Cranberry's Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Scoring Guide
Table of Contents
1) Introduction
2) Revision History
3) What is the Star Fox Super Weekend Competition?
4) Basic Training
5) Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Game Mechanics
6) The Competition Begins - Scoring Guide
7) Aiming for the Highest Score - Tips From Cranberry
8) Cranberry's Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Challenges
9) Cranberry's Top 10 - Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Best Scores
10) Contact Info and Sign Off
1) Introduction
Hello and welcome to the first Star Fox Super Weekend Competition guide! My
name is Cranberry, a FOnewearl from Pioneer 2. I've journeyed here to the
Lylat system for this competition! I'll be guiding ye through this unique
and rare edition to the Star Fox family of games! This is the most unique
of all the Star Fox games as it flows much differently than any other. It's
also the shortest Star Fox game of all! But it can still be a lot of fun and
has unique challenges that no other Star Fox game can match. So sit pack and
pick up your controller! It's time to take that old classic Arwing for another
spin!
Oh! One more thing! This guide has been written based off the cartridge
version of Star Fox Super Weekend Competition. The tips and estimates on time
here are most applicable to those players using the Star Fox or Star Wing
cartridges to compete in this competition. Emulation software runs the game
differently than the cartridge does which has a significant impact on the game.
This guide can still provide valuable tips and hints but these pilots, but
their competition experience will be different, especially in relation to time.
See section 10 of this guide for more details.
2) Revision History
10/20/2006 - Version 1.0
-Cranberry's Star Fox Super Weekend Competition guide was posted! ^ ^
11/12/2006 - Version 2.0 Big revision today! Here's what we got.
-Added section Revision History
-Added information about emulation and 2nd Scoreboard.
-Updated some Stage 3 information.
-Added names to score boards.
-Updated Scoring rules for the Top 10.
11/27/2006 - Scoreboard Update
-Added a new name to the Top 10.
5/19/2007 - Scoreboard Update
-Added a new name to the Top 10.
6/13/2007 - Version 2.5
-Corrected Table of Contents.
-Major Score-Board updates.
-Corrected some grammar issues.
4/28/2009 - Scoreboard Update
-A new player has made the scoreboard.
4/26/2012
-Tweaked it a bit so that each player only appears once on the score board.
-Added a new score to the emulator section.
1/31/2014
-A new player has made the scoreboard.
3/12/2017
-Updated the scoreboard.
-Added scoring information about passing between buildings.
3) What is the Star Fox Super Weekend Competition?
Oh, ye haven't heard of it? Don't feel bad, it is most definitely not a recent
thing and our younger readers especially may not remember it. In 1993 Nintendo
released a new game for the Super NES. This game was Star Fox, the first game
to use the new Super FX chip that allowed graphical effects not previously
possible on a game console. Star Fox quickly became a hit and is still
remembered fondly by many fans, including me! Not long after the release of
Star Fox Nintendo held a competition to help promote their new game and new
technology. It was a 3-day competition held over a holiday weekend. The Star
Fox Super Weekend Competition. For this event, Nintendo created a new version
of their Star Fox game and manufactured it onto about 2000 cartridges. These
cartridges were then sent to game locations all over the country. During the
competition, players took turns playing this special competition version of
Star Fox that featured a different scoring system than the normal Star Fox.
Players that scored the most points during this competition won prizes such
as jackets, pins, or even international vacation destinations! The competition
was held April 30th - May 2nd of 1993. Europe also had a competition as well.
Their competition is identical except that their game was called Star Wing
instead of Star Fox (due to some copyright issues that had not yet been
resolved at the time).
Though the Star Fox Super Weekend Competition is long gone, it is still
possible to experience the game that was used in the competition. After the
competition was over, Nintendo sold their remaining Star Fox Weekend
Competition cartridges through their Nintendo Power catalog. With only 2000
cartridges made, this is one of the rarest games in the world. I'm not sure
how many Star Wing game packs were made.
4) Basic Training
Welcome pilots! Instructor Cranberry here to take ye through basic training!
These Arwings are an older variety and they handle a little differently than
the ones used these days. The controls are identical to the first Star Fox
game on the Super NES, the ships handle and function exactly the same. Before
ye begin your flight, you'll be able to test out the controls and get a feel
for the handling of your ship. There are 4 controller configurations to
choose from so test them out and see which works best for you. General Pepper
recommends control A or B type. Since this game has no training level and only
gives ye a short time to tinker with the controls, here are the flight
instructions for our rookie pilots that have never flown these Arwings before
and those that want a quick refresher course. Pay attention students, as these
maneuvers are vital! I'll also fill ye in on the power ups that you'll come
across.
Steering:
Your control pad steers your ship and controls your altitude. Left veers left,
right veers right. Up and down will cause your ship to dive and ascend. Your
controller configuration choice affects how the up and down buttons affect your
altitude. In control types A and B it functions like a real plane and pressing
up causes you to descend while pressing down increases your altitude. Control
types C and D reverse these controls.
Your ship has an auto-navigation tool that keeps it on a set course and sets
boundaries on all sides of the screen that keeps ye on a set course much like
if ye were flying down a corridor. Some call this "rail flight".
Lasers:
The primary weapon of the Arwing is its forward laser cannon. A laser fires
from the nose of your ship. This laser can be upgraded into twin lasers that
fire from the tips of your wings. If your Arwing is shot down or breaks one
or both of its wings, you'll revert back to a single laser fired from the ships
nose. Your lasers have no lock on feature in this game and they can't be
charged either. Hey quit crying! Truly skilled pilots don't need to resort
to a lock on feature.
Wing Gyro:
The Wing Gyro... okay technically this does exist in this game. If ye collect
a Twin Blaster item while one of your wings is broken instead of giving ye twin
blasters it will prompt a Wing Gyro to appear. Collide with this Wing Gyro and
it will repair your wing. Because the only Twin Blaster power up in this game
is shortly after the starting point, you're not going to see a Wing Gyro unless
ye deliberately start slamming your wing into the ground to break it as soon as
ye start the game.
Nova Bombs:
Ah, the classic good old Nova Bombs! Personally I am so glad to be shooting
these things again instead of those fancy new Smart Bombs all the newer Arwings
use. Press the Nova Bomb button to launch one. Press it again to detonate it.
It will automatically detonate if it hits something or travels far away from
your ship. Anything caught in the explosion of a Nova Bomb will be vaporized.
Very strong enemies (namely bosses) will only be damaged by this weapon. Nova
Bombs have no lock on capabilities so aim carefully for maximum damage.
Retro Rocks and Brake:
Once in flight you'll see a blue meter in the corner of your screen. This is
the power to your retros and brake. When this meter is full ye can activate
the retro or brake to speed up or slow down your ship respectively. Once used
the meter will exhaust and begin to refill. Ye can't use the retro or brake
again until the meter refills. Don't be shy about using this. It only takes a
few seconds for the meter to refill and there is no limit to the number of
times this function can be activated.
Shield:
See that pretty red meter? That would be your shield. When your Arwing
suffers damage, that shield will begin to go down. If it fully depletes, your
ship will explode and you'll find yourself back at the beginning of the stage.
Your new ship will have the standard starting equipment of 3 Nova Bombs and a
single laser from the nose. Ye have unlimited lives in this game so you'll
always have a new ship waiting for ye if ye crash.
Tilt and Roll:
Your ship can tilt on its left or right side by pressing the L and R buttons.
While tilted to one side your steering is affected. Tilting to the left speeds
up steering to the left and slows steering to the right. The reverse is true
for tilting to the right. Skillful use of tilting can allow high-speed swerves
and prevent damage to your ship. An equally important skill is the barrel
roll. Quickly tap L or R twice to perform a barrel roll. Doing this will
reflect enemy lasers and plasma shots and prevent damage to your ship.
Views:
Last but not least are your available views. 3 are available. The first view
is the standard view. Ye will view your ship from a little ways behind. This
view is useful for engaging enemies and avoiding fire. The next view is the
Approach view. This one is similar to the standard except the camera is
closer to your ship. This view is useful for navigating around objects such
as asteroids. The final view is the cockpit view. This view is only available
in stage 2 and stage 3. Ye are inside the cockpit and will see an aiming
sight on the screen. This view gives ye a feeling of being inside the Arwing
and the aiming curser allows pinpoint aim. Use the Select button to switch
between available views.
Did ye get all that? That's the basics for piloting your craft! You'll have
a few moments to tinker with the controls on the control type select screen
before the blasting off. This concludes your basic training. Now, lets get
on with the main event!
5) Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Game Mechanics
All right aces! Are ye ready to go? Here is your mission briefing! Even ye
Star Fox veterans should pay attention to this! Things are different here
than in regular Star Fox. Here is how this game progresses.
After the control type selection screen, ye will immediately launch. There is
no map screen or level select. No training mode either like in normal Star
Fox. My basic training above and the few moments to sample the controls on the
control select screen are all ye get.
Your score is displayed in the top left corner of the screen. This differs
from the normal Star Fox. Instead of having a score issued based on the
percentage of enemies shot down, this score will for every target shot down.
Other actions affect your score as well.
In the top right of the screen is a timer that begins counting down from 4
minutes. This is how much time is left in the competition. Each competition
run lasts 4 minutes. When time runs Slippy will let ye know and your run will
end. Make the most of the 4 minutes ye have!
There is no display showing the remaining number of ships. As mentioned in the
basic training there is no limit the number of ships ye have. The effect of
crashing your ship is that the new ship will pick up at the beginning of the
stage and ye will have to repeat the course ye were on. This costs ye valuable
time. Your score will not be penalized for a crash.
The competition takes place over a total of 3 courses. It begins on Corneria.
It then proceeds to the asteroid belt. Finally it advances to a bonus course
exclusive to this game. Once a stage is cleared, the next one will be accessed
as long as there is time remaining. The competition ends as soon as time
expires regardless of the stage ye are on.
Wingmen:
How about the wingmen ye ask? Are they still around? Aye! They are! They'll
be flying with ye during the competition. When a persistent enemy chases them
they'll call out to ye for help. Lets meet your wingmen!
Falco Lombardi: A highly skilled pilot. Falco is at home in the skies. Of
all your wingmen, Falco is the most skilled flier and gets in trouble the
least. In the normal Star Fox I once went a full game without him getting in
trouble once. Falco is a proud bird and though he may snap at ye for helping
him out, he's grateful on the inside.
Peppy Hare: Peppy is very much a member of your team in this game and he is
not the senior citizen he is in the newer games. A much younger Peppy is
portrayed here. Peppy is a talented pilot that ranks right in the middle of
your wingmen. His is also wise and knowledgeable though his wisdom is not a
trait that unfortunately is reflected in the competition. Enemies will gun
for him from time to time.
Slippy Toad: The energetic and optimistic member of the team. Slippy is your
final wingman. His piloting skills are not quite on par with the rest of the
team and he gets himself into a jam more often than the others. While his
piloting abilities need improvement, he is a loyal teammate. Okay okay I
know what ye are wanting to know. Ye can relax and feel at ease. In this
game he never says that line that so many hate - he never says, "Fox! Get
this guy off me!".
Each of these guys has their own shield meter. Their shield will decrease if
they take enemy fire. Their shield cannot be replenished in this game. Any
damage they take will remain the whole game. If their shield is fully
depleted, they will crash. Normally that is a real concern in a Star Fox game,
however in this game it is difficult to lose any of your wingmen even if ye are
trying to get them shot down. Your own attacks will not harm your wingmen's
shields, but they will still scold ye for shooting them.
6) The Competition Begins - Scoring Guide
*Attention pilots! Report to your Arwings! Attention pilots! Report to your
Arwings! It is time to join Cranberry in flight and begin your competition!
Cranberry will be with you shortly, be sure to give her a warm welcome when she
arrives! She will help you pursue that high score and perhaps even the world
record!*
Greetings again pilot! So all set and ready to begin the competition? Superb!
I'll just strap myself in with ye. This Arwing wasn't designed for 2 people
but don't worry I'm a small FOnewearl; I won't get in the way. Well look at
ye! All suited up and ready to fly! This is gonna be fun I'm glad I get to
tag along! Okay lets go! I'll teach ye all about scoring and what is coming
up as we fly. Show me what ye can do!
**All Arwings prepare for launch! Good luck in your competition! All Arwings
are go!**
~~Stage 1 - Corneria~~
As we fly out of the base, all of your wingmen will check in and let ye know
they are all ready to go. Our timer of 4 minutes has now begun to tick down.
Lets make every second count!
A single enemy will engage us first. A single laser shot should bring it down
and score ye some easy points. Hey! Do ye hear that? One of your wingmen is
in trouble! Oh look, 2 more enemies have engaged us, and there is also an
arch in front of us. Whoa hold on their pilot! Your first instinct is to help
your wingman, but relax. It's ok. Sure we'll help him, but these enemy
fighters are not going to stick around for long. And there is also that stone
archway. Okay we need to prioritize a bit.
First go for the stone archway. It is imperative that we fly through them all.
Next shoot down any enemy fighters that are flying toward ye. Feel free to
take a few shots at the enemy pursuing your friend but not if it means missing
the arch or having an enemy fighter escape. If they escape, we'll miss out on
the points they are worth. A few satellites are also approaching on the far
left and right sides of us. These are only worth 1 or 2 points each. That
isn't worth missing an arch or an enemy fighter. Take a pot shot at one if
ye happen to be passing by it but don't do any elaborate maneuvers trying to
hit them. By now your friend is probably going to have suffered some damage.
Don't worry he's fine and there is no penalty to your points for damage done to
your friend. If his pursuer is still alive, finish it off now. More arches
are coming up. Make sure to fly through each of them! Each one we fly through
is worth 1,000 points, and there is a fantastic prize waiting for us! If ye
rescued your wingman, he'll be hanging around a bit. Take some shots at him as
we go. It may seem cold hearted and he'll yell at ye for it if he's hit, but
don't worry. Ye won't do any damage to his shields and you'll gain 1 point for
each shot ye land on him. Oh! One more thing before I forget. Ye will get
points for every enemy destroyed, no matter how it gets destroyed. It could
fly into a wall and crash all on it's own and ye will still get full points for
it.
See that big blue arch just ahead of us? If ye flew through all of the arches
you'll see that fantastic prize I mentioned! A Twin Blaster power up! The
only one in this competition! Be sure to snag it! Not only will this net ye
1000 points but our lasers will upgrade to twin lasers! Now we got the
firepower we need to rake in the scores! If ye have been goofing off and
slamming your wings into the ground till they break, collecting this will
produce a wing gyro to repair them. But yeah, you'll only see a Wing Gyro if
ye deliberately broke your wings.
To the left and right of the archway are 2 Cornerian control towers,
the yellow saucer like things atop the silver towers. The yellow tops can't
be harmed but ye can shoot the silver towers. Two shots will cause the tower
to collapse and score us 2 points each. These are tough to hit and still
collect the Twin Blaster item. Additionally more enemy fighters fly in from
overhead and 3 small tanks will roll in. These are far more important targets
that are worth far more points. So don't stress over the towers and turn your
sights on these. Be careful! The high-powered plasma shots these things shoot
can do quite a bit of damage to our shields! Ye can deflect these shots with
a barrel roll. Don't worry about me, I won't get dizzy!
Whoa! Pilot look down there! One of those tanks ye just destroyed was
carrying a Nova Bomb! Dive down there and snag it before we pass it!
That'll score us 1000 points and add an extra bomb to our inventory. Hurry up
and regain your altitude though, we got a new target coming up.
We are now approaching some tall gray rectangular columns with smaller columns
on both sides. Standing on the first smaller column on our left is a jumping
little robot. Take him out from as far away as ye can, he will jump and become
harder to hit as we get closer. Stay at this trajectory, we got another one up
ahead! Shoot this one as quickly as possible. As soon as it's destroyed, we
have a decision to make. If ye tilt your ship on its side, ye can pass through
the narrow space between the buildings and score 1,000 points per building!
Alternately, ye can quickly swoop to the right and pass the orange column on
the right side. An extra Nova Bomb is awaiting ye if ye do. If go for it
just make sure not to hit that huge gray column on the way over! The bomb is
worth 1,000 points and adds a 5th Nova Bomb to our weapons bay. Now quickly
veer back to the left. There is both an enemy fighter high in the sky, and a
3rd jumping robot on the ground. Neither of these are going to stick around
for long so target them quick!
The end of the columns is approaching, but don't let your guard down! We got
company! Several more fighters will swoop in from above, some fragile narrow
blue pillars are set up, and a large robot carrying one such pillar just walked
out right in front of us!
This large gray robot is Cornerian property and is not our enemy and he won't
attack us either. He just happens to be crossing here. Shooting him will only
net us about 5 points or so. Too bad for him! Every little bit helps so blast
him anyways! General Pepper is sure to be furious about this but don't worry;
I'll handle Pepper when we get back. The robot will drop his blue pillar as he
explodes. You'll get a few extra points if ye manage to shoot it before we fly
past.
The blue towers are going to collapse and fall as we fly past. Stay low to the
ground to avoid being crushed by them. Shooting them early will cause them to
fall early. Shoot them enough on the ground and they'll actually be destroyed.
It's not worth it to slow down to try and get extra shots on these though,
just take whatever shots ye can get as ye fly past. Don't forget about those
enemy fighters as we maneuver the pillars! Shoot them down and try to fly
through that yellow ring that appears from the center one! It'll refill some
of our shield and earn us another 500 points. Don't give up hope if 1 or 2 of
the fighters flies past us. Chances are they'll crash into that huge enemy
ship sneaking up behind us.... oh nothing don't worry about it. Keep flying.
Oh look! 3 more tanks just rolled in! They don't have any Nova Bombs this
time but take them out.
Incoming enemy! Pilot! Lower your altitude quick! Big battleship is coming
in! Hurry and finish off those small tanks if they are still in 1 piece!
Just stay low to the ground! If ye stay too high this thing will ram into us!
What? Are ye surprised to see the Attack Carrier already? Well this is the
Star Fox Super Weekend Competition! This thing just couldn't wait to take ye
on! It's exactly like the one from the normal Star Fox game. But don't forget
we are on a time limit! We need to take this thing down fast! Whoa pilot!
Easy on that Nova Bomb trigger button! Not just yet!
BOSS - ATTACK CARRIER
Okay Pilot, if ye want to impress me lets see what ye got. First start off by
targeting the Attack Carriers left panels. Remember his left is your right.
He'll open a hatch that will release 2 small fighters. Hold onto your Nova
Bombs and fire into that hatch with your lasers. With our twin blasters we
should make short work of both the fighters it launches and the hatch. The
hatch will break off and fall away. If ye take too long the hatch will close.
Either way it will then veer to the other side and open its other 2 hatches.
These hatches both fire missiles toward us. If ye are a sharp shooter like me,
ye can destroy both hatches with lasers alone before they close again. Shoot
the missiles too to both score a few extra points and prevent them from doing
damage to ye. Launching a Nova Bomb into the open hatches will immediately
destroy both of them. If one or both hatches closes before being destroyed,
it will re-open the hatch on it's left side if it's still intact. If not it
will pause a moment, then re-open the same hatches again. Once both the left
and right bays are knocked off, the attack carrier will fly toward ye firing
shots at ye. This is your chance to finish this thing off! Though a Nova Bomb
now will do great damage, try to finish it off by hitting it as fast as ye can
with lasers alone. Don't maneuver around its attacks, that will cause ye to
have to stop hitting it yourself. Instead do a few barrel rolls to reflect its
shots away. If your aim is as true as mine, you'll have it beat before it can
reach ye. If ye aim is not that sharp, the Attack Carrier will veer off at the
last second and loop around for another pass. Keep shooting at it until it
explodes. Destroying this boss is worth 10,000 points! Not bad!
Congratulations pilot! Let me play some cool victory music for ye! Your
piloting skills just brought down the Attack Carrier! All of the wingmen will
check in and let ye know how they are doing. Now then, I'm going to give ye
your results for this stage based on how ye performed. Oh don't worry! I'll
stop the timer briefly while I give ye the results.
First off is the percentage of enemies that got destroyed. This number will
range from 0 - 100%. And just like scoring, I'll still give ye credit here for
everything that was destroyed even if it crashed into something all on it's
own. All I care about is that it was destroyed! If ye have destroyed all
targets and I declare a 100% destruction rate, I will award ye with 20,000
bonus points.
How is your shield holding up? I'll award bonus points to ye based on how much
shield ye have left at the end of the boss fight. It's ok if ye damaged your
shield and then repaired it; all I am grading on is its condition at the end of
the stage. If ye really impress me and have a full shield, I'll give ye 8,000
points.
Remember how stingy I was insisting that ye be with the Nova Bombs? This is
why! I'll now give ye 1,000 points for every Nova Bomb in the bay, up to 5,000
points. This is the tough choice ye have to make in the competition. Is it
worth it to use a bomb and lose 1,000 of my bonus points? That is the choice
ye must make!
All right now, it's time to continue. If ye have more than 2 minutes left on
the timer, ye are doing well. Time to continue on into space and into the
asteroid belt! Ready pilot? All right then lets go!
~~Stage 2 - Asteroid Belt~~
All right! The Asteroid Belt! Check out the cool new view I'm setting us in!
Cockpit view! Those small triangles on the left and right side show the
alignment of the wings and that aiming sight is where the lasers will shoot.
Personally this is my favorite of the 3 views. Don't ye just feel the
excitement from here in the cockpit? Well, if ye don't like the view as much
as I do ye can hit the Select button at any time to switch to another view.
All right pilot time to put your space skills to the test! We are flying
through a dense asteroid belt so stay on your toes! But this also provides us
a scoring opportunity too. There are 2 kinds of asteroids. Silver and orange.
The silver asteroids are invulnerable and they'll severely damage the Arwing
if we collide with one. Don't try and mess with these! Avoid them! Then we
got the orange asteroids. These are vulnerable to our lasers and bombs.
You'll score points for each one that ye destroy. I also am counting these
orange asteroids as enemies so they will affect your percentage at the end of
the stage. Do your best to shoot them all!
First one of our wingmen will warn us that the enemy is approaching. They're
right too, here they come! A white space craft is approaching! This guy
swerves around while shooting lasers at us. Target him carefully, he can be a
little tricky once he gets moving. Next up 3 orange ships will rise up in
formation and fly toward us. How kind of them to conveniently line up in a
straight line for us! Blast each one in turn, then veer to the right as
another 3 orange ships fly up in a convenient formation. Do be fast though
because they'll fly right toward us! Next up is a strange centipede like
creature with a blue head. Shoot that blue head carefully! If ye miss and
hit the body all its segments will break off and it will be hard for ye to
shoot them all down! Hitting the head will cause the entire body to blow
making your job a lot easier.
Now we are getting into some dense asteroids. Avoid those silver ones but
blast those orange ones! Don't forget I consider those orange ones to be
enemies so try not to let any get past us! Oh, listen to that! One of the
wingmen is calling for help! Although a few enemy fighters are heading toward
us, we should have time to rescue our friend. Don't slack off though, he won't
be chased for long before he breaks free and the enemy will fly off once your
wingman escapes. Take a few shots at your wingman. He'll yell at ye for it
but we'll score a point for every shot ye land on him. He might come running
for us after this is over but don't worry I can take him... I think.
Look up there! A Nova Bomb is just ahead of us! There are also a number of
potential targets showing up including orange asteroids and a few ships. Do
ye still have all 5 Nova Bombs from the first stage? If so launch one now.
5 is the maximum ye can carry so it won't add to our total. Though you'll
still get 1,000 points for collecting the Nova Bomb, it won't help ye with the
end of stage bonus. By launching one now we can take out a bunch of enemies,
and immediately collect another to stay at 5 bombs. Unless ye crash and
re-start this stage, this is the last power up of the competition! So make the
most of it!
Hey check it out! 4 silver asteroids connected by one orange one. That's
pretty cool! Time to destroy some natural formations! Shoot that orange one
in the center and send them all flying! Huh? Black Hole? Nope sorry, nothing
special about it here in the competition. No black hole or secret items.
Now 2 rectangular ships will de-cloak in a horizontal pattern in front of us.
These things are not very aggressive and should be easy to destroy. The one
on the left is carrying a yellow ring. Next 2 more will de-cloak in a vertical
pattern. The one on top is carrying a yellow ring. There are still a few
asteroids flying past and these enemies are at high risk of being hit by one.
You'll still get the points if an asteroid destroys one of these but it can be
tough to snag the yellow ring if an asteroid unexpectedly takes it out. Hey
check it out! Corneria just sent a supply ship for us! This thing won't be
harmed by our lasers and we won't score any points by shooting at it, but it
will release several yellow rings for us. Fly through those rings! We'll earn
500 points for each ring we fly through.
Pilot brace yourself! We got a gauntlet! A whole bunch of small sphere like
enemies! There are quite a few of these and they are mixed in with the
asteroids! We got a lot of targets here! It's tempting to use a bomb here and
clear them all out isn't it? Although that is certainly an option, to maximize
your score ye are gonna have to save that bomb for my bonus points and take all
these targets out with lasers. It is no easy task but give it your all! And
if ye really want to use a bomb I won't stop ye. Don't underestimate these
enemies! The asteroids are a very real threat and their shots are powerful!
Barrel rolls will save us from the shots but not from the asteroids!
Hey good work pilot. We got through that little mess and it looks like ye
nailed quite a few targets! We got a little clearing here. Oh! Look down
there pilot! We got company! It's the Rock Crusher! Aye! It too is a part
of this competition! But time is still ticking so lets take care of this
pronto!
BOSS - ROCK CRUSHER
Do ye still have your twin blasters? I hope so; ye will need them if ye hope
to beat him with time to spare. First off this thing is going to tilt on its
side and open the panels to our left and shoot lasers at us. See those 4
diamonds? That's its weak point! We need to take those down as fast as we
can! Remember the last boss where I told ye not to use your bombs? This is
where I make an exception. The panels will not stay open for long before it
rotates and I've never been able to destroy all of these panels with lasers
alone the first time they open. I recommend launching a Nova Bomb here to
take all 4 out. If ye want to give it a try with lasers go ahead. Ye will
impress me a lot if ye can destroy all 4 with lasers alone the first time
they open! In a few seconds he's going to rotate the ship and open the panels
on the other side. This is the single most important part of this battle!
It is imperative that we destroy all 4 diamonds right now! He keeps these
ones open a tiny bit longer than the first ones. If ye are as sharp a shooter
as me ye can destroy all 4 with lasers alone before they close. If ye don't
feel that ye can get all of them with just lasers than use a bomb! He won't
show these panels again for a long time and that will cost us a lot of time!
The 1,000 points I'll dock from using a bomb is nothing compared to the amount
of time we'll lose!
If all of his panels aren't destroyed by now, he'll rotate back to the first
panels he opened. If ye didn't destroy all of them the first time they opened
finish them up now. If any panels remain his next move will be to try and ram
ye. Then he'll show the same panels again before finally returning to the
panels he opened on his second rotation.
Once all the panels are destroyed, he will lose the armored center of his ship
and launch it forward. Make sure ye are not directly in front of him or the
body do significant damage to ye ship. Now aim for the flashing center of his
body and hit him as hard as ye can with your lasers. He'll fire some plasma
shots at ye but these can be reflected with a barrel roll. Pound him with your
lasers, don't let up for even a second. He should go down quickly. His
explosion marks the end of stage 2 and a 10,000 point increase to your score!
All of your wingmen will check in one last time and let ye know how things are
going. Congratulations on making it this far! How is the timer looking?
If ye have 50 or more seconds left, ye are doing quite well! Now then, lets
check your results.
Just like in stage 1, I'm going to calculate your total percentage of targets
destroyed. There were a lot of targets in stage 2 wasn't there? If ye hit
them all I'll award 20,000 bonus points. Ye should feel proud if I award these
to ye here! It is not easy to do.
Of course I'll award points for the condition of your shield. 8,000 if it's in
perfect shape.
And finally I'll give 1,000 points for each Nova Bomb ye have left.
~~Stage 3 - Bonus Stage~~
Welcome pilot to stage 3! It's tough to reach this stage at all let alone with
any reasonable time left. Lets make the most of our short stay here! Oh what
are ye looking around for? The Space Armada? Oh no, even though I'm playing
the music for the Space Armada's stage, there are not battleships here. This
is a special bonus stage made exclusively for this competition! There are no
enemy fighters here to attack us, though ye will take damage if ye slam into
any of the bonus targets but don't stress over that. It would be very
difficult to crash here even if ye were trying to. Also I'm not giving any
more end of stage bonuses, so do not hesitate to use any Nova Bombs ye have
left here.
Here's how this works. There are a whole bunch of rings here. Ye will earn
big points for every ring ye fly through. Yellow rings are worth 500 points
and blue rings are worth 1,000 points. The yellow rings here look different
from the ones in the previous stages. Some of the rings have 4 targets attached
to them. Each target ye hit with your lasers will earn ye 500 points. Nova
Bombs work too and I strongly encourage ye to use em! Fly through as many
rings as ye possibly can and adjust your flight path as necessary. Of course
they won't all be in a straight line, that would be too easy! Also keep an eye
out for a bonus diamond pod flying about. When ye shoot it ye will score 100
points and the pod will bounce into the air. Shoot it again to earn 1,000
points. Strike it again to score 3,000 points. One more hit will destroy the
pod and earn ye an additional 5,000 points. It's possible to encounter more
than one of these in Stage 3 so keep an eye open for them.
Next we'll come across some rings that are moving and heading toward the edges
of the screen. Shoot these rings and they'll stop moving. Fly through them
for more points. We'll also soon come across some rings that have spiders
walking their outside perimeter. These spiders are worth 1,000 points apiece.
If time hasn't expired by now, we'll move onto some floating blocks with some
spiders running along them. The rings have stopped so hit these spiders for
more bonus points! Time will be running out any second so hit as much as ye
possibly can! There are a few more bonus targets just past the spiders this
time floating by themselves and not attached to a ring. Ye will be hard
pressed to reach these before time runs out but any of them ye are able to
shoot will be worth 500 point apiece.
Up ahead ye might be able to see a few more rings appear as well as some more
spiders scurrying along the bars, but time will most certainly be up before ye
can reach them. But they'll be worth normal points if ye manage to reach them
in time.
~~End of the Competition~~
3... 2... 1... 0! Times up! As soon as the clock hits 0 Slippy will let ye
know and the competition will end. I won't give an end of stage bonus when
time runs out, even if ye are on Stage 1 or 2 when the competition ends. So
that means there is no Shield or Nova Bomb bonus when the competition ends.
As we take the Arwing back to Corneria I'll put your final score up on the
screen for ye.
How did ye do? Hey that score isn't too shabby! Not bad pilot! Not bad at
all! Hey thanks for letting me fly with ye! I sure hope ye had as much fun
on this competition as I did! And if ye want to give it another go, I am more
than willing to fly with ye again for another round!
Your score will remain on this screen until ye push a button on the
controller. Once ye do so, it will return to the title screen. The game
doesn't save high scores so once ye return to the title screen there won't be
any game record of the score anymore. Ye will have to record it yourself if ye
wish to save it. Oh, one more thing. Your score will stay on the screen at
least 20 seconds before it will respond to controller buttons and return to the
title screen. Don't worry, it's not stuck or lagging, it is just making sure
there is enough time to document the score without losing it to an accidental
button press.
Scoring Table:
Targets hit: 1 point per shot.
Non-Enemy Targets: 1 point
Collisions with targets: 1 point per impact
Enemy Fighter: 250 points
Yellow Ring: 500 points
Flying Between Building: 1,000 points
Orange Asteroid: 250 points
Attack Carrier: 10,000 points
Rock Smasher: 10,000 points
Stage 3 Yellow Rings: 500 points
Stage 3 Blue Rings: 1,000 points
Stage 3 Bonus Target: 500 points
Stage 3 Bonus Diamond Pod: 100 --> 1,000 --> 3000 --> 5,000 points
Stage 3 Spider: 1,000 Points
7) Aiming for the Highest Score - Tips From Cranberry
Hey pilot! Good to see ye again. What can I do for ye? Oh? Ye are not
satisfied with your score from our last run? Ye feel ye can do even better?
Perhaps ye are even going for the world record? Ah! Ye have ambition! I
like that! Oh of course, I am happy to help! I took ye through the basics when
we flew the competition together, but there are many more things ye can do to
crank that score up even higher. Sit down, have a cup of tea and I'll teach ye
all that I know.
Alright in the Star Fox Super Weekend Competition, prioritizing targets is
important. Targets that are considered enemies are worth 250 points or more.
Targets that are not considered enemies are only worth 1 point per shot.
Non-enemy targets include your wingmen, Cornerian satellite dishes, large
Cornerian robots, and the Cornerian control towers. Take as many shots as ye
can at the non-enemy targets to add a few points to your score, but only if
ye can still strike the enemy targets too. It's not worth it to shoot your
wingman 5 times if that 250 point enemy fighter flies off the screen while
you're doing it.
Believe it or not, collisions play a role in scoring. For every collision ye
have with a target, both enemy and non-enemy, ye will score 1 point. Remember
how earlier I said that ye score points for all destroyed targets no matter how
they got destroyed? That includes targets that are destroyed by slamming into
ye. So if ye collide into an enemy fighter and destroy it, ye will score 1
point for the collision and normal points for the targets destruction. Of
course it is risky to destroy enemies this way as it will damage your ship
and put your wings in danger of being broken. So rather than trying to destroy
all the enemies by slamming into them, use this to hit targets that are
slipping past your lasers. When an enemy starts to get past ye, quickly veer
into it to destroy it. As long as ye repair the damage with a yellow ring
before the stage ends ye won't lose any of your shield bonus.
Yellow rings are not random. The same enemies will be carrying them every
time ye fly the competition. Memorize which enemies are carrying the rings.
Try to shoot them at a time when ye will not have to choose between collecting
their ring or shooting another target that is about to escape. These yellow
rings are crucial for pushing that score up just a little higher.
Use your retros. The faster ye go, the more time ye will have on Stage 3. 1
retro is a minimal increase, but multiple retros will shave a significant
amount of time off how long it takes to reach the end of a stage. Of course
there is a draw back to doing this too. The faster ye go, the less time ye
have to target enemies before ye pass them. Learn to engage enemies at high
speeds, and try to time your retros so that ye are engaging harder to hit
targets while the retros are recharging. Knowing when to boost comes with
practice. The more ye are able to boost without missing enemies, the farther
ye can get in stage 3, and the higher your score will be. Oh, once ye reach a
boss don't worry about using the boost during a boss fight. It won't help ye
finish the boss any faster.
End of Stage Bonus is important to your score. Of particularly great
importance is the enemy percentage. If ye shoot down all targets and I
determine ye have a 100% rating, I'll award ye with 20,000 bonus points. That
is a significant boost to your score! Unlike in the normal Star Fox game your
wingmen will not help shoot down enemies that get passed ye so it is imperative
that ye not let any of them escape. If ye earn a perfect on both stages 1 and
2 that's a 40,000 point bonus! The 100% bonus only applies to enemy targets.
Non-enemy targets are not counted. Also there is the shield. Try to finish
stages 1 and 2 with a full shield gauge. A full shield gauge is worth 8,000
bonus points per stage. A 16,000 point boost for finishing both stages with
full shields is nothing to sneeze at. Finally we have the Nova Bombs. These
are worth 1,000 points each. That's 5,000 bonus points if ye finish a stage
with your maximum capacity of 5 bombs. If at all possible finish a stage with
all 5 of your bombs, but not if it means missing an enemy or losing a lot of
time to a boss! Losing 1,000 points in a bomb bonus is a small price to pay
compared to losing the 100% hit rate 10,000 point bonus or losing 10 seconds
to a boss waiting for it to expose it's weak point again! On my most efficient
runs I use 2 bombs during the first 2 stages, both in the asteroid belt. One
just before I collect the asteroid belts Nova Bomb, and 1 on the Rock Crusher's
first set of panels. This earns me 19,000 points in bomb bonuses for the first
2 stages. I more than make up that 1,000 point loss in stage 3 with the extra
time I saved using the bomb.
While the end of stage bonuses is the make it or break it point for getting a
high score, your time in stage 3 is what determines if your score is great or
fantastic. It's tough but try to get to stage 3 with at least 50 seconds.
There are a ton of rings here one after the other, and with each one offering
1,000 points it adds up fast. Use your Nova Bombs on the targets, this will
score ye the points the targets offer without causing ye to have to slow down
or miss any rings by trying to shoot them with your lasers. Remember I don't
offer any bonus points once time expires so there is no reason to conserve
the Nova Bombs here. Use the retro rocket as much as possible, the few
precious seconds ye save will give ye a few more targets or rings to score on
before time expires.
Don't use your brake, it will just slow ye down and give ye less time to be
on stage 3. Practice so that ye can strike all targets without having to
break. The most efficient scoring runs in this competition will not use the
break at all. The exception is at boss fights. Though there is still no real
reason to use the break while fighting a boss in this competition, it won't
hurt ye either. It is especially not worth it to break so that ye can hit
non-enemy targets. The several 1 point shots ye will get off non-enemy targets
by breaking to hit them is not worth the time loss that could have been used in
stage 3 to hit that 1,000 point ring ye were 2 seconds short of reaching when
time ran out.
That said, DO shoot non-enemy targets whenever ye can as long as ye are not
slowing down or missing other targets. Every little bit helps and maybe the
few extra points will be just what ye need to top off that new high score.
And most important of all, practice! Don't expect to master the competition on
your first run. Keep at it! Keep participating and keep improving that score
bit by bit. And bring me along too! I am always happy to go flying with ye!
Well that's it. I've taught ye all of my tips and tricks. I hope this
knowledge will help ye push that score just a bit higher. So how about it
pilot? Lets give that competition another go and see how much your score
improves!
8) Cranberry's Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Challenges
Hey there pilot. I see you've done several competition runs and it looks like
your score is quite respectable! So, how about we add a few challenges to this
competition? While it's true that the premise of this competition is to get as
high of a score as possible, that doesn't mean we can't come up with a few
variations. Now that ye are a skilled competitor, how about giving some of my
custom challenges a try? This will be fun!
~~Challenge 1 - Lowest Possible Score~~
The complete opposite of the purpose of this challenge! What is the lowest
score ye can get? Simple ye say? Just fly through the stage and not shoot
anything and wait for time to run out? Go ahead, try doing that and see how it
works. I'll wait, go ahead.
Ah, it didn't work so well did it? Enemies kept crashing into things on their
own and exploding, scoring ye points. And any enemies ye may have collided
with scored ye points too. That includes the enemy fighters the Attack Carrier
launched, which deliberately make several attempts to ram ye. It's not as easy
as simply not shooting is it? So, how low can ye go? I hold the record for
this challenge. Believe it or not I was able to make my final score 000,000
points. Ye can't beat my score, but can ye tie it? Take the challenge and let
me know what your lowest scores are even if they are higher than mine. I would
love to see how ye do!
~~Challenge 2 - Hit a Target Score~~
This is a fun challenge that has an infinite number of variants. It's simple,
pick a score and try to finish with exactly that score. For example, ye might
set a score of 852, and now try to make your score exactly 852 when time runs
out. Some scores won't be difficult at all to reach, while others are
seemingly impossible. My first challenge is for ye to make your final score
1,337. Good luck!
~~Challenge 3 - Goodbye Wingman!~~
Admittedly, this challenge is more about luck than skill, but it can still be
fun to try and will take a little thinking on how exactly to pull it off. This
challenge has nothing to do with score and is more about battling the timer.
Here's how it works. Your challenge is to get one of your wingmen shot down.
There are 3 difficulty levels to this relating to who gets shot down.
Level 1 (Easy): Slippy Toad
Level 2 (Medium): Peppy Hare
Level 3 (Hard): Falco Lombardi
Good luck, and feel very proud, or very lucky if ye get to see Falco crash.
It's not easy to do! Oh, this challenge isn't considered complete until your
wingman radios in with his final message indicating that he's been shot down.
The challenge isn't considered a success if the timer runs out while they are
being chased but before they are shot down.
~Challenge 4 - See Stage 3~~
This is an interesting challenge, and it's more for entertaining your curiosity
and desire to explore than anything else. The challenge is to see as much of
stage 3 as possible before time runs out. Your score is irrelevant in this
one. How far can ye get? Stage 3 is actually quite interesting, but it is
quite a challenge to get very far before time runs out. Give this challenge a
go and let me know what ye see! Can ye get farther than I did? Every single
second counts in this one!
~~Challenge 5 - Passive Resistance~~
How long can ye go in stage 1 without taking any damage and without firing the
lasers? The Attack Carrier will become a much more formidable opponent now
that ye aren't trying to destroy it. It will take some skillful flying to
avoid all of its attacks and wait for time to run out. Barrel rolling to
reflect shots is not allowed. Score is of no importance in this challenge.
But remember, ye have to avoid all enemies. Ye can't shoot them down with
lasers or Nova Bombs.
~~Challenge 6 - Single Laser Only!~~
How high of a score can ye get without collecting any power ups? This means
all ye get is your single laser and 3 Nova Bombs. It will take some skillful
flying to get a high score this way! Can ye still shoot down 100% of the enemy
targets with just your starting equipment?
Level 2: For added challenged, don't use any of your Nova Bombs either. How
high can ye get your score now?
There ye go! And ye thought this game was going to be boring didn't ye? The
timer and score added to this game give it a lot more dept than it first seems!
With a little imagination and creativity there is much to see and do! But this
doesn't have to be a one sided thing of me issuing challenges to ye! Come up
with some challenges of your own, and come up with some for me! I would be
happy to hear what challenges ye have for me to attempt!
9) Cranberry's Top 10 - Star Fox Super Weekend Competition Best Scores
A scoring guide just doesn't seem complete without a top score list. I don't
know what the word record is for the Star Fox Super Weekend Competition, but
we can keep track of our own personal bests! So pilot do ye have what it takes
to be in the top 10? If so let me know! Send me proof of your score and if
it's in the top 10 I'll add ye to this list for the entire world to see!
First though, here are a few rules for the top 10.
Ye must provide proof of your score. Proof is a picture of the final score
screen at the end of end of the competition. I use a digital camera to take a
picture of the TV screen for mine. If ye have the game set up to run on a
computer monitor, a screen capture will work too. No Photo Shopping is
allowed! It must be a real score! Use of a game enhancement or cheat device
or modifying the game timer will automatically disqualify ye from the high
score list. Ye must earn your high score through skill and practice, not
through cheating!
Version Diferences:
After doing some research, it has come to my attention that when this
competition is flown by pilots using emulation software, the game runs a lot
faster than normal but the timer remains the same. This means that emulation
pilots are able to advance much farther than is possible by cartridge users.
For example on the cartridge it is virtually impossible to do more than one lap
through stage 3. But on an emulator, a pilot can easily do 4 or more laps
through the same stage. This gives emulation users a decisive and unfair
scoring advantage over cartridge version pilots. Clearly it is unfair to hold
cartridge pilots and emulation pilots to the same standard until a way of
slowing emulated competition runs down to normal speed is discovered. In
responds to this, a second Scoreboard has been created. Cartridge and
emulation scores will now be tallied and honored separately.
It has also been discovered that even on cartridges the Star Fox and
Star Wing versions also have minor speed differences. The Star Fox version
runs slightly faster than the Star Wing version. Despite these minor speed
differences between the 2 versions, I still believe that top scores will still
be determined by the skill and talent of players far more than the few extra
seconds gained on the Star Fox version. Thus Star Fox and Star Wing scores
will share scoreboards. A note will be left by each players name indicating
the version of the game they were running.
Here is an example of the speed differences. This is the time remaining upon
reaching the point in the first stage when the Attack Carrier first reveals a
weak point for the different versions of the game. Each one was run without
using any retro boosts.
Star Fox version Cartridge: 2:37
Star Wing version Cartridge: 2:31
Star Fox version Emulate: 3:14
Star Wing version Emulate: 3:17
Pilots, it has truly been an honor for me to spend this time with ye. Thank ye
so much for allowing me to join ye on this competition. I've had a lot of fun
and I hope ye have too! The official Nintendo Super Weekend Competition of
1993 may be long gone, but the Star Fox Super Weekend Competition lives on and
I am very grateful to be a part of it! I hope ye will enjoy this competition
as much as me, and keep me informed of your progress! I very much look forward
to hearing from ye! What is the best way to reach me ye ask? The easiest way
to reach me is through Instant Messaging. My AIM name is: CranberryFO
Look for me on the Star Fox Super Weekend competition board too!
I hope to hear from ye soon! Farewell for now! This is Cranberry signing off.
