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 6 Red Blocks, 12 Purple Blocks, 10 Yellow Blocks, 21 Blue Blocks and 2 Green Blocks.
 * There is also a Speed Up Block and a Speed Down Block at the top of the screen.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 6560.

Round 2

 * This formation is comprised of 11 Yellow Blocks, 32 Durable Blocks, 11 Blue Blocks and 11 Green Blocks.
 * There is also a Speed Up Block in the middle row of Durable Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 11620 and the maximum amount is 20620.

Round 3

 * This formation is comprised of 45 Yellow Blocks, 13 Red Blocks, 13 Blue Blocks and 13 Green Blocks.
 * There is also a Generator Block in the centre of the Yellow Blocks.
 * 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.

Round 4

 * This formation is 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 and 4 Light Blue Blocks.
 * There are also 11 Speed Up Blocks on either side of the middle passage.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 5120.

Round 5

 * This formation is comprised of 29 Red Blocks, 42 Blue Blocks, 52 Yellow Blocks and 2 Speed Up Blocks.
 * It is also made to look like the Galaxian flagship, as any die-hard Namco fan would notice.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 19160.

Round 6

 * This formation is comprised of 102 Yellow Blocks, 2 White Blocks and 2 Generator Blocks.
 * It is also made to look like Pac-Man, on account of the fact that the game was produced by Toru Iwatani.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 20480 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Blocks' presence.

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.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation in the allotted time is 11280.

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.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 9600 and the maximum is 11100.

Round 9

 * This formation is comprised of 189 Stone Blocks, 1 Red Block, 1 Green Block, 1 Yellow Block, 1 White Block, 1 Purple Block and 1 Light Blue Block.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 720.

Round 10

 * This formation is comprised of 1 Speed Up Block, 1 Generator Block, 42 Yellow Blocks and 2 Stone Blocks.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 8720 and the maximum amount is infinite due to the Generator Block's presence.

Round 11

 * This formation is comprised of 5 Speed Up Blocks, 12 Pink Blocks, 2 Speed Down Blocks, 12 Yellow Blocks, 12 Blue Blocks and 8 Stone Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 5760.

Round 12

 * This formation is comprised of 46 Durable Blocks, 2 Speed Up Blocks, 26 Light Green Blocks and 1 Green Block.
 * The minimum amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 14240 and the maximum is 25740.

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 Speed Up Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation is 13520.

Round 14

 * The second bonus formation is comprised of 53 Speed Up Blocks, 35 Green Blocks, 5 Yellow Blocks, 10 Blue Blocks, 10 Light Green Blocks, 10 White Blocks and 5 Light Blue Blocks.
 * The amount of points you will gain from clearing this formation in the allotted time is 9000.

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.