I am addicted to Astrosmash

[BrianC]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/intellivision/576721-astrosmash/cheats

 

They have a hidden game code here, no sure if I can do it as I have an Inty II

 

 

That may be bogus. Just tried that a dozen times on my Inty 1 and never seen a hidden game or a select screen. Can anybody else confirm?

 

The code is off. There is a hidden Asteroids like game (Meteor!) that can be accessed by hitting the reset button, but it only comes up randomly and there is no consistant way of pulling it off. I got this info from the official Intellivision website (www.intellivisionlives.com), but the links to the page on the site are gone. I think I may have gotten it once, but it's a crap shoot to get. I read that the game was changed because it was too much like Asteroids, but was blocked out instead of removed. It occansionly coming up during reset was an unintended glitch. I also played a bit of it when they offered the intellipacks (with a consistant way of playing Meteor!) and I remember it not being that great.

Edited May 26, 2011 by BrianC

[ghsqb]

Here is the link I think you are referring to on the Blue Sky Rangers Page.

As BrianC mentioned, there is no reliable way to access Meteor, just keep hitting reset and you may catch it.

 

Astrosmash - Meteor!

[IntellivisionDude]

I hit reset dozens of time and nothing yet. Maybe i will get lucky one of these times.

 

 

This thread got me wanting to play a game of Astrosmash. I scored 222,850 which is good for me. Probably my best ever. Game gets insane after 150,000. That's when i starting going down hill. lol

I'm sure some of you can kick my butt. I have a feeling if we had a high score challenge i'd get showed up. Even though i thought i did pretty good.

 

I love it when the spinners fall so fast it's impossible to get over to it, or impossible not smashing into a rock to get over to it. Or when i can't get my ship positioned under small spinner fast enough. Or when 2 spinners fall super fast from opposite sides of the screen. Or when 4-6 spinners drop all at once.

I love it when the flying saucer kills spinners for you that were about to hit the ground.

[ghsqb]

I hit reset dozens of time and nothing yet. Maybe i will get lucky one of these times.

 

 

This thread got me wanting to play a game of Astrosmash. I scored 222,850 which is good for me. Probably my best ever. Game gets insane after 150,000. That's when i starting going down hill. lol

I'm sure some of you can kick my butt. I have a feeling if we had a high score challenge i'd get showed up. Even though i thought i did pretty good.

 

I love it when the spinners fall so fast it's impossible to get over to it, or impossible not smashing into a rock to get over to it. Or when i can't get my ship positioned under small spinner fast enough. Or when 2 spinners fall super fast from opposite sides of the screen. Or when 4-6 spinners drop all at once.

I love it when the flying saucer kills spinners for you that were about to hit the ground.

 

I don't know dude, don't sell yourself short.

 

That's a pretty sick score.

 

I'm not thinking there are too many people that are going to show up that score!

[1980gamer]

I believe you can get the astrosmash with game selection menu from beeslife.com

He also has the timed version of astrosmash.

 

I have them on my CC3.

 

I played a lot of astrosmash back in the day... but never played to the end.

I did not have the patients to finish. I could play for 400,000 or so points.

But that would take so long to get to. No end in sight with hundreds of extra ships.

 

The hyper space button is a key part of the game.

If the guided missile is not shot, it will chase you along the bottom of the screen,

you can hyperspace to avoid the missile, it may take 2 or 3 jumps to do so.

 

Also, when the spinners are falling and you cannot get across to them... hyperspace.

You have nothing to loose. I have made some great plays with the hyperspace!

[zylon]

I have killed a few carts getting Meteor to come up. It usually takes about 100 resets done quickly and only seems to work on the earlier carts.

Hmmm, I see a score above... ,

[zylon]

I hit reset dozens of time and nothing yet. Maybe i will get lucky one of these times.

 

 

This thread got me wanting to play a game of Astrosmash. I scored 222,850 which is good for me. Probably my best ever. Game gets insane after 150,000. That's when i starting going down hill. lol

I'm sure some of you can kick my butt. I have a feeling if we had a high score challenge i'd get showed up. Even though i thought i did pretty good.

 

I love it when the spinners fall so fast it's impossible to get over to it, or impossible not smashing into a rock to get over to it. Or when i can't get my ship positioned under small spinner fast enough. Or when 2 spinners fall super fast from opposite sides of the screen. Or when 4-6 spinners drop all at once.

I love it when the flying saucer kills spinners for you that were about to hit the ground.

 

I don't know dude, don't sell yourself short.

 

That's a pretty sick score.

 

I'm not thinking there are too many people that are going to show up that score!

I'll take that as a challenge! I just let it run autopilot after half a mil. :cool

502,770 I'll have to let the system cool down for a day now. I was in some kind of contest in NJ for this game back in the 80's. Didn't win but got some kind of cool plaque that my father threw out.

[IntellivisionDude]

I hit reset dozens of time and nothing yet. Maybe i will get lucky one of these times.

 

 

This thread got me wanting to play a game of Astrosmash. I scored 222,850 which is good for me. Probably my best ever. Game gets insane after 150,000. That's when i starting going down hill. lol

I'm sure some of you can kick my butt. I have a feeling if we had a high score challenge i'd get showed up. Even though i thought i did pretty good.

 

I love it when the spinners fall so fast it's impossible to get over to it, or impossible not smashing into a rock to get over to it. Or when i can't get my ship positioned under small spinner fast enough. Or when 2 spinners fall super fast from opposite sides of the screen. Or when 4-6 spinners drop all at once.

I love it when the flying saucer kills spinners for you that were about to hit the ground.

 

I don't know dude, don't sell yourself short.

 

That's a pretty sick score.

 

I'm not thinking there are too many people that are going to show up that score!

I'll take that as a challenge! I just let it run autopilot after half a mil. :cool

502,770 I'll have to let the system cool down for a day now. I was in some kind of contest in NJ for this game back in the 80's. Didn't win but got some kind of cool plaque that my father threw out.

 

 

Nice, looks like i'll have to practice up for when this game comes up in the high score challenge.

[atarigal]

Holy moly, those are high scores!! I'll have to get crackin'.

[edintv]

I don´t remember how high my scores was in the 80's but I never reach a million, I did know a guy who claims to get that score. Most of the times i turn off the system before get killed, My Intv overheats back then and was a risk to burn the unit if I play too long.

[SoulBlazer]

Taken from the web pages of the Blue Sky Rangers, here's some playing tips from the programmer himself and details about the contest that was done in 1982 and the (perhaps still) world high score:

 

PLAYING TIPS: From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 1, Fall 1981:

 

Here is some extra ammunition from John P. Sohl, creator of Astrosmash. [Note: this issue was the only time that Intellivision programmers were publicly referred to by name until the inclusion of credits on cartridges late in 1983. The same issue mentions Mike Minkoff as the creator of Bowling.] Sohl says you'll be unbeatable if you follow three basic rules: don't get hit, shoot anything that moves and never take risks unless you have to.

 

Sound easy? It is if you practice Sohl's special techniques for hitting your targets.

 

•To hit rocks, fire two shots rapidly. The first will split the rock, the second will explode both smaller fragments. If you are threatened by a rock and a spinner, go for the spinner.

•Shoot the fastest falling spinners first. Aim carefully; the extra moment you take aiming usually pays off with a hit on the first shot. Go for spinners at any cost -- if one reaches the ground, you've lost.

•Guided missiles are easy to shoot, hard to evade so shoot them high on the screen before they give you trouble. If you miss they'll follow you around. The only way to get rid of them is to lure them off the edge of the screen and use the hyperspace to get away.

•The UFO will appear when the score is over 20,000. It shoots torpedoes at your laser base wherever the base is when the shot is fired. So keep moving and you will avoid 90% of all UFO torpedoes.

Precision aiming is important. To get the highest scores, Sohl says to leave the anti-fire on and steer with the directional wheel using the firing button to get off extra shots as you need them. Keep on shooting!

 

FUN FACT: Late in 1981, Mattel held a series of local "Intellivision VideoChallenge Tournaments" in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles benefiting Variety Clubs International. Contestants competed for prizes (Grand Prize: an RCA projection TV) playing Major League Baseball, Auto Racing, and U.S. Ski Team Skiing. The publicity was so good, that Marketing took the idea national in 1982 with the "$100,000 Astrosmash Shootoff."

 

From March until August 11, Intellivision owners were invited to send photographs of their TV screens showing their high score in Astrosmash. Just for entering, they would receive an Astrosmash Shootoff patch, and it was announced that 16 regional high-scorers would be flown to Houston to compete for eight cash prizes.

 

Over 13,000 people entered, and quickly it became obvious there was a problem. First, because of the scoring bug, many of the pictures showed scores made up of seemingly random ASCII characters. John Sohl had to review the photos and, with an ASCII table, decipher the actual scores. Second, it turned out that no one in Marketing realized that Astrosmash, like many Intellivision games, can be played at slower speeds simply by starting the game by pressing 1, 2, or 3 instead of the disc. (This is a feature programmed into the EXEC.) There was no way of telling who had legitimately obtained a high score and who had played at the easiest speed. There were reports of competitors who literally played for days at the slowest speed, pausing the game (pressing 1 and 9 simultaneously, also programmed into the EXEC) to sleep or go to school.

 

Unable to decide who was legit and who wasn't, instead of the announced 16, Mattel Electronics wound up flying 73 entrants to Houston for an all-expense paid weekend, September 11 & 12, 1982. There, the entrants competed in 1 hour of timed play. 18-year-old Manuel Rodriguez of Stockton, California won the $25,000 top prize with a score of 835,180.

[1980gamer]

Here is the link to a few roms... Including the competition version of Astrosmash!

http://www.intellivision.us/roms/roms.php

 

Also the better version of lock-n-chase.

 

I guess I got the menu version of astrosmash by buying the rom pack for the CC3.

 

I don't think I should give it away.... Just letting you know it is available.

[toptenmaterial]

I am waiting for my INTV II and Astrosmash to arrive in the mail as we speak!!!

[Dryfter]

This is one of my favorite Inty games of all time. I remember Saturday mornings playing this with my mom (yes my mom!). We'd take turns playing. She got really good at it.

 

It's funny at the high levels, when you have like 30 lives left, then you get into a streak when you lose like 10 in a row because the stuff is coming down so fast. You die once and sometimes it's hard to get into a rhythm again.

 

Die...Die...Die....throw controller (die twice while getting the controller) die...get back into rhythm. I love the sound in the game too... Really nothing not to like

Edited June 15, 2011 by Dryfter

[edintv]

This is one of my favorite Inty games of all time. I remember Saturday mornings playing this with my mom (yes my mom!). We'd take turns playing. She got really good at it.

 

It's funny at the high levels, when you have like 30 lives left, then you get into a streak when you lose like 10 in a row because the stuff is coming down so fast. You die once and sometimes it's hard to get into a rhythm again.

 

Die...Die...Die....throw controller (die twice while getting the controller) die...get back into rhythm. I love the sound in the game too... Really nothing not to like

 

I remember those dying strikes, was the signal to quit playing, Maybe i never finish a game, just turn off when I´m losing

 

But not because i was a bad loser, just because when I die too much means that I play for long time, that was time for a break

[+cmart604]

This is one of my favorite Inty games of all time. I remember Saturday mornings playing this with my mom (yes my mom!). We'd take turns playing. She got really good at it.

 

It's funny at the high levels, when you have like 30 lives left, then you get into a streak when you lose like 10 in a row because the stuff is coming down so fast. You die once and sometimes it's hard to get into a rhythm again.

 

Die...Die...Die....throw controller (die twice while getting the controller) die...get back into rhythm. I love the sound in the game too... Really nothing not to like

 

I remember those dying strikes, was the signal to quit playing, Maybe i never finish a game, just turn off when I´m losing

 

But not because i was a bad loser, just because when I die too much means that I play for long time, that was time for a break

 

Yah, like when you look at the screen and there's five spinners plummetting at a ridiculous speed that are impossible to destroy unless you had a Defender smart bomb! Good times.

[bretthorror]

Astrosmash cemented my love for pre-NES games. I got it on the PS2 Intellivision Lives disc and played it for hours. Certainly one of my favorites of all time.

[NightSprinter]

Definitely a new fave of mine on the system. I think actually once you hit the 4x multiplier survival goes to all hell, as that's when it introduces the UFO to the mix. Just like in "Night Stalker" when the armored robot is introduced.

[Vic George 2K3]

I like the game, I just prefer its Atari 2600 counterpart Astroblast, particularly with the paddle controls.

[Gyro]

Taken from the web pages of the Blue Sky Rangers, here's some playing tips from the programmer himself and details about the contest that was done in 1982 and the (perhaps still) world high score:

 

I actually have a game club magazine announcing that contest.. I'm thinking about offering it on Ebay.

[Dryfter]

Taken from the web pages of the Blue Sky Rangers, here's some playing tips from the programmer himself and details about the contest that was done in 1982 and the (perhaps still) world high score:

 

I actually have a game club magazine announcing that contest.. I'm thinking about offering it on Ebay.

 

Get Ready for PMs from a couple people here if you haven't gotten them already....haha

[+cmart604]

Taken from the web pages of the Blue Sky Rangers, here's some playing tips from the programmer himself and details about the contest that was done in 1982 and the (perhaps still) world high score:

 

I actually have a game club magazine announcing that contest.. I'm thinking about offering it on Ebay.

 

Get Ready for PMs from a couple people here if you haven't gotten them already....haha

 

[zylon]

I like the game, I just prefer its Atari 2600 counterpart Astroblast, particularly with the paddle controls.

I love that one too, especially on Diff A.

[ghsqb]

One of these just sold this week on a BIN for $21.95

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 220799885259

[Gyro]

The magazine is now sold.