84 replies to this topic

[Ze_ro]

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 8) 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

[pokeplayer984]

No ROM Download Available, I see!

So I shall provide links to one.

(Note: I do not encourage downloading them, but if emulating is your only option, go right ahead.)

CoolROM: http://www.coolrom.c...aque_Attack.php

FreeROMS: http://www.freeroms....aque_attack.htm

ROM World: http://www.rom-world...file.php?id=834

I'll practice this on my Stella Emulator a bit before I decide if I should compete or not. To be honest, I've never heard of this game.

[Chuck D. Head]

First try - 7,435. Not sure how I feel about this one yet.

Update: 11,380 Wow! 35K seems like a long ways away......

Edited by Chuck D. Head, Wed Jun 1, 2011 2:26 AM.

[Scrabbler15]

Let's bump that up a bit.
31,060


11,895

As much as I love the Activision games, this is the first time I ever played this one. Hard to believe.

Looks like another fun week.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Edited by Scrabbler15, Wed Jun 1, 2011 5:10 AM.

[Stan]

This is a rather tough game at later levels. Good pick.

[Amstari]

13105

[classicgamer_27330]

so close to a free tooth 29,110

[Gorfy]

35,835

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Scrabbler15]

39,615

Patch City!

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Stan]

Bump that shit YEAAAAAH. Not bad for first score. I want that 100K though.

45,055

For the rest of yall.

AWESOME MEGA SUPER COOL PLAQUE BUSTING MEGA TIPS

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by Stan, Wed Jun 1, 2011 9:39 PM.

[oyamafamily]

53,270 - Patch Challenge in action!

[oyamafamily]

James Randall (toymailman), congratulations for Twin Galaxies 3rd best score!

[Stan]

Damn, oyama always uppin the ante to the extreme over here.

[Deteacher]

Not that it will last for long, but: 55,190!



Here's my tip: 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.

How many more tooth-related puns can we get in during the week.

Edited by Deteacher, Wed Jun 1, 2011 6:57 PM.

[Deteacher]

Already an improvement: 59,855!

[Frostbite76]

I've always been god awful at this game because of it's crappy controls. Great graphics but not one of my favorite Activision games. I love activision Atari 2600 games more than anybody but this is one of 5 games from them that I hate. Plaque Attack, Oink, Space Shuttle, Laser Blast and Grand Prix. All the other ones I love.

[zylon]

Best I've got. 11,590
Never could really get any kind of mastery on this one and if I play it anymore, I'll put a bullet in it.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Stan]

zylon, on Wed Jun 1, 2011 8:06 PM, said:

Never could really get any kind of mastery on this one and if I play it anymore, I'll put a bullet in it.

Try my tips above!

[toymailman]

oyamafamily, on Wed Jun 1, 2011 5:52 PM, said:

James Randall (toymailman), congratulations for Twin Galaxies 3rd best score!

Thanks oyama! I've only got above 70k a few times and one of them happened to have the VCR going.

[toymailman]

I'll get a score in early this week.

63,500

[zylon]

Stan, on Wed Jun 1, 2011 8:13 PM, said:

zylon, on Wed Jun 1, 2011 8:06 PM, said:

Never could really get any kind of mastery on this one and if I play it anymore, I'll put a bullet in it.

Try my tips above!

I'll give it one more go later. If I haven't figured some of these out yet, I probably never will. I've got about 20 titles that I still find fun after all this time and I'm sticking with them.

[Jifremok]

I used to play this one on Activision Anthology (PS2) a lot. I'd have gone with that, but my PS2 doesn't play games reliably anymore.

Only one attempt from me so far: 45105 some decades late for a patch.

[Stan]

Man, this game seems kind of hit-or-miss at upper levels. Moderate score increase:

51,570

[Frostbite76]

weird. I never patched this game as a kid when I was much better at games, yet I patched it on my second try at the age of 35.

35,750.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Frostbite76]

better

45,755

Attached Thumbnails

•