Strategy Guide - Guide for Speed Punks

Speed Freaks/Punks FAQ
Platform: Playstation
Genre: Kart Racer
Version: 1.    10/09/00
Me: King Broccoli
********************************

=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
1.0 CONTROLS
2.0 THE CHARACTERS
3.0 GAME MODES
4.0 BONUS MODES
5.0 WEAPONS
6.0 NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT STUFF, THE TRACKS!
7.0 NOW THE GUIDE TO ALL THE TRACKS
8.0 SOME GOOD TIPS IF YOU WANNA BE A PRO
9.0 GAMESHARK CODES
10.0 CREDITS
11.0 LEGAL THINGY
12.0 UPDATES

============
1.0 CONTROLS
============
D Pad - Controls the steering. (Who would have thought?) The left stick 
can also be used for the steering

X Button - This is the accelerator (It makes the kart go forward)

Square Button - This is the brake

L1/R1 - The powerskid. Push these buttons whilst turning to take a sharp 
turn to the Left or Right

L2 - Fires your current weapon

R2 - Uses the speed boost if your Speed Bar is filled at all

Triangle Button - Switches between the three camera angles

Start Button - Pauses the game


==================
2.0 THE CHARACTERS
==================
*********************************************
Montgomery "Monty" Carlo and his dog Cosworth
*********************************************
What Monty doesn't know about racing isn't worth knowing; he knows all 
the jargon and he's got top-of-the-range racing leathers and a super-
cool crash helmet. He's determined to be in pole position all the way, 
and he is the most dedicated of all the Speed Freaks/Punks.
The only thing that can break his concentration is his pet dog, 
Cosworth. Cosworth loves nothing better than a long drive on a Sunday 
afternoon, the wind flapping his ears and waggling his floppy tongue. 
The only thing is, the dog insists on doing the driving!

STATS
Weight: Medium
Top Speed: Average
Acceleration: Average
Collision Recovery: Good

*******
TABATHA
*******
The youngest of the characters, Tabatha wanted to join the Speed 
Freaks/Punks so much she sulked and held her breath until her face went 
red. She's a spoilt little madam who thinks that often the best way to 
get your own way is to throw a tantrum bigger louder than ever before. 
One day, her head will explode with the pressure.

STATS
Weight: Light
Top Speed: Low
Acceleration: High
Collision Recovery: Excellent

*****************
BUSTER AND WEDGIE
*****************
Buster looks like a complete thug. He's been held back in school so many 
times he's older than some of the teachers and he takes his role of 
School Bully very seriously. Everyone thinks he joined the Speed 
Freaks/Punks so he could nudge all the others off the tracks, but it's 
really because he loves the ticklish feeling he gets in his stomach 
every time he soars over a jump point on the track. Despite the fact 
he's hated by the other kids, Buster's mother thinks he's her 'Little 
Angel'.
A natural coward, Wedgie loves to help Buster pick on the other kids. He 
refuses to leave Buster's side, not because it makes him look tough but 
because, like all bullies, he knows that everyone would beat him up if 
he were on his own - even little Tabatha.

STATS
Weight: V. Heavy
Top Speed: High
Acceleration: Low
Collision Recovery: Poor

******
MONICA
******
Monica has a strange effect on boys. For some reason, as soon as she 
drives by they lose control and become babbling idiots. They think she's 
so sophisticated and totally cool. She's organised, confident and loves 
speeding past a rival racer just to see the look of horror on his face 
at being beaten by a girl. Monica thinks boys are pathetic.

STATS
Weight: Medium
Top Speed: Average
Acceleration: Average
Collision Recovery: Good

******
BRAINS
******
Brains is a scientific genius who loves computers, chemistry sets and 
the X-Files. He's not really that sociable, preferring to be left alone 
to his experiments, but secretly he wants to win the admiration of the 
other Speed Freaks/Punks so they won't think he's a complete geek. He's 
currently working on a brand new project - a robot racer (code-name 
BEEMER) which he plans to use to help him test his driving skills.

STATS
Weight: Light
Top Speed: Low
Acceleration: High
Collision Recovery: Excellent

*******
TEMPEST
*******
Tempest is a maniac, over-excitable problem child - a pyromaniac, 
kleptomaniac, and natural rebel. He's the one that encourages all the 
others to bunk off school and go racing. The naughtiest thing Tempest 
has done recently is stealing the Kart of a rival driver, Tetsuo, a 
Japanese kid who's on exchange at Tempest's school. For a man of honour 
like Tetsuo, this is by far the worst thing he could ever imagine - but 
then he doesnt know Tempest!!

STATS
Weight: Heavy
Top Speed: High
Acceleration: Low
Collision Recovery: Poor

==============
3.0 GAME MODES
==============
Tournament: Choose the level of difficulty (That would be Easy, Medium 
or Hard) and race through the four tracks. Finishing in the top three 
will give you some points and let you progress to the next track. Finish 
in the top 3 of the Tournament and the next difficulty level will be 
unlocked. All the tracks you've unlocked are playable in the other 
modes.

Single Race: Race against five opponents in all the tracks you've 
unlocked in tournament mode. This is pretty much a practice mode.

Time Attack: Race against the clock and see if you can beat your own 
times. Also pretty much just a practice mode.

VS: Compete against friends in a two-player split screen race.

Multiplayer: Like VS. mode but with three or four players playing on a 
split screen.

===============
4.0 BONUS MODES
===============
Bonus Vs. Mode - In this mode you can play against a friend on the 
twelve minimized multiplayer tracks. Unlock this mode by finishing EASY 
in the tournament.

Bonus time attack - Race against the clock on the twelve Bonus Vs. Mode 
and try to beat your own times (does anyone ever actually do that?). 
Unlock this by finishing MEDIUM in the tournament.

Viewer Mode - View all of the movies from the game. Unlock this by 
finishing HARD in the tournament.

Wheel Mode - It lets you choose between Gold or Normal wheels. When Gold 
wheels are chosen the Speed of yourself and your opponents will increase 
by a fair bit. This helps make the game a lot more challenging (it also 
looks really cool)

THE CHALLENGES 
COSWORTHS CHALLENGE - Win all of the races in the EASY tournament and 
you can have a race against Cosworth in Millenium Park. Beat him and 
he'll become a playable character.

Best Advice: If you can take the shortcut on all three laps you should 
be able to win by half a lap. Look below to see where the shortcut is if 
you can't find it.

TETSUOS CHALLENGE - If you manage to be victorious in all the races of 
the MEDIUM tournament this challenge will be unlocked. Race against 
Tetsuo in Silver City.

Best Advice: If you hit all the speed pads, or at least as many as you 
can Tetsuo should not present too much of a problem.

BEEMERS CHALLENGE - Winning all of the races on HARD will unlock a race 
against Beemer on the Grand Rapids track, he is VERY hard to beat.

BEST ADVICE ON BEATING BEEMER:
**NOTE** I've always found the best character to use is the dog, his 
turning and acceleration can put you over the top in a tight race. **END 
OF NOTE** 

This will take you a lot of time, effort and practice. At the start, 
make sure it's either a perfect or excellent start, then grab the speed 
boost tokens on the right to prolong the speed boost. Go down the 
straight, grab the speed boost tokens, and use them before and during 
the upcoming corner.

Going through the section with the four turns without hitting the wall 
or falling in the water will take a lot of practice, but it can be done.
When you get to the bridge use it to launch yourself through the gap 
between the two rocks, as it saves a lot of time. Then simply take the 
shortcut to finish the lap. Do this for the last two laps and if you're 
lucky you could win. It took me close to fifty tries.

******BEATING BEEMER 2*****
This method was sent in by Juan Graciani - [email protected] (It 
only took him 25 tries so he obviously knows what he's talking about)

1.) To beat that robot just hold on the brake and gas (Square and X) 
while on the starting line then release the brake when the light turns 
green. You will be close to him for the first 2 or 3 seconds; the 
farthest you will be away from him is about 5 cart lengths. Sometimes 
you will actually take the lead if the timing is perfect. (I find this 
technique easier to use than trying to time the starting lights).

2.) Grab all the tokens on the left or right (do not use them yet), then 
collect the next set of tokens. Right when you see the speed boost 
powered up tap the boost button and use about 2 or 3 cells, then align 
yourself to get the set of tokens right before the curving cliff. 
Collect them but don't use them yet!

3.) Here's a tip you get you through the curves, it's L1, R1, L1, L1, 
R1, R1, L1, L1, L1. Speed boost until 2 or 3 cells are used. Tap L1 when 
you get to the beginning of the curves, then tap R1, press L1 twice 
really hard (because you should be entering the at such a speed, so 
pressing L1 once won't give you enough traction to complete the turn 
correctly and won't position you for the next one) then R1 twice 
quickly. Then press L1 three times quickly on the second and third turns 
(also use 2 or 3 cells of the speed booster). You have to save a good 
amount of the speed boost to get you through the next step.

4.) When you come to the bridge take the farthest right approach and 
have your kart facing the right side of the farthest palm tree on your 
right. Try to stay close to the tree without hitting it, then use the 
speed booster until you're across the island and water. (The other 
method is between the palm trees but this step is for people who have 
mastered the game).
 
5.) Try to get in the little patch of grass on the left just entering 
the tunnel, then press R1. You will have positioned yourself to enter 
the shortcut; (if done correctly you should enter the shortcut without 
losing any speed). You should run into Beemer, he will be slightly on 
your right because he ran into the wall. Pass him and go between the 
rocks (and press L1). Tap the speed booster using 1 or 2 cells then grab 
the set of tokens.

6.) It's back to the drawing board, start again with Step 2. But this 
time when you grab a set of tokens press the speed booster every time 
you're powered up and use about 2 or 3 cells just to keep you ahead of 
Beemer. This means you will consistently have your speed boost powered 
up. Keep this up and every time you are about to enter the short cut 
Beemer always seems to bump into the wall, just avoid doing the same 
thing because it's hard to get back to speed again.

P.S. If you mess up just practice and/or keep doing the steps and you 
should catch up with no problem. If you mess up drastically just restart 
the race!

===========
5.0 WEAPONS
===========
Missile: A single missile is fired, it travels in a straight line until 
it hits an object or character.

Triple Missile: Fires three missiles in a wide burst, useful for taking 
out a group of opponents.

Homing Missile: This will lock on to the nearest character when fired. 
It can only be avoided by a sharp turn at the last second or if you 
shoot it with a backwards firing weapon.

Bomb: A bomb will drop out behind the player. It will explode on contact 
from a player or a weapon
-If you keep the fire button held down after the bomb has been dropped 
it will turn red. Pressing the fire button again will detonate it if you 
choose to do this.

Remote Bomb: This will drop in front of the player in first place and 
will detonate after one second.

Slime: Pressing fire will drop the slime behind your kart, if an 
opponent drives over it he will momentarily lose speed and control of 
his kart.

Shockwave: A pretty rainbow is fired and it speeds along the track. Any 
driver hit will lose his weapon and speed boost and be stopped in his 
path. The only way to avoid it is to stay right to the side of the 
track.

Machine Gun: This will shoot out eight bullets. If four of them hit 
another driver he will spin out. A crosshair will appear on another 
driver if you're aiming at them.

Stealth Mode: This makes the player invisible and invincible for a short 
period of time. If you bump into an opponent in stealth mode they will 
spin out.

Tyre Pop: This weapon will inflate all of your opponents tyres until 
they pop. It can be stopped by quickly tapping the X button.

Max Speed Boost: It completely fills up your speed bar.

============================================
6.0 NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT STUFF, THE TRACKS!
============================================
There are twelve normal tracks which are accompanied by 12 shortened 
down tracks, which are the tracks for the multiplayer and bonus modes.

/\/\
EASY
\/\/
Shipwreck Shore - Wind power. You can sail round this track admiring the 
views of the windmills and the shipwreck. What with all the parasols, 
palm trees and beaches, this would make a relaxing holiday 
destination.....wasn't for the mayhem on the track.

Thunder Trail - It's tropical and full of creepers, but don't creep..... 
SPEED. Thunder Trail has lava, tunnels, water traps and some lush grass 
sections. 

Millenium Park - Feel the ground move as you grip the tarmac and drift 
on the dirt sections. This track has some wicked bumps which you can use 
to power into the jumps and please the crowd with.

Neon City - The Speed Freaks like their futuristic underground car 
parks, but with the number of on-track speed boosts on this track it's 
an effort to stop......not that you'd want to anyway. Neon City is ideal 
for fast, accurate cornering. Bouncing off the side is optional.

/\/\/\
MEDIUM
\/\/\/
Moonlight Cove - Find the shortcuts by the light of the moon as you cut 
through the sand in this beach 'n cliff bonanza. There are some tricky 
terraces that'll slow you down if you go off the edge. The landing is 
normally soft though. Don't forget to shoot the tree trunk. 

Silver City - Take the ultimate rollercoaster ride......and leave it 
behind as you try and blast your way round this hi-adrenaline track. 
This one's quite tactical - you have to hit the speed boosts if your 
going to get to the front. And you need to decide which route to 
take......high road or low road? 

Drift Arena - Fast and dirty, Drift Arena has beautiful, wide tracks 
with large runoff areas. Set it an awesome stadium with some impressive 
fairground features, this track is flat out, but the corners can be 
tight. Make sure you get those powerslides just right. 

Sun Valley Drive - Not for Sunday drivers, to go round this track 
quickly you need some tight cornering. Trouble is, just when you think 
you can open up on the straight, you're into the hairpin (or rather, 
shooting through into the sea). 

/\/\
HARD
\/\/
Skate Park - The stunt driver's dream. Full of water jumps, hairpins, 
ramps and banked curves, Skate Park's star attraction is the half-pipe - 
take it fast, take it in style....do both. It beats a ride on the pirate 
ship any day. 

Grand Rapids - The problem with cliff-top chicanes is that they're 
normally at the top of cliffs. The Speed Freaks hate crash barriers 
which is why they took them out on the dangerous sections of Grand 
Rapids. Still, the sun's shining, why not go for a dip in the ocean? 
Other than that, this track is grand... and rapid. 

Gold City - A manic race through the streets of the Speed Freaks' 
favourite town. If you like throwing the wheel, you'll love this track. 
There's a narrow line between coming first and second that some Speed 
Freaks know very well. Can you find the way to the golden gate? 

Sunset Isle - Head for the coast via an intricate set of high-speed 
tunnels going deep into the ground. Sunset Isle is covered in hot lava 
flows and rock formations which are best avoided. Luckily there are 
handily placed signposts and rope bridges get you over the more deadly 
chasms. And the beaches are broad and sandy.

===================================
7.0 NOW THE GUIDE TO ALL THE TRACKS
===================================
***************
EASY TOURNAMENT
***************

SHIPWRECK SHORE – No one should have any trouble with this track unless 
they're just starting out. It's a good track to practice on before 
tackling the harder ones.

WHERES THE SHORTCUT THEN? - It's only a small shortcut. After you take 
the second last turn of the track you should be able to see a pirate 
ship in front of you sticking up in the air. Simply drive up and over 
it. If you take aim off just to the left of the center then you should 
cut a few seconds off your time.
-------
THUNDER TRAIL - No really tricky turns. Going over the bridges which 
span the lava pools can be dangerous, so be caution must be exercised 
when navigating these areas. There are many things that can slow you 
down here, it can be difficult keeping up a good speed, but if you can 
then you're home and hosed!

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - During the last two laps you should notice 
that the left side of the big lava pool has been opened up. Just go 
along there for a BIG (nearly half the track) shortcut.
-------
MILLENIUM PARK - Things start to get a bit tougher with this track. The 
tightest turn is at the end of the long straight. If you're not careful 
you can end up either in the water or crashing into the wall. Apart from 
this there are one or two reasonably sharp turns but nothing that can't 
be handled with a bit of slowing down or power sliding.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - After the first turn and heading down the 
straight you should see a jump. Use the jump to launch yourself up onto 
the left side. Then simply drive through the waterfall in front of you. 
This shortcut comes in handy when you're racing against Cosworth.
-------
NEON CITY - There are a few tight turns on this track. Some of them you 
can't see until you're very close to them. They will appear at the ends 
of the long straights so you should slow down marginally to accommodate 
them. Once you've memorized their position it should be a piece of cake.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - Near the start of the track there is a 
roundabout. On the last lap the gate on the roundabout's left will open 
up. Drive through it to find the shortcut for this track.

*****************
MEDIUM TOURNAMENT
*****************

MOONLIGHT COVE - Quite a few tricky turns and S - Bends on this track. 
The thin ledge may also present a few problems for some people, as 
falling off will slow your time down considerably, taking your time 
along this ledge is always better than speeding along it and falling 
off.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - Before the aforementioned ledge around the 
cliff face there are two long signs with arrows on them. Drive through 
the gap in between them to find this cleverly hidden shortcut.
--------
SILVER CITY - Only one turn to worry about here, right near the end. It 
takes an experienced driver to take this turn without slamming into the 
wall. There are very few tokens to give you turbo so you have to make 
good use of those lovely arrows that speed you up that appear 
everywhere. Hit most of these and you can take pretty much anyone.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - Hug the right side of the long tunnel. Once 
you exit from the tunnel you should see some bushes in front of you. 
Just drive right through them.
--------
DRIFT ARENA - There are two sharp turns, one after the other, near the 
start. Some brake turning or super tight power sliding will be required, 
they're some of the toughest turns in the game and you can lose a lot of 
time should you crash and burn. Apart from these there isn't too much to 
worry about, just stay near the center of the track and take all the 
jumps!

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? – It's located on the right when you make one 
of your left turns, it's a ramp that sets you up on a ledge to avoid all 
of those nasty bumps on the track. However it takes too much time so 
it's better to just keep going and forget all about it. 

--------
SUN VALLEY DRIVE - Some really tight turns here. The hairpin at the 
start is probably the tighest corner in the whole game, make sure you're 
not travelling too fast when you take on this one. There's also another 
hairpin closer to the end, start turning early and it should be no 
problem.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - After you take the first hairpin there is a 
waterfall with a rainbow in front of it to your left. Drive through it 
to get the shortcut.

***************
HARD TOURNAMENT
***************

SKATE PARK - The actual half-pipe can be tough. Try to stay in the 
middle of it and you should be fine. Another one or two tight turns but 
by now you should be good enough to powerslide them with ease.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - That's what i'd like to know! I dunno if 
there actually is one. If anyone knows then e-mail me.
--------
GRAND RAPIDS - A tough track this one. The spot you really have to look 
out for is the four turns in quick succession. If you can't take these 
you'll quickly find yourself in the water down below, and a long way 
behind the leaders. Also a couple of S - Bends and hairpins to worry 
about. Try and get a lot of practice in here so you'll have a much 
larger chance of knocking off Beemer.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - After you pass the spot with all the 
waterfalls and go through a quick tunnel there is a big tree to your 
right. Next to the tree there is a hole you can go through.
--------
GOLD CITY - A couple of tight turns but this is probably the easiest 
track of the tournament. Not too much to worry about here.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - Stay along the right side of the long 
tunnel, as you come out there is a hill and a sharp right. If you manage 
to stay on during the turn then you'll find yourself in the shortcut. 
Going too fast will see you shoot over the edge and miss it completely, 
so go slower when approaching it!
--------
SUNSET ISLE - Lot's of twisting turns to be found here. The most 
worrying spot is towards the ends of the lap. It looks like a square 
without a bottom on the map, three ninety degree turns. If you don't 
take them tight enough then in the lava is where you will soon be. All 
the turns can jump out of nowhere so you'll have to watch the map 
closely and exercise your reflexes to their fullest.

WHERE'S THE SHORTCUT THEN? - As soon as you pass the last of the three 
ridiculously tight turns there is a tunnel on the right. It's hidden in 
darkness but it is there. Also, instead of going through the section of 
track with the spikes jutting out of the ground and roof there is a 
bridge across the lave which you can take for a shorter route.

========================================
8.0 SOME GOOD TIPS IF YOU WANNA BE A PRO
========================================
- Pressing down on the accelerator between the second last and last beep 
will give you a speed boost if timed correctly.

-Holding down the brake and the accelerator for a short period time when 
stopped will give you a speed boost. Holding these buttons down and 
spinning two times before letting go will give you a huge speed boost.

- Learn to power slide well, once you can do this nearly every turn can 
be taken with ease.

- Try to keep some energy on your speed bar to recover quicker if your 
kart is stopped.

- Fill up the speed bar as much as possible for using it, the fuller it 
is the bigger speed boost you will receive.

===================
9.0 GAMESHARK CODES
===================
Reverse Joker Command        D00C6104 ????

              Brains Character Codes 
      
      Tournament-League 1-Track 1
      Have Item Modifier      801505C0 00??	
      Infinite Boost          801505B8 1000 
                              8015153C 1000	
      Start On Last Lap       80150594 0005	
      
      Tournament-League 1-Track 2		
      Infinite Boost          80155798 1000 
                              8015671C 1000	
      Start On Last Lap	      80155774 0005	
	
      Tournament-League 1-Track 3		
      Infinite Boost          8015B278 1000 
                              8015C1FC 1000	
      Start On Last Lap	      8015B254 0005	
      
      Tournament-League 1-Track 4		
      Infinite Boost          80160A44 1000 
                              801619C8 1000	
      Start On Last Lap	      80160A20 0005	
      
      Tournament-League 2-Track 1		
      Infinite Boost          8016E71C 1000 
                              8016F6A0 1000	
      Start On Last Lap	      8016E6F8 0005	
      Have Item Modifier	8016E724 00??	
      
               Tetsuo Character Codes		
      
      Time Trial-League 1-Track 1		
      Time Modifier           80150CF8 ???? 
                              80150CFA ????	
      Infinite Boost          80150D74 1000 
                              80151CF8 1000	
      
      Time Trial-League 1-Track 2		
      Time Modifier           80155ED8 ????
                              80155EDA ????	
      Infinite Boost          80155F54 1000 
                              80156ED8 1000	
      
      Time Trial-League 1-Track 3		
      Time Modifier           8015B9B8 ???? 
                              8015B9BA ????	
      Infinite Boost          8015BA34 1000 
                              8015C9B8 1000	
      
      Time Trial-League 1-Track 4		
      Time Modifier           80161184 ???? 
                              80161186 ????	
      Infinite Boost          80161200 1000 
                              80162184 1000	
      
      Time Trial-League 2-Track 1		
      Time Modifier           8016EE5C ????
                              8016EE5E ????	
      Infinite Boost          8016EED8 1000 
                              8016FE5C 1000	
      
      Time Trial-League 2-Track 2		
      Infinite Boost          80155C68 1000 
                              80156BEC 1000	
      
      Time Trial-League 2-Track 3		
      Time Modifier           80155BEC ???? 
                              80155BEE ????	
      Infinite Boost          80159360 1000 
                              8015A2E4 1000	

Quantity Digits to Accompany Item Modifier Codes		
      00 - Nothing, 01 - Fireball, 02 - Missile, 03 - Rainbow Blast, 04 
- 3x Fireballs, 05 - Green Splat, 06 - Atomic Blast, 07 - POP, 08 - Blow 
Up Tire Item, 09 - Invisibility, 0A - Boost Refill 0B - Machine Gun	
	

============
10.0 CREDITS
============

Juan Graciani – His tips to beating Beemer and info on the short cut to 
Drift Arena!
The game manual - The story and one or two of the bios
Funcoms Speed Freaks website - For the track descriptions
SCEE - For working out how bad we Playstation owners wanted a decent 
karting game.

=================
11.0 LEGAL THINGY
=================
Copyright 2000 "KingBroccoli"
This cant be stolen, used for profit, or changed. It can be used for 
personal PRIVATE uses. If you want to put this FAQ on your site or 
something like that just e-mail me at [email protected] 

**NOTE** BEFORE E-MAILING AND ASKING FOR HELP PLEASE TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT 
THE FAQ AND MAKE SURE THE ANSWER ISN'T LOCATED IN HERE BEFORE ASKING A 
QUESTION

============
12.0 UPDATES
============
1.0 Everything you see here!

1.1	Added more to Beemers challenge and how to beat the tricky little 
robot. Added wheel mode.

1.3 Added even more to Beemers challenge, added in the short cut for 
Drift Arena. Just inserted bits and pieces here and there!