Strategy Guide - Guide for Micro Machines V3

MICRO MACHINES V3                                            The Original FAQ
Edition 1.03                                               by Matthew Sephton
=============================================================================

CONTENTS

  1.0  Introduction
  1.1  The Game
  1.2  Graphics
  1.3  Sound Effects
  1.4  Gameplay
  1.5  Memory Cards

  2.0  Playing Concepts
  2.1  The Joypad
  2.2  Driving
  2.3  Vehicles
  2.4  Courses
  2.5  Power Ups
  2.6  Shadow Racing
  2.7  Modes of Play

  3.0  Cheats
  3.1  Hidden Options
  3.2  Shortcuts
  3.3  Small Things
  3.4  Hall of Fame

  4.0  What Do You Know?
  4.1  Contacting The Author
  4.2  Release
  4.3  E&OE
  4.4  Thanks

  5.0  Version history

---

1.0  INTRODUCTION

This FAQ aims to be the definitive source of information for the PlayStation
game Micro Machines V3, henceforth V3. It serves no other purpose.

1.1  THE GAME

V3 is the first incarnation of Micro Machines on the Sony PlayStation. It
follows a number of popular Micro Machines games on many other formats. It is
unique in being the first 3D Micro Machine game. V3 is a Codemasters game and
Micro Machines (R) is licenced from Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc.

Apparently, the game was two years in development and its release was put
back repeatedly as Codemasters tweaked the gameplay. It was worth the wait as
they have done a great job in coupling some neat 3D graphics with absolutely
fantastic gameplay. They've also given the PlayStation the great multi-player
party game it lacked.

1.2  GRAPHICS

Some of the scenery in the game is astonishing. Jaws will certainly drop when
the game is under way. Every part of the scenery is interactive in some way,
even if that just means that you bounce of an object when you drive into it.
Other objects do a bit more.

Some nice objects you may want to examine are: snails, the dog, the cat,
petri dishes, bees, dragon flies, cartons, boxes and bottles.

1.3  SOUND EFFECTS

Most scenery objects have related sound effects, some of which add quite nice
touches to a race. You might want to listen to the sound effects which go
along with: bees, dragon flies, the dog, the cat, the mobile phone, bottles,
glasses, cutlery and water or spillage hazards.

Codemasters have midi versions of some of the game music avialable on their
web site.

        MAIN MENU MUSIC
        http://www.codemasters.com/gmver5.mid

These can be played on a PC with a sound card through Windows Media Player.

1.4  GAMEPLAY

The game has a wealth of modes and options, and you'll only be able to get
the most out of it if you try them all on different occaisions. As your skill
improves, you will find that more of the game becomes appealing to you.

You would be foolish not to do the go through driving school a couple of
times to get the feel of the controls. Effective use of power ups and taking
some aggressive driving lines are a definite requirement for serious play.

Learning the courses may not be the nightmare you first think, and you will
find that previously impossible looking targets become easily obtainable with
more practice.

1.5  MEMORY CARDS

You can store as many characters on a memory card as there are free slots,
but be aware that the maximum number of players that can be loaded into the
game at once is eight. It is also worth noting that as time records are
beaten all players on the memory cards are updated. As is the case with those
already loaded when swaps occur. Updating memory cards can take some time.

It follows that the best time for a course is universal throughout all
characters on a memory card. I don't know what would happen if you mix and
match memory cards.

---

2.0  PLAYING CONCEPTS

As with any other game playing skills will improve over time. Perseverance is
the key. Character selection only dictates vehicle colour, so don't be too
fussy in choice. Each vehicle handles differently so try not to concentrate
on any particular one, unless you're trying to beat a Time Trial record.

2.1  DRIVING

It is essential that a good driving line is taken. You don't have to stay
within the marked road, but you do have to make some effort in doing laps. If
you do veer off the road then be sure to not miss out to big a distance or
the game will decide that you've been trying to take an shortcut.

Some corners are too tight to drive properly, so it is best to cut of bits
here and there. It also may be more sense to lay off the gas or even break
at some points to line yourself up with targets, gain more stability or to
cause opponents to change their driving line or think a bit.

2.2  THE JOYPAD

Here is a list of the default joypad buttons and their functions. Remember
that when sharing a controller menu operation is as normal.

 BUTTON     RACING              MENU                   SHARING
 Left       Turn left           Cursor left            P1 Brake
 Right      Turn right          Cursor right              Use power up/horn
 Up                             Cursor up                 Left
 Down                           Cursor down               Right
 Square     Brake/Reverse                              P2 Use power up/horn
 Triangle   Jump                Cancel/previous menu      Turn right
 Circle     Use power up/horn                             Brake
 Cross      Accelerate          Accept/next menu          Turn left
 L1         Jump
 R1         Jump
 L2         Drop power up
 R2         Use power up/horn
 Start      Pause menu          Accept/next menu

Note that you cannot jump when sharing controllers.

2.3  VEHICLES

Statistics are given for each vehicle at Level 1. Vehicles are ordered by the
total sum of the four characteristics, resulting in better vehicles being
listed first. There are 32 vehicles in the game.

 NAME             ACTUAL            SPEED   ACC.   GRIP   HAND    TOTAL
 Hot Rod          Model T Ford        86     86     45     70      287
 Cor!             Corvette            91     60     65     51      267
 Rattler          AC Cobra            86     80     50     50      266
 60s F1                               79     78     50     58      265
 Beamer           BMW Series 5        70     70     55     46      241
 Jam Jar          Police car          67     70     35     46      218
 Tank                                 45     44     55     35      179
 Micro            Mini                50     58     30     40      178
 Rig              Articulated lorry   57     40     30     38      165
 Speed Boat                           43     36     25     42      146
 Super Snail      Citroën 2CV         36     32     17     32      117
 Tester Roadster  Testarossa
 Locust           Lotus 7
 Surf Wagon       VW Caravanette
 Hovercraft
 APC
 Willys           Jeep
 Duck
 Peace Wagon      VW Beetle
 Dumper
 Barbarian        Monster truck
 Conemasters      Ice-cream van
 GT Racer
 Dune Buggy
 Night Boat

Getting a vehicle that is already in your collection is not a bad thing, as
it simply goes up a level. This means that it has slightly better statistics
and may also be more difficult for your opponent to win in Keepsies. Each
vehicle has distinct horns, different pitches for each player. The exception
are tanks which fire shells instead.

2.4  COURSES

There are 48 courses in total. Which courses are available to you depend on
which game mode you are playing. The courses available for Time Trials are
different than those available for Challenges which are listed below.

 BEGINNERS                       TRICKY
 Swerve Shot                     Pond Life
 Periodic Park                   Formula X
 Cheesey Jumps                   The Main Course
 Vindaloo Drive-Thru             Beached Buggies
                                 Super Bowl

 DIFFICULT                       ADVANCED
 Baguette Balance                Snail Trail
 Beware of the Dog               Learning Curves
 Right on Cue                    Tanks Alot
 Interesting Voyage              Dunes Of Hazard
 Bucket and Speed                Cereal Killer

 MASTERS                         ROCK HARD
 Must Try Harder                 Pot Luck
 Rack 'n Roll                    Bio-Hazard
 Splash 'n Dash                  Destruction Dirtbox
 Hair Of The Dog                 Pebble Dash
 Pulling Power                   Text Book Manoeuver

Use scenery to your advantage, whether it is to get you around a corner
faster (bounce off an object) or to slow you opponent down (bounce them into
the scenery). Some scenery ahs side-effects, see Section 2.5.

Watch out for uneven surfaces. Even slight imperfections, or small objects
can throw you off course or hinder your driving.

Use track-side objects to help you remmeber the layout of each course.

2.5  POWER UPS

The a few power ups available and effective use is definitley required to get
through anything past Beginner. They are the little green parcels that you
see around the courses. Multi-coloured parcels are global power ups for every
opponent on the track. There is no way to judge what a power up is before it
gets picked up.

 ITEM                  NUM   EFFECT
 Dynamite               %5   Travels in an arc trajectory. Can ricochet off
                             track side objects.
 Fire Ball              '5   Explodes any oppenent on contact. Makes it more
                             difficult to judge direction.
 Force Field             3   Repels any very close opponents away.
 Mallet                  3   Crushes any vehicle under it.
 Mines                   3   Explodes vehicle that drives over it.
 Missile                 3   Travels straight ahead on current level, so
                             avoid uneven surfaces. Can ricochet off objects.
 Turbo Boost             !   Gives vehicle burst of acceleration and speed.
 Wheels of Fire         '5   Half way to a fire ball. Sort of.

 SCENERY               NUM   SIDE EFFECT
 Green spillage         '3   Causes fire ball.
 Milk                    !   Reduces grip.
 Red spillage           '3   Causes invisibility.
 Transparent spillage    !   Slows vehicle down.

 KEY: ! = instantaneous, ' = number of seconds, % = directable.

% = By holding down on the joypad, you can fire some weapons behind you.

It is a good thing to figure out what each power up on a course is and then
decide which one is most effective with your driving method and try to pick
it up on each lap. This can be the difference between winning and losing a
race, regardless of driving skill. Some power ups are hidden away.

2.6  SHADOW RACING

When you complete a Time Trial your exact race movement is remembered and if
you race the same course again, without loading a new one, then you can race
against the shadow of your previous attempt. If you beat the shadow, then
that new performance will replace it, if you don't then it won't. Simple.

2.7  MODES OF PLAY

There are numerous modes of play, but they are all based on a couple of basic
themes. These are discussed below, along with any other modes that deserve a
special mention.

SINGLE RACES
The aim is to get all the lights down the side of the screen to your colour
by getting far enough, usually about a screen, ahead of your opponent several
time in a race. The winner is the first to do this or, failing that, the one
who has the majority of points after the three laps. If all is equal after
the laps whoever gets the next point wins (a playoff).

CHALLENGES
This is the more normal race mode. You have to finish first or second to
progress to the next course. To win a group, you must come first in the last
race of the group. Vehicles are awarded for coming first in a race.

DRIVING SCHOOL
Learn the Micro Machine essentials here. Do it a couple of times. Any new
friends coming to play, although they may find it boring are well advised to
do the first few lessons, at least.

HEAD TO HEAD
Vehicles are awarded for completing a group. Don't be too concerned with laps
if you can get away with it. Spot the sections of the course you can get a
big lead on and exploit them.

TIME TRIALS
Vehicles are awarded for beating your current record. Time Trial Challenges
are great ways of getting at a lot of records in one go.

COLLECTING
It is perfectly legitimate, in my book, to repeatedly race Time Trials and
Challenges to further your vehicle collection. Even if you've completed them
fully, many times before.

---

3.0  CHEATS

There are some really cool cheats for MMV3. Using any of these cheats will
not give a validation code suitable for the Hall of Fame.

NAME ENTRY

Enter these on the name entry/character selection screen. A beep will let you
know that the cheat has been recognised.

3LIVES
 Unknown.

CATLIVES
 Nine lives in one-player mode.

CONFETTI
 Unknown.

GIMMEALL
 All tracks available in multi-player game.

NOTANKS
 Tanks are still available, but cannot shoot.

TANKS4ME
 Race tanks on all tracks, but not on water.

WINTERY
 Reduced grip, as if you're driving on ice, but graphics stay the same.

DURING THE GAME

During the game, it's best done on the PAUSE screen, enter a code below. A
beep will let you know that the cheat has been recognised. Entering the code
toggles the cheat on/off.

[KEY: U=Up, D=Down, L=Left, R=Right, O=Circle, X=Cross, S=Square, T=Triangle]

ANY OBJECT        D D U U R R L L

BEHIND CAR VIEW   L R S O L R S O

BIG BOUNCES       S R R D U D L D D

DOUBLE SPEED      S X O S T X X X X

FLOATING OBJECTS  S T S S T S S T X

SLOW CPU CARS     O T S X O T S X

DEBUG MODE        S U D D S O O T X

 Under Debug Mode the following button presses are available:

 SELECT+X         Quit Race + Win (except Time Trial).
 SELECT+U|D|L|R   Change camera angles.
 SELECT+L2|R2     Change camera zoom in/out.
 SELECT+S         Turn players car into CPU drone.
 X+T+O+S          Blow up all cars.

3.1  HIDDEN OPTIONS

To start with you can race Beginner, Tricky and Difficult. On completion of
these more groups become available. Once you have got them they will stay, so
if you decided to redo Difficult once you got Advance and did not complete it
Advance would remain on the menu.

  Beginners ->  Tricky ->  Difficult ->  Advanced ->  Masters ->  Rock Hard

3.2  SHORTCUTS

It is important to remember that you don't have to stay within the confines
of the marked road. It is beneficial most of the time to cut corners. In a
few circumstances whole chicanes can be cut off, and as long as the computer
controlled opponents stay follow the track you'll leave them behind. Driving
as aggressively as possible is the only way to beat the later head to heads.

It is possible to actually reach the power-up on top of the Love Triangle by
doing a jump, with a fast car such as the Beamer, just before you leave the
playing card ramp. Timing is essential.

3.3  SMALL THINGS

DOUBLE DISTANCE
 If you jump just as you fire a tank shell it will travel about twice the
 distance. Great when someone's just out of reachand you're not gaining.
 Jumping when going airbourne will give your vehicle extra height.

TURBO START
 If you start accelerating slightly before the second bleep, then when the
 race starts you will get a Turbo Start. A proper Turbo Start is greeted with
 a message saying so on the screen.

SPECIAL FINISH 1
 When come to the finish line, jump over it. Your vehicle will leave behind a
 small trail of smoke.

SPECIAL FINISH 2
 Jump just before you vehicle goes into it's first position celebration. If
 you get it right, you'll be treated to the camera zooming out to enompass
 huge bounces with smoke trails coming from your vehicle.

3.4  HALL OF FAME

If you think that you have a fast Time Trial record, then you may want to get
put it up against others. Codemasters offer a service as part of their web
site, where you can enter your times into a Hall of Fame. If they are good
enough, they will be automatically placed in the top three of the relevant
course and section.

     http://www.codemasters.com/

To do this you need to fill in your Name, Location and the verification code
which is displayed under your time on the records screen.

---

4.0  WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

If you have any additions which you think should be included in this FAQ then
please send them to me as below. Already there are a number of questions
that need answering.

 1 Do you have any vehicle statistics not listed?

 2 Do you know any other cheat codes for the game?

 3 Do you have any relevant information that would add to this FAQ?

4.1  CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

The author of this FAQ, Matthew Sephton, can be contacted by e-mail or
through his web page (which contains information about Björk, other music,
Monkey (Magic), the Sony PlayStation and is the place to download some of my
Windows 95 shareware).

  e-mail: [email protected]
     www: http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~u5ms/

4.2  RELEASE

This FAQ is obtainable from various places on the Internet, but the latest
version can always be downloaded from this URL:

    http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~u5ms/PS/

I have written FAQs for Choro Q Racing/Penny Racers, Hermie Hopperhead, Motor
Toon GP 2 and WipeOut 2097/XL which are also available.

It might also be a good idea to visit the unofficial MMV3 page:

        http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/1171/

4.3  E&OE

All errors and omissions excluded. As far as I know the information in this
document is accurate. Correct me if I'm wrong. Use at your own risk.

4.4  THANKS

Original FAQ by Matthew Sephton. Thanks to my brother Chris Sephton for all
his help and being fool enough to race me at Keepsies. Thanks to Jason at
Codemasters  for his interest. Love Triangle power
up trick from Terry . More cheats from newsgroup. At last,
Michael Harwerth  gets in the FAQ with some cheat words!

--

5.0  VERSION HISTORY

 0.99, 08 Apr 1997  First public release to prompt for more information.
                    Some tables are incomplete.

0.99b, 10 Apr       Overall slight improvement. Some tables still incomplete.

0.99c, 18 Apr       Love Triangle power-up added.
                    Eagerly awaiting reply from Codemasters.

1.00,  14 May       No reply from Codemasters.
                    Cheats and tips from uk.games.video.playstation

1.01,  28 May       More cheat words added.

1.02,  26 Jun       A couple more cars added.

1.03,  12 Oct       Cheats section refined, probable final edit.