Pteri Ptactics
Written by Cyanna
You know the weapons. You've seen the enemies. You've flown right up that giant
Grarrl's left nostril and lived to tell the tale.
But can you leave with 1000 NP in your pocket?
Deep in the heart of Tyrannia, thousands of Pteris make their fight up the
canyon with evil Pterodactyls and Grarrls doing everything in their power to
stop them. What is a poor green Pteri to do? Shoot them down of course.
Such is the basic idea behind Pterattack, a game that is simple enough to learn
but difficult to master. Over time I�ve discovered a fairly straightforward
strategy that seems to work really well for me. Hopefully my tips can help
improve your final score as well as your NP intake.
By now, you probably have an idea of the basic game play. You know your enemies.
You know how to get your weapons. You use the arrow keys to move and the space
bar to fire. That�s all easy enough to understand. You can also press two arrow
keys at the same time. Depending on the two you choose, you can move the Pteri
diagonally, which is helpful when getting out of tight spots or diving for that
weapon upgrade that you need.
Speaking of weapons let�s go into detail about that now. In this game you have
four different basic weapons. All of these weapons can be upgraded to more
powerful levels as you collect the various colored orbs that sometimes appear
when you successfully destroy an enemy.
Red: These orbs will upgrade your default weapon. This weapon fires a powerful
laser straight ahead of you. If you get a red orb while carrying another weapon
you will have your default weapon from the beginning if the game once more.
Cy�s Review: I personally do not care for the red weapons. The highest upgrade
requires more orbs then some of the other weapons. The shot is very powerful but
it is only good for hitting what is directly in front of you and the shots are
fairly slow in between.
Green: These orbs will create a �spreader� weapon that will not only shoot in
front of you but also off to the sides in a variety of angles
Cy�s Review: Although I find the spreader to have a slightly more defensive edge
then the red weapons, I still do not advise working to upgrade this to its
highest level. You really can do a lot better on the defense.
Red and White: Collect these orbs to fire white sticks that will move back and
forth across the screen.
Cy�s Review: In my opinion this is the second best weapon in the game because of
the broad range it covers. Right away you will see a difference because at its
lowest setting, it will knock out those first orange enemies with a single hit
while your default weapon requires two. Like the �spreader� you can hit targets
at an angle as opposed to dead on. However it does not require such precise aim.
It takes fewer orbs to bring this weapon to full power and the offensive punch
doesn�t hit as hard. Defensively it is superb because it covers a VERY wide
horizontal range, which is essential to create some breathing room if you need
to move from side to side. But once you get into the harder levels, you may find
that you are just not firing those shots fast enough. But overall, the red and
white weapons will serve you well.
Blue: Collecting the blue orbs will have you firing orbs at the enemy that
increase in size and number with each upgrade. After three upgrades, the orbs
will turn into waves.
Cy�s Review: This is the weapon you really should try to get in the game. Not
only is it as powerful as the red weapons but the last few upgrades provide a
nice shield from those Pterodactyls. The highest setting is designed is so that
a direct on hit will cause more damage then a glancing blow to the side, but
don�t let that discourage you. The Pteri also fires these weapons fairly quickly
so you are more likely to get that second shot in. This weapon is a pain to
start off with because the first blue orb gives you a weapon that is as weak as
the default. So you will need multiple shots to take down the easiest enemies
for some time. But the final weapon is well worth your efforts.
For more detailed information about the weapons and enemies of Pterattack,
please refer to �Pterattack Guide to Weapons and Enemies� by goku763, which
appeared in Neopian Times issue #98
Now for the strategy.
If you have never played this game before, start on Easy. It will take a lot
longer to complete a level however the Pterodactyls move very slowly at first.
This way you can get a feel for how the game works. If you have more experience
and can make it a few levels before dying, then move on to Medium or even Hard.
1.) Patience, young grasshopper. No matter what difficulty you go for, remember
that it is better to let that enemy fly by then to risk putting your Pteri into
a dangerous situation. It takes patience but there are many enemies out there
and you only have a max of four lives. That flock of Pterodactyls heading your
way looks tempting but can you really shoot them all down? What about those
really fast ones? You can let as many as you like fly by. It has no effect on
your score at all. None. Zip. Zilch. So get that �must shoot down everything on
the screen� mentality and defenestrate* it. In the early stages where you have
more control and more time to react, it's better to play more on the careful
side.
2.) For the most part, stick to one weapon. Sometimes in the first level I�ll
grab a red/white orb because that will take down the easy enemies with one hit.
You can only get upgrades by destroying the enemies so starting off with a
weapon that will take them down quicker is alright. But as soon as I see those
blue orbs, I go after those. Once you have that first orb for your weapon of
choice, stick with it and don�t pick up any other orbs of a different color or
else you will start on that weapon�s lowest setting.
3.) Be a jack of all-trades. I already mentioned that my personal weapons of
choice are the blue orbs. But what if I go through three levels and I still
haven�t seen a single blue orb? It�s happened to me before. It�ll certainly
happen to you. If at this point, you�ve been relying on your second favorite
weapon to carry you this far, you may as well finish the game with it. By the
third level, you will face Pterodactyls that move much faster then others (and
at this point all enemies are moving faster then they did when you started) and
they are only going to require more hits. So abandoning your second-choice
weapon for your first choice at the lowest setting may not be the wisest thing
to do.
4.) Keep away from the back. Stay relatively near the center of the playing area
for as long as you are comfortable. Those Grarrls that appear from behind can do
some damage and could result in losing more then one life. Make sue that you
have the space to see them coming. Don�t forget that it is okay to dodge
Pterodactyls when you need to. But as you get better at the game, you will find
that your enemies will move much faster then your reaction time can handle. Once
that happens�
5.) Forget rule 4. At this point in the game the panic is starting to set in.
Those Pterodactyls are coming down faster then you can shoot. And to make
matters worse, you have new enemies flying out of the sides. Moving around could
only get you into more trouble so the time has come to abandon your skills and
rely a little on luck. This is probably the craziest part of my strategy. But it
really boosted my score from a point where I thought I couldn�t fight anymore.
Take the Pteri and tuck him into the bottommost left or right corner. Be careful
not to get to close to the edge or else you will lose a life. Once you are in
position, hold the space bar and just fire round after round. Two varieties of
Pterodactyls fly in from the corners of the upper half of the playing area,
light green from the right and light blue from the left. From your corner,
you�ll be able to shoot one of those colors easily especially if you have been
collecting the blue orbs. Because these light green and blue enemies tend to
come one right after another for quite a bit of time, you can really rack up a
steady stream of points. If you are confident enough, you can switch corners if
you current one has turned dull. Staying in a corner will also keep you out of
harm�s way when the enemies start to fly in from the sides. However there are
still Grarrls to worry about. I�ve found that by staying in a corner, most
Grarrls will miss me completely. Occasionally I will get bitten but depending on
the level and difficulty, the Grarrls will move so fast that by the time I�ve
been hit and I�ve had my few seconds of invincibility, the Grarrl will be gone.
Luck will only take you so far of course. At some point your game will come to
an end. But hopefully once that happens you�ll have 1000 Neopoints waiting for
you at the end.
6.) Practice. I know that sounds very clich� and dull and it�s what everyone
else says. But it works. I got addicted to this game and I played it often. All
that practicing has paid off.
Keep in mind that this is my personal method. This is by no means the only way
to play Pterattack. It works well for me so I�m hoping that it will work just as
well for interested readers who are looking to get more points out of the game.
However to make it on to the high scores list and get a trophy, you are going to
have to find a way to play that you feel most comfortable doing.
Good luck and may you never get stuck in a Grarrl's left nostril. ;D
~Cyanna
*defenestrate
v. To throw out of a window.
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