You can warp to level 56 by getting a "Big X" on level 11. You can also warp to level 51 by getting a "Big X" on level 6. Both of these give you bonuses of ~60,000 points.
Strategy Guide:
In order to excell at KLAX, in addition to improving your reflexes and anticipation, you need to understand the scoring rules.
It is possible to get more than 2,000,000 if you know the tricks!
There are three basic areas of scoring to be considered:
I will deal primarily with the first two, since there is relatively little the player can do about the last.
The basic KLAX scoring matrix is shown below:| vertical | horizontal | diagonal | |
| 3-KLAX | 50 | 1,000 | 5,000 |
| 4-KLAX | 10,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| 5-KLAX | 15,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
Why? I don't know. I didn't design it. I'm just reporting the facts, ma'am. Anyway, note that a vertical 3-KLAX is worthless, but a vertical 4-KLAX is quite valuable! The message is that when you are going for points, go for diagonal KLAXs or vertical 4-KLAXs.
So how do you get a vertical 4-KLAX? Doesn't it go away when you put the 3rd tile on top? Well, the answer is no, not always. There are two basic ways to get a vertical 4-KLAX. The easiest is to use the scoring delay. If you have the following setup:
. [b] What you want to do is drop the [b] tile . [a] on the center column in the bin, and while . [a] it is scoring, move over and drop both [a] . === tiles on top of the [a] column. The two . [a] tiles will just sit there until the . | | [b] column finishes scoring, then all of . | | the [a]'s will score as a vertical 4-KLAX. . | | . | [b][a] | Simple ! . | [b][a] | . +---------------+
The second way to get a vertical 4-KLAX is to set up chain-reaction techniqes:
. [b] When you drop the [b] down, it will score . === a diagonal 3-KLAX. When the [b]'s all . disappear, voila!, a vertical 4-KLAX . | [a] | of [a]'s! . | [a] | . | [b] | . | [b][a] | . | [x][a] | . +---------------+
These examples also introduce the score multiplier effect. Whenever you score, the score mutliplier is the number of KLAXs scored. This multiplier doesn't reset but keeps increasing until there's nothing left to score and play has resumed. So in the above examples, the [b] KLAXs had a multipler of 1, but the [a] KLAXs had a multipler of 2 and were worth 20,000 points! For a more complex example (capital letters indicate scoring KLAXs):
. [b] . [a] . === . . | [a] [a] | | [a] [a] | | | . | [a] [a] | | [a][a][a] | | [A] [A] | . | [b] [b] | --> | [B][B][B] | --> | [A][A][A] | . | [a][x][a] | | [a][x][a] | | [A][x][A] | . | [a][x][a] | | [a][x][a] | | [A][x][A] | . +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
The [b]'s score as a horizontal 3-KLAX with mutiplier of 1, but the [a]'s will score as 2 vertical 4-KLAXs, 2 diagonal 3-KLAXs, and a horizontal 3-KLAX with a total multiplier of 6 (1 for the [b]'s and 5 for the [a]'s)!!! So the total score for this would be (scribble scribble) 187,000 points!
As you can see, the multiplier can have a dramatic effect on your score. The maximum multiplier is 9 (athough it's quite difficult to get that high).
As a final topic in this lesson, I want to cover a couple of advanced techniques. You may have noticed during play that if you push forward on the joystick, the top tile on your paddle will be thrown half way back up the ramp. You can use this to rearrange the tiles on the paddle or to get back to a lower tile without dropping the upper tiles. This "push-back" technique is fun. It's addictive. It's also the quickest way to get into deep doo-doo. Use it, don't abuse it. There is a built-in difficulty advance feature which makes the game play faster depending on how long you have been playing on the current quarter. (This is a not-very-well-kept secret of arcade game design used to balance game play so a the designer doesn't have to screw typical players to keep a really good player from playing forever). Anyway, the point is that you should play as quickly as possible so that the game difficulty doesn't ramp up on you. One way you do this by pulling back on the joystick to speed the tiles down the ramp and (hopefully) onto your paddle. Don't wait for them to come to you. Suck 'em down! This feature can also be abused (although not as badly as the push-back technique), but it can be useful.
The basic strategy is going to be to start at level 1, play through level 5, warp to level 11, and take a "secret warp" to level 56. I've never survived level 56 using this strategy.
LEVEL 1
Here is a cosmic paradox.
Level 1 is the easiest level in the game.
It is also the hardest level to do well.
Don't get discouraged by the complexity of the patterns (KLAXgrams) shown below.
This is the as bad as it gets, and you can work up to it slowly.
If you wish, use the "Tengen Stax" method shown below.
It's worth fewer points, but it is *lots* easier.
There are only 4 colors of tiles in the first level.
The patterns shown will get you about 370,000 to 565,000 points on level 1.
The highest theoretical score for level 1 that we have found is about 720,000
(but I wouldn't waste my time trying for it and I play for free).
In building these patterns, you may complete at most ONE KLAX to get rid of "junk";
if you complete 2 KLAXs, the game will not let you drop extra tiles on the paddle after the first,
because the 1st tile will complete the level.
And you must be quick to drop all the tiles on the paddle into the center column.
If the top [c] finishes scoring before you get the remaining tiles in place,
things won't work right.
You must be prepared to settle for less and bail out earlier if necessary.
These are "best case" patterns.
They are very similar: notice that the only difference in the first 2
is an extra [a] at the bottom of the paddle stack,
but it's surprisingly MUCH more difficult to achieve!
An [x] is a don't care: use the fourth color or just make sure you don't complete a KLAX with them.
. [c] [c] . [c] [b] [b] . [b] [a] [a] . [a] [a] [b] . === === === . . |[a][a] [a][a]| |[a][a] [a][a]| |[a][a] [a][a]| . |[b][b] [b][b]| |[b][b] [b][b]| |[b][b] [b][b]| . |[x][a] [c][x]| |[x][a] [c][x]| |[x][a] [c][x]| . |[x][b] [a][x]| |[x][b] [a][x]| |[b][b] [a][b]| . |[a][c][b][b][a]| |[a][c][b][b][a]| |[a][c][b][b][a]| . +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+ . ~370K ~435K ~565K . "Rains' Revenge"
LEVEL 2
This pattern is known as "Tengen Stax," because the guys over at Tengen discovered it.
I think it should be called "Stax to dah Max," but call it whatever you want
("You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay ...").
It makes use of the high value of vertical 4-KLAXs.
It's also easy to remember and is recommended for the entire family.
There are many minor variations possible with higher and lower scores.
These are left as an exercise to the reader.
. [e] . === . |[a][b] [c][d]| . |[a][b] [c][d]| . |[e][e] [e][e]| . |[a][b][e][c][d]| . |[a][b][e][c][d]| . +---------------+ . "Tengen Stax"
LEVEL 3
Level 3 is a "diagonal wave".
Try to complete as much of a BIG X as possible but bail out as soon
as possible to keep the game difficulty down.
You need at least 3 diagonals to complete the level.
You should have been using the pull-down feature to save time so far.
Also, between levels keep tapping the button to speed up the scoring (again, reducing time).
Again, many variations are possible.
. [a] . === . . |[a] [a]| . |[x][a] [a][x]| . |[x][x] [x][x]| . |[x][a][x][a][x]| . |[a][x][x][x][a]| . +---------------+ . "BIG X"
LEVEL 4
Level 4 should be played the same as level 2.
There are more colors on level 4 than level 2, so it is harder.
But it is also more important to do well on level 4 because it is a "points wave".
Any points that you score over the 10,000 needed to complete the level will be doubled as a bonus.
So a 200,000 set of "Tengen Stax" will get you 390,000 points including the bonus.
Did I mention that furiously tapping through the scoring at the end
of level sometimes reveals a "feature" in which mysterious white
tiles appear in the bin and give you extra points?
LEVEL 5
Just survive it any way you can.
The difficulty will be ramping up pretty well by this time,
so I just build simple vertical stacks to get rid of tiles as easily as possible.
I often have over 1,000,000 by this time, and survival is the most important thing.
DO NOT TAP THE BUTTON AT THE END OF THIS LEVEL TO SPEED THE SCORE!
You may inadvertently get to the select screen and select the default level 6.
When you get to the select screen, warp to level 11.
LEVELS 11 and 56
I play both levels the same.
I go for a "Super Star" pattern which includes an "X".
The "X" on level 11 (and on level 6, too) will cause an immediate warp to level 56 (or 51), plus mucho bonus points.
This pattern depends on getting a wild tile ([*]) to complete the star.
I still love completing this pattern and watching everything score at once.
. [*] . === . . |[a] [b]| . |[x][a] [b][x]| . |[c][c] [d][d]| . |[x][b][e][a][x]| . |[b][x][e][x][a]| . +---------------+ . "Super Star"
Well, that's it. If you did everything right (and if the game was kind to you), you will have a score of over 2,000,000 points. Now wasn't that easy? If you actually do this, you will amaze your friends (and yourself) and will probably dominate the high score table for awhile. Have fun, keep kool, and happy KLAXing. Lyle Rains
Another Tip:
One thing to realize about making the big X, is that you don't need to make it all one color.
For example, the method I usually use is:
. |[A] [B]| . |[x][A] [B][x]| . |[x][x][*][x][x]| . |[x][C][x][D][x]| . |[C][x][x][x][D]| . +---------------+
Where the "*" is a wildcard. This is so easy to make that I can always do it on level 6.
Last updated 8-31-97 Troy H. Cheek