Game Basics
In Magma Blaster, you play an Alien Aisha (not that you can see him on the screen anyway) that is selflessly trying to save Tyrannian Neopets from being squished under the smoldering rocks of impending doom.
Setup: You play the game as if you were sitting inside the Magma Blaster 2000. In the center of the screen, there is a big volcano that will spit out rocks at random for you to blast away at. Running around at the base of the volcano are the helpless Tyrannians. More about them next. At the very bottom of the screen is your magma-blasting control center. The top of the screen is where it shows your total game score and the score for the level. It is important to keep an eye on these during each level, as I will explain later.
Lives: You start the game with 5 lives. These are represented as the 5 Neopets scurrying across the bottom of the screen. If a rock falls too close to one of these Neopets, they will experience an untimely demise, and you will lose a life. There is no way to get extra lives, so guard those Neopets’ lives as if they were your own!
Levels: There are 5 levels in Magma Blaster. With each level, one more type of rock gets added. This increases from two types in the Level 1 to six types of rocks in Level 5. The volcano also erupts more frequently, often with more rocks in each eruption.
Scoring: The scoring for this game is pretty simple. Each rock you blast is either worth 2 or 4 points. If you blast the rock while having it centered (or at least close to centered) in your laser sight, you will receive 4 points. However, if your aim is a bit off, only catching the edge of the rock, you will only receive 2 points for your effort. As the basic rounds are not timed, it is better to take your time to get better aim on the rocks than it is to hastily shoot it as soon as it pops out of the volcano.
For each level, you will need to disintegrate a certain number of rocks to advance to the next one. In addition, if you score enough points, you can activate a bonus round (there is one at the end of each level) where you can earn a good chunk of points. The numbers stand like this:
Level 1: 10 rocks to advance, 40 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 2: 15 rocks to advance, 60 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 3: 20 rocks to advance, 80 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 4: 25 rocks to advance, 100 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 5: 30 rocks to complete the game, 120 points to activate the bonus round.
Concentration
Put the dog outside, turn off the TV, and make sure your little brother is in his room, because you don’t want to have any distractions that might break your concentration.
Not only do you have to shoot the rocks, each one has a special laser blast that will only work for it. There are six types of rock, therefore six choices for the laser. You will have to memorize which number corresponds with which rock. Before the start of each level, I usually spend a few seconds reviewing the numbers to myself because I find it helps my performance.
The sound effects for this game are the same for every rock that comes flying out of the volcano, so they are not as helpful as in some other games. If you find your game performance is better without the extra noise, turn off the sound, because it will do nothing but break your concentration.
Shooting
If you take a closer look at your control center, you will see that right in the middle of it is a stone wheel with pictures of some rocks on it. These are all the types of rocks you will be facing in the upcoming level. At the very top of the wheel is a little circle that highlights one of the rocks. This tells you which rock you are currently set to blast. Your cursor also has the image of the type of rock you have selected so you do not have to keep looking down. The regular brown rock is #1, and going clockwise, the next five rocks are #2-6 respectively.
Now the number pad, unfortunately, does not work for this game, so you will have to use the row of numbers located above the letters. When you see a rock, quickly press the number that matches the rock, and then aim and fire. You can fire with either your left mouse button or the space bar.
Another option for choosing the correct laser blast for each rock is to use the Z and X keys to rotate the wheel. This is much harder than just using the numbers, and is not recommended.
Bonus Rounds
These bonus rounds are the key to getting a trophy-worthy score. As I said before, if you score enough points during the regular levels, you can activate a bonus round at the end of each one. During this round, you are given a 15 second free-for-all to shoot as many rocks as you can. A lot of the round depends on luck, such as how many rocks the volcano decides to spit out during the 15 second time period. An average bonus round will probably get you 50-60 points, but a good one could get you 70 points or more!
During the bonus round, the top of the screen will show you the number of rocks you’ve destroyed and the number of seconds remaining. I find that it only wastes your time looking at these, since the objective is to destroy as many as possible. Keep your eyes on the mouth of the volcano for best results.
Extra Tips
An important thing to think about, believe it or not, is where you put your fingers during the game. I, for example, choose to use my index finger for rocks 4, 5, and 6, and assign my middle, ring, and pinky fingers one rock each. My co-author however chooses to only use his ring, middle, and index fingers, while stretching his index to cover rocks 3, 4, 5, and 6. It really is about personal preference, so use whichever way feels most comfortable and efficient for you.
Another tip for getting that trophy score is getting a few extra rocks at the end of each level. The end of the round comes, NOT when you have blasted the number of rocks to advance to the next level, but when you’ve done that and ALSO cleared the screen of rocks. This means that if the last rock you need to advance shoots out, followed by a second rock, you have just potentially earned yourself an extra 4 points. To find out if you are on your last rock, you will have to either count rocks (which is easier if you got some 2 pointers as well has 4 pointers), or look at your level score (which really only works if you got a perfect score on all your rocks). So if you wait until right before your final rocks hit the ground at the end of each level, you can earn those extra points to get you closer to your trophy. This tip will also help you activate those bonus rounds if you have accidentally gotten off a badly aimed shot and received a few 2 point rocks during the level as well.
Hopefully now that you’ve finished reading this guide, you are a little better at Magma Blaster than you were 1,300 words ago! – knd1994123