How far has anyone got into Desert Falcon?

[Lord Thag]

Man, I love this game. I drug it out of mothballs the other night, and had a lot of fun. It's one of my all time favorite shooters. I'm not all that great at it though. Level 5 is the farthest I've ever made it. I'm sure it just goes on forever, but I was curious how far some of you have gotten into this game. Start braggin'!

[Inky]

I've never been too fussed over it. The graphics are blah, and they look horrible muddy.

[Gregory DG]

I think I got to the second level Sphinx once. I don't really like the way it does powerups. Coming up with good combinations is pretty tough. All I usually get are points.

[FireTiger]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...44855&hl=Desert

 

novice = level 8 usually level 5

normal = level 3-4

advanced = level 2-3

expert = level 2 at best

Edited September 5, 2005 by FireTiger

[NightDriver]

I can loop it around at the novice setting. But I haven't played it in a while though. I use to use the power ups to skip to the end of the level. That made the game a whole lot easier. I think it was bird, bird, eye but the game does have a second (possibly more) set of power up meanings and if picking up bird, bird, eye power ups doesn't work then I normally just reset it. All in all a fun game I like the speed in the later levels

[FireTiger]

loops?? when??? wow. what colors... get it back out... (tell me tell me)

 

there are levels that look simular to level one and two but the colors are slightly diffrent and there are minxes...

 

after level two the power combos change, the link the my previous post shows the combos that I have testede so far.

[Cousin Vinnie]

I remember I beat the Gamepro mag high score way back in the day at 333,000+, and by the time I got the film developed and mailed my pic in they quit displaying Atari 7800 scores. Boo-hoo. I can't remember the level I was on, but it was like 5 or 6 on standard. Black and Green... something like that.

 

Vin

[+Random Terrain]

I played it a long time ago back when I tried to convince myself that I liked Zaxxon-type games. I just don't. The goofy fake 3D makes it too hard for me to figure out where I am. The music was irritating too. I'd rather play Ballblazer.

[shadow460]

Stage 2 on the novice level. I just got it yesterday, though.

[Agent X]

I think I got to the second level Sphinx once. I don't really like the way it does powerups. Coming up with good combinations is pretty tough. All I usually get are points. 

925257[/snapback]

 

Regarding the powerup system, I feel the opposite--I think it's a really clever implementation. You have to figure there are 512 (8³) hieroglyph combinations, and some of them even change from one level to the next.

 

What I recommend doing is learning and memorizing just a handful of the hieroglyph combinations that get you some of the better powers (such as Invincibility, Omnicide, or Extra Life). Once you've done that, you may find it beneficial to target your efforts toward obtaining those known combos, instead of just grabbing every hieroglyph willy-nilly.

 

To answer the original question, I think I've gotten to the 7th or 8th level, but that was many years ago.

[FireTiger]

after level 3 three birds = extra life!

[Agent X]

after level 3 three birds = extra life!

927299[/snapback]

 

Yes, that was one of the combinations that I was able to memorize very easily.

[Classic Pac]

My actual best is level 13 in novice 7 in normal with a high score somewhere around 700,000, you see that game has a small bug but you got to watch out. What I am talking about there is a spot just below the lower lip of the Sphinx and if you position yourself right you can let your score run up really high, but you do have to watch out for ground enemies. I also actually once did a list of all possible combinations of the symbols and let me tell you this that at least 25% of them are 100% random

[Chris-in-NJ]

On the standard level, I managed to get the "WARP" powerup on three consecutive rounds, so made it to a board I'd never seen before. It had dark brown sand and blue water, or as my four-year-old daughter described it, "chocolate with blueberries." This comes after the black-and-purple level, which I'd *never* passed before. I managed to get my score multiplier up to over 300, and collected six silver bars, before I got the warp, meaning I got over 16,000 points on the bonus round! My final score was, IIRC, around 114,000.

Edited February 19, 2008 by Chris-in-NJ

[Lord Thag]

Heh, forgot all about starting this thread. Yikes, three years ago. How time flies...

 

That's pretty cool, Chris. I actually (not long after posting this thread) did something similar. The black & purple level is a pain in the neck. I rarely ever get past it, but the brown/blue one is worse. I wonder what the final color combination is before it wraps around to the starting colors?

[roadrunner]

I can get to the black and purple level on novice. My score was 45,453

[xZanU]

I love that game (Though have not played in a while). I was a big fan of Tutankhamen on the 2600 and snatched up Desert Falcon as soon as it came out. I remember there being a black background? Maybe on some level, I think I generally tanked out there or the one after.

[+Charlie Cat]

I've never been too fussed over it. The graphics are blah, and they look horrible muddy.

 

 

Hi guys,

 

Some here. I thought the game wasn't that its all cracked up to be.

 

Anthony....

[7800Lover]

I plan to grab this game for Christmas. I hear it's a lot of fun. Once I play it some, I'll tell you all how far I make it.

[carmel_andrews]

I havent played the 7800 version only the A8 version which is either identical if not very similar, i have'nt played the A8 version much, only getting to level 2 or 3 and only because i didn't think too much of the game, jerky scrolling and the gfx are a bit washed out

 

A better game to play, in the DF mould is Panther by Mastertronic...I like that game (or if you like classics Blue Max/Blue Max 2001)

[xZanU]

I havent played the 7800 version only the A8 version which is either identical if not very similar, i have'nt played the A8 version much, only getting to level 2 or 3 and only because i didn't think too much of the game, jerky scrolling and the gfx are a bit washed out

 

A better game to play, in the DF mould is Panther by Mastertronic...I like that game (or if you like classics Blue Max/Blue Max 2001)

I loved Blue Max, had it for the XE and played it a whole lot. That game was super fun.

[+remowilliams]

I always liked Desert Falcon on the 7800, and I've made it pretty far into the game. The A8 version however sucks.

 

I loved Blue Max, had it for the XE and played it a whole lot. That game was super fun.

Same here, and I still play Blue Max regularly. DF is fun, but Blue Max beats the pants off it.

[DracIsBack]

I havent played the 7800 version only the A8 version which is either identical if not very similar,

 

It's been a while since I've played the Atari 8-bit version but I remember it being quite a bit worse, actually. The scrolling is really, really jerky on that one and I seem to remembering it flickering a lot when a bunch of things get on the screen.

 

Not a fine example of A8 programming ... if I remember right.

 

I think this one began life as an original Atari 7800 game ("Sphinx?") by GCC and was later ported to A8 and Atari 2600 without good results on either.

[Chris-in-NJ]

Been playing it again recently, but on the Advanced level. Managed to get over 23,000 on the first bonus round, having gotten "extra bonus" twice and "hold sphinx" during the first round.

 

On the higher levels, all I do is stay walking in the lower right-hand corner shooting away. Most of the enemies will simply run right into your arrows suicidally.