1
It's dangerous. It's mean. It's WAR! And now, you are there! Your mission? Invade enemy territory and knock out the fortress. To do it, you'll have to travel over tricky terrain and fight against overwhelming odds at every step. Evade attacks, search and destroy lumbering tanks! Storm the river bridge to face your most difficult challenge: the enemy fort! You must demolish it or die. And if you succeed? A new assignment is yours on another front, against a more experienced army. There's no rest, no relaxation, no letting down your guard. You're in the Army now, because this week's game is Front Line!
Game Information
- Game Name: Front Line
- Released By: Coleco, 1984
- Left Difficulty: No Effect
- Right Difficulty: No Effect
- Game Mode: Skill 4, 1 Player
- Chosen By: Philflound
As before, next week's game will be chosen by the next person in the member list, which happens to be candiru! Please send me a private message with your choice of game for next week!
If you are not a member of the High Score Club, but would like to be, then all you have to do is post a score for this week's game, and I'll add you to the list!
Current High Scores
- 26,800 (Robert M) [+11]
- 22,700 (keilbaca) [+10]
- 16,800 (SpiceWare) [+9]
- 13,900 (shadow460) [+8]
- 11,100 (LarcenTyler) [+7]
- 9700 (khryssun) [+6]
- 8100 (Numan) [+5]
- 6400 (Omegamatrix) [+4]
- 5800 (panda_racer) [+3]
- 5300 (xeex) [+2]
- 4700 (StanJr) [+1]
- 4300 (Keir) [+1]
- 3800 (scogey) [+1]
- 2800 (supercat) [+1]
- 900 (Luigi301) [+1]
900 (FireTiger) [+1]
- shadow460 [+2]
- None yet
- 98,250 (Todd Rogers)
- 36,300 (Alan W Hewston)
- 17,000 (John Marks)
(default settings)
Coming Soon! |
Member List
- candiru, kemsted, keilbaca, Cybergoth, sku_u, Chris++, cvga, LarcenTyler, 128bytes, Goochman, mikeftrevino, StanJr, Osbo, Numan, vdub_bobby, Dones, Gamemaster_ca_2003, awsomo3000, Voch, Stingray, scogey, Bubbledragon, video game addict, pitfallaimee, Blackjack, racer raul, SpiceWare, Robert M, Lord Helmet, Lord Thag, Mad Scientist, Dan Iacovelli, iguana, Luigi301, Gateway, Damon Plus, gospeedde, Kepone, internetotaku, panda_racer, KaeruYojimbo, cyberneticimplant, bjk7382, davepesc, neotokeo2001, xeex, bmlbytes, Omegamatrix, the 5th ghost, Xebec's Demise, khryssun, vgcollector666, chadtower, moycon, Malc74, shadow460, Atarifever, Keir, Philflound
- You earn 100 points for every enemy eliminated.
- When you complete a round (by destroying the fort), you receive an additional 1000 points times the number of the skill level just completed.
- You start the game with five friendly soldiers and receive a bonus soldier when you
complete a round (up to a maximum of five soldiers in all).
The Manual said:
As always, you really should read the manual.
What's that? You don't have the manual? Well, luckily for you, AtariAge has a typed copy of it online for your reading pleasure. Unfortunately, the manual doesn't really provide any hints anyways, but it has some level descriptions that might prove useful.
What's that? You don't have the manual? Well, luckily for you, AtariAge has a typed copy of it online for your reading pleasure. Unfortunately, the manual doesn't really provide any hints anyways, but it has some level descriptions that might prove useful.
Robert M said:
In the soldier section there are 2 key tactics.
1. Line the enemies up vertically with your player and slightly to the right so you can hit them, but they miss you.
2. Wait for the enemy coming down to get his gun level in line with a tree, but with his head or feet sticking out. Hit the end sticking out of the trees.
In the tank sections, the shots come from the center and not the right side of the sprites so you need to change tactics.
1. When a tank first enters the screen you have about 2 seconds of safety when the tank can't shoot. So plow ahead at full speed and pop the enemy tanks off as they enter on the top.
2. Let the tanks come to you, they have to enter your field of fire to shoot at you. Set up your shot so it crosses the path of the approaching tank, and time your shot so it gets there when the enemy tank arrives to meet it.
1. Line the enemies up vertically with your player and slightly to the right so you can hit them, but they miss you.
2. Wait for the enemy coming down to get his gun level in line with a tree, but with his head or feet sticking out. Hit the end sticking out of the trees.
In the tank sections, the shots come from the center and not the right side of the sprites so you need to change tactics.
1. When a tank first enters the screen you have about 2 seconds of safety when the tank can't shoot. So plow ahead at full speed and pop the enemy tanks off as they enter on the top.
2. Let the tanks come to you, they have to enter your field of fire to shoot at you. Set up your shot so it crosses the path of the approaching tank, and time your shot so it gets there when the enemy tank arrives to meet it.
Omegamatrix said:
90% of the time I get killed by the enemy getting off a diagonal shot. I think the key here is to get them to come at you in a top to bottom or left to right direction. They seem to pause a little longer before they shoot. Attempting diagonal shots can sometimes be risky, but a nescessary skill. If you can lock yourself onto the top of a tree or some other obstruction then you can get into the diagonal firing position without worry of running into the enemy. Another way around this is just simply tapping the joystick into the diagonal position until it is found. Once pointed in any direction your solider stays facing in that way until you move him again. This way you can get off several shots in a diagonal direction while they run towards you.
shadow460 said:
You need to play on level one to get used to how your bullets travel in the eight different directions. Your most vulnerable angle is from the top left, so try to watch that one closely. Enemies fire the same way you do, so they have the same weaknesses. Exploit them. Halfway up the first level, where the tops of one row of trees line up with the bottom of the other, you can shoot through the trees all the way across the screen. Notice, too, how enemies travel right through the trees. They can't shoot through them any further than you can, though, so pop them while they are in the green areas and helpless.
Your enemies shoot once every so often. Their firing rate is actually kind of slow. When an enemy approaches from your weak side (the left), hesitate a second, wait for him to shoot, then run in and pop him.
Forget about the dudes who are following you--they are just a distraction from the real game. Pop them if you can, but otherwise leave them alone. Coming out of the first stage, do not enter the tank until you walk over the line between stages and all enemy soldiers have fallen off the screen.
Thanks to Coleco's awful programming efforts, you WILL get hung up on anything and everything in the first stage. This problem is much less apparent in the later stages. When (not if) you get hung up, shoot everything you can hit first. Try to eliminate all opposition before you free yourself from Coleco madness. Once everyone (but you) is dead, work your way back out into the open.
When you come upon an opening between trees in the middle of the screen, STOP. Wait for the enemies that will appear above you to do their thing, then proceed and shoot them.
In every stage, you MUST always keep moving forward. NEVER try to stand and fight--you will lose.
In stage 2, get to the first "checkpoint" (you'll see what I mean) as soon as you can. Pop a few tanks here and there, use the heavy tank if you can, but keep right on moving.
The heavy tank shoots consistently in every direction, so your aim advantage is lost. Ditto with the light tank (more on this in a minute). The heavy tank is good for nothing but a shield. Drive it as far as you can, and then bail out when it is hit.
During the rest of the stage, you still need to keep moving, but you can take out more tanks than you did troops. It's worth while to stop for a very brief dogfight to get tanks off your back. Don't forget your aim advantage when the tank blows up! At the end, clear the screen and grab that tank! It'll save you a lot fo headaches. With the light tank under your control, it's time to make a run for it. Never stop in the light tank--EVER. Use its speed to outrun the enemy, shooting them down only when necessary. Throughout the game, each of your tanks is opposite the last. Meaning that if you just passed a light tank, the next one is a heavy tank (and therefore useless for anything more than a shield).
The rest of the game plays much like stage 2, but with the light tank's speed. Your final tank is a heavy, and this is the only one that's really useful. It's in the second forest. When you pass it, you are getting close to the base. In this area, the walls are solid. No tanks or troops can pass through them. This means even if you'r on foot, you will not be chased. After all, the enemy AI was programmed by Coleco, and it's too stupid to drive tanks around the candy cane walls. You'll be assaulted by three tanks at once for most of this final area. Pop them just like you did the others. If you're lucky, you'll make it to the base inside a tank. I guess Coleco didn't think they needed to program the game for this. Your tank just can't take out the base., no matter how many times you shoot it. Hop out and watch a perfectly good tank go to waste. Your anti tank missiles work well on the base, but hurry--tanks will approach from the bottom. You're wide open, so they are bad news. Hit the base behind its turret for an instant kill. This scores you 1000 pts times the level played. Since we're on level 4, that's 4000 points. I've seen it up to 5000. Add that to the points scores shooting enemies, and you see this strategy has scored me over 20,000 points in the past.
Your enemies shoot once every so often. Their firing rate is actually kind of slow. When an enemy approaches from your weak side (the left), hesitate a second, wait for him to shoot, then run in and pop him.
Forget about the dudes who are following you--they are just a distraction from the real game. Pop them if you can, but otherwise leave them alone. Coming out of the first stage, do not enter the tank until you walk over the line between stages and all enemy soldiers have fallen off the screen.
Thanks to Coleco's awful programming efforts, you WILL get hung up on anything and everything in the first stage. This problem is much less apparent in the later stages. When (not if) you get hung up, shoot everything you can hit first. Try to eliminate all opposition before you free yourself from Coleco madness. Once everyone (but you) is dead, work your way back out into the open.
When you come upon an opening between trees in the middle of the screen, STOP. Wait for the enemies that will appear above you to do their thing, then proceed and shoot them.
In every stage, you MUST always keep moving forward. NEVER try to stand and fight--you will lose.
In stage 2, get to the first "checkpoint" (you'll see what I mean) as soon as you can. Pop a few tanks here and there, use the heavy tank if you can, but keep right on moving.
The heavy tank shoots consistently in every direction, so your aim advantage is lost. Ditto with the light tank (more on this in a minute). The heavy tank is good for nothing but a shield. Drive it as far as you can, and then bail out when it is hit.
During the rest of the stage, you still need to keep moving, but you can take out more tanks than you did troops. It's worth while to stop for a very brief dogfight to get tanks off your back. Don't forget your aim advantage when the tank blows up! At the end, clear the screen and grab that tank! It'll save you a lot fo headaches. With the light tank under your control, it's time to make a run for it. Never stop in the light tank--EVER. Use its speed to outrun the enemy, shooting them down only when necessary. Throughout the game, each of your tanks is opposite the last. Meaning that if you just passed a light tank, the next one is a heavy tank (and therefore useless for anything more than a shield).
The rest of the game plays much like stage 2, but with the light tank's speed. Your final tank is a heavy, and this is the only one that's really useful. It's in the second forest. When you pass it, you are getting close to the base. In this area, the walls are solid. No tanks or troops can pass through them. This means even if you'r on foot, you will not be chased. After all, the enemy AI was programmed by Coleco, and it's too stupid to drive tanks around the candy cane walls. You'll be assaulted by three tanks at once for most of this final area. Pop them just like you did the others. If you're lucky, you'll make it to the base inside a tank. I guess Coleco didn't think they needed to program the game for this. Your tank just can't take out the base., no matter how many times you shoot it. Hop out and watch a perfectly good tank go to waste. Your anti tank missiles work well on the base, but hurry--tanks will approach from the bottom. You're wide open, so they are bad news. Hit the base behind its turret for an instant kill. This scores you 1000 pts times the level played. Since we're on level 4, that's 4000 points. I've seen it up to 5000. Add that to the points scores shooting enemies, and you see this strategy has scored me over 20,000 points in the past.
Good luck everyone!
--Ze_ro
