From: tclark@hptc.mentorg.com (Gear Head)
Subject: Game Gear FAQ - 1st edition
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 18:46:55 GMT
Organization: Watsamatta U
Keywords: 
Followup-To: 

Here is a copy of the new (and rather puny) Game Gear FAQ. If you
have any questions relating to GG, or hints/tips/spoilers that others 
might be interested in, please e-mail me at the address below.

Thanks and enjoy..

tony



		   SEGA Game Gear Frequently Asked Questions
			    Updated January 11, 1993
				 by: Tony Clark
			 e-mail: tony_clark@mentorg.com


DISCLAIMER: This FAQ is an independent publication, offered free of charge. The
information contained herein is provided without any warranty, written or 
otherwise. The author nor any of the individual contributors will assume any 
responsibility for the acuracy of the information within this FAQ.

				 Contributors:
				   Tony Clark
				  Laura Kozma
				 Malcolm Brown
				  David Blume
				  


================================================================================
Section I: Unanswered Questions

[ This section will contain various questions which have not been answered. ]
[ If you can provide an answer to any of these questions please send e-mail ]
[ to the author.                                                            ]

1.  Does anyone know what titles are in the near future for the Game Gear?
    Specifically, does anyone know if either Rampart or CyberBowl (the two
    Lynx titles I'd love to see available for Game Gear) are under development?

2.  How do you fly using the glider in Sonic 2 Game Gear 
    Version. Also, any hints?!!!!

3.  In Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion Game Gear Version, how 
    do you kill the Chocolate looking dude in the Candy world? Also, any 
    hints would be appreciated.

4.  Are there any good RPGs out?  Can someone recommend any titles?  I've seen 
    Dragon Crystal, but after playing Nethack 3.0, this cartridge seems more
    like a lesson in poor programming/design than anything else.

5.  Are there any strategy games?  Anything similar to empire/risk/civilization?
    Do any of these have a save-game option?

6.  What are the sports games like?  Are there any thoughts on this?

7.  I own Sonic, Sonic II, Marble Madness, and Columns.  Excluding random
    shooter and fighting games, what else is available that's worth buying?
    I can't seem to find more than ten-fifteen different games, most of which
    don't look worthwhile.  Are there really so few games available?

================================================================================
Section II: Game Hints and Spoilers

================================================================================
SONIC I

Q:  In Sonic 1, where are the 3rd, 4th and 5th gems?  Any clues on how to get to
    the sixth gem?  (On the blimp.)

3rd gem:  go to (I think!)  the second waterfall.  Go to the platform underneath
	  you.  The third gem is reached by jumping on a log to the left.

4th gem:  It's to the left when you are almost done with one of the rounds
	  (can't remember if it's 1 or 2.)

5th gem:  This one is reached by taking one of the tubes.

6th gem:  This one I actually remember quite well, as I had to go to Usenet to
	  get the answer!  At the start of the round, jump a little bit towards
	  the left.  You'll land on a platform and be on your way to the
	  emerald.


================================================================================
SONIC II

Q:  What is the Level Select sequence for Game Gear Sonic II?

1. During the "running tails" opening screen, press and hold the start button.
2. During the next screen, press and hold buttons 1 and two, and press
   south-west on the directional button.  Hold everything until you hear a
   beep.
3. Let go and press start to get the the level-select screen.


Q:  How do I get unlimited lives in Sonic II?

This is a common feature of Sonic 2.  There are two free Sonics monitors on Act
1!  The big acts for free Sonics have to be Act 1 of level 4 and Act 1 of level
5.  The original Sonic game let you obtain these monitors only once.  Once you
were killed, the monitors were gone forever.

In Act 2 of the first level of Sonic 2 on the Game Gear you can generate
unlimited lives since there is a bug/feature which means that the extra life
icon is available even if you have been killed on that act before.  In act 2 of
level 1 it is easy to get 100 rings so you get the extra life and collect 100
lives and kill yourself, and start over.  Thus you gain two and lose one for
each attempt.

In Level 6 the second round of this is another ideal place to restock on Sonics!
There will be a plunger on a hill after you've passed the "Martians" and the
right- left-up maze.  Press down on the D-button to go into the super fast mode.
There will be a free Sonic at the top.  Go to the right.  There are rings
galore.  I think there are a hundred rings here!  Go back to the left.  There is
another free Sonic.  Go down and to the right.  There's a free Sonic here too.


Q:  Where are the chaos Emeralds in Sonic II?

All of the emeralds will be found in the second act of
the first 5 zones.

Zone I emerald: To get to the end of this round, you have to take a plunger to
		the right.  Instead of doing that, take the plunger to the left.
		Go to the top of the hill, get the ring monitor, and push "down"
		on the D-button to make Sonic go really fast.  Take the rail
		cart.  Stay in the rail cart for a little bit past the end of
		the track.  Jump off towards the upper right.  The emerald is
		there.


Zone II emerald: This is one that I needed help to get.  Towards the middle of
		 the round, there will be a row in the clouds with rings.  There
		 will be one plunger next to it at a higher level, and another
		 plunger a little bit past this one.  Take the latter plunger at
		 an angle towards the right.  You'll be on an invisible platform
		 in the clouds.  Jump off the clouds past the last cloud.  There
		 will be an invisible plunger.  Take this plunger towards the
		 right (again, it helps if you are at an angle to the very
		 right) and the emerald will be at the highest point.

Zone III emerald:  There will be a maze towards the middle of the round (not the
		   first maze!).  Press the D-button left.

Zone IV emerald:  When you get towards the end, you'll see some plungers with
		  rings that you won't quite be able to reach.  Go back to the
		  plungers on the left.  Use them to get to the right.

Zone V emerald:  The last one!  (I'm not counting the emerald that you get for
		 defeating the Silver Sonic.)  This one was tricky.  Towards the
		 beginning of the round, you'll see a diagonal area that has
		 spikes coming down.  There is a hidden room here.  To access
		 it, jump to the left while you are almost at the top.  At the
		 very left, there are flywheels (with two more secret hideouts
		 to the left containing free Sonics!).  Take the flywheels up.
		 The emerald is towards your right.


Q:  How do I kill the Bosses in Sonic II?

Zone I boss: Stay away from the balls.  I thought at first the object was also
	     to hit the lobster (or plant, or whatever) but all you have to do
	     is stay away from that and the balls.  Some of the balls require
	     you to jump over them, while others need for you to go underneath
	     them when they bounce.
	      
Or try this: Another tactic is to jump over all the rocks, whether they be high
	     bouncin' or low bouncin'.  Stand near the ant-lion, and wait for
	     the rock to get very close to me, then jump *towards* the antlion.
	     In the air, *arch back* towards the center of the screen.  (So you
	     end up jumping a loop, starting and ending just in front of the
	     ant-lion.)  It takes a little practice to know when to jump for
	     different rocks, but it does work.

Zone II boss:  It helps to hit two of the small birds at once.  You'll kill 4
	       birds on the top level, then 4 more birds will come down.  After
	       that, you'll drop to the next level.  Kill the eggs so that they
	       don't have any more birds coming out of them, so you can
	       concentrate on the Mother Goose (as I like to call it).

Zone III boss:  To kill this one, jump on him when he has a ball on his head.
		This is probably the easiest boss.

Zone IV boss:  One of the worst!  The boss himself is not ridiculously hard, but
	       to get there is rather difficult, as it's all plungers and
	       spikes!  This boss is a hog that transforms himself into a golden
	       sphere that moves across the screen.  It's only safe to jump on
	       him while he's a hog.  Sometimes he'll go to one side, remain a
	       sphere, and then go back, but usually, he transforms back into a
	       hog as soon as he reaches the opposite side.

Zone V boss: It's only safe to jump on him when he does not have his spikes
	     standing up.  He will lose his spikes when he hits the wall.  There
	     will also be small white balls that fall from the sky.  I found
	     this round to be slightly easier if I didn't even try to jump on
	     him the first time, and just stayed away from the balls.  After
	     that, I could position myself better.  Also, it seems to help if
	     the jumping is done quickly and flawlessly.  I managed to do this
	     once or twice, and it substantially cut down on the number of balls
	     that fell from the sky.

Zone VI boss:  The Silver Sonic!  It's not really that difficult.  The way to
	       kill this one is by jumping on him when he's a regular Sonic, and
	       not a ball.  (Jumping on the ball doesn't hurt either, as long as
	       you're on top.)

Zone VII boss:  This was hard.  Basically, the pattern is as follows:  Jump on
		Robotnik as soon as you leave the tube.  Go back into the tube
		and go around and around.  Get out of the tube after you see the
		lightning flash the second time.  Jump on Robotnik.  Go back in
		the tube.  Go around and around, etc.
-- 
T C

e-mail: tony_clark@mentorg.com