Ze_ro

I think they said they're not going to announce a name until after the NHL board of governors approves the sale and relocation (June 21st). --Zero

Sorry for the lack of updates lately... work has been busy and full of distractions lately... not the least of which is the return of the NHL to the arena I work at. Looks like the games are going to be sold out for years to come. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Flash! Across America, awful jawfuls of junk food are causing deadly dental decay. Plaque is spreading its invisible film, turning teeth yellow as they decompose before our very eyes. Blast this junk with toothpaste before it gets to your teeth! And don't let up. This is the Plaque Attack, by cuspid, the last stop before gum city! Game Information Game Name: Plaque Attack Released By: Activision, 1983 Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Fast Fire Right Difficulty: B / Novice - Fast Fire Game Mode: Game 1 - 1 Player, Advanced 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 June 8th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges No Plaque Pack - Score 35,000 points or higher and you get 1 bonus point. Proper Dental Hygiene - Brush your teeth twice a day and floss at least once a day in order to remove your own plaque and ensure healthy teeth and gums. You won't get any bonus points for this, but proper dental health is it's own reward. Current High Scores 77,705 (JacobZu7zu7) [+11][+1] 75,100 (toymailman) [+10][+1] 71,405 (Deteacher) [+9][+1] 67,205 (oyamafamily) [+8][+1] 63,860 (Gorfy) [+7][+1] 61,515 (Vocelli) [+6][+1] 59,765 (Stan) [+5][+1] 59,570 (Frostbite76) [+4][+1] 55,325 (DT Kofoed) [+3][+1] 55,215 (Jifremok) [+2][+1] 51,630 (Scrabbler15) [+1][+1] 47,980 (LarcenTyler) [+1][+1] 47,735 (Miss 2600) [+1][+1] 47,270 (pokeplayer984) [+1][+1] 43,730 (classicgamer_27330) [+1][+1] 39,335 (centiqueen81) [+1][+1] 29,675 (roadrunner) [+1] 19,155 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 17,710 (Krytol) [+1] 15,720 (Darth Kinzer) [+1] 15,500 (Amstari) [+1] 15,475 (zylon) [+1] Best Tips Stan [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)999,999 (Todd Rogers) 88,870 (David B Yancey) 73,280 (James Randall) Current Standings JacobZu7zu7 [172] toymailman [162] oyamafamily [161] Vocelli [126] Frostbite76 [123] Gorfy [90] Deteacher [76] classicgamer_27330 [63] Stan [60] DT Kofoed [57] Scrabbler15 [55] SpiceWare [48] Miss 2600 [47] Amstari [42] pis [38] keilbaca [37] Jifremok [37] roadrunner [33] Mister VCS [29] Chuck D. Head [26] Cynicaster [20] zylon [20] SeaGtGruff [20] centiqueen81 [19] cparsley [17] HatefulGravey [17] Curious Sofa [16] pokeplayer984 [16] LarcenTyler [13] Krytol [13] Torr [13] littleman jack [7] Wickeycolumbus [6] atarigal [5] Cortat G [5] bennybingo [5] ed1475 [5] rmaerz [3] Zach [3] atariUCLA24 [3] dwane413 [3] SpaceDice2010 [2] MIKE5200 [2] Mangia-Boy [1] Buck [1] 4Ks [1] Cream147 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Darth Kinzer [1] Scoring Points in Plaque Attack Shoot Food - 5 * Level Number Time Bonus at End of Level - 5 * Remaining Seconds * Level Number Tooth Bonus at End of Level - 5, 20, 45, 80, 125, 150, 175, 200 points per tooth (level 1 through Scoring maxes at level 8, every subsequent level scores the same. Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: It's almost impossible to recover from poor oral hygiene (i.e., sloppy game-play) experienced in the early stages. The best strategy is to acquire as many bonus teeth as possible as soon as you can. Next...when things get really hairy, don't bother going after food particles that are not moving towards your teeth. If they're moving off to the side, let them go, concentrating only on defending your teeth from food heading their way. This means playing defensively when the going gets tough. Whereas, in the early stages, it's best to play offensively, blasting away all the junk food in sight. Also, remember that the food always reverses direction as soon as a tooth is attacked. Try to save the tooth, then turn your tube around immediately and continue shooting. We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. Stan Spend the earlier levels gathering points and extra teeth. Don't forget you get an extra one every 2000 points. A full mouth equals big points if you keep more teeth later. Once the game gets faster, try not to flip your tube too much, it's distracting and will cause you to lose targets. Try to stay near the top or bottom at first (the game automatically locates you based on the way the enemy is coming each round), then slowly edge towards the middle. Flip over when they go in the opposite direction and repeat the process. When the game gets faster, HOLD DOWN that fire button. If you have few enemies on screen, it's okay to wait to shoot, but in general when it gets fast, just blast away and move like crazy. Later levels are all about survival, not getting extra teeth, you should cover that early on. For later levels, once you're down to a single tooth, FOCUS ON IT. Unless there aren't any enemies close, be aiming right towards it so you can take out anything that gets close. Using this method you can last quite long in later levels. Make sure you do it, though, because as things get faster the enemies also decay your teeth faster, so if you move around too much you'll find yourself losing tons of teeth in a matter of split seconds. DON'T WORRY ABOUT SHOOTING ENDLESSLY. It does not affect your time. The timer naturally goes down regardless of how many times you fire, so it's to your advantage, especially in later levels, to just blast away and move like crazy. Deteacher The enemies change direction after attacking your teeth. So, keep an eye on where the topmost and bottommost teeth are. Knowing where you need to go and getting there quick will save lots of teeth. Roaming around AIMlessly (pun intended) will only end your game very quickly. pokeplayer984 A little something I've noticed is that the junk food alternates it's target. Basically, after the food attacks a tooth and you save it (or lose it), the food will then travel in the opposite direction towards those teeth instead. So basically, if it attacked the bottom row first, it'll then go to the top row, then the bottom, then the top and so forth. This, however, only applies if there are teeth on both sides. If only one side has teeth, then it'll only attack that side, regardless. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. First, the best brains in the world designed a super spaceship to defend your planet against eveil aliens who lusted to conquer it. But the marauders kept coming! Your new secret weapon: stargate, a powerful stellar gateway to the universe. It's the only hope for your beleagured planet! Once again, you take to the skies in your ship -- now fortified with the mysterious cloaking compound, INVISO. With the help of the stargate, maybe -- just maybe -- you can save the last humanoids and wipe out the aliens FOREVER! Game Information Game Name: stargate / Defender II Released By: Atari, 1985 Left Difficulty: N / A Right Difficulty: N / A Game Mode: Default - 1 Player 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 June 1st at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Double Score Dungeon - This week, scoring is extended... First place will get 22 points, second place 21 points, ..., 20th place gets 3 points, and everyone else gets 2 points. Current High Scores 225,250 (toymailman) [+22] 189,050 (oyamafamily) [+21] 104,400 (Stan) [+20] 95,650 (Jifremok) [+19] 90,700 (JacobZu7zu7) [+18] 88,200 (Chuck D. Head) [+17] 80,850 (Frostbite76) [+16] 79,050 (Gorfy) [+15] 74,850 (DT Kofoed) [+14] 73,950 (Torr) [+13] 69,900 (Mister VCS) [+12] 68,450 (Vocelli) [+11] 57,850 (zylon) [+10] 55,300 (classicgamer_27330) [+9] 53,500 (Scrabbler15) [+8] 51,600 (roadrunner) [+7] 45,050 (Miss 2600) [+6] 43,750 (ed1475) [+5] 33,300 (centiqueen81) [+4] 27,650 (pokeplayer984) [+3] 27,000 (rmaerz) [+2] 13,000 (Amstari) [+1] 12,450 (littleman jack) [+1] 5900 (Darth Kinzer) [+1] Best Tips Stan [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)79,700 (Stephen Knox) 77,350 (Robert Macauley) (PAL) 65,650 (Alan W Hewston) Current Standings JacobZu7zu7 [154] oyamafamily [140] toymailman [140] Vocelli [115] Frostbite76 [107] Deteacher [76] Gorfy [75] classicgamer_27330 [54] SpiceWare [48] Scrabbler15 [47] DT Kofoed [43] Miss 2600 [41] Amstari [41] Stan [40] pis [38] keilbaca [37] roadrunner [26] Cynicaster [20] SeaGtGruff [20] Jifremok [18] Mister VCS [17] cparsley [17] HatefulGravey [17] Curious Sofa [16] centiqueen81 [15] LarcenTyler [13] Krytol [13] pokeplayer984 [13] zylon [10] Chuck D. Head [9] Wickeycolumbus [6] littleman jack [6] atarigal [5] Cortat G [5] bennybingo [5] Zach [3] atariUCLA24 [3] dwane413 [3] SpaceDice2010 [2] MIKE5200 [2] Mangia-Boy [1] rmaerz [1] Buck [1] 4Ks [1] Cream147 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Scoring Points in stargate / Defender II Landers - 150 points Mutants - 150 points Yllabian Space Guppies - 200 points Firebombers - 250 points Pods - 1000 points Swarmers - 150 points Dynamos - 200 points Baiters - 200 points Phreds - 200 points Munchies - 50 points At the end of attack waves 1 through 5, you receive 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500 points for every humanoid left on the planet, respectively. After the 5th attack wave, you receive 500 points for every humanoid left. You can also keep the rescued humanoids with you on board your ship. In attack waves 1 through 9, if you pass through a stargate while transporting four or more humanoids on your ship, you'll automatically advance four waves in the game. You'll also receive 1000 points for every humanoid left on the planet. For every 10,000 points you score, you earn another ship, another smart bomb, and more inviso. Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: The Scanner on your screen shows you any area on the planet where humanoids are in danger. Keep an eye on your scanner -- it will alert you to any emergencies in another part of the sky. Rush to a stargate for immediate transport to that sector. Your planet will be destroyed if all the humanoids are turned into mutants -- but you must still defend yourself! If you're a good fighter, your planet will be restored in wave 6, or in every fifth wave after that. In attack wave 5 and every 10th attack wave thereafter, you'll encounter the Yllabian dog fight. The only aliens that appear on the screen are Yllabian Space Guppies, Pods, and Dynamos. It takes skill and practice to make it through this wave. In every 10th attack wave, you'll find yourself in the middle of a Firebomber showdown. Firebombers are everywhere. Keep a sharp eye and a nimble firing finger. Whenever you lose a ship, you reappear on the screen with a new one (if you have any left). But all action stops until you move the joystick. Along with the powers of your super spaceship, you've been blessed with supersonic hearing. You can hear the humanoids scream as they're being accosted by landers. On your side of the planet, this comes as a faint yelp. The sound of explosions means that a humanoid and lander have just been transformed into a mutant. We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. Stan Make it IMPERATIVE that you protect most if not ALL of the little dudes in the first couple of stages. You get tons of points from saving, catching, and returning them. My tactic has been to fly around and take out the green bugs, avoiding the other ships, unless they come directly at you. This works fine early on and you can max out points, getting around 30K by level four or so if you keep all your dudes. DO NOT think it's a better idea to max out points through just killing ships. Avoiding saving your guys will lead to the special levels where you fight all the ships. At first, this might seem like a cool angle to work, but you run out of steam in a few levels because they speed up regardless of your score. At advanced levels (50K and on by my scoring tactic above), your best bet is to try to save 1-2 dudes and let the other ones go, taking out ships as they come for you. That way, you avoid the ship levels, and you're able to keep racking up good points. JacobZu7zu7 In general, I don't like to speed through levels much or I will crash into stuff, just hit enemies medium pace and clear the screen. If I have to play the "no survivors lighting level" I will! I get cheap deaths trying to save people quickly. To hell with the rush! I take my time now. I use smart bombs only after 30/40ks mark, and when I do, it's if 3 things are on the screen, it really can lower the amount to shoot. Of course, being invisible helps too, mostly when you're about to be "hit" by something. I tried something different after reaching around 50ks, I sat my ship still this time... the waves became too fast to rescue everyone, I just stayed low, and shot out the green aliens from one single screen tapping (left,right) keeping two people safe as long as possible. Even staying just high enough for a green alien to "take" the person up, then shoot his arse down will get good extra points from people landing down safely. Only worry about the green aliens, forget the stuff that can be shot down later, just dodge, shoot, use toe if near! I also used smart bombs, and invisibility on the pink fly looking things, so I didn't have to move much, everything else, I just would fire and hope for clearing a round. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Titans have imprisoned Neptina, Neptune's daughter! They've shattered his magical Trident and scattered its pieces far and wide. Without his trident, Neptune is powerless. Proteus, a member of Neptune's Court, longs to free the lovely mermaid. He sets out to find the missing pieces of the Trident. He roams land and sea, changing from a dolphin to a seagull and back again in order to deceive the mermaid's captors. Deadly trials confront Proteus -- octopuses, tangled beds of kelp, screaming flocks of black birds, even erupting volcanoes! But he fights on valiantly! Game Information Game Name: Fathom Released By: Imagic, 1983 Left Difficulty: N / A Right Difficulty: N / A Game Mode: Default 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 May 25th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Unfathomable! - Score 1000 points or higher and you get 3 bonus points. Current High Scores 24,300 (Frostbite76) [+11][+3] 21,748 (DT Kofoed) [+10][+3] 21,105 (JacobZu7zu7) [+9][+3] 20,905 (Jifremok) [+8][+3] 20,662 (toymailman) [+7][+3] 18,566 (Chuck D. Head) [+6][+3] 14,842 (Stan) [+5][+3] 12,960 (Vocelli) [+4][+3] 225 (dwane413) [+3] 210 (Zach) [+2] 147 (pokeplayer984) [+1] 144 (Mister VCS) [+1] 119 (roadrunner) [+1] 118 (Amstari) [+1] 115 (Krytol) [+1] 110 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 65 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 56 (Miss 2600) [+1] 10 (Gorfy) [+1] Best Tips Frostbite76 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)1,110,500 (Todd Rogers) 116 (Greg Troutman) Current Standings JacobZu7zu7 [142] oyamafamily [140] toymailman [130] Vocelli [108] Frostbite76 [93] Deteacher [76] Gorfy [74] classicgamer_27330 [53] SpiceWare [48] Scrabbler15 [46] Miss 2600 [40] Amstari [40] pis [38] keilbaca [37] Stan [32] DT Kofoed [30] roadrunner [25] Cynicaster [20] SeaGtGruff [20] cparsley [17] HatefulGravey [17] Mister VCS [16] Curious Sofa [16] centiqueen81 [15] LarcenTyler [13] Krytol [12] pokeplayer984 [12] zylon [10] Jifremok [7] Wickeycolumbus [6] littleman jack [6] atarigal [5] Cortat G [5] bennybingo [5] atariUCLA24 [3] SpaceDice2010 [2] MIKE5200 [2] Mangia-Boy [1] rmaerz [1] Zach [1] Buck [1] 4Ks [1] Cream147 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Scoring Points in Fathom The Level number appears at the bottom left of the screen. All games begin at Level 1. If you free Neptina, you automatically advance to the next level (2, 3, etc.). Your score for the new Level returns to 50. When you free Neptina, the points you earn on the Level are added to the point bank with the total number of points earned on all previous Levels. The points you earn are multiplied by the Level number you are on. Example: Earn 50 points on Level 2 and 100 points are stored in the point bank (50 x 2 = 100). Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Run into all the sea horses and pink clouds you can. They're worth points. Avoid obstacles -- black birds, grey clouds, octopuses, seaweed and volcanoes. They cost you points! Time freezes when the dolphin and the seagull appear on screen together. Otherwise you lose points as the seconds tick away. Here's how to fin and fly through Level 1. After that you're on your own! As the dolphin swims down, octopuses and two sea horses appear. Touch both sea horses. Then touch the starfish that appears. A piece of the Trident now shows at the bottom of the screen. Note: You must reach both sea horses and the starfish without leaving that section of the sea. If you don't, return to the surface and try again. Next dive through lines of seaweed. More sea horses appear. Touch one and a bird symbol shows at the bottom of your screen. Return to the surface now, or try to reach other sea horses for additional points. Jump out of the water when you reach the surface. Fly to the left or right. Land appears. Flap your wings hard and fly up. Touch two pink clouds in that section of the sky and a star appears. Touch it. You'll have another piece of the Trident. Return to the dolphin. Fly until you reach land on the other side. Repeat the game of tag with pink clouds. Touch one pink cloud and acquire a fish symbol; touch the other and a star appears. Touch the star and the third piece of the Trident is yours. Return to the dolphin, change forms and dive for the bottom. When you arrive, the mermaid's prison will dissolve. We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. DT Kofoed Remember that pulling down as a seagull makes you drop faster. It's vital to memorize the starting cloud positions for each screen, so that you enter a new sky screen hitting those low flying clouds rather than low flying birds (or avoiding them as your fall through grey-cloud skies, if you've taken too long). I find a free fall along the right side of the sky screens avoids both clouds and birds, allowing you to descend as quickly as the programming allows. Following down the left side will hit birds on the lower two screens if you're in free fall. (Check out his post over here for a map) Frostbite76 Collect the pink clouds from the rooms that have the most of them it. If you're in level 6 for example, collect the pink clouds in the sky with six clouds. After you get all six clouds, go down to the sky with 5 but don't get any. Then go back and get the 6 clouds. Keep doing this until the clouds are grey. The water levels: go all the way to the right and go down to avoid most of the enemies if not all. Same thing to go back up Level 5-7. In the Water go to the 5th screen and collect all but one of the pink things. After you do this go back up one screen then go back down and collect all but one again. Keep doing this until you can't collect anymore. This is the fastest and safest way to collect. Study the map after you switch. I can stay there for as long as you want. You can even leave and go back there to freeze time. Level 5-7 are the most important levels by far, so be very careful. These are the levels you can really rack up the most points. Level 7 alone can get about 8,000 points. 1100x7. So do not hit the valcano on these levels. It could cost you about 1,000. every time you get hit. Fall down from the left side of the screen to avoid grey clouds. But don't go down too fast. To avoid getting hit by the birds on the two lower screens, move over about an inch to the right. Chuck D. Head How to finish level 1: Swim down from start, touch all seahorses on the screen and a star will appear - grab it. Go down a screen, grab more seahorses until your bird symbol appears at the bottom. Swim to the surface and press the button. Fly one screen to the right and one screen up. Touch both clouds and a star will appear. Grab it. Go back to the center screen (where you changed to a bird) and then repeat step three but to the left side. Once you touch the third star you have all three pieces of the trident. Go back to the center screen and press the button to turn back into a dolphin. Go down the side to avoid obstacles, all the way to the bottom and touch the mermaids cage to free her and complete the round. Unless you touched too many octopus, enemy birds, or grey clouds, you will now have a score. YAY! Stan I was having trouble avoiding birds in the sky because of how your character tends to hover. Tapping the button lightly makes him flap just enough, but usually you won't be accurate all the time to get it to stay in short flaps. Therefore, make a habit of using DOWN on the joystick religiously. By quickly pressing it down you can make your bird descend just a bit to slow down his ascent. Doing it rapidly gives you more control over hovering, and thus getting the clouds. You can also use this to descend rapidly through the sky by just holding down. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. You are a frenzied bartender trying to keep the never ending flow of thirsty customers well watered. You'll have to keep slinging beers and occasionally guess which cans of beer the Beer Bandit has shaken. As if that's not enough work for one bartender, try covering four different bars with a different crazy crowd in each bar. There's the Old West Saloon, the Jock Bar, the Punk Rock Bar, and the Space Bar. Keep the sodas coming, but not too fast. You'd better be sure you've got a customer without a drink at the bar or the drink will slide right off the bar and no self-respecting bartender throws drinks away. Keep your eyes open for the empties the customers sling back your way. Game Information Game Name: Tapper Released By: Sega, 1983 Left Difficulty: A / Expert (Arcade Difficulty Level) Right Difficulty: B / Novice (Arcade Difficulty Level) Game Mode: Default 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 May 18th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Tapmaster - Score 70,000 points or higher, and you'll get 3 bonus points. Tall Cold One - Post a picture of yourself holding a big mug of beer, and you'll get 2 bonus points (If you're underage, or just don't drink beer, then root beer will also be considered an acceptable substitute).Miss 2600 [+2] DT Kofoed [+2] Amstari [+2] JacobZu7zu7 [+2] classicgamer_27330 [+2] Vocelli [+2] Frostbite76 [+2] keilbaca [+2] toymailman [+2] Jifremok [+2] Current High Scores 158,850 (oyamafamily) [+11][+3] 137,975 (keilbaca) [+10][+3] 91,150 (Stan) [+9][+3] 90,825 (toymailman) [+8][+3] 81,200 (Vocelli) [+7][+3] 80,050 (Gorfy) [+6][+3] 75,550 (Frostbite76) [+5][+3] 74,200 (JacobZu7zu7) [+4][+3] 71,925 (DT Kofoed) [+3][+3] 71,125 (Jifremok) [+2][+3] 71,025 (Miss 2600) [+1][+3] 54,250 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 40,375 (Zach) [+1] 32,650 (roadrunner) [+1] 30,150 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 28,425 (Buck) [+1] 27,300 (4Ks) [+1] 18,275 (Amstari) [+1] 4250 (MIKE5200) [+1] Best Tips oyamafamily [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)982,725 (Todd Rogers) 228,775 (Christian L Keilback) 136,050 (Stephen Knox) (Emulator) Current Standings JacobZu7zu7 [133] oyamafamily [124] toymailman [117] Vocelli [96] Frostbite76 [83] Deteacher [76] Gorfy [65] classicgamer_27330 [50] SpiceWare [48] Scrabbler15 [45] pis [38] Amstari [37] Miss 2600 [34] roadrunner [24] DT Kofoed [22] keilbaca [22] Stan [20] Cynicaster [20] SeaGtGruff [20] cparsley [17] HatefulGravey [17] Mister VCS [16] Curious Sofa [16] centiqueen81 [15] LarcenTyler [13] Krytol [12] pokeplayer984 [12] zylon [10] Wickeycolumbus [6] littleman jack [6] atarigal [5] Cortat G [5] bennybingo [5] atariUCLA24 [3] SpaceDice2010 [2] Mangia-Boy [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Scoring Points in Tapper Get Cowboy/girl out of Door - 50 points Get Sportsperson out of Door - 75 points Get Punk Rocker out of Door - 100 points Get Space Creature out of Door - 150 points Catch an Empty Mug - 100 points Complete screen (get all customers out) - 1,000 points Complete Bonus Rack - 3,000 points Earn one extra life after your first 20,000 points and another life for each additional 50,000 points. Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any specific hints. We played this game twice before in the High Score Club, back in Season 4 and in Season 1. You may want to check out those threads for more information. keilbaca The game has a limitation that only three (or four, I don't quite remember off the top of my head) drinks can be on the tables at the same time, on one table. This includes empty glasses. So, if you wonder why you can only throw one drink when two are on the table, then you end up throwing one too many because you're happy on the fire button... that's why. The key to the bonus level is to relax your eyes, and only pay attention to the one that you are supposed to. oyamafamily See oyamafamily's in-depth tips in this post. Stan I've found that the way I do that bonus round might be the key. Try not to focus on the can itself. I zone my eyes out and look at all of the cans while following the one you need to. This seems to be the way I do it, but I have a good eye for this kind of thing so it might just be an inborn thing or something, but I paid attention last time and that's how I myself do it. Try it! This is the tactic I've used to get mega high awesome scores. Quite simple. First few rounds don't really matter. Once you get to roughly the second round of the first wave, do the following. ALWAYS chuck two mugs QUICKLY to each row. You need to do this very smoothly as quickly as possible. With each second glass, quickly move to the next row below as soon as you chuck it. Do the same thing again. Keep doing this until you've done it to each row, coming from the top for the last two as you move down from the bottom row up. Then, chuck one more for each row (at first you won't need to in certain rows, but eventually you will every row). That takes everyone out very quickly each time if you get the rhythm down. At times you'll get glasses coming back at you. DO NOT run forwards for them. Just let them come and catch them before they hit the floor. Worry about chucking glasses and get the falling ones at the last possible moment. Don't bother running because you'll get into trouble. Sometimes, it just so happens that the program is against you and there's nothing you can do about it, but it rarely happens every time you start the level again, usually only once or twice. --Zero

I've considered this before, especially in the past when I've chosen homebrew games, and specifically linked to their pages in the AtariAge store in the hopes to encourage people to buy them (No, I don't get any kickbacks from this... I just like to support the community). However, I like the week long limit on gameplay, and I feel that if I announce games ahead of time, then some people will practice them ahead of time to improve their scores beyond what that would normally restrict them to. Of course, there are some excellent ways to get around the problem... Playing the games via emulator is perfectly acceptable, and if you prefer using the original hardware, you can always buy a Harmony Cart. I own one myself, and it's certainly far easier than sorting through boxes and boxes of cartridges even when you do own a real copy (No, I don't get any kickbacks from Harmony Cart sales either!) --Zero

Wow! What a competition this was! Far more participants than I expected... If I knew so many people were going to be playing, I would have liked to hand out more points... it seems like such a shame to only be giving 1 point to some truly excellent scores... Anyways, I hope everyone had a lot of fun! These special competitions are always a little heavy on the numbers, so I urge you all to check the updated scores (check the DK Jr thread) to make sure I got all the math right. And now for a little statistics fun, for those who might be curious: The total cumulative point total for everyone (after weighting them accordingly) was 33,474,537 points, with each game contributing the following: Megamania: 17.2% Jungle Hunt: 22.6% Joust: 32.0% Stampede: 28.2% So it turns out you guys were quite a bit better at Joust than I expected, while the Megamania scores were lower than I expected (also, only 23 out of 26 players submitted scores for Megamania... though even if three additional people had played it and rolled the score, it still wouldn't have brought the total up to 25%). A better choice of multipliers would have been Megamania x2, Jungle Hunt x15, Joust x3, and Stampede x70. This would have resulted in the following distribution: Megamania: 25.8% Jungle Hunt: 25.5% Joust: 24.0% Stampede: 24.7% (The idea being that all games should be contributing about 25% to the final score while using relatively simple multipliers... Though I like the idea of players figuring out the scoring and trying to focus on the games that will work out the best for them. Sort of a game within a game. I'm not sure if anyone actually does this though.) That weighting would have also shifted the total scoring slightly, though the only significant changes would have been an extra point for Vocelli and Stan, and one lost point for Mister VCS and pis. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Mario has locked up Papa Donkey Kong! Junior must make his way through a treacherous jungle to free him. Racing against time, Junior climbs and swings across vines, while avoiding dangerous creatures, all to reach a flashing key to release his Papa. If Junior succeeds at this mission, he must push keys to the top of chains, once again avoiding clever opponents. If he passes this test, he arrives at Mario's hideout for another trial against time! Can you help Junior save his father? Game Information Game Name: Donkey Kong Junior Released By: Coleco, 1983 Left Difficulty: N/A Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: 1 Player, Difficulty 1 (Default) 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 May 11th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Hard Mode - Play the game on Difficulty 8 and post your score. Top score will get 5 bonus points, second place 4 and so on. Fifth place and lower will receive 1 point.628,400 (toymailman) [+5] 359,400 (JacobZu7zu7) [+4] 145,900 (Vocelli) [+3] 111,900 (Stan) [+2] 19,500 (Deteacher) [+1] 19,100 (DT Kofoed) [+1] 19,000 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 17,500 (cparsley) [+1] 9200 (roadrunner) [+1] 8600 (Miss 2600) [+1] 7700 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 0 (Amstari) [+1] Current High Scores 950,600 (toymailman) [+11] 225,100 (Vocelli) [+10] 217,700 (JacobZu7zu7) [+9] 180,200 (Stan) [+8] 167,100 (Deteacher) [+7] 91,200 (DT Kofoed) [+6] 90,500 (classicgamer_27330) [+5] 88,900 (cparsley) [+4] 65,400 (roadrunner) [+3] 46,400 (HatefulGravey) [+2] 46,300 (oyamafamily) [+1] 46,000 (Miss 2600) [+1] 44,100 (Amstari) [+1] 16,700 (Mister VCS) [+1] 15,700 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 11,300 (SpiceWare) [+1] 11,200 (Gorfy) [+1] 11,200 (Frostbite76) [+1] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)15,000,000 (Todd Rogers) 128,200 (Carlos Marrero) 88,700 (Stephen Riesenberger) Current Standings oyamafamily [123] JacobZu7zu7 [118] toymailman [101] Vocelli [83] Frostbite76 [82] Deteacher [68] Gorfy [64] SpiceWare [47] classicgamer_27330 [44] Scrabbler15 [43] pis [38] Amstari [35] Miss 2600 [32] keilbaca [22] roadrunner [20] Cynicaster [20] SeaGtGruff [20] Curious Sofa [16] Mister VCS [15] DT Kofoed [15] centiqueen81 [15] HatefulGravey [15] LarcenTyler [13] cparsley [12] Krytol [12] pokeplayer984 [12] Stan [10] zylon [10] Wickeycolumbus [6] littleman jack [6] atarigal [5] Cortat G [5] bennybingo [5] atariUCLA24 [3] SpaceDice2010 [2] Mangia-Boy [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Scoring Points in Donkey Kong Junior When you complete a mission, the Bonus Timer stops. The number remaining in the Timer is added to your score. Placing key in lock (Key Mission) - 100 points Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any specific hints. Deteacher You can sort of control the behavior of the snapjaws. It's all in how you're positioned on the vines. I got no tips on the 3rd stage, other than learn to time your jumps over the snapjaws. If you hang off the right side of any given vine, the snapjaws will pass you by from overhead. They will not go down your vine. On the key level, they will hover underneath you as long as there is only one snapjaw on that line. So, you can either wait for a second one to come down (cancelling them both out) or, hang on the left of the two vines. Then when the snapjaw is hovering, move to the right vine, drop down and continue the mission. JacobZu7zu7 Level 1 The second vine out is tricky to reach! I missed my jump many times, 1 tip to always reach it is ...press/hold fire button and hold down the right direction until you get hold of the vine. Level 2 Starting level two, that bird is right on your monkey hiney, to avoid getting hit by the bird do this... "before your level begins" hold down right on joystick THEN hit the fire button. DON'T PUSH THE FIRE BUTTON FIRST! BIG LEVEL 2 TIP Once you get hold of any vines under the keys, the bird cannot hurt you!! Doesn't matter if your feet or a** is touching the bird! Just don't slip off the vine now. This technique helps when you are up against fast BLUE chattering teeth. EARLY GAMING TIP Sometimes just pushing the button in an emergency can launch you up on a vine safely. Always wait for the bird to fly passed you before dropping off the vine, also wait for chattering teeth to clear passed too. If you are under the KEY but teeth are looming down, just tap the right or left controls, to get off the vine with teeth on it. Level 3 Electricity stage, "with red snapping teeth?", this is the tough one. When starting this... send Kong Jr. on the two poles... wait for the red teeth to loop once, then tap the joystick FAST and push the fire button. This works until level difficulty "5" then I discovered a cool trick! The zaps won't kill you (FROM BELOW) if you are hanging at the top most part of the poles! It will go under your feet... I don't think this works in earlier levels, so you just have to get passed the 45-46ks range and through to game 5. Then you won't have to jump right away, you can watch the zap go under your feet, just be careful for the ones above your head, those still can kill you. You might want to set difficulty game 5 just to practice the 3rd level. Coleco must have realized that Level 3 is impossible to finish by difficulty 5, without adding this trick. (That trick stops working at level 7 --Deteacher) --Zero

When I chose the games for this week, I fully expected that several people would be rolling the score on Megamania, and I chose multipliers that reflect that. In fact, at the moment, the cumulative weighted scores for Jungle Hunt are over twice that of Megamania... though I expect that will change before the end of the competition. Seems to me that there's still quite a bit of challenge past 10k, so might as well keep it going --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Welcome to the fourth High Score Club Variety Pack! Rules for this competition are a little different, so please read: This competition combines four games over a two week period. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday May 4th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Scores for each game will be listed separately, with reduced scoring awarded for each game (5 points for first place, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for all other scores). Scores are also combined for a final ranking, with Combined Score = (Megamania) + (Jungle Hunt x 10) + (Joust x 3) + (Stampede x 60). These scores will then be ranked and scored as per normal High Score Club rules (11 points for 1st place, etc). This means you could score up to 31 points if you post the #1 score for all four games. Alternatively, even if your scores are low, you can get 5 points just for participating. You do not have to play the games in any specific order, and you can submit updated scores for each game separately. You do not have to play all four games. If you leave out one game, you will still be counted in the final ranking as if you had scored 0 for that game. Scores for individual games will still be capped at the point where the score rolls over. No additional capping will occur for combined scores though. For this competition, there will be no bonus challenges, and no points awarded for best tips (don't worry, they'll come back next time!) Game Information Game Name: Megamania Jungle Hunt Joust Stampede Released: 1982, Activision 1982, Atari 1982, Atari 1981, Stampede Left Difficulty: Your Choice B / Novice B / Novice B / Novice Right Difficulty: N/A B / Novice N/A N/A Game Mode: Game 1 or 3 Game 1 Skilled (no bear) Game 1 Last Played: Season 7 Week 10 Season 4 Week 7 Season 6 Week 26 Season 5 Week 29 Current High Scores 999,999 (oyamafamily) [+5] 999,999 (Deteacher) [+5] 999,999 (toymailman) [+5] 719,660 (JacobZu7zu7) [+4] 532,570 (Gorfy) [+3] 264,060 (Cynicaster) [+2] 169,240 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 129,930 (Frostbite76) [+1] 119,780 (Stan) [+1] 102,710 (Vocelli) [+1] 90,890 (atarigal) [+1] 78,700 (zylon) [+1] 75,020 (SpiceWare) [+1] 74,900 (centiqueen81) [+1] 72,040 (roadrunner) [+1] 67,230 (cparsley) [+1] 55,860 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 49,200 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 39,040 (DT Kofoed) [+1] 35,760 (Miss 2600) [+1] 33,940 (Amstari) [+1] 26,970 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 26,260 (Krytol) [+1] 73,980 (JacobZu7zu7) [+5] 56,530 (Mister VCS) [+4] 52,370 (Deteacher) [+3] 51,770 (Frostbite76) [+2] 40,240 (roadrunner) [+1] 39,840 (toymailman) [+1] 39,330 (oyamafamily) [+1] 37,290 (Gorfy) [+1] 36,010 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 35,590 (Stan) [+1] 24,880 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 23,030 (DT Kofoed) [+1] 22,030 (Miss 2600) [+1] 21,390 (Cynicaster) [+1] 20,750 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 20,610 (cparsley) [+1] 19,990 (zylon) [+1] 19,470 (centiqueen81) [+1] 19,410 (SpiceWare) [+1] 19,200 (Vocelli) [+1] 18,860 (pis) [+1] 18,780 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 18,690 (Amstari) [+1] 16,990 (littleman jack) [+1] 5750 (Krytol) [+1] 5100 (atarigal) [+1] 1,000,000 (oyamafamily) [+5] 268,400 (Mister VCS) [+4] 242,850 (Deteacher) [+3] 232,800 (Frostbite76) [+2] 209,250 (pis) [+1] 196,200 (toymailman) [+1] 189,450 (Stan) [+1] 150,350 (JacobZu7zu7) [+1] 116,000 (Gorfy) [+1] 115,000 (DT Kofoed) [+1] 108,750 (Vocelli) [+1] 108,000 (centiqueen81) [+1] 102,000 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 94,950 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 74,900 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 70,900 (SpiceWare) [+1] 56,100 (roadrunner) [+1] 40,850 (zylon) [+1] 37,300 (Miss 2600) [+1] 34,800 (littleman jack) [+1] 28,550 (Krytol) [+1] 26,800 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 24,300 (atarigal) [+1] 21,550 (Amstari) [+1] 19,550 (cparsley) [+1] 29,812 (oyamafamily) [+5] 27,612 (JacobZu7zu7) [+4] 23,854 (Scrabbler15) [+3] 9800 (Frostbite76) [+2] 8756 (toymailman) [+1] 6326 (Deteacher) [+1] 5906 (Stan) [+1] 5795 (Vocelli) [+1] 5611 (Gorfy) [+1] 4312 (pis) [+1] 3669 (DT Kofoed) [+1] 3499 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 2873 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 2629 (Miss 2600) [+1] 2609 (SpiceWare) [+1] 2170 (centiqueen81) [+1] 1955 (zylon) [+1] 1861 (cparsley) [+1] 1775 (atarigal) [+1] 1490 (roadrunner) [+1] 1397 (Mister VCS) [+1] 1113 (Amstari) [+1] 893 (Krytol) [+1] 866 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 470 (littleman jack) [+1] Combined Score 6,182,019 (oyamafamily) [+11] 3,567,230 (JacubZu7zu7) [+10] 2,631,809 (Deteacher) [+9] 2,512,359 (toymailman) [+8] 2,266,580 (Scrabber15) [+7] 1,934,030 (Frostbite76) [+6] 1,590,130 (Gorfy) [+5] 1,454,320 (Mister VCS) [+4] 1,398,390 (Stan) [+3] 1,075,070 (pis) [+2] 968,660 (Vocelli) [+1] 834,480 (DT Kofoed) [+1] 739,300 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 732,140 (roadrunner) [+1] 723,800 (centiqueen81) [+1] 713,930 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 638,360 (SpiceWare) [+1] 525,700 (Miss 2600) [+1] 518,450 (zylon) [+1] 477,960 (Cynicaster) [+1] 443,640 (cparsley) [+1] 352,270 (Amstari) [+1] 347,130 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 321,290 (atarigal) [+1] 302,500 (littleman jack) [+1] 222,990 (Krytol) [+1] Current Standings oyamafamily [96] JacobZu7zu7 [94] toymailman [85] Vocelli [78] Frostbite76 [69] Gorfy [53] Deteacher [47] SpiceWare [42] classicgamer_27330 [39] pis [33] Scrabbler15 [30] Amstari [30] Miss 2600 [27] keilbaca [22] SeaGtGruff [20] Cyncicaster [16] Curious Sofa [16] roadrunner [15] HatefulGravey [15] pokeplayer984 [12] centiqueen81 [10] DT Kofoed [10] LarcenTyler [8] Krytol [7] cparsley [7] zylon [5] Cortat G [5] bennybingo [5] Stan [3] atariUCLA24 [3] Mister VCS [2] SpaceDice2010 [2] littleman jack [2] Wickeycolumbus [1] Mangia-Boy [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Hints and Tips As always, you really should read the manuals. In case you don't have the manuals, AtariAge has typed or scanned versions of all four manuals. Please see their individual pages linked above for hints and tips (They will not be reprinted here). --Zero

Important Note - This weeks contest is over and no further scores will be accepted. Far beyond the Northwest Territory, icebergs crack and the wind chill factor is minus 40⁰. This is the land of Eskimos and igloos, of polar bears and frozen toes. This is the home of Frostbite Bailey. Part survivor, part architect, part nuts. He eats raw fish for sustenance but really dines on danger. He's the guy with ice water running through his veins. A bona fide working class hero. You see, Frostbite builds igloos for a living. Iceblock to iceblock, he jumps high and low, while danger follows every leap. Killer clams, Alaskan King Crab, snow geese and big bad bears. Yet Frostbite will not be deterred. From the frigid morn through the dead of night, heeding only the call of the wild, he works on and on. Maybe it's the spirit of Peary. Or, maybe his brain's gone numb. In any case, he's still there and he'd like you to join him. Frostbite Bailey - Building igloos and legends. Game Information Game Name: Frostbite Released By: Activision, 1983 Left Difficulty: N/A Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Game 1 - Regular, 1 Player 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 April 20th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Arctic Architect - Score 120,000 points or more and you get 2 bonus points. Arctic Adventures - Write a short story chronicling one of of Frostbite Bailey's many adventures, and you get 4 bonus points (Must be at least three paragraphs long)classicgamer_27330 [+4] LarcenTyler [+4] Vocelli [+4] Amstari [+4] Miss 2600 [+4] JacobZu7zu7 [+4] Scrabbler15 [+4] roadrunner [+4] Cynicaster [+4] Gorfy [+4] HatefulGravey [+4] toymailman [+4] DT Kofoed [+4] cparsley [+4] Curious Sofa [+4] oyamafamily [+4] Current High Scores 526,300 (oyamafamily) [+11][+2] 442,200 (Cynicaster) [+10][+2] 314,840 (JacobZu7zu7) [+9][+2] 283,570 (centiqueen81) [+8][+2] 274,830 (Frostbite76) [+7][+2] 250,950 (toymailman) [+6][+2] 222,610 (Vocelli) [+5][+2] 186,390 (DT Kofoed) [+4][+2] 159,840 (Deteacher) [+3][+2] 143,100 (Cortat G) [+2][+2] 141,440 (cparsley) [+1][+2] 136,950 (pis) [+1][+2] 133,900 (classicgamer_27330) [+1][+2] 132,380 (Stan) [+1][+2] 121,100 (SpiceWare) [+1][+2] 114,070 (Gorfy) [+1] 94,690 (pokeplayer984) [+1] 76,120 (roadrunner) [+1] 59,790 (Mangia-Boy) [+1] 48,470 (Curious Sofa) [+1] 39,460 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 30,920 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 18,890 (bennybingo) [+1] 11,990 (Krytol) [+1] 9130 (Amstari) [+1] 7460 (HatefulGravey) [+1] 6750 (Miss 2600) [+1] Best Tips oyamafamily [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)1,832,730 (Todd Rogers) 334,880 (Keith C Post) 316,470 (Robert Macauley) Current Standings JacobZu7zu7 [79] oyamafamily [77] toymailman [73] Vocelli [67] Frostbite76 [60] Gorfy [48] Deteacher [42] SpiceWare [39] classicgamer_27330 [32] pis [30] Scrabbler15 [25] Amstari [25] Miss 2600 [22] keilbaca [22] SeaGtGruff [20] Curious Sofa [11] pokeplayer984 [11] roadrunner [10] HatefulGravey [10] Krytol [6] zylon [5] bennybingo [4] LarcenTyler [3] atariUCLA24 [3] Mister VCS [2] SpaceDice2010 [2] littleman jack [2] Wickeycolumbus [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Cortat G [1] Scoring Points in Frostbite Points per Iceblock - 10 x level number Entering Igloo - 160 x level number After level eight, the scoring remains constant at 90 and 1440 respectively. Catch a fish - 200 points Each degree remaining on entering igloo - 10 x degrees x level number Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Learn to use the red button sparingly. The best time to use it is to 'fake out' the bear by drawing him to the middle of the screen and quickly changing direction. Don't be greedy with the fish. Get them if they come by. However, going out of your way often uses too much time. Another thing: You can move Frostbite Bailey in mid-air and, at the higher levels, you can really hook him around. Check out just how far he'll go. Notice that hazards only get you when both feet are planted. Therefore, it's possible to jump 'around' hazards since they can't hurt you in mid-air. Now here's a secret tip I've decided to share: If you jump up onto the extreme left of the shore, the bear can't get you. It's Frostbite's emergency hide-out. We played this game twice before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out this thread, and this thread for more information. Frostbite76 Stay towards the middle of the screen as much as possible. Try to stay about 1 1/2-2 ice blocks away from the edges When things start to move fast (around 50,000) start to change ice directions often. Do this to keep yourself away from the edge of the screen. You don't have to worry about time when things get fast. Jump about 2 or more ice blocks behind the Crabs. oyamafamily Each cycle is composed by 8 levels: 4 levels on DAY screen, and 4 on NIGHT screen. You complete the cycle each time you build and enter the fourth igloo on NIGHT screen. On level 2 / Cycle 1, DON'T enter the igloo quickly, because many fishes appear on the screen. Eat them as many as possible, sacrifice yourself jumping to Arctic Sea, or leaving the temperature drop to 0 degrees. That way, you can maximize the temperature for that level and score more bonus points. Speaking about fishes: TRY to eat them as many as possible on slower levels; and try to use FIRE button when the fishes appear on the playfield. If you have 9 Frostbites in reserve, sacrifice yourself (i.e., jump to Arctic Sea, touch Alaskan King Crab, Geese, Killer Clam or Polar Grizzly, or let the temperature drop to ZERO) before entering the igloo to maximize the time for that board and thereby get more bonus points based on timer. Try NOT to lose 2 or more lives on the current board, and be careful with hazardous enemies. On level 9 and onwards, you essentialy get an Extra Frostbite every level, because you score more than 5000 points per board, including bonus via entering the igloo and time remaining. Try to jump behind the enemies as they pass, because they CAN'T change direction. In mid-air, you can change your direction many times during each jumping. Practice jumping over hazardous enemies and landing between them. For each jumping, you can use horizontal and vertical directions at the same time. The contact with Alaskan King Crabs, Geese, Fishes, and Killer Clams occurs when Frostbite is on the ice blocks. On the shore, the contact with Polar Grizzly DOESN'T occur if you jump onto the left side of the screen; so, use this for emergencies. Try to position Frostbite Bailey at the center of the screen while you jump on the ice blocks. This action minimizes the risk of touching the enemies or falling in the Arctic Sea. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Worm War I has begun. Hordes of giant worms are decending upon the city of Teriyaki! It's up to you, a master tank commander, to skillfully navigate through the ruins and blow away these destructive invaders. Be careful, many a good driver has run out of a gas and been wiggled to death under the weight of a giant worm. Lots of luck, commander! Game Information Game Name: Worm War I Released By: 20th Century Fox, 1982 Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Fixed Worm Movement Right Difficulty: B / Novice - Faster Brake Response Game Mode: Default 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 April 13th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Worm Warrior - Score 150,000 points or higher and you get 2 bonus points. Current High Scores 1,000,000 (oyamafamily) [+11][+2] 1,000,000 (Gorfy) [+11][+2] 1,000,000 (Vocelli) [+11][+2] 1,000,000 (toymailman) [+11][+2] 1,000,000 (Scrabber15) [+11][+2] 1,000,000 (JacobZu7zu7) [+11][+2] 1,000,000 (Frostbite76) [+11][+2] 300,365 (classicgamer_27330) [+10][+2] 212,035 (pokeplayer984) [+9][+2] 184,760 (Amstari) [+8][+2] 152,300 (SpiceWare) [+7][+2] 124,125 (Curious Sofa) [+6] 97,050 (keilbaca) [+5] 84,875 (HatefulGravey) [+4] 79,575 (Krytol) [+3] 60,040 (roadrunner) [+2] 46,695 (zylon) [+1] 40,445 (Miss 2600) [+1] Best Tips Scrabbler15 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)656,565 (Stephen Riesenberger) 71,065 (Greg Troutman) 30,520 (Glenn Bussell) Current Standings JacobZu7zu7 [66] oyamafamily [64] toymailman [60] Vocelli [54] Frostbite76 [47] Deteacher [42] Gorfy [35] pis [30] SpiceWare [30] Miss 2600 [21] SeaGtGruff [20] classicgamer_27330 [20] keilbaca [17] Amstari [15] Scrabbler15 [10] roadrunner [8] HatefulGravey [6] Curious Sofa [5] zylon [4] bennybingo [4] Krytol [3] LarcenTyler [3] atariUCLA24 [3] Mister VCS [2] SpaceDice2010 [2] littleman jack [2] Wickeycolumbus [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Cortat G [1] Scoring Points in Worm War I The Worms will always attack in groups. Each group begins with the appearance of one Worm on the screen, then two Worms and then three on up to six Worms at once! You earn 20 points for each Worm shot in the first attack group. The Worm point value increases AND bonus points are awarded after every group is destroyed. You can also get points for blasting down obstacle Blocks. Blocks are always worth 5 points a piece. Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: To avoid being totally clobbered by hordes of Worms, pull back on the stick whenever a new group is appearing. If a fuel Pagoda appears on top of a block, carefully shoot away the block, or try just to nick the Pagoda. When you are refueling, you are safe from collisions. Use this to move over inconvenient Blocks. The far left and right sides of the screen are safe spots, but don't hang there too long. If you don't shoot Worms, you won't bring on any Pagodas. Scrabbler15 The faster that you run into the house, the more extra seconds you get . Slam into it, then hit the brakes afterwards (pull back on thie stick) Aim your shooter into the middle of the group of worms. Accidental shooter counts the same as sharpshooter. When the group of worms materializes, take a half second to see to if a house comes up, too. Shooting the house clears the screen. Try to do this when you run out of room to move side to side. After shooting the house, if another house comes up immediately, make quick work of the worms and run all out to the house to get the extra time. Shoot the blocks on either side of the house beforehand, so you have somewhere to go after soaking up the seconds in the house. When there are lots of blocks, clear a column that will allow worm shooting as they go back and forth. Keep widening the column, as possible. The house seems to come up less often at the higher level, so take advantage when the chance comes. JacobZu7zu7 WAIT FOR THE WORMS TO "FORM" BEFORE SHOOTING... if you only hold down the fire button you will shoot precious gas stations. When you shoot down a gas station you start the round over again, so the worms will be back in which ever group, they started in. Be a patient driver. There is plenty of time "go slowly" (unless picking up gas) and collect as much gasoline as your tank can handle! Of course always shoot worms as fast as possible. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. You are a deep sea diver in search of a fabulous treasure of diamonds that spilled from the hold of a Spanish galeon that sank during a fierce storm in the early sixteenth century. You dive deep into the murky darkness of Dave Jones' Locker, and enter the shark-infested maze of kelp to retrieve the treasure. You know your mission is rife with danger...the menace of the man-eating sharks that patrol the kelp beds...the lurking menace of the legendary Loch Ness monster, a beast that will pursue you relentlessly if you dare invade its territory. Game Information Game Name: Shark Attack Released By: Games by Apollo, 1982 Left Difficulty: B / Novice (Move Faster) Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Game 5 - You Control Shark Cage Door 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 April 6th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Salvage Expert - Score 100 points or higher and you get 2 bonus points. Call Your Shots - Guess what position you will end the week in. If you guessed correctly, you'll get 3 bonus points. If you were within one position of your guess, you'll get 1 bonus point. Guesses must be made before Saturday.JacobZu7zu7 - 2nd (Finished 1st [+1]) toymailman - 3rd (Finished 3rd [+3]) Vocelli - 3rd (Finished 4th [+1]) Deteacher - 3rd (Finished 2nd [+1]) Gorfy - 6th (Finished 6th [+3]) classicgamer_27330 - 7th (Finished 8th [+1]) Scrabbler15 - 7th (Finished 11th) Miss 2600 - 8th (Finished 13th) oyamafamily - 9th (Finished 9th [+3]) roadrunner - 12th (Finished 10th) Amstari - 12th (Finished 12th [+3]) Frostbite76 - 13th (Finished 7th) Current High Scores 216 (JacobZu7zu7) [+11][+2] 178 (Deteacher) [+10][+2] 177 (toymailman) [+9][+2] 169 (Vocelli) [+8][+2] 151 (SpiceWare) [+7][+2] 145 (Gorfy) [+6][+2] 133 (Frostbite76) [+5][+2] 113 (classicgamer_27330) [+4][+2] 111 (oyamafamily) [+3][+2] 106 (roadrunner) [+2][+2] 103 (Scrabbler15) [+1][+2] 102 (Amstari) [+1][+2] 101 (Miss 2600) [+1][+2] 98 (Krytol) [+1] 94 (Cortat G) [+1] 87 (Curious Sofa) [+1] 62 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)999 (Todd Rogers) 162 (Robert T Mruczek) 156 (James Randall) Current Standings oyamafamily [56] JacobZu7zu7 [50] toymailman [46] Vocelli [43] Frostbite76 [40] pis [30] Deteacher [29] Gorfy [24] SpiceWare [21] SeaGtGruff [19] Miss 2600 [18] keilbaca [17] classicgamer_27330 [13] Amstari [9] Scrabbler15 [7] HatefulGravey [6] zylon [4] roadrunner [4] Curious Sofa [4] bennybingo [4] LarcenTyler [3] atariUCLA24 [3] Mister VCS [2] Krytol [2] SpaceDice2010 [2] littleman jack [2] Wickeycolumbus [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] Scoring Points in Shark Attack You get 1 point for every diamond that you bring back to the shark cage Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any specific hints or tips. toymailman One of my tips for this game is let the shark eat the gold on the edges. It can take a while, but is very helpful if you are patient. Deteacher Find the "sticky" spots and avoid those areas if at all possible. Usually, if there's a diamond in a sticky spot, there's another way to get around to it. When Nessie is out, use that time (and the mystery caves) to scour the edges for diamonds. This tip is especially helpful later on when the shark is faster. Need to take a break? Move your diver into the bottom left hand corner, but don't enter the cave. The shark will keep going across the screen, but he won't get you. This won't work if Nessie is out already. I've put him down there, taken a potty break, gotten a drink, done some laundry, etc. When I came back, my diver was safe and sound and the shark was still hunting for him. oyamafamily AVOID collecting a lot of diamonds before moving your diver to the shark cage. This action decreases the risk of losing many diamonds via touching the shark or Nessie monster. For each 50 points scored, the shark speeds up; so, be careful. To increase the chances of scoring 100 points or more to get 2 bonus points via "Salvage Expert" Challenge, I tried to deposite the diamonds in the shark cage until my score reached between 45-49 points, and collect the diamonds as many as possible; then I deposited in the shark cage quickly to avoid the loss of diamonds which were collected. When you collect the diamonds at the right or left side of the screen, quickly move away your diver from these sides to decrease the risk of touching the shark. Try to position your diver at the center of maze. On the later levels, try to collect a few of diamonds and deposite them in the shark cage quickly. Pay attention about the sharks: if a shark encounters any diamonds, he will eat one; if a shark bumps against the cage, he will remove one diamond from the cage (according to manual). If you are inside the closed cage, a shark WILL NOT kill your diver; so, use this to take the advantage. Also, pay attention about the red monster (Nessie): the shark cage is not protected against this monster. I always positioned my diver to one of the corners, and I used the mystery caves until Nessie entered and went back to sleep. To enter one of the four corners caves, move your Joystick horizontally; note that the top caves are horizontal and the bottom caves, vertical. At 450-point mark, the sharks decelerate completely, and return to initial speed (this speed refers to score between 0 and 49 points). Consequently, this game stats over from initial level (i.e., the sharks across the screen at the lower speed) for every multiple of 500 points. Between 250 and 450-point marks (and plus every multiple of 500 points, i.e., 750-950, 1250-1450 points, etc.), Nessie (the red monster) appears in the maze more constantly. I often position my diver to one of the corners quickly, and I try to collect diamonds near the corners. You gain bonus lives for every multiple of 100 points, unless you have 3 divers (the maximum number). These 3 lives include the current diver that is present on the screen. If you have 3 dives and if your score is very close to complete every multiple of 100 points (examples: 90-99, 190-199, 290-299 points, etc.), let the shark or Nessie Monster touch your diver ONCE. JacobZu7zu7 Check out his extensive tips here, here and here. --Zero

Sorry for the late score update... I've been busy with work this month (next week is likely to be just as bad... though hopefully things will ease up after that). classicgamer_27330 & Scrabbler15: You'll have to do better than that to get the 3 point bonus --Zero

There are two on GameGavel at the moment. Link. The guy also has some other rare Atari stuff, including a bunch of sealed late-release games. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Over scorching deserts, through dark, icy caverns, around a fiery volcano, and under the leafy cover of a steamy jungle, you and five brave friends set out to retrieve the treasures stolen by the Evil Master. Your goal is his castle, far, far away. Your friends are unarmed, but you carry your trusty crossbow. By shooting swift arrows you can save your companions from the dangerous attacks of the Master's Evil Creatures - scorpions, ants, vultures, man-eating plants, bats, monkeys, and other horrible beings. When you reach the castle, the Evil Master's expert archers await you, ready to test their aim with deadly swords and arrows. Inside the castle a fierce dragon also waits, guarding the treasure with his fiery breath. Few adventurers have dared to make this trek. No one yet has come back alive. Which Way to the Castle? Game Information Game Name: Crossbow Released By: Atari, 1988 Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Slower Shots Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Game 1 (Visible Site, No Friendly Fire) 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 March 30th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Expert Arbalist - Score 75,000 points or higher, and you get 2 bonus points. Level Designer - Design a new level for the game, distinct from the existing ones and you get 3 bonus points. This can be either a rough drawing or a mock-up screenshot, and should include a short explanation of how the level would work, and maybe some backstory.JacobZu7zu7 [+3] Amstari [+3] Vocelli [+3] pis [+3] Gorfy [+3] oyamafamily [+3] toymailman [+3] Miss 2600 [+3] classicgamer_27330 [+3] Frostbite76 [+3] Deteacher [+3] Current High Scores 1,000,000 (JacobZu7zu7) [+11][+2] 897,850 (toymailman) [+10][+2] 801,200 (Gorfy) [+9][+2] 488,350 (oyamafamily) [+8][+2] 436,650 (Frostbite76) [+7][+2] 342,500 (pis) [+6][+2] 148,550 (Deteacher) [+5][+2] 143,050 (SpiceWare) [+4][+2] 110,400 (keilbaca) [+3][+2] 86,500 (Miss 2600) [+2][+2] 86,200 (Vocelli) [+1][+2] 76,950 (classicgamer_27330) [+1][+2] 60,950 (Amstari) [+1] 32,900 (Curious Sofa) [+1] 27,450 (zylon) [+1] 24,900 (littleman jack) [+1] 19,350 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 14,850 (roadrunner) [+1] 9650 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 4350 (atariUCLA24) [+1] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B) 1,156,950 (Douglas C Korekach) 478,900 (Stephen Knox) 468,950 (Tom Swingle) Current Standings oyamafamily [43] Vocelli [37] JacobZu7zu7 [32] toymailman [31] Frostbite76 [28] Deteacher [19] pis [19] SeaGtGruff [18] SpiceWare [15] keilbaca [12] Miss 2600 [11] Gorfy [10] classicgamer_27330 [7] Scrabbler15 [6] HatefulGravey [6] Amstari [5] bennybingo [4] zylon [3] roadrunner [3] Curious Sofa [3] LarcenTyler [3] Mister VCS [2] Krytol [2] SpaceDice2010 [2] atariUCLA24 [2] Wickeycolumbus [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] littleman jack [1] Scoring Points in Crossbow Across the Desert Snake - 200 points Vulture - 100 points Scorpion - 50 points Ant - 50 points Through the Caverns Bat - 100 points Falling stalactite - 50 points Hanging stalactitie - 50 points At the Volcano Burning lava - 100 points Falling rock - 50 points Resting rock - 50 points In the Jungle Monkey - 100 points Coconut - 100 points Voracious plant - 50 points Outside the Drawbridge Vulture - 200 points Archer - 100 points Arrow - 50 points Inside the Castle Hall Statue's staff - 200 points Dagger - 100 points Arrow - 100 points Dragon's fire - 100 points Torch - 50 points In Every Danger Zone Evil Master's Eye - 1000 points When you get all your friends through the trap door in the Castle Hall, you earn 10,000 bonus points and gain another friend (unless you already have four friends). Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any specific hints, though it does provide some useful descriptions of some of the hazards. We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. oyamafamily Extensive tips in his post here. JacobZu7zu7 Extensive tips in his post here. Deteacher My tips for the cave and the drawbridge levels: Find the line that the birds fly to attack your friends and get your cursor on that line. Then it's just a matter of moving your cursor left and right to fend off everything. Your cursor will be high enough to hit the icicles/arrows from hitting you, and on the right line to pick off the birds that attack you left/right. --Zero

As do some models of Xbox 360 (the newer 4GB models anyways). I think cloud-computing devices like OnLive are the REAL future of video games. I'm not a fan of the concept myself, but I think it's pretty much inevitable. --Zero

I haven't actually played it myself, but check out "Town With No Name" for the Amiga CDTV: YOU WATCHED IT! YOU CAN'T UNWATCH IT! --Zero

God damn... now I don't feel so bad about spending what I did for mine! --Zero

NTSC, BC0100027313 Complete with box and manual. Practically brand new and untouched. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Mario the carpenter and his brother Luigi are hopping mad! The water pipes in their house are blocked with nests of crawling creatures. If the two brothers can't get rid of them they'll never take a bath again! Game Information Game Name: Mario Bros. Released By: Atari, 1983 Left Difficulty: N/A Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Game 1 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 March 23rd at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Master Plumber - Score 150,000 points or higher and you get 3 bonus points. Photoshop Phun - Splice 2600 Mario into one of his other adventures on another platform, and you'll get 2 bonus points. Amstari [+2] JacobZu7zu7 [+2] classicgamer_27330 [+2] Frostbite76 [+2] Vocelli [+2] oyamafamily [+2] SpiceWare [+2] Miss 2600 [+2] bennybingo [+2] SeaGtGruff [+2] HatefulGravey [+2] keilbaca [+2] Deteacher [+2] Current High Scores 838,200 (oyamafamily) [+11][+3] 544,300 (JacobZu7zu7) [+10][+3] 488,000 (Vocelli) [+9][+3] 337,200 (Frostbite76) [+8][+3] 222,700 (pis) [+7][+3] 199,900 (toymailman) [+6][+3] 199,700 (Deteacher) [+5][+3] 169,500 (Miss 2600) [+4][+3] 132,600 (HatefulGravey) [+3] 123,300 (zylon) [+2] 111,100 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 108,300 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 106,300 (Mister VCS) [+1] 105,200 (SpiceWare) [+1] 89,300 (Gorfy) [+1] 89,200 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 89,100 (roadrunner) [+1] 84,300 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] 84,100 (bennybingo) [+1] 84,000 (Amstari) [+1] 76,900 (keilbaca) [+1] 67,300 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 63,900 (Curious Sofa) [+1] 56,500 (Krytol) [+1] Best Tips pis [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)1,883,800 (Steve Germershausen) 1,677,400 (Todd Rogers) 1,005,600 (Kevin M Hebert) Current Standings oyamafamily [27] Vocelli [23] toymailman [22] JacobZu7zu7 [17] SeaGtGruff [15] Frostbite76 [15] SpiceWare [12] Gorfy [9] Deteacher [9] keilbaca [9] pis [7] Scrabbler15 [5] classicgamer_27330 [4] roadrunner [2] Miss 2600 [2] SpaceDice2010 [2] Curious Sofa [2] Amstari [2] LarcenTyler [2] atariUCLA24 [2] zylon [1] Krytol [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] theKLT [1] Mister VCS [1] HatefulGravey [1] bennybingo [1] DickNixonArisen [1] leematari [1] littleman jack [1] Scoring Points in Mario Bros. Kicking a pest off a floor - 800 points Kicking Slipice off a floor - 800 points Bonus Wafer - 800 points Bonus coin - 800 points Punching Slipice - 500 points Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Use your POW switch when there is more than one pest on the screen. Watch out for the last pest on the screen--it will speed up and be much harder to punch. Try to hit a Sidestepper two times as quickly as possible. If you're fast, you can flip it over before it scurries off to a different level. Learn the fastest routs to pick up coins during a coin phase You'll earn more points for kicking rather than punching Slipice. Slipice always stops on the lowest unfrozen floor. Wait for him to stop, then kick him off before he freezes the floor. We played this game twice before in the High Score Club, back in Season 4, and way back in Season 1. Check out those threads for more hints and tips. pis The fireballs are the real enemy in this game, so stay in the midle of the third or first floor/level as much as possible so you can detect the fireballs coming and JUMP OVER them. Don't try to run away from the fireballs, practice on jumping over them instead. If you have to move to the sides of the screen wait until you see the fireball go off, so you can avoid it. The last sidestepper (crab) of every level is very fast, so punch it ones on the fourth floor/level (you standing on third) and then run down and punch it again on the second (you standing on first floor). oyamafamily Tip About Bonus Lives: You get a bonus Mario for every 20K points, EXCEPT for every multiple of 100K. It means you get an extra Mario at 20K, 40K, 60K, 80K, 120K, 140K, 160K, 180K, 220K, and so fourth. Tip for Beginners: To learn how to play Mario Bros., practice with Game 3 (5 lives to start without fireballs). Then, play Game 1 (which is chosen for this contest). --Zero

Wow, this was a busy week with a lot of competition! I wish I could have updated more often, but work has been hectic. Congratulations on an incredible score Frostbite, and on such extensive tips Jacob! Judging cartridges has been rather tricky, and I probably made a poor choice attempting this with Imagic carts, as the reflective labels don't photograph well, and they seem to be quite durable. The worst cartridge is obviously pis's (though he had a bit of an advantage with the poor quality white label)... but for the best label, I couldn't choose between SpiceWare and toymailman... they both look to be in excellent condition with no real faults. Miss 2600 and bennybingo were close seconds, but lost out due to some dirt in the plastic ridges near the Imagic logo. Some pictures were simply too blurry to really critique properly (Mister VCS's in particular looks to be in great condition, but the very slight blurring in the picture hides the slight scratches that show up in the sharper pictures, so it's hard to compare properly). Oh, and of course pictures of Harmony Carts were disqualified. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Dragons have driven the Royal Court from the Castle. "O we are lost, lost" laments the King. "Without our vast treasures we cannot raise an army 'gainst these accursed dragons. Our Kingdom must now languish under lizards!" "Nay, not so, my liege!" replied the young Prince. "None knows that Castle, those many bridges and storerooms, better than I. Give me leave and I shall loot those lizards of their plunder and restore my lord to his birthright." "Brave boy," said the King, fully pleased. "But," he added darkly, "beware dread dragonfire!" Game Information Game Name: Dragonfire Released By: Imagic, 1982 Left Difficulty: B / Novice Right Difficulty: B / Novice Game Mode: Game 1 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 March 16th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Master Thief - Score 15,000 points or higher for 2 bonus points. Clean Cartridge Challenge - Post a picture of your Dragonfire cartridge... If your cartridge is the one in the best condition, you'll get 2 bonus points. If your's is the worst cartridge, you'll get 1 bonus point. Please don't intentionally damage any cartridges for this! Best - Tie: SpiceWare [+2] & toymailman [+2] Worst - pis [+1] Current High Scores 182,170 (Frostbite76) [+11][+2] 68,130 (toymailman) [+10][+2] 40,160 (oyamafamily) [+9][+2] 36,250 (Vocelli) [+8][+2] 35,510 (keilbaca) [+7][+2] 26,240 (Deteacher) [+6][+2] 23,300 (JacobZu7zu7) [+5][+2] 21,620 (pis) [+4][+2] 15,100 (SpiceWare) [+3][+2] 13,290 (Gorfy) [+2] 11,110 (theKLT) [+1] 10,580 (Mister VCS) [+1] 10,290 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 9760 (HatefulGravey) [+1] 9290 (classicgamer_27330) [+1] 9040 (Amstari) [+1] 8950 (SpaceDice2010) [+1] 8440 (bennybingo) [+1] 7700 (DickNixonArisen) [+1] 6890 (leematari) [+1] 6710 (Curious Sofa) [+1] 6520 (Miss 2600) [+1] 6440 (roadrunner) [+1] 5110 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 4720 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 3400 (littleman jack) [+1] 2800 (atariUCLA24) [+1] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)1,265,310 (Todd Rogers) 106,300 (Stephen R Riesenberger) 102,350 (Christian L Keilback) Current Standings oyamafamily [16] SeaGtGruff [14] Vocelli [13] JacobZu7zu7 [8] toymailman [8] Gorfy [7] SpiceWare [5] Scrabbler15 [4] classicgamer_27330 [3] Frostbite76 [2] Deteacher [1] zylon [1] roadrunner [1] Miss 2600 [1] SpaceDice2010 [1] Curious Sofa [1] Krytol [1] Amstari [1] rmaerz [1] Cream147 [1] MIKE5200 [1] LarcenTyler [1] atariUCLA24 [1] Scoring Points in Dragonfire Jug - 10 points Lamp - 10 points Goblet - 10 points Helmet - 60 points Candelabra - 60 points Chest - 200 points Harp - 200 points Diamond - 400 points Crown - 400 points Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Don't spend any more time on the bridge than you have to. Cross it as fast as you can and you'll encounter fewer fireballs. If you face an impossible combination of fireballs on the bridge, run back to the right tower if you can make it in time...you're safe there. Or make the Prince squeeze through close-trailing fireballs by jumping from a crouch (pull joystick and press button at the same time). In the treasure room, run fast to the objects. KEEP MOVING! Return to the hiding place if you need a rest, because the Dragon never stops hunting. We played this game twice before in the High Score Club, back in Season 2 and again in Season 4. You may want to check out those threads for more hints and tips. JacobZu7zu7 STARTING A GAME, When starting or resetting a game of Dragonfire, look at the bottom of the screen... where your total of lives are, The correct total of life's should reach the second ZERO in your score, (6 lives in reserve). Sometimes when hitting reset or the fire button, You suddenly are missing 1 life!! To avoid this, before starting a new game, just shut down the power switch and turn it back on. For some odd reason the fire button takes away one of your lives in reserve and only give you (5) back up lives and not (6). THE BRIDGE You are safe from both two flames behind the right corner of the castle! If you run out on the bridge nervous, and unsure, and two fireballs are on their way adjacent to each other, run right and jump right to safety. If there's no time to run from the top flame, DUCK the top flame,...then run right back to the castle, since you can "always" outrun the bottom flame. There's also a time where you CAN get passed two closely spit together flames, to do that... duck the top flame, then JUMP in PLACE to avoid the bottom flame. Always keep trying to press left into the Castle. Don't stall! I've gotten passed the bridge my last game, (over 15ks) every time losing ZERO lives! You actually can jump over the bottom flame (still in a tuck position), THIS helps me a lot... and stops me from running back home on the bridge. Practice jumping the lower slower flames, in a TUCK, but remember the flame has to nearly be burning your knees, before you should jump. If you jump at all soon, you will burn. It always works on those two SLOW flames. It's to tricky to stay tucked and jump the bottom flame, when you don't have to, only use this when you get advanced enough, and that top fire is close to the bottom and there's no time to run back. If you are at a beginner level, you should practice jumping on the bridge, and learn different ways to cross. Just keep doing it, before ever entering the castle/treasure room. CROSSING THE BRIDGE My best technique so far, is... I first run out almost half way, stop... duck the first flame, jump the second... then wait in a tuck, for the next flame to shoot over my head (never try to jump across here) always wait for the third flame above to cross. Then when that flame goes over your head, raise back up and jump again... INTO the castle. Sometimes another bottom flame will appear, but if you get your footing/technique right... your jump will clear it. DON'T TRY TO JUMP to the castle after ducking only one top flame, it's only 70% effective. After tucking that "second" fireball speeding past your head, come up, and jump into the castle. I recommend jumping into the last space into the castle, don't run, because of that sudden bottom flame that occurs, about 30% of the time. INSIDE THE TREASURE ROOM Don't try to snag treasures straight to the (LEFT) of your safe box, if one treasure is sooo close u can smell it (left of your starting zone), that dragon will fireball you dead before you can even reach it! Don't try that pattern over again either, same thing will happen and 3 lives or all will be lost! Also before re-entering the room "WAIT" a second after losing a life in the treasure room, you don't wanna send another man out to get burned by fire that's not even crossed to the top yet! Make sure all fire is cleared before leaving the box again, always use an angle upward! You can snag one treasure to the RIGHT side of the box, but it's probably smart to get back in your box after doing that! If you don't want to run immediately out of the safe box, after clearing the bridge, make sure you pull down/right on your joystick. Doesn't matter if you left the box for a second, the dragon has to cross the left side of the screen to get you, you are fast, you will get back in the box if you pull the joystick down/right. If you wanna get out of the box, always angle yourself up/left corner in doing that. Or you can try mostly UP. NEVER try straight across the dragon! Also a problem can be, if you don't put enough angle on your left running... that FIRST fire ball will most likely sizzle you down! The first 4 levels of Dragons don't shoot fire at the farthest right or left! You can hide anywhere at the far left or right side if the screen! For beginners this is a great way to avoid dragons in the first 4 rounds, that are literally "hot" on your tail. However, once you reach the yellow dragon on the 5th level... you cannot use the left or right side of walls to escape, which now brings to the next tip. Your treasure box, is your only true safe place in the treasure room, after level 4 (the red dragon). So, if you struggle getting away from the fireballs, approach from the upper left corner, then zoom diagonal down/right The skating around technique, if you feel lost but don't want to go back into your treasure box, the dragon follows you, so... skating around the room, in a figure 8 fashion, (but a number "8" laying on it's side) you can weave fire, and maybe snag a few final treasures to escape. The number 8, technique, works best with the treasures nearest to the dragon, those tough ones! You gotta either weave a tight 8, 'till you reach that last 1 or 2 treasures, or you can kinda go straight up and down, snag... then fly diagonal up/right to the exit box. To exit the treasure room every time, it may be a mild risk, but when heading upper left to the exit, just before hitting the box, I always like to hit the left wall, and push right on the joystick. So I always am able to get in the exit box. I never miss it, by hitting the left wall for a half second before entering. Of course if you are barely outrunning flames, you might need to swing right and back left to exit safely. Rush, but don't rush in treasure rooms, This is vital, I'll explain... the dragons fireballs often are slower then you are! Many mistakes happen from "over steering" the joystick in a panic to clear the room of treasures. Remember there's no time limit! Patience is a key needed, in difficult patterns to snag the treasures. Sometimes (outside the box) just waiting for the fire to "near" you and then moving out into your next pattern or exit/safe box, can be helpful. I find myself running into fire, instead of knowing better. I'm working on it, but I think the real rush starts at the yellow dragon and beyond that. I rarely lose 1 life before the white dragon now. ADVANCED TIPS (WHITE DRAGON ROOM), The White dragon is one tough punk as* b*tch! One technique that works for me, is don't always try to clear every single piece of treasure and leave. Instead look at the treasure and visualize a route! Then you can snag most, or even just a few treasures, then go back into your safe box for a mental break! This will stop the dragons fireballs and reset him! You should actually (visualize) a plan a new route each time you leave your box... you also can repeat this as often as you want. Just practice getting back into your safe box in one piece, using the diagonal right/down, on the joystick... it takes practice but it works for me! All dragons go from the left screen to the right, so I like to hop out of the box immediately,(UNTILL THE WHITE DRAGON LEVEL) the White Dragon fireballs really can put you at "game over" quickly, this could prove a deadly move... I find it better now to plan where you want to run to, before leaving your safe box. When it's time to leave, don't go left out, don't even go left/diagonal, a fireball will sizzle you to ash. What I find works, is push up with a (slight) angle... you will just clear the first fire ball, then try a figure 8 route to dodge the fireballs and get some treasure, use the safety box if you need to! Memorize the Dragons fireball patterns, he shoots about 3/4 first straight then a curve or a last "middle ball", it's very tough to outrun and dodge these, swerving around left to right, and going back to your safe box is what works for me so far. You might want to practice difficulty level (4), it starts you further in the game, and you get to figure and improve your technique against the white dragons without having to do so many early levels. --Zero