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Author Topic: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster  (Read 5581 times)

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DrFrag

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High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« on: May 05, 2010, 06:34:51 pm »
The last 42 competitions:

#1 - Shinobi - Winner: Destructor
#2 - Jungle Hunt - Winner: CrazyKongFan
#3 - Zoo Keeper - Winner: DeLuSioNal29
#4 - Q*Bert - Winner: quarterstringer
#5 - Robotron 2084 - Winner: (+_+)
#6 - Joust - Winner: Shoegazer)
#7 - Elevator Action - Winner: FrontyDev
#8 - Mr Do - Winner: DeLuSioNal29
#9 - Hyper Sports - Winner: drawfull
#10 - Wonder Boy - Winner: DrFrag
#11 - Bubble Bobble - Winner: mrclean
#12 - Gun.Smoke - Winner: isucamper
#13 - Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Winner: Ginsu Victim
#14 - Ms Pac-Man (with speedup hac) - Winner: CrazyKongFan
#15 - Frogger - Winner: CrazyKong Fan, Second: Jasonbar
#16 - Grobda - Winner: Mimic, Second: Cornchip
#17 - Bank Panic - Winner: ahofle, Second: Jasonbar
#18 - Juno First - Winner: RayB, Second: Shoegazer
#19 - Rolling Thunder - Winner: DrFrag, Second: isucamper
#20 - Terra Cresta - Winner: isucamper, Second: Jasonbar
#21 - Gladiator - Winner: Jasonbar, Second: Hewskie
#22 - Alcon (Slap Fight) - Winner: DrFrag, Second: Bender
#23 - Galaga - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: ToddH
#24 - Defender - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: tcleary
#25 - Klax - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: TAG
#26 - Funny Mouse - Winner: quarterstringer, Second: Epyx
#27 - Rampart - Winner: isucamper, Second: john_abey
#28 - Satan's Hollow - Winner: jasonbar, Second: ummon
#29 - The Speed Rumbler - Winner: Epyx, Second: Mimic
#30 - Black Dragon - Winner: Epyx, Second: CrazyKongFan
#31 - Twin Cobra - Winner: ArcadeNerd, Second: jasonbar
#32 - Tetris - Winner: DrFrag, Second: qlunch
#33 - Gyruss - Winner: Hurray Banana, Second: vorghagen
#34 - Mappy - Winner: Jasonbar, Second: TAG
#35 - Bump 'n' Jump - Winner: Comtek, Second: DrFrag
#36 - Popeye - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: isucamper
#37 - Pengo - Winner: CrazyKongFan, Second: MazzMn
#38 - Bomb Jack - Winner: bpark42, Second: Flaptop
#39 - Smash T.V. - Winner: jasonbar, Second: quarterstringer
#40 - Rygar - Winner: Cakemeister, Second: jasonbar
#41 - Krull - Winner: jasonbar, Second: I/O
#42 - Tutankham - Winner: DrFrag, Second: creatine28

Competition #43 is Astro Blaster (version 3).

Okay, time for some backstory.

When I was little, back in the early 80s, I was crossing the English Channel on a ferry to France.  They had a small arcade onboard, hidden away amongst the slot machines.  I watched a guy playing Astro Blaster and it amazed me.  I didn't get to play it then, and I didn't catch the name of it, but the memory stuck with me.

26 years later (this was a couple of weeks ago) I thought it would cool to post here asking what the game was called, in the hopes of finally playing it.  But how to describe it?  I decided I would crack open the MS Paint and draw my memory of it, in the style of many great forum posts on the Internet before me.

Here's what I came up with:



I remember this stage the most.  Alien spaceships flying from left to right really fast, and slowly getting lower.  He had to shoot them all before they reached him.



Spaceships that were like butterflies, getting too narrow to shoot at times.  I remember him hitting the hyperspace button to slow them down, destroying them all, then being rewarded with some kind of refueling ship.

After I drew these, I realised I could load up MAME, sort by genre, and look at screenshots of games from 1984 and earlier.  So I did, and Astro Blaster came up first under Shootr.slide.  I was surprised it was as early as 1981.  I was even more surprised, when I loaded it up, that it had digitised speech and was actually quite cool to play.



I played one round and decided to save playing it for a BYOAC competition.  So here it is!  I hope it doesn't suck!  ;D

Apparently the game has a ton of secrets.  Some of them can be found here:
http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=astro-blaster&page=detail&id=129

The current world record is 299,100 and was set in 1982.  The current MARP record is 65,070.  Score rolls over at 99,990.


ROMSet: astrob

DIP Switch Settings:

Lives: 3

(Should be default.  There don't seem to be any other settings that would affect play.)

----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------


- One credit only.

- No continues!

- No MAME cheats!

- Last day is Thursday May 20th (11:59:59pm Pacific Daylight Time), 2010.
 
- High score wins.

- No savestates, savestate practices, etc. during the round.

- MAME INP recordings are optional, but encouraged!

- A screenshot is required to enter a score (press F12 to save screenshot showing your final score) or take a photo of the screen if playing on a real machine.

- If you're a MARP competitor on this title, keep in mind this is just a friendly competition amongst forum members, so maybe you shouldn't enter. However, if you're a forum member and this is a game you're good at and nobody knows about it, this is your time to shine!

Good luck!

RayB

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2010, 07:19:13 pm »
I think that was the first coin-op videeo game I played. I begged my mom to let me into the mall arcade, so she gave me ONE quarter, and that was the only free machine.  I did really well at it, but I was "amped" too, which probably helped with the reflexes. I left the arcade all wobbly-kneed and excited. Weird, I know.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2010, 03:33:41 pm by RayB »
NO MORE!!

mimic

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2010, 06:27:52 pm »
Not one score submited yet? And already on 2nd page?

17,520


WhereEaglesDare

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2010, 10:30:19 pm »
17000, man, i am really bad at all these games...

tommyinajar

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2010, 01:31:18 pm »
I loved this game, think it was the 1st video game I played in color. I used to be good ( 30 odd years already?!?) I'm gonna fire this one up for sure :)

I/O

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2010, 03:38:54 pm »
Galaga came out the same year, not to mention that the graphics and play of Astro Blaster seemed a little console-like. I remember it, and thought it was okay. It's still fun to pull out of the garage.

mimic

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2010, 11:35:29 pm »
I'm attaching picture to potentialy solidify my win, which (if I win) will be the lamest win in this competition.

Hewskie

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2010, 03:36:41 am »
Looks like you win, guess this game didn't really catch on. Oh well, here's hoping your pick is a hit, no offense DrFrag

Hewskie

DrFrag

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2010, 06:00:25 am »
Heh, I'll think I'll hand the next round over to last round's runner up, Creatine28.  PM sent.


Edit: Wait mimic submitted a score?  How did I miss that?

Edit2: Looks like mimic won this round.  Sorry creatine28.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2010, 06:08:32 am by DrFrag »

mimic

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Re: High Score Competition #43 - Astro Blaster
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2010, 11:58:30 pm »
I didn't have time to set up the page with next competition, I'll do it sometimes tommorow. Next game will be "google pacman" ;)