Arcade mode is the single-player challenge of Windjammers 2, tasking you with winning five rounds of a tournament and becoming champion. Once you’ve chosen your character, you’ll face random opponents across the game’s 10 courts. But what if you lose against them?
That’s where credits come into play. Just like in the arcades where the original Windjammers once lived, credits are your lives here. You start arcade mode with two, letting you continue twice after losing a match. After that, you’re done. It’s possible to earn additional credits while playing, however.
Note the score meter that appears in the bottom right after every match. It fills based on how many points you earned during the previous match. You’ll get points based on how many sets you won, how many white sets you achieved, and how many charged shots and perfect receptions you pulled off. “White set” is probably the term you’ll have the most questions about. It simply refers to winning a round without letting your opponent score a single point — a shutout, to use another sports term. All of these serve to further fill up the meter after a match.
There are also two minigames that you can play during arcade mode. The first is Disc Attack, which takes place after the second round of the tournament. A disc-pitching machine will move around, and fire clay discs are regular intervals — catch them to earn points. The second minigame is called Hot Dog Distance, and it happens after the fourth round. Once you throw the disc, you’ll take control of a dog. As it sprints after the frisbee, you can move up and down to avoid obstacles like beach-goers. Hitting one will slow you down, and you get points based on how far the dog runs by the time it catches the disc.
As you earn points from matches and minigames, the yellow meter will fill up. Once it reaches the top, you’ll earn yourself an extra credit — another chance to keep playing if an opponent proves to be too much. The meter ticks back around once full, so it’s theoretically possible to fill it up twice during arcade mode if you score an incredible amount of points.
