19 replies to this topic

[rmaerz]

Astro Blaster

A multi-wave colour raster shoot-em-up. Features include speech, a warp button that slows enemies, docking to refuel and secret bonuses. Two items must be monitored throughout the game the laser temperature since overheating renders ship unable to fire and a fuel gauge that, when depleted, ends the entire game even if you have ships remaining.


Game Information
Game Name: Astro Blaster [Version 3]
Released By: Sega/Gremlin, 1981
MAME ROMset: AstroB
Dip Switches: Lives: 3
Chosen By: eggomania
ROM Location:
AtariAge Arcade/MAME HSC Record: n/a

Competition ends Sunday, October 30 @ 12PM EDT

Leaderboard
1. 36,500 richard stewart
2. 34,690 M.A.M.E Offender
3. 26,980 Cynicaster
4. 21,360 bigbee99
5. 21,060 mr. toast
6. 16,480 Barra
7. 12,920 patbb
8. 6,360 roadrunner
9. 5,660 LarcenTyler






Season Standings
Calculations through round 8
1. bigbee99 166
2. patbb 135
3. Cynicaster 116
4. M.A.M.E Offender 109
5. mr. toast 91
6. kojr 39
6. keilbaca 39
8. richard stewart 48
9. roadrunner 34
10. LarcenTyler 23
11. JohnnyBlaze 11
12. NE146 8
13. retrorussell 5
14. rmaerz 4

Edited by rmaerz, Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:11 AM.

[LarcenTyler]

5,660

This game seems similar to Megamania. I wonder if Steve Cartwright was inspired by this.

[bigbee99]

Me and my youngest son have been playing this one for about the past hour. When we first heard that bots voice we found humor in it. Then it began being annoying. But I swear he is my gaming good luck charm. When I was chasing the Mario Wii Record over at Twin Galaxies he and I would check levels for areas to point press together. I have to say, he would see some things that I would not, even at 5 years old. I used some of the areas he found in my runs

It hold true for this game. I'm over here grind and shooting and dodging and he taps the warp button! After I played around with it for a bit I realized you get one per sector. Not sure if they roll over or not. But enough with the rambling and on with the score!

19550

He broke 4k

B

[M.A.M.E Offender]

@Larcen, this is indeed the game that Megamania was created from. You must be referring to the Atari 2600 version, right? I've played it, and it gets intense just like this one.

A difference between Astro Blaster and Megamania is the controls. In Megamania, you didn't have the option of time warping as there is only one button on the joystick. Also, there is unlimited firepower available on Megamania, where there is not on Blasters.



20,280
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[patbb]

12,920

 astr0004.png   1.43K   0 downloads

[richard stewart]

36 500 is it just me or dose the warp eat up more fuel than a 1970 sports car

[Cynicaster]

21,260

[Barra]

That voice sort-of reminds me of Space Fury. This game is a tad annoying re the out of fuel so game over, but you just have to be a good aim. I kept getting these "Secret number" bonuses appear, but had no idea how or why.

Second try: 10350

Attached Files

•  astr0001.png   1.72K   0 downloads

[Cynicaster]

Yeah, I had probably 10-12 games in a row where the game ended because I ran out of fuel. If I was paying to play this game back in the day, I think that would really piss me off.

[Cynicaster]

I read somewhere that the original release of this game was so damn hard that they released new versions with toned down difficulty so that people would not get frustrated too quickly and stop dropping quarters. They did this by shortening the attack waves, slowing down fuel depletion, and slowing down heat-up of the laser. The version we're playing here (version 3) is apparently considered the "easy version".

Easy version... that's funny!

[patbb]

Barra, on Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:26 AM, said:

That voice sort-of reminds me of Space Fury. This game is a tad annoying re the out of fuel so game over, but you just have to be a good aim. I kept getting these "Secret number" bonuses appear, but had no idea how or why.

I found this regarding the bonuses.
http://donhodges.com...et_Bonus_01.htm

[Barra]

Awsome thanks for that! Don Hodges has done some great work on decoding games in the past.

Will have to give this one another try

[M.A.M.E Offender]

Wow, those rocks are going to be a challenge to get past on Sector 4.

It's a double-edged sword; if you hit the warp button, you run out of fuel. If you don't, your chances of survival are very dim.

Just happy to force Cynicaster to play a bit more.

27,560  DSCF3866.JPG   1.24MB   0 downloads

 DSCF3867.JPG   1.12MB   0 downloads

[Barra]

Bit more respectable! 16480.

Have you guys been shooting the enemies in the proper order? I havent tried to work it out yet

Attached Files

•  astr0002.png   1.72K   0 downloads

Edited by Barra, Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:08 PM.

[Cynicaster]

M.A.M.E Offender, on Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:03 PM, said:

Just happy to force Cynicaster to play a bit more.

27,560

You friggin' crotch blister, you...

26,980

[M.A.M.E Offender]

Just a bit farther and I'm in richard stewart territory.




28,110

 DSCF3868.JPG   1.24MB   0 downloads  DSCF3869.JPG   1.27MB   0 downloads

[M.A.M.E Offender]

I'm so close to getting to the asteroid field on the 4th sector.

D'oh, Blaster overheated!!




34,690
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[mr. toast]

Eh, close enough.

21,060

Attached Files

•  0000.png   1.6K   0 downloads

[roadrunner]

6,360


This game is also like Threshold.

Attached Files

•  astr0004.png   1.02K   0 downloads

[bigbee99]

21360

B

Attached Files

•  astroB21360.jpg   24.07K   2 downloads