Volcano Run - In-Depth Guide

On September 1st, 2005, TNT released a Volcano Run avatar. To get this, you need to get... hmm... well, it would be cheating if I tell you, right? I guess you will just have to figure this out for yourself. To me, this is one of the easiest game avatars. After you read this guide, you should have no problem getting the avatar yourself.

First off, make sure you play in full screen mode. This makes the game go much slower, which is one of the things that will help most. Some people, if they are really good, can play it without doing this, but I suggest staying with the full screen mode strategy.

Crystals:

The crystals are the tiny blue things that you will see in a set of three. Each one is worth 20 points, so if you get the whole set it would be a total of 60. To get them all you have to do it run through them. You may not think they are very important, but they are. Especially when you are going for a trophy and you die when you are exactly 60 points from the gold trophy. (Yes, that has actually happened to me.)

Rocks and Fireballs:

The red rocks move up and down while you are trying to dodge them. While you are in the tunnel, they are about 3 Glubgars (the Scorchio that you control) apart. The fireballs appear in the wide openings, and if you run into them, you die. They kind of look like comets on fire. Usually the rocks are harder to dodge than these, because the rocks move up and down, while the fireballs only go in one direction: toward you.

Shields:

If you pick up a force shield, it creates a bubble around you, and if you crash into a rock or fire ball, the shield disappears, but you won't die. If you don’t currently have a shield around you, you can type in 'lava' and it creates one. You can only do this once per game, but it still helps a lot. NEVER use the lava code before you hit 2000 points. Because when you get past that score the shields stop coming. So why bother wasting your code when you can get a shield for free? If you do not have a shield, and you are below 1500 points, keep going as normal. But if you are above 1500 points without a shield, don’t collect the crystals. This is because shields are more important. If you quickly shoot past 2000 and still don’t have a shield, you will never be able to get one again. Which is bad.

I have had people say to me, "Type in 'lav' at the beginning of the game, then type the 'a' when you need it, because it makes it much easier."

Do not use this tip. Because when you use the spacebar, it cancels out the 'lav' part. The people that use this obviously do not use the spacebar, and these people probably don’t have very high scores.

Spacebar:

This is the most important feature in the game. Without this, you won't be able to get half as far as you would if you used it. A lot of people on the Neoboards say it isn’t necessary. They are wrong. Let's say you are in a tunnel, and there is a rock at the bottom, heading upward. If you go up, you might not make it in time and crash into the rock, killing yourself. If you go down, you might be too early and not make it before the rock goes up. To solve the problem, hold the spacebar down, and head downwards. By the time you get there, the rock would be plenty high enough for you to escape safely. There are many times that you need the spacebar, but that was just one example.

Volcano Layout:

This part is very hard to describe, but hopefully I can explain it enough for you to understand. Knowing the layout can be very useful, because you can be prepared for what is coming.

The volcano is an endless circuit, with basically two different parts that keep on connecting to each other. One of those parts is the tunnel. At the beginning of a tunnel will be a shield. (Remember, only if you have 2000 or less points). You start out at the bottom, and then make an upward slant. When you get really high, it goes to a downward slant. At the end of the tunnel comes a set of 3 crystals, and a very small passageway leading to the next "section".

The next section will either be another tunnel, exactly like the previous one, or a wide opening. The wide openings will have fireballs, rocks, and a set of 3 crystals. When you get to a large opening like this one, try to go up. It makes it much easier to run through the crystals going down rather than forcing yourself up. After you have passed this part, you will be led to the next section. This will be either another tunnel, or another wide opening. This cycle goes on forever.

Last, but certainly not least, practice is what will make you better. When I first started to like Volcano Run, I could barely get to 3000. As I kept playing, I worked myself up to being able to get 4700+ on an average basis.

This is the end of my guide, and I hope you liked it. If you have any questions, feel free to neomail me.