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Quickly, I’d like to note that unlike many other guides, I’m actually giving you a near fail proof strategy to earn a trophy. You were smart enough to get here. You know the drill. Skip this first part and head straight to the strategy if that’s the kind of thing you do.
Semi-Mandatory Opening
Space, one particular form of frontier. A barren plain of stars, planets, satellites, a bustling neopian market, and lots of empty Achyfi bottles. Okay, so it’s not so barren. But if it was, it would be. Or something.
Anyway, Dr. Sloth is on his way to take over/blow up Neopia, so not much else matters right now. You, of course, can help prevent this. How, you ask? By getting in a shiny space fighter and distracting him for a while, that’s how. No, you don’t stand a chance in Kreludor of defeating Sloth’s titanic battle cruiser, but you’ve got will, determination, and a somewhat reliable ejector seat to insure a safe escape. You’ll probably get a ticker-tape parade when you arrive home, too.
I can’t think of a good transition to the next section, sooooo…
Controls
Luckily, the control console in your fighter is remarkably similar to a keyboard. Also, there’s a mini-fridge, and a place for you to put your 2 Gallon Hatz poster. But those don’t matter… So here’s the rundown:
* Click on ‘Instructions’ at the title screen.
* I’m too lazy to just copy it all here.
* But I will make a suggestion.
* Eat a healthy, balanced breakfast, and always keep a positive attitude.
* But that’s beside the point.
* So I’ll make another suggestion.
* Try getting used to using the number pad to move and strafe.
* And use Space (the bar, not the everything-else) to fire your weapon.
* and just hold it down to fire, you don’t have to tap repeatedly.
* Otherwise you might get a nasty finger cramp.
* And who wants that?
* I was going to ramble a bit more, but this is getting long/old.
* So on to the next section.
Scoring points
Shoot the cruiser to get 5 points. That’s it. Really.
Other Ways to Score Points
Okay, so that wasn’t it. Getting a power up also gives you 5 points. Speaking of powerups…
Powerups
Segue of kings
The instructions page tells a bit about the powerups, but there’s some more info about them that you just might want to know. First, each powerup lasts exactly 10 seconds (that’s 10 seconds in metric time, if I’ve confused my non-American friends). Second, powerups randomly appear when you hit the battle cruiser, and only two can be on the field at any given time. Also, Here’s an extra explanation of what each powerup does, and my rank for quality, from worst to not so awful:
* Warp: The instructions page explains this one pretty well. Can mess you up a lot.
* Speed boost: Doubles your speed. Bet you couldn’t figure that one out…
* Shield: Blocks every hit. Allows you to pass through Sloth’s battle cruiser unharmed. If your fighter is destroyed, you’ll start your next life with this.
* Rebounding bullets: Bullets bounce off walls if they miss. Also doubles your firing speed. You can only have a limited amount of bullets onscreen at once, though, so that can be a slight problem.
* Split Shot: Splits your fire into two. Doubles your firing rate. If both bullets hit, you still only get 5 points.
* Faster Bullet Rate: Doubles your bullet fire. Sure, the last two do that, as well, but they both have small issues that don’t plague this powerup.
And there you have it.
The Strategy That Works Every Time, Without Fail (Except a Little)
Finally, the good stuff. First things first (why wouldn’t it be?), you need to know where to go, and how to get there. There’s a picture diagram above if you get confused.
From the start, quickly fly over (up) and around (right) the battle cruiser, to the middle of the right side of the screen. Don’t worry about firing yet. Now, you should be facing the wall. Quickly turn to face the cruiser. Before it’s nose points to the bottom of the screen, press 9 for a moment until the cruiser starts moving up. It’s speed changes erratically from slow to fast, so stay concentrated on it. Before the cruiser’s nose points to the top of the screen, press 7. Now it’ll start moving down. You should be holding Space at this point. You’re going to repeat this over and over, as to protect yourself from most of Sloth’s arsenal.
The only things to worry about now are Sloth’s blue bullets, and his dual homing missiles. First, the homing missiles: As they move toward you, strafe left and right a bit. They will detonate right in front of you. If they do hit you, you aren’t strafing quite enough. Don’t fret, though. With a little practice, the homing missiles won’t be a threat at all.
As for the blue bullets, they will cause some problems. Always dodge these by strafing. If it looks like dodging one will cause the cruiser’s nose to move past the edge of the screen, either take the hit (you’ve got 14 free hits), or strafe in it’s path well before it gets to you, then strafe down just before it hits. Doing this will cause the cruiser to move where you want, and you’ll still be able to dodge. This will take some practice, but it’s really easy once you get used to it. Of course, you will lose a life eventually, and things are a bit different on the second go.
When you lose a life, a translucent screen will pop up, detailing how to start playing again. Before you press Space, watch the background and wait for the battle cruiser to stop moving. Now start. You’ll notice you have a shield. Fly straight through the cruiser, to the same place you stopped last time (the middle of the right side). Turn around, and start using the same strategy as before. If you ever get bored, just click the ‘End Game’ button near the top. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to send your score.
Other Tips (i.e., Stuff I Couldn’t Fit Anywhere Else)
* Unless you have a gun powerup, you can only have two bullets onscreen at once. If you want to speed things up, just pull in close to the cruiser, and rack up some quick points. This is best done when you have a shield.
* Don’t go too far out of your way to get powerups. They’re only worth five points, and they aren’t helpful enough to warrant taking a hit.
* Unless you’re at 20% armor on your last life, take a hit rather than let the cruiser get it’s sights on you. In fact, completely ignore your armor until you’ve only got one hit left on your last life. Until then, it is meaningless.
* If the cruiser gets away from your trap and starts facing you, draw in close and try to spin your way back into a safe position. With any luck, you won’t take too much damage in the process.
* If you want the trophy, the easiest way is to send a score of 17495 (anything higher and it’ll be reviewed, which will be completed after the first trophies are given out) right after the hi score tables reset. The hi score tables reset a little after Midnight NST (keep refreshing the hi score table until it is cleared), on the first day of each month. The trophies are given out at about 4:45 a.m., NST.
That’s it. Now skitter off and win. Well, lose more slowly. – chilling_apparatus