Magma Blaster Guide
Written by knd1994123
Game Basics
In Magma Blaster, you play an Alien Aisha (not that you can see him on the
screen anyway) that is selflessly trying to save Tyrannian Neopets from being
squished under the smoldering rocks of impending doom.
Setup: You play the game as if you were sitting inside the Magma Blaster
2000. In the center of the screen, there is a big volcano that will spit out
rocks at random for you to blast away at. Running around at the base of the
volcano are the helpless Tyrannians. More about them next. At the very bottom of
the screen is your magma-blasting control center. The top of the screen is where
it shows your total game score and the score for the level. It is important to
keep an eye on these during each level, as I will explain later.
Lives: You start the game with 5 lives. These are represented as the 5
Neopets scurrying across the bottom of the screen. If a rock falls too close to
one of these Neopets, they will experience an untimely demise, and you will lose
a life. There is no way to get extra lives, so guard those Neopets' lives as if
they were your own!
Levels: There are 5 levels in Magma Blaster. With each level, one more
type of rock gets added. This increases from two types in the Level 1 to six
types of rocks in Level 5. The volcano also erupts more frequently, often with
more rocks in each eruption.
Scoring: The scoring for this game is pretty simple. Each rock you blast
is either worth 2 or 4 points. If you blast the rock while having it centered
(or at least close to centered) in your laser sight, you will receive 4 points.
However, if your aim is a bit off, only catching the edge of the rock, you will
only receive 2 points for your effort. As the basic rounds are not timed, it is
better to take your time to get better aim on the rocks than it is to hastily
shoot it as soon as it pops out of the volcano.
For each level, you will need to disintegrate a certain number of rocks to
advance to the next one. In addition, if you score enough points, you can
activate a bonus round (there is one at the end of each level) where you can
earn a good chunk of points. The numbers stand like this:
Level 1: 10 rocks to advance, 40 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 2: 15 rocks to advance, 60 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 3: 20 rocks to advance, 80 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 4: 25 rocks to advance, 100 points to activate the bonus round.
Level 5: 30 rocks to complete the game, 120 points to activate the bonus round.
Concentration
Put the dog outside, turn off the TV, and make sure your little brother is in
his room, because you don't want to have any distractions that might break your
concentration.
Not only do you have to shoot the rocks, each one has a special laser blast that
will only work for it. There are six types of rock, therefore six choices for
the laser. You will have to memorize which number corresponds with which rock.
Before the start of each level, I usually spend a few seconds reviewing the
numbers to myself because I find it helps my performance.
The sound effects for this game are the same for every rock that comes flying
out of the volcano, so they are not as helpful as in some other games. If you
find your game performance is better without the extra noise, turn off the
sound, because it will do nothing but break your concentration.
Shooting
If you take a closer look at your control center, you will see that right in the
middle of it is a stone wheel with pictures of some rocks on it. These are all
the types of rocks you will be facing in the upcoming level. At the very top of
the wheel is a little circle that highlights one of the rocks. This tells you
which rock you are currently set to blast. Your cursor also has the image of the
type of rock you have selected so you do not have to keep looking down. The
regular brown rock is #1, and going clockwise, the next five rocks are #2-6
respectively.
Now the number pad, unfortunately, does not work for this game, so you will have
to use the row of numbers located above the letters. When you see a rock,
quickly press the number that matches the rock, and then aim and fire. You can
fire with either your left mouse button or the space bar.
Another option for choosing the correct laser blast for each rock is to use the
Z and X keys to rotate the wheel. This is much harder than just using the
numbers, and is not recommended.
Bonus Rounds
These bonus rounds are the key to getting a trophy-worthy score. As I said
before, if you score enough points during the regular levels, you can activate a
bonus round at the end of each one. During this round, you are given a 15 second
free-for-all to shoot as many rocks as you can. A lot of the round depends on
luck, such as how many rocks the volcano decides to spit out during the 15
second time period. An average bonus round will probably get you 50-60 points,
but a good one could get you 70 points or more!
During the bonus round, the top of the screen will show you the number of rocks
you've destroyed and the number of seconds remaining. I find that it only wastes
your time looking at these, since the objective is to destroy as many as
possible. Keep your eyes on the mouth of the volcano for best results.
Extra Tips
An important thing to think about, believe it or not, is where you put your
fingers during the game. I, for example, choose to use my index finger for rocks
4, 5, and 6, and assign my middle, ring, and pinky fingers one rock each. My
co-author however chooses to only use his ring, middle, and index fingers, while
stretching his index to cover rocks 3, 4, 5, and 6. It really is about personal
preference, so use whichever way feels most comfortable and efficient for you.
Another tip for getting that trophy score is getting a few extra rocks at the
end of each level. The end of the round comes, NOT when you have blasted the
number of rocks to advance to the next level, but when you've done that and ALSO
cleared the screen of rocks. This means that if the last rock you need to
advance shoots out, followed by a second rock, you have just potentially earned
yourself an extra 4 points. To find out if you are on your last rock, you will
have to either count rocks (which is easier if you got some 2 pointers as well
has 4 pointers), or look at your level score (which really only works if you got
a perfect score on all your rocks). So if you wait until right before your final
rocks hit the ground at the end of each level, you can earn those extra points
to get you closer to your trophy. This tip will also help you activate those
bonus rounds if you have accidentally gotten off a badly aimed shot and received
a few 2 point rocks during the level as well.
Hopefully now that you've finished reading this guide, you are a little better
at Magma Blaster than you were 1,300 words ago!
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