Moon Patrol(arcade) FAQ version 1.0.0
copyright 2002 by Andrew Schultz
[email protected]
Please do not repost for profit without my consent. A simple e-mail
referring to this game specifically and to me by name should be enough.
I don't profit off this and really like to think twice before letting
others do so.
** AD SPACE **
My home page:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762
================================
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. ENEMY ENTITIES
3-1. INVULNERABLE
3-2. GROUND, VULNERABLE
3-3. IN THE AIR
3-4. THE GAME'S GENERAL RANDOMNESS AND GRAPHICAL BOO-BOOS
4. POINTS
5. COURSE WALKTHROUGHS
5-1. BEGINNER COURSE
5-1-1. START TO E
5-1-2. E TO J
5-1-3. J TO O
5-1-4. O TO T
5-1-5. T TO Z
5-2. CHAMPION COURSE 1
5-2-1. START TO E
5-2-2. E TO J
5-2-3. J TO O
5-2-4. O TO T
5-2-5. T TO Z
5-3. BEYOND CHAMPION COURSE 1
6. VERSIONS
7. CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
Moon Patrol is a wonderful classic game. It is a scroller(objects come
right to left) which requires pattern recognition, but there is some
randomization involved. Monsters from above seem to be random, and your
buggy can shoot both to the right and up. You can speed up and slow
down, and although this doesn't sound like much there's a good deal of
nuance. You also have the concept of checkpoints for the first time I
can remember. In each game you try to get from the start through 26
checkpoints to the letter Z. Every five letters the computer records the
time it took to get there and potentially gives you a bonus, and if you
crash you start at the last letter you passed. Each five-letter sub-
course also records record times.
There are two full courses, beginner and champion, and many of the
scenarios build logically on previous ones, with new bad guys being
added with each five-letter level. The game even had a continue feature,
and I remember watching in rapt attention as Big College Kids managed to
get past the stuff I saw on the demo but could never quite get to.
With unlimited continues and you being pushed back only so far on the
course, you can probably figure out how to get through the game
eventually. But I wrote this so that people could try to get bonuses on
every single course and maybe(probably?) beat my records on later
courses.
2. CONTROLS
The controls may seem a bit unresponsive at first, but I believe that
is just the game being devious and, to some extent, logical. Spaceships
with hyperdrive or whatever always move extra-quick. However your little
dune buggy has a thing called acceleration and it's not quite a sports
car. So if you move faster or slower it takes a bit of time to register
that. This requires a bit of anticipation and also makes sure you can't
solve a course with a bunch of late cop-outs. For specific obstacles the
best speeds or firing routines will be discussed later, but for now I'll
just discuss acceleration.
On your fastest speed you can make it from one point to the next in
about 12 seconds.
On medium speed it takes 16 seconds.
On slow speed it seems to take about 24 seconds. I can't verify this
because for the most part you have to jump over pits or speed up to
avoid missiles(bad guys are harder to hit when going slow) even on easy
levels but it makes sense for the following: Let X=fastest, Y=medium,
Z=slowest. Assume Y-Z = X-Y which seems reasonable; your car is midway
between the slowest/fastest when you don't touch the controls.
Dist/X = Time(X), Dist/Y = Time(Y), Dist/Z = Time(Z).
So x = 4 * y / 3, and z = 2 * y / 3. So Time(Z) = (3/2) Time(y) = 24
seconds, roughly.
I usually wind up with 22 seconds or so between points when going
slow.
The faster you go, the less you'll be able to see ground obstacles.
However with flying enemies likely to hang around the center it may be
easier to shoot them. Also the faster you go the more likely you can
jump a ground enemy even if you're more likely to run into them. The
earlier part of the game's a bit tedious on slow once you have the hang
of it, and it's fun to go fast when you can.
Also a fastest jump will make it over a big pit with a rock to the
right. No need to time your shot. Note that how long you hold the jump
button does not affect the jump's height.
Firing is also tricky. You can have four vertical shots on the screen
at any one time but only one horizontal one. So often I've made three
quick shots at a big rock and crashed. Why? Because my first shot hadn't
disappeared yet. I find four quick shots allows for two horizontal shots
with the four verticals, but if you need to time your firing exactly,
wait for your first shot to make the big explosion then disappear. And
slow down if you must.
Note that your ground-fire explodes into a ball of fire at the end.
Combining jumping and firing is also useful with bad guys overhead; if
you know there's nothing on the ground for a while, fire and jump; this
will cause your shots to disperse more quickly, and they will be closer
to the enemies when they start, too.
One final thing: jumping and firing also work for obstacles on the
ground. If there's a rock past a pit that it doesn't look like you can
land and shoot, shoot just as you jump. Often you'll be able to get your
shot to explode at the end, taking out the rock before your jump reaches
its zenith.
3. ENEMY ENTITIES
3-1. INVULNERABLE
Pits I suppose count as invulnerable. There are small and large
ones. You can jump across the large ones at regular speed if you time it
right but the smaller ones are easier to deal with. At the slowest you
cannot jump over a small pit. You can change speed while over a pit just
as if you were driving. It's cool to watch.
Mines appear later in the game and cannot be shot. They don't take
up much width but are generally spaced so you can't make a huge jump
over them--or you even have to go a bit slower for several mines in a
row.
3-2. GROUND, VULNERABLE
Rocks are a nuisance. They come in three sizes: big, small and
medium. Big rocks require two hits and are made up of two pieces in
fact. You'll need to go fast to jump over them. They are also not easy
to shoot point blank or if you are going fast, as ground shots take time
to recharge. Medium rocks are easy to shoot and jump over. Small rocks
are very easy to jump over but a pain to shoot. The best way to be sure
is to slow down just as you're about to shoot, otherwise you may shoot,
and if you are too close, your shot goes over the rock before it
disperses.
Tanks often fire missiles at you although if you speed up to
approach them you can confuse them and nail them without a shot. Two
ground shots in succession, at a high speed, should dispose of them.
Poppers are multicolored blobs that move up and down in semicolored
pits. Most of the time you won't be able to shoot them, and most of the
time they won't cause any problems with your jump--although on rare
occasions they may touch you during a jump, in which case--BANG!
Cars sometimes sit behind you and rush forward although never at too
inconvenient a time. Don't panic when you see them and you can jump over
them and hit them from behind.
3-3. IN THE AIR
There are three sorts of enemies that attack you from the air:
claws, saucers and triads. Saucers are gold ovals. Claws have several
colors. Triads are three silver circles bound together.
Claws and saucers seem to do the same thing. They drop caret-shaped
missiles down on you, which do not accelerate horizontally but do so
vertically. It will take some time to adjust to these, but usually if
you shoot right before they're above your vertical shooter, that will
knock them out. Missiles also have a nasty property of protecting the
ship that just sent them. Fortunately you can reciprocate in kind(in
which case it's skill not luck) and often when one is coming down at
you, a quick acceleration/deceleration can nail the missile just before
it gets you. Finally note the fact(but don't rely on it) that missiles
touching your buggy's very ends may not kill you; they're even more
lenient when you're in the air, although you are also a bit more
vulnerable then to having one dropped on you. Claws and saucers may
slightly avoid you as they drop hooking missiles on you, but a little
backing up/going forward can get rid of them.
Triads are the nastiest; they fire ahead of you, making missiles
harder to shoot down but less immediately lethal. These missiles create
small pits which can be quite awkward if strung together or placed in
front of pits. It's exceptionally nasty when triads insist on staying on
the right half of the screen. They aren't any more sneaky than claws or
saucers other than that, though, but since they don't directly attack
you, jumping and shooting is an even better way to wipe them out--unless
they've dropped pits ahead of you.
You seem to be able to goad the ships over to the left if you slow
down. Deceleration/acceleration may fool and put paid to 'cheaters' who
try to hang around on the right.
3-4. THE GAME'S GENERAL RANDOMNESS AND GRAPHICAL BOO-BOOS
Listed in approximate order of relevance.
--shoot an alien ship as it falls and it remains on the screen, with its
point total
--bombs dropped in pits explode on the surface
--occasionally you'll miss an enemy you appear to hit, but it works the
other way around too
--occasionally the enemy missiles will hit your very edge and nothing
will happen. Don't get too used to this happening, though!
--when you jump but still fall in a pit, you always make it halfway
between the edge before falling in.
4. POINTS
Points are fairly straightforward. You get more points for shooting
something than for jumping over it. Now that we've defined the entities
we can show the points you get for taking them out.
--100 points for claws or saucers
--200 points for triads
--no points for any missiles flying enemies shoot at you
--500 point bonus for wiping out a group of 3 flying enemies
--800 points for a group of 4
--1000 for a group of 5. Note they must all appear at the same time and
be of the same sort; 2 claws + 2 saucers just after are as tough as 4
claws, but you don't get the bonus for them.
--no combos for jumping over 2 items although you do get points for both
of them
--50 points for shooting a barrel(any size) rolling down a hill
--100 points for jumping over the barrel
--50 points for jumping over a small rock
--80 points for jumping over a regular rock
--100 points for jumping over a 2-part rock although if you shoot the
half that doesn't look like a rock you get 80; shoot the half that does
and jump, you get 20.
--100 points for shooting a rock, any size; big 2-part rocks get 200
--50 points for jumping over a small pit
--100 points for jumping over a small pit
--100 points for jumping over a tank
--200 points for shooting a tank
--no points for shooting the tank's missile
--500/800/1000 points for the car that sneaks up behind you, depending
on how far away it is from you(farther=less points) but no points for
jumping it
--300/500/800 points for shooting the poppers, 100 for jumping them
--5000 points for completing beginner course
--10000 points for completing champion course
--conditional points for completing a course segment are listed in the
walkthrough below.
5. COURSE WALKTHROUGHS
I've tried to highlight the quickest way to get through each
scenario, which consists of five small courses. Should you lose a life,
you are backed up to the last letter you passed. The Atari version is a
bit stricter than this(letter must go off screen) than the arcade(rear
of buggy must pass point) and often just at a letter you'll find a tough
puzzle.
In the beginner course you can pretty much go full speed ahead, but
things are much tougher on the champion course. I use some terminology
and punctuation for specific purposes here, namely:
rock + small rock = rock and small rock in very quick succession
rock,small rock = rock and small rock a reasonable distance apart
I'll try to list important strategies that may apply over a large
part of a fragment in brackets in my walkthrough.
5-1. TIMES AND BONUSES
You get no bonus if you are above the average time. Otherwise bonuses
are as listed below:
Beginner courses:
moon base-E 1000 + 100 * (80-time)
E-J 1000 + 100 * (80-time)
J-O 1000 + 100 * (100-time)
O-T 1000 + 100 * (100-time)
T-Z + 100 * (100-time) + 5000 given as special bonus unconditionally
Champion courses:
moon base-E 2000 + 100 * (100-time)
E-J 2000 + 100 * (100-time)
J-O 2000 + 100 * (120-time)
O-T 2000 + 100 * (120-time)
T-Z 100 * (120-time) + 10000 given as special bonus unconditionally
Note that T-Z actually has six stops while the other courses only have
four.
5-2. BEGINNER COURSE
You can pretty much get through this course without having to worry
too much about your speed; I cruise through it as fast as possible and
only slow down to avoid missiles I'd otherwise be running into without a
chance to shoot, or when it's obvious I'll need to(see: J to L, the
mines placed in the path.)
5-2-1. START TO E
This shouldn't require you to slow down much, and as you get better
you'll want to try to run all the way through this.
Background = hill and mountains. The game alternates the scenarios
in each course fragments between this and city/mountains but in beginner
and chmpion it starts with the hills. The main difference in colorings
is that your buggy changes from purple to red.
To get to point A you will need to jump over two pits, which is
easy, shoot a rock, jump a pit and shoot a rock.
--350 points total
For course fragment A-B two claws appear, followed by two saucers.
There are no land obstacles, so take them out.
--400 points total
For course fragment B-C a rock appears with two claws shortly after.
There's another rock after these and then a rock. pit, rock, and rock.
You'll need to start coordinating ground obstacles with air attacks
here. Be sure when you jump that there's no rock or pit ahead, and slow
up if necessary.
--750 points total
For course fragment C-D there is a pit and pit followed by three
saucers and a rock. This is your first chance to get a big bonus and you
may want to start trying the trick of jumping to anticipate when the
aerial enemies will appear. It could get you a lucky hit.
--900 points total
For course fragment D-E you will want to kill off the two triads
that appear and then the two claws fairly quickly. If not they may
interfere with jumping over/shooting the rock. There's a pit after that
and if the triads are still hanging around they may drop a missile that
may make it awkward to jump over two at the same time.
--750 points total
My minimum time for solving this course is 59 seconds, flooring the
controls right. This gets a bonus of 2100+1000=3100. So the maximum for
start to E is 6250.
5-2-2. E TO J
Again I'm assuming you're going full speed ahead. For parts it may
be a good idea for people to go at regular speed. Usually there's a way
to go fast 90% of the time although there are some clear traps involving
combinations of ground obstacles in this course.
For course fragment E-F you have 2 triads quickly followed by 2
saucers. Kill them quickly and you won't have to worry about the combo
of them, a pit and a rock some time after that.
--750 points total
For course fragment F-G you have a pit, then a huge pit and a small
rock just after that. Go slow if you must after you clear the huge pit!
Go too fast and you may overshoot the small rock, which is only
vulnerable to the end of a ground shot. If you are relatively new to the
game you can also go at regular speed to jump over the big pit before
you hit it and then fire.
**side comment: a shooting spree is ahead--be sure to time your shot on
a big rock so that you're as far away as possible before shooting it,
but if not, take evasive action and either slow down or make a perfect
jump.**
Rock, big rock, rock, small rock, pit, rock, rock
--1000 points total
For course fragment G-H you have 2 triads and 2 claws. A strange
little break but I guess you've earned it.
For course fragment H-I you have 3 triads, a rock, a big pit, bick
rock, small rock, big rock and big pit. You may want to slow up briefly
at the small rock again. The half-second or 100 points it may cost you
is less important than a life.
I've managed to get through this level in the minimum 59 seconds.
However often I've needed to slow up to avoid enemy fire. Maximum bonus
= 3100 points.
5-2-3. J TO O
This starts out a bit different, and you're introduced to obstacles
a little more exacting than just a bigger pit--that's right. This is
also the first level you can't 'floor' your way through. The mines
require you to keep your hands off the speed control, and the fire
button doesn't do much good either. It's a matter of timing and not
pushing the jump button too quickly. Try to jump just when you land if
you have a bunch of mine groups in a row spaced pretty close together.
I define a pair of mines as two a wheel-distance apart from each
other, and 2 close mines being ones where you need some precision in
jumping to get over them.
The first bit isn't very exciting. You just need to get a lot of
jumping right and don't touch the accelerator except to slow down a bit
in case you seem to be getting too close to the mines.
For course fragment J-K you have 2 close, 2 close, a pair, a single,
and 3 close:single, pair, single.
For course fragment K-L you have single, single, pair, single(?), 4
single close, pair, and 3 close singles.
For course fragment L-M you have pair, pair, pair, single, pair,
pair, single, single, single.
For course fragment M-N you have 4 claws followed by 3 saucers.
There's a lot above you so you may have to change gears, but you don't
have any other distractions to worry about.
For course fragment N-O you have 4 triads followed by 3 saucers.
Similar to M-N, but watch out for if the triads fire a few missiles in a
row; you may have to slow down a bit to make good jumps over two
consecutive pits.
My best time for getting through all this is 72 seconds. I don't
suspect one can do much better; long jumps over two mines seem verboten.
5-2-4. O TO T
This one is a bit on the easy side, even a little sparse. But it's a
nice break between two tough scenes. The barrels provide the majority of
the difficulty, but if you keep your head on straight they are not too
bad. You even move up and down on the screen. Now this makes for an
interesting dynamic; it's easier to shoot your enemies but easier for
them to attack you. I suggest jumping and shooting them quickly--you can
get even more shots that way(with a maximum four shots on the screen at
once, they disappear more quickly when you have less space to fire them
in.) There still seems to be enough time to maneuver your buggy to avoid
a shot you might not be able to shoot.
For course fragment O-P you have 4 triads followed by 3 claws. See
N-O for the strategy here.
--2600 total points
For course fragment P-Q you have barrels rolling at you. You're on a
constant up slope which never seems to move up the screen as it should,
and instead it is just angled. I find you can maybe cut a second or two
off by accelerating when no barrels are in view and slowing down if
you've memorized when 2 barrels will come, but that's a bit much for 200
points. I prefer to sit in the middle and just shoot them. They come as
follows:
small, big, 2 big, medium, 2 big, big, 2 big, small, big. You're not
shot at, so the enemies are defenseless even if they do move quickly
towards you.
For course fragment Q-R you have 4 saucers, a big rock, a big pit,
and a big rock. Be sure to slow down for the big rock if you miss it
with your first shot. You can probably dispose of the saucers pretty
quickly while jumping, but keep an extra eye out for missiles--less time
to contact means less time for you to react.
For course fragment R-S you travel down a hill and have 2 saucers
and 2 triads. This view may be a bit disorienting, and bombs may not
quite drop where you think they will, so be prepared to use your
intuition a bit. But it's probably the easiest one once you're oriented.
For course fragment S-T you face 3 claws and 3 triads. This is again
not too tough.
--1900 total points
My record time here is 61 seconds, which gets a nice bonus--
3900+1000=4900.
5-2-5. T TO Z
A new enemy, the tank, is introduced here. There's a way to shoot
down a tank without it firing at you if you go slow and speed up, but
most of the time you just need two shots: one as it shoots at you and
one just after, when the tank is defenseless. There are also
combinations of pits, rocks and overhead enemies you haven't encountered
before, and you may need to slow down a bit near the end to get through
without losing a buggy.
For course fragment T-U you start out shooting a big rock and
jumping a big pit and a small pit. Then there's a rock, big pit, small
pit. Then a big rock is on the left edge of a big pit and you may want
to go slow to jump the small pit for the first part of U-V.
For course fragment U-V there are two rocks right away; if you
crashed here you may need to jump over the small pit again, and now you
may see why you need to do so slowly. Then there are two tanks, which
I've mentioned how to deal with. Then after a bit of a break there are
four tanks in a row; you may need to slow down to make sure you can
shoot the last one before you run into it.
For course fragment V-W you start with two close sets of two big
pits. Then you go uphill with the following sequence: 1 big log, 2
medium ones in a row, big one, small, and 2 small(slow down for these
last ones.)
For course fragment W-X you have 4 claws and 3 saucers. They seem to
shoot more frequently than in the earlier stages.
For course fragment X-Y you have 4 saucers then 3 triads. If the
triads start dropping missiles and you're not able to kill them quickly,
go back to regular speed until they're all gone.
For course fragment Y-Z you have 3 saucers then 3 triads then a
rock. The triads tend to be nasty here about shooting at the exact wrong
point before the rock(or so it seems) so either you jump early to fire
and try to anticipate when the triads will appear and hope to get lucky,
or you fire just after you jump over any pit the triad creates. After
the rock you have two big pits and then a big rock, after which you've
completed the beginner course. Yay!
5-3. CHAMPION COURSE 1
The champion course starts out easier than the final beginner course
levels. However, the combinations it uses can get rather maddening, and
eventually it becomes no longer possible to whiz through any level
without drastic consequences. Even the mines and barrels are more
frequent or spaced more closely together. There are a lot of objects
right next to a pit and some new annoying mobile ground obstacles.
5-3-1. START TO E
For course fragment start-A you face 3 claws then 3 saucers. A nice
way to pick up some points, I guess, and you should have this under
control.
For course fragment A-B you have a car behind you. It goes forward
and back seven times before racing under you. You can just go full speed
ahead here and jump when it's right behind you. If you jump a bit
earlier you may get more points for shooting it, but it's easier to get
killed. In my opinion it's not worth the risk.
For course fragment B-C you have a tank, a rock, and a rock. Then
there's a small rock followed by the toughest part of the level, a big
pit with a tank on the right edge . Go full speed ahead, shoot the
missile and jump just before you get to the edge. You'll clear the tank
and the pit(I can't quite time shooting the tank to be honest.) Jump
over the last big pit.
For course fragment C-D you have four tanks in a row before a big
pit. Slow down if you must so you don't crash into the tank. Then you
have two rocks, then two tanks, the second on the left edge of a big
pit. Then rock, tank, tank left of big pit. Nothing fancy for that.
For course fragment D-E you have 4 claws, small pit, two big pits,
two rocks, big pit, and a rock. The usual caveats about slowing down
with pits and fire from above apply here, but I've been able to get
through the level in 60 seconds and even 59. You will get 4100+2000=6100
bonus if you manage to do so.
5-3-2. E TO J
This wave introduces you to poppers, multicolored things which
appear from a pit and bob up and down. It's possible to shoot them but
most of the time you're better off concentrating on how to avoid them.
For course fragment E-F you have one group of 3 triads followed soon
by another.
For course fragment F-G you have a big rock on the left edge of a
big pit, a rock, a rock on the right edge of a big pit(jump over both of
these going full speed and try to shoot the rock,) small pit, small pit,
small pit and shoot rock quickly(watch your speed), then big pit/small
pit/small rock quickly in succession--don't try to tear through this
either.
For course fragment G-H you will be introduced to poppers, which not
only act as small pits but can also nail you if you don't jump high
enough. You start out with 4 triads, 4 saucers, and a big pit along the
way. Slow up to nail the triads if you need to, as having that extra
small pit by the big ones means trouble. Then you have a popper and a
rock left of the next popper. A fast jump should get you over a popper
and a regular speed one should too, but be sure to save your fire for
the rock, which you can't quite make it over.
For course fragment H-I you have 3 saucers, a big pit, a small pit,
3 claws, and two big pits in close succession. This isn't so bad by
itself, but it leads into a nasty fragment.
For course fragment I-J you have 4 triads out of the box, a big pit,
a rock, a big pit, and 2 rocks left of the first of four poppers.
There'll be a rock right of the final popper, but a fast jump should
clear everything. You probably can't make fast jumps all the way through
so alternately speed up and release the speed controls to stagger your
jump timing.
I think my record here is 60 seconds as there are a few delays along
the way.
5-3-3. J TO O
The original monsters have been depleted but the originality
remains. Some nasty combos here and although much is down to chance with
overhead enemies, you can put the odds in your favor by knowing the
right speeds to go at.
For course fragment J-K you go uphill to fight a bunch of logs. I
once again recommend not touching the horizontal controls and just
instead firing on them as they come--it's less of a headache than timing
the jumps, but if you feel you've mastered this, by all means proceed
your own way. The logs are, in order, big, medium, small, 2 big
together, small, medium, 2 small followed by a big. For these three you
will want to slow down after hitting the first one, which itself
requires timing. Then you accelerate and jump over the small/big/small
group that appears ahead of you. From there there are two mediums to
shoot, and you can shoot the big/small/big and then shoot the
penultimate small before jumping over the last one. Timing is rather
important on this stage, and shooting the three in quick succession and
still accelerating is tough to pick up at first.
For course fragment K-L you have a small break in the form of 4
claws and 3 saucers. Again watch the quick missiles as you are on high
ground.
For course fragment L-M you have a series of mines. Here it is
important to use the slightly slow jump trick. Basically you slow up a
bit just before you jump over one mine in the middle of a big sequence,
then you jump over the next two; your jumps should be shortened, and you
should just make it over several mines without crashing into the next
one ahead. The mines come in the following pattern, grouped by what's
close to what:
single/pair/single/single/single. Five jumps in a row are tough to
pull off, but it gets even tougher.
pair/single/single/single/single/single
For course fragment M-N you have a pair followed by 7 singles before
a set of 2 singles and then a set of 3. It kind of dies with a whimper,
but before then you may need to use the slowing trick a few times.
For course fragment N-O you have a small let-off although the 5
triads followed shortly by 4 claws can make things nasty; pull up and go
slow if you can't nail them right away, as there are a huge rock and a
rock in the distant future. Having to jump over a pit with a huge rock
just in front is almost certain death.
I'm not sure if I've ever gotten through all of this unscathed. I
suspect it will take at least 75-80 seconds even with best play due to
the frequent delays, many of which occur with the mines.
By the way this is the only wave to finish with you uphill.
5-3-4. O TO T
More puzzles here and more variety but not necessarily harder.
For course fragment O-P you have 4 claws and then 4 saucers. There's
a big rock after you've finished the downward slope. Then there's a big
pit and rocks on either edge of the next big pit--shoot the left one and
jump fast over the right one. Shoot the rock just after the jump.
For course fragment P-Q you have another set of rocks on each edge
of a large pit. Then you have a small pit, a small one, and a large one.
All this while a car is running behind. Ignore it until you've jumped
these pits as you'll be able to deal with it by itself. Jump over it,
shoot it and jump over the big pit.
For course fragment Q-R you have a big rock, rock, rock, big rock
left of pit. Next up are mines, all in a row.
Single/pair/single/pair/single/single. If you jump as early as possible
you may be able to get through without worrying about the brief slowing
trick that buys a little time.
For course fragment R-S you have a tank left of a big pit, a big
rock left of a small pit(shoot it and slow down to be safe.) You'll also
need to slow down to dispatch the two small rocks to the right--close
enough to be uncomfortable. Then there's a tank, a big pit, and a rock
left of a popper. There's another popper and a big rock left of the
popper. At the second popper mentioned so far you'll want a standard-
speed jump before you shoot and accelerate over the third. Then there's
another popper.
For course fragment S-T you start off with the left half of a big
rock. Go average speed here as you shoot this and the big rock ahead of
it which is on the left edge of a big pit. Then there's another big
rock. But you'll want to start firing as soon as you're over the pit;
there are 5 triads and 3 saucers that appear as you do that, and you'll
want to get rid of them quickly. Given that there's a rock further on
you'll want to try to shoot the baddies above before risking it combined
with a pit. Then there's another rock and a rock before the flashing T.
With perfect timing you can shoot and hit the double-rock beyond the
flashing T, but it doesn't help you when you have to face it again at
the start of the next wave.
With best play I suspect you can get down to 75 seconds.
5-3-5. T TO Z
For course fragment T-U you have a big rock, big pit, small pit, and
big pit. Only after this does the car behind you run at you. Jump over
it and shoot it. Then there's a big pit and you're done. The car letters
are not too bad once you get a feel for the timing.
For course fragment U-V you start out with mines. A single, two
pairs, a pair, and then a big rock. You'll want to jump over the pair at
normal speed, shoot, and accelerate over the next pair of mines which
are a bit apart. Then there's another rock to shoot, two pairs, and a
single mine. The main trick here is to remember when the rocks come in
and to be prepared to shoot them.
For course fragment V-W you start with 5 triads and 4 claws. Again
with a big rock ahead, take your time wiping out the enemy ships. Then
there's a big pit and a rock. The main problem here is the sheer number
of enemies to face.
For course fragment W-X you have a rock right of the popper(shoot it
or jump fast,) then two poppers and then a rock. Then a rock and big
rock are extra close before there are two rocks you should blast easily.
Then there's a rock on the right edge of a popper(long jump or strategic
fire) followed by another popper to jump.
For course fragment X-Y you have 5 triads and 4 claws coming out of
the box. Then there area a rock and big rock close(you should know not
to accelerate by now.) Then there's a rock followed by a big rock.
For course fragment Y-Z you start out with a rock, big rock, and pit
all very close together. Go slowly and shoot and jump over the pit. Then
there's a tank left of a small pit, and you'll want to take slow jump as
it is before a rock left of a big pit. Still go slow; jump over the
popper, blast the big rock(hard to do on short notice when going fast,)
and jump over the next popper. Yay! You have a brief victory lap before
you cross the finish line.
5-4. BEYOND CHAMPION COURSE 1
All champion courses are pretty much the same, although it seems
that the computer keeps track of record times on each on separately. But
if you can continue a game while on T-Z and win with your first guy it
is like starting on the beginning champion course with a huge bonus--I
have eclipsed my high score starting at the beginner course that way.
** END OF FAQ PROPER **
================================
6. VERSIONS
1.0.0 sent to GameFAQs.com on 9/22/2002, should be complete, although
there may be some time saving hints I was too cautious to find. Points
are also not fully calculated but that'll come later.
7. CREDITS
gamefaqs.com for hosting this
the mame.net developers for creating the playback option which allowed
me to make notes for all this
