Strategy Guide - Guide for Puyo Puyo Sun Ketteiban

PuyoPuyo SUN Ketteiban (Compile, Puzzle Game, PSX)
Secrets FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
V1.0  4/17/99

Written by: Richard Uyeyama (ru e ama best.com)*

* Instances of the letter "y" and the "at" symbol have been removed
  (replaced with spaces) from the above e-mail address in order to prevent
  unscrupulous UCE (unsolicited commercial e-mail) bot processes from
  adding to the amount of e-mail I already get...

The latest version of this file can be found at:
  DAKARA, watashi wa Santa de wa NAI!!!
  http://www.best.com/~ruyeyama/puyopuyo/dwwsdwn.html


Document formatting, organization, and wording Copyright 1999 by Richard 
Uyeyama.

Permission granted by author to duplicate (unaltered) this document in its 
entirety for non-profit purposes only.  All other rights reserved.  Author 
reserves the right to rescind specific or general permission, if he sees a 
reason (such as loophole abuse) to do so.

PuyoPuyo SUN Ketteiban is Copyright 1997 by Compile.  All rights reserved.



Table of Contents:

0. Document History
I. Basic Stuff
   1. What is this document?
   2. What is PuyoPuyo?
   3. What's new in Puyo3 (compared to Puyo2)?
   4. "Ketteiban"?
II. Hitori de PuyoPuyo (1P Mode) Stuff
   1. Are there any hidden challengers?
      A. Carbuncle
   2. Is it just me, or are there fewer puyo colors on certain stages?
III. Futari de PuyoPuyo (2P Mode) Stuff
   1. Are there any codes for 2P games?
      A. Play as Carbuncle
      B. Play as Satan-sama
      C. Choose Opponent's Character
      D. Random Select
      E. Everybody Zoh!
   2. Is there any way to reselect characters after a match?
IV. Options Menu Stuff
   1. Is there only one page of Options?
   2. Is there no save option?
   3. How does the game keep track of the date?
   4. How many extra pictures are there?
   5. Does the background ever change in music test mode?
   6. Could you map out the load extras in a single reference?
   7. Whose voices correspond to which numbers in the voice test?
   8. How do you earn stuff in the Demo Viewer?
V. Miscellany
   1. Is there a soft reset command?
   2. How much damage does a sun-puyo add to an attack?
   3. Would you happen to have a complete cast list?
VI. Thanks and Stuff


-------------------
0. Document History
-------------------

V1.0: 4/17/99
      Launch version
 (11/27/98: GBC Pocket PuyoPuyo SUN now on sale)
 (4/17/98:  Win95 PuyoPuyo SUN now on sale)
 (11/27/97: PSX PuyoPuyo SUN Ketteiban now on sale!)
 (10/30/97: N64 PuyoPuyo SUN64 now on sale)
 (2/14/97:  SSat PuyoPuyo SUN now on sale)
 (Dec/1996: Arcade version PuyoPuyo SUN)


--------------
I. Basic Stuff
--------------

I.1  What is this document?

     This document is an English language informational resource for 
PuyoPuyo SUN Ketteiban (which I shall hereafter refer to as Puyo3, for 
brevity's sake), a puzzle game (available in Japan) by Compile.  Puyo3 
belongs to the "falling pieces" genre of puzzle game, probably best 
defined by, ummm... Compile's PuyoPuyo series of puzzle games.  ^^;
     In this document, I'll be covering codes and secrets and other such 
information which may be of interest to Puyo3 fans.  This is a Secrets 
FAQ, and not a strategy guide, btw, so I won't be including game 
strategies, or chain setup patterns, or anything like that in this 
document...
     This document was written for the PSX version of Puyo3, but some 
(though obviously not all) of the information contained herein (for 
example, the Carbuncle challenger conditions, or the 2P mode codes) may 
apply to other versions of the game as well...


I.2  What is PuyoPuyo?

     PuyoPuyo is an amazingly successful puzzle game that was created by 
Compile around the early 90's (1991, I think).  It was so popular in 
Japan, that it basically defined its own genre of games (how many games 
can you say that about?  =) ).  Indeed, one could argue that most "falling 
pieces" puzzle games today owe their very existence (some more obviously 
than others) to PuyoPuyo!  ^^;
     PuyoPuyo has come a long way since its first appearance.  But the 
PuyoPuyo series still ranks among the best (imho) puzzle games on the 
market...


I.3  What's new in Puyo3 (compared to Puyo2)?

     Sun-puyos!  Sun-puyos are kind of like ojama-puyos that give you an 
attack bonus when they're made to disappear.  Sun-puyos will fall before 
ojama-puyos do, potentially giving you an extra move to save yourself 
before being buried by an opponent's attack... =)  You're rewarded with 
sun-puyos for counterattacks and zen-keshi (clearing your board of 
everything).
     Three characters are now playable in 1P mode.  In addition to Arle 
(Normal story, 13 stages), you can also play as Draco (Easy story, 3 
stages) and Schezo (Hard story, 8 stages).
     All characters are now selectable in 2P mode.
     All characters now have unique attacks!
     New modes: Tokoton NazoPuyo (99 puzzle levels, a 1P infinite puzzle 
challenge, and a 2P (versus) puzzle challenge) and Kachinuki PuyoPuyo 
(Elimination Tournament (4, 8, or 16 human or CPU players)).
     There are some other new things as well, but those are the major 
differences...


I.4  "Ketteiban"?

     Hmmm... you can probably just think of "Ketteiban" as meaning 
"PlayStation version".  Puyo2 Ketteiban, Puyo3 Ketteiban, WakuPuyo Dungeon 
Ketteiban...  Actually, the literal meaning is closer to "final version"; 
the PlayStation console is usually the last to get Compile stuff... ^^;  
On the plus side, though, sometimes extra stuff is added for the PSX 
version, so... =)


--------------------------------------
II. Hitori de PuyoPuyo (1P Mode) Stuff
--------------------------------------

II.1  Are there any hidden challengers?

     Yep.

II.1.A  Carbuncle
-----------------
     Arle's Story - If you've continued your game 20 (!) or more times, 
then after you've defeated Satan-sama, Carbuncle will appear as a hidden 
challenger.  You may not continue against Carbuncle.  Arle's ending is not 
affected by Carbuncle's challenge, or by the outcome of the match.
     Note: If you're trying for Carbuncle with Arle, you may want to turn 
Manzai Demo OFF in the Options Menu, in order to cut down on the extra 
load time 20 continues would entail...

     Schezo's Story - If you haven't had to continue at all (0 continues), 
then after you've defeated Satan-sama, Carbuncle will appear as a hidden 
challenger.  You may not continue against Carbuncle.  Schezo's ending is 
not affected by Carbuncle's challenge, or by the outcome of the match.


II.2  Is it just me, or are there fewer puyo colors on certain stages?

     There are.  Normally, there are five puyo colors (red, yellow, green, 
blue, purple).  However, certain stages in 1P mode have fewer than five 
puyo colors...

        Draco's story: Stage 1 has only three colors.
                       Stages 2 and 3 have only four.
        Arle's story: Stages 1 and 2 have only three colors.
                      Stages 3 and 4 have only four.
        Schezo's story: Stage 1 has only four colors.

     Also, it looks like the largest number of puyo colors you can get in 
2P battles is four...


---------------------------------------
III. Futari de PuyoPuyo (2P Mode) Stuff
---------------------------------------

III.1  Are there any codes for 2P games?

     There sure are...
     Note: These codes will also work for player challenges in 1P mode, 
for Taisen games in Tokoton NazoPuyo mode, and for Kachinuki (Tournament) 
mode (exception: the "Choose Opponent's Character" code (Draco) won't work 
in Kachinuki mode)...

III.1.A  Play as Carbuncle
--------------------------
     On Arle Nadja (bottom row, second from left), press and hold the 
START button for a second or two.  Carbuncle will appear in the upper left 
corner as a selectable character.

III.1.B  Play as Satan-sama
---------------------------
     On Schezo Wegey (bottom row, second from right), press and hold the 
START button for a second or two.  Satan-sama will appear in the upper 
right corner as a selectable character.

III.1.C  Choose Opponent's Character
------------------------------------
     On Draco Centauros (bottom left), press and hold the START button for 
a second or two.  The player select markings will switch, so that P1 will 
select P2's character, and vice versa.

III.1.D  Random Select
----------------------
     On Rulue (bottom right), press and hold the START button for a second 
or two.  Both players' select markings will go flying around the character 
select screen.  Press the O button to select a random character.

III.1.E  Everybody Zoh!
-----------------------
     On Zoh Daimaoh (top left), press and hold the START button for a 
second or two.  All characters will become Zoh...(!)


III.2  Is there any way to reselect characters after a match?

     Alas, there doesn't seem to be a way to do this without exiting 2P 
mode... =/
     However, here's a nice little trick you can do instead.  Instead of 
playing in 2P mode, start a 1P mode game, then have the second player come 
in as a challenger (you can join in during the map screen, or the manzai 
demo, btw).  Select your characters and play your match.  The winner goes 
back to 1P mode.  Have the other player join in as a challenger...  And so 
forth.  =)  Not as efficient as being sent directly back to the character 
select screen would be... but imho, not too bad as an alternative...
     A couple notes: Of course, this means that you wouldn't be able to 
play using any non-standard rules.  Also, do note that the ojama-puyo 
bonuses for chains are actually larger in 1P mode (and challenges) than in 
2P mode.  For example, a 1-chain will usually send nothing over to the 
opponent in a 2P mode game...


----------------------
IV. Options Menu Stuff
----------------------

IV.1  Is there only one page of Options?

     There are three pages.  Use the L1 or L2 button to move to the left, 
and the R1 or R2 button to move to the right.


IV.2  Is there no save option?

     There is no manual save option.  Data is saved to the memory card by 
an auto-save process.  The easiest auto-save spot to get to is probably 
the one activated whenever you exit the Options Menu (i.e. every time you 
exit the Options Menu, the game saves to your memory card).  I think Puyo3 
also auto-saves after every game you play... but I haven't tested this 
fully.  There may also be some other auto-save spots in the game, but I 
usually just stick with using the "exit Options Menu" one, so...


IV.3  How does the game keep track of the date?

     It doesn't.  All of the special events (extra pictures, sound test 
backgrounds and costumes) in the Options Menu are triggered by the number 
of times the game has been loaded.  Each time you load up Puyo3, the load 
number goes up by one.  Note, however, that the load number on the memory 
card file won't go up unless you pass an auto-save point...  So "load, 
reset, load, reset..." won't increase the load number; rather, you have to 
do "load, auto-save, reset, load, auto-save, reset...".
     Hmmm, the game seems to count 372 loads as one full cycle (a year).  
I woulda thought 365 to be a more logical number, but... ^^


IV.4  How many extra pictures are there?

     There are nineteen.  Well... twenty, if you count "INFORMATION".  
Here's a list, with short descriptions:

     Pic #  Load #   Assigned Date    Pic Name            Description
       0      1        11/27/97     INFORMATION          Draco, swimswuit
       1      1        11/27/97     POSTER 1             group photo
       2      29       12/24/97     ICHI                 snow!
       3      30       12/25/97     YUMI                 Arle
       4      37       1/1/98       POSTER 2             Mino
       5      60       1/24/98      TANQUITOW            ? (Witch?)
       6      81       2/14/98      TAKAFUMI TANIDA      Tanida Nohoho
       7      91       2/24/98      POSTER 3             Valentine's Day!
       8      101      3/3/98       TACHIBANA TASOGARE   Kiki
       9      122      3/24/98      RIU                  Mecha-Suketoudara
      10      153      4/24/98      POSTER 4             young Arle
      11      165      5/5/98       NAMIHEI              Puyo3 trio
      12      184      5/24/98      KEROL                Mecha-Nohoho?
      13      215      6/24/98      POSTER 5             Arle, Dragon...
      14      246      7/24/98      SAWATARI JU-SABUROU  Honeybee
      15      277      8/24/98      MIFUDUKA TSUKASA     Arle
      16      299      9/15/98      POSTER 6             Merry Christmas
      17      308      9/24/98      YOUNGER HAYASHI      Lagnus
      18      339      10/24/98     ZAZAMUSHI            Harpy
      19      370      11/24/98     MOO NIITANI          Moo!

     Notes on Pic Names: Besides the pictures labelled "POSTER", it seems 
that the names of the pictures represent the artist who drew the picture, 
or the person who appears in it.  All of these names appear somewhere in 
the Puyo3 end credits, btw...
     Notes on Assigned Dates: Besides the twelve dates that are the 24th 
of their respective months (btw, for those of you who aren't familiar with 
Japanese numeric word representations, "24" can interpreted as "puyo"... 
(side note: the default high score for Arle is 24243... =) )), the other 
dates are those of holidays and special events:

        11/27/97: Puyo3 Ketteiban release date
        12/25/97: Christmas
        1/1/98: New Year's Day
        2/14/98: Valentine's Day
        3/3/98: Girls' Day
        5/5/98: Boys' Day
        9/15/98: Elders' Day

     Note on checking for new pics: If a new picture is available, a "new 
picture" message will be shown next to the "Atelier" (gallery) option, 
until you've checked the gallery.  Pictures in the gallery are shown in 
inverse order of appearance.


IV.5  Does the background ever change in music test mode?

     Yep.  Here are the seasonal background and costume changes in the 
music test area:

       Season     Load #s     Background & costume info
       WINTER     6-30        Santa costumes
                  37-39       New Year's costumes
                  51          New Year's costumes (again)
       SPRING     99-160      Honeybee stage background (field of flowers)
                  101         New Year's costumes (again)
       SUMMER     223-284     Rulue stage background (beach by the castle)
                  242-269     Swimsuit costumes

     One full cycle (a year) takes 372 loads, so for the second cycle, 
simply add 372 to each of the above load numbers, for the third cycle, add 
another 372... and so forth.


IV.6  Could you map out the load extras in a single reference?

     Sure.  Here's a load "calendar" of the special events for the first 
year or so:

       Load #     Pictures                Music Test scene
       ------     --------                ----------------
         1        POSTER 1                Background normal (end credits)
         6                                Santa costumes
         29       ICHI
         30       YUMI
         31                                (normal costumes)
         37       POSTER 2                New Year's costumes
         40                                (normal costumes)
         51                               New Year's costumes
         52                                (normal costumes)
         60       TANQUITOW
         81       TAKAFUMI TANIDA
         91       POSTER 3
         99                               Background: Honey Bee stage
         101      TACHIBANA TASOGARE      New Year's costumes
         102                               (normal costumes)
         122      RIU
         153      POSTER 4
         161                               (background normal)
         165      NAMIHEI
         184      KEROL
         215      POSTER 5
         223                              Background: Rulue stage
         242                              Swimsuit costumes
         246      SAWATARI JU-SABUROU
         270                               (normal costumes)
         277      MIFUDUKA TSUKASA
         285                               (background normal)
         299      POSTER 6
         308      YOUNGER HAYASHI
         339      ZAZAMUSHI
         370      MOO NIITANI
         378                              Santa costumes
         403                               (normal costumes)
         409                              New Year's costumes
         412                               (normal costumes)


IV.7  Whose voices correspond to which numbers in the voice test?

     The voice test is numbered from 0 to 251.  These samples are loaded 
in chunks, categorized as follows:

       0-11     Skeleton-T        132-143  Honeybee
       12-23    Harpy             144-155  Lagnus
       24-35    Chopun            156-167  Rulue
       36-47    Draco             168-179  Schezo
       48-59    Incubus           180-191  Satan-sama
       60-71    Suketoudara       192-203  Arle
       72-83    Kiki              204-215  Carbuncle
       84-95    Nohoho            216-223  Ending 1 (Draco) voices/sounds
       96-107   Kodomo Dragon     224-236  Ending 2 (Arle) voices/sounds
       108-119  Witch             237-250  Ending 3 (Schezo) voices/sounds
       120-131  Zoh               251      Title screen vocalization

     And in case anybody was wondering, the 12 voice samples each 
character has are presented in the following order:

        1) Character selected
        2) Character attacked (small attack)
        3) Character attacked (large attack)
        4) Win quote
        5) Lose quote
        6) 1-chain
        7) 2-chain
        8) 3-chain
        9) 4-chain
       10) 5-chain
       11) 6-chain
       12) 7-chain and higher


IV.8  How do you earn stuff in the Demo Viewer?

     You start out with the arcade opening in Demo Kanshou.  New items are 
earned as you view them in-game.  These include: Manzai Demo (side note: 
you can earn these even if the Manzai Demo option is turned off!) for 
Draco, Arle, and Schezo, and Endings for Draco, Arle, and Schezo.  The 
anime OP will not become available here, however.


-------------
V. Miscellany
-------------

V.1  Is there a soft reset command?

     Yep.  Simply press SELECT+START on the P1 controller to reset the 
game back to the title screen.


V.2  How much damage does a sun-puyo add to an attack?

     The number of ojama-puyos a sun-puyo adds (when it's made to 
disappear) to an attack can be calculated as follows:

        (for chain # = 1)      bonus = 3
        (for chain # > 1)      bonus = (chain # - 1) x 6

     (Note: the chain # is defined by the part of the chain that causes 
the sun-puyo to disappear, of course, and not by the total length of the 
chain...)
     (Tip: the longer the chain, the larger your sun-puyo attack bonus.  
So try to put sun-puyos at the end of long chains, in order to get the 
most out of them...)
     Okay, so since 6 ojama-puyos is 1 row, for each sun-puyo, you get 1 
row per chain #, starting with a 2-chain.  So... making a sun-puyo 
disappear at the end of a 5-chain, for example, would get you 4 extra rows 
of ojama-puyos!  Wow, and that's just for one sun-puyo!  =)


V.3  Would you happen to have a complete cast list?

     Why, yes, I would.  Alas, the in-game end credits don't match all the 
seiyuu to the characters they played, so here follows a complete cast list 
for those of you who were wondering who played which characters...

       Arle Nadja                Minako Ozawa
       Draco Centauros           Ayame Kizuki
       Schezo Wegey              Yujiro Ootsuka
       Skeleton-T                Yoshinori Fujita
       Harpy                     RIU
       Chopun                    Kenji Kawakita
       Incubus                   Kotatsu
       Suketoudara               Yasutoshi Akiyama SSS
       Kiki Mora                 Sakanaya-san
       Nohoho                    Kerol
       Kodomo Dragon             Ayame Kizuki
       Witch                     Nodapon
       Zoh Daimaoh               Yasutoshi Akiyama SSS
       Honeybee                  Kemi
       Yuusha Lagnus Bishasi     Sakanaya-san
       Rulue                     Noa Asagi
       Minotauros                Murasaki-shu
       Satan-sama                Moo Niitani
       Carbuncle                 Ayame Kizuki


--------------------
VI. Thanks and Stuff
--------------------

Thanks to:
   Kasahara Yasuhiko's PlayStation Secrets Room
      (http://www.na.sakura.ne.jp/~kasa0/PS/secret/), for mentioning the
      2P Mode codes...
   Tutokku's puzzle game secrets page
      (http://www2a.meshnet.or.jp/~tutokku/urawaza/urawaza.html), for the
      1P Mode Carbuncle challenger conditions...
   The PuyoPuyo SUN Ketteiban Koushiki Guidebook
      (Compile, 1000 (y)en, ISBN4-906659-03-9), for the date assignments
      for the extra pictures, for verifying some of my load numbers, for
      verifying the basic voice test numerical data, for the sun-puyo
      damage bonus info, and for the complete voice cast listing...



(eof)