Arcade Classics: Joust

caver01

@rkoster said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

You didn't mention the (probably accidental) secret door: come in for a bouncing landing on platform 4 from the right -- if done correctly, you'll bounce along, rather than the mount standing up. Skid past the screen wrap and you'll slide along 7 and THROUGH the gap, popping out below 6!

I mentioned it in the MAME ROW post, but glad someone brought it up. It’s hard to recommend that trick as a strategic move though.

caver01

@mediamogul said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

@lilbud

Caddyshack 2 is awful

How dare you sir! Someone's mother probably made that and it's likely that woman was a saint.

No, @lilbud is right. Caddyshack 2 was a big mistake. It only serves to dilute the original for people who don’t know the difference. It’s awful. Somebody (maybe that mother you refer to) thought that if Bill Murray can play Carl Spackler, why surely Dan Akroyd can too. Shame on them.

rkoster

@caver01 It's mostly useless strategically, I agree! :) I've used it as a quick escape from the pterodactyl though.

mediamogul

@caver01

Man, you guys are heartless. I suppose you also didn't even shed one tear when they made that poor dead man dance to calypso music in 'Weekend at Bernies 2'. Doesn't anyone have an appreciation for classic cinema anymore?

caver01

I’ll mention another interesting oddity in the game. When the top center platform disappears (end of wave 6?) it usually leaves a ghost pixel or two on the right side. Also, if you work with another player in a co-op game, it’s possible to have the entire platform left behind as ghost pixels. It is very difficult to do it, but basically, you have to have a player spawning on the generator on that platform at the end of the wave before the platform disintegrates while the other player completes the wave. This involves leaving an egg, then committing suicide in the lava. Not exactly worth the effort, but an interesting bug.

caver01

@mediamogul said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

@caver01

You guys are heartless. I suppose you also didn't even shed one tear when they made that poor dead man dance to calypso music in 'Weekend at Bernies 2'. Doesn't anyone have an appreciation for classic cinema anymore?

Methinks it’s not that you like bad sequels—yer just a Jonathan Silverman fan. I get it.

mediamogul

@caver01

I've got to admit, the man is a national treasure.

lilbud

@mediamogul said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

Weekend at Bernies 2

I get it now, you only like horrible sequels to good movies. Let me know how Short Circuit 2 was. Or Highlander 2

caver01

@lilbud said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

@mediamogul said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

Weekend at Bernies 2

I get it now, you only like horrible sequels to good movies. Let me know how Short Circuit 2 was. Or Highlander 2

I can tell you at least one of those was awful. I can guess that the other one was too.

mediamogul

@lilbud

I get it now, you only like horrible sequels to good movies.

Not true at all. I really enjoyed 'Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'.

caver01

Ahem. So, I once killed the pterodactyl by accident.

mediamogul

@caver01

For the love of God, please say it wasn't in 'Joust 2'.

markwkidd

Played this with a friend for the first time tonight. Maybe I'll share my high score if I replay and it gets higher :D

I'm pretty sure we had a Joust cabinet in my local arcade up until it closed around 2003. If I recall, I looked at it every once in a while but it never seemed worth my interest. Oops.

Turns out it's a lot of fun, especially with two players.

caver01

@rkoster said in Arcade Classics: Joust:

You didn't mention the (probably accidental) secret door: come in for a bouncing landing on platform 4 from the right -- if done correctly, you'll bounce along, rather than the mount standing up. Skid past the screen wrap and you'll slide along 7 and THROUGH the gap, popping out below 6!

Although I usually only bounce through the gap on early levels when there is no danger, it is good to be aware of the technique. Yesterday, I respawned at platform 8 on a later level and had to hang out under 6. I should have reacted when I could hear the bouncing as an enemy slipped through the gap right on top of me. This is rare, but it happens once in a while. Just realize that the secondary home spot under platform 6 has a vulnerability.

I honestly don’t think the enemy is playing to shoot the gap–I think it happens by accident with all of the freindly collisions during high traffic moments.

UDb23

For those that don't follow MAME ROW it maybe worth mentioning that an overlay for JOUST @1080p is available.

AndersHP

@caver01 The fact that your Lowscore of 43.100 is more than the double of my Highscore around 17.000, makes me tremble!

mediamogul

I thought I was doing well at 50350, but was bested almost immediately with @caver01's first attempt.

caver01

@andershp Remember, I have been playing Joust for 35 years–not every day, mind you, but whenever I would see the machine, and ever since I could play it in emulation. It is always the first ROM I load for testing.

You should start out striving to avoid any deaths until after wave 2. The second wave is a survival wave, so this should earn you a free 3000 points. It’s possible to have 13000 at the completion of wave 2. That’s almost 2/3 the distance to earning an extra mount at 20k.

You can practice flapping on wave 1, learning how to maneuver in the air. I don’t think the pterodactyl appears on the first wave, so you can eliminate two of the enemies and spend as much time as you need. It’s easy to avoid the last one as he moves very slowly. Figure out how to accelerate horizontally in the air. See if you can quickly change directions in mid air. These are exercises that will teach you how to flap in order to turn, not just to rise.

When finally killing enemies, don’t think of it like a joust on horseback. There’s no reason to face your opponent head-on trying to out flap them when you collide. Think of it more like squashing enemies from above. As long as you are above, you win, no matter how you make contact. So, get high above and drop onto them, or hover such that as they approach you can land right on them.

stoney66

Sorry I know this is an old thread but wanted to give my 2cents on some strategies I use for Joust. My highest score is 4.2m with my average being around 3million. Before I learned these strategies my highest score was 105k. I'm still trying to rollover the score at 9,999,999 but it's a challenge not only with time (takes 5-6 hours) but just keeping focused and getting enough extra lives in the process.

After wave 2, I try and stay at the bottom of the screen for the rest of the game (#8 for caver's diagram) the #5 ledge will somewhat protect you from enemies dropping down on you, at least when it's there. When 5 is not there, I stay in the middle where the spawn platform is. After a kill, I let the eggs sit and when they hatch I flap above them to get the instant kill (and another egg drop) which means more points (and more extra lives). Try not to let too many eggs sit, it's best to remember which ones were killed first and get those. Sometimes too much is just well too much.

For the first pterodactyl wave (wave 8) you need to stand on platform 5, on the far right side. As you progress further there will be 2 pterodactyl's at this stage, then 3. You still need to stand on the right edge of platform 5 later in the game but just a couple steps to the left so you don't fall off when killing the pterodactyl as it pushes you back. You only need to stand there and make sure you are facing the pterodactyl to kill them, either to the right or to the left.

For the second type of pterodactyl wave where platform 5 is not there (first is wave 13) you need to stand on the bottom (8) far left and have your feet just above the left side your score.. Again later in the game it will be 2 pterodactyl then 3 and you have to adjust accordingly to which direction they are coming out. Too far to the left and you will die, same with too far to the right.

For egg waves, I start at the very top right (3) and collect those eggs first then run to the right and collect 1,2,7,4,5 then drop down to 8. Note I don't collect 6, let those stay. Collect all but 1 egg on the bottom (8). Let that egg hatch and hoover above egg before it hatches and kill the enemy and pick up the egg that drops, then fly up to 6 and do the same thing there. It takes longer for the buzzards to reach 6 so you have time if you do it right. This allows you to rack up more points and get more lives.

Once you get to I think wave 38 you will have all shadow lords (blue). Believe it or not, they are actually easier than red/grey enemies as they are more predictable. Just remember you can't out fly them! You can do a "standing" kill against them on the lower platform 8, they will not fly at you but run at you. Right before they hit you (if they hit you they just bounce off) you flap once/twice really quick and you will kill them. Later in the game (after you rollover the waves at 99) the standing kill is very hard to do as they are moving way to fast.

There are a few strategies around the shadow lords in general, but again I spend almost the entire game at the bottom. I can make some videos and post if anyone is interested. There are a few out there on youtube but none really talk about what they are doing.

stoney66

I made a quick video for grins going up to 200k. If you are like me you probably hate the ptery's, so on wave 1 at the end I show you a way to kill them when they come on the screen after taking too long to clear it. I don't recommend doing it all the time but if the opportunity is there, take it as it's an easy 1,000 points. This video stops at wave 21. Someday I plan on making a video on getting to a million+ with some voice over audio to explain some of the strategies.