=============================================================================== THE SIMPSONS: MINUTES TO MELTDOWN FAQ/WALKTHROUGH, v0.9 Written and maintained by SubSane Last Updated July 26, 2007 =============================================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 About the Game 1.2 About the Guide 2.0 BASICS 2.1 Game Start 2.2 Status and Menu Screens 2.3 Controls 2.4 Items 3.0 WALKTHROUGH 3.1 The Simpsons' House 3.2 Springfield 3.3 Nuclear Plant 4.0 FAQ 5.0 LEGAL / MISC. 5.1 Version History 5.2 Guide Credits 5.3 Contact Information 5.4 Legal Stuff =============================================================================== ===== 1.0 INTRODUCTION ======================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 About the Game ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ponder for a moment all of the past Simpsons games. So many games, spread out across so many platforms, for nearly two decades. Together they add up to 21 individual games all based on a single license. Just the one! I can't think of any other license or original series that can match the number of games that have been based on The Simpsons. So with this lovely little mobile gem we come to game #22 in the Simpsons video game pantheon. Harkening back to the simpler gameplay of years before the advent of 3D, The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown stars Homer in a top-down view of Springfield as he races to reach the Nuclear Power Plant and prevent a nuclear meltdown. Oh, and he only has 30 minutes to stop the disaster! The game was developed by G5 Mobile and released by Electronic Arts on July 23, 2007. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 About the Guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's your basic text-only walkthrough, and luckily for you the game is rather short. To find a specific word in the guide, preferably by referencing the table of contents at the top, hold Ctrl and press F on your keyboard. That will open a Find screen that you can use to find the word you're looking for. =============================================================================== ===== 2.0 BASICS ============================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 Game Start ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Continue ========== Your game will be saved after every level that you complete. Select this to resume your game from the beginning of the last level you reached. New Game ========== Begin a new story mode game. High Scores ============= Select this to view all of the high scores you have achieved in the game. Settings ========== Toggle the Sound on and off. Help ====== Here you can check out the controls, get gameplay tips, and look up the customer service phone #. About ======= View the legal and development information about the game. Exit ====== Quit the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2 Status and Menu Screens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Status Screen =============== Health: The bar in the middle represents Homer's health. Lives: Next to the health bar is a Homer graphic and the number of lives he still has. Once you lose all three lives you'll get Game Over and have to start over again in the Simpsons' House! Timer: Press the Timer button to view the remaining time before the nuclear plant blows up. Thought Bubble: You'll get thought bubbles that give hints on what your next goal in the level is. Pause Screen ============== Resume: Resume your game. Restart Level: Here you can restart the level. Settings: Toggle the sound on and off. Help: View the controls and other helpful info. Main Menu: Return to the main menu. Exit: Quit out of the game. Level Complete Screen ======================= This screen appears at the end of every level. You'll get the Mission Time (how long it took you to beat the level), as well as the total amount of time you've taken to get to that point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3 Controls ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Command | Character Action | Other ----------------------------------------------------------------- Right Soft Key | - | Timer menu Left Soft Key | - | Pause menu 5 or Down | - | Scroll text 2 or Up | Move Homer up | Move in menus 4 or Left | Move Homer left | - 6 or Right | Move Homer right | - 8 or Down | Move Homer down | Move in menus 5 or OK/Enter | Action/investigate | Select in menus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4 Items ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item | Purpose of item ------------------------------------------------------------------ Donuts | Restore small amounts of health. Buzz Cola | Restore large amounts of health. Goal Objects | There are various objects required to complete level goals. These are pointed out in the walkthrough. =============================================================================== ===== 3.0 WALKTHROUGH ========================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1 The Simpsons' House ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goal: Get to the car and head to the nuclear plant. Avoid furious citizens. Bottom floor ============== Eek, that shifty eyed pig is responsible for a nuclear meltdown! Homer better hop to it before the mob of citizens gets to him. Oh, and of course that little meltdown problem needs to be averted. Approach Santa's Little Helper and press OK to see an example of the Action feature. This is a context sensitive mechanic where you simply press OK when you are near an object or person that you can interact with. From here you're free to explore the remainder of the bottom floor, although you shouldn't take too long as you only have 30 minutes to get to the nuclear power plant. As you run around and press OK you'll find lots of hidden donuts from interacting with Grandpa in the living room and moving various objects. Take note of the thought bubbles that appear when you get near Marge in the kitchen and Maggie in the playroom on the right side. When you're ready, head up the stairs to the top floor. Top Floor =========== Up here you'll find some Buzz Cola cans in Bart and Lisa's bedrooms, as well as a cop who felt it necessary to break into Homer's house to beat him down with a police club. Run away from the cop as you explore and use the moveable plants to block his way while you're in the rooms. Once the top floor is covered you can return to the bottom floor. Bottom Floor ============== Head to the front door of the house to exit. Front Yard ============ Explore the yard if you want to collect some donuts (although I would recommend leaving them there). You can only go as far as the street in front of the house, so once you're all set move towards the car. That blasted pig will suddenly appear and steal Homer's car keys then run in the house. D'oh! Bottom Floor ============== Run over to Maggie's playroom and approach her to get a thought bubble with a new goal: her pacifier. Head upstairs. Top Floor =========== Enter her bedroom on the far right to find it. But as luck would have it that damn pig comes through and ingests the pacifier as well. Now you need to find that pig and stomach pump everything he's stolen! Return to the bottom floor. Bottom Floor ============== Enter the garage to finally trap the pig. You won't be able to grab him while he's running, so head up to the top and hit the switch to turn off the lights. You'll find the pig in the last spot he was in before the lights turned off. Once you catch him pick up the pacifier and return it to Maggie to get the car keys. Exit the house. Front Yard ============ Approach the car to finally get on your way to the nuclear plant. Time's a tickin', go man go! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2 Springfield ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goal: While busy picking belly button lint, you crashed your car! Find your way to the nuclear plant. Springfield Streets ===================== The streets of Springfield play out like a large maze (or a really long level in Zombies Ate My Neighbors). Your main goal throughout the level will be to simply follow the pig and the large yellow signs pointing towards the nuclear plant, although you will occasionally meet up with a Springfield citizen in need of your assistance. You'll also find a ton of donuts if you should ever need some health refills. Follow the pig to the right and stay along the middle of the street. You'll eventually reach a large pit that can be easily jumped by pressing OK, and from there you'll find your first enemy: a friendly neighborhood cop. Avoid him and head straight down the street until you spot that pig again. He races off to the left side of the next street, and the chase continues! You'll be facing traffic coming in from the right side, so wait for a car to pass then jump into the lane and head to the left. The cop may follow but he shouldn't be a problem. Keep going until the pig runs downward into the town square. Follow him past the Jebediah Springfield statue and down to the next cross street. Make a right turn here and run along the bottom line to avoid cars while you proceed to the right. You'll find the pig headed in the same direction as well as Barney lounging around on a street corner. Approach him to get a new goal: coffee (aka hangover medicine). Just to the right of Barney will be a big yellow nuclear plant sign pointing to the right. Follow the street and remain in the lower lane as much as possible to avoid that oncoming traffic. Turn downward at the end of the street to find quite a few burning tires and the stuff you're hurtin' for: donuts! Grab all the donuts on the street as well as the ones in the yard at the bottom before continuing through the metal barricades on the left side. Beyond the barricades you'll find the Kwik-E-Mart and cup of java that Barney asked for, as well as that surprisingly fast pig. Follow the pig once again and return all the way to Barney near the big yellow sign. Give him the mug in return for a lot of donuts. Woo hoo! From Barney's street corner, turn directly south and get through the barricades to a pit. Cross over the pit to find yourself on the other side of the Kwik-E-Mart's parking lot. Continue south to find another pit and one of those lovely nuclear plant signs to guide you in the right direction. Approach the Krusty Burger on the left then turn north along the drive-thru to follow the pig. Another cop will show up but they should be cake to avoid at this point. Run around the north side of the Krusty Burger and get to the other side of the building to find a stark raving mad Krusty the Clown on top of a car, tossing pies. If your health is low I would suggest going back for more donuts, but if you're good on health prepare for a wild and very quick run! Get close to the first pit near Krusty and start pressing OK repeatedly to get over the first and second pit to the left. Run down through the fire and then run to the right to find another pit. Press OK the moment you see the word appear on the screen and head to the far right. From there you should quickly grab the donuts at the top and then run straight down to get away from the mad pie-tossing clown. Holy garp, man... I guess they're still a little mad about the whole nuclear meltdown thing. Get down to the street and head west to the large yellow sign at the end. Next stop: Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3 Nuclear Plant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goal: Turn off the meltdown valve. Save everyone. Grab a donut. Main Floor ============ That's a good pig... lead Homer straight to the valve. Follow the oinker to the right until you see a hall to the north filled with cracked steam pipes. Watch for the nuclear worker on the right then make your way through the steam gauntlet and to the next large room at the top. Pull the red lever to open the large door with the radioactive logo on it. Follow the hall through another nuclear worker until you get a large room with strange square shadows on the ground. Walk around the shadows and head north to the next red lever. This will shift around the shadows of the falling blocks to reveal a path to the top of the room. Follow the path and QUICKLY run past the exploding beakers to the top wall. Turn left to find a Buzz Cola can and refill your health, then run to the right and pull the lever to take out the guy tossing explosive radioactive goo. Grab more health items if you need them then run straight down and to the right. Follow the halls to the south past a lot of donuts and a nuclear worker or two. You'll spot the pig again when you're at the south-most part of the path, at which point you need to turn north through a steam pipe hallway. Get past the pipes and into the room at the top to find Smithers and Burns chatting it up in a dank corner of the nuclear plant. After a brief conversation between the trio they'll direct you to the pig's location via a dark hole in the ground. Basement ========== Follow the path out of the first room until you get to the large radioactive doors and a nuclear worker. Avoid the suit and pull the red lever to open the doors in the area you just came from. Head north through there and then west in the hallway filled with pipes. Here you'll face another guy tossing radioactive stuff at you, and like before only the red lever can put him out of his misery. Head north again into another large room. Pull the red lever in this place to open a door at the top and find a yellow access card. This access card can only be used on the locked radioactive doors that were blocking the path to Frink a short way back, so turn around and trace your steps back to the large room near Frink. Approach the door to open it and talk to Frink. It seems that the next step in this little quest (well, if saving a town from nuclear annihilation can be considered little) is to find a beaker full of red goo. Pull the lever to find a small storage room full of health items, then head to the left and step through the clone machine. Continue to the left after the eerie clone parade and enter the north room to find the red beaker. Take it and return it to Frink to get a severed arm that can be used to deactivate the green lasers WAY back at the other end of the path, where you found the nuclear worker tossing bombs. Pull the lever near Frink to open the bottom door if it's closed and get over to the laser grid. Press OK next to the panel near the lasers to open the path. The path through here will have you facing off against the Homer clones, which it turns out are as smart as the nuclear technicians. They'll try the same headbutt maneuver that can be easily dodged. Get past them and follow the path through more pipes until you reach the large room with the pig and valve. Press OK in front of the valve to finally stop the nuclear meltdown and save the pig. Oh, and the town as well I suppose. --- Congratulations! You saved Springfield from the nuclear disaster you were pretty much responsible for! Great work. =============================================================================== ===== 4.0 FAQ ================================================================= Q: Can I play this game on my mobile phone? ============================================= A: This game is not available for Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile customers. The game is compatible with the following phones and carriers. BenQ/Siemens - CT66 S66 S56 M56 C66 SL56 Blackberry - 7100G 7290 7100g 7100t/7105t 7730 Cingular - 8125 2125 LG - CU400 C2000 CU500 Fusic F9100 VI-125 PM-325 L1400 MM-535 PM-225 Muziq C1500 C1300 Motorola - V190 V195 V557 V300 RAZR V3m RIZR Z3 Q V505 V235 C650 V180 V360 RAZR V3 PEBL U6 SLVR L2 V400 V188 SLVR L7 V330 V365 KRZR K1 V600 ROKR E1 RAZR V3t RAZR V3i RAZR V3r RAZR V3xx V555 SLVR L6 V220 V551 Nokia - 6086 3300 6822 6820 7610 6200 6030 6225 N-Gage 3660 6610/6610i 6102i N75 3595 3600 N70 N-Gage QD 6085 6101 8801 N90 3100 6800 6100 6133 3620 3120 3200 6126 3650 3220 6061 6682 2610 6600 3155i 5300 6620 6010 6103 E62 6300 6230 3120/Classic 6102 7210 Pantech - PG-C120 C300 Samsung - A727 VI660 MM-A800 PM-A740 C207 T619 Stripe S105 VM-A680 ZX10 X427 T629 t609 A900 P207 D807 MM-A880 D415 E105 t319 E715 VI-A820 D307 e335 X475 X495 t309 T509 t219 t719 C417 Trace P777 IP-A790 X105 RL-A760 X426 C225 ZX20 x497 t209 e635 X427M E315 MM-A700 M610 Sanyo - RL-4930 SCP-2400 MM-7400 RL-4920 MM-8300 KATANA II M1 PM-8200 RL-7300 MM-9000 MM-5600 KATANA VM-4500 SCP-7000 SCP-3100 SCP-8400 SonyEricsson - J300 W200i W810i S700i T637 W600i S710a T616 Z525a K550i Z500a W300i T610 Z520 T-Mobile - SDA Q: How can I get this game? ============================= A: Text message "HOMER" to 22123 or sign up for the Yellow Plan at www.thesimpsonsmobile.com and download it directly from the website. =============================================================================== ===== 5.0 LEGAL / MISC. ======================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.1 Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 26: Version 0.9 ====================== Man, it's been a long time since my last Simpsons guide. Coincidentally, this guide was also completed and released at the same time as The Simpsons Movie (out on July 27th, 2007). Go watch the flick and play this game during the boring pre-preview commercials. The perfect combination for an overdose of Simpsons! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.2 Guide Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: 1. Matt Groening. The man created 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama', two hilarious shows that can't be topped. Shine on you crazy bearded bastard! 2. If I thank Matt Groening, then I also have to praise the hundreds of individuals who are involved with the show. To the writers, voice actors, animators, producers, gofers, and every other person involved... thank you! 3. Wilson Lau, whose 'Bart vs. the Space Mutants' guide was the inspiration for the nearly sixty guides I've written to date. 4. EA Mobile and FOX for creating this fun little game. Some of us are just too busy to sit down with a console. :) 5. The whole freakin' FAQ community for the hard work and dedication. Rock on. 6. Thank YOU for reading. After all, I didn't write this for my own health... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.3 Contact Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The address is: subsane@gmail.com The issue of too many e-mails isn't a problem, so I'll most likely respond to any questions (for now). But, I do delete e-mails without a subject. Put 'Simpsons Minutes to Meltdown FAQ' or something similar in the subject line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.4 Legal Stuff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown ™ and © 2007 Electronic Arts Inc. 2. This guide copyright © 2007 SubSane. This guide may be distributed freely as long as it remains in it's ORIGINAL and UNALTERED form. It is only for private use and may not be reproduced for commercial purposes. If I discover that this guide has been altered in any way and is being displayed publicly, I reserve the right to have the guide removed from that location. End Quote: - "JERK SAVES SPRINGFIELD!"