) in place. Then the ghosts will vanish.

Level 9: turtle star star bird

1 blue, 2 pink
3 SLOW,4 fly,5 chick,2 bunny,5 sheep,4 tiger,2 elephant,.

! !*!*! !

! !*! ! !
*     * *
! ! ! ! !
* *     *
! ! !*! !

! !*!*! !

Chicks to the top, sheep 1 below them so you have

11211
22122

And now work the 5x3 below putting the slow on an edge and the 4 flies/tigers 
in rows. You may need to kick something to the left and down and back, 
breakng up the potions on the left, but the top one can be pushed back later.

Level 10: hen star star fish

 !*! ! !*!
   *   *
*! !*!*! !*
       *
 !*! ! !*!
   *
*! !*!*! !*
   *   *
 !*! ! !*!
     *
This is the first level without a clear one-and-done combo due to all the 
barriers, but you can still bail out just placing te rats on a diagonal and 
the goats on the other, then the sheep. You want to use the regenerator as 
combinations are very tricky.

A good trick is to get

1   2
31323
4 1 5
42 15 < place regen here before getting 4/5.
2   1

That will leave you with a relatively easy puzzle. You'll need to track what 
goes under which tulips, and you should be able to work around the ghosts 
pushing tulips. You can match 3 at the top after you see what everything 
changed to, and you may need some luck(or just kick til you see any 2 
matches) or memorization to match the 2nd row down, but there won't be enough 
ghosts to trouble you.

Level 11: turtle star fish squid

1 blue, 1 pink, but it's the ghosts that can kill you.
3 REGEN,3 bluefish,4 star,5 jellyfish,4 giraffe,2 turtle,2 dog,2 dolphin,.

 ! !*!*! !

 ! ! ! ! !

*!*!*!*!*!*

 ! ! ! ! !

 ! ! ! ! !

Put giraffes to the side then the jellyfish on top, with of course the 
twist...

22221
    2
    1
    1
    1

For starters kick all giraffes right and move em down, and drop one jellyfish 
in the 2nd-up.

You can push a jellyfish column D from the 2nd-up then 1U to get a jellyfish 
to the top, or push a jellyfish L and the 2nd-top to move it. Move the 
regenerators to the left and down, then move the stars to the 2nd-top 
similarly to the jellyfish. 

You may need to move a fish up, L/R a column and down, so that you have 3 
fish per column, but then you can always move the star back later. You should 
be able to complete everything, with the two long diagonals and with the fish 
making a line through the center of the 3x3. 

Level 12: turtle star turtle frog

1 pink
3 TIME,5 squirrel,4 fly,3 cat,2 hen,3 bear,1 tiger,4 elephant,.

     *
 !*! ! !*!
 *   *   *
 ! !*!*! !
 * *   * *
 ! ! ! ! !
 *   *   *
 ! ! ! ! !
 *   *   *
 !*!*!*!*!

The usual trick of nibbling the edges and flipping at the end doesn't work, 
so I just made the 5 at the bottom right away then pushed the elephants and 
flies to the edge. From there you can probably make an easy 3-row/column(you 
can prepare things a bit beforehand so cats and bears have 1 per each column, 
then start twiddling.) The rest will soon fall.

Level 13: turtle fish squid bird

1 blue, 1 pink
2 TIME,3 INVIN,2 REGEN,4 snake,1 hen,5 pig,3 sheep,4 horse,1 squid,.

 !*! ! ! !
         *
 ! !*! ! !
       *
 ! ! ! ! !*
      *
*! ! ! ! !
   *
 ! ! ! !*!
 *

The blocks are distractors but not organized, leaving you with the usual fun. 

11112
    1
    2
    2
    2

Move the snake/horse next to the 2's then work on the 3x4 putting the 
invincibility on top and the sheep down next. Place the regens in the DL and 
UR of that and your whole combo will unfurl when you flip UR.

Level 14: hen fish squid fish

1 blue, 1 pink
4 TIME,2 1UP,5 shell,4 fish,2 crab,3 jellyfish,1 giraffe,1 seal,3 dolphin,.

There may be a problem of getting trapped in a corner, so sucker the blue guy 
far away if he gets near. You have the time.

Use a center square on the edge as a pivot. Place the fish/time first,

12111

Then place the shells along an adjacent edge. You may need to use the squares 
1U or 1R or 1L or 1D from center as pivots for the next bits. Get a piece 
there then fire it up(or up, 1U and fire up, 1D and fire up to preserve the 
top row.) Fire the next two down.

12111
23444
23
23
23

Now to mae a row of 3 at the 2nd-top as above. You can use the 2nd-bottom or 
2nd-top row to push a block right/left as needed so 1 of each is in a column. 
Then scroll everything down. When you get to

111
4x4
 4

Push the 4 up, 1U, push up, 1D, push up.

The next part may be tricky, but if you can make abother 3(diagonal or 
straight--the only block you can't really move should be the one in the 
center) and keep the 1ups separate, you can then start the combo. Make sure 
you have the diagonal covered. Then go.

Level 15: turtle fish turtle squid

5 SLOW,2 squirrel,4 frog,2 fly,4 chick,3 bunny,2 goat,3 elephant,.

     *
 !*! ! !*!
 *** * ***
 !*! ! !*!

*!*! ! !*!*

 !*! ! !*!
 *********
 !*! ! !*!
     *

Enemies seem faster here. Your best bet, if you wish to chip away, is make a 
cross. The enemies can trap you, and you can't push blocks in the usual way. 
You may need to use the center and the squares 2 away as pivots more than 
usual. But you can still eventually put things right. As before, make

12111
2
2
2
2

Let's say you have

2 x y 3 z--flip as follows.

2 x 3 z y < 2 right

3 2 x z y < 2 left

2 3 x z y
 
Repeat as necessary. You may have to combine/rotate this two-step to move 
frog/chick squares to different rows. The next 3x4 requires a bit more 
flipping, then the remaining 3x3 is easy. Remember to make the diagonal.

Level 16: turtle turtle frog frog

1 blue, 1 pink
5 INVIN,2 snake,5 hen,4 rat,3 giraffe,4 tiger,2 star,.

 !*! ! !*!
   * *   *
*! ! !*! !
   *     *
 !*!*!*!*!
 *     *
 ! !*! ! !*
 *   * *
 !*! ! !*!
     *

A nasty puzzle where youreally do need the early invincibility to get by the 
enemies. A combo is not practical here so you may just need to make a 5-
wide/high, then work at the 4s and 3s until they are manageable. No one way 
is worse than any other so just take what is there. As long as you go after 
smaller and smaller rectangles, you should be okay. You'll probably lose a 
few guys either way here. If you are lucky, though, invincibility will fall 
out. Ghosts don't appear too often, so you should be okay with kicking boxes 
around. But buiid two outside walls first.

Level 17: star squid chick bird

4 REGEN,2 SLOW,1 fish,3 bluefish,1 crab,1 jellyfish,1 giraffe,4 squid,5 dog,3 
seal,.

Set things up as follows:

1 1 1 2    (1=dog 2=regen/squid 3=the other)
      1 1
            < move 3's here, kick up
1 1 1 2 1
      1 3
      2 3 <kick L/D as necessary to put 2s here
      2 3 may need to knock a 3 out of place and back in
      2 3 or rearrange the final 2-3

This is the tough bit and you can flip the switch here because the regens are 
in place, or make a few riws. You may need to place something 1S of the 
center that hads 2 companions & if the center has 3, move it too. You may not 
be able to get the last bits of the combo but the rest is a tap-in, 
especially if you have:

11121
44413
  623
55523
7  23 <6 and 7 are part of separate diagonals

Level 18: chick squid chick fish

No enemies
3 1UP,2 frog,2 fly,2 bunny,5 bird,4 pig,4 sheep,3 horse,.

This one is not bad.

1=bird 2=pig 3=sheep

    2
    2
    2
13331
31112

Kick the 3s and 1s to the bottom. Use the center strip to bring them down and 
rotate them. Leave them disorganized on purpose--they can be fixed later. 
Push the 2's D to the center, R and U.

By pushing U and L in the center you can move the horses 2L of the 2's. You 
can twiddle the hearts so they are on the diagonals and the other can be 
pushed to the left edge(that gets 3 extra lives but the second row, easier, 
gets two, which is good enough.) You can shuffle U and 1U from the center so 
you can match one final column so everything collapses at once when you flip 
the switch.

Level 19: star squid frog squid

 !*!*! !*!
 *   * * *
 ! !*! ! !
 * *     *
*! ! ! ! !*
 *     * *
 ! ! !*! !
 * * *   *
 !*! !*!*!

5 TIME,4 squirrel,1 fly,5 cat,1 hen,2 pig,4 bear,3 elephant,.
1 pink, 1 blue

Here I just did what I could. You can use the pivot to take care of things

12
12
21
12
12

Then place more stuff in the center. But with the 1 way traffic it is tricky. 
So I just made a 5-wide on the wall then blocked off an adjacent wall and 
worked from there. The freezer is a great way to catch up. There's not much 
elbow room but fortunately the monsters aren't very bright and there aren't 
many ghosts.

Level 20: star squid hen frog

! !*!*! !
   ***
!*!*!*!*!
*********
!*!*!*!*!
   ***
! !*!*! !
   ***
! !*!*! !

1 blue, 1 pink
5 TIME,3 SLOW,3 tiger,4 shell,2 star,1 jellyfish,5 giraffe,2 dolphin,.

Not a lot of time here but no ghosts.
Put the 5's on the bottom, matching the clocks first. Match the giraffes 
next, kicking down, then a 3 to the left. They should be there since you have 
3's and 4's, and if not, just start kicking around til you find one. Don't 
worry about combos. Just plow through.

Level 21: star turtle bird bird

1 pink
5 frog,4 cat,4 bird,1 rat,1 bear,4 horse,1 elephant,4 crab,1 dog,.

Put the frogs on a diagonal and you will be safe. Each diagonal can be used 
as a pivot to kick something into place, U and R as you please. Kick the 
desired piece so it is over the diagonal, then turn 90 degrees and kick, to 
move it across rows/columns.

Making a diagonal is not hard but it may be time consuming--see above. 
Basically you need 1 frog in each row(or each column) and the diagonal you 
want to inhait is the pivot.

In some cases you may have to kick away from the direction you want at the 
pivot, then go to the other side. But you never need to kick anything but the 
diagonals. You may have to kick the pivots around a bit and keep track of 
what you've eliminated and what's under the tulips(hide ghosts when 
possible,) but other than that trial and error, which you have time for, this 
level isn't bad.

Level 22: chick turtle bird fish

ot bad at all with the regenerators. I would try to match the cats and frogs 
first though. Place the cats in the DL and 2U, then move the frogs into place 
so you have

cffff
fr
c r
c  r
c   r

Before flipping the switch, try to place some regenerators too. The upper 
part is the trickiest bit. Get the f-r row before te c-f and push R 2U and 2R 
2U for the UR.

From there you can match up the birds and you'll get another match--make it a 
regen for fun.

cffff
fr R
cbr
cb r
cb  r

You still have 3 regens left so 1) try to move any 2-pair you see and 2) 
shuffle the regens into a 2-row at the end so the rest is easy. You can use 
the center as a pivot for safety. But you will probably get some matches by 
accident. If you're worried, note where the regenerated squares are. The 
regenerators themselves regenerate, which makes things a snap if you start 
off right and note where they are and keep matching regenerators.

Level 23: star turtle hen squid

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

1 1UP,2 fly,5 snake,4 chick,4 bunny,1 sheep,3 goat,3 giraffe,2 elephant,.

You've seen this before, but not so stringent.

Step 1:

    2
    2
    2
    1
11112 < trigger will set off reaction
        so build 1 above and move it down.
                 2

68932
76832 < 7 8 9 not important, just get diagonal
55532 Fill #s in in order, using smaller
44431 UL rectangles as you go
11112

Level 24: chick turtle fish frog

No enemies again.
1 shell,5 fish,4 bluefish,3 star,2 jellyfish,2 giraffe,1 turtle,1 squid,2 
dog,2seal,2 dolphin,.

!*!*! !*!
***** ***
!*!*! !*!
      ***
!*! ! !*!
***
!*! !*!*!
*** *****
!*! !*!*!

A little tougher now. You will want to get things in place but even after 
that you may need to cycle them back. On the previous level there were almost 
too many regenerators a match would happen by accident, but no such worries 
here. Which makes planning a bit easier. Execution...

1   2
31323
  1
 2 1
2   1

This is the outline of the major matches you want to make. The minor ones:

17b82
31323
46165
42915
27a81

3 = stars
4-8 = anything matching 2x
9ab = matching once

You've done this before on 22, sort of. Here you need to complete things one 
rectangle at a time. Put a 2 1U of the DL then cycle in a pair using the 
center. Bring another of 2 to the center and push it L D. The 4 will be out 
of place so push it back. Pull a blue fish to the center and push it L D. 
Push the 4 in the center 2L, then if need be, bring another matcher distinct 
from the one 1R of the DL to 1L of the center, putting the (4) back in place 
by flipping the center and 1L to the left. You now no longer need too touch 
the DL.

The UL is similar but rotated. Put a star 1U1L of the center. Put a green 
fish 1R of it. Push them left. Put a the match to DL-1R 1R of it and push 
them left. Bring a star to the center and push it up 1, then bring a single 
to the center and push it up 1, and flip it with the star. The UL is now 
complete.

You will want to shuffle the top left row(3 guys) to avoid an accidental 
match. Then you can trigger it at the end.

The DR is somewhat of a mirror, but you need to match what is 1R of DL with 
what is 2R of it. Have, in order,

[a single] [1 of last unpaired] [fish] on the bottom.

That's not quite enough, though. You may have to juggle this around. You may 
need to use the center square and 2D to juggle stuff. I'll assume you are 
comfortable with this busy work of swapping--which may entail leaving the 

[a single] [green fish]         [the other of last unpaired]
[a single] [1 of last unpaired] [fish] on the bottom.

If you get this backwards, push down on the center, R on 2nd-bottom, 2D on 
center, 2R on 2nd-bottom, D on center, R on center-bottom, D on center.

Now place the match to DR-1L 1U1R of the center. Place a bluefish 1D of it 
and push them up. Push a bluefish to 1D of the UR and a star to 1D of it(if 
the star is 1U, kick the star to the center) then kick the green fish to the 
center and flip the final 2 squares if necessary. Set off the reaction.

Level 25: fish squid star bird

no enemies

 !*!*!*!*!
***********
*!*!*!*!*!*
***********
*!*!*!*!*!*
***********
*!*!*!*!*!*
***********
*!*!*!*!*!*
***********

You need to do everything at once to be sure you can win. Here is how to put 
stuff together:

[14] at top
6 4 6 1 3
8 7 1 7 3
5 1 5 4 3
1 2 2 2 2

Where 2=goats 1=tigers 3,4=3 of a kind 5-7=2 of a kind, 8 = 1 of a kind

The best way to drop a column is as follows. For the right,
1) dig out a 2, place it
....2
.....
.....
.....
.....

Kick it down, dig out a 3, place it(if 3 is below 2, kick it right then 
recycle the 2)
Kick that down, dig another 3, etc.

Once you have the right 2 rows, link 1-4 at the top and proceed as before. 
You should be at no risk of matching anything, but kick a tiger out of the DR 
if you are worried.

The last bit will be the toughest.
xyz14
a....
b....
c....
d....

Push 5 onto the conveyor, then push it left(or 2L if need be) and drop 1 on 
a. Push the top right, the 5 down. Never move the 1 onto the UR square, 
though you should not need to. If 8 is in yz, push left 1 or 2, D, back 
right. Else kick abcd down 1 or 2, push 1L, push abcd down so you have

x
5
1

And 8 goes on it. Repeat for 6. Now you have 1-4 and 3 1's at the top. Push 
it right so the 1's match, then the 2-3-4, 5-7. Only isolated 1's are left.

  5. CHEATS

0xad = memory offset of # of lives. Do not set to >x80 or the game will see 
it as negative.

0x3b0=start of grid of cards/cubes. If it is 4x4 then you have a new row 
every 4 squares, but otherwise it's every 5. It tells you what is hidden 
under which square. This is a meal ticket to the next round. Of particular 
interest:

06-07=timers(1 freeze, 1 add)
08=invincibility
09-0a=regen
0b=slow monster
0c=1up
0e=ghost

End of FAQ Proper

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

  6. VERSIONS

1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 10/24/2007, complete

  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 the translation. You don't need Japanese for 
many of the translated puzzle games, but it makes them easier to get into. 
Their RPG translations are also very cool.