High Score Competition #178: Shock Troopers

[mnewt]

High Score Competition Rules and Scoreboard

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Game Name: Shock Troopers (set 1)
ROM Name: shocktro
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Settings: Defaults

Controls:
    Joystick: 8 Way
    Buttons: 3 (Fire, dodge, throw grenade)

At the beginning of each session, players choose whether to go through the game in one of two modes, "Lonely Wolf" or "Team Battle". In "Lonely Wolf", one character is controlled throughout the game, while "Team Battle" allows selecting a band of three soldiers through their missions, switching between them on-the-fly. Choosing to go it alone gives a higher starting life total, while proceeding as a team will give a wider variety of special weapons as well as a higher starting total (ten for each of the three characters instead of twenty for one).
At the beginning of the game, there is also a choice to travel through the Mountain, Jungle, or Valley route. Halfway through the game, a different route can optionally be chosen otherwise stay on the current path. Characters and paths chosen determine how much life bonus is received at the beginning of each level. Each stage consists of standard "run and gun" tactics interspersed with boss battles (both in the middle and at the end of each stage). Until the very end, battling the commander of the Bloody Scorpions atop an aircraft.
Each character has their own virtues over other selections. Some might start with higher life totals, while others could move faster. Regardless of choice, the soldiers each possess a unique special weapon or "bomb", which varies in distance and range. Controls consist of an 8-way joystick and four buttons. Players move in eight directions with the joystick and fire, do evasive maneuvers, use their special weapon, and switch characters with the A, B, C, and D buttons, respectively.
Players must progress through six stages, fighting against other soldiers, bosses, and finally, the commander of the Bloody Scorpions. The weapons can be fired in all eight directions, but holding down the fire button allows strafing. Attacking within close range of an enemy will yield items, including point bonuses, weapon power-ups, and life. Enemy fire can be avoided with the dodge button. In "Team Battle" mode, the three selected soldiers can be cycled to utilize the traits and special weapons of each.

Pump up the bass

Final Scores

First - Yamatetsu             10,362,100
Second  - WakiMiko.      6,923,500
Third - BGoulette.            5,003,500
Fourth - mnewt.              4,795,400
Fifth - popsicle.               3,697,500


Last day: Sunday, Nov. 15th 2015 midnight Pacific
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- Quest for the Bronze Joystick! The most successful competitor of each calendar year will possess & display the BYOAC Bronze Joystick Trophy. See this thread for details:The BYOAC Bronze Joystick.
Happy Gaming!

[BGoulette]

I'll set the bar low: 1,254,000



Edit: Does it matter which route we take?

[yamatetsu]

Also, Lonely Wolf or Team Battle ? I figure Lonely Wolf should be harder since you only can have one special weapon.

[BGoulette]

I was playing as "Lonly [sic] Wolf" Loki, I think. Don't remember.

Edit: very minor improvement (1,436,500):

[yamatetsu]

2,442,500.

[BGoulette]

Improvement! (3,179,500):



Edit: I really need some arcade controls! I'm sure I'm giving myself carpal tunnel or RMI or something with this keyboard!

[mnewt]

4,795400

Picked lone wolf. Just not feeling the benefit of switching between characters at the moment. I prefer the faster characters like Milky as I can't seem to avoid anything with the slower characters.

Got this score on jungle route. The only other route I've played is valley. Valley seems to be shorter than jungle route for the first level at least...or am I just imagining that?

[BGoulette]

I've been playing lone wolf, too. Got the above score with Southern Cross on the mountain route, but I definitely see the benefit of Milky for her agility. I'm not sure which routes are shorter: I don't think I actually completed stage one on the valley route. Or the jungle route. Will have to try those next.

[yamatetsu]

3,216,300. Small progress. Using lonly wolf, Mary Bee, valley route. Hate mountain climb & zip line section in mountain route, bike part in the jungle. That restricts me to the valley route.



Edit :

I really need some arcade controls! I'm sure I'm giving myself carpal tunnel or RMI or something with this keyboard!

Tried to play using the keyboard. Failed miserably. Kudos to you for pulling it off. If I were you, I'd go buy a gamepad ASAP. Totally different gameplay, being able to put roll/special weapon on shoulder buttons is really nice. Plus it's much more ergonomical so you *might* fend of the carpal tunnel 

[BGoulette]

Ha, thanks! I can definitely see how an actual 8-way would beat the pants off mashing the arrow keys and hoping for the best (which is all I can do for now)!

That render I'm using for my avatar is the fight stick I'm building:



Needs a couple more buttons and a brain. Hope to be able to order such in the near future...

[yamatetsu]

Needs a couple more buttons and a brain. Hope to be able to order such in the near future...

[BGoulette]

  Haha! Yeah, I could use one of those, too.

[yamatetsu]

3,348,500. Baby steps.

[mnewt]

This is worth a read even though I think it applies to the other rom version of the game.

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?15818-Shock-Troopers-Expert-Scoring-Strategies

[yamatetsu]

4,373,500.




4,539,500.



4,847,000.

[BGoulette]

So far behind... 3,591,500

[yamatetsu]

5,724,000.

[BGoulette]

4,734,000

[yamatetsu]

5,799,900. Finally got to the stage three boss.





6,565,400.

[popsicle]

2,019,500

[yamatetsu]

6,576,400. That stage 3 tank can take a punch.  16 extras / lots of normal bullets and he still refuses to go down.

[BGoulette]

I can't even get past those two Wolverine fanclub presidents

[harveybirdman]

Fun times this afternoon playing this, killing up close and personal seems to be the trick

[BGoulette]

Fun times this afternoon playing this, killing up close and personal seems to be the trick

Yep, definitely. I read through that link mnewt posted earlier, and while the author recommends playing through to completion before attempting to siphon every last point out of the game, well, I can't bring myself to do that and end up losing most of my health toward the end of stage 2, leaving me at death's door when I fight those twin clawed creatures half way through stage 3.

I'll give it another a bunch more tries...

[yamatetsu]

6,757,600. Finally was able to kill the boss tank. Started cheering and hooting, only to discover that this time, the tank's commander does not run away. Yep, after beating the tank, you have to kill the tank's commander and some of his goons, too. Didn't make it, of course.




8,521,900. Take that, stage 3 boss !

[WakiMiko]

6,923,500



Fun game. Died with 2 health pickups on the screen 

[BGoulette]

You clowns are insane! Best I can do is high 4 million (4.9 something). Might as well post my shame:

[yamatetsu]

Not going to butt heads with the masochists on the first and second place though 

Damn you are crazy Yam

You clowns are insane!

8,926,600. The crazy, insane masochistic clown does it again 

[BGoulette]

Haha, that is awesome! Someday I'll  break 5. Someday.

Incidentally, are you taking the Jungle Route or the Valley route? I read in that article that Jungle > Valley was the way to maximize scores, but I die half way through stage 3 on the Jungle route.

[yamatetsu]

Jungle. Playing the valley route cost me 1 - 1.5 million points compared to the jungle, and I'm nowhere near getting every point possible.

[mnewt]

Just updated the high scores...sorry for the delay..I've been away and largely offline. Gutted I haven't had time to participate in this one

[yamatetsu]

First - Yamatetsu             8,926,600
Second  - WakiMiko.      6,923,500
Third - BGoulette.            4,929,500

First - Yamatetsu             8,926,600
Second  - WakiMiko.      6,923,500
Third - BGoulette.            4,929,500
Fourth - mnewt.              4,795,400
Fifth - popsicle.               2,019,500


Edit : Missed popsicle's score.

[WakiMiko]

We are playing this with blood off right? Because according to the thread mnewt linked it makes a huge difference scoring wise.

According to the thread, blood off is the default only for the European BIOS, while US and Japan default to on.

[yamatetsu]

Yup, no soldiers die violently in this game of carnage.

[BGoulette]

Yeah, no blood is the default for set 1, I think: I never messed with the settings and never saw any blood.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[yamatetsu]

9,515,900.

[BGoulette]

It doesn't change anything, but I beat 5M finally! Woo! Still can't beat those hyperactive slashy/shooty twins on stage 3

[popsicle]

3,697,500

[yamatetsu]

10,362,100.

Still can't beat those hyperactive slashy/shooty twins on stage 3

I use Big Mama for the entire stage. She gets a +3 speed bonus, so you have a tank that can take punishment and still move reasonably fast. I make sure that I take the 'heavy' extra directly before the boss fight as late as possible so that I can spend it on the twins.
After the initial attack I roll over to the right lower corner of the screen and shoot diagonally at them. After that, it's just positioning under one of them, shooting straight up, avoiding their shots if possible. I'm almost always on the bottom line of the screen, except when dodging them.
The most important thing to do is getting one of them weakened so that he starts to glow, feeding him a few shots and then killing him up close. He will leave a health item that fills approx. half of the life bar.
This goes for both guys, so theoretically, you can end the fight with a full life bar if you manage to kill the second guy up close with more than a half life bar left.

[mnewt]

Final Scores :

First - Yamatetsu             10,362,100
Second  - WakiMiko.      6,923,500
Third - BGoulette.            5,003,500
Fourth - mnewt.              4,795,400
Fifth - popsicle.               3,697,500

Congrats to Yamatetsu who stormed it

You have the honour of choosing the next game BGoulette