____ ___ _ _ _ __ ( _ \ / _ \ | \ | | | | / / | |_) ) | |_| | | \| | | |/ / | _ ( | _ | | | | < | |_| ) | | | | | |\ | | |\ \ (_____/ |_| |_| |_| \_| |_| \_\ _____ ___ _ _ ___ ____ ( _ \ / _ \ | \ | | ( ) / __ \ | |_) ) | |_| | | \| | | | | | |_| | __/ | _ | | | | | | | _ | | | | | | | |\ | | | | |__| | (___) |_| |_| |_| \_| (___) \____/ Bank Panic (Arcade) FAQ and Strategy Guide Written by: Jason Horner (jlhorner1974@yahoo.com) Version 1.1 05/02/2007 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Version History 2. Introduction 3. Hardware and Settings 4. Game Play 5. Controls 6. Cast of Characters 7. Events 8. Scoring 9. Tips and Strategies 10. Credits and Copyright Notice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.10 (05/02/2007) Added information on dynamite attacks, additional strategies, character names, and DIP switches 1.00 (09/25/06) Initial version ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bank Panic is a first person shooting game requiring fast reflexes and reaction time. You play the role of a gun slinging HERO! that guards the town bank in the Wild West. A ruthless gang of outlaws has been robbing the bank and terrorizing the law-abiding citizens of the town, and it's your job to stop them. Bank Panic was first released by Sega in 1983 in Japan and came to the USA shortly after. Other versions also contain a Bally/Midway copyright. It is a raster game for 1 or 2 players, and there is no simultaneous play. Bank Panic was subsequently ported to several home systems, including the Sega Master System, Commodore 64, Amstrad, and MSX. This FAQ is for the arcade version, as the home console versions often have significant differences in game play and graphics. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Hardware and Settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIP Switches: * Coin A/B: 1 coin/2 credits, 1 coin/1 credit, 2 coints/1 credit, 3 coins/1 credit (default is 1 coin/1 credit) * Coin C: 1 coin/1 credit, 2 coints/1 credit (default is 1 coin/1 credit) * Lives: 3 or 4 (default is 3) * Bonus Life: 70K 200K 500K or 100K 400K 800K (default is 70K 200K 500K) * Difficulty: Easy or Hard (default is Easy) * Demo Sounds: On or Off (default is On) * Cabinet: Upright or Cocktail (default is Upright) If Bonus Life is set to 70K 200K 500K, extra lives are awarded at 70,000 / 200,000 / 500,000 / 900,000 / 1,500,000 / 2,000,000 points. No extra lives are awarded after that by scoring points. If Bonus Life is set to 100K 400K 800K, extra lives are awarded at 100,000 / 400,000 / 800,000 / 800,000 / 1,200,000 / 2,000,000 / 3,000,000 points. After 3,000,000 points, no more extra lives are awarded from points. You can always gain an extra life by spelling EXTRA, regardless of your score. Round 1 of Hard difficulty seems to be similar to Round 6 or so of Easy difficulty. So on Hard difficulty, all of the special events (hostages, chained-up townspeople, boss outlaws) can happen right away. When the game begins, you have a choice of starting on round 1 (no bonus), round 3 (20000 points if you complete the level) or round 6 (60000 points if you complete the level). If you are looking for a top score, you will want to start on round 1, as it is fairly easy to earn 40000+ points per round with some practice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Game Play ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The object of the game is to protect the innocent townspeople as they deposit their money at the local bank, and shoot the outlaws that appear before they shoot you. The bank is circular and has 12 teller windows, behind each of which is a door. You are in the center of the bank and the game view is from your perspective. You see three doors at a time on the screen, and can turn to the left or right to bring other doors into view. During each round, male and female townsfolk will open the doors and enter the bank to make deposits (giving you points). Outlaws also will enter through the doors, but they are more interested in making withdrawals -- they will try to kill you and steal the money. Above the doors is a row of white square boxes that indicate the status of all the windows. Windows containing deposits have a red dollar sign in the corresponding white box. Those that are empty mean no deposit currently exists at that window. Above the row of status boxes are stacks of five rectangles for each door. These are a radar-like display that shows you when someone is approaching one of the doors. The red rectangles represent either a townsperson or an outlaw approaching the door. When the red rectangle reaches the bottom of the stack, it means that the person is now waiting behind that door. The average time for all of your fair shots (where you kill the outlaw after he has drawn his gun) is shown below the clock at the top of the screen. If this average is under 0:10, you earn bonus points at the end of the round. For the most part, the townsfolk and outlaws will only open doors you are currently looking at -- those that approach the other doors will wait there patiently for you to look in their direction before they open the door and enter. The exception is the red outlaws, who will set dynamite at, or steal a deposit from one of the teller windows you are not currently watching. (See the Events section below for details.) The beginning rounds give you one or more deposits for free. Round 1-2: 4 deposits free Round 3-4: 3 deposits free Round 5-6: 2 deposits free Round 7-8: 1 deposit free Round 9+ : 0 deposits free In later rounds, the difficulty of the game increases: * Townspeople and and outlaws appear at a faster rate, keeping you busier * Outlaws have better reaction time and draw sooner after appearing * The outlaws shoot more quickly after drawing their gun * You start the round with fewer "free" deposits * More characters can come through the door before it closes (you may have to shoot several outlaws in a row before the door will close) * Boss outlaws begin to appear * Outlaws resort to tougher tactics to try to take you out -- the blue and green outlaws start dodging your shots * Outlaws begin taking hostages and tying up townspeople to try to distract you You will have to keep adjusting your timing as you advance to the later rounds. In round 1, the outlaws reach for their guns and shoot at a very leisurely (bordering on agonizingly slow) pace. You have to wait a good second or two before they will draw their guns, so be patient. An itchy trigger finger will cause a lot of unfair shots -- this removes the threats, but does little for your score. In the later rounds, you only have the tiniest of grace periods after the outlaw opens the door before he begins shooting. You lose a life if: * An outlaw shoots you * The dynamite explodes (the dynamite counter reaches 0) * You shoot a townsperson (unless he is bound in chains) * You run out of time The object of each round of play is to get a deposit at all 12 teller windows. The round ends instantly when all windows have at least one deposit at the same time. If an outlaw steals the money sitting at a teller window, you must get it back before you can finish the round. Earning the extra bonus by spelling EXTRA also ends the round immediately, regardless of how many deposits were collected. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Controls ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The game's controls are very simple. There is a 2-way joystick which can move left and right, and three buttons. (The arcade control panel has a set of three buttons on each side of the joystick, to accommodate both left- and right-handed players.) Pushing the joystick left or right will allow you to turn left or right, changing which doors you are looking at. Since the bank is circular, scrolling past 1 or 12 wraps to the other side. You cannot turn to look at other doors unless all three of the doors in front of you are closed. Also, doors cannot open while you are turning -- you must pause briefly to allow doors to open. While you are turning, you can hold the joystick left or right to continue turning, and no doors will be able to open. If you are quick, you can change directions or even fire a quick shot without letting the doors open. This is useful for disarming dynamite placed on a door (especially one you don't want to open). The three buttons are used to fire a shot at the left, middle, or right door, respectively. You do not need to aim. Your shots always go to the white gun sight in front of the door. You can shoot at more than one door simultaneously, and this will sometimes be necessary to survive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Cast of Characters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (The names of the characters are translated from the original Sega Japanese game flyer.) Characters you encounter when the doors open are: * Mary: a female townsperson in either a red or blue dress * Sam: a male townsperson with a mustache, dressed in a brown vest and blue shirt or a black vest and green shirt * John: a male, clean shaven townsperson dressed in brown and blue or green and black * Short Man: a short man carrying a stack of hats on a box (bonus chance) * Bank Robber: an outlaw dressed in red, blue, or green, wearing a bandanna over his face * Boss: an outlaw dressed in red with white chaps, wielding two guns and wearing a bandanna The colors of the characters' and outlaws' clothing are deliberately the same to force you to make quick reactions about who to shoot and who not to. You must not shoot any of the townspeople, or you will lose a life. If you do this, there is a hilarious animation where the townsperson ends up on the ground with singed hair, chewing you out and pointing at a portrait of an outlaw to remind you what they look like. [Exception: If an outlaw has tied up a male townsperson in chains, you can safely shoot the chains ONCE to set the man free -- this earns bonus points.] When an outlaw appears, there is a !! symbol above is head, and his gun is holstered. He will wait a short time and then draw his gun. When this happens, a timer appears above his head that begins counting up. You must shoot the outlaw before his timer reaches a certain value (ranging between 0:15 and 0:40 time units, depending on the round number). If you fail to shoot the outlaw in the time allotted, he will shoot back and kill you, costing you a life. This game follows the tradition of Wild West gun fights. You can shoot an outlaw as soon as you see him (before he draws his gun and the timer appears), but according to the customs of the Old West, this tactic is unfair. Shooting an outlaw unfairly does not cost you a life, but you will only get 100 points for your trouble. To get the most points, you must shoot only after the outlaw has drawn his gun. The faster you shoot, the more points you earn. Maximum points are awarded for a perfect shot, where you hit the outlaw at the exact instant he draws his gun (0:00 time units). Normal outlaws come in three types: blue, green, and red. The blue outlaws seem to react the slowest and are worth the fewest points. The green outlaws react a bit faster. The red outlaws react quickest of all and are worth the most points. You can kill any normal outlaw with a single shot. In later rounds, the blue and green outlaws dodge to the side to avoid your shots. They can also appear from the side of the door instead of the center. While the outlaw is dodging and not lined up with the gun sight, neither of you can harm the other. You must wait until he stops dodging and is lined up with the gun sight before you can shoot him. Be careful, as the outlaw draws and shoots very quickly once he stops dodging, so time your shot carefully. After round 1, you will begin to see boss outlaws. Boss outlaws are red also, but are easy to spot because they wear white pants (chaps). These enemies are extremely dangerous because they carry two guns instead of one. You must shoot bosses twice to kill them. The first shot will only cause the boss to bobble and drop his gun. He will very quickly draw his other gun and try to shoot you with it. You must then fire a second shot to kill him before he gets you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Events ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When one of the bank doors opens, one of the following events will happen: 1. Nothing happens, and the door immediately closes again. This is just to mess with your head. 2. A short man appears carrying a box with hats stacked on top (bonus chance). Note that the short man does not appear on your "radar" - this is why a bonus is given. To earn bonus points, quickly shoot the hats (you cannot hit the man, as he is shorter than your gun sight). If you shoot all of the hats, the man opens his box. If a bag of money has already been deposited at the window, the box will contain a jack-in-the-box, and no additional points are awarded. If no money bag has been deposited at the window, the man's box will contain a money bag which he deposits, and is always scored at 1000 points. In early rounds, the man carries three hats, later increasing to five. The amount of time you have to shoot the hats before the door closes decreases in later rounds also, so you have to be quick to get the money bag. It is always possible to shoot all of the hats, but you have to react *very* quickly in later rounds. I believe there is a bug in the game with the bonus man in the early rounds -- when he only has three hats, you are correctly credited for 600 points (100+200+300), but the game shows 300+400+500 on the screen (which is wrong). 3. A townsperson enters and deposits a bag of money. Don't shoot, but keep an eye out for tricks (see #5 and #6 below). When a male townsperson turns around to leave, a wanted poster with a number may appear on the back of his vest. This means that a red outlaw is hiding somewhere behind that door and you will see him when that door opens next. (It is possible that the bonus man or a hostage will come through the door before the red outlaw does, but the red outlaw will always appear before the door closes again.) 4. An outlaw enters. Shoot him before he gets you!! 5. A townsperson enters the door and pauses, looking like he or she will deposit money. However, he or she is actually being used as a hostage by an outlaw who is hiding behind. The townsperson will raise his or her hands and scream "HELP!" and then dodge aside. An outlaw will always appear immediately afterward. When the customer first appears, the animation is the same as for a "normal" deposit, so be careful. You must wait until the townsperson moves aside and you have a clear shot before you fire. Otherwise, you could hit the townsperson instead and lose a life. Shooting the outlaw may allow you to rescue the townsperson and earn a bonus. Either way, no bag of money will be deposited. This event does not occur in round 1 on Easy difficulty, but increases in frequency thereafter. John (the clean shaven man) is never used as a hostage and will always make a normal deposit when he appears. 6. A male townsperson (always Sam) appears, tied up with chains (presumably by one of the dastardly outlaws). In this case, shooting Sam ONCE will break the chains and free him. Freeing Sam this way will cause him to deposit three 1000 point money bags. If you don't free Sam quickly, the door will close and you will lose your chance at the bonus -- also, an outlaw will usually appear immediately after. You do NOT lose a life if you fail to rescue Sam. (NOTE: If the first money bag deposited is enough to finish the round, the round ends immediately and you don't get credit for the other two. This event does not occur in round 1 on Easy difficulty.) 7. In an extremely rare event, the door may open to reveal a female townsperson and the short (bonus) man together. As the woman turns away, the wind blows her skirt up (or the short man grabs it -- it's hard to tell), and the short man apparently gets a very nice view as the woman says "OH!". (Seriously folks, I can't make this stuff up.) I've seen this a couple of times but I don't know what exact conditions are necessary to cause this event. It could be completely random. Nothing offensive is ever shown to the player, as apparently only the short man is actually short enough to benefit from the view. It's entirely possible that an outlaw could blow you away while you're watching this sequence of events unfold, so don't let yourself get distracted. By the way, you get no points, moneybags, or other rewards for this. After an event happens, the door will either close (more likely in early rounds) or the door will stay open, and another event will occur. On the higher rounds, several events can happen in sequence before the door can close again. Two other events can happen at doors you are not currently watching. Both events occur when a red outlaw is left waiting at a door for a while. * If the window has not received a deposit yet, he will sneak into the bank and plant dynamite on the door. When this happens, a ticking timer will show in the clock at the top of the screen, starting at 99 and counting down to 0. A bomb icon will flash above the door where the dynamite was set. You must quickly turn to that door and disarm the dynamite by shooting the fuse. If you fail to do so, the dynamite will explode when the timer reaches 0, and you will lose a life. This can happen on any round, even the first. * If the window has received a deposit, instead of planting dynamite, the red outlaw will open the door and steal all the money at that teller window (fortunately, you don't lose points for this). When this happens, you will see the dollar sign in that door's indicator flash briefly, and then disappear. When that door next opens, the red outlaw will always be waiting, (though it is possible that the bonus man or a hostage may appear first. The outlaw will be carrying the bag of money he stole, and shooting the outlaw (fairly or not) will recover the lost money, scoring 1000 points. (Note that even though this outlaw is always of the red variety, you never need to worry about shooting him twice -- he is holding the money in his other hand, so he can't draw another gun to shoot you again.) Apparently, the outlaws are not smart enough to *run away with the money* once they steal it (unless you die, in which case the outlaw gets away and will not be waiting for you). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Scoring ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Money Deposits * Deposit Points: When a customer deposits a bag of money at a window (empty or not), you gain points: 1st bag of money deposited at a particular window: 200 points 2nd bag of money deposited at the same window: 400 points 3rd bag of money deposited at the same window: 600 points 4th bag of money deposited at the same window: 800 points 5th or subsequent bag of money deposited at the same window: 1000 points * Teller Bonus: Bank tellers sit at some of the windows. Every bag of money deposited at one of these windows causes the teller to hold up a sign, giving you a 1000 point bonus in addition to any other points earned. * Secret Bonus: Some of the male customers secretly carry a second money bag hidden under their hats. The extra bag of money is always worth 1000 points. Shooting Outlaws Shooting an outlaw scores points based on how quick you are. When you shoot an outlaw, a wanted poster appears with the "reward" on it, showing the score you earned. Time Elapsed Reward ------------------------------------------------------- Unfair 100 points 0:00 2000 ~ 5000 points (see below) 0:01-0:09 1000 points 0:10-0:14 800 points 0:15-0:19 700 points 0:20-0:24 600 points 0:25-0:29 300 points 0:30-0:34 200 points 0:35+ 100 points For the normal outlaws, use the table above to determine the reward. A perfect shot (0:00) on a blue outlaw awards 2000 points. A perfect shot on a green outlaw awards 3000 points, and a perfect shot on a red outlaw is worth 5000 points plus a letter in EXTRA. A perfect shot also causes the outlaw to appear unmasked in the "WANTED" poster that appears: * Unfair shot: A generic looking outlaw of the appropriate color, wearing a bandanna over his mouth * Normal shot (0:01 or greater): A generic looking outlaw of the appropriate color, wearing a bandanna over his mouth * Perfect shot on red outlaw (1st shot): A clean-shaven man with brown hair * Perfect shot on red outlaw (2nd shot): A brown-haired man with a dark mustache and an eye patch * Perfect shot on green outlaw: A clean-shaven man with brown hair -- a huge mop of hair completely covers his left eye * Perfect shot on blue outlaw: A man with very dark hair and a mustache For the red boss outlaw with two guns, you need to shoot him twice to kill him. In this case, your reward is the total of the points for each of the two shots, based on when they hit him. For example, if you hit the boss outlaw with the first shot at 0:17 and the second at 0:01 you would get 700 + 1000 = 1700 points. If your second shot is perfect, you still get 5000 points, but you do *NOT* get the letter in EXTRA. You cannot kill a boss in one shot. Rescue Bonuses: * If an outlaw holds the Sam in the blue shirt, brown vest, and mustache hostage, shooting the outlaw (fairly or not) can possibly rescue him and award a 200 point bonus. A special animation will play where the man pops his head back in the door and holds up his hand in thanks. Saving the Sam dressed in green and black or John (the clean-shaven man in brown) does not seem to award any bonus. * If an outlaw holds the Mary in the blue dress hostage, shooting the outlaw (fairly or not) can possibly rescue her and award a 500 point bonus. A special animation will play where the woman will pop her head back in the door and wink at you. Saving the Mary in the red dress does not seem to award a bonus. * Shooting a townsperson who is tied up in chains causes them to deposit 3 money bags, and they are scored at 1000 points each. (Yes, if this occurs at a window with a teller, you get the additional 1000 point teller bonus on each one (for a total of 6000 points). Special Bonuses: * Shooting the fuse of burning dynamite scores 100 points. * Shooting an outlaw holding a stolen money bag instantly returns the stolen money and awards a 1000 point bonus. End of Round Bonuses: At the end of the round, bonus points are awarded for several things: * Dollars Bonus: Points are awarded depending on the total number of money bags that were deposited during the round: 1st - 12th bags of money collected: 50 points each 13th - 24th bags of money collected: 100 points each 25th - 36th bags of money collected: 150 points each 37th - 48th bags of money collected: 200 points each Additional bags of money collected after the 48th: 300 points each * Fair Average Bonus: The times of all of your fair shots on outlaws are averaged together (unfair shots do not count for this). You get 1000 points for each 0:01 that the average is under 0:10. If your average is 0:09, you earn a 1000 point bonus. If it is 0:08, you earn 2000 points, and so on, to a maximum of 10000 points (for a perfect average of 0:00). * Time Bonus: You earn 100 points per tick of time remaining in the time bar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Tips and Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * When round 1, 3, 4, or 6 begins, a bonus man will always appear at the left door (door #4), so be ready and quickly shoot all the hats for a quick 1600 points. Round 2 will begin with a bonus man behind the middle door (door #5). Don't miss these easy points! After round 6, the bonus man does not appear at any set time (it seems be random). * To maximize your score, you will need to stay on each round as long as possible, collecting deposits and shooting outlaws. Note that point values remain constant the whole way through the game - they do NOT increase in later rounds. Be aggressive with your shots in the early rounds, trying to be perfect as often as possible to score lots of points. The basic strategy is to get deposits at 11 of the 12 windows as early as possible. Then patrol all the other windows, keeping the final window off the screen. This way you can continue to hunt outlaws for points and possibly EXTRA letters. When the time remaining bar turns red, go to the last window and get the deposit there. On the later rounds though, you may need to go for the 12th deposit a little early, as the doors can stay open a long time. * If you see an outlaw steal a bag of money, remember that door, and leave it for last, collecting deposits for all the other windows. The outlaw who stole the money at that door is guaranteed to show up at some point when the door is next opened. This allows you to pop him quickly to finish the level (a good time-saver when time is running out). Example: if you have collected deposits at all doors but number 12, and then the money at door 7 is stolen by an outlaw, go to door 12 and collect a deposit there. Then you can go around and shoot outlaws at the other doors, keeping door 7 off the screen. Then, when time begins to run out, go to door 7 and shoot the red outlaw to get the money back and finish the level. * If an outlaw steals a bag of money to drop you down to 10 or fewer windows with deposits, then get one of them back right away and leave the other one for later. The important thing is to not leave more than one window without a deposit. If time is running out, you don't want to have to try to retrieve two of them. * To get a top score, you will want to turn to face as many doors as possible with people waiting. This maximizes the number of townspeople and outlaws you see, which in turn maximizes your scoring chances. * Survival is the most important goal. In later rounds, you may be subjected to a massive barrage of outlaws all at once -- having three outlaws all on screen at once, with one or more of them boss outlaws can definitely happen! When you have multiple enemies at once, particularly if one more is dodging or is a boss, it may be best to just wipe out the enemies as quickly as possible and not worry about shooting fairly. * When a round first starts, you are vulnerable to dynamite attacks because very few windows have deposits. Try to get deposits on 11 of the 12 doors as fast as possible, and keep cycling through the doors. Don't sit in front of a certain group of doors and completely ignore the others. Pay attention to the male townspeople and watch their vests as they turn around. If a number is shown on his back with an outlaw symbol, it means that a red outlaw is at or approaching that door. Get to that door as soon as possible and take him out. Remember, the red outlaws cannot place dynamite on any door where a deposit is sitting (they will try to steal the money instead -- something that is much easier to deal with). If dynamite has been set, disarm it as soon as you can. * In later rounds, the bonus man can become a distraction. Go ahead and shoot the hats for bonus points if you have the chance. But if there are one or more outlaws on the screen, it is best to focus your energy on them. This is especially true in the later rounds when the outlaws react and shoot very quickly. * When you see the customer bound with chains, it's usually a good idea to free him for the bonus, but keep in mind that the freed man deposits the three bags of money one at a time. This keeps the door open a long time. Other doors can open while this is happening, and more outlaws can appear. If the time gauge at the bottom of the screen is getting low or dynamite has been set, it may be a good idea to not free the man in order to save time. Remember, there is no penalty for not freeing the man bound in chains. * John, the clean shaven male townsperson, is never used as a hostage or tied up in chains, so when you see him, you know he will make a normal deposit * This may be obvious, but the fair average (average amount of time taken to shoot an outlaw) only counts those you shoot fairly. If you shoot an outlaw fairly and get a great time (like 0:00 or 0:01), you can shoot as many outlaws unfairly as you want and your fair average will not change. It may be cheap, but it works. If you are going for a top score though, you will usually get more points by shooting the outlaws fairly than you will by preserving a good fair average by popping outlaws unfairly. * The bank tellers move around once you scroll them off the screen. If a teller is sitting at door 6 and you scroll door 6 off the screen and come back to it later that round, he may not still be sitting there. The tellers do not move as long as you are watching them, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Credits and Copyright Notice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have information on the arcade version of Bank Panic that is not covered in this FAQ, please e-mail me, and you will be credited in future versions. If you provide information or ask a question about something already covered in this FAQ, it is very likely to be ignored. Hate mail or other harassing e-mails may be referred to your ISP. This document may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright (c) 2006-2007 Jason Horner, all rights reserved.