–Master/Memorize the speed of your character, Samrin, and Balthazar. Samrin is naturally faster than the Lupe, and you can use this to your advantage. Sometimes you can even snatch up Petpets right when they’re in front of the big Lupe’s mouth.
–Don’t be afraid to walk next to Balthazar – what he really wants is those Petpets, and won’t even pay attention to you unless you touch him, or he accidentally swerves into you in pursuit of a Petpet.
–Only get snowflakes when they’re in your path – in other words, don’t go out of your way to grab them!
–The same goes for the orange speed orbs – only grab them if they’re nearby. The only problem I see with getting speed orbs is that sometimes you can accidentally overshoot what you’re trying to aim for, but if you practice, you’ll eventually have more control.
–Take advantage of the few seconds when Balthazar is frozen. Nab the nearest Petpets that happen to be in his way, and remember that you can pass through the Lupe safely while he’s yellow.
–In the beginning of the game, take advantage of the ‘warp’ doors to the North, South, West, and East of the screen.
–At the end of the game, when the only gate open to the pen is on the left, try and grab the Petpet with a rotating star above its head if it’s nearby. Saving this Petpet gives you a bonus, which can randomly give you about five points, so it’s definitely more valuable than those other one-point Petpets.
–Petpets to the NORTH of the pen are in more danger than the ones that are SOUTH. This is because the space above the pen is narrower than the space down at the bottom of the screen, so when Balthazar goes up above the pen, there’s a very minimal chance you can pass him and save the Petpet that he’s after. If the Northern Petpet is close enough to your position, try and save him first.
–If Balthazar is on the tail of a Petpet that you KNOW you can’t save, then run into the Lupe. It’s better if YOU die rather than the Petpets, as if a Petpet dies than Balthazar will continue on his merry way – plus, this takes away the ‘Saved All Petpets’ bonus you get at the end of the early levels. If Samrin dies, on the other hand, the game is Restarted, and oftentimes the Petpets are placed in more desirable positions.
–Balthazar always goes for the Petpet that he thinks is nearest – try and use this to your advantage, if you can. For instance, if there is a North Petpet that you need to save, then let Balthazar go for the one down South while you save it. If you know just how fast you are, then you know when to go for a Petpet and when to leave it as a sacrificial lamb.
–When you only have one life left, try and save the Petpet with the star on its head at all costs. You want to get a few last-minute points before the game ends.
–Stay close to the edges of the pen! I can’t stress this enough – cling to the walls! If you need to get a Petpet that’s further away, then fine, but if you need to bring him to an entrance then hug the pen walls. Also, Balthazar happens to make wide turns – which allows you to hug the corner and pass by, if that’s what you need to do.
–Note that when you take a hold of the last Petpet left in the arena, Balthazar will give up and walk back to the top-left of the screen, allowing you a break in case you need to reply to that Instant Message your friend just gave you.
–Play Keep Away. This trick consists of you taking a Petpet that’s near to Balthazar and taking it further away from him, then dropping the Petpet by pressing the Space Bar and going back and saving another Petpet that will be eaten next, then bringing the other Petpet close to the the gateway, then going back for the other one, and so on and so forth, eventually bringing them saving both of them. Since Samrin is faster than Balthazar, it DOES work – and if you do it right, then most likely you’ll save the Petpets. This works best when there are a few number of Petpets left, but if you’re good enough, you can do it with multiple Petpets.
Well, there you go…hopefully, this helped, even remotely. Questions and comments can be Neomailed to username ‘aurakage’ – thanks for reading, and have fun! ^-^ – aurakage