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High Score Competition #20 - Terra Cresta

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DrFrag:

The competition so far:

#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


I nearly went with Battle Chopper for this round, which is kind of fun but horribly frustrating.  Instead I've chosen the vertical scrolling shoot-em-up Terra Cresta.  I used to play this at my local deli after school where a bunch of us would compete.  I don't know if I can be considered good at it, but my score won't count for this competition.


"Terra Cresta is a vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up set over a constantly scrolling landscape of islands and enemy installations. The player is under constant attack from enemy spaceship waves, ground-based guns and turrets, dinosaurs and three different mothercraft ships.

The levels are littered with ground-based silos bearing numbers between 2 and 5. These can be shot to release a player ship component, which then attaches to the player's current ship, increasing both its size and firepower. Power-ups available are 2-Wide shot, 3-Rear Shot, 4-Front cannon and 5-Rear shield.

Using the "Phoenix" button splits the ship parts into a formation for limited time, giving increased fire power. The number of parts acquired determines the formation. For example, if the player has picked up two ship parts then a triangle is formed, with the player's main ship at the rear of the formation, with additional two ship components positioned at the front edge of the triangle.

When all four numbered parts have been collected, the player's ship transforms into a flaming Phoenix, and is indestructable for a limited time."


Competition Rules:

- You can only use terracre.zip, on these settings:

Lives: 3
Bonus Life: 20k then every 60k
Difficulty: Easy
1 credit, no continues
no cheats!

- Use any mame version or variant you wish.

- Last day is Monday, June 15th (11:59:59pm Pacific Daylight Time), 2009.
 
- High score wins (if tied, a tie-breaker game will be chosen at random).

- 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!


Playing tips posted below:

Enemies enter the screen in different patterns based on whether you're on the left, centre or right of the screen.  Use this to force them into pattern that are easier to kill.

Don't be afraid to use your phoenix splits, especially as you're about to collect a new power-up.

Once you have all power-ups, you can let yourself get clipped by a bullet to lose 2 or 4 of them.  This way, you can collect them again and refresh your three phoenix splits.

If you shoot a dinosaur from the front, you can then shoot its bones with reverse fire.  A bonus will fly out of its remains which is worth 1000 points when shot.


GOOD LUCK!


Ummon:

Now I remember the reasons I don't like this game. Anyways, not a bad run.

DrFrag:

You're winning.  :)

jasonbar:

Hm, Juno First showed up on CL in Los Angeles during the last competition, & now Terra Cresta ("Presta"?) shows up: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ele/1202582878.html

Coincidence?  I think not!   ;)

-Jason

jasonbar:

It's been bringed!

Played this for a few hours tonight.

My impression: Xevious rip-off, w/ some Galaga elements thrown in too.  Boy, it's hard to predict the patterns given that the baddies do indeed come out in different locations & follow different patterns based on where you are.

Gripes: too many things stop your bullets--the baddies have lots of free blocking.  This is even worse when you have just 1 bonus ship piece & do a Phoenix Split.  Your shots are so wide that some things are actually unshootable because they're next to or behind other close items!  Lots of superfast shots & ships zipping out & killing you before you can react.  And lots of ships lined up for easy shots, but your shot repeat rate isn't fast enough to blow them away before they mow you over.  Also, I often took a hit & lost my ship upgrade without even seeing what hit me.  :hissy:

Recommendations: learn where everything is--the ground items are always in the same place.  Use your 3 Phoenix Splits for each piece you pick up, except the 1st pickup (one more annoyance with the 1st split is that you sometimes end up on the left & sometimes on the right--and it's weird to have your shots be offset from your ship--screwy!).  Try to concentrate on the ground targets--the air targets fly all over the place & will likely fly in front of you--knock out the ground targets.  Realize that many enemies that can't be destroyed w/ your basic ship can be destroyed w/ a Phoenix Split array.

Praise: this game kept me coming back to try to get a little farther, unlike Rolling Thunder.  Pretty slick graphics & variety.  I'll have another go at it when (not if) somebody demolishes my score...


-Jason

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