Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 20:42:53 +0800 mail address: wan_zafran@yahoo.com site address: http://members.xoom.com/Wan_Zafran/ This FAQ was made by me, Wan Zafran. Using it on a website without my permission is allowed, but only if all parts from this FAQ remains unchanged or my name undisturbed. If I do find it plagarised, I shall have to take legal actions on you. Thank ye for using this FAQ. FAQ İ 1999 Wan Zafran. Chocobo Racing is İ 1998 SQUARESOFT, Inc. ______________________________________________________________________ Updates: v1.0 - First FAQ. Only added menu. v1.1 - Added characters, and magic. v1.2 - All of the tracks have been added. v1.3 - Parameter Edit mode added. v1.4 - Tips and Hints added. v1.5 - Public release of FAQ. ___ __ _______ _ _ _ _______ CHOCOBO | \ /__\ / ____/ | | | \ | | / ____/ <<<<<<<<<| | | / __ \ | | | | | \| | | | ___ FAQ | / / / \ \ \ \_____ | | | |\ | | |___|| v1.4 |_|\_\ /_/ \_\ \_____/ |_| |_| \__| \______/ This racing game remains different from the rest, to be able to use some FF characters and magic with abilities. It's funner than most of the racing games I have bought, and I think it's one of the high ranking on my game shelf. Beat Story Mode, and you'll get an even better chance of winning. I loosely based this FAQ on Joe VanPelt's FAQ, and I give half of the credit inside here to him, for I cross-checked some of the info in here with his FAQ. If you have a tip you can submit here, please do. Credit will be given to the first person with the first tip. MENU Some of the menu might be a bit confusing for beginners, so here's what they are: |Time| |GP| |VS| ___________ |Story| | Chocobo's | |Relay| | Face | |Option| ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ |Data| Option: Let's you configure the settings, the translations from top to bottom are Course Records, Controller Configuration, Soundroom, Movie, Sound: Mono or Stereo, something I don't understand and Exit. Story: Story mode is like an RPG mode, you find different persons on your way, and since they have glowing crystals (glowing belly for Fat Chocobo), they join you, and in the end, you summon Bahamut. It's fun, it's like a pull-me storybook. Oh, and don't forget, if you beat this, you get to edit your character in Parameter Edit. Time: I don't play this much, it's really boring. Just try to set a new record on a track, that's all. GP: One of the best options SQUARE has put in, it is Grand Prix mode (bet you thought you had to gain points like in Gold Saucer, huh?). You choose a character, and then you choose the 4 different tracks. You will then race against 5 other AI (artificial)controlled opponents, unless you took 2P mode. This is great since it will test your racing skills and patience against the AI. The AI will use all sorts of magic against you (I hate Mini!), and after you win, you will get a set number of points depending on what place you got in the race. The racer with the highest number of points at the end of the 4 tracks win. VS: Play versus the AI or a friend, and this one if you just wanna boast your racing skills or try for fun. Relay: This is like passing a baton, you race around the track you chose for a certain amount of laps (1, 2 or 3) and when you reach your final lap for the character, you pass it on to the next character, who does another few laps, until you're done. You get to choose 3 characters with 3 different abilities. Data: Your memory card data. Top is Save, down is Load. CHARACTERS The racers in the game all have different abilities, and power which are comprised into 5 different categories: Speed, Acceleration, Grip, Drift and AGS. |Bahamut| |Fat Chocobo| |Golem| |Behemoth| |Squall| |White Mage| |Goblin| |Chocobo| |Moogle| |Black Mage| Chocobo: In the intro, he might look real fast, but in the normal game, he's one of the average characters. His Turbo ability might be of real help, however, because if you're shrunken, thrown up into the air by a magic, if you use the Turbo, he'll be able to go forward at 180-200 kph without any interruptions. He's also one of the best characters. Ability: Turbo - if you keep being at the back, use this to gain up to 180-200 kph for 3 secs. Moogle: The Moogle is a good character to use, with the problem that he's a bit too small. His normal size is just like a normal character already shrunken by 25%, which means that if somebody uses Mini3 on you, prepare to go really slow, unless its an edited character. Nevertheless, he has a great top Speed and a pretty good Grip. Ability: Fly - to fly. Great if you keep sliding over ice and grass. Black Mage: He is a beginner character, in my opinion. If in the beginning of the game, you're having a bit of a slight problem of going off track, then he's a choice to have since he can go over ice and grass without losing any speed. Ability: Magic Up - A great ability to have. It'll automatically rises the level of the magic that you have when it fully charges. Squall: A great character, great speed and everything, but he has a bit problem with brakes. And he also can't be edited when you finish the Parameter Edit, really an annoying thing. How to get him? Finish Story mode twice, and a new challenger will come. Beat him on the FF8 circuit with your new edited character, and he'll be available on GP, Relay, Story and VS mode. Ability: Gunblade - if you're not first, using this will make you go Turbo until you go to 1st place, and can only be stopped with a level 3 elemental magic (Fire, Ice, Bolt, etc.) or Mega Flare. Behemoth: I don't use him much, but I know that he has more speed than the Golem, but just a bit more. His grip is better than the Golem too. Ability: Wreck - shorter time Turbo, with the ability to wreck other people's car. Golem: Great character, but low top-speed. Overall nearly a Behemoth clone, but he is weaker in all aspects. Ability: Tire - if you hit a wall, he'll reflect back onto the track with no slowdown in speed. Great on FF8 circuit, since the Track is small, and you'll hit the walls constantly. Fat Chocobo: This guy is great. My friend built him up, and he proved a constant challenge to me everytime because of his speed, and grip. He turns on corners like a professional, his brakes are powerful and he has the best acceleration, but not-so-good top speed. A character worth building up. Ability: Green hand - if you're hit by magic, you'll gain that magic you were hit by. Bahamut: One of the best characters, in my opinion. He has a great top Speed, great AGS, good Brakes and Drift, but his Grip needs a bit of editting. If you edit him, be sure to have his AGS, Speed, and Grip fully powered for the near best character! Ability: Mega Flare - Fire 3 magic on every opponent. One of the strongest, and they take a long time to recover, practically enough for you to go to 1st place. And best of all, it's unblockable! White Mage: A beginner character. Practically just the same as the Black Mage, if not for her speed which is slightly higher. Ability: Shield - A shield which will absorb any magic, except Mega Flare. Goblin: A very fast character, but not-so-good Grip and Brakes. He is one of the best when you manage to master him. Ability: Hand - steal an opponent's magic. He usually steals from the person in 1st place, but can also randomly steal somebody elses magic. MAGIC SPELLS A great thing from the FF series was made a feature here. Magic can either help you, or either disrupt your opponents race. One of the best features in the game, however, is to raise the Magic's level. The higher the level, the more powerful the attack or boost. Here's the list: Fire: The basic of all magic, elemental power. Fire2: Stronger than normal, homes the person in front of you. Fire3: Best, homes everybody to the person in 1st place. Ice: Drops 3 ice pools. Ice2: Several ice pools, pretty good. Ice3: One of the best magic in the game, hits everybody. Bolt: Bolt hits opponent. Bolt2: 3 bolt hits opponent, rarely dodged. Bolt3: Undodgeable, and has 6 bolts. Great. Speed: Turbo for 2 secs. Speed2: Turbo for 4 secs. Speed3: Turbo for 7 secs. Reflect: Reflect any magic, except for Mega Flare. Death: Countdown from 10 to 0, then explodes on opponent. You can pass it to another racer by hitting their car. ?: Random spell. Ultima: Short stop on opponent. Ultima2: A bouncing on air. Ultima3: VERY long delay, great for getting back in place. Mini: Become 25% smaller. Mini2: Become 50% smaller. Mini3: Become 75% smaller, great to get back in line! TRACKS Cid's Test Course Difficulty: 1/5 Help: There is nothing impossible with this course! The easiest in the game! Moogle Forest Difficulty: 1/5 Help: If you use a flying character, don't use the brakes at all, or if it's a land character, use the brake if needed. The Ruins Difficulty: 2/5 Help: Well, there's nothing much to be said about here, but when the path splits two, take the right one. Goblin Mines Difficulty: 2/5 Quite easy, and when you reach a cave with a long turnaround, look for the shortcut on your left. Black Mage's Mansion Difficulty: 2/5 This place is the beginning of the hard tracks, and using the brakes are absolutely necessary here. Hungry Land Difficulty: 2/5 One of the easiest in the game, but beware after the 4 corners in a row, if you slow-down, you'll fall off and have to go again! White Mage's track Difficulty: 3/5 A quite difficult track, mainly because of the winding corners. The best is Fat Chocobo, with the Turbo ability to speed up. Behemoth's Volcano Difficulty: 4/5 This is quite a hard level, but can be easily finished if you're a veteran Chocobo racer. However, it can be a bit hard to corner because of the small track. Tap the brake button a few times. Bahamut's Course Difficulty: 5/5 Length: A very hard level to new racers, it's a must to use the brake button here. The best is Fat Chocobo with the Magic Up ability. Try not to get the Speed magic or the Gunblade ability because turboing will only bring you more disadvantage than advantage. FF8 Circuit Difficulty: 5/5 Also another very hard course, the track is really small, so you have to press the brake button lotsa times. Squall is probably the best here... PARAMETER EDIT Parameter Edit is a very useful feature of Chocobo Racing. It lets you edit your character to your very taste. Here I list from top to down on what you have to do to edit a character. 1. Cid and Chocobo will show how many points you get, depending on how well you played the race. 2. Choose a character and their color. 3. From top to down, they are: Speed, Acceleration, Grip, Drift and AGS. --> Speed - Fill it up to 20 for normal speed of 180-200 kph. --> Accel - Not much needed, shows how fast your speed goes up. --> Grip - How you go around the track without sliding. --> Drift - If its 0, you'll slide like ice every time you brake. Shows how good you can slide with the brake button. --> AGS - How fast your ability bar goes up. 4. Take the left Japanese text to test your character, and on the right to name your character. 5. After that, press R1 a few times to get to the English letters, and name your characters. Save. 6. In any mode other than Story mode, go to Slotx (the slot where you saved the character) and load your character. You'll use him in the race. TIPS & HINTS Usually in racing games (Daytona, etc), I NEVER use the brake. Why? Simply because it just slows down my car. Well, in this game, the brake button plays an important function. You risk to have your car slowed down or other risks, so use the brake button when needed. Magic is a great thing in this game, but you can be overly-dependant on it after a while. The best magic I've seen is: Ultima3, Ice3, Mini3 and Death. These are one of the best, and use them to your advantage. Bahamut is a certainly great character, but his Mega Flare ability takes a really long time to charge. However, his AGS bar goes up very quickly. So take the Magic-Up ability, and get Fire and charge up to Fire3. Use it, and it has practically the same effect of Mega Flare! _____________________________________________________________________ That's all in this version. See ya in the next! - Zafran aka NiGHTS FAQ İ 1999 Wan Zafran. All rights reserved.