Your Robotron scores...

[whoisKeel]

Go ahead, post 'em. I'm curious as to what normal scores good scores are. (By normal I mean not the 2.2 million some crackhead scored on the XBox Live leaderboard).

I'm sitting at a mere 120,000 or so, but granted I really haven't played this game too much. Sure I've played it in the past, but I broke down and spent the $5 or whatever for the XBox Live version (which looks so incredibly more crisp than my GC version even on my standard TV) and now I'm seriously hooked.

The GC (Midway Arcade Treasures) version was nice and all, but my thumb was alway slipping off the C-stick which was annoying. XBox is nice and concave, tailored specifically for prolonged Robotron sessions. (Actually I can't play it for long periods of time because my scores start getting worse after about 15-20 mins., I guess I lose focus)

Wave 7 annihilates me. Sometimes I get there with 3 lives and can't beat it.

[udisi]

I die around the same spot as you.. 90 ish thousand points and wave 7.

[NE146]

On the 360 XBLive Robotron, my highest score is about 660k. I forget exactly, but I think with that I'm ranked like #148 or so (gamertag: N3146). Usually though I score about 300k on average.

That being said, I've scored a million in the arcade game in the past.. that was my big goal for YEARS LOL

Anyway.. tips for Robotron

1. Go for HUMANS. That's your big ticket right there. When you get them up to 5000 pts a pop, that's an extra life with just a few picked up which you always need. Not to mention the huge points bonus. You're on a good pace if you can score about 100k after the 1st brain wave (wave #5).

Enforcers shoot slower when you're closer to them. So shoot the hell out of them while moving closer and dodging shots. Not too close though ;) Also Enforcer shots tend to hug the walls. So when you're doing the big clockwise/counterclockwise run.. try to keep a centimeter or so away from the wall.

As for Wave 7 (the first tank wave), your best bet is to really really try and shoot as many diamond things first right off the bat before they start spawning tanks. Of course pick up a whole bunch of humans while you can in the process ;) Once the tanks come out, treat their shots like enemies and try either shooting them or anticpate their bounce. Sometimes moving towards the center of the screen is actually easier for them.

[ghsqb]

Wave 7 for me too, 110k points, on the arcade machine.
I haven't tried the Xbox Live version yet.

I have a multi-Williams Arcade machine here at home, and that's what I fire up to play Robotron on.

I haven't devoted any serious time to getting better at it, but that wave 7 is tough!

[swlovinist]

This is one of my favorite games, although I seem to cap out near 200,000 points. On the 7800 version, I played with my friend and got a really really high score above a million, although it is easier to play with two people!

[Mayhem]

About 700k on 5 difficulty real arcade, and about 900k on MAME default settings.

[FABombjoy]

I slipped into a catatonic state once and got around 1.3M using mame & playing w/ keyboard.

I'm actually way better at Robotron using a keyboard than any other control scheme.

[Arcade Antics]

First: only play the game on level "10" difficulty. Otherwise, it's a cakewalk. :)

Second: that said, on level 10 settings, score usually winds up in the 350-450K range on average, but highest was 890K.

[NE146]

First: only play the game on level "10" difficulty. Otherwise, it's a cakewalk. :)

The thing is.. once you change the default settings in the Xbox Live version, your score doesnt get uploaded to the boards.

That being said, most arcade people I know say it's strange, but with xblive Robotron it SAYS it's on level 1 difficulty on the default settings, but it seems like level 10! Have you tried it out? I'd be interested if you agree...

[Kid Ice]

After attending the John Hardie school of Robotron (yes NE146 always go after the humans) I never score less than 200K. But scores over 300K are rare for me. I think 320K is my all time high.

[DarthKur]

Too bad this thread wasn't started a couple days ago. Yesterday I went on a Robotron marathon, first on the Atari 5200 then on the 7800. Sad thing is I really can't remember any of the scores. I've always dwelled on obtaining higher levels rather than the actual scores for most games. I'll have to go at it again and pay attention this time. :P

[whoisKeel]

BTW, if anybody is down for some Co-Op (or even versus), I'd be up for that...at least to check it out and maybe grap the achievement. I'm whoisKeel on XBLive as well.



Some good advice there, I didn't realize that the Enforcers shoot faster from further away. I know there's gold in Wave 5, it can just be hard to get to sometimes :). Unfortunately it was a 90K barrier kind of day...though I did get to Wave 8.

[NE146]

I know there's gold in Wave 5, it can just be hard to get to sometimes :).

Well there's a little well known trick there. ;) In wave 5 you see a lot of mommys and one single mikey. There's a bug in the game where all the Brains go for the mikey first and won't touch anyone else until they get him.

So if you start wave 5, and are able to spot the mikey, try and kill the brains around him and save him as long as possible while you pick up mommies. When you actually acomplish this and stay alive it leaves every single human alive for you to harvest for 5000 x a couple dozen or so :D

Easier said than done of course...

[Arcade Antics]

Well there's a little well known trick there. ;) In wave 5 you see a lot of mommys and one single mikey. There's a bug in the game where all the Brains go for the mikey first and won't touch anyone else until they get him.
Note - the bug doesn't always work, sometimes they will reprogram a Mommy before nabbing Mikey. :)


So if you start wave 5, and are able to spot the mikey, try and kill the brains around him and save him as long as possible while you pick up mommies. When you actually acomplish this and stay alive it leaves every single human alive for you to harvest for 5000 x a couple dozen or so :D

Easier said than done of course...

True dat. BUT -- IMO, the best course of action is to purposely not pick up any humanoids until you've eliminated all but *one* enemy. Then just waltz through, avoid that one enemy Robotron and max out the 5000 point humanoids. :D BIG money. BIG prizes.

[Kid Ice]

IMO, the best course of action is to purposely not pick up any humanoids until you've eliminated all but *one* enemy. Then just waltz through, avoid that one enemy Robotron and max out the 5000 point humanoids. :D BIG money. BIG prizes.

Might be a good idea to clear out the electrodes too so that last grunt doesn't walk into one and end the wave.

[NE146]

Note - the bug doesn't always work, sometimes they will reprogram a Mommy before nabbing Mikey. :)

True.. but how often does that happen. I see it one out of maybe 10-12 plays. And since it's rare enough, it's pretty much the general rule to try and capitalize on on every game. :)

By the way did you see my question earlier? I was curious if you've tried Robtotron on Xbox Live and thought their "default" level 1 difficulty seemed a lot harder and actually felt almost like level 10 on the arcade. If you have yet to try it, never mind. But if so I'm wondering if it's something others have noticed or is it just me :D


True dat. BUT -- IMO, the best course of action is to purposely not pick up any humanoids until you've eliminated all but *one* enemy. Then just waltz through, avoid that one enemy Robotron and max out the 5000 point humanoids. :D BIG money. BIG prizes.


Yeah you can do it either way. The problem is sometimes you'll die while trying to preserve humans. And once you regenerate the brains no longer go for just mikey (although sometimes they do). In Robotron I'm into snagging as much as I can as fast as I can. The max you can get on that level when you save every single human is about 130k or so.. so I figure if I hit 100k I'm good to go

[Arcade Antics]

True.. but how often does that happen. I see it one out of maybe 10-12 plays. And since it's rare enough, it's pretty much the general rule to try and capitalize on on every game. :)
Indeed.


By the way did you see my question earlier? I was curious if you've tried Robtotron on Xbox Live and thought their "default" level 1 difficulty seemed a lot harder and actually felt almost like level 10 on the arcade. If you have yet to try it, never mind. But if so I'm wondering if it's something others have noticed or is it just me :D
I only play the arcade game these days, haven't ventured into XBLive. I'm usually a good several years behind the times with newfangled gizmos like that. ;) But when I do check it out, I'll keep that in mind. My guess is that you're on the money, as usual.


Yeah you can do it either way. The problem is sometimes you'll die while trying to preserve humans. And once you regenerate the brains no longer go for just mikey (although sometimes they do). In Robotron I'm into snagging as much as I can as fast as I can. The max you can get on that level when you save every single human is about 130k or so.. so I figure if I hit 100k I'm good to go
I'm greedy for points, so I always try and pick up everyone in one shot. I'm better off dying before I pick them up versus picking up half the humanoids and then dying thereby rolling the bonus points back to 1000 and having to work it back up to 5000 per. But you're right about the chance you take trying to get them in one turn. It's possible to lose more humanoids because they might not beeline for Mikey if you get axed. But I still prefer those odds. :)

[Arcade Antics]

Might be a good idea to clear out the electrodes too so that last grunt doesn't walk into one and end the wave.

Never leave the Grunts. :) I'll leave the Spheroid, or if I accidentally shoot it, a Brain. Grunts move too fast and always move directly toward you, whereas the Brains, Spheroids and Enforcers don't.

[Kid Ice]

Never leave the Grunts. :) I'll leave the Spheroid, or if I accidentally shoot it, a Brain. Grunts move too fast and always move directly toward you, whereas the Brains, Spheroids and Enforcers don't.

Yeah but the brains shoot those tracking missiles and they can reprogram the remaining mommies. And those enforcers are a total pain in the ass. I can run circles around the grunts until they start getting fast.