Asteroids is a two-dimensional shooter. You control your spaceship to eliminate the endless supply of asteroids that threaten to pound it. If that isn't bad enough, you also have to contend with aliens trying to turn you into stardust. Of course, it's a game of kill or be killed. In order to become a master of this game, you must be familiar with the controls. The controls are a little complicated at first since there are more buttons to work with. Left Rotation Button Right Rotation Button Fire Button Thrust Button Hyperspace Button The playing field consists of your spaceship, floating rocks, and the occasional alien taking shots at you. You control the spaceship to avoid collisions and to blast obstacles. You start with 3 spaceships. On the normal machine set up, you earn a free spaceship every 10,000 points. POINTS:     Object Points Large Asteroids 20 points Medium Asteroids 50 points Small Asteroids 100 points Large Saucer 200 points Small Saucer 1000 points When you start the game, your spaceship will be in the middle of the screen. Heading toward your ship will be anywhere from 4 to 6 large asteroids. Your job is to blast those rocks. However, when you blast them, they break up into 2 medium rocks. Blasting a medium rock gives you 2 small rocks. In addition, you have to contend with large and small saucers. On the first few screens, you can sit in the middle and blast rocks to your hearts content. There isn't that much danger since the large saucer doesn't track and only fires random shots. Keep in mind a couple of things when shooting: You can have 4 shots on the screen at any one time. This is useful for when you are blasting rocks at close range. You can pretty much drill them to dust. Your shots "wrap around" the screen. This means any shot that goes past the edge of the screen will reappear on the opposite side traveling the same direction. The saucers also have "wrap around" shots. After 10,000 points, the small saucer becomes a permanent part of the game. You can no longer sit in one place since the small saucer is able to track your ship and take you out with the first or second shot. Use hyperspace only in very desperate situations. Something like having 4 asteroids coming at you at once, and there is nowhere to escape would be a good reason. I mention this because 8 times out of 10, hyperspace will either put your ship in danger or when you appear somewhere else, your ship will blow up. Although there is danger from the rocks and saucers, you can also be a danger to yourself. Use the thrust carefully or you will find yourself careening out of control on the screen. Some players get really good, however, moving around and shooting. For those desired high scores, you can use the hunting trick. It goes something like this: After 10,000 points, the small saucers appear. They are worth 1000 points apiece. First, blast every rock until you have one small rocks left. Go sit in the upper left or right corner of the game screen. If the small saucer appears from the side you are on, then you can blast it before it gets off a shot. If it appears on the opposite side, use the shot "wrap around" to take care of it. Some people have done this for hours on end and racked up scores in the millions. Of course, it takes a long time at 1000 points a pop. Also keep in mind that the small saucer can wrap shots so you may have to move out of danger.

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