HSC Season 6 Week 3: Ikari Warriors

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

 

You are a member of those elite combat specialists, the Ikari Warriors. Your buddy and you are on a special mission behind enemy lines, and you've been sleeping, eating and breathing jungle combat for the last two weeks. You're tired, but that never affects your razor-sharp judgement and your will to survive!

 

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Ikari Warriors
• Released By: Atari, 1990
• Left Difficulty: N / A
• Right Difficulty: N / A
• Game Mode: Default
• Chosen By: Mister VCS

Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday September 24th at 1:00 AM (CST).

 

Current High Scores 75,200 (toymailman) [+11] 42,500 (Deteacher) [+10] 37,300 (DarthCalvin) [+9] 27,000 (jjd) [+8] 26,900 (SpiceWare) [+7] 25,100 (Kurt_Woloch) [+6] 21,800 (Zoyx) [+5] 19,200 (darthkur) [+4] 17,500 (aftermac) [+3] 17,300 (maf) [+2] 15,800 (Mister VCS) [+1] 15,400 (Impaler_26) [+1] 1900 (LoneWolfSeth) [+1] Best Tips Kurt_Woloch [+2] Challenges None TwinGalaxies Top 3 26,900 (Rudy J Ferretti) 8,200 (David B Yancey) (Game 1, Difficulty A)

Current Standings toymailman [25] Deteacher [24] DarthCalvin [20] darthkur [18] the 5th ghost [16] Zoyx [15] aftermac [13] SpiceWare [12] jjd [12] homerwannabee [11] Mister VCS [10] Impaler_26 [10] chuckwalla [7] maf [7] Kurt_Woloch [7] Spector [6] phaxda [5] LarcenTyler [4] LoneWolfSeth [3]

 

Scoring Points in Ikari Warriors!

• Enemy Soldier - 100 points
• Helicopter - 200 points
• Enemy Tank - 200 points
• Bunker - 300 points
• Gate - 300 points
• Buildings - 200/300 points

 

Hints and Tips

• Conserve bullets and grenades.
• Plan your attack carefully. Dash in quickly, shoot, and back off before the enemy has a chance to aim and shoot back.
• If you come into contact with an enemy soldier you lose a life.
• Learn enemy locations and anticipate enemy attacks.
• Run over enemy soldiers with your tank. It saves ammo!

The Manual
As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, you're out of luck, as AtariAge doesn't have a copy of the manual! (Update: Scroll down a few posts, and you'll find DarthCalvin has posted a PDF of the manual... thanks!) Luckily, I have the manual, so here are the hints it provides:
aftermac
Tip: I've found that it is easier to kill enemies (without getting killed yourself) by shooting them diagonally, rather than in a straight line. Tip: In case you don't have a manual hold down the fire button to throw a grenade. You need grenades for building, bunkers, tanks, helicopters, and gates. Tip: An easy way to destroy the bunkers (one window in the center) that are shooting at you is to stand either to the left or right of the window even with the wall. The gun fire cannot hit you here. Just stand far enough back (or close enough) so you are not in the diagonal fire path. Press and hold the fire button and no more bunker. Tip: When driving the tank press and hold the fire button with about 10 units of fuel left to safely exit the tank before it blows up.
Kurt_Woloch
Here's some of my experiences, also containing some tips on how to play the game: The game seems to be more watered down than necessary from a technical standpoint. The music is awful, the graphics and enemies get pretty repetitive after a short time, and I also don't understand why all enemies you shot simply disappear instead of properly exploding. Like in other Atari 2600 games, this game is divided in "zones" which are small horizontal strips. About 3 of those zones are shown on screen at one time. Actually, you can see them pretty clearly because the background graphics of the field repeat in each of the zones (as long as you are on the open field, that is). Each zone only contains one enemy or building (or an item), which is confined to that zone. This means that once an enemy appears on screen, it will stay on pretty much the same height (relative to the background). This also means that if you've cleared a zone, no further enemy will appear until you advance in the game so that the next zone gets visible (which effectively pauses the game as long as you don't do anything). And there are only so many different things than can appear in a zone: 1. a soldier 2. an enemy tank 3. an enemy helicopter 4. a red tank you can jump into 5. an item 6. a building 7. a barrier to shoot 8. the boss I'll tell you how to deal with each of those. Generally, it's best not to advance too far at a time as long as you're not in a tank. Try to have only one enemy on screen and deal with that one before advancing to the next one. Oh, and there will only be a maximum of 2 enemy shots on screen at a time. Soldiers: Soldiers run back and forth in their zone. They can shoot at various angles. The three most important ones are straight down, and in an about 45 degree angle down/right and down/left. They always start out relatively close to the middle, so if you stay close to the middle as well, they won't ever use any other angle to shoot at you. These are three angles you can also shoot at as a soldier. If they shoot at you in other angles, you're probably in trouble. Either you hit them by shooting up straight or by shooting up diagonally. For this you should get a feel of when you're in the correct line of fire to hit them with those diagonal shots. In that, you are aided by the diagonal shots they fire back at you. If you're a tank, you can either run over the soldiers or shoot them with your grenades. For the first tank, it's better to run them over, however, on tank 2 and 3 you can also shoot them. I'll explain why in a moment. Enemy tanks: They move in a similar way to the soldiers, but only shoot left, right and down. You have to hit them with a grenade to destroy them. Since you have to hold the button down a moment to fire a grenade, they generally are harder to hit than soldiers, but on the other hand, they are bigger and also have a pretty generous collision detection. When approaching them in a tank, you shouldn't get too near because they can shoot you too with their grenades. Enemy helicopters: These also move in a similar way to the soldiers and are able to shoot in the same directions, however, you have to kill them with a grenade. Like the soldiers, they shoot normal shots, so they won't be able to harm you if in a tank, you just have to avoid colliding with them which is deadly. If you're in a tank on a bridge, and they are far enough to the left or right from the bridge, the best way to hit them is from the side since that way you don't have to wait for them to come into your line of fire. Red tanks: Well, this is the one you can enter and drive. If you drive a tank, you shoot grenades (no normal shots), and you can only be harmed by grenades, not by normal shots. But you can only run and shoot horizontally and vertically, not diagonally. If you're in the first tank, it's advisable to run over the soldiers, however by shooting them, you can save time in order to advance further in the game before you have to leave the tank. In the 2nd and 3rd tank, however, you should rather shoot the soldiers than run them over, because by hurrying up, you can reach the "S" item waiting for you, and with it you get another full tank of fuel which prolongs your time in the tank considerably. Be careful when your fuel supply runs low. Try to have a screen clear of enemies when you get out of the tank so that you won't get hit instantly by their shots or grenades. And, of course, get out of the tank in time! Once you're out of the tank, by the way, you will again have 99 shots to fire (if I'm not mistaken). Items: There's only one item here, which gives you a new supply of 99 shots, grenades and fuel units. Those also occupy a zone. Buildings: These stand still, but shoot at you like the soldiers do (I think there are also ones that don't shoot). You have to destroy them with a grenade. Barriers: You have to hit barriers with a grenade. Touching them is deadly. The boss: I only saw him once, but he seems pretty easy to kill with a grenade. Expect to see him at a score of well over 20.000 points for the first time. Once you've cleared the boss, the game starts over, but now the enemy shots are twice as fast! This is where I lost all of my lives quickly.
DarthCalvin
DISCLAIMER: Before I say anything else I would like to point out that if you are using an emulator, which appears to be almost everyone this week, you can save a game at any point and start over again at that point at any time. This method is NOT ALLOWED for your HSC submissions and is considered cheating. Don't submit scores achieved with save states. Now that's out of the way, here's my tip of the week. When I first reached the end of the first level with 5 lives intact, I saved the game. I then spent 2 days playing that saved game over and over and over starting at level 2 everytime. Now I am a LOT more comfortable with level 2. I've actually reached 39,500 but I loaded my save so it doesn't count. It is by far the best way to get used to level 2, it makes level 1 almost boring. This score is the highest score I reached from the beginning. Also, I agree that diagonal shots are the way to go on level 1, but for level 2 It's straight shots only. I swear I think the enemy fire travels further diagonally on level 2. I creeeep up the screen slowly and as soon as I see their feet I duck for the bottom of the screen and stay directly below them. The tanks don't seem much more difficult but the choppers are ridiculous on level 2. All 4 lives that I went into level 2 with were lost to choppers. 2 to the same one.

 

--Zero

[LoneWolfSeth]

1900 but had to use stella

[jjd]

Tough game

 

7,900

[aftermac]

6,800

 

Yeah, this game is pretty tough.

 

Tip: I've found that it is easier to kill enemies (without getting killed yourself) by shooting them diagonally, rather than in a straight line.

 

Tip: In case you don't have a manual hold down the fire button to throw a grenade. You need grenades for building, bunkers, tanks, helicopters, and gates.

 

Edited September 17, 2008 by aftermac

[aftermac]

8,400

 

7,100

 

Slight bump... Bigger bump... and a couple more tips...

 

Tip: An easy way to destroy the bunkers (one window in the center) that are shooting at you is to stand either to the left or right of the window even with the wall. The gun fire cannot hit you here. Just stand far enough back (or close enough) so you are not in the diagonal fire path. Press and hold the fire button and no more bunker.

 

Tip: When driving the tank press and hold the fire button with about 10 units of fuel left to safely exit the tank before it blows up.

 

Edited September 17, 2008 by aftermac

[DarthCalvin]

26,700

 

 

I beat the first level and then completely choked

 

Ikari_Warriors__U_.pdf

 

Here's the manual if anyone wants it.

Edited September 18, 2008 by DarthCalvin

[toymailman]

26,700

 

Wow, Great score!

 

I'm not ready to beat the first level yet.

 

17,200

[DarthCalvin]

Wow, Great score!

 

I'm not ready to beat the first level yet.

Thanks, you're not far from beating it, I think it's around 19,000.

[darthkur]

19,200

 

[DarthCalvin]

29,700

 

Choke \'chok\ vb Choked, Choking 1: To hinder breathing 2: to decrease or shut off the air intake of the carburetor of a gasoline engine to make the fuel richer 3: To defeat the first level of Ikari Warriors without the loss of a single life only to become a grease stain three hundred points shy of an extra life

 

 

 

[jjd]

Some improvement...

 

16,600

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, here's my best... 25100.

 

 

Here's some of my experiences, also containing some tips on how to play the game:

 

The game seems to be more watered down than necessary from a technical standpoint. The music is awful, the graphics and enemies get pretty repetitive after a short time, and I also don't understand why all enemies you shot simply disappear instead of properly exploding.

 

Like in other Atari 2600 games, this game is divided in "zones" which are small horizontal strips. About 3 of those zones are shown on screen at one time. Actually, you can see them pretty clearly because the background graphics of the field repeat in each of the zones (as long as you are on the open field, that is). Each zone only contains one enemy or building (or an item), which is confined to that zone. This means that once an enemy appears on screen, it will stay on pretty much the same height (relative to the background). This also means that if you've cleared a zone, no further enemy will appear until you advance in the game so that the next zone gets visible (which effectively pauses the game as long as you don't do anything).

And there are only so many different things than can appear in a zone:

1. a soldier

2. an enemy tank

3. an enemy helicopter

4. a red tank you can jump into

5. an item

6. a building

7. a barrier to shoot

8. the boss

 

I'll tell you how to deal with each of those. Generally, it's best not to advance too far at a time as long as you're not in a tank. Try to have only one enemy on screen and deal with that one before advancing to the next one.

Oh, and there will only be a maximum of 2 enemy shots on screen at a time.

 

Soldiers:

Soldiers run back and forth in their zone. They can shoot at various angles. The three most important ones are straight down, and in an about 45 degree angle down/right and down/left. They always start out relatively close to the middle, so if you stay close to the middle as well, they won't ever use any other angle to shoot at you. These are three angles you can also shoot at as a soldier. If they shoot at you in other angles, you're probably in trouble. Either you hit them by shooting up straight or by shooting up diagonally. For this you should get a feel of when you're in the correct line of fire to hit them with those diagonal shots. In that, you are aided by the diagonal shots they fire back at you.

If you're a tank, you can either run over the soldiers or shoot them with your grenades. For the first tank, it's better to run them over, however, on tank 2 and 3 you can also shoot them. I'll explain why in a moment.

 

Enemy tanks:

They move in a similar way to the soldiers, but only shoot left, right and down. You have to hit them with a grenade to destroy them. Since you have to hold the button down a moment to fire a grenade, they generally are harder to hit than soldiers, but on the other hand, they are bigger and also have a pretty generous collision detection.

When approaching them in a tank, you shouldn't get too near because they can shoot you too with their grenades.

 

Enemy helicopters:

These also move in a similar way to the soldiers and are able to shoot in the same directions, however, you have to kill them with a grenade. Like the soldiers, they shoot normal shots, so they won't be able to harm you if in a tank, you just have to avoid colliding with them which is deadly. If you're in a tank on a bridge, and they are far enough to the left or right from the bridge, the best way to hit them is from the side since that way you don't have to wait for them to come into your line of fire.

 

Red tanks:

Well, this is the one you can enter and drive. If you drive a tank, you shoot grenades (no normal shots), and you can only be harmed by grenades, not by normal shots. But you can only run and shoot horizontally and vertically, not diagonally.

If you're in the first tank, it's advisable to run over the soldiers, however by shooting them, you can save time in order to advance further in the game before you have to leave the tank.

In the 2nd and 3rd tank, however, you should rather shoot the soldiers than run them over, because by hurrying up, you can reach the "S" item waiting for you, and with it you get another full tank of fuel which prolongs your time in the tank considerably.

Be careful when your fuel supply runs low. Try to have a screen clear of enemies when you get out of the tank so that you won't get hit instantly by their shots or grenades. And, of course, get out of the tank in time!

Once you're out of the tank, by the way, you will again have 99 shots to fire (if I'm not mistaken).

 

Items:

There's only one item here, which gives you a new supply of 99 shots, grenades and fuel units. Those also occupy a zone.

 

Buildings:

These stand still, but shoot at you like the soldiers do (I think there are also ones that don't shoot). You have to destroy them with a grenade.

 

Barriers:

You have to hit barriers with a grenade. Touching them is deadly.

 

The boss:

I only saw him once, but he seems pretty easy to kill with a grenade. Expect to see him at a score of well over 20.000 points for the first time.

 

Once you've cleared the boss, the game starts over, but now the enemy shots are twice as fast! This is where I lost all of my lives quickly.

[aftermac]

16,700

 

Nice scores guys! Especially, Kurt & DC!

 

[Impaler_26]

To my surprise this game is fun to play!!

 

14,800

[Zoyx]

6100

[toymailman]

I am having fun with this game!

 

What do others think of this game

 

vs. Frontline

vs. Commando

 

Personally, I am having a hard time deciding between Ikari Warriors or Frontline for this type of game. Commando is my least favorite among the three. Are there any others to compare to?

[Deteacher]

29,700

 

Choke \'chok\ vb Choked, Choking 1: To hinder breathing 2: to decrease or shut off the air intake of the carburetor of a gasoline engine to make the fuel richer 3: To defeat the first level of Ikari Warriors without the loss of a single life only to become a grease stain three hundred points shy of an extra life

 

 

 

 

You know what's worse than being only 300 points from an extra life? Being only 200 points away from an extra life.

 

29,800.

 

This game is a lot of fun. Collision detection is way off, but it's still fun. I'm enjoying this week.

[toymailman]

BIG improvement for me.

 

35,800

[Mister VCS]

my best score after session 1: 15,500

[aftermac]

I am having fun with this game!

 

What do others think of this game

 

vs. Frontline

vs. Commando

 

Personally, I am having a hard time deciding between Ikari Warriors or Frontline for this type of game. Commando is my least favorite among the three. Are there any others to compare to?

 

I've never played Commando, but I agree it's a tough call between Ikari Warriors and Frontline. I would complain about the collision detection in Ikari, but it usually works to your advantage.

[Zoyx]

13300

[jjd]

I thought Level 1 was tough. Level 2 is BRUTAL.

 

27,000

[DarthCalvin]

37,300

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Before I say anything else I would like to point out that if you are using an emulator, which appears to be almost everyone this week, you can save a game at any point and start over again at that point at any time. This method is NOT ALLOWED for your HSC submissions and is considered cheating. Don't submit scores achieved with save states.

 

Now that's out of the way, here's my tip of the week. When I first reached the end of the first level with 5 lives intact, I saved the game. I then spent 2 days playing that saved game over and over and over starting at level 2 everytime. Now I am a LOT more comfortable with level 2. I've actually reached 39,500 but I loaded my save so it doesn't count. It is by far the best way to get used to level 2, it makes level 1 almost boring. This score is the highest score I reached from the beginning.

 

Also, I agree that diagonal shots are the way to go on level 1, but for level 2 It's straight shots only. I swear I think the enemy fire travels further diagonally on level 2. I creeeep up the screen slowly and as soon as I see their feet I duck for the bottom of the screen and stay directly below them. The tanks don't seem much more difficult but the choppers are ridiculous on level 2. All 4 lives that I went into level 2 with were lost to choppers. 2 to the same one.

[aftermac]

37,300

Now that's out of the way, here's my tip of the week. When I first reached the end of the first level with 5 lives intact, I saved the game. I then spent 2 days playing that saved game over and over and over starting at level 2 everytime. Now I am a LOT more comfortable with level 2. I've actually reached 39,500 but I loaded my save so it doesn't count. It is by far the best way to get used to level 2, it makes level 1 almost boring. This score is the highest score I reached from the beginning.

 

Isn't this method of training still an advantage that console players don't have?

[+SpiceWare]

8200