__  __                _             __  __           _
|  \/  | __ _ _ __ ___| |__   ___   |  \/  | __ _  __| |_ __   ___  ___ ___
| |\/| |/ _` | '__/ __| '_ \ / _ \  | |\/| |/ _` |/ _` | '_ \ / _ \/ __/ __|
| |  | | (_| | |  \__ \ | | | (_) | | |  | | (_| | (_| | | | |  __/\__ \__ \
|_|  |_|\__,_|_|  |___/_| |_|\___/  |_|  |_|\__,_|\__,_|_| |_|\___||___/___/
==================================================
Eets Marsho Madness FAQ
Copyright (c)2007 Sarah Dodd
1st May 2007
Do not reproduce this FAQ without the owners express permission
Email:  chamaelleo [at] aol [dot] com
===================================================
============================
Contents
============================
1)     Notices and Updates
-Version
2)     The Game
-Eets: Chowdown blurb
-Marsho Madness
-Achievements for MM
3)     Knowing the Game
-Sound
-Powerups
-Enemies
4)     Tactics
5)     How I play
-My highscore
6)     Disclaimer
7)     Contact Information
8)    Thanks
============================
Notices and Updates
============================
This is my only my second FAQ and is an amalgamation of various
hints and tips I had posted on boards and shared with friends.
The tactics and suggestions I give work *for me*, but you may find
a better way of playing, for you, or others.  I realise that they
are my personal preference, and I offer them only as a suggestion
of a way of achieving a high score.
If you feel something particularly obvious has been omitted,
or have a new and interesting take on the game, feel free to contact
me at  chamaelleo [at] aol [dot] com
Version
--------
Version 1.   1st May 2007
============================
The Game
============================
Eets: Chowdown is an XBOX Live Arcade game, and was released on the
25th April 2007.
The single player game is inherently a puzzle game.  The blurb on
the download area states:
"Manipulate Eets' emotions, fire Radioactive Ginseng and solve over 120
ingenious puzzles! Explore this highly acclaimed indie game, specially
enhanced for the Xbox 360!
Do you like puzzle games? Action games? If you said yes to either, then
give Eets: Chowdown a whirl!  Unlock all 120 levels, earn achievements
and play the unlimited version of Marsho Madness!  With over 25 unique
items and 4 unique worlds, there's a lot more to experience in this
innovative game."
Eets is the name of the character who is indirectly controlled by the
player.  By placing items and manipulating the environment, the player
helps Eets reach the puzzle piece found somewhere in every level.
Each level takes up one screen, there is no side scrolling.
Marsho Madness
---------
Marsho Madness (MM) is the minigame bundled with the Eets puzzle game.
The aim of the game is to achieve the highest possible score by
destroying enemies before they reach Eets, who is trapped in the centre
of the screen.
To do this, players must enter the correct button sequence connected to
each enemy before pressing the right trigger to fire a shot.
For example if a Tank appears with the sequence XABY, the player must
enter X,A,B,Y in the correct order, and then press the right trigger to
destroy the Tank.
The longer the player can go without dying or entering an incorrect
button sequence, the higher the combo. Higher combos award higher
multipliers, which invariably make each shot worth more points by
multiplying the base amount for each enemy by the current multiplier.
Every 3 minutes, the player is awarded a new life.  Giftboxes randomly
appear which contain power ups.
Achievements
---------
Eets: Chowdown is worth 200 GamerScore points, 35 of which are directly
related to Marsho Madness,
These are:
5 GS    Marsho Madness        Play a game of Marsho Madness!
10 GS    Marshoburger        Get a score of above 100,000 on MM.
20 GS    Double Marshoburger    Get a score of above 1,000,000 on MM.
============================
Knowing the game
============================
Sound!
---------
First and foremost, turn up your sound!  I don't always play with sound up
on games, but I find it really helps on MM.  It is particularly useful
for knowing when a chain is heading your way and even more importantly,
so that you know when a giftbox has appeared (again, on later
stages these can be incredibly hard to spot - the sound can be your main
clue).
Powerups
---------
Using powerups at the right time is an essential tactic in my opinion.
If at all possible, and particularly in later stages of the game, hold
onto your powerup until you see another one appear.  Then use your powerup
and pick up the second.  Do anything you can to keep your powerup - there
have been times when things looked impossible and yet I managed to fight
back through by utilising bombs and tanks and going crazy at mini-mallows
for a few seconds and found that actually, I didn't need to use my powerup
and could save it for longer.  At the same time, if things are desperate,
use it!  If utilised well it can either keep a large combo alive, clear a
hectic screen to slow imminent death, or regrow a combo that has just been
lost through a mistake or death - or in some cases all 3!
Towards the end of my highest run there were plenty of times when I used
my powerup without another being on screen, and hoped that the brief
respite would help me stay ontop of the enemies until another appeared.
LISTEN for them!  Powerups always appear in roughly the same places
(diagonally from Eets, about halfway between Eets and the edges of the
screen) and look for a 3 button combo that isn't moving.  If you see it,
and enemies are about to jump on you, quickly forgetting everything else,
grabbing it and using it immediately can be a life saver if necessary.
Also, know what the different powerups do, and use them to your advantage.
I find bombs to be the weakest of the powerups, particularly because the
respite they reward you with is only very brief and the distance they reach
out from Eets is quite small.  If planes and chains are running about, you
might find the explosion breached by mini-mallows and the ensuing cloud
can make these difficult to spot.  At the same time the noise can make it
difficult to hear that a powerup has appeared.  Look and listen for chains
and send a shot towards them, regardless of the bomb, and watching for
planes dropping mini-mallows inside the explosions perimeter.
*Bombs
Creates an explosion which moves around Eets for a short time - note that
due to the circular motion chain-mallows *can* slip through.
*Goo Cannon
Shoots a chain which destroys many enemies by bouncing between them  - in
later stages of the game it will not destroy everything on the screen so
watch for the areas it hasn't reached and start by focusing your attention
there.
*Paintbrush
Turns all enemy's sequences into the same button (i.e. every button press
becomes 'x').  I have often died because I haven't noticed that I had a
paintbrush and used the power up in the hope it would destroy things
directly ontop of me - oops.  I'm usually quite methodical about this -
if I can hear that a chain is on the screen I'll hit that first, than go
for 2 presses of the button, then 3 then 4.
Enemies
---------
*Mini-mallows
The smallest of the marshmallows.  These need a 2 button sequence to
be dispatched.  They appear on the screen in a variety of was - alone,
dropped from planes and as fallout from an exploding blue mallow.
*Bombs are your friends!
When bombs explode they pause for a moment and then blow up and destroy
all 1,2+3 button enemies in their vicinity.  There are parts of the latter
stages of the game where bombs are very frequent and fast moving.  At
this time, I find I'm only searching around the map and dispatching the
bombs, with the odd 2 button hit to keep those very close to Eets at bay.
*Tanks
Thus far Tanks are the only enemy I've seen needing 4 buttons to be
pressed before they explode.  Nevertheless, due to the chain effect, they
usually destroy all 1,2,3 and 4 button enemies directly surrounding them.
*Square blue Mallows
Appear after 3 minutes.  When destroyed, these mallows burst and leave
mini-mallows in their place.  It is best not to let these get right ontop
of Eets, as you will need at least 1 more 2 button press to dispatch the
fallout.
*Chains
Mallows that appear in a line make a particular sound - listen out for it
and the moment you spot them, shoot at one of the chain.  The chain-effect
will usually dispatch the whole lot, though sometimes you may need to
send another shot out to finish the tail.
*Double-chains
In much later stages of the game, chains will appear where each mallow in
the chain is a two-button mallow.  They are more distinct as each
mini-mallow blue.  These are often more dangerous as the chain-effect will
frequently fail to destroy the entire chain - be ready to destroy another
mallow in the chain to finish them all off.
*Hard-hat mallows
Can only be destroyed when their face is visible.  There have been a few
occasions when one has got incredibly close and I've had to hold the
button sequence in place and wait for it to emerge - usually however, I
find that they are usually destroyed by tanks/bombs etc, chain-effects.
*Planes
Some suggest going after these but in my highest runs I guarantee I hit
less than 15 intentionally.  It can definitely be useful to hit them if you
have the time early on, but during latter stages of the game going out of
your way to stop another 1 or 2 mini-mallows being added to the 400 already
on screen is pointless, in my opinion.  Particularly if you could be using
that 3 button press to destroy a bomb instead!
*Starfish
Are particularly unworthy of worry, in my opinion!  They jump, so they
*can* suddenly appear a lot closer than expected, but I'm not sure one has
ever actually killed me.  There are parts of the game where a huge amount
of starfish appear, but if you can't manage a quick 3-button sequence to
destroy them and their starfishy friends, you're not likely to cope with
the much harder enemies.
============================
Tactics
============================
The chain effect!  I'm not entirely sure how it works, probably because
I'm blind and/or stupid, but nevertheless, when you hit an enemy the
shot will often rebound and destroy many of the enemies around it -
linked to the button sequence perhaps?  If you hit an enemy with a
higher button sequence, it will usually destroy all of the enemies around
it with the same, or lower button target.  For example, hit a tank, and
the shot will rebound and destroy any other tank next to it, and many
3,2 and 1 button targets in its vicinity.
Sometimes the shot can rebound quite some distance.  Use this chain effect
to your advantage - particularly when it comes to chain-mallows -
dispatching 1 shot at just one of the chain should finish the whole chain off.
At the same time, be aware of the chain effect - later on in the game I am
already targeting something else having just fired a shot - if you target
something nearby to your last shot, chances are it may be destroyed and
you will nullify your multiplier by trying to go for it.
Split the screen and as you are searching, aim at something that is no
where near what you have just shot at to avoid cancelling your multiplier
by trying to shoot at something that has been destroyed in the
chain-effect.
If you have made a mistake, either because something has been destroyed
pre-firing, or because you've just hit the wrong button - don't just
cancel it!  Look for any connecting lines and finish the combination
accordingly.  If they are off screen, do your best to wait for it so that
you keep your multiplier going.
Obviously if you target more than 1 enemy that has the same pattern, the
shot will split and destroy all of them, creating even more chains - if
you are looking for your next enemy, try to pick a spot that is unlikely
to be effected by any of these areas.
Don't sit back and watch something be destroyed until you retarget - if you
hope to keep ontop of the enemies later on in the game, you must already be
entering a sequence for the next enemy the moment you've triggered your shot!
The higher your combo, the higher your multiplier.  It goes without saying
that to achieve a high score, a high multiplier is important - if you're
shooting every mini-mallow for 205 instead of 15, it makes a big difference!
Making the least possible mistakes *is* important, however in the later
stages of the game, multipliers rack up pretty quickly, and I found it far
more important just to focus on staying alive.  If you can stay alive long
enough to see off 8000 or so enemies, you'll likely be getting close to
that 1 million mark.  If you have a great combo and manage to keep it going
for a long time, 5000-6000 enemies will also get you pretty close.  If you
can't stay alive long enough, it doesn't matter whether you've got a high
multiplier or not.
I've made lots of stupid mistakes and continued on when I thought I
shouldn't bother only to top my high score.  I find I only need one really
good combo when things are going crazy in the latter portion of the game to
add another 100-200k.  Again, if you've screwed up royally, powerups can
bump your multiplier up very quickly later on.
There are patterns of enemies, so watch for them.  There are times when
there are more bombs than anything else, and they move incredibly fast.
Then there are times when there are practically no bombs, but instead a huge
amount of square-blue mallows and planes.  Others when there are a huge
amount of chains.  Watch for the pattern and start to change your tactics
accordingly.
There is a particular time later on when I find it incredibly
hard to stay alive, but I know that if I can get past that pattern things
calm down a bit again and I can get back ontop of the screen.
Finally, due to the nature of rectangles, enemies which appear at the top
or bottom of the screen will reach you quicker than enemies appearing at
the same time from either side.  If a squareblue mallow were to appear in
the centre of each side of my screen at the same time, I would dispatch the
upper and lower ones before dealing with the sides!
============================
How I play
============================
I generally try to destroy square-blue mallows nearer the edge of the screen
though am less scared by these now - I can still shoot them almost directly
ontop of Eets and fire off a quick 2-button to kill the fallout before they
kill me.
The moment bombs start appearing I always aim at those first, particularly
when they are fast-moving.  Tanks are very slow moving so I never go for them
first if there are bombs or faster moving enemies on the screen, however if
they are surrounding by a large amount of enemies and I can distinguish the
button-sequence, I'll use them to clear a space.
When there are copious amounts of mini-mallows around, I do have a quick look
to see how many I can hit with one sequence and aim at that - the more you
hit directly, the more chain-reactions, the more will actually die.
Practice!
My highscore as of 1/5/07:    1,433,670
============================
Disclaimer:
============================
Copyright (c)2007 Sarah Dodd
All rights reserved.  Please do not modify or reproduce this document without
the express permission of the author.
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
The data contained herein is provided for informational purposes only.
============================
Contact information:
============================
If you have any further info or anything you think has been omitted,
constructive thoughts and comments, or just want to say hi, do get in touch at
Chamaelleo [at] aol [dot] com
============================
Thanks
============================
To CheesyRamen and Biiigfoot for making such an addictive game - check out the
PC version and the forums over at http://www.eetsgame.com/news/index.php