Ikrananka Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Beamrider A beam matrix of iridescent blue engulfs the distant blackness of Earth-Space. You stand watching. First mesmerized, you now realize the beams carry weapons. Frightening creations in endless configurations. Intriguing to watch, but will you - yes you, dear reader - take action? You will??!! Then roll up your sleeves, mount these beams and . . . ride!! Game Information Game Name: Beamrider Released by: Activision, 1983 Original arcade game by: N/A CV HSC High Score: None TwinGalaxies High Score: 999,999 by Todd (Jul 2003) Settings: Level 1 This game was suggested by: roadrunner and duncantoml Contest Ends Saturday, 11 February 2012 at 1:00AM EST Quick-Start-Bonus-Info and HSC Rules Final High Scores 1. Mangia-Boy 71,520 [+10] 2. skosh 69,230 [+9] 3. jblenkle 68,420 [+8] 4. Ikrananka 46,864 [+6] 5. ChuckH 46,476 [+4] 6. roadrunner 42,430 [+2] 7. ed1475 12,638 [+1] 8. JacobZu7zu7 11,628 [+1] Leaderboard 1. Mangia-Boy [93] (14) 2. jblenkle [90] (15) 2 3. skosh [75] (9) 4 4. patbb [65] (14) 1 5. ed1475 [64] (15) 2 1 6. ChuckH [51] (6) 2 7. chuckwalla [36] (7) 1 8. JacobZu7zu7 [34] (13) 9. Ikrananka [32] (15) 10. atariron82 [30] (5) 1 11. Ms. Do [13] (1) 1 12. roadrunner [11] (11) 13. rmaerz [11] (4) 14. Yurkie [10] (4) 15. purenergy [10] (2) 16. retroillucid [10] (1) 1 17. Akito01 [8] (1) 18. ColecoDan [6] (1) 19. AtariBrian [4] (1) 20. 1982VideoGames [2] (2) 21. SegaShooters [2] (1) 22. cmart604 [1] (1) 22. NIAD [1] (1) 22. centiqueen81 [1] (1) 22. Darrin9999 [1] (1) [ ] = Points ( ) = Rounds Played BLUE = Rounds Won GOLD = Seasons Won Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckH Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 OK. I'll start it off. About Sector 12 it becomes almost unplayably fast for me. I don't think I can get much better. This game reminds me of one of my favorite games, Juniper First. I prefer the SG-1000 version to the arcade actually. I wish someone would make a conversion to Colecovision for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Ouch! This one should be interesting...this is one of the few games I've never really played a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 OK. I'll start it off. About Sector 12 it becomes almost unplayably fast for me. I don't think I can get much better. This game reminds me of one of my favorite games, Juniper First. I prefer the SG-1000 version to the arcade actually. I wish someone would make a conversion to Colecovision for it. Checkout the Twin Galaxies high score - I just don't understand how that is even possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mangia-Boy Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 16.140 I wonder how Todd Rogers plays this game. This is again one of the Activision titles where he holds a fabulous world record (like Stampede or River Raid). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Cool, a game i picked. I was doing good until i got to sector 14 42,430 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Beamerider - 7,956 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckH Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I give up. My high score will have to stand for me. I can't find any tricks to increase scores and I can't understand how the guy Todd could get 1 million. It seems impossible. For the heck of it, I tried it on Atari2600, Atari5200, and MSX. They all have about the same logic and are almost impossible on the higher sectors. Great score by Roadrunner, BTW. About twice what I could muster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckH Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 OK, I'm going to be revisiting this game. Here's some tips I found on the Atari 2600 High Score Forum: DON'T SHOOT the yellow rejuvenator (extra ship). Position your ship at the center (or near the center) of the screen. This action decreases your risk of collision with White Enemy Saucers, Brown Space Debris, Green Blocker Ships, Green Bounce Craft, Green Chargers and Orange Trackers. The maximum number of ships in reserve displayed at the bottom of the screen is 13, BUT YOU CAN continue catching more and more yellow rejuvenators (extra ships) in order to get more bonus points via destroying the Sector Sentinel. For each sector, reserve ONE or TWO TORPEDOES to try to destroy the Sector Sentinel in order to score bonus points. Well, I was shooting that yellow thing when if you let it run into you instead, you get an extra life! That's a big difference. You can get 13 lives or more. Chuck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I give up. My high score will have to stand for me. I can't find any tricks to increase scores and I can't understand how the guy Todd could get 1 million. It seems impossible. For the heck of it, I tried it on Atari2600, Atari5200, and MSX. They all have about the same logic and are almost impossible on the higher sectors. Great score by Roadrunner, BTW. About twice what I could muster. Thanks Yeah, it helps alot not to shoot your extra ship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skosh Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 44750 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckH Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Insanity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Beamrider - 10,962 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mangia-Boy Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 43.900 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Beamrider - 24,052 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Beamrider - 35,170 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacobZu7zu7 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 5,104... i am pretty bad at this game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 27,518 - personal best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Anyone else have a problem with Beamrider locking up when played on a real CV using the 128-in-1 or other cart? My games have locked up several times in between rounds when it displays the Sector and "Bonus" on the screen. The word Bonus should flash, but it doesn't and the game just sits there. I also had one instance during gameplay where all the white UFOs disappeared. Without them to blow up, I couldn't advance in the game so I had to give up a life. Luckily when the round re-started, the UFOs were back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skosh Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Have had it occur multiple times on a 128-in-1 between stages. It has happened at least 4 times from stage 6 to 13. Very annoying and decided to stop playing it for a while since my last 2 games ended that way. Would be interesting to know if this is due to the rom dump / or if this behavior occurs in the original cart as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Probably the dump...just like Super Cobra played OK until you got to the last level and then went bad... Have had it occur multiple times on a 128-in-1 between stages. It has happened at least 4 times from stage 6 to 13. Very annoying and decided to stop playing it for a while since my last 2 games ended that way. Would be interesting to know if this is due to the rom dump / or if this behavior occurs in the original cart as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Beamrider - 42,718 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skosh Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 This time I was lucky and it did not freeze. 50132 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikrananka Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Interesting issues around the Beamrider rom. The original CV rom collection I have from many years ago shows a [!] in the name which I believe signified that the dump was possibly bad (although I don't have the key to the naming convention any more so can't be sure what it means). Anyway, I dumped my Beamrider cart and it highlighted a few differences between the rom in the wild and my dump: 1. The last two bytes at the end of 16k are different. The public rom has "00 20" while my dump has "FD 77". 2. My dump has some odd data between 16k and 32k which would signify that there is more than 16k of eprom in the cart. So, I have created two versions of my cart dump (i) cut down to the supposedly correct size of 16k and (ii) my original full 32k dump. Try out both and let me know if the bug appears. Beamrider (1983) (Activision) Roms.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Thanks...I will play both tomorrow and report back. Although I don't get the lockup every time I play, it happens on a consistant basis...maybe 1 out of 5 times I play. Interesting issues around the Beamrider rom. The original CV rom collection I have from many years ago shows a [!] in the name which I believe signified that the dump was possibly bad (although I don't have the key to the naming convention any more so can't be sure what it means). Anyway, I dumped my Beamrider cart and it highlighted a few differences between the rom in the wild and my dump: 1. The last two bytes at the end of 16k are different. The public rom has "00 20" while my dump has "FD 77". 2. My dump has some odd data between 16k and 32k which would signify that there is more than 16k of eprom in the cart. So, I have created two versions of my cart dump (i) cut down to the supposedly correct size of 16k and (ii) my original full 32k dump. Try out both and let me know if the bug appears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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