Squad Challenge - 2020 Pole Position II Grand Prix (Atari 7800)

[Gianna]

increased my score ☺️

30,050

[MaliciousCarp]

I can't be the first person to point this out, but when you crash your car explodes into a giant fireball.

This was obviously the inspiration for the 1992 movie Freejack 🙂 

[nosweargamer]

68,500

Won the pole, finished the race and still finished short of the lead. I don't know @Justin, it might be near impossible to break 70k.

 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Didn't finish, ran out of time.  But I'm on the board at least. 43,150. 

Using real hardware with my favorite 7800 controller.

[Justin]

2 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

I don't know @Justin, it might be near impossible to break 70k.

See you at the Finish Line @nosweargamer ☺️ 

My High Score: 70,650

[Justin]

2 hours ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

Didn't finish, ran out of time.  But I'm on the board at least. 43,150. 

Using real hardware with my favorite 7800 controller.

@Atari 5200 Guy That's my favorite Atari 7800 controller too. Looks like you're a "Thumb Stick Off" kinda guy. What are your thoughts on the 7800 Control Pad, and with the thumb stick in particular?

[Atari 5200 Guy]

The thumbstick gets in my way on some games, works well with others.  On PPII that thumb stick is my worst enemy.  The Control Pad as a whole, however, is a much needed upgrade to what we originally got.  The fire buttons I wish were a bit more repositioned but work great otherwise.  

[nosweargamer]

7 hours ago, Justin said:

See you at the Finish Line @nosweargamer ☺️ 

My High Score: 70,650

[Justin]

5 hours ago, nosweargamer said:

Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars, guys. I want to see you enter the Seaside 70,000 Points Club! This would be my second win in a row and I never want to win my own events. I'm just here to challenge you guys like a 2nd Player. We still have a week to go! Good luck everyone!

[nosweargamer]

1 minute ago, Justin said:

Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars, guys. I want to see you enter the Seaside 70,000 Points Club! This would be my second win in a row and I never want to win my own events. I'm just here to challenge you guys like a 2nd Player. We still have a week to go! Good luck everyone!

Sometimes you just let Jordan be Jordan, and accept that you're Isaiah Thomas 😁

[RickR]

It looks @Justin didn't even finish the race on that 70k run!  So close, though. 

The best I've done on the initial qualifying is 3rd (and I usually get 4th).  Maybe getting the pole position is the key to getting 70k?

 

[Justin]

9 minutes ago, nosweargamer said:

Sometimes you just let Jordan be Jordan, and accept that you're Isaiah Thomas 😁

Hey man I'm from Detroit, I LOVE Isaiah! BAD BOYS BAD BOYS!! 🏀

[nosweargamer]

7 minutes ago, RickR said:

It looks @Justin didn't even finish the race on that 70k run!  So close, though. 

The best I've done on the initial qualifying is 3rd (and I usually get 4th).  Maybe getting the pole position is the key to getting 70k?

 

I'm assuming so. However I won the pole and finished the race, but still needed 1500 to break 70k. Maybe there's some randomness to how many cars you'll have a chance to pass?

4 minutes ago, Justin said:

Hey man I'm from Detroit, I LOVE Isaiah! BAD BOYS BAD BOYS!! 🏀

I figured you'd like that. I guess it figures that two guys from the motor state who grew up with the 7800 are leading the race, lol.

[Justin]

1 hour ago, RickR said:

It looks @Justin didn't even finish the race on that 70k run!  So close, though. 

I finished 🙂 The picture you're seeing is at the beginning of the screen in "Attract Mode". I waited for all of the time bonus points and passing bonus points to be tallied up into the final score, then the screen says "Game Over" for like 3 seconds and then goes into Attract Mode. Which is fine, because it still displays your score in attract mode. That's what you're seeing the picture, the start of an Attract Mode race, not the end of mine.

 

1 hour ago, RickR said:

The best I've done on the initial qualifying is 3rd (and I usually get 4th).  Maybe getting the pole position is the key to getting 70k?

I don't know that it's "the key" but it's definitely necessary in my experience. I think the key might be crashing and recovering, but I'll get to that in a min.

 

1 hour ago, nosweargamer said:

However I won the pole and finished the race, but still needed 1500 to break 70k. Maybe there's some randomness to how many cars you'll have a chance to pass?

Same here. I think you're on to something.

[Justin]

 

Here are a few Pro-Tips for breaking 70,000 Points on Seaside in Pole Position II:

 

Qualify By Getting The Pole Position First

The difference between Qualifying in 2nd and Qualifying with the Pole Position is starting the race with an extra 2,000 Points. That makes all the difference at the end when you're trying to squeeze every last point you can out of the game.

 

Passing Cars Is How You Rack Up Extra Points

Get to the end as quickly as you can (banking time gives you bonus points for every second left on the clock!) and pass as many cars as you can on the way. At the end of the game you receive a bonus of 50 Passing Points for ever car you pass. Those points really add up.

 

Driving On The Grass Is Okay

Sometimes there's no choice. You quickly approach two or three cars that are blocking your path. You can either squeeze through, crash, slow down, drive on the grass to pass them. Driving on the slows you down, but if you only do it for a second to get around a cluster of cars it's not that bad.

 

Upshift at 100 mph

Shift it into Hi Gear when you hit 100 mph for the optimal shift. This really needs to happen at 120 mph, but you accelerate so fast that the hand/eye coordination time it takes to hit 100 mph and press the d-pad or joystick to upshift times it perfectly. Doing this will give you smooth, orchestral acceleration for optimal shifting and better time.

 

Watch Out For Signs

Signs are conveniently placed at the outer bend of the trickiest curves. Memorize where the signs are, drive into the curves and let off the gas for a sec so you don't slide into them. And if you drive on the grass, look out for signs! They'll end your great run quickly.

 

You Might Have To Crash To Reach 70,000 Points

This is the most intriguing thing about reaching 70,000 Points on Seaside. I raced five times last night, and did really well each time. The first four tries were near-perfect runs. I Qualified with the Pole Position and started the race with 14,000 Points already racked up. I drove swiftly through the course. I passed a ton of cars. And I never crashed. It was on my fifth and final run that I rubbed tires with another car and crashed out. "I still have plenty of time banked on the clock, I might be able to finish this!" I thought. So I kept going. I drove through the next two laps and got to the end with time to spare. When the bonus points were added up at the end, it looked like I had passed a few more cars than on my previous runs. Is this because I crashed? Is there something in the game that gives you more cars to pass as you're getting back up to speed after a crash? 🤔

 

 

[MaliciousCarp]

Holy Carp - I finally finished the race!  For me switching to a gamepad made a big difference.  I no longer was accidentally down shifting when things got tense and I feel like I had a little better response time.

Current score: 67,200

[Justin]

2 minutes ago, MaliciousCarp said:

Holy Carp - I finally finished the race!  For me switching to a gamepad made a big difference.  I no longer was accidentally down shifting when things got tense and I feel like I had a little better response time.

Current score: 67,200

CONGRATULATIONS @MaliciousCarp‼️ Way to go! Keep going, you can tell when you start to get the feel down.

[RadioPoultry]

54370, using a third-party 2600 joystick.

[Sabertooth]

53,290. A slight improvement using the Europad. 

I gotta say, this challenge has really changed my overall opinion of this game for the better. It's a really wonderful conversion. 

Edited August 26, 2020 by Sabertooth

[Justin]

7 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

53,290. A slight improvement using the Europad. 

Awesome score @Sabertooth!! Let's see you win this mother.

 

7 hours ago, Sabertooth said:

I gotta say, this challenge has really changed my overall opinion of this game for the better. It's a really wonderful conversion. 

I LOVE HEARING THIS!! It's incredible to see this come up in the thread honestly. This is what High Score Squad is all about, giving old games a second look and seeing them in a new light, and hopefully finding new enjoyment in them.

What qualities about the game have changed in your mind that you now see Pole Position II as a really wonderful conversion?

[Sabertooth]

@Justin, I think it goes back to how I first experienced this game. The stock ProLine controller was just awkward and didn't offer the precision the game requires. At the time, I thought it was just ok and never put any real time into it. 

The HSC kinda gave me a motivation to stick with the game, try out different controllers and get better. It also helps me to appreciate what GCC pulled off here. The controls, sense of speed and sound are all pretty great. The game is demanding but, I think @RickR said this, it's fair. If you stick with it and build your skill, it rewards you. So, this is now up there on my list of 7800 arcade ports. 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Sabertooth

[Sabertooth]

54,100 with my DIY stick. 

[Justin]

Gotta head out to work and felt the energy to knock out a quick round. Crashed out on my first round. 2nd round was a winner. Qualified with the Pole Position, got to the end, no accidents.

My New High Score: 73,500

[Justin]

 NOTE: Updated "The Big Tip Off" post to include a recommendation to upshift at 100 mph:

 

 

[RickR]

68,400.  I got 2nd place in qualifying this time.