52 replies to this topic

[zylon]

Our first elimination round is the classic Defender. Play on default setting (easy). Round will start at 9pm EST and run till 9:00 pm EST Sunday 12/11/2011.
Emulation is fine as is whatever control setup you wish. Pics required as last place is eliminated from further play in this contest.(unless game doesn't show final score)
Anyone using this as their skip must post here in 24 hours! Not playing a game without using your "skip" counts as a 0 (zero) score for the round.
2nd lowest score at round's end must pick a number from the chart.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

You need not win, just need to not lose. Let the battle begin!

eligible players:

JacobZu7zu7 - 2,401,350
sdamon - 1,196,800
Cafeman - 249,000
Sonic R - 248,350
Roadrunner - 179,200
peedenmark7 - 143,375
atariron82 - 136,350
zylon - 59,775
ahuffman - 36,750



Games to be played:
Ms Pacman
Pitfall
Beamrider
Frogger
Defender
River raid
Centipede
Pacman
Mario Bros
Dig Dug
Pole Position
Space Invaders
Super Cobra

Edited by zylon, Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:28 PM.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Defender - easy

on my first try,

score: 274,575

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[zylon]

This one will likely eliminate me as this my worst game of the ones I kept.

36,275

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Edited by zylon, Sun Dec 4, 2011 3:13 PM.

[ahuffman]

Is it too late to skip, lol. This is by far my worst game.

[Cafeman]

why is Defender the worst game of you two? because its too difficult? Or you just don't like to play it?

[ahuffman]

It's just really difficult for me for some reason. My high score is like 15,500 something, and that took practice.

[zylon]

ahuffman, on Sun Dec 4, 2011 6:59 PM, said:

Is it too late to skip, lol. This is by far my worst game.

You did post before 9pm EST so I would honor it. The skip was primarily intended for those who might not have a game, but could be used for any reason. I don't have 2 of the games chosen so my skip will be used on one of those should I survive this one.

Cafeman, on Sun Dec 4, 2011 7:10 PM, said:

why is Defender the worst game of you two? because its too difficult? Or you just don't like to play it?

I'm actually very good at Defender, just not this port. For some reason, it's just insanely hard compared to all the others that I have: 2600, Stargate(Defender II), A8, C64, VIC-20, TI99
My lifetime high score on this one is 37k and change.

Edited by zylon, Sun Dec 4, 2011 9:53 PM.

[Sonic R]

I find Defender to be quite difficult… I enjoy the 5200 version though, even if I am not very good at it…

here is my entry:

175,200



hopefully this will be well enough to survive!

[roadrunner]

179,200


This is a great game.

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[roadrunner]

I hope no one sandbags there scores in these knockout rounds.
You gotta give whomever is in the dropzone time to do better.

[zylon]

Personally, I'd just be happy to beat my best on this game. This one has dogged me for years .

I'd also like to see everyone play the 1st round if they have the game. This one is a title with ports on many consoles so you may face it again when playing the champions of the other systems.

I love the TI99 port of this one.

[sdamon]

1,196,800

[zylon]

Well, I was feeling good about last night's game: 59,775 (lifetime best)

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[roadrunner]

zylon, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 12:35 PM, said:

Well, I was feeling good about last night's game: 59,775 (lifetime best)

Congrats!

[Cafeman]

sdamon, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 7:59 AM, said:

1,196,800

GET OUTTA TOWN!

[JacobZu7zu7]

Cafeman, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 2:21 PM, said:

sdamon, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 7:59 AM, said:

1,196,800

GET OUTTA TOWN!

Somethin tells me he's gonna stay awhile... or FOREVER...

[Cafeman]

179,025.

It appears that once you go back to the main title screen, you can't see your high score anymore, so be careful.

I didn't remember how difficult 5200 Defender can be. Sure, its easier than the coin-op version by far, but its still easy to die-die-die. Its been years since I played 5200 or A8 Defender. I have noticed 2 problem areas that will destroy you quickly if you don't learn how to handle them:

1. The landers have very accurate shots! The shots seem intuitive to which direction I'm going. Reversing direction and going up or down usually kills me off due to getting shot. You gotta learn how NOT to move around bullets.

2. Baiters appear at the end of levels and zero-in on your ship quickly, and they are faster than you. When you hear one appearing, get to its horizontal position quickly and stop thrusting, just keep shooting as it enters the screen. If you thrust away, it'll outpace you. I know there is a 'bug'/feature in coin-op Defender where mutants will turn around at a certain mountain and go the entire other way around the planet to get you. It seemed to me that this exists in some way in 5200 Defender too - I definitely noticed baiters (at times) going the long way around to intercept me. I haven't figured it out well enough to see if it can be exploited or not.

My general strategy: use the radar and creep left or right into a bunch of enemies , don't thrust much unless necessary, and just keep shooting like mad, killing enemies as they enter the screen. Know when you are outmatched and don't be afraid to smart-bomb the screen. Don't waste time early-on killing pods or bombers unless they are easy kills - get the green landers first. When you have only 1 or 2 humans left, stay close to them and let enemies come to you, picking them off as they appear on the screen. This will prevent a free space / mutants scenario from occuring. Free space is tough!

Is anyone familiar with hyperspace live-or-die rules? Is it random? Is it safer to hyperspace when there are less enemies? (sometimes it seemed I blew up on re-entry but I didn't see a bullet or enemy there?)

Finally, I wanted to comment that Defender is masterfully programmed! I'm remember why I loved 5200 so much, after having played Robotron, River Raid, and now Defender in these HSC's.

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Edited by Cafeman, Tue Dec 6, 2011 8:58 AM.

[JacobZu7zu7]

My tips...

Fly slowly going LEFT most or the WHOLE game, seems like you can deal with the patters better, and see what's coming easier.

Don't rush!, if you're in a hurry... you blow too many lives hitting stuff, just go slow start and stoping before you reach your targets, dont get too close to the aliens and space junk floating around, it sucks onto you like a magnet! Unfair!

When there's plenty of green Aliens on screen, fly somewhat low, go left and shoot 'em up, flying at medium or slow speed.


Advanced tips...

Always try to use ONLY one smart bomb each level, this is key to a big score... because when you have no bombs left... it could end your game in a hurry! You can collect more then plenty of bombs in this game, if you're really good go through about 3-4 waves without using 1 bomb. Remember you get a free life everytime you complete a wave, or like 10ks in points... so why try so hard to stay alive, and lose many humans and time...?? Also that damn UFO comes out if you take too long being careful

Don't worry about saving all the people at the bottom of the screen, once reaching a certain wave they are replenished... if you play well... you will lose a life each round, just as the aliens are all about to TAKE the humans below, seems odd, but it's probably better to die, then to lose so many people at once... if Aliens are doing their job well. DON'T WASTE THE SMART BOMBS.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Wanted to reach 300ks My record is over 300ks, on HARD difficulty...



After a dozen tries, I finally beat my "first try" LOL!

I used two smart bombs on one level, leaving me with NONE for a wave, and I couldn't last... that's what ended my game here before 300ks.

297,525 (easy)

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[roadrunner]

Some close scores so far.

We almost got the same score Cafeman.

[sdamon]

JacobZu7zu7, on Tue Dec 6, 2011 3:36 PM, said:

My tips...

Fly slowly going LEFT most or the WHOLE game, seems like you can deal with the patters better, and see what's coming easier.

Don't rush!, if you're in a hurry... you blow too many lives hitting stuff, just go slow start and stoping before you reach your targets, dont get too close to the aliens and space junk floating around, it sucks onto you like a magnet! Unfair!

When there's plenty of green Aliens on screen, fly somewhat low, go left and shoot 'em up, flying at medium or slow speed.


Advanced tips...

Always try to use ONLY one smart bomb each level, this is key to a big score... because when you have no bombs left... it could end your game in a hurry! You can collect more then plenty of bombs in this game, if you're really good go through about 3-4 waves without using 1 bomb. Remember you get a free life everytime you complete a wave, or like 10ks in points... so why try so hard to stay alive, and lose many humans and time...?? Also that damn UFO comes out if you take too long being careful

Don't worry about saving all the people at the bottom of the screen, once reaching a certain wave they are replenished... if you play well... you will lose a life each round,
just as the aliens are all about to TAKE the humans below, seems odd, but it's probably better to die, then to lose so many people at once... if Aliens are doing their job well. DON'T WASTE THE SMART BOMBS.

Really good tips, there! Going slow, generally to the left, and taking out enemies at long range is indeed a big part of this game. I would add the following...

Smart bomb use is indeed a major key to the game. However, I don't adhere to the "one smart bomb" per level rule... instead, I tend to use them whenever I can both A) get a LOT of points out of them and B) when I'm almost certainly going to die otherwise. If I can get through a round without using one, great... more bombs to use later! But if a round is especially tough, I'll certainly use multiple bombs to clear it. I'd certainly agree that when you're running low on bombs you want to be EXTREMELY cautious with them, but I think often people do poorly at this game because they aren't using their bombs enough, rather than using them too much.

I personally never use Hyperspace.

Cafeman's advice about taking out the landers first is dead-on correct, as is his advice about defending the last men.

My personal strategy for Baiters is to try to outrun them and end the wave before they can catch up. If not possible, I'll try to stop on a dime when they're about to catch up to me and zap them... doesn't always work, though.

[JacobZu7zu7]

New score for

Defender - easy

335,375 broke 300ks!

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[zylon]

Is ahuffman using his skip? I took the earlier post as "kidding".

[Cafeman]

FYI for those interested, did you guys ever read my old Defender 5200 page? I talked with the developer, Steve Baker and posted his thoughts.

http://cafeman.www9....00defender.html

[JacobZu7zu7]

zylon, on Wed Dec 7, 2011 11:24 AM, said:

Is ahuffman using his skip? I took the earlier post as "kidding".

Yep, I think he used it,

he probably would have posted by now.

Edited by JacobZu7zu7, Wed Dec 7, 2011 12:55 PM.