How many Atari games allowed you to select levels or bonuses to start? LAME!

[EVB]

Millipede is what really ruins it for me. It's too tempting to start with the bonus, it really makes the lower levels irrelevant. Black Widow is even worse. You would be a fool to play those lower levels, you just can't place otherwise!

I really think Atari screwed us future gamers with these options.

Actually this was a fantastic feature of Millipede. For better players they wanted to lure them in to starting at the higher levels to maximize profit off of these particular users. Think about it. Centipede was a mega hit. There were many people that could roll that thing once Millipede came around. So at the same time they attracted the average user of the game the also attracted the above average users and spared them the burden of getting 400,000 or 350,000 points at the low levels to get the high score. I think the maximum point level is a setting for Millipede so it may vary depending on operator. Basically just reiterating the obvious as usual. I,Robot comes to mind along with Food Fight.

 

[Riptor]

Pacmania lets you do it too.

 

[p1899m]

Dude, I got people coming over to my place and putting high-scores on my machines. The only way possible to beat them is to skip those lower levels and get the bonuses Atari dishes out. That just makes me mad! WTF!?!? It's like all those lower levels just don't exist. I have no choice but to skip them if I want to get on my leaderboards.

Actually it is possible to be good enough to start at the lowest level and still out score your friends. You just have to be good at the games.

 

[Token420]

Liberator has the advance feature also. Using it is the only way I would get to see some of the higher levels as I have not been able to get past level 7 or 8. On the higher levels I get killed in like 10 seconds. Thankfully it does not cost me a quarter every play.

 

[MikeyDee]

Dude, I got people coming over to my place and putting high-scores on my machines. The only way possible to beat them is to skip those lower levels and get the bonuses Atari dishes out. That just makes me mad! WTF!?!? It's like all those lower levels just don't exist. I have no choice but to skip them if I want to get on my leaderboards.

That is the incentive to start at higher levels. They give you a score advantage and make your game shorter, because you start at high levels.

I would not put Indiana Jones and Paper boy in this category. You are not skipping levels. You are playing a totally different game. On Paper Boy, you only get 7 days no matter which street you start on. Similar with Indiana Jones.


Road Blasters has the option to skip levels (I don't think there is a bonus, though)

Klax allows you to skip levels and warp ahead.

 

[88mph]

I don't think anyone mentioned it, but Atari's Return of the Jedi has the same thing going. You can select easy, medium, or hard difficulty.

 

[CrazyKongFan]

I would not put Indiana Jones and Paper boy in this category. You are not skipping levels. You are playing a totally different game.

Yeah, I agree on Indy. Although you do score higher choosing the harder ones, and they stupidly put them all in the same high score table. I normally choose Medium as I'm the most familiar with that one. Another Atari game that lets you choose higher starting levels is Peter Packrat. As soon as you clear the level, you get the start bonus.

Not Atari, but someone mentioned Galaga, Gaplus and Tron. I wouldn't really count those, as you have to access the dipswitches inside the machine to do it. I think it's more for testing. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man also have a way of rack advancing the levels, but you again have to be able to access the inside of the machine.

 

[blkdog7]

I'm not trying to be an ass, I like your site and I like the videos you post. I enjoy watching them.

If your pissed that people are coming over and beating you at your games, maybe you should get better at playing them. It's understandable that you want to be #1 or 2 or 3 at games that you own. Sometimes that isn't the case and you need to buck up and get over it.

I suck ass at my measly 4 game collection. My kids regularly give me an ass beating. It's the time that I spend with them that makes up for the pride that I lose...regularly.

hahah, I am not really pissed. It's just that I feel the need to also skip the lower levels like they did to even the playing field and to also get a score on the leaderboard. I would be happier if they didn't give the option to start with a bonus. That's all.

 

[blkdog7]

Actually it is possible to be good enough to start at the lowest level and still out score your friends. You just have to be good at the games.

Try this with Black Widow. You get a 150k+ bonus if you start at the higher levels. That's a serious bonus.

 

[Spyridon]

Gauntlet is another Atari game that lets you jump levels.

On Star Wars, if I play from the beginning, I can't get anywhere near the top three (saved) scores. If I start from the hardest level, blow up the death star once and I'm in the top 3. Does kind of take something away from it.

 

[tb lilley]

I wish they had included a level jump setting for Missile Command - the game doesn't really get going until you hit x6 points levels. I've had to invent things to do to fill in the time:

- Aim to tempt 10 planes/satalites out in the first 4 screens (I hit 11, just the once)
- Hit 30k points at the end of the x4 screens (tricky one)
- Don't use any of my middle bullets until the x5 points screens

There was some talk, ways back, about someone producing a set of hacked ROMs that would start you on the x6 screens, but that all went quiet.

 

[SeanMcL]

I have to say, the fact that a few games that I own allow me to start with a bonus, potential bonus, or a particular level, really have almost ruined these games for me.

/yes, you are.

 

[cleverlyj]

I don't think anyone mentioned it, but Atari's Return of the Jedi has the same thing going. You can select easy, medium, or hard difficulty.

so does star wars.

 

[savit4l8r]

Millipede is what really ruins it for me. It's too tempting to start with the bonus, it really makes the lower levels irrelevant. Black Widow is even worse. You would be a fool to play those lower levels, you just can't place otherwise!

I really think Atari screwed us future gamers with these options.

You have to remember, it was all about getting quarters out of our pockets quickly. Since your game ends much faster at the higher levels, said tactic was obviously a success. So who is the fool now?

 

[ScumBum]

If you can get more points starting on the easy levels and working up , then its not a dumb idea .

 

[JamBurglar]

Wait, didn't paperboy split up the high scores depending on which street you play?

 

[airlair]

Doesn't one of the dip switches turn off the select option for Millipede or does it just to the 30K jump? I personally have never tried it.

 

[jeffsgames]

To me the issue isn't the ability to skip a few levels to start. The real problem is when games have a "continue" feature. That is the one thing that really ruins a game and high scoring. I'd love to see a few more games skip a few beginning levels. How many times do you get tired of having the Tron instructions forced on you? Or how nice would it be to skip to the third elevators in Donkey Kong?

 

[gretz99]

You have to remember, it was all about getting quarters out of our pockets quickly. Since your game ends much faster at the higher levels, said tactic was obviously a success. So who is the fool now?

Sav hit it on the head, it was about making more money. They started designing games so you would want to continue or get to the next level. They weren't making money when I was playing Missile Command or Asteroids for hours on one quarter. They could care less what score you were getting.

 

[savit4l8r]

Sav hit it on the head, it was about making more money. They started designing games so you would want to continue or get to the next level. They weren't making money when I was playing Missile Command or Asteroids for hours on one quarter. They could care less what score you were getting.

That said I agree with the OP. Millipede and Food Fight (which I both own) would both have more replay value if you could not simply continue where you left off.