Baku Baku Animal FAQ(Sega Master System)
version 1.0.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net
copyright 2004
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
================================
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1. WHAT I SAY
1-2. WHAT THE GAME SAYS
1-3. BASICS AND NOTATION
2. CONTROLS
3. GAINING POINTS AND STRATEGY
4. LAYOUT AND DIALOGUE AND PASSWORDS
4-1. PRACTICE
4-2. NORMAL
4-3. HARD
5. PASSWORDS
6. VERSIONS
7. CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1. WHAT I SAY
Baku Baku Animal is a neat idea for a game if far too short. It's a bit
like Puyo Pop and a bit like Pac-Attack but gets the lowest common
denominator of both. You drop 2x1 blocks into a 8x6 well as you compete
against a computer opponent to try and fill theirs up first. There eight
different blocks--four animals and four foods, with each animal matching a
food. Place an animal next to its food, and it goes on an eating binge,
tearing up any chain of foods. Then the blocks drop and you have a potential
for a chain reaction. The longer and bigger chain reactions you get, the more
points you get. Points are used to drop blocks on your opponent's well. The
next time they let an animal eat, the blocks come raining down. You also get
the occasional BB coins which wipe out all of a certain type of character--
depending on what is below them directly when they land.
There are a lot of possibilities for accidental matches and when tiles
start piling up and the game goes faster, the last bits can be randomly
determined since puzzle pieces dropped are random too. You also get the
'next' blocked out while animals are eating food blocks which precludes any
sort of strategy.
1-2. WHAT THE GAME SAYS
This introduction amply explains the plot.
My king, the princess wants a new pet.
Another pet! She has too many as it is.
She wants everything. She is too spoiled! She's young, foolish...
Watch how you talk about my daughter!
Oops! Did I say too spoiled? I meant too kind. Yes, too kind, that's what I
meant to say.
She is indeed too kind...but she does forget to care for her animals.
I have an idea, my King! Perhaps we should hire someone...a zookeeper.
Ah, that sounds perfect! I am glad I thought of it!
Certainly, my king. A search for the Royal Zookeeper will begin immediately!
By royal decree, a contest of skill and daring will be held to select the
Royal Zookeeper. The winner shall tend the Princess' [sic] zoo. - The King
1-3. BASICS AND NOTATION
So which blocks eat which? Pretty standard stuff. The animals are pretty
distinctive and so are what they eat.
RABBIT eats CARROT
DOG eats BONE
MONKEY eats bANANA
PANDA eats STALK of bamboo
I will use R, C, D, B, M, A, P, S to note squares in grids below.
The 1x2 tiles, if dropped horizontally, will split up so they slip down as
far as possible. For instance,
R C
vvv
S
S
A B
becomes
C R C
S not S
R S S
A B A B
B-B coins dissolve every tile with the same icon as the two they fall on.
They are relatively rare.
You and your opponent get the same tiles although you can get way ahead of
your computer opponent in what is distributed. There are 37 tiles total--28
with 2 colors and 8 with 1, plus the B-B tile.
2. CONTROLS
Pushing down causes a piece to fall faster.
Pushing the left button causes it to rotate a quarter turn left. Pushing
the right button causes it to rotate a quarter turn right. And, nicely, if
you are stuck in a narrow well, rotation buttons flip the piece 180 degrees.
You can move the piece left and right as you wish, of course, and you can
even do so when it's above the playfield.
Skip the dialogue between levels by pushing start or the rotate buttons.
It's really slow dialogue. On Mekaw you can push F4 several times to speed
stuff up and F3 to slow it down.
Pushing start pauses the game and scrubs your playfield but you can push
F12 on Mekaw to keep the playfield intact.
B-C-A-S-D-R-M-P is the cycle for passwords incidentally.
Your opponent can move when your animals are eating, and vice versa.
3. GAINING POINTS AND STRATEGY
The only points you get are the ones that allow you to dump something on
your opponent later. # of blocks dumped = your points. Then the point total
is cleared and you start again. When your opponent matches an animal with
their food, they cause the potential deluge. What matches with what should be
pretty clear:
BBA gives points based on the following evaluation:
--go left and down from the UL looking for an animal with food to eat
--have him take out what he can. Move through everything.
--at the bottom right, calculate the total number of squares that disappeared
and subtract 2. That is the point total
--on subsequent passes through you get a bonus of 4, then 6, then 8, above
the base total, assuming you would've gotten points to start with. So for
instance
M
M
v
P P
D D
R R
A A
C C C
B B C
S S C
Would get 2 points for the monkey/banana, 5 + 4 for the rabbit, then 2 + 6
for the dogs, and 2 + 8 for the pandas. However you wouldn't get any points
for the following:
M M
vvv
P
D
R
A
C S
B A
S A
You'd also only get one bonus for below.
M M
vvv
D
R
A A
C A
B B B
3 for the monkeys, 0 for the rabbit, and 2 + 6 for the dog, not 2 + 4. The
rabbit match counts for a bonus. Note also that this implies you should set
up a 3-fer even if you need to collapse a 2-fer to get it. This makes things
much easier--two throwaways become something quite nice.
--if the same animal is 'in the way' as you eat the last food, it may be
taken as food as well for an additional block.
P
B B
S B M
would be a chain reaction, but it wouldn't get any bonus points for the
next since it only takes two characters. In fact a chain reaction may not be
as good as the regular bit.
M
D
v
B A
Here you'll get a chain reaction if you drop the tile, but it won't get you
anything. It's better just to rotate it 90 degrees right and get 2 points for
a single tile.
Another example:
M A
vvv
M
Here, flip the piece 180 degrees so you can take out the two monkeys with
one banana.
The basic strategy of lumping like items together should work pretty well.
I generally allow a monochrome chain length of 3 items before looking
actively to for the animal to get on it.
Sometimes it will happen, too, that after blocks drop from your opponent
you'll have a lot of matches already made. Nothing will happen until you drop
your blocks and then it's not always advisable to go for the longest chain.
For instance:
A A
vvv
M C
A A C M
Here you might want to move the bananas to the right and rotate vertically.
Drop them in and you wipe out 6 tiles with 2 chains of 2 bananas vs. 5 with 1
chain of 4. Zapping the extra monkey gets an extra point.
Another example here:
M C
vvv
A R
A S
A S
A S
Here you'll want to rotate ninety degrees right and drop the carrot on the
rabbit. No points for the first one, but the next gets you 3+4. The regular
way gets you 5.
In general when BB coins fall you will want to drop them on animals.
Animals are harder to get rid of than regular pieces and in fact when you go
in for long combinations they may very well appear more--I think everything
appears roughly evenly, which means in the long run that animals will take
over your playing field unless you are careful. Use every chance you can get
to wipe out 2 animals with 1 food.
The main thing to remember is that you will want to go for small chains
with something lucrative at the end and not for the longer chain, which is
your opponent's fatally flawed strategy. 2- or 3- chains also preserve the
balance of animals vs. food. But on the other hand don't sneeze at making a
long chain if you can. If you have to rely on it, though, you are in trouble.
Smaller chains are less subject to which random pieces come down. Don't
overextend yourself and you'll be OK. If you find this too inelegant and want
massive combinations, muck around on the slow practice level.
4. LAYOUT AND DIALOGUE AND PASSWORDS
Below, I've listed what people say. You frequently dialogue with opponents
beforehand, and afterwards they talk differently depending on if they win or
lose.
For the practice level you never get to the castle.
1. Master Piggy
2. Nurse Grape
3. little toy cowboy
For the normal level you get to the castle, but the path is less obstructed.
1. green duck/alien
2. C3P0 girl
3. Robot warrior guarding castle
Winning says...you're ready for normal mode.
Inside the castle now.
4. cowboy with aqua hat
5. counselor
6. queen
7. princess
For the advanced level there are two more enemies waiting outside the
castle.
1. Nurse Grape
2. Piggy
3. robot guard
4. adonis robot
5. cowboy with aqua hat
6. silver adonis-ette
7. counselor
8. queen
9. princess
A lot of dialogue is reused here. The first two characters have different
stuff to say than in practice mode but 3=3, 5=4 and 7/8/9=5/6/7 from normal
mode.
Enemies are better at constructing long lines to drop on you as the levels
go up. They tend to move faster. But they usually try for too much, and you
can often bury the original lines you want to create and destroy them that
way with a couple of judicious chains.
4-1. PRACTICE
Polly, have you heard about the contest? Oink.
--Oh yes, Master Piggy!
--Then let's not waste any time. Oink. I will begin your training.
--You must concentrate! Let us begin the training again.
--You have done well. Oink. Here is something that will help you in times of
trouble.
--Great! I can use the BB coin now!
Nurse
--Hello, little one!
--Who are you?
--My name is Nurse Grape. I am sworn to fight sickness everywhere!
--Me? I'm not sick! I feel great!
--Really? That,s strange, because you sure look sick!
--That's not nice! Take that back!
--Do you want a second opinion? You are slow and weak too! Ha ha ha!!!
--You are smarter than you look. But it is a long way to the goal. Try your
best, little one. Goodbye for now!
Little Toy Cowboy
--Well, that was a waste of time!
--Not so fast!
--Oh no! Not another challenger!
--I shall stop you! I will become the Royal Zookeeper!
--I'm sorry, Polly. But I want to win!
--Mommy! Polly was mean to me! Waah!
****
4-2. NORMAL
Green duck/alien
--How lucky, my opponent is only a little girl!
--Hmph! How rude! I'll show you who's the weak one!
--I can't believe I lost!
--That was way too easy! Hee hee!
Silver skinny C3P0 looking girl
--Hi, honey. I am very sorry, but you are going to lose.
--Not me. How about you?
--Waaah, oh daddy! I was beaten! She cheated! Waah! Waaahhh!
--Try not to take it personally. I was destined to win.
robot warrior with spear
--Hold on there, little girl. Where might you be going?
--I am on my way to the contest.
--Really...you? I doubt that. I'd better test you. It's my duty. If you win,
you may pass.
--You're a fake! I think you were lying all along. I don't know why you came,
but go away! We don't need little girls here.
--You seem to be telling the truth. You can come in. Do your best to win!!
Pinnochio, aqua pointy hat
--Oh, you again! I already beat you in Practice.
--But that wasn't the real thing. I must warn you that I have improved. I've
dedicated myself to winning this contest.
--I've trained hard too! I beat you once, I can beat you again.
--Then, let it begin!
--Serves you right! You are too arrogant for your own good.
--Oh no! I've been beaten again. I'll never be the Royal Zookeeper.
Counselor
--You have done well to come so far. Besides your skill, we must also judge
your character.
--My character? What does it have to do with taking this job?
--Oh, don't worry. It is only a formality. To tell you the truth, both the
King and I want to decide this quickly.
--Great! That was marvelous. My King, let's choose this girl!
Queen
--Halt! She won too easily. She must not be granted the title!
--You are very strong and brave. I accept you. There was no need for the
Minister to let you win.
--Just as I thought! It was all a charade.
Princess
--Why is everyone ignoring me? I don't trust her! I fear what she may do to
my animals.
--But Princess, she is highly skilled! All of us accept her.
--My animals are my friends. They need the best care from the right person. I
must test her myself! If I lose, I will do as you say.
--Ha! It is totally ridiculous that you think you can take care of my animals.
Go home or I will have you thrown in the dungeons!
--Oh...you are strong. You must protect my animals. There is so much to do
and you're the perfect person to help. I trust you now. Please look after my
friends.
king: Oh, this is such a lovely moment. The Princess approves of Polly. This
calls for congratulations! Can you start now, Polly?
Polly: Yes, my king. Thank you so very much.
4-3. HARD
Nurse
--Oh, the little one again. I am surprised they let you enter.
--How can you be so arrogant? You're cruel and I will beat you again.
--Ha, ha. You are so bold, but I plan to win the fight this time around.
--Ho ho! Have you learned your lesson? This contest is no place for little
girls.
--Aahh, I lost again. You're very good. Good luck on the rest of the contest.
Piggy
--I've been waiting for you, Polly!
--Oh, Master Piggy! Why are you here?
--The road ahead will be very hard. Oink. To prepare, you must have more
training. Oink.
--That's no good! Oink. Study the patterns. Let's do it again!
--Congratulations, oink! I know you will win. Oink. Remember, I will always
be with you.
robot guard
--Hold on there, little girl Where might you be going?
--I am on my way to the contest.
--Really...you? I doubt that. I'd better test you. It's my duty. If you win,
you may pass.
adonis robot
--I heard you also want to be the Royal Zookeeper. But to support my family,
I must get the job. The contest will decide the winner. I hope we can still
be friends.
--Don't think poorly of me. Even lions do their best when they hunt a small
rabbit. Goodbye, my friend.
--Very regrettable. I wish you well.
cowboy
--oh, you again! I already beat you in Practice.
--but that wsn't the real thing. I must warn you that I have improved.
--I am golden Angela. Where are you going?
--Me? I am going to the palace to compete to be the Royal Zookeeper.
--That's too bad. That honor shall be mine!
Silver adonis-ette
--Excuse me, honey. I have a date in the palace.
--You are...strong, sniff! But in the castle, you will meet your match. Sniff!
They will make you sorry for making a fool out of me. Waahhhh!
5. PASSWORDS
It shouldn't take more than a minute or two to clear each board but in case
you don't have the patience for that--and the cut scenes that do take a while--
here are the codes to start wherever you'd like. They start at all bones and
scroll downwards.
bone-carrot-banana-stalk-dog-rabbit-monkey-panda
practice fight 2: Panda Bone Stalk Bone
practice fight 3: Stalk Panda Stalk Carrot
normal fight 2: Monkey Banana Rabbit Rabbit
normal fight 3: Dog Banana Dog Bone
normal fight 4: Rabbit Carrot Carrot Bone
normal fight 5: Monkey Panda Carrot Bone
normal fight 6: Bone Dog Stalk Dog
normal fight 7: Dog Bone Panda Stalk
hard fight 2: Bone Dog Banana Panda
hard fight 3: Banana Monkey Carrot Monkey
hard fight 4: Panda Stalk Dog Bone
hard fight 5: Monkey Banana Stalk Carrot
hard fight 6: Panda Panda Rabbit Banana
hard fight 7: Dog Rabbit Carrot Bone
hard fight 8: Panda Monkey Stalk Rabbit
hard fight 9: Carrot Banana Carrot Rabbit
End of FAQ proper
================================
6. VERSIONS
1.0.0 submitted to GameFAQs 8/13/2004 complete. Not much to do really but
clean up the dialogues from here on out.
7. CREDITS
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang. They know who they are, and you should,
too, because they get some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer,
daremo, falsehead, Retro, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, and others I
forgot.
Thanks to Masamune3 for proposing we GameFAQs FAQ writers get through all of
the SMS.
Thanks to the Mekaw programmer for making this game much easier to dissect.
