__    __       _
       |  \  /  |     (_)                       _                     _
       | | \/ | | __ _ _  __ _ _    _____ _ __ | |_ _   _ _ ______   (_)
       | |\__/| |/ _` | |/ _` | \  / / _ \ '_ \|  _| | | | '__/ _ \   _
       | |    | | (_| | | (_| |\ \/ /  __/ | | | |_| |_| | | |  __/  (_)
       |_|    |_|\__,_| |\__,_| \__/ \___|_| |_|\__|\__,_|_|  \___|
                    |__/
    __    __       _     _                          _____             _    _
   |  \  /  |     | |   (_)                        / ____|           | |  (_)
   | | \/ | | __ _| |__  _  ___  _ __   ____      ( (____   ___ _ __ | | ___
   | |\__/| |/ _` | '_ \| |/ _ \| '_ \ / _  |      \____ \ / _ \ '_ \| |/ / |
   | |    | | (_| | | | | | (_) | | | | (_| |      _____) |  __/ | | |   <| |
   |_|    |_|\__,_|_| |_| |\___/|_| |_|\__  |     |______/ \___|_| |_|_|\_\_|
                      |__/             |___/

Donations

While I do write all of my guides for free, it does take a lot of time and effort to put them together. If you're feeling generous and want to show your appreciation, I am gladly accepting donations. I don't know exactly what the donations will be used for, but just know that you would definitely be helping me make more quality FAQs! Even the smallest donation amounts are appreciated, and they are a great way to say how much you appreciate the work I do. If you do decide you'd like to donate, please send the donations through PayPal at the e-mail address listed below. Thank you so very much for at least considering this!!

Introduction

Welcome to another one of my FAQs. This particular FAQ covers Majaventure: Mahjong Senki. This is a NES game that deals with the original version of Mahjong, a game that originated in Asia many a century ago, but with a unique RPG-style twist. Mahjong is an addictive game that is much like poker, but with tiles. It has its own intricacies and being in Japanese helps it none to the English-speaking audiences most likely reading this guide, but, once you learn, you can have an amazingly fun time with this game!

It's been over twenty years since this game's initial launch back in 1990 by Tokuma Shoten. And since then, not a single FAQ has been written for it. Well, there's always a first time for everything, no? Ever since the start of the NES FAQ Completion Project on GameFAQs several years ago - a project designed to get a guide out for every single NES game out there - many people have now been helped because older, rarer, less popular games have gotten guides. So many games, in fact, that all of the North American games have been covered, as have the European games, leaving only those that are homebrews and mostly those released in Japan and the Koreas.

And so, that is how I came upon this game. Thanks for listening to my ramblin'; hope you enjoy!

Basics of the Game

Game Controls

Button	Resultant Effects
D-Pad	Move cursors.
	Move around.
A Button	Confirm decisions.
	Enter locales in the field.
B Button	Cancel decisions.
	Enter in-battle action menu.
Start Button	Skip cutscenes.
	Pause gameplay whilst in the field.
Select Button	See stats during a battle.

Traditional Mahjong

^s2|The game field. Firstly, we'll discuss the field layout. At the top are your opponent's tiles, and the bottom has your own. You have hands of 13 tiles each, with room at the side for a drawn tile. Your goal is to make various melds with them, discussed later. The set-aside tile (Bamboo 5 here) os a "Dora" tile, which will determine the bonus tile (the bonus tile is one more than the value of this tile). At the top, you'll find your HP and your opponents - here, they are the lower and upper numbers (3,000 and 1,000) respectively. Finally, between your hand and your opponent's are tile "graveyards" of sorts. Tiles go here when discarded and will hold 20 at once. Once one fills up, on that person's next turn, the match ends and another begins if applicable. In the lower-right, where the black text box is, you'll find tiles that you draw. At the far left of your hand will also be hands of tiles you stole and can no longer alter.

In mahjong, your goal is to use the 13 tiles in your hand, plus one that you can draw or your opponent can discard, to create some various hands. The end goal is to get "mahjong" - the use of all of those tiles in various hands or melds without "overlapping" the sets. These will obviously be based on two things. First is the tile's value - whether it is "one", "two", whatever. With the Circle and Bamboo suits, this is easy - just count the number of figures on there! With the Chinese and Honor suits, it's a bit more difficult. You can just look at the image below. It's not an exact representation of the in-game images, but it's close enough.

^l1|The tiles.

As for the various hands, there are four main ones.

Hand Type	Definition	Examples
Pair	Any two tiles that are exactly alike.	Two Bamboo 4's, two blank tiles.
Pung	Any three tiles that are exactly alike.	Three Circle 2's, three Character 1's.
Kong	Any four tiles that are exactly alike.	Four Circle 5's, four Bamboo 4's.
Chow	Sequence of three tiles of same suit.	Bamboo 1-2-3, Circle 4-5-6.

There are also several special hands. These don't actually seem to use the "use all 13 (+1) tile" definition, so take it with a grain of salt, because I've yet to confirm them. However, also note that, with their rarity, comes extremely powerful attacks - it's a double-edged sword: you'll go for broke intentionally trying for these, so it's best to home you get something close by chance.

Hand Type	Definition
Thirteen Orphans	1 through 9 of a suit, each wind, each dragon, and one more of those used.
Heavenly Gates	1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9 of any suit plus one of those used.
Hidden Pong Hand	Four pungs you didn't steal.
Kong Hand	Four kongs.
Honors Hand	Hand consists of only wind and dragon (Honor-suit) tiles.
Pearl Dragon	Three circle pungs/kongs, a circle pair, and a pung/kong of blank tiles.
Ruby Dragon	The above, but uses the Chinese character set in lieu of circles.
Jade Dragon	The above, but uses the Bamboo character set.
Great Dragons	Three pungs of the Dragon tile set.
Great Winds	Four pungs of the four Wind tiles.

When making the hands, there is but one other condition: you are only allowed to use one or zero pairs. The only exception is a hand made of seven pairs, though.

Turns will go from you to your opponent and back again. There is a distinct process to this. During this time, there are references to various actions. These can be done by pressing the B Button and using the appropriate action, as outlined in the screenshot below... Well, the main ones you'll use, anyways.

^sr3|The main in-battle actions; the rest are pretty negligible.

• Firstly, if you're able to steal an opponent's last drawn tile, you can do so. If multiple hands could be made (usually with chow hands), you will see the hands flash - you'll need to confirm the other tiles you want to meld with.
  • NOTE: If the tile you are about to steal will complete a mahjong hand, mahjong will automatically be called. If you want to wait for a more ideal hand, you'll have to not take the tile.

• After that point, if you stole a tile, you'll need to discard one from your hand. Use the D-Pad to hover the cursor over one, and press the A Button to confirm.

• If you didn't get the chance to steal a tile (normally your first turn), a tile will be drawn for you. This tile will be found in the lower-rightmost part of the screen, in the rightmost portion of your hand, barring any stolen hands, highlighted in a grayish blue.

• Then you get to discard a tile - use the D-Pad to get the cursor over it and press the A Button.

• This pretty much loops until the end. This can be upon mahjong being called, in most games, or you'll start a new match after 20 tiles are discard.

• As you play, you can call Tenpai. This takes away 1,000 points if successful. This means that you only lack a single tile from having a mahjong hand. While most mahjong games then force you to only draw and discard until you get the tile that makes a mahjong hand, this game won't do it strictly (although you will only get that option); also that note that you still will need to use the proper option to call mahjong. Also note that the mahjong-making tile can come from either the tile you draw or your opponent's last-discarded tile.
  • This seems to not be allowed if you steal a tile, or with a Tenpai involving a seven-pair hand.

After a match successfully ends, the scores are calculated appropriately, then the loser loses HP on a basis of "(score) + (strength of winner) - (loser's defense)". The main basises for this are the rarity of the hands you've gotten, and the "Dora" tiles. If you look at the set aside tile on the left side during the match, you'll get to see it. That tile is one below the value of a bonus tile - for example, if the "Dora" tile is a Bamboo 5, then the bonus tile is a Bamboo 6. Got it?

Hands will generally end with everyone has discarded twenty tiles, or someone successfully calls mahjong. After enough matches, an overall winner can be determined, and you'll be allowed to continue along, either to the field or next match, as necessary. To win a mahjong match, your opponent's HP must hit zero.

Strategies/Tips

• The start can definitely be the most influential time for your game's outcome. At that point, you can often discard as many tiles as you need to! Look at your hand and see what is a meld - and therefore should NOT be discarded - and what is close to a meld. Statistically speaking, completing a Chow (three-tile straight) is more likely in most cases than Pungs or Kongs. If you have an excessive meld (i.e. a four-tile straight), you'll need to analyze other potential options for the outlying tiles of the meld (lowest/highest, or just any one in a five-plus pairing) and, if you can't find one that's very likely, drop it.

• Tiles in the suits (Bamboo, Characters, and Circles) tend to be best used for Pungs, Chows, and Kongs, whereas your others are better left for Pairs, if anything.

• Leave yourself with as many options as possible. For example, let's say you're trying to make a Chow. You have the Circles 3, 4, and 6. Instead of hoping, for some arbitrary reason, for a Circle 5 to come down and make an excessively long Chow, look at the hand. We already have 2/3 of the Chow in Circle 3 and 4, but only 1/3 in Circle 6. You may as well toss out the Circle 6 and let the other Circles get completed with Circle 2 or Circle 5, generally twice as likely to happen than just Circle 5.

• Again, leave yourself with plenty of options! This is extremely, extremely important! The AI will never just hand over a win. You need to leave a lot of flexibility in your strategies! In this way, you can open up your Tenpai call and more easily win the battles because the penalties against your opponent will be steeper.

• You may as well try forming your pairs as early as possible. Don't use suited ones for this, but try to use the "Honor" tile set, which seem to just feature the large Japanese character. This also ties in to discarding tiles that are the least likely to form melds. Sure, it may not always work, but it's better than tarrying over which tile to remove from a more-likely meld!

Walkthrough

Some Notes (READ!)

As could only be expected from a mahjong RPG, the battles themselves are randomized - I cannot walk you through those. The tiles, however, are set in from the start of the match, so you may want to take note of that if you're the odd type to abuse save states or whatever. So I will walk you through where to go in the game and associated details, but that's it. I cannot even truly mention enemy details as they, too, are fairly randomized.

^s4|Where to save.

Now, with regard to saving... There is no saving. This much is true. In reality, you use a password system. Go to the building marked on the nearby screenshot - it's the one you're on at the very start of the game, which will also appear at the start of the regions as you progress, and the one you return to if you fall to zero HP. Use the bottommost option of the menu that appears when speaking to the woman there, and you will get a sixteen-character password. Keep track of this - when you want to continue, you need to enter it from the title screen, understood?

Now, without further ado, let's see what we can ... well, do.

Region 1

^s5| After having arrived at the title screen, press the Start Button on the NES gamepad to begin gameplay. You'll receive some backstory - all in Japanese of course, - which you can skip, also with the Start Button. On the world map, begin by heading east and south to the first arena of battle, as pictured nearby. Defeat the enemy there, then proceed west.

^s6| While you do, you'll run into what is presumably a bit of a gatekeeper. There, feel free to talk as desired, but eventually you will need to use the third option of the dialogue box to open the path ahead. Just to clarify, the Japanese text is pictured nearby, so feel free to do it on a matching basis. Afterwards, head west and into the light-blue portal. Press the A Button to proceed onwards.

When you arrive on the other side, go west and you'll find a fork. One part of it heads north, and the other one goes southward. At the end of the northbound fork, you'll find another person to battle. Do so. After freeing the poor woman, return to the north/south fork and go south and through the light-blue teleporter as before to a new region.

Go south and west along the linear pathway here to find another place to battle. Further along the path, after winning, you'll find another of those gates. Like before, simply use the third option (same text as pictured above, too!), then progress towards the castle. Defeat the vampiric boss there. After winning, you'll advance to the second region of the world.

Region 2

^s7| As you arrive here, use the save area as usual if you want a password as a keepsake or something. Go south and through the teleporter. Head along the linear path here. As you enter the battle, you'll be given a new concept of the initial draw. Present in other mahjong RPGs like Mahjong Taisen, this allows you to withdraw as many tiles as desired from your initial hand. You can do so by selecting the item below the row of periods in the item menu before the battle starts. If you don't want this, use the B Button instead. This will cost you 2 Power, which is like MP, and you have 10 Power at maximum at this point, so, you know, waste not want not.

Continue along the linear paths of the region, through teleporters and battles. There will be a few more after that first battle with the new concept. Eventually, you'll reach an area like that pictured nearby, already naming off the end of this region. Finish off the relatively minor battle in the green square nearby, then progress on to fight the next boss in the castle. Afterwards, you'll head on to the next region.

Region 3

^s8| Here, begin by going due south and through the teleporter. Here, to the west, you'll see a shop. Unusually, though, there seems to be no way to use items in this game beyond the Power Magic you get at the start of a battle, so ignore said shop for now. Instead, go south and defeat the enemy there. That's about it for here, for now. Go back through the teleporter. To the east, as pictured, should be two mahjong battle areas. (The rusty teleporter leads to a dead-end; ignore it.) Take out each, using the eastern one last to continue past it. Then go through the teleporter on the other side.

Here, you'll find a gateway to the east. Speak with the girl within and use the third option, as usual, to open 'er up. ... I mean the gate. Not the girl. From there, you'll have an area shaped kind of like a square. Go around and finish off the three battles - going east, north, and west through them prevents needless backtracking - then through the teleporter in the northeast corner.

In the next area, go east to the three-way intersection. From there, head south and defeat the person there. Return to the intersection and go east. Open the gate by the usual means (third option), then go south. Defeat the person there, and the boss in the castle to the east. After that, it's on to the next region.

Region 4

^s9| When you arrive here, feel welcome to use the shop in the southeast corner of your "square", but, as mentioned previously, there doesn't seem to be a point to buying items, so why bother? Go through the teleporter to the west of there. On the other side, when you progress westward, you should see battling areas. Defeat the enemies within, then go through the gates to the south. As per the usual, it is the third option in the dialogue menu. Then go east to the teleporter and on through it.

On the other side, head east and ignore the shop for obvious reasons, then battle the person at the green battle zone. Once through, go north to the gate. As you probably can guess with a quick glance to the west, it won't open, so go west and through the two battle areas and back again. Speak with the girl within the gatehouse in the usual manner (third option) so the gate will open. Head east and into the castle for another boss.

Region 5

^s10| Welcome to the rainy plains of the fifth region! Around you are a few closed gatehouses blocking various teleporters. This leaves the only viable option right now: go northwest and beat up some random thing in a green battle zone. After the fight, the leftmost of the gatehouses will be openable (go in, use third option). Go through it and through the teleporter. This simply leads to an area from which you can fight three mahjong battles. Well, get to it!

After you're done, return back through the teleporter to the hub area of sorts. There, go through the easternmost gate as before (third dialogue option) - this is the blue gate - then through to the teleporter. In this area, simply go along the path and defeat the four enemies on the way to the gate. Obviously, there is still no point in visiting the shop as there is a lack of item functionality in this game. Once done, go through the gate at the end and use the teleporter to reach the next area. There is a shop there.

At the end of either route is a castle. Within is a boss. Defeat this boss.

Region 6

^s11| When you arrive, go along to the battle zone nearby, finish it off, then go through the teleporter nearby. Repeat this at the next island. On the other side of this second teleporter, head to the north and defeat the enemy in the next battle zone, then go through the guarded teleporter. On the other side, feel free to visit the shop - although, again, items function not here - and defeat the nearby enemy.

After this, go through the blue teleportation device. In the next area, defeat the enemy, then head through the gate in the usual manner (third option), then go through the teleporter - on the other side, there's the usual pointless shop and two battles to contend with. (Yes, it's mandatory.) Open the gate when you're done (third option of the dialogue box), then backtrack a few areas to the one with the closed red gate. Go there and open it, too. Head along to the end of the eastbound path, defeat the nearby enemy, then go through the teleporter.

On the other side, open up the gate (again, third option), then defeat the three enemies to the south... only if you want to. In reality, all you must beat is the northernmost one - to the due west of him is the castle containing the boss. Beat him ... her ... whatever you're calling these things.

Region 7

^s12| When you arrive, head south as far as possible, then go west and ram your way through the enemies. From the third one, go north and east. Open up the door via the usual methods (third menu option), peruse the useless shop, then go west and through the red teleporter. In that next area, defeat the enemies to the north and west, then open the gatehouse as usual (third option). Continue west and peruse the pointless shop if you want to, then go through the nearby teleporter.

In the next area, if you head south from the intersection, there will be a path branching off to the west to a teleporter, then another to the east for two battles, then a final one to the west for two more. Deal with these latter two paths' battles first, then use the teleporter. You'll find a whopping six zones to deal with (nine if you count the backtracking battle). Well, yeah, get to it. Once done, go through the three gates you saw to the east of the intersection mentioned earlier (again, third option), then through the teleporter. There, continue along to the castle and fight the boss.

And, no, you don't get any magic this time around.

Region 8

^s13| After that boss battle, you'll end up the upbeat-themed eighth region of the world. To the west are two shops. As usual, both are pointless, and one is blocked off by a gate. This gate can be opened later on. For now, after beating the enemy, just go north and through the teleporter into the next portion of the region.

Here, begin by heading south and defeating the enemy there, then heading along the linear path westward to another enemy. From there, go west and open the gate (option #3), then go south and beat the enemy there. Then head back north, then west and through the teleporter. (On a side note, the silvery gate pictured in the nearby screenshot should be openable, but there's no point.) In this new area, go west and beat the enemy, then north through the gatehouse - use the third option. Go north from there, beat that enemy, and go through the gatehouse to the west - again, third option. Go south from there, beat the enemy, then go north, through the gatehouse via the third option, and through the teleportation device.

In the next area, simply go along the path. It consists of beating an enemy then going through the gatehouse (third option) thrice before reaching the castle. Defeat the boss there so we can move on.

Region 9

^s14| Ooh, so shiny~!

Anyways, when you arrive, go along the linear, featureless path to the teleporter. Go through and, on the other side, you'll find a shop to the south. Use it if you feel a need (although you can't use items), then head east to the west/north/east intersection. Go to the end of the northbound path, defeat the enemy there, then go through the door at the end of the eastbound path - as usual, use option three. Finish off the battle to the north, then go east to the intersection. Go south and west for another battle, then go east, north, and east. If you want a pointless shop, go north; otherwise, use the teleporter to the south.

Here, you'll see two battle areas to the west. Defeat the northern of the two first, then go to the southeastern corner. Go through the gatehouse via the third option, then defeat the enemy on the other side. Then go back to the two battle areas to the west, this time using the southern one. Afterwards, head northwest and through the gate via the third option, then fight the enemy on the other side. Afterwards, head south and through the teleporter.

On the other side, go along the linear path and through another. In the next area, to the west is a square-shaped path. At the northwest and southeast corners are battle zones. Deal with both, then go through the west-central path of the squate to find a teleporter. Use it to reach the next area.

In that area, go through the door nearby by using the third option in the dialogue menu. Do the same for the door to the east and beat the enemy on the other side. Do the same on the opposite side of the area. Afterwards, go through the ice-blue door and the teleporter behind it. Go along that linear path to the next teleporter. On the other side of it, at the end of the path, you'll find the castle. Defeat the boss within!

Region 10

Begin by defeating the enemy to your south. And, from there... A map is needed! Since you can read, well, just use the one below. One of the quickest routes would be from the start, to 3, to 7, to 8, to the castle. Defeat the boss there to continue on!

^l15|

Backtrack?

^s16| ^s17| I'm not sure if this is entirely new or not, but go back to the eighth region after fighting that boss. See the pictured area? Progress along to there and go through the teleporter past the enemy - basically, get where I am and press the A Button. You should then reach an area like in the second picture.

Go around and beat all four.

There is a similar area in Region 4, east of the start.

Region 11

The eleventh, rather spacy (get it?) region of Majaventure takes place in the vacuum of space. Go through the five castles along the linear path, defeating the enemy/boss in each along the way.

The fifth castle presents a tough challenge, though. You'll find your next boss there. The first part of the battle is itself hard, in that you cannot really use magic beyond the one requiring 2 Power to activate (the "get rid of as many tiles as you want" spell) - that, combined with a colossal Defense stat on the opponent means you'll need to try for some of those super-special hands somehow. Good luck with that... >_> The same can be said for the second part as well.

Now, as for how to actually get to the end... Well, I've been told to win against that boss twice in a row (just re-enter the castle). It took me three times. I'm not sure how it worked out like that - maybe because I actually called a legitimate mahjong rather than relying on a cheat code - so if trying and trying again didn't work, maybe you didn't do something?

Anyways, once you win, congrats, for you've won the game!

Credits

In no particular order...

• Wikipedia:
  • A derived image of the tile sets.
  • The various special hands.

• Devin Morgan:
  • A suggestion on how to progress from the final boss to the credits sequence.

• GameFAQs, Neoseeker, and Supercheats:
  • For being the most amazing FAQ-hosting sites I know.

• CJayC, SBAllen, and Devin Morgan:
  • General sucking up to the GameFAQs admins. =P

• Me (KeyBlade999):
  • For making this FAQ. =P

• You, the reader:
  • For hopefully enjoying this FAQ.

Version History

• v0.10:
  • Done through the first area of Region 7.
  • Time: 2:28 AM 3/20/2013.

• v0.20:
  • Finished? I dunno.
  • Time: 4:14 AM 3/21/2013.

• Final:
  • Yeah, pretty much.
  • Time: 1:59 AM 3/23/2013.

Legalities

This FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

ｩ 2013 Daniel Chaviers (a.k.a. KeyBlade999).

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