Attack From Mars Strategy Guide
by Matt Magnasco
e-mail: matt@teriyaki.resnet.gatech.edu
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Attack From Mars, or AFM for short, was a Bally game introduced in
early 1996. Your object is to ultimately Rule the Universe, by
accomplishing six tasks, one of which has its own six tasks. The six
tasks you must accomplish in order to get a chance to Rule the
Universe are:
1. Collect at least one super jackpot during multiball
2. Start super jets at least once
3. Start at least one martian multiball
4. Start at least one total annihilation
5. Conquer Mars, but to do that you must save the following cities
first:
1. New York City, USA
2. London, United Kingdom
3. Paris, France
4. Berlin, Germany
5. Pisa, Italy
6. Collect at least one 5-way combo
For me, the hardest of those six objectives is conquering Mars. Super
jets seems to occur naturally, especially if your game has strong jet
bumpers and/or you get a lot of multiballs. Total annihilation (TA)
and martian multiball (MMB) are relatively easy to start. The 5-way is
also relatively easy to collect. If you can loop either one of the
loops, or you're good at crossover shots, e.g. alternating between
shooting the tractor beam and the lock ramp or Big-O beam, the 5-way
should be cake.
Super Jackpot
That leaves the super jackpot and conquering Mars. The super jackpot,
IMHO, is much easier to collect, so I'll talk about it first. Getting
the Super requires you to be on the ball (pun intended) during
multiball. Assuming you started multiball by locking the third ball
(as opposed to the Stroke of Luck awarding multiball), here's my usual
method of trying to light the super:
1. Shoot the tractor beam
2. Shoot the lock
3. Shoot the Big-O beam
4. Shoot the Atomic Blaster
5. Wait for a clean shot on the capture, and go for it.
Rarely, if ever, can I get that first four-way combo (which, BTW, does
not count toward your progress towards the 5-way) completely, but I at
least try for the tractor beam and the lock, the two hardest shots
during multiball. I aim for these first because the game is busy
autoplunging balls, so I have a clean shot at both of them. By the
time I've completed the lock ramp shot, the Stroke of Luck popper has
generally kicked out at least one of the balls, so the probability of
balls colliding increases dramatically. By now, however, you've got
the three easiest shots left, and pick them off as they become open.
Once you've completed all five jackpots, the super jackpot will start
roving around the board, starting on the Capture, every few seconds.
AFM is very lenient with awarding the Super, so if you shoot the shot
that was just lit (ie the Super has just moved), or the one that's
just about to be lit, within a second or two of the super's actual
movement, you'll get credit for the Super. For example, if the Super
is currently on the Big-O beam and heading toward the Atomic Blaster,
if you shoot the lock ramp just before the lock ramp becomes lit, or
if you shoot the Capture just after it becomes unlit, the game will
give you credit for having shot the super jackpot, even though,
technically, you didn't.
After getting the super jackpot, you've got a decision to make if the
forcefield is down. You can use the rest of the multiball to pound
away at the saucer (to bring you closer to destroying Mars), or to go
for more jackpots. Getting the Super Jackpot permanently raises the
base value of all jackpots by 50M per Super Jackpot. This value
carries over from multiball to multiball, so, for example, if you get
two supers on the first multiball, the base jackpot value for your
second multiball will be 160M (initial value is 60M). Also, the value
of additional super jackpots (also carried over between multiballs)
increases by 250M per super jackpot. So, for the case mentioned above,
the second Super that you collected was worth 500M, and the next one
will be worth 750M. Getting more super jackpots is helpful when you do
actually try to Rule the Universe; I'll explain why later. On the
other hand, using multiple balls to destroy a saucer (or two, if you
can get dirty pool), makes destroying said saucer(s) much quicker. If
the forcefield is up (or comes up due to your destroying a saucer),
you have no choice but to go for more jackpots and super jackpots --
not that there's anything wrong with that!
Conquering Mars
To conquer Mars takes patience, skill, and determination. The
determination part is that you must actively attack -- really aim for
-- the forcefields and saucers, as opposed to just letting balls land
in there by whatever means. The Stroke of Luck will probably award
"Start Attack Wave" at least once in the game, so use that to your
advantage. Destroying each subsequent saucer requires more and more
hits each time (the first saucer requires 4 hits, the one before Mars
requires 20), but the saucer area is a medium- to high-risk shot, in
that balls have a tendency to drain straight down the middle (SDTM).
Consequently, in single-ball play, try not to aim for the center drop
target; instead, try to angle your shot off one of the side targets so
that the ball will carom off the drop target obliquely, and not go
SDTM. Obviously, you won't be able to do this for every shot, but when
you can, try to do so.
If you get Total Annihilation when the forcefield is down, try not to
aim for the annihilation awards and jackpots and do aim for the
saucer. Balls will inevitably find their way to annihilation awards.
Use TA's four balls to attack the current saucer. Martian multiball is
a toss up. If you have not yet gotten the 5-way combo or close to
starting TA, use MMB to get the 5-way and/or start TA. If you've
already gotten the 5-way, and you're not close to starting TA, go for
the saucer instead if the forcefield is down.
Attacking Mars itself requires a different tack. Certainly, if you can
start any multiball, use it toward your advantage, but when you're in
single-ball play, conquering Mars requires to loop the ball. Since the
drop target is down for you to shoot the ball into the back of the
saucer, all you have to do is get a "10-way combo" (it doesn't count
as a combo officially, but that's what it is...) by shooting the
saucer over and over and over again. Warning! The ball won't always
make it into the hole behind the drop target (where you're aiming for)
all the time, so expect some balls to ricochet back toward the drain!
Rule the Universe
Finally, once you've completed all six objectives, a blue light saying
-- big surprise here -- "Rule the Universe" will be lit at the Stroke
of Luck. Shoot it to start RTU Multiball.
RTU combines all of the six objectives and throws them into one
frantic multiball. Your objective is to score 5,000,000,000 (5
billion) points to win an additional 5 billion. As the dot matrix
clearly says prior to autoplunging the balls, "EVERYTHING is lit":
total annihilation runs with the base award of 100M, MMB runs with
each martian scoring at least 50M, super jets runs (it's activated
during RTU if you started super jets on a previous ball, otherwise it
continues to run if you started it on the current ball), the center
drop target scores 100M per hit, and, most importantly, the super
jackpot is active, with its value being 250M more than the last
collected super jackpot. For example, if, prior to starting RTU, you
collected two super jackpots (worth 250M and 500M respectively), the
super jackpot during RTU will be worth 750M.
What will get you to those 5 billion points the fastest is the super
jackpot. So try to aim for them (but don't do it at the expense of
draining balls!) !! The Super will start out on the Capture, just like
during regular multiball, and then periodically move. Try to get a
super or two just as RTU starts. This way, you'll have a quick billion
points with only a few seconds of the ballsaver expired. Since TA will
also be running -- with a base award of 100M -- the annihilation
jackpot at the lock ramp is also another thing to shoot for. It's
especially satisfying to shoot the lock ramp for a super
jackpot/annihilation jackpot combo, which is worth a minimum of 600M
!!! Super jets, MMB, and the center drop target will all provide their
contributions with almost no effort on your part. So, during RTU, just
aim for the loops and the ramps, trying to shoot the shot which
currently has the Super lit on it, if possible.
If the entire game goes dark, with a "BOOM!" sound effect, you've just
Ruled the Universe. Do NOT panic and think the game has power cycled
or core dumped or something.
After successfully Ruling the Universe
For the remainder of the ball that you RTUed on, both loops and all
three ramps will be lit for victory laps, with a base value of 100M.
Hitting the center drop target relights all unlit (awarded) shots and
increases the victory lap value by 10M. Now is the best time to start
a multiball, especially TA. Why should be obvious.
