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____ ____ __
/ __/_ _____ ___ ____ / __/__ / / _____ _______
_\ \/ // / _ \/ -_) __/ _\ \/ _ \/ / |/ / -_) __(_-<
/___/\_,_/ .__/\__/_/ /___/\___/_/|___/\__/_/ /___/
/_/
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ ____
/ |/ /_/___/ /___ /_/___ _/ /_ / /_ / __ \___ ____________ _____
/ /|_/ / / __ / __ \/ / __ `/ __ \/ __/ / /_/ / _ \/ ___/ ___/ / / / _ \
/ / / / / /_/ / / / / / /_/ / / / / /_ / _, _/ __(__ ) /__/ /_/ / __/
/_/ /_/_/\__,_/_/ /_/_/\__, /_/ /_/\__/ /_/ \_\\___/____/\___/\__,_/\___/
/____/
| The Master of Mischief, Morty |
| Maxwell, wants to make Shady Glen |
| school disappear by midnight. His |
| plan is to use disappearing paint. He |
| has turned five brushes into robots |
| and they are now his helpers. |
| |
| To avoid being caught, the Master |
| of Mischief is hiding in one of the |
| robots. You can save the school |
| if you figure out which robot is really |
| the Master of Mischief before midnight. |
| GOOD LUCK! |
\ /\_____________________________/\ /
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | Table of Contents | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ \/ \/ \
Section Search Code
------- -----------
The Particulars . . . . . . . . [TPA]
- Game Release Data. . . . . . [GRD]
- FAQ Version History. . . . . [VHI]
- Game Summary . . . . . . . . [GSU]
- Game Controls. . . . . . . . [GCO]
Walkthrough . . . . . . . . . . [WLK]
- Starting the Game. . . . . . [STA]
- Game Objectives. . . . . . . [GAM]
- Using the Notepad. . . . . . [NOT]
- Navigating the School. . . . [NAV]
- Photographing Robots . . . . [PHO]
- Finding Clues. . . . . . . . [CLU]
- Confronting the Master . . . [CNF]
- Winning the Round. . . . . . [WNR]
- Leveling Up. . . . . . . . . [LEV]
- Winning the Game . . . . . . [WNG]
The Three C's . . . . . . . . . [CCC]
- Copyright. . . . . . . . . . [COP]
- Credits. . . . . . . . . . . [CRE]
- Contact Information. . . . . [CON]
\ /\_____________________________/\ [TPA]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | The Particulars | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [GRD]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Release Data | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Genre : Educational
Developer : The Learning Company
Publisher : The Learning Company
System : PC, DOS, Mac
Official Title : Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue
Release Date : Unknown, 1989
ESRB Rating : N/A
Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue is an educational computer game designed and
published by The Learning Company and released in 1989. It is the first game in
the Super Solvers series, which later included Outnumbered, Gizmos and Gadgets,
Mission: T.H.I.N.K and Spellbound.
The game's primary intention is to teach children the basics of reading
comprehension and general problem solving. The game involves several short-form
reading assignments that must be completed, and also provides an aspect of
long-term strategy and planning. In addition to these educational aspects, the
game provides plenty of gameplay themes that keep the game fun and engaging to
children.
This game is not widely played anymore, but the lessons it has to teach are
still very valuable; the Super Solvers series remains one of the best examples
of true educational gaming. In writing this guide, I hope to encourage people
to check out this relic of a past era and perhaps use it to teach these same
lessons to a new generation of students.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [VHI]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | FAQ Version History | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Version 1.0.0 : This guide now exists. It didn't used to. All great guides
: start this way.
: File Size: 31KB, 29957 characters, 3493 words, 10 pages
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [GSU]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Summary | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
The dastardly Master of Mischief is trying to make Shady Glen School disappear!
He's turned five paintbrushes into walking robots that will paint the entire
school in disappearing paint. If he isn't stopped by midnight, the entire
school will disappear!
To stop him, you have to catch him -- but it won't be easy. To elude you,
the Master of Mischief has disguised himself as one of the robots. He's hidden
clues in the writings all around the school -- use the clues to figure out
which robot he's hiding in before time runs out!
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [GCO]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Controls | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Up Arrow:
Jump; enter doors;
enter the stairs; approach a machine.
Left + Up: [^] Right + Up:
Jump and flip left. Jump and flip right.
Left Arrow: [<] [>] Right Arrow:
Move your character left Move your character right
on the main screen. on the main screen.
[TAB] Open up the Notes screen [SPACEBAR] Use your camera to take a
when on the main navigation photograph of a robot.
screen.
[F1] [F2] [F3]
Open the Help menu. Open the File Menu. Open the Options menu.
\ /\_____________________________/\ [WLK]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | Walkthrough | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [STA]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Starting the Game | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
When you first open the game, you will be greeted with intro screens describing
the Master of Mischief's plan, then taken to the Club Member Sign-In screen. If
this is your first time playing, select New Member and press Enter.
Type your name in the box to sign-in. This will immediately take you to your
first round of the game. There are no other options to select.
As a new player, you'll be presented with gameplay advice the first time you
encounter anything new. These messages will stop appearing as you play the game
more.
Later, when you're loading your game again, you'll select your name from the
list of names on the Club Member Sign-In.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [GAM]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Objectives | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
At the beginning of the round, you'll find yourself in the middle of the
school. As you wander throughout the halls, you'll notice that robots on top
of paintbrushes will appear and chase you. One of these robots has the Master
of Mischief in it. Your goal is to figure out which one.
In order to win the round, you must find out which robot is the Master of
Mischief before the clock strikes midnight. Every round begins at 9:00PM and
lasts 9 minutes, meaning that 20 game minutes pass every minute, or 1 game
minute passes every 3 seconds.
You can only choose one robot to accuse the Master of Mischief of being, so
instead of guessing blindly, you'll have to find some clues. Throughout the
school, he's hidden short reading assignments. Reading these assignments and
answering the question correctly will give you a clue to some characteristic
of the robot that the Master of Mischief is hiding in.
These clues will tell you the characteristics of the robot you're looking for.
However, you won't see these things on the main screen -- instead, you have to
take pictures of the robots to examine them for those characteristics.
To put it simply, the objectives of each round are:
- Find the clues.
- Photograph the robots.
- Match the clues to the robots and figure out which one is the Master of
Mischief.
Once you have enough clues and pictures to be positive about which robot holds
the Master of Mischief, you can catch him in the act!
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [NOT]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Using the Notepad | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
The Notepad can be a bit confusing. To bring up the Notepad, press Tab while
wandering the main area, then press Enter.
The Notepad has two features: the Notes view and the Clues view.
The Notes view is like a summary of the rest of the information contained in
the Clues view. It lists the five robots (Buffo, Lectro, Pogo, Rollo and
Turbo), how many pictures you need to take of each, and whether you've ruled
that robot out as the Master of Mischief's hiding place.
The Clues view is accessed by using the Left/Right arrow keys to select the
second button along the bottom.
In the Clues view, you'll see cards for each of the five robots. If you've
taken a photo of the robot, that photo will appear in the main square. What
you'll notice is that various other items appear on the robot's picture as
well:
(1) An item in the robot's right hand.
(2) An item on the robot's head..
(3) An item in the robot's left hand.
(4) A word highlighted in the robot's speech bubble.
These four items go along with the four things listed on your note sheet in
the bottom right of this screen. Your goal is to find the robot whose items
match with your notes. Later in the game, the numbers won't be provided on the
picture, so refer back here to see which item's which.
As you scroll through the cards, you can use the Left/Right arrow keys to
select 'Next Card' to continue -- or, you can also select the 'Decide' button.
After selecting the 'Decide' button, you can choose to accuse a particular
robot if you think you're certain, or you can rule out a robot entirely. The
game is easier if you rule out robots as you discover that they aren't possible
-- when you notice that they don't have one of the items you're looking for,
label them as 'No' on the Decide screen.
To exit the Notepad view, scroll back through the Clues by selecting Next Card
until you return to the Notes view, then use the Left/Right arrow keys to
select the School button along the bottom.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [NAV]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Navigating the School | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Control-wise, navigating the station is simple: press the Left arrow key to
walk left, press the Right arrow key to walk right, and press the Up arrow key
to approach doors, stairs or machines.
As you navigate the halls and the rooms of the school, you'll come across five
main things:
- Room Doors: these doors lead to the various rooms of the schoolhouse. To
enter a door, stand in front of it and press Up.
- Stairs: these stairs let you switch between the top and bottom floor of the
school. To ascend or descend, stand in front of them and press Up.
- Film Machines: these machines, located in a random place each round, allow
you to obtain more film. Not only is film needed to take photos of the
robots, but you also receive an end-of-round bonus for having film
leftover. To approach a film machine, stand in front of it and press the Up
arrow.
- Clues: the clues you're looking for are hidden throughout the building.
Most of them appear within rooms, but sometimes they can appear on bulletin
boards in the main hall. Some rooms even have two. They appear as a small
blue rectangle "stuck" to something on the wall, with a small red triangle
on the right side. To approach a Clue, stand in front of it and press the
Up arrow.
- Robots: while you're wandering the halls or when you enter a new room,
you're likely to encounter a robot. These robots are what you need to take
pictures of to beat the round. Taking a picture of them also makes them
temporarily disappear.
The locations of most things in a given round are randomized. Lots of items in
the halls can have clues on them, including bulletin boards, trash cans and
water fountains, but these are randomly placed from round to round. The film
machines are also randomly placed around the school.
What aren't randomly placed are the stair locations and the rooms. The stairs
are always at either end of both levels. On the top floor, you have the Music
Room on the far left, the Classroom in the middle, and the Principal's Office
on the far right. On the bottom floor, you have the library on the left, the
drama room in the center, and the auditorium towards the right.
When you begin a new round, you'll always start by the drama room in the middle
of the bottom floor.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [PHO]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Photographing Robots | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Half of your objective in each round of the game is to take pictures of the
five robots. Once you've taken a picture of the robot, its photograph will
appear in your Notes.
In order to photograph the robots, you must first find them. Or, more
accurately, they must find you. You'll encounter robots appearing in front or
behind you when you're wandering around the station, and you'll also often
find one waiting for you inside a room of the school when you enter.
To photograph them, face them and press Spacebar. In order for it to work, you
have to be close enough for the flash on the camera to come in contact with the
robot. If you miss the first photo, move closer and try again.
Be careful, though -- the robots will attack you by throwing banana peels,
shooting electricity, and a variety of other "weapons". You can easily jump
over these if you're paying attention, then shoot a photo when it's passed.
The goal of photographing the robots is to be able to see four special
characteristics of the robot:
(1) An item in the robot's right hand. These are typically small items, like
an ear of corn or a hammer.
(2) An item on the robot's head. This item is usually a hat, costume
decoration or neckpiece, such as horns, pigtails, a necklace or a
headdress.
(3) An item in the robot's left hand. These items are typically larger, like
a big shopping bag or a big rock.
(4) A word in the robot's speech bubble. This word is always highlighted in
red.
At the beginning of the game, you need only one photo of each robot in order to
view all four characteristics. However, as the game goes on, each photo will
give you fewer characteristics to view; as a Senior, you'll need two photos per
robot, and as an Expert you'll need four photos per robot.
You'll often find, especially at higher ranks, that you've found all four clues
before getting enough robot photographs to make a decision. In these cases,
it's best to find a place to stand and wait. Wait towards one side of the
screen to give the robots plenty of room to appear and be ready to press
Spacebar when one arrives. Pay attention to what robots appear and what you
need so you don't have to keep checking your Notes view.
There are five robots in the game:
- Buffo: a tall, yellow robot with a round brush for his legs.
- Lectro: a green painting machine with two brushes and wheels.
- Pogo: a blue paintbrush with what appears to be a skirt.
- Rollo: a red paint roller.
- Turbo: a gray floating spray can.
It's also important to note that you certainly don't need to get all the
photographs of every robot in most rounds. You can be certain about which robot
is the Master of Mischief without having all the photos -- think logically
about it, and check out the Confronting the Master section for some tips.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CLU]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Finding Clues | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
The other half of the game is finding the four clues that you'll be looking for
in the robots. For these, you're going to have to do some reading.
Around the school, you'll find small blue rectangles with red triangles on the
right posted to the walls. Approach these by standing in front of them and
pressing the Up arrow.
You'll be given a short reading passage, typically only 3-4 paragraphs. Read
through the passage and pay attention to the little details, like colors, what
people say and feel, and what items are mentioned. Use the Left/Right arrow
keys to select the Page Up/Page Down buttons to scroll around.
After reading the passage, you'll be given a poetic question about the passage
and four possible responses. Choose the correct response to get points and your
clue. The answer itself is the clue.
You need to find four clues, but you'll find that it's harder than just finding
four rectangles. About half of the rectangles you find just feature the Master
of Mischief taunting you, and you'll also find that multiple rectangles give
the same clue.
To find all the clues, go through one path through the entire school. Enter
each room as you pass it, and look at every clue in the rooms and out in the
hallways. Once you've found all four clues, you can still examining rectangles
you haven't looked at yet for extra points, but it won't get you any new
information.
It's also good to remember that it's not always necessary to find all four
clues before making your decision. You can be certain about which robot is the
Master of Mischief before getting all the clues if you think about it. Check
below for more tips on that.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CNF]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Confronting the Master | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
When you think you're certain about which robot is the Master of Mischief, open
up your Notepad view and start scrolling through the Clues again. When you
arrive at the robot you want to accuse, use the Left/Right arrow keys to select
the Decide button, then select Yes and confirm it. You'll confront that robot.
Obviously, if you have all four clues and all the photographs for each robot,
you can be certain about which robot is the Master of Mischief. However, it
isn't always necessary to obtain all of both: as long as you have all of either
the clues or the photographs, you may be able to be certain.
For example, let's say you have all the photographs of all the robots, but only
one clue. Let's say that clue is that the robot is wearing a necklace. If only
one of the robots in your photographs is wearing a necklace, you already know
that it's the only possible robot and you can go ahead and make your
accusation.
On the other hand, let's say you have all the clues but only one robot fully
photographed. If that robot has all the clues, though, you already know that it
is the right robot.
It's good to remember, though, that unless you have all the clues or all the
photographs, you can't be certain. You only get one guess per round, so avoid
guessing unless it's right before midnight when you have nothing to lose.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [WNR]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Winning the Round | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
You'll win the round if you correctly identify which robot is the Master of
Mischief before midnight.
After correctly accusing the robot, the Master of Mischief will appear and give
you some point bonuses. There are three bonuses:
- Film Bonus: you'll receive a bonus based on how much film was left in your
camera. It's worth it to reload the camera if you're near the film machine
before solving to get some extra points -- but don't trek all the way
across the school for it because then you'll lose points from the...
- Time Bonus: you'll receive a bonus based on how much time is left before
midnight. The more time, the better (obviously), so be quick about it!
- Winning Bonus: you'll receive a bonus just for beating the round. The bonus
gets higher at higher levels of the game.
After winning a round, you'll be shown the graphic describing your current
Rank (check below). After that, you're given the option to play another round,
play another round as a different player, or exit the program.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [LEV]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Leveling Up | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
The more points you get, the higher your Rank will be after each round. There
are eight Ranks:
Trainee : 0
Junior : 5,000
Senior : 30,000
Pro : 60,000
Expert : 120,000
Master : 200,000
All-Star : 300,000
Champion : 500,000
Leveling up makes the game more difficult. As a Trainee and Junior, the game is
pretty easy: you only need one photograph per robot, and the clues are numbered
on the robots' pictures.
When you level up to a Senior, though, you need two photos per robot. Each
photo will let you see two of the robot's characteristics. You can still make
decisions based on the clues you can see, but you'll need more photos to get
the complete image. Also, the clues will no longer be numbered on the robots'
pictures at this point.
As an Expert, you'll need four photos per robot: each photo will only show you
one characteristic.
It's not all bad, though: as you get higher in rank, the bonuses at the end of
each round will get higher as well. The reading questions will give more points
as well.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [WNG]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Winning the Game | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
To "win the game", you must reach the top level of Champion with 500,000
points. Once you've done this, though, nothing really changes -- you're given
a bit of an extra pat on the back, but afterwards you can continue to play
through the Champion level of the game.
\ /\_____________________________/\ [CCC]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | The Three C's | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [COP]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Copyright | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue is a registered trademark of The Learning
Company, a subsidiary of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
This FAQ is the exclusive property of DetroitDJ. All rights
reserved. This FAQ may be freely distributed on any site, in whole or part, as
long as this last section remains intact (all three C's).
The latest version of this FAQ will ALWAYS be located at:
www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/567611/56988
Other sites are permitted to show this FAQ; however, most do not automatically
update, and I only update my FAQs on GameFAQs -- so, if you don't see
something, check that URL to see if there's a newer version.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CRE]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Credit | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
The Learning Company, for this and several other great games that have become
a part of the childhoods of thousands of students who are just now becoming the
next generation of video game designers.
CJayC, SBAllen and GameFAQs, for this great site.
God, for everything.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CON]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Contact Information | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
GameFAQs ID: DetroitDJ
E-Mail: [email protected] (please preface all e-mails with [SSO])
AIM/Yahoo!/MSN/GoogleTalk: DDJGameFAQs
To e-mail me, PLEASE preface your e-mail subject line with [SSO] in brackets.
I get a lot of spam, so that will help me sort through it and find your e-mail.
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me if you have a contribution or correction.
If you are submitting a tip or correction, please include how you would like to
be credited. Otherwise I'll credit you by your e-mail address (minus the
domain) or screenname.
Please, only e-mail me with questions about this game or other games I've
FAQed. I'm not looking to shoot the breeze.
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