Defender 2000 for Atari Jaguar FAQ

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Defender 2000 for Atari Jaguar FAQ

by BHodges

Version 1.0
Created 07/16/09

This document Copyright 2009 by Brian Hodges. It may not be placed on any
web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission.

Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is
strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Background Story
III. Getting Started
A. Classic Defender
B. Defender Plus
C. Defender 2000
D. Plazma Pong
E. Options
F. Memory Clear
IV. Classic Defender
A. Overview
B. Controls
C. Weapons
1. Laser
2. Smart Bomb
3. Hyperspace
D. Scoring
E. Tips
V. Defender Plus
A. Overview
B. Controls
C. Weapons
1. Laser
2. Smart Bomb
3. AI Droid
4. Lightning Laser
5. Hyperspace
6. Stargate
D. Tips
VI. Defender 2000
A. Overview
B. Controls
C. Weapons
1. Laser
2. Smart Bomb
3. AI Droid
4. Shield
5. Lightning Laser
6. Warp Token
7. Powerups
D. Warp Level
E. Level 100
F. Scoring
G. Tips
VII. Secrets and Cheats
A. Plazma Pong
1. How to Unlock
2. How to Play
3. How to Beat the CPU
B. Flossie's Revenge
C. Warp Enable
D. Vindaloo Mode
VIII. My Best Scores
IX. Game Review
X. Version History
XI. Contact Information

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I. Introduction

This is a FAQ for the Atari Jaguar game Defender 2000. It contains
explanations of the various game modes, tips for playing, cheats and secrets,
as well as a mini-review.

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II. Background Story

Here is the background story from the instruction booklet:

The game takes place in the Future, where the greed of many wasteful
generations has squandered Earth's natural resources. Now life can sustained
only by importing resources from other planets. A desperate search for
supplies of accessible life-sustaining minerals, ores, and deposits among the
stars has been successful. Scientists found a rich and plentiful source a few
years back on an unpopulated asteroid belt and highly-skilled space miners are
now working there.

You are part of the elite System Defense Team. It's your job to protect these
miners and their vital work. You ensure the safety of the asteroids and all
who live and work there. This is no 9-5 job!

The tools of your trade are simple but effective. You command Threshold, the
state-of-the-art numero uno ship in Earth's fleet. It's equipped with sub-
light engines, hyperspace and hyper-reverse capabilities and laser torpedo
guns. You have a limited supply of smart bombs. Use them with care -- they're
really handy when you're hemmed in with no way to escape. They'll wipe out
everything around you.

Be on watch for marauding aliens from the Alpha Proximian Empire. This empire
suffered the great disgrace of a failed invasion of planet Earth. Now they're
mad as hell! They attack the mining settlements with remorseless hostility.
They also take prisoners and absorb their life-energy to power their ships.
The remains are turned into hyper-fast mutants programmed to kill kamikaze-
fashion. The more aliens you kill, the more they send in. It's a close
encounter of the apocalyptic kind!

You are the only one who can save this vital mining settlement from destruction
and mutation. You must destroy the attacking aliens and rescue the captured
humans before they are transformed.

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III. Getting Started

Press B on the Title Screen to bring up the Main Menu:

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A. Classic Defender

Choose Classic Defender to play the arcade original. Press left/right on the
joypad to select either a 1 or 2 player game, then press B to start. Press the
A button to return to the Main Menu.

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B. Defender Plus

Choose Defender Plus to play an updated version of Defender. Press left/right
on the joypad to select the number of players. Press down on the joypad to
switch to the AI Droid option. Press left/right to choose whether or not you
want an AI Droid to play with you. When you are ready to play, press the B
button. Pressing A will return you to the Main Menu.

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C. Defender 2000

Choose Defender 2000 to play the main game. Press left/right on the joypad to
select the number of players. If you have already beaten the game, below this
will be the option of playing Tikka Masala Mode (normal) or Vindaloo Mode
(hard). At the bottom, you can press left/right to choose the starting level.
Press the B button when you are ready. If you want to return to the Main Menu,
press A.

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D. Plazma Pong

Plazma Pong will appear on the Main Menu after you've unlocked it. When you
select it, you will have the option of a one or two player game.

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E. Options

Pressing the Option button on the Main Menu will bring up the Options Menu.
Here you can choose whether to use one or two joypads in two player mode as
well as tell the game if you are using a standard (three button) or pro (six
button) controller. Use the control pad to change the options and press the B
button when you are finished.

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F. Memory Clear

To clear the cartridge memory, while on the Title Screen hold *, #, and Option.
This will erase all high scores, Defender 2000 level progress, and relock any
unlockables.

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IV. Classic Defender

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A. Overview

This is a perfect port of the arcade original. The object of the game is to
protect the humanoids from the alien invaders. Landers (green aliens) will
grab the humanoids and carry them to the top of the screen. If they reach the
top of the screen, they will kill the humanoid and transform into a Mutant, a
faster, more aggressive version of the Lander that will try to ram your ship!

If all your humanoids are destroyed, the planet will explode and you will be
faced with an onslaught of enemies!

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B. Controls

Joypad Move ship
B Button Fire Laser
C Button Smart Bomb
1 + 3 Hyperspace
Pause Pauses the game

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C. Weapons

..............................................................................
1. Laser

Your standard weapon has unlimited ammo.

Note: Your Laser WILL kill humanoids, so watch where you're aiming!

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2. Smart Bomb

Smart Bombs will kill all enemies on screen (it will NOT kill humanoids). The
downside is that you only get three of these. You can earn additional Smart
Bombs by scoring points. Your remaining Smart Bombs are displayed next to your
score.

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3. Hyperspace

For some reason this isn't mentioned in the instruction booklet, but if you
press 1 + 3 on the number pad, you will enter Hyperspace and warp to another
part of the map. This is great for getting out of a tight spot, but be
careful, if you rematerialize on top of an enemy, you'll be destroyed!

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D. Scoring

Lander 150 points
Mutant 150 points
Swarmer 150 points
Baiter 200 points
Bomber 250 points
Pod 1000 points
Saved Human 500 points

Bonus Points

You get Bonus Points at the end of each Wave for every humanoid remaining.

Wave 1 100 points
Wave 2 200 points
Wave 3 300 points
Wave 4 400 points
Wave 5 & up 500 points

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E. Tips

- Be sure to catch falling humanoids, not only does this earn points, but
they can die if they fall too far!

- When setting down humanoids, try placing them in valleys, the lower they are
the longer it takes the Landers to carry them to the top of the screen.

- Use your Smart Bombs wisely.

- After scoring 20,000 points (and every 10,000 afterwards) you will earn an
extra life and Smart Bomb.

- When you only have a few humanoids left, try herding them together to make
defending them easier.

- When you hear a humanoid being abducted, check your radar to locate him,
then quickly make your way over.

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V. Defender Plus

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A. Overview

Defender Plus is Defender with updated visuals, weapons, and enemies.

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B. Controls

Joypad Move Ship
A Button Fire Lightning Laser
B Button Fire Laser
C Button Smart Bomb
1 + 3 Hyperspace
Hold B Continuous Fire
Hold B + Joypad Reverse
Pause Pause the game

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C. Weapons

..............................................................................
1. Laser

Your standard weapon has unlimited ammo. Holding down the B button will let
you lay down a continuous stream of fire. While holding B, you can also press
back on the control pad to fly in reverse!

Note:

Your Laser WILL kill your humanoids, so watch where you're aiming.

..............................................................................
2. Smart Bomb

Smart Bombs will kill all enemies on screen (it will NOT kill humanoids). The
downside is that you only get three of these. You can earn additional Smart
Bombs by scoring points. Your remaining Smart Bombs are displayed next to your
score.

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3. AI Droid

When you begin a game of Defender Plus, you have the option of being
accompanied by two AI Droids. These droids will automatically attack enemies
and rescue falling humanoids. Unlike in Defender 2000, in Defender Plus you
don't lose your AI Droids when your ship is destroyed.

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4. Lightning Laser

In Defender Plus, your ship is equipped with a Lightning Laser. Pressing the
A button will cause lightning to target nearby enemies (it won't target your
humanoids). The Lightning Laser has a limited charge, your remaining energy is
displayed beneath your score. You can earn extra energy by scoring points.

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5. Hyperspace

For some reason this isn't mentioned in the instruction booklet, but if you
press 1 + 3 on the number pad, you will enter Hyperspace and warp to another
part of the map. This is great for getting out of a tight spot, but be
careful, if you rematerialize on top of an enemy, you'll be destroyed!

..............................................................................
6. Stargate

Stargates are the blue boxes floating around each level. Entering a Stargate
will either warp you to the nearest humanoid in trouble or halfway across the
level. Unlike Hyperspace, you will always rematerialize safely when you exit
a Stargate.

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D. Tips

- Be sure to catch falling humanoids, not only does this earn points, but
they can die if they fall too far!

- Every 50,000 points you score will earn you an extra ship, Smart Bomb, and
Lightning Laser charge.

- Save your Smart Bombs and Lightning Lasers for when you are surrounded.

- If you have AI Droids with you, let them be the ones to rescue humanoids,
that way you don't have to worry about shooting them.

- Make good use of the Stargate.

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VI. Defender 2000

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A. Overview

Defender 2000 is a major update to the arcade classic, featuring all new
visuals, weapons, enemies and music. The goal is still the same, protect your
humanoids from alien invaders.

There are 100 levels in Defender 2000. After every five levels, you will start
on a new world with a full complement of humanoids.

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B. Controls

Joypad Move Ship
B Button Fire Laser
C Button Smart Bomb
Hold B Continuous Fire
Hold B + Joypad Fly in Reverse

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C. Weapons

..............................................................................
1. Laser

Your standard weapon has unlimited ammo. Holding down the B button will let
you lay down a continuous stream of fire. While holding B, you can also press
back on the control pad to fly in reverse!

Note:

Your Laser WILL kill your humanoids, so watch where you're aiming.

..............................................................................
2. Smart Bomb

Smart Bombs will kill all enemies on screen (it will NOT kill humanoids). The
downside is that you only get three of these. You can earn additional Smart
Bombs by scoring points. Your remaining Smart Bombs are displayed next to your
score.

..............................................................................
3. AI Droid

AI Droids will automatically attack enemies and rescue falling humanoids. You
can have up to two AI Droids at a time. You will lose your AI Droids if your
ship is destroyed or when you move on to the next level.

..............................................................................
4. Shield

The Shield will protect you from a limited number of enemy attacks. If you
collide with an enemy, you'll be bounced back quite a bit, so you still have to
be careful.

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5. Lightning Laser

The Lightning Laser will appear as a silver orb beneath your ship. It will
automatically attack nearby enemies (but not your humanoids). Your Lightning
Laser has unlimited ammo and can be upgraded to a Turbo Lightning Laser that
can fire a whopping 15 shots per second! You will lose your Lightning Laser
when your ship is destroyed or you move on to the next level.

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6. Warp Token

Collect four Warp Tokens to be taken to the Warp Level. Unlike other powerups,
you do not lose your Warp Tokens when your ship is destroyed or you move on to
the next level.

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7. Powerups

Powerups are orbs that appear after destroying a certain number of enemies.
Simply touch a powerup with your ship to collect it.

Here is the order in which they appear:

AI Droid
Shield
AI Droid 2
Lightning Laser
Turbo Lightning Laser
Warp Token

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D. Warp Level

After you collect four Warp Tokens, you'll be instantly transported to the Warp
Level. The goal here is to stay on the green path. If you stray from the
path, your tail will shrink, once it's gone, you will be taken to the next
level. If you make it to the end, you will warp ahead five levels.

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E. Level 100

The final level of Defender 2000 is the much rumored "Offender" level. There
are no humanoids to protect here, instead your goal is to take out the enemy
walkers (they look a lot like camels). If you manage to defeat all the enemies
here, you will have beaten the game!

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F. Scoring

Lander 150 points
Mutant 150 points
Humanoid 1 point
Pod 1000 points
Bomber 100 points
Mine 23 points
Swarmer 100 points
Batter 150 points
Foo 666 points
Fooball 100 points
H. Lazer Drone 555 points
Mirror Ball 1234 points
Lander Launcher 200 points
Pointy Finger 300 points
Camel 100 points

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G. Tips

- Be sure to catch falling humanoids, not only does this earn points, but
they can die if they fall too far!

- Use your Smart Bombs wisely.

- Every 20,000 points you'll earn an extra life and Smart Bomb.

- When a Lander kills a humanoid, a tombstone will drop down, colliding with
it will destroy your ship!

- Even though it's possible to start over on higher levels, I recommend always
starting from level 1. This allows you to score more points and bank more
extra lives for the harder levels.

- If you lose all your humanoids, the planet will be destroyed and you'll face
an onslaught of enemies. DON'T GIVE UP! Defeat all the enemies to move on
to the next level, if you can make it to a new world, you'll get a new set
of humanoids.

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VII. Secrets and Cheats

I found the following cheats on ataritimes.com:

Note: Once these have been unlocked, they will remain so even if you turn
off the power.

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A. Plazma Pong

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1. How to Unlock

Enter the name "NOLAN" on any high score table. Plazma Pong will now be
available on the Main Menu.

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2. How to Play

Plazma Pong can be played against the CPU or another player. The object of the
game is to bounce the ball past your opponent's paddle to score goals.

At the beginning of each game, the ball will be served towards player one.
After a goal is scored, the ball will be served towards the player that was
scored ON.

Press up/down on the joypad to move your paddle. When the ball hits the paddle
it will be deflected towards the other player. The angle of deflection depends
on where on the paddle the ball hit, the further from the center, the steeper
the angle. As the two players volley the ball back and forth, its speed will
steadily increase.

First player to nine goals wins. When the game is over, press the B button to
return to the Main Menu.

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3. How to Beat the CPU

The CPU tracks the ball whenever it moves towards it, so scoring may seem
difficult. However, the AI will always line up the paddle with where the ball
IS not where it will END UP! You can take advantage of this by bouncing the
ball off the top/bottom of the playing field. If you time it right, the CPU
won't have enough time to get back into position and you'll score!

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B. Flossie's Revenge

Enter the name "OVINE" on the Defender Plus high score table. When you start
a game of Defender Plus, after choosing the number of players and AI droid
setting, press the A button (instead of B) to start the game. Your ship will
now be Jeff Minter's pet sheep, Flossie and the humanoids will have turned into
llamas.

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C. Warp Enable

Enter the name "BEEST" into the Defender 2000 high score table. When playing
Defender 2000, you can now press 3 on the number pad to warp to the next level
or press 6 to enter the warp level.

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D. Vindaloo Mode

Beat all 100 levels of Defender 2000 to unlock Vindaloo Mode. When you begin
a new game of Defender 2000, you will be given the choice of Tikka Masala Mode
(normal difficulty) or Vindaloo Mode (hard difficulty).

In Vindaloo Mode the enemies are faster and more aggressive.

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VIII. My Best Scores

Here are my best scores for each game mode:

Classic Defender: 158,050
Defender Plus (w/o droid): 65,210
Defender Plus (w/ droid): 121,540
Defender 2000: 1,679,697

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IX. Game Review

Defender 2000 is Jeff Minter's follow up to the Jaguar smash hit Tempest 2000.
Like in Tempest 2000, he took an arcade classic and spiced it up with new
graphics, weapons, and music. So how did it turn out?

Classic Defender is an perfect port of the arcade version of Defender. It
plays, looks, and sounds just like the original. This mode is a ton of fun and
is my favorite of the three.

Defender Plus is an upgraded version of Classic Defender. The visuals have
been updated and new enemies to contend with. A lightning laser has been
added to your arsenal and the warp gates from Defender's sequel, Stargate, are
also available. You are given the option of having two permanent AI droids
accompany you. The biggest problem with this mode is the psychedelic colors
used in the background, it's very hard on your eyes and makes it difficult to
see what's going on.

Defender 2000 is the main mode. The graphics have been substantially updated
and there are tons of new power ups including AI droids, shields, and lightning
lasers. The AI Droids are very advanced, they will automatically attack
enemies and rescue falling humanoids. The lightning laser will automatically
destroy nearby enemies.

There are a LOT of problems with the Defender 2000 mode. First your ship is
way too large, making you a sitting duck. The backgrounds are very detailed,
but this makes it difficult to see what's going on. But the biggest problem
is that the AI droids and lightning lasers are actually TOO powerful. Once
you have them, you don't even have to press the fire button, you just fly
around and let them kill enemies and rescue humanoids. It almost feels
like you're a spectator rather than a player.

It's a shame Atari forced Jeff Minter to rush out Defender 2000, it clearly
wasn't ready for release and with a little fine tuning it could have been
great. As is, it's only an okay game.

Pros

+ Includes perfect port of the arcade original.
+ The AI for the AI droids is excellent.
+ Awesome soundtrack.
+ Fun Easter Eggs.
+ Game saves high scores.
+ Two player alternating modes.

Cons

- Defender 2000 feels more like your riding along than actually playing.
- Your ship in Defender 2000 is WAY too large.
- With so much going on, it's hard to keep track of the action.
- The whole psychedelic theme is very hard on the eyes.

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X. Version History

1.0 07/16/09 Completed FAQ.

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XI. Contact Information

You can contact me at [email protected]

I would appreciate hearing what you thought of this guide and any thoughts
you have for improving it. Be sure to let me know if I have missed anything.

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End