Mouse Trap/How to play

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< Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap | Table of Contents | Walkthrough

1 Controls
2 Characters
- 2.1 Mouse
- 2.2 Dog
- 2.3 Cat
- 2.4 Hawk
3 Bonuses

[edit] Controls

Joystick: Use the joystick to direct your mouse/dog in each of the four cardinal directions. You can pass through any open entrance way in the maze.
Dog: As long as you possess a dog bone, press the Dog button to use up one of the dog and temporarily transform your mouse into a dog that can "eat" the cats for bonus points.
Colors: Press each of the colored buttons to alter the position of the doors that correspond to the color of the button that you've pressed. The doors only alternate between two states.
- Blue: Press the blue button to move the five blue doors.
- Yellow: Press the yellow button to move the five yellow doors.
- Red: Press the red button to move the three red doors.
1-2 Players: Press either button to start a 1 or 2 player game.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Mouse

Your position in the Mouse Trap maze is represented by this mouse face. You can move throughout the maze, in an effort to eat every piece of cheese. If you eat all of the cheese, you will be awarded a 10,000 point bonus and advance to a new stage. As a mouse, you must avoid contact with any cat, and the hawk. You can alter the maze layout at any time by pressing one of the three door color buttons, altering the arrangement of the doors corresponding to the button color that you pressed. As you gather the cheese, you will collect dog bones. You can hold a maximum of six dog bones and save them for later use in order to become the dog.

[edit] Dog

The dog is the alter-ego of the mouse. If you have any dog bones in your possession, you may press the Dog button and transform the mouse into a dog. This transformation is only temporary, but during this time, you can "eat" the cats. You earn 100 for the first cat, 300, 500, and 700 for the next three cats, and 900 for every cat thereafter. Cats return to their waiting posts on all four sides of the maze, and come back out after a short while. Eventually, you will run out of dog-power and return to being a mouse. While you are a dog, you are still vulnerable to attacks from the hawk.

[edit] Cat

Up to six cats wander throughout the hallways of the Mouse Trap. They tender to wander about aimlessly with no specific drive to capture you, but with six of them moving about, it's difficult to find a section of the maze that's not infested with them. Your best defense against them is shifting the doors around in the maze so that they can't pursue you. If you get trapped and have no way out, you can always use a dog bone to transform into a dog and turn the tables on them.

[edit] Hawk

The Hawk appears randomly throughout the game, flying in eight different directions. Its appearance is accompanied by the sound of a hawk's cry. It is a threat to you whether you are a mouse or a dog, and must be avoided at all costs. The only weapon that you have against the Hawk is the In-box at the very center of the maze. Every time you enter the In-box (whether there's a hawk or not), you are sent to a randomly chosen corner of the maze (which is another good way to escape a cat). If a Hawk happens to be present when you enter the In-box, it turns "stupid" and decides to leave the stage, making the maze a little safer until it returns.

[edit] Bonuses

Throughout the game, a bonus item will appear in a predetermined location in the maze. You can collect these items for bonus points. If you complete a stage, the next stage will contain the last bonus item that you were up to. The bonus items will only return to the wedge of cheese if you lose a life, or if you manage to collect the 7,200 point handgun. Since the bonuses will continue to rise in value as long as you don't die, it's more important to stay alive and claim them when it's safe, then to get them as soon as possible. They won't ever disappear no matter how long it takes you to collect them.