Final Fantasy IX
Racing Hippaul
About
In Alexandria, at the beginning of Disc 1 (or if you miss that, at the beginning of Disc 3), you can race a young hippo named Hippaul. Talk to Hippolady on the street just left of the main gate leading outside. You’ll get various rare cards as rewards when he levels up - which he only does if YOU win. I guess he’s really big on negative reinforcement. You can check his level by talking to him.
Prep
Before starting this quest, be sure you have card space available. You get cards as rewards and you can only carry 99 of them.
Rewards
Here are the rewards you’ll get and the required level:
| Hippaul’s Level | Total Races | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2 | Wyerd Card |
| 20 | 5 (3 more) | Carrion Worm Card |
| 30 | 7 (2 more) | Tantarian Card |
| 40 | 12 (5 more) | Armstrong Card |
| 50 | 22 (10 more) | Ribbon Card |
| 60 | 32 (10 more) | Nova Dragon Card |
| 70 | 42 (10 more) | Genji Card |
| 80 | 52 (10 more) | ItemRace Hippaul up to level 80 to receive. See Hippaul Section for more information. |
Manual Racing Tips
Here are some pointers to help you out on this mini-game.
- Put the controller on a level surface, such as the ground, and use both hands. It’s much easier than one-handed.
- Use different fingers on each hand. I use the pointer of my right hand and the middle finger of my left. When I try to use the same finger on each hand, they start mashing at the same time. Some kinda weird wiring in the brain, I guess.
- Don’t watch the screen. I don’t know why, but watching the screen messes up my rhythm.
- Turn off the sound, or play other faster-paced music.
- When it gets REALLY tough (after level 70) turn off your analog controller and use the right stick. Put it between two fingers and flick your hand (not wrist) back and forth.
What This Actually Takes
As you race him, sometimes his levels go up by 5, and sometimes less. Here are his levels after each time I raced him (he starts at 1): 5, 10, 15, 16, 20, 25, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 (about 15 minutes), 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 (8 more minutes), 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 (another 8 minutes), 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 (another 8 minutes). Overall time: approximately 45 minutes.
Beyond Level 80?
Technically you can continue to race him after level 80 and he continues to get faster until level 100. But you won’t get anything for future races.
Did You Really Race Him to Level 100?
Yes. Yes I did. If you’re curious how I got to level 100, see the Automation section of the walkthrough. The short version is, I used a Raspberry Pi Zero to build a ridiculously fast keyboard that pressed a and z over and over again. I’m sure some folks will call that cheating, but after dealing with CTS/RSI for decades, I wasn’t really interested in paying attention to those game mechanics. To be fair, I got him to level 80 the normal way before my injury.