The page was established at 1030h on April 4, 1996. / September 5, 1998
What's New
v1.02-v1.031
Added my URL (nothing major)
Changed URL for Area 51 site. Other site no longer exists
Added gameshark site
v1.04
Added minor info for Area 51 Maximum Force Duo
Minor Additions
v1.05
Minor Fixes
Added minor info about Area 51: Site 4
Hi, this is Poln. I've changed a little bit in the stage descriptions.
Chris Foley, original FAQ writer, did a great job of this FAQ. Right now,
his e-mail address/website is no longer exists. If you still have
questions/comments, you can e-mail me at haroldr@alloymail.com I've decided
to leave most of the stuff here for nostalgic purposes/originality. Enjoy
reading this FAQ.
You can visit my site at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/4246
My homepage is *not* that great, but it's just a start. My e-mail address is
different, but it's still the same.
People have asked me for Game Shark codes for this game. You can go to
this website:
They have codes for Saturn and Playstation. I can put them here, but you
should go there just in case you want other codes for other games. If you
want me to put them here, let me know.
People have also asked me about a gun for this game (Playstation/Saturn).
It's your call. I don't have a good idea on what type of gun used, as long as
the gun works. I would NOT recommend using guns from Namco. Those guns are
specifically used for games from Namco and it does not work for other type of
games. Generally, you plug in the same port as your controller. Again, it's
your call on what gun you want to use.
If you're reading this, then you're probably already a fan of Area 51, the
excellent shooting game from Atari/Time Warner Interactive. If not, you should
probably go to an arcade and play this game, since no FAQ can help you shoot
straight.
This FAQ tackles the question of Area 51's many secret entrances and
levels! Finding these secrets can not only get you tons of points (up to
40,000 in "Head Quarters") but can win you your very own Area 51 machine
through a contest Atari is sponsoring. Information about this contest is
available at your local arcade, or from the web site (see below).
Right now, the contest is over, but I'm leaving it here for nostalgic
purposes/originality.
Disclaimer
If you haven't looked for these secrets already, turn away immediately!
Go look for them yourself in the game, or try the official Area 51 Web Site.
http://www.atarigames.com
Update...Area 51 itself is no longer available at the official website.
However, there is a New game which is Area 51 Maximum Force Duo. Has
more stuff, plus it has 8 new secrets (4 from Area 51, 4 from Maximum
Force).
This game is ONLY sold in kits and currently, I don't have access to one
nearby. so if anyone has played it, please let me know what you think.
There is a New Area 51 game. The new game is called -- Area 51: Site 4. Its
like a sequal to the original game, but its harder (in my stance), and more
aliens come out.
It's *fun*. Once you're done that, come back here. Don't take the easy way
out -- finding this stuff out for yourself, whether through playing or through
the cool web site is the whole point, isn't it? =)
Secrets
There are 7 different secret rooms in Area 51, accessible by 14 different
entrances, in the game's 6 waves. Each secret entrance is triggered by
shooting a sequence of objects in the game, often background objects but
sometimes barrels and other obvious items.
If you're trying to find secret rooms, or to use these tips, I *strongly*
suggest the following:
Play a 2-player game. I find it nearly impossible to do some of the
tricks in a one-player game, especially without being hit! Play two
players and have your pal shoot the aliens while you take care of
the secrets -- you both get to go into the secret room anyway!
Use grenades like crazy, since with 14 secret entrances you're
going to get refilled *often*.
Forget about streaks. Well, pay attention during parts with no
secrets, but if you have a choice between getting a few streak
points or getting a secret level, the choice is obvious.
Don't get shot =). Besides the obvious reason, if you don't get shot
you can keep your cool weapons, including autofire (which wears
off after a while, frown). BTW I'm still trying to find a reason why
you'd want the 5-shot elephant gun (gun level 3) over the really
cool 2nd level gun, which has way more shots and seems to have
about the same range. When I'm playing, I try to keep the level 2
gun, but it's funny how you reflex towards the powerup =).
The last tip, which applies to any player, whether you're looking for secrets
or not, is a fast reloading trick that you can use on almost any shooting
game. Use two hands to aim your gun and keep a finger near the barrel. When
you want to reload, just cover the front of the barrel with your finger and
pull the trigger -- CLICK, reloaded. This enables you to keep your aim on a
tough enemy while reloading. HINT: don't try this with a real gun =).
Starting the game
When you *first* start the game (after you put your first quarters), you
have two options to choose. You can start in the beginning, (outside)
where you see barricades, or you can start on the tarmac (Wave 3), I think.
Here's the secrets!
Wave 1 -- Outside -- one secret entrance.
#1 - shoot all 10 hangar windows when outside. These windows will be to your
left when the camera pans from the first lockdown. The leftmost windows must
be shot while panning, so when the first lockdown is ending, aim for the top
right corner of the screen and start blasting. This trick gets you to "X Marks
The Spot".
Wave 2 -- Inside Hangar -- five secret entrances.
#2 - shoot all 15 windows on the right of the hangar entrance. You need to
shoot a few of these at the start of the level, when the camera looks up. I
find that if I use a grenade, I can get rid of the rappelers and shoot 3
windows before the camera looks down. Shoot the others when you are sitting in
the forklift waiting to drive away (there is a 3-5 second pause after you
shoot the aliens). You get to "Tank Top" using this trick.
#3 - shoot all three flashing blue lights by the red truck. The first light, to
the left of the truck, can be shot during a short pause right when you first
walk up to the truck -- it will be almost in the top left corner of your
screen. The other two lights are on the right of the truck. You have two
chances to shoot them. The first is when you back up from the truck and walk
around to the other side -- you can see the lights on the right of your
screen. The second chance is right after the status report that comes after
the lockdown by the truck. Don't abort this status report -- keep your gun
trained on where the lights will be and start shooting when the AREA 51 doors
open. This accesses secret room "Head Quarters".
#4 - shoot all 15 windows at the back of the hangar (ie. behind the first
barrel-thrower). Shoot a few windows as you're walking from the truck lockdown
to the helicopter lockdown. Always shoot the leftmost windows first since you
will walk to the right. This is probably the easiest secret entrance to get
to. You get into the secret room "Chow Palace" this way.
#5 - shoot all the barrels before and after the forklift ride. The hardest
ones to shoot are to the left of the forklift as it is moving, so blast away!
You get to "Egg Cellent" with this trick.
#6 - blast all the windows on the office in the hangar. The office is the
thing you see when walking away from the forklift. You have to shoot all the
lower level windows, so blast away at them while you are walking towards it.
Don't forget the two panes behind the ladder that you climb up, and one pane
to the right of the ladder (shoot at the right side of the screen when you're
almost at the ladder, before the green alien appears). Then when you're up
top, you have to shoot a few panes on the front of the structure, then *all*
the panes on its side (on your right when the car parts fly at you), then
*all* the panes on the back of the office (when the barrel thrower appears).
It's not as tough as it sounds, and you get to have fun with
"Shake Your Budda"!
Wave 3 -- Tarmac -- two secret entrances.
#7 - shoot all the airplane canopies during the first part of the level. At
least one of these canopies is hidden in the background, or passes by quickly
when the camera pans, since I've only reached this entrance once (by mistake,
on my second game =). So I need more information on this entrance.
#8 - during the last part of the stage, when you're heading straight for the
admin building, shoot all the crates that are passing by you. I'm not sure at
which point you have to start shooting crates. I usually start just before
the "max headroom" barrier comes down, but others have told me you can wait
until the helicopter ladder appears. You get to "Shake Your Budda" in any case.
Wave 4 -- Admin Building -- three secret entrances.
#9 - at the start of the level, after passing through the first door, shoot the
"exit" sign above the second door and blast all the lights nearby. You need to
shoot the lit (white) lights. Pretty tough with one player since the camera is
moving so much. Accesses "Egg Cellent". Technically, you'll need to shoot
the "exit" sign first, then lights nearby.
#10 - shoot two photos in the office, then shoot two name plates. The first
photo is on the first desk you see, and should be easy to hit since you have a
8-10 second lockdown right in front of the desk. The second photo is on the
desk just to your left as you come out of the small hallway after that
lockdown. The nameplates are on the office doors that you pass after the
"chalkboard" lockdown. You get to "Chow Palace" with this easy secret
entrance (I think).
#11 - Blast every painting in the admin building (there are at least 10) to
reach a secret entrance. Some painting pass by quickly as the camera pans, so
shoot constantly =). It's unconfirmed, but I'm told this trick gets you to
"Shake Your Budda".
Wave 5 -- Computer Room Lockdown -- one secret entrance.
#12 - shoot all 13 computer terminals that appear at the start of the level.
I think you might have to do it during the first lockdown in this room, since
I've shot everything the second time around and got nothing.
Wave 6 -- Bunker Cave -- two secret entrances.
#13 - shoot all the barrels on the hill during the first lockdown (with the
barrel throwers). The best way to do this is to blast away while you're
walking towards the hill -- before the aliens appear you can easily get rid
of half the barrels. If you're playing alone and 3 throwers appear, good
luck =). If two appear, kill one and then shoot barrels, or just use grenades.
You get to "Chow Palace" this way.
#14 - shoot *everything* when the "pop-up" bunker appears, after the part
where all the aliens rappel down from the top of the screen. There are 24
things to shoot. Lots of the objects are hidden behind others, so blast away.
I've never done this with one player, but with two players it's not too
difficult. You get to a secret room with a huge alien, but an "access denied"
message always appears at the end. Could this be the *next* Area 51 contest?
(Atari says one is forthcoming)
Secret Rooms
Here are the descriptions for the secret rooms:
X Marks The Spot. A tactical map fills the screen. Blast away to destroy part
of the map and reveal Lt. Grant in a "pin-up" pose. Yes, she's in uniform. =)
Head Quarters. Hey, isn't this Revolution X? Nope. A bunch of aliens at
urinals and sitting on toilets. Take about 5 shots each. You can also shoot
various objects in this room, such as the sink, lights, etc.
Chow Palace. There's an alien about to chomp down on a Night-Trap-esque
female. Blow away the alien and collect all the powerups. If you shoot the
woman, an "X" appears but you do NOT lose a life. Someone told me that you get
a "mercy kill" bonus but I have not verified this.
Egg Cellent. Fun! Shoot eggs three times to break them open, revealing cute
yet evil baby aliens. Blast 'em three times for pure chewing satisfaction!
Shake Your Budda. Tons of buddha statues appear. Shoot the heads to make them
explode, revealing the heads of the Area 51 programmers! You can also shoot
these heads (they flash) you cannot kill them. There is an alien statue/priest
in the far background that you can also shoot -- you can kill it.
Tank Top. More information needed on this secret level. I just can't
seem to shoot all those 15 windows =).
Get a Life. More information needed on this level as well. The only time I
reached this secret part was during one of my first games, and the game
crashed right after showing a *huge* alien. Yeeps. Someone mentioned having
"access denied" to this level.
Play as a Kronn Warrior
To play as a rebel Kronn Warrior, start the game and shoot *only* the first 3
STAAR members you see (it'll be the same guy, three times). The game will
restart with you as the Kronn Warrior. All secret rooms are available in this
mode, plus you get TONS of extra points.
Don't shoot any aliens, boxes, missiles -- NOTHING but the blue guy
(poor guy =). Don't worry about losing life. When you get down to 1 life unit
left, NO aliens will shoot you, and shooting the blue guys won't make you lose
a life. Even the helicopter's missiles don't hit. It's fun to watch the looks
on people's faces when you do this trick ;).
The screen will look funny...when it happens.
Endings.....
If you want to see a good ending to Area51, then shoot all parts of the
mothership as well as what's around you. If you don't shoot all parts of the
mothership in time, it'll escape and you'll get a worst ending. In either
case, you will go back to the hanger.
That's it. Remember that Area 51 is a copyrighted, trademarked, and generally
protected work of Atari and Time Warner Interactive.
This page created by Chris "Canadian" Foley. You can mail me
(mailto:chrisf@iceonline.com), or check out my home page:
http://www.iceonline.com/home/chrisf/
Please don't mail me to rant about my revealing Area 51 secrets. The contest is
open until July 1, and it's not as if everyone on the net wouldn't know all
this information by then, anyway. The internet is a medium which makes
information the property of many rather than few. I found the lack of Area 51
info on the net annoying, so I made the decision to put everything I knew into
this page. If you have more information about game secrets, please mail me and
let me know.
c. 1996-1998. No part of this FAQ may be rewritten without the express
written consent of the author. If you want to take something here, that would
be fine, but give credit where credit is due. This FAQ is free so I don't
want to see any profit from it. In short, I don't want to see any type of
abuse from this FAQ.
