Tips of a Gamer - Attack of the Slorgs

Slorgs.

You stand back up, the barley shaking in the wind around you. It's quiet out in the field, but not quiet enough; in the distance you hear a slight squelching sound, mingled with crunching –

They're eating your marrow crops in the next field. Angry, you storm over to your barn to fish out the Slorgeriser X4. There will be no more lost crops this season.

Attack of the Slorgs can be a very frustrating game, if you don't know how to play. The aim of the game is to stop the line of slorgs from reaching your crops by shooting Slorg-B-Gone at them through the Yurble Farmer's Slorgeriser X4.

The Basics

To control the Slorgeriser X4, only 3 keys are needed: the left and right arrow keys, and the space bar. The arrow keys move the Slorgeriser and its laser from side to side, while the spacebar shoots balls of Slorg-B-Gone at the slorg line.

To destroy slorgs, you have to match 3 or more slorgs of the same colour, i.e. you see two green slorgs next to each other, and you get a green Slorg-B-Gone ball – shooting the green ball into or beside the green slorgs will create a third green slorg, and with 3 green slorgs side-by-side, they will be destroyed!

The laser of the Slorgeriser is an extremely useful tool, as it greatly helps with aiming. Better aim in this game, means more slorgs destroyed, and being more likely to move on to the next level!

Attack of the Slorgs has 18 levels, which are fairly similar to each other, except for these main points – the number of slorgs needed to be destroyed in each level increases, and the route that the slorgs take. There are only six different routes that the slorgs travel, so it won't take long to get used to them. The only other thing that changes is the slorg colours and their associated powerups, which I have explained below.

The Slorgs

• The Blue Slorg – This is one of the first 3 slorg colours you will see in the game.

This slorg's powerup is the Slorg Block. If you shoot the slorg block into the slorg line, all of the slorgs behind the block will stop, while all the slorgs in front will keep moving. I find that this powerup can be useful in the first couple of levels, as long as you are shooting the block fairly close to the front of the line. Shooting the block near the back renders the powerup pretty much useless as you'll still have a long line to get rid of ahead of you. I tend to only let 5 or 6 slorgs keep moving (sometimes more, depending on whether there are clumps of the same colour in that section). Once you hit the section that has stopped, it will start to move again, so I recommend you destroy the slorgs you let continue first before starting the line up again. I also usually keep shooting the Slorg-B-Gone off-screen and away from the line until I get a blue one again to shoot at the blocking slorg, as this will create a blue slorg combo, and destroy more.

• The Green Slorg – This is one of the first 3 slorg colours you will see in the game.

This slorg's powerup is the Slowdown. This is one of the more useful powerups in the game, as shooting it into the line of slorgs will cause them to slow down. As the levels go on, the slorgs do get a little faster, and this powerup may be the only thing stopping the slorgs from reaching your crops before you can destroy them all.

• The Brown Slorg – This is one of the first 3 slorg colours you will see in the game.

This slorg's powerup is the Super Slorgeriser. This can also be a very useful powerup, especially if the slorgs are getting close to your crops and you need some destroyed quickly. Shooting this into the line will cause 2 slorgs on either side of the ball to be destroyed.

• The Red Slorg – This slorg doesn't appear until Level 4.

This slorg's powerup is the Multislorg. This powerup is your enemy, I would advise against shooting it into your line unless you have a small line and need more points. Shooting this into the line will add a whole bunch of random slorgs to your line in one go. If you get this powerup, and don't want to risk shoving the line closer to your crops, shoot it off-screen to get a new Slorg-B-Gone ball.

• The Pink Slorg – This slorg doesn't appear until Level 6.

This slorg's powerup is the Slorg Destruct. This is one of the best powerups in the game, and is extremely helpful. When you shoot this at your line, all the slorgs behind the powerup will be destroyed, so it's best to shoot this near the front of the line, after waiting for the slorgs to get close to your crops. This powerup can be a lifesaver, so don't throw it away!

• The Grey Slorg – This slorg can appear quite early in the game, but only comes from the Slorgeriser and NOT the line of slorgs.

The basic grey Slorg-B-Gone you get from the Slorgeriser can be a nuisance. Since the grey slorgs are only formed from the Slorg-B-Gone, it will be a while before you get another grey slorg, so I advise you to just shoot the grey slorgs offscreen. This slorg's powerup is the Puddle Water. While the rarest powerup in the game, it is just as useful as the Slorg Destruct, and personally is my favourite. Shooting this powerup at your line will turn the whole line into the same one colour, and then all that's needed to destroy the line is one shot of Slorg-B-Gone of that same colour! Like the Slorg Destruct, it is most helpful when the line is close to your crops, and can be a lifesaver. If the line turns a different colour to your next Slorg-B-Gone, just keep shooting offscreen until you get a matching colour.

Gameplay

You'll probably find that you'll be shooting equal amounts of Slorg-B-Gone into the line as offscreen in the later levels. Waiting for the right colour does pay off; as you can shoot about 5 slorgs offscreen in the same time it takes the line to move one slorg over. Be careful that you're not throwing away valuable powerups though – you'll know when it's a powerup as the ball of Slorg-B-Gone will be pulsing, and the powerup's name will appear above it.

There are also two codes for this game which are very helpful. The first is marrow, which will give you an extra life. The other is chargex4, which will recharge your laser when it fails (and it will). You'll know when your laser is failing as it will start to flicker and the game will tell you. Be careful not to hit the 'Q' key however, as this will end your game.

Points are scored based on the number of slorgs you destroy, but this will not get you very many points on its own. Bonus points are abundant in this game, and can be very easy to get. Clearing the screen of the line of slorgs will give you a clear bonus – which is very easy to achieve in the first couple of levels. Remember, it's the amount of slorgs you destroy that send you to the next level, so get in the bonuses when you can. Clear bonuses can be easy to achieve in the later levels through the use of the Super Slorgeriser and Slorg Destruct powerups.

Another bonus is from chain reaction combos from destroying slorgs. Say you have two blue slorgs, followed by two brown slorgs, and then another blue slorg. Rather than shooting the blue slorg pair, if you shoot at the brown slorgs in the middle, they will be destroyed, and the blue slorgs will crash into each other, creating 3 blue slorgs, and will destroy themselves. Setting off a second combo such as the example above gets you a x2 bonus. If you set off another combo after the second, you get a x3 bonus, and so on. If you think you have a lot of time, and especially on the lower levels, try to set up some of these chain reactions for bonus multipliers.

The last bonus you can get is the Crazy Frog bonus. Randomly throughout the game, a quiggle will pop out of the ground on the left side of the screen. If you shoot it with any ball of Slorg-B-Gone, you will be awarded an extra 25 points. I advise trying to shoot the quiggle whenever it pops up unless you have a useful powerup on you at the time. Be careful while shooting the quiggle, as you might hit the line instead!

I hope this guide had some useful tips and tricks, so that you'll be on your way to getting the avatar, or perhaps even a trophy!