Bosconian is a great game. With it's fun and simple game style, it can be pretty addicting. Hopefully, I will have been experienced enough to make a meaningful strategy guide. I have never done this before, but here goes! The main goal is to get the highest score possible, right? I do not know if this is a major accomplishment or not, but I was able to score 480,000 points (it was a little over, but I could not recall the rest of the digits) So I do feel somewhat qualified for this. All right, the main source of your points is going to be by taking down the bases in every level. The easiest way to max your points for these is to shoot five of the six cannons of the base and then shoot up the middle. This will net you 1500 for shooting it up the middle and 1000 for shooting five of the cannons. This means that you can earn 2500 points for one base. For the first level, that will earn you 7500 in the bases alone. Next, I will give the scoring list. You can find this in the game itself, but this is just to make a quick reference. Asteroids net you 10 points apiece. The Cosmo-Mines give you 20. If you shoot the triangular P-type missiles, you get 50 per. The boomerang like I type missiles give you 60, and the elongated E-types will score you 70. The points for the Spy ships vary, but are usually close to 200. There are some things that will be a benefit to shoot as many as you can, like the missile ships. However, I do not believe that it is worth wasting your time on the asteroids and mines for the measly points that they give you. Do not risk going into a code red over these. Get them out of your way, but do not try to destroy them all. Here's another hint: if you destroy all the fighters in the formation attacks, you will also earn some bonus points. You earn 500 for a P-type formation and 1000 for the I-type formation. I am not completely sure, but I believe the E-type bonus to be either 1500 or 2000. However, once you hit the main fighter, the rest of them scatter, making it difficult to shoot them all. There are three formation shapes. There is the Line, the Cross, and the Point. The point and the Line are the easier ones to do--with the cross being more difficult. Of all of them, obviously the line is the easiest to shoot down. All you need to do is fly below them and shoot them down as they work their way down towards you--making the main fighter last, that is. The point is also somewhat easy. You will use the same technique as you did in the line formation, only you have to shoot two on the bottom, on your way up to the main fighter. The trickiest formation is the Cross. In this formation, the main fighter surrounds himself with one fighter on every side, making it difficult to shoot them all down.  However, if you can manage to shoot 2 or 3 of them down, it should not be too difficult to take down those that flee...That's about it for scoring extra points. Now for survival...

Survival, is of course, the key to getting farther in the game, as well as being a key factor in how high you can score. So let us see what the best way to survive is. I have already mentioned that it is not a good idea to stay behind in the level longer to shoot some puny asteroids or mines, the reason being that the longer you take in the level, the more chance you have of being discovered, and going into code red. Code red is a dangerous condition where you have enemies coming at you faster than you can blink; so avoiding this condition will help you survive. What causes code red you ask? The main and most common reason for code red is letting the spy ships go. If you let two of them go, they will compromise your position and bring down a lot of heat on you. Probably the second most common reason for a code red is staying in a level too long. So keep moving, take out the base and move on to the next one. Do not hang around in one spot too long. Another reason that I think Code red can be activated (at least I think) is letting too many fighters of the formations go, when they scatter, they will tell all their friends where you are. (I think this happens if you let about 4 or 5 escape in a short time.) Other than that, I am not aware of any reasons to activate a code red. As for survival, sometimes it may be necessary to skimp on points so that you can keep moving. It may be helpful in some cases to just clear a spot to fly in around the base and blast the middle, instead of taking the time to shoot them all. This is especially true if you are trying to survive a code red. So basically, use your best judgment and try to stay safe out in the galaxy. Now, there is one final thing that I should bring up. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the game will throw a code red at you. Sometimes you may think that you did all the right things to put it off, but it still comes. Do not get frustrated. Keep cool and keep moving. At this point, your main goal would clearly be to survive until you can take down the last base. Shoot the fighters as they come at you, and keep moving towards the base. You may have to circle it a while and even retreat, but you need to do whatever it takes to survive as long as you can. As long as your ship is running, you can keep scoring points, so do not get too frustrated if you keep getting chased away from the bases. 



Well, I hope you enjoyed my little guide. And I hope you all were not thinking "I already knew that!" the whole time. I hope I helped at least a little. Thank you for reading!

A guide for an arcade game?  You keep surprising me more and more!  Great job!  Might I suggest a little something?

Next time you write a guide like this that discusses targets and points, try separating them in a bulleted list. This would make it easier on the eyes and not scare away any potential readers.

Aside from that... awesome!  Thanks for contributing to vizzed in such a positive manner!

Singelli : Well, I owe it to you, Singelli. I tried this once before but ran into the same problem that I had with the reviews. But since you helped me figure out the problem. I have been able to write 3 reviews and 2 strategy guides today. (including this one) I am now writing a review on my recently completed Donkey Kong country tropical freeze so I can get the game accelerator so that it does not take hours to load my games!

Nice job with this, it is incredibly detailed and it is clear you put a lot of time and effort into making it. I definitely think it will definitely come in handy for those playing this classic game. All I would say is to maybe break it down more so it is easier to read, but its really not that big of a deal, and it is just a matter of personal preference. Overall though, great job on writing this, you really cover and explain the main aspects of the game really well, and you are also clear and concise, two key elements in making a good game guide. Keep up the great work and I look forward to reading your next guide!