ZX HSC Round 1 - Bomb Jack / Penetrator

[R-Tape]

The latest from the national league north:

107840. I've started paying more attention to the sparking bombs, but am losing all my lives in doing so (I know that's the whole idea of the game!). I guess the next milestone is aiming for Morkin's 150 thou.

[Morkin]

I guess the next milestone is aiming for Morkin's 150 thou.

Eep..!

Some screens definitely seem a lot easier than others to collect the bombs in order...

I think that screen without any walls is probably one to learn the pattern for and get done as quickly as you can before the enemies hit the bottom of the screen and become more dangerous.

[Mousey]

Well done for breaking 1 million Alessandro - not that I had any doubt!



I've done it too, but only just: 1,006,850; the bird gets so fast on later levels. I wasn't far away from my HARP score - if I can beat that then I'll be very happy.

Oh and I won't be troubling anyone with my Penetrator scores. At the moment I'm struggling to get over 10,000, and have yet to get past stage 3 - or "the yellow walls of death" as I like to call it.

[Mousey]

I'm gradually getting better at Penetrator. Managed to get to stage 5 without losing a life and then lost them all by flying into the impassible mountain! I realised after losing a couple of lives that I had to hit the explosives (?) in the shaft not long before the mountain, but kept missing.

When I got back there I managed to hit the explosives (a tip for others - don't try and bomb them from too low) and was pleased to see it gives you 1,000 point bonus, and then back into more stages. I was less pleased to see that right after the bonus it puts your ship right next to a wall; you have to push up and left immediately as you appear otherwise you will die (which I did first time).

For 1983 I think it's a remarkably good game. It gets the difficulty mostly right, and you always feel like you can get a little bit further. I'll submit my score of 12,380 but am hopeful I can improve. Does anyone else find stage 4 easier than stage 3? I did stage 4 first time, but stage 3 is still nerve wracking!

[Daren]

This is great, I'm in! Just had a go on these these classics on my Next, with wireless Mega Drive controller, awesome!

Penetrator's firing mechanism is a bit annoying but I'll get the hang of it.

[R-Tape]

Penetrator's firing mechanism is a bit annoying but I'll get the hang of it.

Oh bloody hell. I'd forgotten about the thrust= fire thing. I'm used to playing Penetrator with a key hack that makes fire=bullets + bombs, but that breaks the cheating rule I guess.

I seem to be getting worse at Bomb Jack the harder I try.

[smurphboy]

I seem to be getting worse at Bomb Jack the harder I try.

I can relate to that feeling... you just need to let it flow.

So I'm at 178550 for Bomb Jack, but I've hit a wall today. There is more to come here but I'll leave the top two to the million plus scores!



and I can't quite complete that last level on Penetrator. Current score is 11210

[R-Tape]

Does anyone else find stage 4 easier than stage 3? I did stage 4 first time, but stage 3 is still nerve wracking!

Definitely. The cyan level feels like a gentle stroll after the green level.

[Morkin]

Couldn't get past 100,000 on Bomb Jack this evening. May have reached the pinnacle of my high scoring the other day. But I did a bit better at Penetrator.

Latest scores-on-the-doors:

Penetrator - 38,870
Bomb Jack - 151,540 (still)

[smurphboy]

I'm curious, are people playing on keys, joystick on real hardware or emulated?

I've been using my Next for Bomb Jack with a joystick but been playing Penetrator on an emulator (does Penetrator support joystick?) and my keyboard is not very good.

[clebin]

Both games are new for me. Just managed 17,160 on Penetrator. The double-thrust fire is pretty weird and whenever I get a bit cocky with it, I end up making a stupid mistake. Pretty good game though for the time. Haven't had a go at Bomb Jack yet.

[Morkin]

Playing on a laptop using the keys. I think it'd be a bit easier with a proper PC keyboard but it's OK I guess.

One tip with Penetrator is that you can move backwards while you fire your laser, if you're finding prodding the forward button is moving you towards danger - the advantage of playing on keyboard!

[clebin]

One tip with Penetrator is that you can move backwards while you fire your laser, if you're finding prodding the forward button is moving you towards danger.

That's a good tip!

Something weird just happened. I got to Stage 5 and the big blockage. Fired a bit, bombed a bit then flew straight into it. With 1 life remaining, I started another attempt but suddenly got a rainbow screen, followed by what seemed like 5 minutes of fireworks, then 'BONUS POINTS 1000 WOW' and got chucked back to Stage 4. I have no idea why!

[Morkin]

You have to bomb the neutron bomb store in that bit, you have one chance to drop a couple of bombs with pretty exact timing so they land at the bottom of the deep hole, Luke Skywalker style but vertical..

If you miss you'll crash into the blockage bit. But the victory screen is triggered as soon as one of your bombs hits the store - one of your bombs must have hit the spot.

[clebin]

But the victory screen is triggered as soon as one of your bombs hits the store - one of your bombs must have hit the spot.

Aha, I see - thanks! My first thought was "oh great, what a time for it to crash!"

[Freespirit]

First time playing these games:

Bomb Jack: 33520
Penetrator: 4570

Just warming up! (Hopefully)

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I see too many points on Bomb Jack, I'm sure I won't reach them so my strategy would be focusing on Penetrator (and passing the green level!)

[Morkin]

Yeah, [mention]Alessandro[/mention] and [mention]Mousey[/mention] seem to be way, way out in front of the rest of the pack with their Bomb Jack scores.

Am enjoying people posting their scores as they go, it'll be interesting to see if there are any 'tactical' last minute submissions, in dramatic Billy Mitchell style..! Oh, and feel free to take that as meaning either the arcade master or the Eastenders character.

Am wondering whether to stage an assault on [mention]smurphboy[/mention]'s 178k Bomb Jack score, but like [mention]R-Tape[/mention], the more I play it the worse I seem to get.

Do I get any extra points for making the most mentions in one post? No? Ah, well...

[smurphboy]

Am wondering whether to stage an assault on @smurphboy's 178k Bomb Jack score, but like @R-Tape, the more I play it the worse I seem to get.

It is definitely reachable. My strategy isn't to go deep into the game but to maximise the score on each sheet. So I'm taking more risks to get the maximum bonus on each screen, I seem to score higher when I get a few extra lives tokens (E). You might do better taking less risk. But the battle for third is well and truely joined.

[GreenCard]

My score for Bomb Jack: 107,320.

It took some doing, and I was quite pleased with myself until I reminded myself of Alessandro and Mousey's scores! Jeeeeez guys! Skynet called and wants it's Bomb Jack-playing cyborgs back!

I'll give Penetrator a go at lunch. Never played it before.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I'll give Penetrator a go at lunch. Never played it before.

[Morkin]

That green level in Penetrator is a right git of a level...

One thing I noticed was that if your danger level is insanely high, some of the rockets' lateral movement causes them to hit the walls and explode before they reach you. Though conversely it makes some of the other closer rockets more challenging.

Another thing I'd forgotten about is that you can blow yourself up with your own bombs..

[Mousey]

Another thing I'd forgotten about is that you can blow yourself up with your own bombs..

I'm glad you said that - there were a couple of times I seemed to die for no reason, but it must have been my own bombs!

I've managed to beat my Bomb Jack score and edge slightly into the lead with 1,128,060 (I know it won't last though!) but was gutted to have fallen short of my HARP score by just 30,260 points!

[Alessandro]

Another thing I'd forgotten about is that you can blow yourself up with your own bombs..

That should explain some deaths that occurred to me without any apparent reason...

I am not at ease with Penetrator as with Bomb Jack. First of all, I ignored its existence until the begin of the "emulator era" in the late 1990s. Then I played it just a couple of times because I was, and still am, appalled at the choice of controls. Being one of those rare individuals who abhores the QAOPM scheme, I found it extremely uncomfortable to play, especially on a PC keyboard where I end up pressing the wrong keys at the wrong moment. And that forward-fire key combination is simply absurd

That said, I managed to overcome level 3 but did not pass through level 4. My latest score is 19,320.

[akeley]

Jeez, only two days in and y'all have already produced some ker-razy scores So much for my hopes for HS table domination. Seems I'll be fighting not even for the Europa League but to avoid the drop zone spots.

Finally had some time to actually play these games.

Bomb Jack - 131,410



First time played in ~3 decades, what a blast from the past. Extremely addictive, a genius of the early arcade game design. Now I see why I've loved it so much back then. Got lucky with that score, seems my good runs are heavily dependent on the power-up distribution (unless you are one of the Million Points Club boys of course...not sure how they do that)...got like 3 extra lives in this one. Still, how to beat the no-platforms level? I couldn't reach the top bombs :/

Penetrator - a few thousand
Not even noting a score yet, it was so rubbish. I must admit that the ludicrous decision to combine shoot/forward on one button spoils this game heavily for me. I'm too used to playing total-control arcade shoot'em ups. Here I don't feel i can trust the controls at all. Shame, because it's a brilliant game apart from that...fast and furious, one of the better Scramble clones I've played (and in 1982!)

Need to deal with it somehow. First tried to play on my rubber Spectrum, it was impossible . Then tried on MiSTer, where I can remap the keys to my joypad...bit better. We'll see, but will probably concentrate on BJ more.

There are some worthy tips in the Inlay, for those who haven't seen it yet:

STRATEGIES
[...]
* In Stage Three, where you must maneuver through narrow vertical and
horizontal passages, stay as far to the right as your thrust will allow.
* In Stage Four, the enemy paratroopers will be hiding and waiting in ambush.
Try to lure them out of their hiding place and then either shoot them while
braking, or thrust quickly while going up to fly over them.
* In difficult situations, use the up/down keys for evasive action, and press
the right arrow key and the space bar (simultaneous missile firing and bomb
dropping) to destroy the enemy.
* If you wish to abort a mission completely, press ENTER and 0 simutaneously.
This teleports you back to Control Centre.

Plus it also says that destroying a lot of the radars makes the game easier, at least later (related to the "Danger' meter). Interesting.