Season 11 ~ Week 24 ~ Beat the Leaders 2

[+McCallister]

27,500

[fakecortex]

Small improvement, but it took me long enough to get it, so here it is

 

15,850

 

This slow scoring game makes every improvement feel like a big gain. Very hard but I don’t hate it. 

[Lauren Tyler]

Some improvement... 22,900

[AtariSphinx]

On 7/19/2021 at 12:55 PM, Atari_Warlord said:

I'm not sure why the default is to have the music off, the tune always helps me get in the zone.

It's interesting that the manual says left difficulty switch in A turns off the music yet it is the opposite in the game.  Guess some miscommunication here.

[AtariSphinx]

Moon Patrol (A/B): 16,360

 

Jumping physics quite different than in the 8-bit computer version that grew up playing. 

[Lauren Tyler]

24,260.  Sometimes, it's better to jump over obstacles rather than trying to shoot them.

[Jasonhrb]

I love this game. It does that thing that so many arcade conversions for the 2600 did, in that despite being way behind the arcade game graphics wise, it somehow manages to be as much fun to play as the arcade game.

 

Sadly I am pushed for time this week, so am struggling to get a decent score on the board. But I'll definitely play this one again after the season ends. 

 

Oh, and how do you deal with those tanks. I always get stuck as soon as I see one of those

[toiletunes]

27,880

[fakecortex]

On 7/22/2021 at 5:58 PM, fakecortex said:

Very hard but I don’t hate it.

Starting to change my tone about this. I just cannot get the hang of it. When I discovered the slow jump, I did worse, crashing on the landing like 80% of the time. This just isn’t my game ?? 

 

At least I like the music haha

[nads]

Moon Patrol : 24,480

 

[AtariSphinx]

Moon Patrol (A/B): 25,960

 

Improvement.   Getting the hang of the jumps.

[kermit73]

Moon Patrol: 39700

 

I'm not done with this game yet, but am posting this now since I'm traveling and am not certain I'll have an internet connection between now and Sunday night.

 

I had this game as a kid, but didn't play it much.  I forgot how difficult this game gets and I don't have much recollection of deep I got into the game when I was younger.  I know I at least got to the point on the second course where the enemy car first appears from behind, but doubt I ever made it much past that point.  I certainly am not making it much past that point now, struggling with the timing of the tanks/craters that appear early in the second course.  Judging from the scores in the 35-40k range posted so far, I expect this is where several of us are getting stuck.

 

It also looks like there are several folks with scores in the 20-28k range who are getting stuck in the last segment of the first course.  I usually don't get past this segment without crashing at least once, but there are a couple things that have helped:

1) To take out the tanks, I usually maintain neutral speed and fire as rapidly as possible until there is just one tank left.  Then I slow down to take out the last tank and have to be careful about timing the jump over the crater at the slower speed.

2) After the tanks, there is a section with several awkwardly spaced rocks and craters, along with enemy ships that create additional craters which are almost impossible to avoid.  I have found that you can adjust your speed to steer the enemy shots and control where they land.  If you can steer the shot to land on or near an existing crater or rock, it's one less obstacle to avoid.

 

I'm discovering how much different this game plays on Stella compared to original hardware.  My first several games were with Stella since I couldn't get my console to work with newer TV in a hotel room and I wasn't in the mood to go back to my car to bring my own small TV into my room.  I've been surprised by the timing differences.  In the section with the mines, on Stella, I just hold the joystick up and let it automatically jump right away to clear certain groups of mines.  On original hardware, this strategy sometimes caused me to jump too early and crash.  I also found that with Stella, I have a much harder time timing my jump over the enemy car that comes from behind near the start of the second course.  I think most of the lag is the joystick input needing to go through a USB adapter before getting to the emulator.  This is probably old news for many of you, but differences in timing associated with an emulator are a new experience for me.

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by kermit73
Fixed a typo.

[fakecortex]

No pic, but you’ll just have to trust me with my whopping 30 pt increase...

 

Patrolling the Moon - 15,880

[Vocelli]

Vocelli:

 

26000:  Always loved this game. Not near my high score but still a great game!

[RGC]

Moon Patrol - 10,350

 

 

[nads]

Small improvement, but this is it for this round

 

Moon Patrol : 25,260

[AtariSphinx]

Moon Patrol (A/B): 34,780

 

Improvement!  @kermit73 tank tip helped.   Thanks

 

Although I grew up playing the 8-bit computer version I am quite impressed with this version.   They got the music,  tanks, mines, and enemy car from behind.  Have not gotten further to see if they managed the lava pits.  Does not seem to have the uphill part which I assume would be difficult on 2600.  Great version but needs more time to really get great at it.

[kermit73]

Moon Patrol: 40000

 

 

[dombradley@googlemail.com]

Moon Patrol: 22980

 

[MrTrust]

22,200.  Not my week.

[Rogerpoco]

Moon Patrol-9000.

Ya'll know, I'm just not really grooving right now, but regardless-I have no ide how I stink so badly at this game, and even at my best I wouldn't expect much better.

The diff switch thing seemed not worth mentioning, as it doesn't affect game play, regardless, "should be" might have better been said as "could be"...

 

 

[Rogerpoco]

4 hours ago, MrTrust said:

22,200.  Not my week.

Pfft.

I'd have been tickled with that score...

 

[RGC]

14,650

 

 

[keilbaca]

36280

[+McCallister]

36,480