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Frequently Fronted Feelers and Fancy Folklore

That is just a fancy way of saying this is an FAQ and strategy guide...

Before I begin, I should point out that I don't consider myself a Food Fight expert. These are just tips I've found useful, and I'm sure there are many, many more from people much better at playing this game than I am. (If you have some tips, please help out by sending them to me for additional here; I'll credit any contributions from others by name.)

These are in no particular order (newest tips, when added, are at the bottom):

• Take a piece of food with you between levels. If you're still holding onto a piece of food when you eat the cone, you'll take it with you to the next level. It's often very helpful, especially when a level starts with you virtually surrounded by chefs and no nearby food piles. Peas are the most helpful to take across levels, but any food will do.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to just run for it. The object is to eat the cone – what you do while you get there isn't. Yes, you get points from hitting chefs with food, but you also get points for leftover food, so the primary mission should be to reach the cone, not to plug chefs with food.
  
  
• Deplete piles of food gratuitously if necessary. At the higher levels particularly, the chefs are working hard to hit you with food. While the mission is to reach the cone, leaving a clear path in your wake is important to prevent chefs from hitting you with food. If a chef is in hot pursuit, and you walk over a pile, he will throw it at you, and especially if it's peas, you will get hit by it. So the trick is to throw the food, even if it's throwing it in the clear, to deplete the piles so the chefs can't throw it at you. On the other hand, you don't want to do this unnecessarily, since you get points for leftover food.
  
  
• Be wary of watermelon. Watermelons never deplete with use, so they're dangerous. They work to your advantage at lower levels when things are moving slowly, but at higher levels, the advantage turns into a disadvantage. Steer clear, and make the cone your primary objective.
  
  
• Walk in horizontal or vertical lines instead of curves or diagonals. This strategy doesn't always work, but I've found it especially valuable at higher levels. The chefs, when throwing food, will throw it not only at you, but ahead of your predicted path. If you go to the cone in a straight, direct path, you're more likely to get nailed with food. I often find that an L-shaped path to the cone works to my advantage vs. a more direct diagonal path.
  
  
• Watch out for Oscar. Oscar (the chef with the puffy hat) has the primary mission of blocking access to the cone, sort of like the goalie in a hockey game. Unless he is coaxed to fall into an open hole, he will be there guarding the cone. If there are no food piles near the cone, anticipate your need ahead of time by making sure you grab a piece of food before heading home to the cone, since you'll likely need it to plug Oscar. Don't make the mistake in higher levels of clearing all the piles of food; if Oscar is still guarding the cone when you do, you will likely never get around him to get to it, unless you're lucky enough to have open holes near the cone.
  
  
• Watch out for all holes, not just open ones. At higher levels things are moving very fast, and you should be wary of all holes, closed or open. If a chef gets plugged or falls into an open hole, he'll reappear from either type of hole, and usually the ones closest to where you're at.
  
  
• Use the level advance feature. Food Fight is pretty boring until you get up to at least Level 45 or so. On the first quarter, advance as far as you can (Level 9), and try and get through as many as you can. I find I get bored with it, don't pay attention, and end-up dying quickly more often than not at low levels (go figure). As you finish a game, insert another quarter, and press the start button ASAP so you can use level advance. Immediately move the joystick to the right, and hold it there until you've selected the highest level you can. With each game, you can advance farther and farther, but there's not much of an advantage to starting much higher than Level 50, since bonuses from then on are limited to 25,000 per level anyhow. (It's unlikely you'll see scores over 1,000,000 points on one quarter...)
  
  
• Begin by letting them come after you. At the beginning of each level (the higher levels, where things are moving faster) just sit and wait for a moment or two and let the chefs come to you. If they start throwing food, obviously, get out of the way! Before they get too close, get moving, and take a path as free of food as you can. By doing this, you'll get the chefs in a bit of a clump, and they're easier to evade. While this doesn't always work, I find that more often than not, it's one of the best tips you'll find here... The chefs will follow you, more or less in a group, and if your path to the ice cream cone is free of food (or you clear it on your way) you'll be pretty free from food coming at you. One advantage of this approach is that if you leave the chefs alone (don't throw food at them) they won't be popping out of holes in front of you.

Got More?

Do you have your own tips about Food Fight? Let me know.

Content unique to this web site, Copyright © 1998 Alan D. Bryant, all rights reserved.

Screens, characters, and other game elements, Copyright © 1982, 1998 Atari Games (formerly Atari, Inc.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Midway Games, Inc., and/or their heirs and assigns, all rights reserved. "Food Fight" is a trademark of Atari Games.

DISCLAIMER: I do not condone or encourage software piracy. Use of computer system emulators is legal, but possession or use of copyrighted software, including disk-based images of software ROMs for use in emulators, is subject to license, and the lack of such license may subject the violator to prosecution under civil and/or criminal statutes.