| Hints & Strategy |
First the basics. I love the yellow electro gun, so all my strategy revolves around
this gun. The puffer gun does more damage. I usually crawl along the ground and
fire alot. I stand to kill festers and ceiling vines. Jump to move quickly.
Festers (the fellows who appear on the sides of the screen) Take these guys
out by being just over half a screen away from them. Fire like crazy. You better
make sure you are at least half a screen away because these really hurt! You
can advance on them once they retreat and expose their hand, makes killing them
easier if you do. When they throw stuff, you better be facing them and firing...
Getting hit by this stuff stuns you, likely costing your life on later levels.
You can kill them with the puffer gun by laying low near the edge of the screen,
and standing up and firing as soon as they start to retreat. You can always
ignore these guys buy crawling along the floor... but it's good to take them
out as soon as you can. They produce other aliens, and create another hazard.
You can often kill festers on the adjacent screen by firing very close to the
edge. I used this to my advantage alot on level 22, which is almost nothing
but festers.
Ceiling vines: As I mentioned earlier, make sure you don't move into them while
firing. Stop, then aim up and fire.
Rollerbies (the armadillo like things that curl into a ball) Getting hit by
these balled up creatures can stun you for some time, like the festers can,
which means losing your life in later levels. Fire alot at them to make them
roll the other way of course. Don't fire too much if there is a closed door
in the way, as they'll bounce back at you at high speed. They unravel once they
stop moving. I often fire once or twice at them to make them stop. They then
unravel and I kill them. Or, I throw a grenade, and fire just enough to make
them be near the grenade. These guys are what really threatens your life at
the beginning of later levels... Don't underestimate what a mob of these can
do to your game. :) One stuns you, then every alien and their brother beat up
on you while you can't do anything. Then you lose your gun, and losing your
gun on later levels usually means the end of your life, if not your whole game!
(you usually get a laser with your new guy, which often is inadaquate). Point
blank shots often don't work on these guys for some reason, very important to
remember.
Laser firing security drones: Of course you can make these stop firing at you
by getting the disk and putting it in the security machine. But did you know
that you can kill them? You have to fire alot, unless you have a puffer gun.
Stand and fire diagonally up, fire like crazy, and don't change directions!
They'll move right into your fire. The laser gun does so little damage, it is
questionable if you should do this with that gun. I kill these drones on every
floor I encounter them until I find the disk. Little crawling aliens: crawl
and fire alot, jump if you they stick to you. On later levels, it often isn't
wise to jump immediately... you might jump into a festers xray beam, and get
stunned, lose your gun, your life, your game...
Snotterpillars (big hopping spitting aliens): While heading towards a new screen,
if you hear that you are hitting something just before you enter the new screen,
stop and keep firing until the sound stops. Then fire a lot as you enter the
new screen. Firing at them usually stops the nasty spittle they throw. You should
have no problems taking out mobs of these fellows by firing alot. Stop moving
as soon you are hitting one, you want to hit them as far away as you can. I
am pretty brave with these guys, I'll take on a big mob of them at once. Just
fire very very fast. If too many get close, or are about to, move directly away
and hit jump twice (or more) in a row. This one tactic is the main reason why
I survive so long! Not only does it make you run away quickly, it also has the
effect of dodging their spittle. Practice turning around and hopping away repeatly
when there aren't aliens around. Make sure you are moving away before jumping,
otherwise you'll jump up instead of away, and then you're really If you have
the puffer gun, have no fear-- if you fire fast enough, you can kill a solid
wall of these guys with it. machine that spits out bombs: Each bomb does 200
damage I think, so be careful. Jump away or over bombs that get thrown near
you. hit option two to fix the machine, then hit option one until you have a
full load of grenades.
self destructing: often a good idea, unless you are about to finish the level.
You won't get 200 bonus health, but on later levels you'll probably lose more
than that. I usually self destruct 2 or maybe 3 levels.
Fire levels: I am continually switching from the fire extinguisher to the electro
gun on this level. Put out the fire, run and grab your gun and clear the rooms
until you hit the next fire, etc. You can push along both guns, but it's risky.
Fires count as part of the alien remaining count... so don't leave the fires
for last! Otherwise you'll get stuck with a fire extinguisher on your next level.
If I'm cautious, I often gain more health than I lose on these levels.
level 21: This level is utter hell. Makes every other level look silly. Be
paranoid with every room you enter. I can't stress enough how hard this level
is. Fire as fast as you can. Good luck keeping your gun... that's the main thing
actually on the later levels, keeping your gun. The beginning of 21 and other
later levels is hellish, this is one place where I wouldn't feel guilty using
alot of grenades. Those hordes of rollerbies are a real problem at the beginning
of levels.
level 22: This level is as easy as 21 is hard. Almost nothing but festers.
This level might not be so easy if you don't have an electro-gun. I always have
one here.
level 23, final level: Use my technique for killing snotterpillars, especially
hopping away repeatedly when mobs get close. Grenades here can take a wall of
snotterpillers, what a rush. :) Keep up a wall of fire to stop their spittle.
Be wary of hidden ceiling vines on the edges of the screen. Fire as fast as
you can when you see the mother alien, crawl behind her while firing when you've
cleared the other aliens in the room. Fire at her head once you're behind her.
(diagonally up from ground) It's important to learn to survive with a laser
gun until you can get something better. Be very convervative, do most of your
killing from the adjacent screen. Hit things as far away as possible. Run from
snotterpillars when they get inside your max range (yup, hop twice again..)
use grenades if you have to. God I hate losing your gun on the later levels.
Free free to mail me any questions and comments. Is the arcade game exactly
the same? |
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