No doubt many Jaguar owners rushed out to buy
Defender 2000 the minute it was on the shelf. And I'm sure most of us hadn't played the original Defender in several years, or just never got into the original game. Well, I've had the game for some months now and I've discovered a few tricks that might help you break that million point mark.
Start of Level Tips:
- Destroy the bombers first. Beating a level of Defender is totally dependent on not getting blown up. And since the bombers make that task the hardest (they leave dozens of bombs on the screen!) destroy them first!
- Destroy the motherships last. They're pretty docile unless you shoot them and release their swarmers. Killing swarmers is very easy when you don't have to worry about saving humanoids.
- Use a smart bomb at the start of the higher levels. The easiest way of killing two birds with one stone is to use a smart bomb to kill a bunch of bombers and motherships. Once this is done, you only need to concentrate on saving humanoids.
General Tips:
- Change directions often to confuse the baiters. They can't touch you if you're on the other side of the screen. This basic tip works for the swarmers too.
- Study your radar. When hear a humanoid scream, rush to save it, or prepare to destroy the mutant. When you hear a mutant coming (explosion) immediately look on the radar. The one coming at you is him! Stay in the center of the screen and keep blasting. They're pretty dumb, and will fly right into your laser.
- Don't use hyperspace! It's not very reliable and using it will instantly kill you
about 30% of the time. Only use it if you're sure you're about to die.
Humanoid Management:
- Use the smart bomb if you can't reach humanoid in time. Your goal is to rescue them at all costs. Besides, if you don't, there will surely be a mutant on your tail!
- Don't carry multiple humanoids unless you have to. Setting them down early for 500 points each is better than them fall after you die for 250.
- Don't lose track of how many humanoids you have left. If you go around shooting everything without being aware of your humanoid count, you could be in hell sooner than you'd like!
- Don't let that last humanoid out of your sight! Stay right there with it and blast any landers that come near. Of course, you could be brave and try to carry the humanoid around with you, but what if you get killed? Then you have very little time to hunt down that humanoid to protect it again.
- If you blast a lander carrying a humanoid close to the planet, touch the humanoid even if you're sure it'll make it. You might get lucky and get some extra points.
Surviving Hell:
- Whether you take my advice on humanoid management or not, sooner or later you are going to end up in hell. And once you're there, there's only one thing to do. Pray you're only a level or two from getting out of it!
- If you're lucky, you'll have a bunch of smart bombs stored away. Try hiding close to the bottom of the screen and blasting large groups of mutants with them.
- If you're out of smart bombs, keep the large groups of mutants in front of you. Mutants always try to gang up on you from behind. And unfortunately, you have no rear firing capability!
Finally, playing Tempest 2000, Def Leppard (gimme a break, I love DL!), or other loud
and fast music in the background will help give you a feeling of invulnerability. And if you feel invincible, you'll live longer!
)
Score a million!)
This is the classic Defender.