_____ __ __ ____
/\ __`\ /\ \ /'__`\ /\ _`\
\ \ \/\ \ _ __\ \ \____ /\_\L\ \\ \ \/\ \
\ \ \ \ \/\`'__\ \ '__`\ _______\/_/_\_<_\ \ \ \ \
\ \ \_\ \ \ \/ \ \ \L\ \/\______\ /\ \L\ \\ \ \_\ \
\ \_____\ \_\ \ \_,__/\/______/ \ \____/ \ \____/
\/_____/\/_/ \/___/ \/___/ \/___/
Orb-3D Walkthrough
v1.5 completed 4/10/02
Written by Adam Lamontagne (alamont1@maine.rr.com)
=================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
I. Revision History
II. Intro
III. Story
IV. Controls
V. Level Walkthrough
VI. Ending
VII. Hints
VIII. Extras
IX. Disclaimer
===================
I. REVISION HISTORY
===================
4/10/02: v1.5
-Added info submitted by Nathan Morrison.
3/7/02: v1.4
-Added my current email address.
-Made some cosmetic changes in the layout.
-Reorganized Table of Contents.
-Changed the Story, taken from the manual.
-Added a Controls section.
-Added a Hints section.
6/28/00: v1.3
-Changed the ascii art title
6/2/00: v1.2
-Added a Hints section
3/3/00: v1.1
-Added ASCII art title; Changed e-mail address; Added a Table of Contents and a
Revision History section; Changed the Disclaimer.
10/9/98: v1.0
-Completed version.
=========
II. INTRO
=========
Orb-3D is a little-known action/puzzle game for the 8-bit Nintendo
Entertainment System (NES). I had this game in my collection for almost 2
years before I even put it in my NES. The game definitely doesn't draw any
attention to itself, with it's lackluster box art and uninspired title, but
gameplay is abundant here. It's a fun game to just pick up and play when
you're not in the mood to dedicate hours to an RPG or adventure game. It's
no Tetris, but it's a viable alternative.
==========
III. STORY
==========
As taken from the manual:
You are an Explorer First Class, on assignment in a remote corner of the
universe. Space stations, Colonial Cruisers and whole solar systems have
mysteriously disappeared in this region. A nearby planet is buzzing with rumors
of an evil space wizard, Krohn. He controls an enormous Black hole which has
already begun to double in size.
Your ship, the Millennium Orb, is the only space craft capable of withstanding
the energy forces of Krohn's Black Hole. There are 30 Enigma Chambers
separating you from Krohn. Each chamber will test your wits, skill, cunning and
courage. You must keep the Millennium Orb in position by manipulating force
shields at the top and bottom of each chamber in Krohn's domain. You must keep
within the plane and deal with the dangers hurled at you by the malicious
wizard.
As you bounce off the force shields in each chamber, you will notice your Orb
travels on an orbital path around the center plane of each chamber. You can
alter this path by diving into and out of the center plane. You can also put
some "English" on your Orb by cleverly moving your force shields. Use these
techniques to hit the targets in each Enigma Chamber.
As you conquer each chamber, you encounter a staggering diversity of targets
and puzzles, the inventions of Krohn's twisted sense of humor. You find
yourself battling Eye Spy, Balloonacy, Roamin' Numerals and the Cheshire Cat,
not to mention other wily opponents. Remember, keep within the force shields,
conserve fuel and complete all the chambers. You MUST defeat Krohn.
Refuel at Vern's Orb-O-Rama when necessary. Vern and his service station/
restaurant are, like yourself, now trapped in the vacuum of the Black Hole.
Once at Vern's, navigate your Orb through as many fuel bays as possible to fuel
up. Note that Vern's has a strong gravitational pull - your force shields are
unnecessary here. Steer your Orb and dive from the front and rear of Vern's
Orb-O-Rama to fuel up.
Although his life depends on the success of your mission, Vern is still a
businessman, and prefers payments in credits. You gather these credits by
solving Enigma Chambers. If you're low on credits, you'll notice Vern's fuel
bays are closed when you arrive. You can obtain credit by hitting the "$" icon
on the right side of Vern's. You must pay for credit immediately with your next
1000 points. If you haven't paid for your fuel, the next time you go to Vern's
you'll be out of luck.
Other creatures may hamper your Orb's progress. In particular, be aware of
"Chasers". These space pirates save gas money by chasing down hard-working,
interstellar travelers like yourself and robbing their fuel tanks. Chasers can
also hit targets on the center plane... be careful, this may do you more harm
than good.
One last word of caution... Remember to navigate Krohn's corridors
courageously, conserve fuel and refuel wisely, battle the wizard's evil brood
and, finally, defeat Krohn. The fate of the entire Universe is in your hands.
============
IV. CONTROLS
============
-----------------------------
| |
| + |
| +++++ (*) (*) |
| + == == B A |
| SE ST |
-----------------------------
START
-----
-Push to begin the game.
-Push to pause and to resume the game when paused.
UP
--
-Control the vertical force shields and to move the Orb vertically in some of
the mazes.
DOWN
----
-Control the vertical force shields and to move the Orb vertically in some of
the mazes.
A Button
--------
-To dive (change the Orb's trajectory).
B Button
--------
-To go to Vern's to fuel up.
====================
V. LEVEL WALKTHROUGH
====================
The following will be a level by level walkthrough to help you through the
game. I'll give the key to solving the levels, as some of the solutions
aren't easily apparent, but you will still have to plan your own strategy
on getting the task accomplished. Remember that you have infinite
continues (as far as I know), so you get to retry the level as often as you
want. The levels are referred to as Enigma Chambers in the manual so
that's what I will call them.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 1
-Simply dive your orb at the bubbles on screen to pop them all and proceed.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 2
-This stage is like bowling. You have 2 chances to knock down all of the
pins. To achieve this just keep trying to hit certain pins from different
angles. The pins reset if you don't knock them down after the first 2
tries, so just try again until you knock 'em all down.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 3
-I couldn't find any pattern on this stage. Just keep hitting things until
they all disappear.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 4
-Hit the caterpillars once and they'll turn into coccoons. Hit the
coccoons and they'll turn into butterflies and fly off.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 5
-All you have to do is hit the cat face that appears to advance to Level 6.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 6
-Hit the numbered dice that appear. Depending on what numbered die you hit
will subtract that number from the total of 24 (displayed at the bottom of
the screen). Once you hit zero you move on.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 7
-This level is a big game of tic tac toe. You can probably win it several
different ways, but I went bottom left first, then bottom right, then the
center to block, then the upper right to win. I'm not sure if the computer
corresponds to your moves the same way every time, but if they do, my
method will win every time.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 8
-This level is like the classic game Connect Four, except you need to
connect any row or column of 5 to win.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 9
-Billiards. Hit any ball to break 'em. After that, hit the balls that are
spinning until you've gotten them all in.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 10
-You'll see a bunch of skulls. Go after the one that moves its mouth.
Repeat until they're all gone.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 11
-This screen is filled with sticks of dynamite. Going after the lowermost
sticks will knock out a whole column, letting you finish the level quicker.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 12
-This level is one of those games where you try to move the numbered
squares around until the numbers are in the proper sequence. Just hit the
number that you want to move into the empty space until they are in the
right order.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 13
-There are a bunch of gold faces on this screen. You have to hit each of
them 3 times to destroy them. Try to take out one at a time, as there is
an enemy that will appear who turns the faces back to gold.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 14
-On this screen you have black cats, blue elephants and pink mice. If a
pink mouse is moving, go for the black cats. If a blue elephant is moving,
go after a pink mouse. If a black cat is moving, go for a blue elephant.
Repeat until they are all eliminated.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 15
-In this level you have to hit the ducks until they are all in the same
row. Hitting them from the left side moves them up and from the right side
moves them down.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 16
-There are a bunch of magnets here. Hit the ones on the edge of the screen
to take out a few at a time.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 17
-I still don't get this chamber. There are a bunch of jewels and bombs
here. Try to go for the bomb with the lit fuse. I finished the level this
way but had no clue what I was doing, so it can't be too complicated.
Nathan Morrison adds: The purpose of the level is to hit the bombs with the lit
fuses. Any jewels that haven't been destroyed add to your score.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 18
-There are 9 eyes on this screen. The center eye will occasionally open
up. Hit it to close it then go after the other 8 eyes while it is closed.
You have to hit these eyes once to open them and again to destroy them.
You can only do this while the center eye is closed. If it opens back up,
just hit it again to close it.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 19
-Simply hit the letters in order to spell ORBIT.
Nathan Morrison adds: The word to spell is different sometimes.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 20
-Eliminate all the arrows on this screen. I started with the center arrow.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 21
-This chamber is one big bingo game. A number will be displayed at the
top. If the number is on your "card" then hit it. If you don't have the
bingo number on your "card" that is displayed, then hit the displayed
number to change it. When you have 5 numbers in a row or column, you win.
Nathan Morrison adds: Hitting other numbers on the card also changes the
number.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 22
-There are 3 air pumps. Keep hitting one of them until the balloons it
blows up burst. Move on to the next one and repeat, then again for the
third pump. If you accidentally hit a different pump, the balloons deflate
and you have to pump them up again.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 23
-You have to hit the objects in the correct order to proceed or the objects
reset. I don't know if this screen is different each time you play it, but
here's what I did. First, hit the only block on the screen. Two blocks
will appear. Hit the one on the left, then the one on the right. Now 3
appear, but notice 2 of them are in the same place as before. Hit the
leftmost one first like you did before, then the rightmost one second, and
then finally hit the new block on the bottom last. Repeat this pattern,
always hitting the new block last until you finish the level.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 24
-There are 5 cat faces on the screen. When you hit one, 4 faces appear, in
the space to the left, right, top and bottom of it. If you hit the same
face again, those 4 faces and the one you hit will disappear. Take out the
middle green face first then the 2 yellow ones in this fashion. There
should be 2 pink faces left. To beat this level, you must now fill up the
entire screen full of the pink faces. Once every space is full, you
advance.
Nathan Morrison adds: Those wierd little faces of god knows what only have to
have any two other colors eliminated, then fill the screen with whatever color
is left. Hitting the last face on the screen turns it invisible and you may
have to destroy it if you don't win.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 25
-Keep hitting the 2 rings at the top of the screen until they land on the
posts at the bottom.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 26
-Move the red chess piece around to take out the 4 yellow pieces. Just
don't get captured while doing it or the board resets and you try again.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 27
-There are 3 race cars at the bottom. Hit the blue one from the left to
move it up. The object is to get it to the top of the screen ahead of the
other 2 cars. You can knock the other 2 cars down a notch by hitthing them
from the right.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 28
-In this chamber you must get all 3 pictures on the slot machine to match
up. The color and the picture must be the same. This takes good timing
and luck to accomplish.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 29
-Here you must move the ball through the maze. To move it, the ball must
be hit from the back into the direction you want to move it. Follow the
map below for the route I took. Some shots are tricky and require hitting
the ball from a precise angle, but it can be done.
----------------------------
| ******** | ************S |
| * ---- * * ---- |
| * | ***** | | | S=Starting point
| * ----- | --- |
| * | | | |
| * | --- ----|
| * | | |
| * ---| ---------- |
| **** | | |
|--- * |---- ---- |
| **** | |
| * -------- ---- |
EXIT ***** | |
----------------------------
Nathan Morrison adds: Sometimes the ball doesn't go in the direction you want
it to, but to go up and down, you may need to be facing a certain direction,
because from behind or in front of the maze, the ball's direction goes opposite
of what it usually is, I forget where.
ENIGMA CHAMBER 30
-This last screen is full of cards and plays like the game Concentration.
Hit a card to see what it is and then find the card that matches. This
will take awhile, so you'll definitely have to make a stop at Vern's
Orb-O-Rama.
AFTER ENIGMA CHAMBER 30
-Once you finish all 30 Enigma Chambers, you encounter Krohn himself. He's
one of the coolest bosses I've seen on an NES game. You can defeat Krohn
by hitting him in the eyes only when his eyes are open and the screen is in
color (it flashes between black & white and color). When you hit an eye it
will shut for good. Shut them both and you've beaten the game!
==========
VI. ENDING
==========
Don't read on if you want to find out the ending on your own.
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>SPOILER SPACE
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A little man in a blue space suit is standing next to the orb, holding a
flag as stars zoom by behind him and the credits show at the bottom of the
screen.
==========
VII. HINTS
==========
Here's a nifty little hint I found at www.gamewinners.com:
Conserve Fuel
-Press A, B, Left, B, A, Right on the intermission screen between levels or
before Enigma Chamber 1 begins and fuel consumption will be half of normal.
============
VIII. EXTRAS
============
A very special thanks to Nathan Morrison (retro_hippie@hotmail.com). He
submitted several tips He probably knows this game better than I do, as I
haven't played it since my original submission. I think he is the only person
I have ever received an email from on this FAQ.
The manual for the game can be found here:
http://sardius.steakandcheese.com/manuals/orb-3d.txt
The manual has this to say about the 3-D Effect of the game:
The ability to see 3-D varies among individuals. To enhance the effect, darken
the room, put on your GrenoVision(tm) glasses, relax and look "past" the
screen. You will soon see objects that move several inches in front of and
behind your display monitor.
Some people may experience eye strain from prolonged use of the GrenoVision(tm)
glasses. DO NOT CONTINUE TO WEAR THE GLASSES IF YOU EXPERIENCE EYE STRAIN OR
OTHER DISCOMFORT. Orb-3D has been designed for satisfying gaming with or
without the GrenoVision(tm) glasses.
==============
IX. DISCLAIMER
==============
This walkthrough is not endorsed by Hi-Tech Expressions or Nintendo of America.
The information contained within this document is provided without guarantee.
All copyrights and trademarks are recognized.
This walkthrough may be reprinted, posted in newsgroups, or placed on web
sites, as long as the proper credit is given to the author. The most recent
version of this walkthrough can be found at www.gamefaqs.com or
www.vgstrategies.about.com
©1998,2000,2002 Adam Lamontagne (alamont1@maine.rr.com)
