Ultimate Bullseye - a How To

Important things to know

There are four different power-ups you can get throughout the game which you can get by hitting the bullseyes.

- One is close-up (C), which is personally my least favourite. Close-up will bring the target closer.

- Bullseye (B) will make the bullseye increase and decrease in size repeatedly until you shoot. If you're using this power-up, shoot when the bullseye is regular sized, because, by the time the arrow gets to the target, the bullseye will be very big and you will have a good chance of hitting it!

- Fire (F) will make the part you hit on the target worth twice as much. For example, if you hit the bullseye, instead of it being worth ten points, it would be worth twenty points!

- And last, but certainly not least, Punch Bag Bob (P) will turn your target into a punchbag with an apple on its head. The apple is worth twenty points.

How to use a power-up

To use a power-up, you simply click on the letter when it brings up the yellow square that says ‘Available Power-Ups.’ You can use more than one power-up at a time, too. This is a great thing to do because it can increase your chance of getting a bullseye, and possibly your points! The best combination point wise is the Fire power-up and the Punch Bag Bob power-up. Using these together, you can get a total of forty points in one shot! Another combination I like is Fire and Close-up, as it is much easier to get ten, or even twenty points! And don't ever use two of the same power-up in one shot, as it will only count as one power-up, therefore wasting one.

What makes this game so challenging?

Ultimate Bullseye is challenging mainly for a couple reasons. I'd say the top two are because most people do not have the best hand-eye coordination, and the other reason is because the target moves. If the target didn't move, all you would have to do is find a spot where to always shoot, and always get a bullseye. The game would have no challenge at all if it was like that.

The target

You might think this is silly because it's quite obvious to figure out, but I'm going to put it here anyway so if someone has never played they will know what they are worth. The outermost ring is one point, the next in is two points, the one after is three points, the one after that is five points, and of course, the most inner one is the bullseye, worth ten points!

The strategies and gameplay

I know and use two strategies, which you probably don't use when playing, but they can help your score and NP gain in the game.

The strategy I used to use probably wasn't the best of the two, but with a little luck it would work well. What you would do is shoot as accurately as you can to try to get bullseyes, until you get to the last shot. Here, you would use the most educated combinations of power-ups that you have that will give you the most amount of points, such as the Fire power-up and the Punch Bag Bob power-up.

Strategy number two, which I use now whenever I play, is aim really hard on your first shot (that's how this strategy works). If you get a bullseye, you use the power-up it gives you until you mess up getting a bullseye. Then on the next shot, try hard to get another bullseye and power-up, and so on. Try your hardest to not mess up if you get past the last shot, so you do not end your game.

For both of these strategies, NEVER shoot when the power is before the third notch, and never over the fourth! I always try to shoot when it hits the fourth exactly. Also, always, always, always aim! You will have no chance of getting a bullseye if you don't put effort into trying to get one.

Hand-eye coordination

Hand-eye coordination (your aim, basically) is the key to this game. If you have bad hand-eye coordination then this game will require a lot of practice! Even if you have good coordination, this game still needs a lot of practice. So either way, practice makes perfect!

If you wind up getting more points then you thought you were going to you'll probably get excited. It's happened to me before, but don't let it distract you from the game. I've been less than twenty points away from a new highscore, but I didn't get it because I wasn't paying enough attention to getting a bullseye.

I have also stumbled across a trick through the years I've played Ultimate Bullseye. If you're using the fire power-up, and the hoop seems to be too high up to get ten or more points, don't despair. I have figured out that you can not only shoot through the hoop, but you can also shoot through the part of the pole that is not the same width as the rest, usually allowing you to get closer to the bullseye.

I hope that I have helped you! Good luck on trying to get a new highscore, a trophy, or whatever you're trying to do in Ultimate Bullseye :) If you have any questions, neomail me, and I can try to answer the best I can.

P.S.- if you are, in fact, reading this article, it means I've been published in the Neopian Times for my very first time! :)