Lady Bug/Walkthrough

Ladybug
You are the ladybug, the insect that is forced to brave the territory of other garden insects in an effort to collect the food that you need to stay alive. In order to clear each stage, you must eat all of the tiny x-shaped flowers that dot the floor, as well as any bonus circles (the stage is not considered clear until the bonus circles are gone as well.) You will lose one life any time you are captured by another insect, or if you touch a skull. As a ladybug, you possess the unique ability to push the turnstiles around throughout the garden. No other insect can move them. By pushing them, you effectively alter the layout of the maze and either limit or expand the enemy insects' ability to capture you. Do not just use them to access flowers that you haven't eaten yet, they are your only defense against the other insects. You must use them wisely if you wish to survive, especially on higher levels when the insects can move faster than you.

Enemy Insects
There are eight different styles of enemy insect, but they all behave in an identical fashion. Four of them start out in the den at the center of the screen. A border of white rectangles that turn green surrounds each stage. When the entire border turns green and starts over, one insect will leave the den, preceded by a sound alert. The speed at which the border completes itself increases on stage 2, and again on stage 5. The insects wander around the maze somewhat randomly until they get close enough to detect you. At that point, they usually pursue you quite steadily unless you are able to move through a turnstile that prevents them from following you. Alternatively, if you grab the bonus vegetable that appears in the den after the last insect leaves, they will freeze in place for a short period of time. Aside from their appearance, they have no distinguishing features or behavior. In stages 1-8, all four insects will be identical, while on stage 9 and beyond, you will confront a variety of insects. Be aware as the stages progress, the insects' pursuit speed will increase, so keep on your toes, do your best to lure them into skulls, and make use of the rotating doors.

Skulls
Skulls represent bits of poison that are deadly to both you and other garden insects. They must be avoided by the ladybug at all costs. However, if you can lure an enemy insect close enough to a skull, they might run into it and die. Destroyed enemies return to the den in the center of the stage, and wait there for a brief moment before coming back out. The first stage starts out with only two skulls, and the number slowly increases in later stages until you encounter six skulls per stage. Every extra skull, however, is one less piece of food you need to eat in order to complete the stage.

Circles
Throughout each maze, you will encounter six bonus circles. Three will be in the form of a letter, and three will be hearts. They will alternate colors uniformly. They start out red for less than a second, and switch to yellow for roughly two seconds. After yellow, they turn blue and stay blue for quite a while before returning to red. When you touch and collect them, their color determines their point value (shown below) and effect, if any.

If you pick up any letters that make up the word "SPECIAL" when they are red, you will light up that letter in the word. If you spell out SPECIAL completely, you will earn a free game and the word "SPECIAL" will reset. If you pick up any letters that make up the word "EXTRA" when they are yellow, you will light up that letter in the word. If you spell out EXTRA complete, you will earn an extra life and the word "EXTRA" will reset. Completing a word will end the level, bringing you to the next stage. Note that if you pick up a letter that is not in the right colored word (e.g. you touch X when it's red or S when it's yellow), no letters will light up.

Lastly, if you touch the hearts when they are blue, you will increase the stage score multiplier until you complete the stage. The first blue heart will double the points you are awarded, the second blue heart will triple them, and the third blue heart will multiply your points by five. If you do not touch the hearts when they are blue, your point multiplier will not rise.

Vegetables
After all four insects have left the insect den, a vegetable will be left behind, waiting for you to collect it. If you touch it, you will be awarded points according to the chart below, and freeze the insects in place for a few seconds (after eating the vegetable, a little tune will play; when it ends, they're back after you). While the insects are frozen, they can still kill you if you touch them, so don't attempt to walk through them. If an insect is killed by a skull and returns the to den, the vegetable will reappear in that stage once the fourth insect leaves the den.

Scoring

 * Flowers: 10 × multiplier
 * Blue Circle: 100 × multiplier
 * Yellow Circle: 300 × multiplier
 * Red Circle: 800 × multiplier
 * Vegetable: See chart above (no multiplier)

Game Play Tips
- These tips are for ARCADE only!!! -

GO FOR THE BLUE HEARTS FIRST. When you begin each new maze, the letters and hearts will start out red immediately, go to yellow, and then blue. Use this opportunity to get all three hearts first so you can build your score quickly. If they're scattered throughout the maze, you may have to wait for the last one as getting the first two is possible. It's wise to do this before the very first insect leaves the den (or "Bug Box").

TIME YOUR COLOR CHANGES. This is easy to do from Levels 2 - 4. The hearts/letters are blue until the first insect leaves the Bug Box. When it appears, the colors will cycle red to yellow. This will continue until all four insects are in the maze, but it will be difficult to track the longer all four are on the board. The color times break down like this: RED: Less than one second; YELLOW: about five seconds; and BLUE: roughly 12 seconds. After Level 5, two insects will have leave the den before the first color cycle.

LOSING A LIFE CAN BE BENEFICIAL. Over the course of the game, you may be one letter away from getting that EXTRA or SPECIAL. The game may fall into a notorious habit of giving you the same combination of letters every board, particularly if you still have all lives remaining and a pretty decent score. Don't fret once you lose that life! You'll notice, if you survive long enough, the next level or two will give you that missing letter.

INSECT SPEED INCREASES AFTER LEVEL FIVE. As you progress to higher levels, you'll notice that the insects come after you much faster, and not just on level progression. Their speed can increase just on the level you're on if you take too much time completing it. Make good use of the skulls in the maze (the maximum is SIX after Level 12) and look for effective dodging areas along the turnstiles. Expert players can also find "hiding" spots.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT SCORE AFTER LEVEL EIGHT. At this point, trying to rack up points with red or yellow letters/hearts is moot since the insects will be on you and this will only get worse every stage after. If you see a chance for 300 - 4,000 pts. , take it! Otherwise, just concentrate on getting what letters you need and finishing the board as quickly as possible.

GO AFTER VEGETABLES WITH LESS THAN A QUARTER OF THE MAZE LEFT. If you want those extra points and to leave that maze with your life intact, this is a crucial tip. It's entirely possible to score more than one vegetable, but that's only if you still have skulls in play. Insect speed tends to increase after their initial freeze. The goal is to eat as much as possible, or idealy leave that stage if there are no more skulls, during the freeze.

TRY TO FOLLOW INSECT PURSUIT PATTERNS. Contrary to popular listed belief, certain insects do have a way of chasing you. In the early levels, the insects are usually just wandering around and maybe two at a time will give chase. By the time you reach the upper levels, all four will give chase or will try to take you out one at a time. This can be very advantageous for points, kills, & veggies if you watch closely how they pursue you.

WATCH THE TIME LINE. As we know, the rectangular shapes that border the maze (the "time line") alternates green and white to signal when an insect enters the maze. After Level Four, you have EIGHT SECONDS to eat what you can before the first insect arrival. If an insect hits a skull and returns to the Bug Box as the line completes its full rotation, it will IMMEDIATELY leave the Box. Be aware of this if you are going after veggies. Note: you don't lose a life going into the Bug Box while insects are in it, but you're fair (and dead) game if the time line expires & you're still in it.