Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties

Nearest-the-Pin and Bingo. A straight shot needs both the power and impact gauges stopped in the right place.

• Press R1 before each shot to see the predicted landing point from above — from Intermediate on, hitting an obstacle drops the ball right there, so check the line does not cross one.
• The orange band on the impact gauge curves the ball. It is not a miss — it is how you bend around obstacles from Intermediate on.
• Nearest-the-Pin adds a +10 streak bonus per successful ball, up to 100 extra. Landing short — in the yellow ring — and letting it roll gets you inside the red ring more reliably than aiming at the cup.
• For Bingo, open the centre first, then the corners, then the rest — the centre square sits on four lines, a corner on three, the others on two.
• The targets start moving as you clear squares: at the first speed-up, fire as the target begins to move; at the second and third, fire slightly earlier than that.

Home Run and Challenge courses, with points traded for prizes. Each course runs a fixed pitch script.

• Trade for the Anshin Bat at 60 points first — it makes home runs far easier, which is how you then farm the points for everything else.
• After that go for the exclusives: the Tuppari no Ryu ally Pokesa Fighter and the phone parts Strap: Cafe Alps Sign and Lock Screen: SAKURARUNA.
• If you are pushing Tuppari no Ryu, also take the Tokkofuku Back Button (Kiwami) — it raises your allies' level cap.

Strike a pose against the countdown. One "max glam" boost is available per play.

• Press just as the "2" is about to disappear from the three-second countdown — pressing the instant it appears is too early and usually fails.
• Max glam triggers by pressing R2 after the frame switches, just before the shot. One use per play, so decide in advance which frame it goes on.
• It applies the full slimming and beautifying filter, which looks nothing like Kiryu's usual face — save it for the frame you actually care about.

Life at the Morning Glory orphanage, wrapped around six minigames. It is mandatory if you want to complete the training list.

• Sewing is a race along the chalk line: stray too far and Kiryu hurts himself, losing time and beauty score. Slow down hard into sharp curves.
• Failing to reach the goal in time drops the reward to a single Rag regardless of how pretty the stitching was — watch distance and clock before beauty.
• In the bug-catching contest the energy-drink-looking item decides the match: it lets you sprint while netting, so grab it the moment it spawns, ahead of any bug.
• Do not mash square — hold to charge and release for the charged swing, which counts a catch on contact. Keep square held while moving, and prioritise the gold bugs, which are worth triple.

Luck-heavy, but the cheat items break it wide open.

• The Hoto Tile deals you a Pure Nine Gates ready hand — a double yakuman — which reliably busts one opponent and takes first place.
• Cheat items are single use, so save them for the demanding rows such as taking first in a tournament and grind the cumulative ones honestly.
• Without a yaku you cannot go out at all — riichi, pinfu and tanyao cover most of what is asked.

The training rows are about winning, and the rules are the barrier.

• Start with the weakest opponent, and watch the take-back — some rows require winning without one.
• If shogi is new, the set-position problems teach it faster than full games.

A normal game and a Split Game, with points traded for prizes.

• Strikes come from the pocket beside the head pin, hit hard with a slight spin from a small left-stick nudge.
• Split Game wants a given combination down in one throw — clear the easy ones first to save balls.

The usual three modes — 01, Cricket and Count-Up — with points traded for prizes.

• Singles score the sector, doubles double, triples treble, bull is 50 — in 01 the bull is steadier than treble 20.
• If a row wants hat-tricks, play 01 alone — the most rounds to keep trying.

Standard games alongside rows asking for particular shots.

• A carom is cue to object ball then on to another ball which drops; a combination is the object ball doing the hitting.
• Play Alone, nudge the balls into shape, then scratch on purpose to place the cue ball where you want it.

A button-timing rhythm game that also feeds into substories.

• Judge on the note overlapping the cursor, not reaching the lane. Hold means hold to the end; Rapid means mash.
• Substory No.18 needs Akko-san's version of "Baka Mitai" and then any second song before it will move on.

Four games, chips traded for prizes, and cheat items exist here too.

• These swing on luck, so collect the cheat items first — single use, but strong enough to break the game.
• Blackjack raises the bet cap on a streak, so climb the cap before spending a cheat item and the same item earns several times more.

Four games, and the Kamurocho den only opens after substory No.19.

• Kamurocho's Dragon Palace unlocks with the substory "Retake the Dragon Palace" — before that, only the Ryukyu den is open.
• The prize counter carries Tuppari no Ryu allies and phone parts you cannot get anywhere else.
• In koi-koi the whole game is when to call — banking a small hand beats gambling it away when totals are what count.

Motor Raid, Emergency Call Ambulance, Slashout, Virtua Fighter 2/2.1 and Fighting Vipers are all playable in full, and the UFO Catcher is here too.

• The boards keep their arcade difficulty — one character and one reliable pattern beats trying to play them properly.
• The UFO Catcher counts distinct prizes, so duplicates do nothing — check the other branch if what you need is not stocked.

Any Game Gear cartridge you have found can be played anywhere: Columns, Pac-Man, Sonic & Tails, G-LOC Air Battle, Woody Pop, The GG Shinobi, Mappy, Galaga '91, Puyo Puyo, Streets of Rage, Fantasy Zone Gear and Sonic Drift.

• Cartridges are found around town or bought and traded for — the training list tracks how many you own, so sweep the shops and prize counters.
• It plays anywhere with no load, so running it during downtime quietly fills the play-count rows.