Ugh,so frustrated with this game and it's effin bs. The more frustrated I get,the worse my play gets. I wish I still had my punching bag as I'd be wailing on it right now.

76,700

Man, this game takes a toll on your thumb REALLY fast lol.

yeah, it took a few runs to find out when you can take a short break. I'm going to try later tonight and see if I can post a better score.

It helps if you play a few games where you are stingy and/or selective with your shots. Definitely saves your thumbs from getting completely worn out.

I have to play for a bit and move onto something else and come back. I noticed if I try to grind lately it just doesn't go well.

Same here man,because then I just start to press and my scores get lower.

Hmmm....one question,did you "beat" the game? Not accusing you of cheating,I'm asking because it will tell me how you got your score.

Ah, yeah, according to AdamL's guide, the boss with one eye that shoots the arms at you is the "final" boss, since the game repeats endlessly. So, whoever beat that boss first can claim it in the NES completion thread.

Just asking because there is a way to get a lot of points quick without beating the final boss,so that's why I asked.

Oh, I see. I looked it up just now because I didn't know if there is an ending or not. But what do you mean getting points without beating the final boss? The game keeps going.

Well.you know those little flaming ball things you see occasionally? Well,when you hit them and those little ball bits that fly across the screen....if they strike an enemy,you get a 1000 points for each one hit I believe. I'm not sure since there is usially a lot going on,but I think you may get more points if the same ball bit hits several enemies in succession as there have been times where I've shot one of those balls into a group of enemies and came out 20K richer. I usually come out 10K-15K richer though.The score I posted was because I repeated that technique several times at a trouble spot for me at the time that happened to have a ball in the area. I have yet to beat the "final boss". I got to him the other day and died and I was only at 162K at the time,but I was screwing up with the technique most of the time for some reason.I know if I get get my crap together I can crack the 500K barrier. A big if though.

Oh yeah, I know about the flaming ball. I figured that out when I kept dying in the same place but was gaining an extra life each time because the ball was there, just like you

I'm wondering if the ball is triggered. I don't like looking at FAQs while I'm playing games during the contest, so I'm content not knowing.

EDIT: Forget what I said earlier. That boss can't be the "final" one, because there are new enemies that spring up after you defeat him. Hmmm... hopefully I can make it to the next boss and see if the same ones are recycled.

No clue,but I know the spot where there is one of those stupid turrets next to one of those annoying barrier things where you habe to aim juuust right....that ball usually gives me 20k if I hit it just right...usually when it takes out both dinos and a bunch of those ships that do those Galaga-esque formation patterns.

Doesn't matter though as I'm about to put this down for a while (or for good) as I'm very frustrated that my score hasn't improved at all despite my recent efforts to do so.

I figured it out! If it hits one enemy, it can hit him "multiple" times even after its death. Try this with the dinos! My score went up in a whoosh!

The effects of practice...

465200

The flaming ball (fun to call it that ) always appears in the same places.  There's a particularly good one early in the game like you mentioned.  It's in the area between the two "green" bosses.  You can get it repeatedly by dying during that second boss fight.  And yes, hitting those dinos is the way to go!

The game screen goes black for a boss battle three times during a loop.  The first two bosses are green enemies that spawn a bunch of fast ships while the third boss is the silver thing that shoots out those hands.

The landscape pattern changes during the second loop though, so you can't get the flaming ball in the same place later in the game.

I posted in the NES completion thread that this game was done once I passed the silver boss for the first time, though I didn't know if anyone else had beaten the game first.  Feel free to take credit if you have.

Yeah, I noticed the landscape change in addition to the new enemies. So that's just a second loop? Weird.

That place with the dinos is where I was getting the extra lives. I was more concerned with moving forward, so gaining those lives was unintentional, but it seems pretty easy to create an infinite loop at that spot.

I've noticed a growing trend over the last few weeks of participants (not pointing fingers) venting their frustrations over games rules and difficulties. It's fine if you guys want to vent your frustrations, but let's please keep it from getting out of hand. If you need to vent, please try to do so when you post your picture or when it's relevant to a topic at hand (game controls, enemy AI, etc). Let's keep the contest threads from being too cluttered with frustration posts.

It's okay to call me out,I know I'm guilty of it,sadly. I've just been putting too much pressure on myself with these lately. I know these are just for fun,but I'm a competitive guy and I want to win one of these for once and it's frustrating when your efforts aren't paying off. From now on I'll do my best to keep the rantings at a minimum. Sorry about all that.

110,400

Updated my score. Still working on improving it.

Updated my score. This might be the best I'm going to do unless I can find more time this weekend.

Vectrex: When you post an update of your score, please remove your previous score/picture. You should have only one score posted at a time.

Nice score. I have some work to do on this tonight and this weekend if I have some extra time.

Thanks, Guts! And I'm glad to hear that you're sticking with it

Yeah,I'm no quitter. I think taking these contests too seriously lately was what was keeping my score down. I do want to win,but it's just a competition among friends.