Mars Matrix Impressions

I'm going to play MM for a long while tonight (I've been playing a few times a week), simply because I'm a little burnt from FF VII and I haven't gotten much inspiration to play more R-Type Delta yet (the counter is still under 2 hours; I've made it to stage 4, about where those 4 yellow things launch little rockets at you.).

I recently discovered Elite Mode A again. Stages 4 and 6 look like they are possible candidates to rack up huge scores with. 4A may have more points available than 4B, but it also seems harder. I have yet to stay alive through the entire blue warship, but I have beaten the boss without dying a few times. I think I agree that the combo will end after the ship leaves the screen. I estimate that you can get a combo of about 6000-7000 (starting from the blue ship) if you keep it going to the boss. It's almost as if the combo HAS to end, lest it be maxed out.

Even when I screw up, I keep going, just so I can add a few billion to my shop.

UPDATE:
OK, since IE crashed right before I tried to post this (I copied the message since this always happens with EZboard), it is now about 2 hours later.

I beat my stage 2B and 4B scores, breaking 300 and 400 billion respectively. I came close to breaking 500 billion on 4A (485 bil). On the 400 billion stage 4B attempt, I had a bad beginning and boss fight, but I stayed alive over the blue warship.

Stage 3B is killing me. I really suck at that stage, so maybe I should work on that for awhile.

Shop is now at 33 trillion. Maybe I'll update my B scores and post my A scores this weekend.

Author	Comment
Facilitypro Moderator (11/13/01 10:27 pm) Reply	Re: Mars Matrix Impressions I'm going to play MM for a long while tonight (I've been playing a few times a week), simply because I'm a little burnt from FF VII and I haven't gotten much inspiration to play more R-Type Delta yet (the counter is still under 2 hours; I've made it to stage 4, about where those 4 yellow things launch little rockets at you.). I recently discovered Elite Mode A again. Stages 4 and 6 look like they are possible candidates to rack up huge scores with. 4A may have more points available than 4B, but it also seems harder. I have yet to stay alive through the entire blue warship, but I have beaten the boss without dying a few times. I think I agree that the combo will end after the ship leaves the screen. I estimate that you can get a combo of about 6000-7000 (starting from the blue ship) if you keep it going to the boss. It's almost as if the combo HAS to end, lest it be maxed out. Even when I screw up, I keep going, just so I can add a few billion to my shop. UPDATE: OK, since IE crashed right before I tried to post this (I copied the message since this always happens with EZboard), it is now about 2 hours later. I beat my stage 2B and 4B scores, breaking 300 and 400 billion respectively. I came close to breaking 500 billion on 4A (485 bil). On the 400 billion stage 4B attempt, I had a bad beginning and boss fight, but I stayed alive over the blue warship. Stage 3B is killing me. I really suck at that stage, so maybe I should work on that for awhile. Shop is now at 33 trillion. Maybe I'll update my B scores and post my A scores this weekend.
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/14/01 8:48 am) Reply	I LOVE FO! 300 billion for 2b sounds really good. I kept a combo going all through the stage (well, it stopped right before the boss, but I think it has to) but haven't even got over 100 billion yet! What's wrong with me?! Oh, well, I guess now that "survival" is in the bag, I need to figure out how to generate more cubes along the way. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/15/01 11:36 am) Reply	I LOVE FO! Now I'm not necessarily convinced that I earlier went through 2B with one combo. I played it and kept peeking at the combo meter, and noticed that there are a couple of times when it could get close to draining, even if I did beat the stage without dying. So, then I played it again and made sure that the combo lasted to the end of the stage, and got a score over 100 million. Haven't cracked even 200 million yet, though. For 4A, I have a bigger combo by the time I reach the last warship, but a lower score (the enemies in 4A must give a much lower base score). However, I think the bigger combo will be more important in the long run, since all that experience not only multiplied the enemies in the beginning of the stage, but will be there to multiply the scores of every enemy that follows. I'm going out on a limb and predicted that if I can do a good run on that stage, I should be able to get over 700 billion points. Even if I screw up badly, I get over 450 billion!
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/15/01 8:38 pm) Reply	I LOVE FO! My god, I did it. I went through the first half of 4A without dying, keeping my combo alive. I got a combo of over 4000. I went through the big war ship, without dying, keeping my combo alive. I got a combo of over 6000. By then, my experience maxed out at 20 million. Final score: 00759645753580 I have over 50 trillion in the shop.
Facilitypro Moderator (11/16/01 12:58 am) Reply	Re: I LOVE FO! Wow, that's awesome! I played for awhile tonight, and beat a few of my scores. Only one I decimated was 4A, with over 550 billion. I kept the combo going through the first half, but died several times over the warship. See? I told you 4A is where it's at!! So, experience stops at 2 million? I was kind of drunk while playing. (My lab mate and I went drinking to celebrate the end of a hectic week). I don't think it hindered my performance any :) But my shop is at 50 tril, too. We're halfway there! I wish I could play 2-player with you; we'd rule!
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/16/01 12:19 pm) Reply	I LOVE FO! That'd be cool - they should have had more Dreamcast games work online! Yeah, once your experience hits 20 million (2, then 7 zeroes), it doesn't increase any more. If you got a combo of 6000 on the boss of stage 6, you should have been close, at least (if you only got +1 cubes, and if your combo is at +n, then your total experience should be (n^2 + n)/2. With other types of cubes, it should at least be approximately this) I got a pretty high score on 4B, too. It's about 698 billion. I'm starting to think it might be possible to get a higher score in 4B than A. By the time the big warship disappears offscreen and my combo has to end in 4A, I tend to have only about 30 billion points (even when I got that 750+ billion high score, I probably only had around 30 billion at that point). In 4B, I tend to have 100 billion. Better yet, I know at least once I had a score of around 160 billion. I was SO sure I'd get a preposteriously high score that time, but then I died during the war ship. I think I can recreate that 160 score (or at least be close) if I make a really big effort during the first couple of ships to generate as many cubes as possible with the mosquito (another benchmark is, I'd like to have a combo of over 2000 by the time I beat the miniboss, before the bullet field). From then on, 4A and B SHOULD be identical. BUT - even though kept my combo going through both parts of 4B, I never maxed out my experience. I only get a combo of around 4500 or 5000 or something. I don't know why. I got close to maxing out, though. I think during that 698 billion score I earned an experience of over 19 million. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
Facilitypro Moderator (11/17/01 10:35 pm) Reply	Re: Mars Matrix Impressions Scores: Elite Mode A: Level 1: 00081835141350 Level 2: 00086609697520 Level 3: 00059466404260 Level 4: 00562583088540 Level 5: 00063318739810 Level 6: 00434062569480 Elite Mode B: Level 1: 00073259397180 Level 2: 00308257455730 Level 3: 00138967894780 Level 4: 00565681674330 Level 5: 00292626996190 Level 6: 00464131881850 My experince for both Stage 6's is about 19.7 million. Almost there!
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/18/01 2:26 am) Reply	I LOVE FO! Somewhat off topic, I saw The Matrix for the first time last night. It was a pretty decent movie with a pretty stupid ending. I guess the ending proves that the movie's ambition was to be a Star Wars sort of sci-fi - using the sci-fi more to create out-of-this-world visuals and spectacular fights than for true profundity. Both were (are) even supposed to be trilogies, and both have a hero with super human powers to elevate the fight scenes to truly audacious levels. And that's okay - I like Star Wars. But... the ending of the Matrix was like one fight scene too many and one dramatic moment too few. The fight in the subway really tested my willingness to suspend my intellegence. The whole thing was the ancient formula, "hero gets beaten up, over and over, but finally finds the strength to fight back". And the whole thing - especially the ending, how the agent will try to kill neo and how neo escapes - was really predictable. I guess they might try to make the excuse that the seguel might take the ideas of the Matrix farther... Well, enough off topicness, here, and on to my Mars matrix scores. Elite mode A Stage 1 - 00133478340130 Stage 2 - 00090733171240 Stage 3 - 00250385392320 Stage 4 - 00760843278340 Stage 5 - 00079756088530 Stage 6 - 00303810642190 Elite mode B Stage 1 - 00087186824050 Stage 2 - 00150838789280 Stage 3 - 00153023061860 Stage 4 - 00743185185580 Stage 5 - 00382583760060 Stage 6 - 00240793064610 I've nearly solidified my belief that Mars Matrix deserves 4 stars. I played quite a bit of MM today. I was trying to break 800 billion in stage 4B. Obviously, I haven't done it. I'm not 100% positive I can do it, but I have a strong feeling I can. I figured out why some times I used to have a higher score by midstage, so I now can try to do that every time. However, lately, every time I make to there perfectly, I screw up on the war ship! So, I just have to keep trying for a perfect, or nearly perfect run. I'm much better at stage 6 now, despite that my score hasn't improved. Tonight I made it through almost the entire stage with one combo (I think - even if the combo died when I wasn't looking, I didn't die ... until...) until the very, very end of the stage, before the boss. Unfortunately, my combo was rather disappointing - only around 800 or something! I think that might have been because I was valuing survival much more than cube generation. Another time, or perhaps the same time, I was really in the zone for the turtle/drum head boss. I kept a combo alive up until right before I beat it (I screwed up stupidly, which Ive been doing a lot tonight). Again, the combo was sort of disappointing, though - only 500 or 800 or something. Are you good at that boss yet? Well, even though I SHOULD be good at the other bosses now, I still made stupid mistakes, so neither of those times I had an otherwise good performance resulted in a high score. Hopefully, then, I'll soon be able to be good at stage 6. then stage 5 will be the only stage I'll REALLY need to work on. Of course, Mars matrix seems to be a game where there's always room for improvement - especially considering the extra difficulty levels and the full (non-score attack) modes. My shop has not been growing much. As I said, I was mostly working on a 4B high score. If I'd screw up before the warship, I'd start over. If I screwed up during the warship, i'd keep playing, though. I find playing it R-Type-style to be MUCH more fun. I'd rather play to improve than just to get more money. But the shop itself hooked me into that mindset - the higher the scores I can earn, the faster i'll earn money. When I DO save my progress, I just make money faster and faster. I sort of figured out how to earn a higher score in 2B by making some more enemies with lots of cubes come out at the end. Not nearly enough to match your score, though. I think my thumbs are actually ASLEEP now. I've had sore thumbs before, but this is the first game to make them fall asleep. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
Facilitypro Moderator (11/18/01 7:54 am) Reply	Re: I LOVE FO! Am I good at the stage 6 boss? No. Just the flower part. I usually die at least twice on the drum part. I'm getting pretty good at the stage itself, though. Although I usually die at least a few times, that's due to me getting really brave in going for cubes. But when my "be reckless and get tons of cubes" strategy works, it works well. Even when I die lots of times I still get over 300 billion. As for 2B, I have totally forgotten what I did to get that score. I remember that I had a particularly bad run, and I got over 100 billion. I thought "That's strange." I wondered what I could get if I kept a combo going. So I played again and got 200 billion, even with dying twice. The third time I tried I kept the combo going through the stage and broke 300 billion. But I don't remember how I generated all the cubes.
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/18/01 1:26 pm) Reply	I LOVE FO! First of all, I just did what I couldn't do last night. My stage 4B score is now 00813274729410 I think it can get higher. Not much higher, though. At one point during that run I had a score of 350 billion, while another time (when I screwed up and didn't max out my experience and thus didn't beat my high score) I had 400 billion. So, I think 860 billion might be around my theoretical limit. I wonder if it's possible to get over a trillion points in any stage. If so, I think stage 6A would be the most likely candidate, even if I'm not even close to it yet. But even playing for survival in that stage seems like it could lead to some huge combos. For stage 6B, I get higher combos just by holding down the trigger rather than trying to survive! I guess that's because for me, survival means using the normal weapon a lot, rather than the piercing cannon. For the drum boss, it seems like a strategy that might work is, strike fast, then duck out to the side with a quick mosquito (like you have to do all the time in stage 6, anyway), grab the residue cubes, then use a quick mosquito to duck back in, and repeat. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
Facilitypro Moderator (11/18/01 6:57 pm) Reply	Re: I LOVE FO! I bet people out there have gotten a trillion on score attack. Especially those Japanese-cultlike Mars Matrix guys who have thier high scores posted on the Capcom site. In Arcade Mode (not score attack), they've gotten into the 10 trillions. I can't seem to find the site anymore. I'm getting a little burnt out on MM now. I may give it a rest for a few days. I just started experimenting with the Red ship though (all my scores are with the Blue ship), so that's kind of a new experience. My 4B score is almost at 600 bil now, and shop is at 70 tril.
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/19/01 2:06 pm) Reply	I LOVE FO! My shop's somewhere between 70 and 80 trillion. It'd be awesome to get 10 trillion at once! Just think, 12 plays would get you just about everything from scratch! I should try a full mode again (the last time I tried, a couple of weeks ago, it took me two credits [or continues, I forget]. But lives were maxed out.) Lately, I have it set to default lives and credits. But, the thing is, even though I can beat most of the stages without dying in score attack, once I start playing the full game I make dumb-ass mistakes... sometimes even in stage one!! I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. I think it's sort of ironic that you said earlier you sucked at stage 3. The first really high score I got was 5B [also ironically, I don't think I tried to beat that score], which got me interested in score attack. By then, I think most of my other score's sucked. Your stage 3 score seemed untouchable to me. But, then I tried to beat that stage with one combo. Once I did, that inspired me to try to do well in all the stages. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
Facilitypro Moderator (11/20/01 12:00 am) Reply	Re: I LOVE FO! Well, that didn't work very well. I know I said I would give up this game for a while, but what can I say? I'm addicted. (Gee, where have i heard that before?) I destroyed my 4B score. Not only did I skip over the 600 and 700 billion barrrier in one shot, but I almost broke 800 bil. But get this: My final score was over 789 billion, and I STILL didn't max out the experience bar. It was a shade under 19.2 million. It gets better. I died IMMEDIATELY in the bullet field (Like from the first bullet after the miniboss) and lost a 1500 combo that I had going from the start. I'm not certain what it was at the break. It was pretty high, though, considering that I lost a 1500 combo. I want to say 3000. That would make it 4500 if i survived. I bet you any money it's possible to get over a trillion on that stage. One of these days we should compare strategy notes (prefereably after we both think we've hit out limits).
Facilitypro Moderator (11/20/01 7:47 pm) Reply	Re: Mars Matrix Impressions Crap. I thought I had a good run going, as I kept a combo going over both halves of 4B. Your estimate was a good one; my score was 864972176470. I was playing more for survival in the bullet field, so I wasn't going after the red ships that make a bunch of cubes (the more you kill, the more that show up). Oh well. I guess I should worry about breaking 900 billion before getting my heart set on 1 trillion. (Exp maxed out.) Here's a point to ponder. Since my experience was maxed out, and experience is multiplied by base score, I decided I wouldn't benefit from dodging around on the boss, so I planted myself right in front of it with my piercing cannon going. I died a lot, but I figured I might as well keep my score going up as opposed to wasting time using the mosquito and hitting him with his own bullets. Maybe I'll try my traditional way next time.
Facilitypro Moderator (11/21/01 7:35 pm) Reply	Re: Mars Matrix Impressions Well, I unlocked BG Graphics. To tell the truth, it's sort of anti-climactic. I was expecting some crazy color scheme, but the changes are very subtle. The only drastic difference is the last stage of the stage 6 boss. No more scores beaten. I think my 4A is over 600 bil now, but that was a while ago. I managed to get a combo of exactly 6700 on the warship in 4B, which maxed out my experience. I had a bad first half, so the score was just under 800 bil.
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/21/01 8:20 pm) Reply	I LOVE FO! I got the background graphics today, too, and had about the same impression. One additional difference I noticed was that there's a spot of bright purple in stage 2. Aside from that, and what comes before the final form of the final boss, the differences are subtle. I beat my 4B score but not yours. But - for my score, I only had an experience of 18 million. So, if I can do similarly but get 20 million experience, obviously I should be able to beat my own score. I beat a few of my other own scores. Probably not much to write home about. Some of the scores might only have been beaten by a few billion or so. I'm doing better at stage 6B. I have the lives and credits set to default. I got a new high score in the full elite mode b game, despite that I probably earned the last one with many more lives. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/21/01 8:32 pm) Reply	I LOVE FO! I thought I'd add one thing. So far, of all the Mars Matrix landmarks I've passed, the most satifying was maxing out my experience for the first time. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/26/01 12:03 am) Reply	I LOVE FO! First: I beat a few of my own Mars Matrix scores today. I got around (a little over, I think) 848 billion in 4B, and over 350 billion (with a combo of about 5500 on the boss) in 6B. I know these scores aren't as good as yours, but I'm improving. Second, I finished and posted my Mars Matrix review. I haven't read it since putting the finishing touches on it, but after working on it for the past several months I'm so da'mn sick of it I just want to be quits with, and, besides, I'm tired now. Finishing it today took a lot out of me - I wrote about 80% of the review today. With that said, I don't plan to finish (or even work on) any more reviews until winter break. Now, I'm focusing exclusively on my classes (especially electrodynamics... stupid class). Of course, this won't affect my site at all; I was never updating it on a daily, or even monthly basis. And when I get a chance to work on it again, I will. Like I said, I'll keep chipping away at it. Besides, I may need to completely replay Lunar, or at least up to where it stops being below mediocre and starts being truly horrible, to decide if it deserves 1 star or 1/2 star (and I may even need to finish Hydlide to get a comparison)
Facilitypro Moderator (11/26/01 12:37 am) Reply	Re: Mars Matrix Impressions I read the review, and I'll comment on it tomorrow (I've got like 40 more seconds of online time!)
CRAWLand1000 Registered User (11/26/01 10:52 am) Reply	I LOVE FO! Opps. I didn't write 80% of that review yesterday; I increased its size by about 80%. Or, to put it differently, I wrote about 40% of it yesterday. I LOOOOOOVE Flying Omelette!! Crawl and 1000

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