Based on my competitive history with this game, assuming it's set to the factory default of your bonuses carrying over throughout the entire game, getting a decent score is a four-step process: *Step 1:* At the start of each ball, _always_ make your first goal to hit the first inline drop target in order to light the spinner. *Step 2:* Shoot the spinner as much as possible, preferably so it goes back to the top lanes. This way you can both score from the spinner and easily jack up your bonus from the lanes. *Step 3:* Once you've lit around 6 or so predators, start shooting for the standard bonus X targets. The benefit of lighting your spinner beforehand is that an early shot has a good chance of going up the spinner lane instead, so you still get some decent value even if you miss. Plus, a multiplied bonus at a high value can easily be an absolute game-decider. Of course, a multiplied bonus doesn't amount to much if your bonus isn't good to begin with, so make sure you've gotten it to a decent value before you start aiming for the target bank. *Step 4:* Once you've completed around two rows to advance your Frontier Bonus to 30K, start aiming for the rest of the inline targets to increase your Frontier Bonus X. Not only are the targets themselves worth a decent amount of points, but the value of a large, multiplied Frontier Bonus cannot be understated, _especially_ if you're able to cash it in at the saucer. Before 30K, however, the reward isn't generally worth the high risk involved with aiming for the inlines. A few other general tips: - Bonus is _everything_ in this game, so it goes without saying: *_avoid tilting at all costs!_* Even a single ball's worth of lost bonus can spell the difference between victory and defeat. If you've amassed a solid bonus, and saving the ball from a potential drain would have a high risk of tilting, it's better just to let the ball drain and take what you can get than to tilt out and lose a massive chunk of points. - The first ball is by far the most crucial for overall success. Even if you whiff on balls 2 and 3, a good bonus racked up during ball 1 can easily make up for it. Conversely, it doesn't do you much good to whiff on balls 1 and 2, and then jack up your bonus on ball 3 - you're only getting that bonus for a single ball, as opposed to three if you managed to score that same bonus on ball 1. - Never _ever _*_ever_* shoot the standup targets deliberately. These targets are absolute _death,_ and they don't do anything that a safe shot to the upper lanes can't. It's great if the ball hits one of those targets by accident, but a direct shot more often than not leads to a drain.
I had to check another video to verify that indeed, those cricket + frog noises are the actual background sounds. Dang. Seems like an amazing game, but I could only take a few minutes of that as background music! Is it possible to turn that off? The sounds remind me of Intellivision's Frog Bog.
