Basic Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fDEE4izzcU

I may have already covered them in the video, but I'll try to reiterate or explain better here, just in case.

You do NOT have to eat all the Pac-dots in each maze before collecting the fruit. This is key towards saving time in most sections of Adventure Mode, no matter which category. Pac-dots can also disappear as soon as a fruit appears in some cases, so it's best to bomb anyway than to navigate towards the fruit. The golden rule: Follow the yellow-dot road. (Off to see the Wizard of Oz, I suppose.)

Bombs are Key: If you ever get stuck in a sticky situation, bomb back to start and get back to safety if you can. Bomb also as soon as a fruit appears, with some exceptions. (You can get more of these if you clear the whole maze before moving on.) Those include Bosses and Score Attack, which I'll explain in another guide.

Ghosts: You are no longer killed by one single touch on a ghost. If you bump into them rapidly, they will be angered and begin to try to kill you. It's this "don't bump into me and I won't kill you" scenario with the ghosts, especially with the added mini-ghosts added to the train. Might be useful towards getting back on the Pac-dot path, but very risky depending on the situation.

Trains: There is no longer a single train of ghosts chasing after you. Sleeping ghosts, when woke, get instantly added to a "host ghost", which are any of the 4 main ghosts. When you chomp on a pellet, you cannot eat any of the small ghosts in the train; you MUST eat the main ghost head-on to eliminate the train.

Paths: When a Power Pellet is eaten, a bunch of paths open to your benefit. Those are the ghosts' pathways for when they are frightened. In most cases, they'll stay on this path as long as they're still on the maze. Use them to your benefit; good judgment skills as to where they go in accordance with your location are key.

Moving fruits/Power Pellets: This feature makes a return from Ms. Pac-Man, only this time they are a bit more clever with movement. Again, quick judgment is key.

Braking: This is now a thing. Without pressing an arrow key, press the Alt button to brake if you need to let a ghost or many ghosts pass through. Helpful in some areas where a Pac-dot path interferes with the Ghost Zone.

Airborne Chompfests: Think of this as a free bomb after eating the last train with so many ghosts. If you're on "Phase 2" (chasing the power pellet down -- explained in the 2nd guide), make sure you eat all of the Pac-dots before going airborne.

Scoring: If you're doing Any%, ignore this. Otherwise, make sure that you have a (nearly) maxed award per Pac-dot, as well as opportunities to add to the ghost chain. It's actually a waste of time during Score Attack areas (in early mazes, anyway) that you eat all the dots, but make sure you wake up as many ghosts as possible to earn that Airborne Chompfest.

Bosses, Adventure Mode Colors, and "Phases"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQKFwmBQdLs

Essentially Part 2. Bosses are covered in the Tutorial as well, but I wanted to put them separately, since they deal with Adventure mode and not necessarily Score Attack (or anything else, for that matter).

During bosses, there are no power pellets, and you only have a certain amount of time to clear each maze. Once enough dots are eaten, a fruit spawns, and the Giant Ghost in the background will attack the maze and anger the ghosts -- they will attempt to trap you. (That's what bombs are for; use them wisely.)

Your goal is to eat each fruit (optionally, collect the required amount of lives in specific categories) and eat the Super Pellet to defeat the boss. If the timer runs out, you have to start from the beginning. On most bosses, you need 20 lives to get all the stars possible, so aim for that. It should be relatively easy, since you start with about 5 or 6 lives, and 2 spawn after every Giant Ghost attack.
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Adventure Mode:

Green: Time Attack course. You have a certain amount of time to clear out each maze and move on to the next. Bombs are provided, so use them when a fruit/Power Pellet appears. Eating a ghost will not deduct from your time, so use that to your advantage when hunting them down. Every 1st and 2nd level is early-mid game, and every 4th and 5th level is a late-game maze, where you'll have to chase down Power Pellets. Applicable in Areas 1-5.

Orange: Similar to Time Attack, except there are no power pellets, and you have to chase fruits instead. They appear every 3rd level in Areas 1-5, and every 3rd and 7th level in Area 6.

Purple: Score Attack. Your task is to earn 5,000,000 points in one go. Some courses require you to complete them in about 6 minutes on Pro difficulty, so don't be afraid to bomb mid-game to get to some of those later mazes. Area 6.
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"Phases": (Usually I refer to certain parts of mazes as phases, because of how some of them are laid out.)

Phase 1: Several mazes with 1 sleeping ghost at forks in the road before going to a maze with clusters of 3 and a Power Pellet. Two or three of these.

Phase 2: Chase power pellets, and eat nearly all dots in the maze before going to the next. Every maze after Phase 1, twice or three times repeated before cycling back.

Category Information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnPTFVFnKBo

Using real time is not required for any category, but I recommend using it for very long runs.

Any% - Reach and finish 6-14 as quickly as possible. You can use any levels within the first 5 areas in order to get there. There are Star requirements for each world, with 10 starting out in the first world and 58 required to unlock Area 6. Clean save file required.

All Time Trials - Play all levels marked green and orange on the Stage Select screen, with 6-14 being the last stage. You do not have to fight any bosses. Clean save file required.

100% - Play through all stages in Adventure Mode, collecting all the stars in the process. This includes beating every stage on Pro difficulty, getting all requirements in Boss fights, and unlocking/completely beating the final boss for 228 Stars. Clean save file required.

--MISC--

All Levels Normal/Hard - Play through everything on Normal/Hard difficulty, with the exception of the final boss. You may use your existing save file for this. An easier alternative for 100%, but keep in mind you may lose stars, so back up your saves just in case.

Area 6% - Unlock and beat all Area 6 levels quickly, up until Area 6-14. You can use any levels within the first 5 areas in order to unlock Area 6. You may also use any difficulty levels needed to beat those levels. Clean save file required.

Boss Rush - Play through all the bosses. Any% and 100% function as above -- clear as quickly as possible or go for the maximum star count. You may use your existing save for this.

Course 1: Championship II (6-1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fl_1GQ5by0

The course that everyone starts out with. Several mazes have a lot of dots and little to no ghosts. It is wise to skip most of them, but keep your dot scoring near maximum for efficiency.

Course 2: Jumping (6-2)

You have more time to finish this course in Area 6 of Adventure Mode. The downside to this is there are fewer power pellets, such that you're likely to go back to the beginning of the course. Prioritize waking ghosts over clearing mazes in the first phase to maximize the score earned from eating ghost trains, and keep an eye out for the critical path when traversing through the jumping platforms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCMD85PZNeo&feature=youtu.be

Course 3: Hexagon (6-4)

Hexagon is arguably the hardest course in the game, especially in Adventure Mode. Many people have had trouble with this course, and thus Hexagon is a great obstacle in accessing the final boss, since you need to finish everything in Pro difficulty.

https://youtu.be/0hHkHSw5Y_8

The goal in Hexagon is to remain consistent in catching ghosts as quickly as possible, while also retaining maximum possible score output. Skip or bomb through any mazes to get to Power Pellets more quickly, especially early on.

Be sure to wake all the ghosts in the maze before eating the power pellet that spawns below the ghost hub. More ghosts on each train = more points.

Once you get to the harder mazes, like the one below, it's best to corner ghosts at specific locations. Pinpoint at either side or any corner of the maze to catch them, and plan accordingly. Bomb if/when necessary.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/234705144653021184/469230141197778944/Hexagon_Maze_3.png

The maze above shows that the middle portion is not the best place to catch ghosts. Take either the left or the right side to your advantage.

Course 4: Highway (6-5)

https://youtu.be/WxJrRrm5meg

Highway is a high-speed course, but its lengthy pathways make up for this. Stay focused on the main pathways and you'll do just fine.

*NOTE: The first ghost train caps at 30 ghosts until you eat the Power Pellet. You can eat the remaining ghosts on the maze to extend up to 60. Keep an eye on Pac-Man's position and time your turns properly.

Course 5: Dungeon (6-6)

Dungeon is considered to be another difficult course despite its thematic tribute to the Dig Dug franchise. Like Hexagon, this will have a 6-minute timer on Pro difficulty.

Given the cramped layout and lack of Power Pellets in Phase 1, it's easy to think about being behind in Phase 1, with a score lower than 2.5 million around the 3 minute marker. However, Phase 2 has healthy amounts of ghosts and a hefty amount of points from Pac-dots, given that there are no deaths. Even with a death in Phase 2, there should be no problem finishing out in the end-game. 

On the first Power Pellet, trains are limited to 30 ghosts. Keep that in mind when passing through the 4 clusters of ghosts. Odds are, the 4th cluster is better spent eating them than passing through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JnBs5ekjls

Course 6: Mountain (6-8)

https://youtu.be/7xRCkDM9YGE

This course features zigzagging on some mazes. Stay accurate on those turns and you'll do well.

Course 7: Manhattan (6-9)

https://youtu.be/KJNecL5Zev0

Several ghost paths on the power pellet mazes can be tricky to deal with, especially later in the course. They can end up easily trapped in the corners, however.

Course 8: Junction (6-11)

https://youtu.be/Md6ITcQGfXk

Junction features many tunnels on the sides and up/down the maze. Ghosts will most likely end up taking those tunnels on power pellet mazes, so use them to your advantage to succeed.

Course 9: Championship I (6-12)

https://youtu.be/e-Za3QPQ4ck

Modeled after Toru Iwatini's original Championship Edition course in 2007, this course involves skillful and strategic play in order to catch ghosts. They have multiple paths to choose from, and without bombs, they're very difficult to catch on some mazes. Plan your routes and anticipate their movement to your advantage, and you'll do well.

Course X: Spiral (6-13)

https://youtu.be/SW7b1hUiE2M

Spiral involves, well, spirals. Ghosts should be easy to catch here, and there are many opportunities to score big with ghost trains and power pellets.

Nome	Autor
Basic Tutorial	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Bosses, Adventure Mode Colors, and "Phases"	Pinballwiz45b 7 years ago
Category Information	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 1: Championship II (6-1)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 2: Jumping (6-2)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 3: Hexagon (6-4)	Pinballwiz45b 6 years ago
Course 4: Highway (6-5)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 5: Dungeon (6-6)	Pinballwiz45b 6 years ago
Course 6: Mountain (6-8)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 7: Manhattan (6-9)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 8: Junction (6-11)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course 9: Championship I (6-12)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago
Course X: Spiral (6-13)	Pinballwiz45b 5 years ago