The Outfoxies/Walkthrough

Once you have inserted your coin(s) into the cabinet of Namco's 1994 platform/fighting arcade game The Outfoxies and pressed either Start Button, the game will proceed to the character selection screen shown above where you shall have twenty seconds to select which assassin you want to control by pushing the joystick left and right, then pressing the Attack Button to confirm your choice; it is also worth noting that Danny and Demi move, attack, and lose energy as one. In a one-player game, the game will then proceed to six televisions displaying the other assassins (in a randomly-generated order) with a seventh, smaller television displaying a distorted silhouette of Mr. Acme on top of them as the following text appears at the bottom of the screen:

INSTRUCTIONS FROM MR. ACME

YOU DID A GREAT JOB, ''MR. SMITH/MS. DOE/MR. WHITE/PROFESSOR CHING/EVE/DANNY, DEMI/DWEEB.''

YOUR NEXT TARGET IS (FIRST CPU ASSASSIN NAME).

I OFFER YOU 800000 SWISS FRANCS TO ELIMINATE HIM/HER/THEM.

The screen shall then zoom in on the top-left television as the following text, which is specific to the assassin it is displaying, appears at the bottom of it:

Smith: YOU WILL FIND HIM IN A DOWNTOWN SKYSCRAPER WHERE A WIRED EXPLOSIVE HAS BEEN SET.

Doe: YOU WILL FIND HER AT THE SEASIDE AQUARIUM, WHERE SHE HAVE PLANTED A WIRED EXPLOSIVE.

White: YOU WILL FIND HIM ON THE TRAIN GOING ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

Ching: YOU WILL FIND HIM AT THE WEAPONS FACTORY. HE IS WORKING AS A SECRET ADVISOR FOR WEAPONS.

Eve: YOU WILL FIND HER AT THE CIRCUS. SHE WILL MAKE HER APPEARANCE TONIGHT.

Danny and Demi: YOU WILL FIND THEM ON A CRUISE SHIP LEAVING ''THIS EVENING. THEY'' HOPE TO ESCAPE TO EUROPE.

Dweeb: YOU WILL FIND HIM ON A PLANE FOR THE SOUTH. HE PLANS ON STEALING VALUABLE MUNITIONS THERE.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

But in a two-player game, the first and second televisions shall display both players' assassins as the following text appears at the bottom of the screen:

INSTRUCTIONS FROM MR. ACME

(1P ASSASSIN NAME). (2P ASSASSIN NAME).

YOUR MISSION IS TO MARK EACH OTHER AS TARGETS.

IT IS A BATTLE OF SURVIVAL.

THE REWARD TO THE WINNER WILL BE...

3000000 SWISS FRANCS.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

The game will then proceed to the first CPU (or second player's, in the case of a two-player game) assassin's stage as the text "KILL YOUR ENEMY BY ANY MEANS." appears on the screen, and the 200-second (3:10) timer at the top of it starts counting down; each assassin has three energy bars to get through (the first is green, while the second is yellow and the third is red). When you pick up a weapon by pushing the joystick down while standing over it, it will be displayed in the box to the right (or left, if you are Player 2) of your assassin's energy bar (and if it has limited ammunition, it will be displayed above the bar) - and if you manage to finish the CPU (or other player)'s assassin before the 200-second timer has run out, the text "(ASSASSIN NAME) WON!" will appear on the screen. However, if you do not, the assassin with more energy remaining will be declared the winner, as the text "(ASSASSIN NAME) SURVIVED." appears on the screen instead; in a two-player game, the losing player will have to insert another coin and press their Start Button within twenty seconds to continue (this will cause the text "SOMEONE IS TAKING AIM ON YOU!" to appear, and return to the character select screen).

After a win in a one-player game, the game will return to a shot of the top-left television, as your assassin does something specific to it; John Smith will tape a piece of paper saying "DONE" to it, Betty Doe will switch it off, Bernard White will punch through it with his steel hand, Professor Ching will type "DISPOSED" on it with a keyboard, Eve will fire three shots through it with a gun, Danny and Demi will draw across it with a green crayon, and Dweeb shall change the channel to a Japanese spoof of Jim Henson (1936-1990)'s The Muppet Show. The text of "REWARD" will now appear on the screen with the amount of Swiss Francs for eliminating the CPU assassin next to it (in a two-player game, this will always be 3000000) - but below it, the text "HOSPITAL BILL" will appear with an amount of Swiss Francs determined by how much energy you lost next to it. Below that the text "PROFIT" shall appear with the value of the Hospital Bill subtracted from the Reward next to it, and below that, the text "BANK BALANCE" shall appear with the total bank balance of your assassin next to it; the screen shall then zoom out from the top-left television and zoom in on the top-centre one instead, as Mr. Acme relays his instructions to your assassin (but this time, the amount of Swiss Francs he offers for the assassin that it displays shall be 1200000!). The amount of Swiss Francs he will offer for the four remaining CPU assassins after the second one's defeat is also increased by 400000 each time.

After all six of the other assassins have been defeated, the camera will zoom in on the small television (which displays the distorted silhouette of Mr. Acme) as he gives the following instructions to your assassin (or the surviving one, after six fights in a two-player game) at the bottom of the screen:

INSTRUCTIONS FROM MR. ACME

YOU DID A GREAT JOB, ''MR. SMITH/MS. DOE/MR. WHITE/PROFESSOR CHING/EVE/DANNY, DEMI/DWEEB.''

NOW OUR CONTRACT IS COMPLETED...

LET US PLAN ON MEETING AT MY HOUSE.

I WILL PAY YOU THERE.

Once your assassin has walked (or rolled, in the case of Professor Ching) up the two steps to Mr. Acme's house (and entered it), four guard dogs (three Dobermans, and a non-injurious poodle) will come running towards them as the door closes behind them; once you crouch down and punch each of the Dobermans three times to kill them, you will have to start walking to the right as the chandelier above your assassin falls down (if it lands on them, it will not result in instant death like the case of Rick from Splatterhouse but merely loss of energy). Once your assassin has walked behind an air conditioner, Mr. Acme himself (who looks much thinner than his distorted silhouette) will run out from behind its right side, walk into an elevator and go up to the first floor - and once your assassin has reemerged from the right side of the air conditioner, a fourth guard Doberman shall come running towards them from behind. Once you have turned around, crouched down, and punched this fourth Doberman three times to kill them, you will have to push the joystick up to make your assassin walk into the elevator and go up to the first floor themselves; once your assassin has reemerged from the elevator upon that first floor, you will have to walk back to the left as you come to sixteen boxes (Mr. Acme will be standing behind them holding the chain of a ceiling-mounted cistern). As you pick up the boxes and throw them to smash them (they contain piranhas, electric eels and sharks, which will initially jump around when freed because they can't breathe out of water), you will need to watch out when Mr. Acme pulls the chain, because it will cause a tidal wave of water to run through the wall-mounted air vent and down the right side of the boxes, sweeping the marine animals (and your assassin if you could not time your jump over the wave correctly) back into a fish tank on the floor's right side - and if your assassin gets swept back into the fish tank they will lose energy when they are unavoidably attacked by the various marine animals who have been swept back into it with them while they try to get out of it. Once you have smashed all sixteen boxes (or at least enough of them to get to Mr. Acme) he will run back to the left up a staircase to the second floor; once you have followed him up there he will start running back to the right to his office. As you follow him into his office, seven lanterns above your assassin will fall down (again, if they should land on them, it shall only result in loss of energy) - and once you have entered his office its door will close behind you. The timer will then stop, as the following text appears at the bottom of the screen (the misspelling of "promised" is also seen in the screenshot above):

WELCOME.

I AM ACME'S WIFE.

AS WE PROMISSED, WE SHALL PAY YOU RIGHT NOW.

However, the lights will now go out, as Mr. Acme fires three shots from his gun at your assassin; once you have crouched down to dodge them, he will place a grenade on the table, and pull its pin as both he and Mrs. Acme escape on a secret underground elevator. Once the lights have come back on again, you will have to get out of that grenade's explosion radius before it blows up (and destroys the first of three blocks covering the Acmes' elevator shaft in the process) - and once you have done so, the timer shall restart again and you will have to wait for two more grenades to drop down from the ceiling onto the two remaining blocks covering the Acmes' elevator shaft (and, again, get out of their explosion radiuses before they blow up). You will then have to drop down the Acmes' elevator shaft (while watching out for two electrical currents travelling up it), and walk back to the left as you come up to the Acme couple again (this time behind a table at the top of a ramp); as Mr. Acme hands Mrs. Acme more grenades, she will pull their pins and throw them down the ramp at your assassin (who has to "head" them back up towards the Acmes, then once again get out of their explosion radiuses before they blow up!). Once your assassin "heads" a grenade back up towards the Acmes close enough that it shall blast them off the top of the ramp when it blows up (but it won't affect their energy bar) they'll run back to the left into another elevator and go up to the roof (and into their helicopter) as the ramp grows stairs - and once your assassin has run up the ramp and dropped down to the left, you will have to push the joystick up to make them walk into the second elevator and go up to the roof themselves. Once your assassin has reemerged from the second elevator on the roof, you'll see a Special Rocket Launcher in front of them; once you've walked to the right, and crouched down to pick it up, the text "UNLIMITED" will appear above your assassin's life bar (this is what makes it "special"). Once you've fired enough rockets at the Acmes' helicopter (which is flying around above your assassin dropping more grenades and boxes on them) to defeat it, it will explode and Mr. Acme will fall to the roof (losing almost all of his first energy bar in the process) - and when Mrs. Acme falls on him, he will lose his second one and almost all of his third one as well. Finally, when the helicopter lands on both of them, he'll lose the last bit of his last energy bar, and that text "(ASSASSIN NAME) WON!" will appear on the screen; the screen will then cut back to the shot of the smaller television as it goes off and the "REWARD", "HOSPITAL BILL", "PROFIT" and "BANK BALANCE" values are displayed on the screen (the game will also have gone into high-score mode, and your score will most likely be the highest on the cabinet to date, so you'll have twenty seconds to enter your name at the top of the table with pride). Once you have done it, the game will proceed onward to the ending sequence, which features banknotes raining down from the top of the screen (and three pictures which depict your assassin enjoying their earnings):

 STAFF

CONCEPT AND DESIGN MASATERU UMEDA

MAIN PROGRAMMING YOSHIYUKI HONDA

SYSTEM PROGRAMMING TOSHIHARU HIJIYA

GAME PROGRAMMING KOICHI MOTOKOIDE

CHARACTER DESIGN MIKI MAEMORI

FIELD DESIGN TARO OKAMOTO

MUSIC AND S.E. MASAHIRO FUKUZAWA

GRAPHIC DESIGN AKIRA USUKURA

LOGO DESIGN HIDEAKI ITO

CHIEF DIRECTOR MASUYA OHISHI

PRODUCT MANAGER SHINICHIRO OKAMOTO HAJIME NAKATANI

PRODUCER AKIHIKO TOKUE SHUKUO ISHIKAWA

VISUAL WORKS YUKIKO KANEKO NOBUKO ENDO MUNEYUKI TEJIMA MITSURU FUKUOKA TOMOE YAMASHITA HISAHARU TAKAHASHI TAKASHI IMAIZUMI HITOMI KUSANO KAZUAKI FUJIMOTO KANAKO DOI DAISUKE TSUSHIMA KYOKO ENDO TOMOSUKE KASHIWABARA

SPECIAL THANKS TO HIROSHI FURUKAWA KAZUYUKI NIKAIDO YASUSHI OMORI HIROAKI YOTORIYAMA MASATAKA ISHIGURO HIROKAZU TANAKA ROBERT BELGRADE JULIE OPPENHEIMER

1994 NAMCO LTD.

The text "GAME OVER" will then appear on the screen, and the game shall go back into attract mode, concluding Namco's only "versus" platform game.