Quester/Walkthrough

Namco's Japan-only 1987 arcade game Quester (which represents their responding to Taito Corporation's Arkanoid and Revenge of Doh) is divided into thirty-three rounds (which is the same amount as the original game, but one less than the sequel); the first thirty-two rounds are comprised of a variety of layouts of blocks, but the thirty-third, and final, round is a confrontation between Paddle and the game's final boss, "Burida" (who takes on the role of "Doh" from the two Arkanoid games, but is not an enormous Moai, and does not attack by spitting lethal mirrors at you). Paddle will receive an extra life at four predetermined point values in the game (which are 100000, 200000, 400000 and 800000 by default) and when it collects the Rally-X Special Flag that certain blocks leave behind when destroyed - and if the arcade operator has set that "CONTINUE" setting in the game's options menu to "ON", your score will be reset back to 0 if he has set the "SCORE" setting to "NO BACKUP". However, if he has set it to "INITIALIZE", it will be reset back to preset point value (which depends on what round you had lost your last life upon); and if he has set it to "BACKUP", it will not be reset at all.

The seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eighth rounds of the game are also "bonus rounds"; these are indicated by a special jingle being heard from the Yamaha YM-2151 and the letters "BONUS ROUND" zooming into view upon the screen before they start. When Paddle reappears at the bottom of the screen, at the start of these bonus rounds (with not just one, but ten balls on it), you will also notice that the background behind it is different to those of the regular rounds as the speech sample "Ready? Go!" is heard from the DAC (and the words appear on the screen to accompany it) - and you will then have fifteen seconds to clear the formation before all ten balls go out of play. If you manage to do so, you will receive 100 bonus points for every block that was in that formation, along with a "Perfect Bonus" of 10000 points, as the screen fades out to black before the game's next regular round (8, 15, 22 or 29) starts.

Round 1

 * This formation is comprised of 1 Speed Up Block, 1 Speed Down Block, 6 Red Blocks, 12 Purple Blocks, 10 Yellow Blocks, 21 Blue Blocks and 2 Green Blocks. It is also made to look like a flyingsaucer-like spaceship.
 * The second Red Block in the second row will leave a "3" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed but the second Yellow Block and the fifth Blue Block in the fifth row will both leave a "4" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed, and the fifth Purple Block in the seventh row will leave a "2" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed (total of 13).
 * The amount of points you'll gain from clearing this formation is 6560; and if it took you less than two minutes to clear this round, you will receive 100 bonus points for every second you did not use (maximum of 12000).

Round 2

 * This formation is comprised of 1 Speed Up Block, 11 Yellow Blocks, 32 Durable Blocks, 11 Blue Blocks and 11 Green Blocks. The Durable Blocks are a different shade of red to Red Blocks, but fade to white when hit.
 * The second Yellow Block in the first row will leave a "4" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed but the eleventh Yellow Block in the first row, the fifth Blue Block in that third row, and the fourth Green Block in that fifth row will all leave a "2" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed (total of 10; this is three less than the previous round).
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing the formation is 11620 and the maximum amount is 20620 (given that those Durable Blocks are worth between 250 and 500 points when they are destroyed).

Round 3

 * This formation is comprised of 45 Yellow Blocks, 1 Generator Block, 13 Red Blocks, 13 Blue Blocks, and 13 Green Blocks. Those Yellow Blocks have been made to look like an egg (with three lines of blocks below it).
 * The only Yellow Block in the first row will leave a "5" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed, but the first Yellow Block in the eleventh row will leave a Ba Riaru behind, the fourth Red Block in the thirteenth row will leave a "2" Guro Riaru behind and the eleventh Red Block in the thirteenth row will leave a "1" Guro Riaru behind. If you collect the Ba Riaru, a force-field will appear in the centre of the screen; if you manage to get your initial ball into it before it disappears, it will quickly generate nine extra balls while there, to clear the round quicker.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 15180 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Block's presence (it generates Red and Pink Blocks around itself whenever it can and takes three hits to destroy - however, it may become impossible to clear the round on account of it).

Round 4

 * The formation's comprised of 110 Stone Blocks, 7 Green Blocks, 7 Yellow Blocks, 2 Purple Blocks, 11 Blue Blocks, 7 Light Green Blocks, 3 Red Blocks, 4 White Blocks, 4 Light Blue Blocks, also 22 Speed Up Blocks. An infinite amount of Killer Meteors will also be falling down from the top of the screen for the first time here.
 * The second Light Green Block in the twelfth row will leave a Ba Riaru (which will cause another force-field to appear in the centre of the screen when collected; try to get your initial ball into it before it disappears again) behind when destroyed but the second and third Red Blocks in the thirteenth row will both leave an "8" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed (if you position Paddle in the centre of the screen after collecting both of them, it is impossible for your ball to go out of play - unless it gets hit by Killer Meteors and diminished as a result).
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 5120; the next round will also look familiar.

Round 5

 * This formation is comprised of 29 Red Blocks, 42 Blue Blocks, 2 Speed Up Blocks, and 52 Yellow Blocks. It is also made to look like a Galaxian Flagship, which have made cameo appearances in ten previous games.
 * The first Red Block in that third row and the second Blue Block in that seventeenth row will both leave a Rai Naru behind when destroyed, but the third Red Block in the sixth row, the second Yellow Block in the eighth row, and the third Yellow Block in that eighth row will all leave "2" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed. If you collect the Rai Naru, it will cause a line to appear at the bottom of the screen to prevent your ball from going out of play; however, it disappears after one hit and bounces your ball away in its opposite direction of flight.
 * The amount of points you'll gain from clearing this formation is 19160 - that next round will also look familiar.

Round 6

 * The formation is comprised of 102 Yellow Blocks, 2 White Blocks and 2 Generator Blocks. It is also made to look like Namco's signature character Pac-Man eating two pellets, on account of the fact that this game was produced by the then-32-year-old Toru Iwatani (he is also responsible for Pole Position, and Libble Rabble).
 * The second Yellow Block in the ninth row and that single White Block in the fourteenth row will both leave a "2" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed, but the fourth Yellow Block in the eleventh row will leave a Ba Riaru powerup behind (which will cause a third force-field to appear in the centre of the screen when collected; try to get your initial ball into it before it disappears once again), and that single White Block in the fifteenth row will leave a "5" Guro Riaru behind. The total of the three Guro Riaru powerups that are upon this round is 9.
 * The minimum amount of points you'll gain from clearing the formation is 20480 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presences (again, they generate Red & Pink Blocks around themselves when they can and take three hits to destroy - however, it may again become impossible to clear the round).

Round 7

 * The first bonus formation is comprised of 49 Speed Up Blocks, 24 Green Blocks, 24 Blue Blocks, 24 Light Green Blocks, 24 White Blocks, and 12 Light Blue Blocks, and you will be given fifteen seconds to clear it.
 * Once Paddle has reappeared at the bottom of the screen (with not just one, but ten balls on it), the speech sample "Ready? Go!" will be heard from the DAC as the words appear on the screen to accompany it; you will then have to quickly press the Launch Button ten times (once for each ball), as the round's timer starts.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation before the timer runs out is 11280 - and you will also receive a "Break Bonus" of 10800 points (100 points for every block in the formation), along with a "Perfect Bonus" of 10000 points for a total of 32080 points. Paddle will now proceed on to the eighth round.

Round 8

 * This formation is comprised of 5 Speed Up Blocks, 19 Green Blocks, 2 White Blocks, 20 Yellow Blocks, 6 Blue Blocks, 6 Light Blue Blocks, 6 Durable Blocks, 5 Pink Blocks and 20 Stone Blocks. It is also made to look like a jellyfish with five tentacles of varying lengths; the fourth and fifth Speed Up Blocks are its eyes.
 * The seventh Green Block in the second row and the fourth Green Block in the third row will both leave "4" Guro Riaru behind - but that second Yellow Block in that fourth row will leave a "2" Guro Riaru behind, the third Green Block in that fourth row and the third Yellow Block in that eighth row will both leave a Rai Naru behind, and the third Pink Block in the ninth row will leave a "5" Guro Riaru behind (adding to a total of 15).
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 9600 and the maximum amount is 11100 (you must remember that Durable Blocks are worth between 250 and 500 points when destroyed).

Round 9

 * This formation is comprised up of 1 Red Block, 1 Green Block, 1 Yellow Block, 189 Stone Blocks, 1 White Block, 1 Purple Block, and 1 Light Blue Block. An infinite amount of Killer Meteors will also be falling down from the top of the screen for the second time here (which will diminish Paddle's sizing if they crash into it).
 * All six of the non-Stone Blocks in the first row will leave an "8" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed, but you will only have the chance to collect five of them given that the destruction of the last one will end the round.
 * The amount of points you'll gain from clearing this formation is 720 (the first round total that is under 1000).

Round 10

 * The formation is comprised of 1 Speed Up Block, 1 Generator Block, 42 Yellow Blocks and 2 Stone Blocks. The infinite amount of Killer Meteors will also be falling down from the top of screen for their third time here.
 * The single Yellow Block in the sixth row and that second Yellow Block in that eleventh row will both leave a "4" Guro Riaru behind for you when destroyed, but that single Yellow Block in that ninth row will leave a "3" Guro Riaru behind, the first Yellow Block up in the twelfth row will leave a Ba Riaru (which will cause a third force-field to appear in the centre of the screen when collected) behind, the seventh Yellow Block up in that twelfth row will leave a Rai Naru (which will create a line at the bottom of the screen when collected) behind and the eighth Yellow Block up in that thirteenth row will leave a "2" Guro Riaru behind (this is a total of 13).
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 8720, and the maximum amount is infinite due to that Generator Block's presence (once again, it generates Red and Pink Blocks round itself when it can, and takes 3 hits to destroy; however, it may once again become impossible to clear the round).

Round 11

 * The formation's comprised of 12 Pink Block, 5 Speed Up Blocks, 2 Speed Down Blocks, 12 Yellow Blocks, 8 Stone Blocks and 12 Blue Blocks. That infinite amount of Killer Meteors will also be falling down from the top of the screen for the fourth time here, so you must yet again watch for them while trying to catch a ball.
 * The third Pink Block in the first row, the first Yellow Block in the seventh row and the first Blue Block in the twelfth row will all leave a "5" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed, but the second Pink Block in the second row will leave a Rally-X Special Flag (which will give Paddle one extra life when collected) behind, and the second Yellow Block in that seventh row will leave a Rai Naru (which will create a line at the bottom of the screen when collected) behind (the three Guro Riaru powerups that are on this round add to a total of 15).
 * The amount of points you'll gain from clearing this formation is 5760; this is also one of only two rounds in the game to feature a Rally-X Special Flag powerup (the other is the thirty-second, and penultimate, one).

Round 12

 * This formation is comprised of 46 Durable Blocks, 2 Speed Up Blocks, 26 Light Green Blocks, and 1 Green Block. That infinite amount of Killer Meteors will also be falling down from the top of the screen for their fifth time here, and the formation itself is also made to look like a capital letter "D" rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
 * The second Durable Block up in the second row will leave a "3" Guro Riaru behind when destroyed, but the single Green Block up in the sixth row will leave a Ba Riaru (which will cause a fourth forcefield to appear in the centre of the screen) behind; you should try to get your initial ball in there before it disappears yet again.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing the formation is 14240 and the maximum amount is 25740 (you should remember that Durable Block are worth between 250 and 500 points when destroyed).

Round 13

 * This formation is comprised of 8 Purple Blocks, 16 Light Blue Blocks, 16 Blue Blocks, 16 Green Blocks, 16 Yellow Blocks, 16 Red Blocks, 15 White Blocks, 8 Light Green Blocks and 11 of the Speed Up Blocks. The infinite amount of Killer Meteors will also be falling down from the top of the screen for their sixth time here.
 * The third Purple Block in the first row and the fifth Yellow Block up in the fifth row will both leave a Rai Naru behind when destroyed, but all six of the White Blocks in the sixteenth row will leave "9" Guro Riaru behind.
 * The amount of points you'll gain from clearing this formation is 13520, and that second bonus round is next.

Round 14

 * The second bonus formation of the game is comprised of 53 Speed Up Blocks, 35 Green Blocks, 5 Yellow Blocks, 10 Blue Blocks, 10 Light Green Blocks, 10 White Blocks, 5 Light Blue Blocks and 1 Red Block, but you will again be given fifteen seconds to clear it (there is also thirty-two less blocks to destroy in this one).
 * Once Paddle has reappeared at the bottom of the screen (with not just one, but ten balls on it), the speech sample "Ready? Go!" will be heard from the DAC as the words appear on the screen to accompany it; you will then have to quickly press the Launch Button ten times (once for each ball), as the round's timer starts.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation before that timer runs out is 9000 - and you will also receive a "Break Bonus" of 7600 points (again, this bonus is 100 points for every block that was in the formation), along with a "Perfect Bonus" of 10000 points, for a total of 26600 points. Now for Round 15.

Round 15

 * This formation is comprised of 16 Yellow Blocks, 40 Green Blocks, 48 Durable Blocks, 6 Stone Blocks and 2 Speed Up Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 18880 and the maximum is 30880.

Round 16

 * This formation is comprised of 3 Durable Blocks, 17 Stone Blocks, 2 Speed Up Blocks, 1 Speed Down Block, 3 Generator Blocks, 12 Purple Blocks, 12 Blue Blocks, 12 Green Blocks, 12 White Blocks, 12 Light Green Blocks and 12 Yellow Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 14910 and the maximum is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 17

 * This formation is comprised of 86 Durable Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 21500 and the maximum is 43000.

Round 18

 * This formation is comprised of 8 Light Blue Blocks, 16 Purple Blocks, 49 Red Blocks, 2 Generator Blocks and 1 Stone Block.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 15560 and the maximum is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 19

 * This formation is comprised of 20 Stone Blocks, 48 Yellow Blocks, 3 Speed Up Blocks, 2 Speed Down Blocks and 53 Blue Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 14040.

Round 20

 * This formation is comprised of 4 Stone Blocks, 42 Durable Blocks, 30 Green Blocks, 2 Speed Down Blocks, 2 Speed Up Blocks and 5 Generator Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 24700 and the maximum is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 21

 * The third bonus formation is comprised of 53 Speed Up Blocks, 49 White Blocks, 30 Light Green Blocks, 15 Blue Blocks and 4 Green Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation in the allotted time is 9280.

Round 22

 * This formation is comprised of 53 Pink Blocks, 71 Yellow Blocks and 1 Speed Up Block.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 21960.

Round 23

 * This formation is comprised of 1 Speed Up Block, 12 Light Green Blocks, 8 Blue Blocks, 36 Stone Blocks, 8 Purple Blocks, 8 Yellow Blocks and 8 Green Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 4000.

Round 24

 * This formation is comprised of 6 Purple Blocks, 4 Light Green Blocks, 6 White Blocks, 8 Light Blue Blocks, 5 Generator Blocks, 6 Green Blocks, 6 Red Blocks, 6 Yellow Blocks, 6 Blue Blocks, 2 Stone Blocks, 1 Speed Up Block and 1 Speed Down Block.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 15560 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 25

 * This formation is comprised of 10 Yellow Blocks, 1 White Block, 1 Generator Block, 18 Green Blocks, 3 Speed Up Blocks, 26 Purple Blocks and 22 Pink Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 12680 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Block's presence.

Round 26

 * This formation is comprised of 31 Stone Blocks, 1 Green Block, 85 Yellow Blocks, 32 Blue Blocks, 4 Red Blocks and 3 Speed Up Blocks.
 * It is also made to look like a "Rainbow Block" from Cutie Q, the third title in Toru Iwatani's series.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 18380.

Round 27

 * This formation is comprised of 22 Pink Blocks, 1 Durable Block, 2 Stone Blocks, 28 Purple Blocks, 7 Generator Blocks and 1 Speed Up Block.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 20890 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 28

 * The fourth bonus formation is comprised of 50 Speed Up Blocks, 12 Yellow Blocks, 24 Green Blocks, 24 Blue Blocks, 24 Light Green Blocks, 24 White Blocks and 12 Light Blue Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation in the allotted time is 13200.

Round 29

 * This formation is comprised of 5 Speed Up Blocks, 26 Light Blue Blocks, 26 White Blocks, 26 Light Green Blocks, 13 Blue Blocks, 13 Green Blocks, 11 Yellow Blocks, 13 Purple Blocks and 3 Generator Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 18440 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 30

 * This formation is comprised of 49 Green Blocks, 6 Red Blocks, 8 Speed Up Blocks, 3 Stone Blocks and 6 Speed Down Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 8060.

Round 31

 * This formation is comprised of 1 Blue Block, 17 Stone Blocks, 2 Speed Up Blocks, 18 Red Blocks, 4 Generator Blocks, 49 Green Blocks and 11 Yellow Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 20340 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 32

 * This formation is comprised of 23 Stone Blocks, 40 Yellow Blocks, 10 Green Blocks, 7 Blue Blocks, 30 Pink Blocks, 3 Generator Blocks, 4 Light Green Blocks, 3 Purple Blocks and 2 Speed Up Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 21280 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

Round 33

 * This formation is comprised of a battle with the game's final boss, "Burida" - who is protected by a thick layer of shielding. You must break through it in order to attack him.
 * If you manage to defeat him by hitting him 15 times, you will gain 100000 points and the game will be over. You can now sit back and enjoy the ending.