+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | B O S C O N I A N | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ GAME: BOSCONIAN PLATFORM: ARCADE GENRE: ARCADE SHOOTER CREATOR: NAMCO licensed to MIDWAY Copyright 1981 AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ: Kevin Butler AKA War Doc E-MAIL: kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com FAQ VERSION: 1.06 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS UNIT I: INTRODUCTION 1. Legal Stuff 2. Version Information 3. Acknowledgements 4. Welcome 5. Overview UNIT II: GAME INFORMATION 6. The Game 6.1 The Controls 6.2 The Playing Field 6.3 Scoring 6.4 Game Versions UNIT III: STRATEGIES 7. Playing the Game UNIT IV: CONCLUSION 8. Conclusion _______________________________________________________________________________ To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following: 1. Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find. 2. Press CTRL-C 3. Press CTRL-F 4. Press CTRL-V 5. Press CTRL-F 5. You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter. _______________________________________________________________________________ ************** ********************************* U N I T I ********************************** ************** +=================+ | 1. LEGAL STUFF |============================================================ +=================+ This guide may 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 advanced permission from the author. Use of this guide on any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by Kevin Butler. Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this work or to display it: www.gamefaqs.com www.cheats.de faqs.ign.com If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask. Save yourself the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask a simple "Can I post your guide on <insert site>?". If you wish to use info in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so. If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please e-mail me. If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please e-mail me. Just have Bosconian as the subject so I know it isn't another kooky vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have new friends. +=========================+ | 2. VERSION INFORMATION |==================================================== +=========================+ Version 1.0 8/27/03: A guide is born. Version 1.02 8/29/03: 1. Fixed the playing field picture. 2. Fixed up a couple of strategies. Version 1.05 8/29/03: 1. Added data differentiating the old and new Namco versions of this game. 2. Revised the scoring table to put the proper names of the enemies. 3. Renamed the screen items to their proper names. Version 1.06 8/30/03: Fixed a couple of errors. +======================+ | 3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |======================================================= +======================+ The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ possible: My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard) Namco for making a great arcade game GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ +=============+ | 4. WELCOME |================================================================ +=============+ Welcome to my FAQ for Bosconian. Since the game has you continuously cycling through space battles, there is no walkthrough per se. Instead it will be broken up into the game itself and strategies for survival. Input is appreciated along with constructive criticism. If you wish to e-mail me thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing things, other strategies, etc., feel free. Make sure you put Bosconian as the subject. If you don't, I'm liable to discard the e-mail as spam. +==============+ | 5. OVERVIEW |=============================================================== +==============+ Bosconian was another in a long line of games in the partnership of Namco and Midway. Bosconian took the space theme and created something a little more quickly paced. It was the first game to feature the continue function. This enabled players to go as far as they wanted as long as they had the quarters. The game itself never quite gained a real wide following since other Namco/ Midway games were still drawing a lot of business. A couple of these notable games were Pac Man and Galaga. Still, the game play proved to be unique since one was able to "wrap around" the screen to the other side giving one the feeling that there were no size limits in the game. Although the enemy fighters never fire on your ship, they move faster and attempt to ram it. Other hazards included asteroids and mines to ensure that this would be a battle to the death. Good luck in fulfilling your mission. *************** ******************************** U N I T II ********************************** *************** +==============+ | 6. THE GAME |=============================================================== +==============+ Bosconian is a two-dimensional arcade shooter style game. You are responsible for destroying all the space stations during a round. To frustrate your attempts are enemy fighters, space debris, enemy formations, and the space stations themselves. If you make it through that round, many more await you. Being an intergalactic hero isn't all that it's cracked up to be. ____________________ / 6.1 The Controls /__________________________________________________________ -------------------- The controls on this game are very easy. It may, though, take just a little bit of time to get used to them. - An eight-way joystick - A fire button _________________________ / 6.2 The Playing Field /_____________________________________________________ ------------------------- Bosconian consists of one playing field. The playing field itself is broken up into parts. You have the main screen that shows the small part of space your fighter is in. On the right side is a radar display which only displays the positions of the space stations and any enemy formations coming to attack you. Right above that is the current condition which can be GREEN, YELLOW, or RED. Above the left corner is the FORMATION heading. When an enemy formation is detected, it will display that formations configuration. The playing screen looks like this (of course, larger then normal): +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ENEMY BASE | | | | | | /-\ /-\ | | | | | | | | | | / \-/ MISSILE \-/ \ | | | / / \ BAY / \ \ | | | /_\/____+--+V +--+___\/-\ | | | | |___/ |/\| \__| |<-CANNON | | | \-/\ \ |\/| / \-/ | | | \ \ +--+ +--+ / / | | | \ \ / \ / / | | | \/-\ /-\ / | | | | | | | | FORMATION | | \-/ \-/ +----------------------| | | CURRENT CONDITION | | \ / +----------------------| | \/<-P-TYPE | RADAR | | MISSILE | | | | | | | | | | /|\ | . .<-ENEMY | | |<-YOUR FIGHTER | . STATION | | | . OR | | | . ENEMY | | | FORMATION | | | . | | | | | | . | | | | | | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ You control your ship through these screens. _______________ / 6.3 Scoring /_______________________________________________________________ --------------- Scoring in this game is relatively simple: I-Type Missile (Looks like fighter) : 50 points P-Type Missile (Looks like boomerang) : 60 points E-Type Missile (Looks like Enemy Base Missile): 70 points Space Rocks : 10 points Mines : 20 points Spy Ship (announced by synthesized voice : 200-400 points stating "Spy Ship Sighted") Enemy Station Cannon : 200 points Enemy Station Missile (E-Type Missile) : See Missile Type scores Enemy Station : 1500 points Enemy Formation : 500 or 1000 points Control Fighter in Formation (The off-colored fighter) : 90 points Other Fighters in Formation (One of the three : See Missile Type scores types of missiles) You start the game with 1, 2, 3, or 5 fighters. You get a free man (maybe) as follows: 15,000 and 50,000 20,000 and 70,000 10,000, 50,000, and every 50,000 points thereafter 15,000, 50,000, and every 50,000 points thereafter 15,000, 70,000, and every 70,000 points thereafter 20,000, 70,000, and every 70,000 points thereafter 30,000, 100,000, and every 100,000 points thereafter _____________________ / 6.4 Game Versions /_________________________________________________________ --------------------- There are five versions of this arcade game that were made. Namco made three and Midway made two of them. They are all the same except the new Namco version. Therefore, I will refer to these as the new Namco and other versions (the two Namco and two Midway versions). The reason I am mentioning this is due to the fact that the Enemy Base setup is different between these two versions although the strategies talked about in Chapter 7 are the same. Both versions have the same Enemy Base setups, but they are in different order as the rounds go up. This is also true regarding where your fighter starts at. For example, the setup for RD 4 on the other versions is the same as the setup for RD 6 on the new Namco. Below I have put the radar pictures for the first five rounds of both the new Namco and the other versions. This way, you can tell what version you are playing (x is where you start at): +----------------+ | OTHER VERSIONS | +----------------+ +------------+ +-------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+ +------------+ | | | | | | |. | | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | . | | . | | | | . | | | | . . | | | | . | | . | | . | | . . | | . | | . . | | | | . | | . . | | . | | . . . . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | | | . | | | | . | | | | x | | | | x | | . | | x | | | | x | | | | . x | | | +------------+ +-------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+ +------------+ +-----------+ | NEW NAMCO | +-----------+ +------------+ +-------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+ +------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | . | | . | | . | | | | . | | . . | | . | | . . | | | | .. | | . x . | | . | | . x . | | . | | . | | . . . | | . | | . . | | . | | | | | | . | | . | | . | | | | | | . . | | | | x | | x | | | | x | | | +------------+ +-------------+ +--------------+ +--------------+ +------------+ **************** ******************************** U N I T III ********************************* **************** +======================+ | 7. PLAYING THE GAME |======================================================= +======================+ The action starts immediately as soon as you start your game. Your fighter will be put on the screen. Your radar display will show how many space stations need to be taken out. The radar doesn't show, though, all the space debris all over the place and the enemy fighters (unless they are in formation). Your fighter stays in the middle of the screen. - Be aware that the enemy missiles are faster then your ship. This means you will have to learn to use the joystick proficiently so that you can maneuver away from these enemy missiles attempting to commit suicide on your ship. - At the beginning of the round, quickly look at your radar to determine where the Enemy Stations are. Then quickly figure out a systematic way of destroying them since time is one's enemy in this game. Just because they are lined up in a row doesn't mean that the missile bays are facing the same direction. - By that same token, your ship fires lasers from both the front and back. This means if anything is trying to "sneak" up on you, they won't stand a chance. - Use the space debris to your advantage. You score points regardless of whether you hit the enemy, or if you use other means to assist, such as the mines or rocks. Just keep in mind that the space debris doesn't return until the next round. - The Enemy Stations can be destroyed two ways: - The first way is to fire a shot directly into their missile bay. This is easy to do on the first two rounds. By round three, the missile bay has a door which opens and closes to make it more of a challenge. After round three, the station will fire a missile if your fighter is in the missiles path. You can easily destroy this missile with your ship. - The other way is to destroy all six cannons around the space station. This method also enables you to get more points in the long run. To do this, though, means you will have to deal with more enemy missiles since you have to constantly loop around to hit the cannons. In addition, the pods fire back on your ship. - Enemy Stations can be oriented with the missile bay facing left/right or up/down. Keep this in mind if you are taking on multiple stations in one area. While you are pounding on one Enemy Station, three more may be firing at your ship to prevent you from destroying your target. - The warning conditions tell you how safe it is for the moment: - GREEN means no enemies within view. - YELLOW means enemies present. - RED means that you have taken too long and the enemy is now moving twice as fast to ram you. - You will also hear synthesized voice prompts stating either "Alert, Alert" or "Condition Red" regarding these conditions. - At regular intervals, a formation of enemy missiles will head toward your ship. You can see what the formation of these enemy missiles are in by looking at the area above the top, left corner of the radar. This will show you if they are in a line, checkerboard pattern, etc. You will also see this formation (represented by a red dot) on your radar screen. Some quick tips for tangling with formations: - Enemy formations always appear as a control missile with four missiles. - If you destroy the control missile, the other missiles will spread out. You can still destroy them but it is much harder to get the points for taking out the entire formation. - Try to maneuver in such a way as to be able to rapidly hit all the missiles. This is of course barring the fact there is no other things (rocks and mines) in the way that can destroy these missiles. This works well when they are in a line. If they are in a checkerboard pattern, you will have to move back and forth so you can hit everything but the control missile. - A synthesized voice stating "Battle Stations" will announce when a formation is present. - As mentioned before, if you take too long to take out the Enemy Stations, the condition will go to RED and enemy missiles will pour into the area with the only intent of ramming your ship. You will know this also by the sound the machine makes. - Continue to fly erratic patterns (unless you are going after Enemy Stations or formations) because the enemy missiles do move quicker then you do plus you will probably be able to take them out more effectively. **************** ******************************** U N I T IV ********************************* **************** +================+ | 8. CONCLUSION |============================================================= +================+ This was another one of those games that was relegated to a corner while the more popular games took center stage. Considering the games that were out, it was no wonder that this game didn't get played a lot. The game itself did prove to be a challenge. The premise of the game was easy, it was just trying to execute that premise that was a real pain. Instead of the quiet explosions of other games, the fighters and space stations on this game really did go out with a bang. This couple with the fact that everything had one purpose during the game: That purpose being to destroy your ship. The action was fast paced and you couldn't let your guard down for a moment or you would end up as space debris. It seemed like quick reflexes and just plain luck enabled somebody to survive. I know I spent many hours playing this game because it could be quite addictive. Unfortunately, it is very rare to find this machine anywhere. How- ever, through the miracle of emulation, a whole new generation is realizing what we "old" folks enjoyed those many years ago. In addition, www.shockwave.com is bringing many of these classic games back. Check out their site to see what ones are there. I hope this guide helps you in being able to get the most amount of gameplay for this game. If you do have other ideas or thoughts, please e-mail me and share them. Who knows, maybe I'll start a Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough people ask the same questions. Anyway, thank you again for reading this guide. To see other FAQ's I have written please go to: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html ~~~ No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~