ASTRO INVADER LONGPLAY ARCADE MAME WITH BEZEL STERN 1980 KONAMI?
7LAST SCORE ON THIS ONE. SCORE ROLLOVER
Please look below for info and additional links.
Name: Astro Invader
Manufacturer: Stern Electronics
Year: 1980
Type: Videogame
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Shooter
Monitor:
CRT: Color
Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 1
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Alternating
Control Panel Layout: Single Player
Controls:
Buttons: Rotational (left, right)
Buttons: 1 [Fire]
Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles:
Upright/Standard
Astro Invader Description
Invader was produced by Stern Electronics in 1980.
The upright cabinet is predominantly black with painted side art that reads "Stern Astro Invader" and displays spaceships. The control panel is painted metal and there is artwork on the monitor bezel. The marquee is separate from the bezel.
This game also came in a cocktail table. The service manual mentions a cocktail mode, but there is no other mention of it.
Cheats, Tricks, Bugs, and Easter Eggs
General: On odd numbered boards, the ships come out in a back and forth pattern. On even numbered boards, most of the ships come out and drop down shafts on the side where the players ship is, thus making even numbered boards more difficult.
Like other shooter type games, you are only allowed to have one shot on the screen at a time. Firing timing is more important that mindless, quick firing.
Simple Strategy: The numbering of the shafts for the explanation below: ***12345***67890***
Your basic strategy and priority is to keep the shafts in the middle of the screen as empty as possible (numbers 4, 5, 6 and 7). This allows you to stay in the middle of the board safely, while the ships fall to the left and right. If you keep these shafts as empty as possible, it is very easy to stay in the middle shooting the ships that fill those shafts, then sliding over to hit a saucer, and returning to the middle.
Saucer Values: The values for the saucers are not random, but are determined by the shot number you are on. 400 is the maximum score, with scores also of 300, 200 and 100 possible.
Counting Shots: I recommend only counting shots on odd boards. At the very start of the game you want to hit the first saucer (coming out in the middle) on the 15th shot to score 400. After that, you want to hit the saucer on every 16th shot to score 400. Your total count, not just the count between hitting saucers is used for your score (Ex. If you hit a saucer and score 400, then hit the next saucer on 15 shots you will score 100. You wil then need to hit the next saucer at 17 shots to score 400 on that one). In other words, if you fall behind on your shots, you need to catch up. That sometimes is hard to do because you have just enough time to shoot 16 shots between saucers, so you want to refer to the following scoring chart below:
If you just scored a 400 on a saucer, here is your score for the following saucer based on the number of shots:
Number of Shots Score
4 200
8 300
12 200
16 400
Everything else in between is 100. So, if you just hit a saucer and scored 300, you could hit the next saucer on the eighth shot to score 400. Or if you have a score of 200, and hit the next on 12 shots, you will score either 300 or 400.
When you hit a saucer and score 100, and you do not know where you are "in the count", then trying hitting each successive saucer on the 15th shot to try to find a 200, 300 or 400 score.
On even boards, you want to keep the middle of the screen rows clear, and even concentrating on the opposite side of where the saucer is going to come out. Then when the saucer appears you can easily slide over to the other side, and there should not be many ships falling. I usually time my approach to the other side to when there is a gap of ships falling there.
Rarity and Popularity independently are NOT necessarily indications of value. [More Information]
.here's some links to high score websites:
All high scores/all formats:
highscore.com: http://highscore.com/
MAME high scores
MAME ACTION REPLAY PAGE (MARP)
http://replay.marpirc.net/
H.A.R.P. (Home Action Replay Page)
http://www.homeactionreplay.org/
TWIN GALAXIES video game scoreboard:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/content.php
Other Videos By KernzyP
Other Statistics
Astro Invader Statistics For KernzyP
KernzyP currently has 6,950 views spread across 6 videos for Astro Invader. The game makes up 2 hours of published video on his channel, or 1.28% of the total watchable video for Astro Invader on KernzyP's YouTube channel.