Astro Blaster (version 1)

Arcade 1981 Sega Shooter Gallery
Astro Blaster is a 1- or 2-player game in which players must advance through squadrons of alien ships in an attempt to dock with the mother ship. Players move their ship left or right and shoot at attacking squadrons. A special time warp allows the player to slow down the alien space ships and their laser fire, while maintaining his own ship and laser fire at normal speed.

As players go through the game play, each step is directed by the voice of mission control. Mission control keeps players informed of fuel status, provides a countdown on warp, keeps track of the number of ships remaining, and monitors the player's laser temperature.

As players enter each new sector they encounter a different number of alien squadrons. Players must destroy all ships in each squadron to pass through the sector. One squadron of rockets is extremely difficult to destroy, but players can pass through this squadron by hitting a few enemy ships. Once a player has destroyed all the squadrons in that sector, he enters an asteroid belt. He must maneuver and shoot his way through the asteroids to reach the mother ship. If fuel is critically low when the player enters the asteroid belt, he can receive extra fuel by shooting the red fireballs interspersed among the asteroids. After passing through the asteroid belt, the player's ship docks with the mother ship and refuels.

There are 29 different alien squadrons players encounter as they move through the different sectors. Every new sector increases in difficulty with different numbers of squadrons in each sector. Each alien ship has its own individualized sounds, movements and firing capability.

During their game, players must keep track of fuel consumption. As the player's ship moves through the sector, it consumes fuel. The player must ensure he has enough fuel to advance through the sector and dock with the mother ship. Extra fuel can only be obtained by shooting red fireballs or docking with the mother ship. The screen also displays the laser temperature. As players fire, the laser temperature rises. When they cease firing it cools down. If the laser overheats, players lose their laser fire until it cools down.

By depressing the warp button, players slow down the enemy ships and their laser fire while maintaining his own at normal speed. Players receive one warp per ships and are awarded one warp upon docking, if he has used his warp in the previous sector.

Each alien ship destroyed carries a different point value. Players also receive double points for destroying an alien ship when their fuel is in the red. To add further excitement, there are 25 tasks that a player performs during the course of the game and receives a secret bonus. Players do not know what these tasks are, but a good player will keep track. The 25 tasks are consistent throughout the game. Players also receive a bonus for any fuel they have left when they dock with the mother ship.

With a two-player game, players alternate at the conclusion of each sector, not after each ship. Players receive 3 to 5 ships, which is operator adjustable. The game is over when a player runs out of fuel, loses all his ships, or crashes while attempting to dock with the mother ship. The top three scores are displayed and the game ranks players from 1 to 99.

PLAY INSTRUCTIONS :
1. Shoot enemy space ships for points.
2. Shoot fire balls for extra fuel.
3. Use warp to slow down enemy ships and bombs (only once per sector or ship).
4. Discover how to earn secret bonuses for extra points.
5. Dock with mother ship to refuel after each sector.
6. Game over when you run out of ships or fuel.
7. Laser will not fire while overheated.
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Astro Blaster (version 1)

Partager Astro Blaster (version 1)

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Technique

CPU
  • maincpu Z80 (@ 3 Mhz)
  • audiocpu I8035 (@ 3 Mhz)
Chipset
  • Sega Speech Sound Board
  • SP0250 (@ 3 Mhz)
Affichage
  • Orientation Tate
  • Résolution 255 x 224
  • Fréquence 59.998138 Hz
Contrôles
  • Nombre de joueurs 2
  • Nombre de boutons 2
  • Type de contrôle joy (2 ways)

Screenshots de Astro Blaster (version 1)

Astro Blaster (version 1) - Screen 1
Astro Blaster (version 1) - Screen 2
Astro Blaster (version 1) - Screen 3
Astro Blaster (version 1) - Screen 4
Astro Blaster (version 1) - Screen 5

Les clones de Astro Blaster (version 1)

Scoring de Astro Blaster (version 1)

NOTE : During fuel status critical, everything in the game is double points.

AMOEBAS : 70 Points
BLUE&RED DISCS : 70 Points
BLUE&RED SPIRALS : 110 Points
BLUE&RED TRIANGLE : 100 Points
BLUE DIAMOND : 110 Points
BLUE DISC : 60 Points
BLUE OVALS : 120 Points
BLUE HEXAGON : 110 Points
BLUE UFO'S : 160/80 Points
BLUE X's : 90 Points
GALAXIANS : 70/110 Points
GREEN DOUBLE ARROWS : 90 Points
METEOR : 60 Points
ORANGE&PURPLE SPINNERS : 80/110 Points
ORANGE ARROWS : 100 Points
ORANGE CRYSTALS : 110 Points
ORANGE DART : 40/70 Points
ORANGE SAUCER : 50/100 Points
RED-RINGED GLOBES : 100 Points
RUBBER BANDS : 70 Points
WHITE BLOCK : 70 Points
WHITE BOATS : 90 Points
WHITE SQUARES : 100 Points
WHITE WINGS : 60 Points
YELLOW BIRD : 70 Points
YELLOW DOUBLE DIAMONDS : 80 Points

You also get 100 points per asteroid you take out at the end of the sector.
You also get a bonus for fuel remaining when you dock with the mother ship.

You get a bonus for fuel remaining when you dock with the mother ship, awarded at 10 points per pixel of fuel.

Secret Bonuses :
Number 01, bonus 2000 points. Complete the asteroid field without missing any fireballs.
Number 03, bonus 1000 points. Shoot all enemies without missing.
Number 04, bonus 700 points. Shoot all enemies before they wrap around to the other side of the screen, during waves that have the enemies that fly horizontally or diagonally.
Number 09, bonus 500, 700, 900, 1000 or 1500 points. Don't move at all when docking with the mother ship (1000 points for a PERFECTLY centered approach, 1500 points for 'the paint scraper', when you brush a docking clamp of the mother ship).
Number 12, bonus 700 points. Shoot all enemies before any escape the screen through the bottom (certain waves only).
Number 13, bonus 500 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 1.
Number 14, bonus 1000 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 2.
Number 15, bonus 1500 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 3.
Number 16, bonus 2000 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 4.
Number 17, bonus 2500 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 5.
Number 18, bonus 3000 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 6.
Number 19, bonus 3500 points. Shoot all enemies in proper order in sector 7.
Number 22, bonus 600 points. Never get laser temperature critical during the sector (awarded before docking).
Number 25, bonus 500 points. Not dying during the sector (awarded before docking).

Tips sur Astro Blaster (version 1)

* When you start the game, your star ship will be in the middle of the screen. The computer voice will state 'Alert, alert, invaders sector 1, player 1, battle stations'. With that, you are ready to rock and roll. Before you start your game, be sure of what version machine you are playing so you can get yourself prepared. Since each version alters the order of the aliens, it's not good to be prepared for one attack and a totally different attack comes along.

* Although the computer voice can be annoying at times, it also gives you very valuable information. This will actually help you to concentrate more on destroying aliens then constantly looking at your gauges. Some helpful things the voice will tell you are :
1) When your fuel status hits marginal and critical.
2) When your laser temperature is approaching critical.
3) The countdown after you activate warp.

* Fuel is a very precious commodity in this game. If you run out of fuel, your game is over regardless of how many star ships you have left. Learn how to maximize your fuel usage because in the later sectors that have a lot of waves, you will be running on empty. Some other fuel facts :
1) When you activate warp, only the enemies on the screen slow down. Your fuel supply continues to burn away in REAL time.
2) When fuel status marginal is announced, you have approximately 25 seconds of fuel remaining.
3) When fuel status critical is announced, you have approximately 8 seconds of fuel remaining.
4) Shooting the fireballs in the asteroid wave will get you 3 more seconds of fuel.
5) You score double points during fuel status critical.
6) At the end of each sector, you will be re-fueled when you dock with the mothership.
7) Losing a star ship doesn't replenish your fuel supply.

* The warp button can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you use it. You only get one warp per sector or one per star ship. This works fine on the lower sectors that only have a few waves. On the higher sectors, though, you must plan (if possible) the best place to utilize it. Some tips :
1) If it is used on an enemy that goes across the screen, wait until they are halfway across before activating the warp. This way, you can get them all before your warp time runs out.
2) If used on the diagonal flying aliens, again, wait until a lot of them are out before activating.
3) For other aliens, make sure they are mostly on the screen. Sometimes, these aliens disappear off screen and if you activated your warp too early, it will be wasted while they hang around outside of the playing area.

* There are no safe places in this game so you must always be on the look out for not only the aliens dropping on you, but also their laser fire.

* Speaking of laser fire, your ship is equipped with a powerful laser cannon. There is no limit to the amount of shots you can fire, but there is a catch. The cannon heats up with each shot fired. It will overheat if you fire too many shots too quickly, and you will have to wait about eight seconds for it to cool off before you can fire it again. Some ways to prevent overheating :
1) Make your shots count. Don't hold down the fire button to take out the aliens. Shoot to kill, not to warn.
2) If you must do multiple shots, do it in short bursts. Your laser heats up much faster then it cools down.
3) If you do overheat, just avoid the aliens and their fire until your laser is operational again.

* Docking is the easiest way to get a lot of points. You need to set yourself up after the last of the asteroids in order to get those points. Moving your ship during docking procedures will prevent you from getting any docking bonus. The most points are from the 'Paint Scraper' method : Line up your left engine over the C in SECTOR. It will look like you will collide with the left docking arm but you will barely squeeze by. Thus, you now have 1,500 points.

* Also, if you destroy your star ship during docking, your game will be over regardless of the number of men you have left.

* Always expect the unexpected in this game. Sometimes the aliens will do things or make moves you haven't seen before. The best way to counter this is to always be on guard.

* After sector seven, the sectors repeat again. Also, the score 'rolls over' at 99,990. Many players will intentionally get themselves killed when they get close to this score in order to claim the number one position on the board.

Astro Blaster (version 1) et M.A.M.E.

0.37b2 [Darren Hatton]
0.30 [Mike Balfour, Dave Fish]

Artwork available
Samples required

WIP:
- 0.142u1: Added 'Sega Speech Sound Board'.
- 0.138u1: Renamed (astrode) to (astrobg).
- 0.134u3: Volker Hann and Team Europe added clone Astro Blaster (German).
- 0.134u2: Added clone Astro Blaster (German) (not in the mame\mamedriv.c).
- 30th September 2009: Smitdogg - Volker Hann & Team Europe dumped a German version of Astro Blaster. I don't have any pics but, pretty cool news.
- 27th December 2008: Mr. Do - Kiltron knocked a few bezels out this month including Astro Blaster, which were on loan from Gene at Vintage Arcade.
- 0.122u8: Changed 'Unknown' to 'Unused' dipswitches.
- 0.122u6: Changed I8035 CPU2 clock speed to 3120000 Hz.
- 0.121: Vas Crabb updated the DIP locations in clones (version 1) and (version 2).
- 0.108: Aaron Giles added crude support for Astro Blaster attack rate.
- 0.107u3: Changed Z80 CPU1 clock speed to 3867000 Hz, VSync to 59.998135 Hz and palettesize from 65 to 64 colors. Changed region cpu2 to sound1. Fixed rom names.
- 0.104u8: Changed Z80 CPU1 clock speed to 4MHz.
- 0.104u6: Changed I8035 CPU1 clock speed to 208000 Hz.
- 0.103: Nicola Salmoria fixed missing SP0250 speech.
- 0.88: MASH added clone Astro Blaster (version 2a).
- 0.71u3: SP0250 sound / G80 speech board emulation [Olivier Galibert]. Replaced Custom sound with GI_SP0250. Removed speech samples (01 - 23.wav). Changed I8035 CPU2 clock speed to 3.12MHz. New sample set is required.
- 27th July 2003: Olivier Galibert sent in support for SP0250 sound chip and Sega G80 speech board, adding emulated speech to Astro Blaster, Space Fury, Star Trek and Zektor.
- 0.37b2: Darren Hatton added Astro Blaster (version 3). Renamed (astrob) to (astrob2).
- 0.35b6: Replaced I8039 CPU2 with I8035.
- 0.35b2: Changed I8039 CPU2 clock speed to 208000 Hz.
- 0.34RC1: Added I8039 (3120000 Hzu) CPU2, Custom and Samples sound.
- 0.30: Mike Balfour and Dave Fish added Astro Blaster (version 2) (Sega 1981) and clone (version 1). To quote from Clay Cowgill's page about the version 1: This ROM set appears to be the "original" Astro Blaster ROMs. There are no on-screen instructions and the progression of waves is very difficult. I believe they were replaced by version 2 (below) to make the game a little easier. The game behaves a little differently than version 2 when starting up - the more coins you put in, the more ships you get to start with.
- 17th December 1992: Dumped Astro Blaster (version 1).

PLAY INSTRUCTIONS:
- Shoot enemy space ships for points
- Shoot fire balls for extra fuel
- Use Warp to slow down enemy ships and bombs (only once per sector or ship).
- Discover how to earn secret bonuses for extra points
- Dock with mother ship to refuel after each sector
- Game over when you run out of ships or fuel
- Laser will not fire while overheated

Romset: 50 kb / 25 files / 33.4 zip
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