With the addition of trophies to the amazing PSN game, Super Stardust HD, no doubt many people are finally taking the plunge and buying the game, or those that already own it have come back to it's greatness. I've had this game since Feburary, and I must say it's one of the two best games on the PSN (toss up with PixelJunk Monsters).

First and foremost, this is NOT a guide on how to obtain the newly added trophies. If that is your fancy, there are plenty of guides already available on the net and a quick Google search will give you what you're looking for. What? You're too damn lazy to find one yourself? Fine. Here's one for you. Happy?

This is a guide that will give you tips on how to obtain a high score in the Arcade mode. Placing high on that leaderboard list (or at least higher than everyone on your friends list) is more satisfying than one might imagine. Especially when people *cough*Y0j1mb0*cough* talk shit like they're gonna beat your score but FAIL repeatedly. It's great.

If you're interested, read on... It may get a little confusing, but go slow and let it sink in or re-read it as many times as you need to it all makes sense I promise you that much. At the end of the blog I'll post some scores from my friends list, and hopefully we'll see some improvement when I post scores again this time next week.

1. Stage Complete Screen

There are many factors in scoring. First we'll take a look at how your score is tallied after each level. Sadly, I cannot find a screenshot of the "stage complete" screen, so bear with me here. The screen will look something like this:

Goal Time: 140.0 SEC
Your Time: 66.0 SEC

Time Bonus: 74.0 SEC x 2300 x 2X


Ok, I would hope everyone can figure out what the "Goal Time" and "Your Time" stats are... Obviously you get more points for finishing a level as fast as possible, so keep this in mind as you play. It's better to kill the last remaining enemy and finish the stage than to chase two little peices of rock around the damn globe and waste all that time.

Now the "Time Bonus" is a little tricky. Obviously the 74.0 SEC is the differential between "Goal Time" and "Your Time", and the 2X is your current multiplier. (More on Multipliers in a moment) But what is that 2300 for? Well it's quite simple: the more bombs you have, the higher that number is. So save those bombs!

So what have we learned from the Stage Complete Screen? Your bonus score at the end of the stage is based on:

1. How quickly you complete the stage
2. How many bombs you currently have
3. Your current multiplier

With lost of bombs and a high multiplier it is possible to get stage bonuses of over 10,000,000 points if you complete the stage quickly.

2. Multipliers

Your multiplier is the biggest factor in obtaining a large score. The longer you stay alive and the more enemies and asteroids you destroy, the higher your multiplier will get. The max multiplier level is 10X. Everything you get points for is multiplied by whatever number your multiplier is currently at. Destroying enemies and asteroids, collecting "Points" tokens, and end of stage bonuses are all affected. For example, a "Points" token is worth 2,500 points, but with a 10X multiplier they are worth 25,000 points.

So how do you get your multiplier high? Well, don't die. Tips to staying alive are as follows:

1. Boost whenever you are in trouble. You're invincible while you boost, but you will not be able to boost again for about 4 seconds while your boost meter recharges, so keep this in mind.

2. Don't forget about your bombs, but only use them when absolutely necessary. (Like if you just used your boost and it hasn't recharged yet) Remember: wasting bombs affects your stage bonus score.

3. Collect "Shield" tokens whenever you see them. Shields allow you to get hit once without dying. In this way shields are more important than extra lives because losing your shield won't reset your multiplier. Dying will. If you don't have a shield and you see an "Extra Ship" token, wait about 5 seconds and it will turn into a "Shield" token. Only collect "Extra Ship" tokens if you already have a shield.

4. Practice, practice, practice. Fast reflexes are needed to stay alive and keep your multiplier in the later stages.

3. Boosting through "Points" tokens

Boosting through mutiple "Points" tokens does more than net you two trophies for your collection... It also gives you a pretty nice score boost. For example, as stated earlier a single "Points" token is worth 25,000 points with a 10X multiplier. Now, if you manage to boost through 5 "Points" tokens while having a 10X multiplier, this is what you will see:

1st token: 25,000
2nd token: 50,000
3rd token: 75,000
4th token: 100,000
5th token: 125,000

Well those are all the secrets I can give. I hope they help you to increase your scores. Oh yeah one more thing: an enemy's color gives away what weapon they are weak against. Use the Rock Crusher on green enemies, the Gold Melter on red enemies, and the Ice Splitter on blue enemies.


DTOID Arcade Mode High Scores: (only includes those of you on my friends list)

Arrestedeveloper: 182,547,030
Moosehole: 129,122,570
Zaqu: 119,818,810
ElZilcho: 82,033,255
Wilbo25: 36,798,050
DecoyB: 34,382,265
ponyboykami: 31,816,875
k0wb0y-b33b0p: 24,639,195 <-- LOL
wtfistheinternet: 17,804,765
InsomiaRanger: 13,929,345
JamesEwing: 10,744,345
Corak: 10,455,635
Qraze: 2,106,855
Vendetta3: 2,043,835
Shipero: 1,733,200
JohanHin: 1,483,910
DarkTravesty: 797,420
DtoidGameboi: 701,660
x311grassrootsx 512,680