_____ __ __ ____ ___ __ ___ __ __ | _ | /\ | | | | | __| | | | | | | | | | | |_| | / \ |__| | | | |_ | | ___ |__| | |_ |__| | _| \ / | | | | | _| | | | | | | | |\ | |\ \ \/ | | |__| | | _|_ |__| | | | |__ | \ |_| \_\ |_| ____________________________________________ ooo xxx | ------------------------------|------------- ______________________________|_____________ FINISH LINE Copyright Konami 1985 Written By Brian P. Sulpher E-mail: briansulpher@hotmail.com Version 1.6 Dates Written: December 13th to December 14th, 2003 I dedicate this to my cousin Kyle for his 76 in 1 cartridge, and all of the great games that were on it. I never would have played a classic such as this one (especially since North America never saw this game in a legal release). Also, for Cougar, Howler, Koonce, and Gracey. I miss you, and I hope you are living it up in the afterlife as you did in this world. You will always be in my memories, and you will never be forgotten. ----------- Version 1.0 ----------- -Submitted FAQ on December 14th, 2003 ----------- Version 1.5 ----------- -Submitted FAQ on July 30th, 2004 -Altered format to make it easier on the eyes and easier to navigate ----------- Version 1.6 ----------- -Submitted guide on 16th of October, 2005 -I added in Retronintendo and Honestgamers as sites allowed to use my FAQs -Altered the format to make it easier on the eyes of the reader ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------Table Of Contents------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Introduction 2) Controls 3) Obstacles 4) Points 5) Courses 6) Strategies 7) Final Word ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------Introduction------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) This game pits you against all of the other obstacles on the road that seem to seek to stop your glorious speeding spree. Other Cars, Transports, Oil Slicks, and Potholes are some of the problems you will face. However, not everything on the road is bad as the multi-coloured cars you happen upon will yield some extra fuel to your odyssey as you speed recklessly through the Sunday drivers. So what are you waiting for? Put the pedal to the medal and speed your way into an adrenaline overdose of massive speeding! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------Controls--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) This section will look at the basic controls as well as how to recover your car from a massive spin out. o----------------o | Basic Controls | o----------------o D-Pad----> Use LEFT and RIGHT to move your car in the corresponding direction. UP and DOWN have no function in this game. SELECT---> Changes the option between Level 1 or Level 2 on the menu screen. START----> Confirms your level selection as well as pausing/unpausing the game while playing. B Button-> This is the first gear for your car. It tops out at just under 200 Kilometres per hour. It does however get to that speed quicker than the second gear. A Button-> This is the second gear for your car. It tops out at 400 Kilometres per hour. It is slower to accelerate to 200 Kilometres per hour than the first gear however. o---------------------o | Getting Up To Speed | o---------------------o When you are first starting out from no movement, the B Button is best for getting your car up to 200 Kilometres per hour. Following that, use the A Button to get the vehicle up to the top speed of 400 Kilometres per hour to get moving through the road course at the highest speed possible. o-------------------o | Spin Out Recovery | o-------------------o When your vehicle hits an obstacle and starts into a spin, you can in fact save your car (provided the vehicle has not entered into a massive spin). If your car is angling to the left, press LEFT to right your vehicle once again. The same goes fro angling to the right, as pressing RIGHT will straighten your course out once more as well. If your vehicle does enter into the massive spin out that is not recoverable, let go of the accelerator completely. Sometimes the vehicle will slide to a complete stop if you do this, saving precious fuel as the respawning of the car takes 5 fuel points. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------Obstacles--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) This section will discuss each obstacle in your path, including their appearance, behaviour, effect, and best to deal with each one. o-------------o | Yellow Cars | o-------------o Appearance: Yellow Car. Behaviour.: Drive in a straight line, never deviating their line of movement. Effect....: If hit, your car will enter into a spin out. Deal With.: Just drive by them, giving enough room to get your car by without incident. o----------------------o | Cyan Cars & Red Cars | o----------------------o Appearance: Cyan or Red Car. Behaviour.: Driving along, they will do one of three behaviours: i) They will change lanes once, ii) they will change lanes twice or more (moving back and forth across the lanes), or iii) they will remain static as they drive straight ahead in their lane. Effect....: If hit, your car will enter into a spin out. Deal With.: When approaching these unpredictable enemies, remember to keep a close eye on them. If they move before you get near them, they will return to their original lane (or keep moving over to other lanes). If they remain static till you draw near, you will have to try and get by without them bumping your vehicle. o-----------o | Transport | o-----------o Appearance: A large, 18 wheeled truck. Behaviour.: They drive in a straight line, never shifting to a new lane. Effect....: If your vehicle comes into contact, it will explode. Deal With.: Drive right on by, cause any touch will cost you 5 fuel points. o-----------o | Oil Slick | o-----------o Appearance: Black smudge on the road. Behaviour.: Lies there, hoping you will touch it. Effect....: If your vehicle touches this slippery section of road, your car will enter into a spin out. Deal With.: Try to avoid it as best you can, but remember to correct your spin out quickly if you do hit it. o---------o | Pothole | o---------o Appearance: a black hole with a safety rail behind it. Behaviour.: Lies there, hoping you will touch it. Effect....: If your vehicle comes into contact, it will explode. Deal With.: Drive right on by, cause any touch will cost you 5 fuel points. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------Points----------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) This section will cover how to gain points from all sources in the game. Cyan Car..: 50 points for passing Fuel Car..: 1000 points and 5-10 Fuel Points for touching Oil Slick.: 0 points Pot Hole..: 0 points Red Car...: 50 points for passing Superhero.: 1000 points for driving long enough without a crash to make him appear Transport.: 50 points for passing Yellow Car: 50 points for passing Fuel Bonus: remaining Fuel Points X 30 Points = bonus at end of a Course ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------Courses---------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) This section will examine each road course, giving tips and a general idea of what to expect from it. o------------o | Course One | o------------o A rather straight forward drive through the suburbs, this area offers two slight bends in the road. The obstacles will be mainly comprised of Yellow Cars, but the ratio of Red/Cyan Cars to Yellow Cars will start to balance out more as the level progresses. You may also see one Transport if you drive perfectly. However, with Fuel Cars so plentiful, so much open road, and a lack of aggressive cars, this level is not difficult at all. o------------o | Course Two | o------------o A no curve whatsoever bridge course, the Car congestion is significantly increased along this course. The ratio of Yellow Cars to Red/Cyan Cars is still a little heavier in the favour of Yellow Cars, meaning passing is not a problem. A few Transports appear here, as well as more Oil Slicks and your very first Pothole. Fuel Cars are a little more spread out here, but they are still located in good positions for collecting, making for a moderate challenge. o--------------o | Course Three | o--------------o A narrow drive along the coastline, be prepared for some very close quarter passing. With the Yellow Car to Red/Cyan Car ratio reaching a 60/40 relationship, you will have to be more aware than ever of those moving cars. No Transports or Potholes here, and few Oil Slicks, but they are not a major concern. Some Fuel Cars are hard to get to, so drive safely so they can not pull away if you crash. Drive conservatively around the mobile Cars to greatly increase your chances of finishing this difficult drive. o-------------o | Course Four | o-------------o a road course that is medium in size (smaller than the first two, larger than the third), presents an even proportion of Yellow Cars to Red/Cyan Cars. It also offers multiple road direction changes, so try to stick to the middle of the road most of the time. Many Potholes and Oil Slicks litter the road, but just one Transport for some unknown reason. This is the final course of the set. Upon winning Course Four, you will return to Course One once again to challenge, but now the Yellow Cars have been essentially replaced by Red/Cyan Cars, Oil Slicks/Potholes have increased in number, and Fuel Cars have disappeared almost completely! Only the best drivers will be able to navigate the four Courses now as crashing will badly drain the very few Fuel Points that your car will have on hand! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------Strategies--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) This section will look at a few ways to improve your performance on the road courses. a) When starting from a standstill, use the 1st Gear to get up to 200 Kilometres an hour, then move to the 2nd Gear to get up to 400 Kilometres per hour. This will get your car to top speed with the smallest amount of time spent doing so. b) Sometimes the road will be highly congested with traffic, especially with mobile Red/Cyan Cars. In these cases, it is often best to drop down to first gear again to approach these dangerous guys (slower speed gives you more reaction time) and then punch it back into second gear quickly when an opening presents itself. You may lose a second or two, but that is better then risking a crash and losing 5 fuel points. c) Sometimes you will see a situation where a Fuel Car is positioned between some other cars. To get to it, you can either to try to perform a dangerous but perfect driving maneuver (very difficult to pull off), or you can play it safer and just move in for the fuel car, then bump into one of the Cars to spin out away from the rest. You can then save the spin out, resulting in an open road for your car to navigate up. d) Watch the top part of the screen at all times and plan your movements past the obstacles as they appear. This is very helpful for avoiding the ever annoying Potholes. e) On Course Three, many of the mobile cars are very difficult to get by without bumping into them. If you would rather position yourself on the line dividers and purposely bump the offending Cars so you can then save the spin out while the opposing car crashes into the wall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------Final Word--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) As is the usual, this walkthrough is copyright property of Brian P. Sulpher, 2003. The only website, group, person, etc. to have access to post it is www.gamefaqs.com, www.ign.com, www.retronintendo.com, and www.honestgamers.com. You must ask for permission before posting this, as doing so without consent is a violation of international copyright law. If you liked it, hated it, have anything to add, then please E-mail me at briansulpher@hotmail.com. You can also contact me through MSN messenger through the same E-mail address. A fun old game that brings back great memories of the old 76 in 1! This is a pure speed experience, rewarding your reflexes as well as your ability to select the best line along the road past all of those annoying obstacles. However, it is not reflexes, as some memorization skills can be put to work to help with the passing of the enemy