Speed Square is a section of the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII. The area's attraction is its Shooting Coaster (シューティングコースター, Shūtingu Kōsutā?) minigame, where the player must shoot targets to amass points. For a high enough score, prizes are handed out at the end of the ride. The Shooting Coaster minigame is not required at any point, and is entirely optional.
Locations[]
Entrance[]
The entrance is where the other areas of the Gold Saucer link to. From the entrance one can go to the other attractions of the Gold Saucer, or go to the platform to play the minigame.
A boy and a girl run through this area being chased by security. People standing around here also discuss the minigame, one person makes a comment when the prizes update when Gold Saucer reopens in Part 2, and another comments on memorizing the order of enemies.
On the player's first visit to the Gold Saucer, Dio will be present here, and passing through the area triggers a scene where Dio discusses the Black Materia and a person matching Sephiroth's description with Cloud.
During the chase with Cait Sith and the Keystone, following Cait Sith's every move will take the player through here from the Battle Square, and from here Cait Sith will travel to the Wonder Square.
Platform[]
At the platform the player can play the Shooting Coaster minigame, hear the rules, or view the Wall of Fame scoreboards that recalls the highest three previously achieved scores. The scoreboard on the top right of the area has the word "ranking" written in Greek letters as "ρανκινγ".
"This attraction is the Shooting Coaster." |
"While your ride's going ZOOM, you're going BANG BANG, and things are going PHEW PHEW and you destroy them with a big BOOM. Pretty simple, isn't it?" |
"Oh, to shoot, hit [OK]. The bar on the left side of the screen is your Power Meter." |
"When it's full, it'll go BROOOOOM and when it's empty, it'll only go ...brm... and putter out. So be careful." |
"If you make it to the Top 3, you'll get on the Wall of Fame." |
Shooting Coaster minigame[]
This minigame costs 10 GP to play, and has the player controlling a moving turret which fires at a variety of objects to earn points. Prizes are awarded depending on how many points the player accumulates throughout the run, and the prizes change slightly depending on the point in the game the player is at.
The game's speed varies in two ways depending on the version. The crosshair in the PlayStation versions moves slower than in the PC physical CD versions, making it easier to aim but harder to get from one side of the screen to the other. In the PC physical CD versions, a slight tap of a direction will move the crosshair roughly eighty percent of the way across the screen, which makes it difficult to be precise. Some versions also function at different speeds: the PAL version is slower than the NTSC version, making it easier, while the PC version is faster. The PC versions last 3m23s to the nearest second, while the PAL PlayStation version lasts 4m4s to the nearest second.
Other version differences lie in the targets. In the original Japanese version, the player could target the Zeppelin's propeller. This was made possible again in the original PC release and remains so in subsequent releases. A water wheel appears on a boat in all versions that can be shot for a stream of points, though the original Japanese version did not have a point limit, where it is 285 in all future versions.
On the PlayStation Classic mini console, it is possible to pause the game and use save states to get a high score of over 5,000 points.
Prizes[]
Prizes are earned at 3,000 points and above, but none of the prizes below 5,000 points have a use. If the player has not yet earned the item for getting more than 5,000 points and they achieve a score 5000 points or greater, then they will get that prize.
The player can earn both the Umbrella and the Flayer, only before/after the player gets the airship. Selling the weapons earned will not allow the player to earn them again.
Score | Prize |
---|---|
3,000+ | 1/3: 1/35 Soldier 1/3: Super Sweeper 1/3: Masamune Blade |
5,000+ | Umbrella (only before the party has Highwind) Flayer (only after the party has Highwind) |
Targets[]
Target | Value | Image | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Ghost | 40 | ||
Cactus | 30 | ||
Cacti on rocks | 50 | ||
Blue Plane | 50-60 | Targets towards the end yield more points. | |
White Plane | 50-60 | Targets towards the end yield more points. | |
Boulder | 200 | The boulder is in the desert area, on the canyon wall. | |
Submarine | 60 | ||
Water Wheel | 1–285 | The water wheel is shortly before the falling stars, on the boat. Holding fire while moving away from the wheel yields more points; in the original Japanese version the water wheel could give infinite amount of points, but this is fixed for all other versions. | |
Star | 40 | ||
Spark | 70 | ||
Icicle | 40 | ||
Ice | 50 | ||
Balloon | 30 | ||
Rabbit Balloon | 70 | ||
UFO | 60 | ||
Blimp | 50 | ||
Zeppelin Propeller | 25440-25680 | The propeller on the zeppelin can be targeted in PC, PS4 and mobile versions. It can easily be hit by putting the crosshair on the right side of the screen and holding the fire as the propeller approaches the crosshair. | |
Lava | 70 | ||
Helicopter | 40-50 | Targets toward the end yield more points. | |
Fast UFO | 80 | ||
Boss UFO | 1000 | ||
Light | 200 | The light is before the final turn, on the bottom left just under the railway itself. To hit, the player should aim at either the bottom-left or bottom-right of the screen. |