Nova Defender Guide Part I: The Basics

Suddenly, a pulse of light, and one of their number bursts apart in a shower of sparks! More pulses quickly follow, a ceaseless barrage that causes chaos and devastation amongst the enemy ranks. Its source: a lone Nova, darting and weaving through the pulses fired in retaliation from the mechanical soldiers. With deadly accuracy, the Nova spawns waves of pulses that fall upon the enemy, skillfully evading futile potshots from the frustrated enemies.

Suddenly, the mechanical stars fall back. From the direction of their retreat, two giant glowing eyes glint menacingly in the dark...

This is what you'll face as you control the Nova, the solitary light in the darkness. You maneuver it to repel the hordes of nefarious mechanical Novas, commanded by Mechanova, the eminence gris. Why should you aid this Nova on its quest for righteousness?

1. Nova Defender has one of the coolest trophies: a Nova trophy of your very own! Now you can have one of Neopia's most beloved items in trophy form to adorn your lookup and grace your cabinet in your Neohome!

2. Nova Defender is one of the newer games on Neopets, so rejoice in the smoother gameplay and polished artwork! It also has that old-time arcade feel, how nostalgic!

3. Who doesn't love a good shoot-em-up game! The classic combo of aim, shoot and dodge never fails to excite gamers of any kind.

Whether it be for earning NP or gunning for that cool trophy (reason #1!), this guide can be of use to you! This guide is written with one purpose in mind: getting a trophy-worthy score before level 7! You'll find tips on how to maximize your score in the first 6 levels, which not only gives you your Neopoints faster, but also gives you more tries for a trophy in the same timeframe! Ready? Let's start!

The basics:

I. Movement

You control the Nova with your mouse. Where your cursor goes, the Nova follows. Of course, your Nova may not follow your cursor exactly, so make sure you have a good sense of the Nova's speed and reactivity to your cursor's movements before beginning in earnest. Otherwise, you will end up experiencing a great deal of frustration :( Experiment with the mouse sensitivity settings on your computer as well to get used to your cursor!

On the hardware front, make sure you've got a comfortable mouse you're used to, and that it has sufficient juice (wouldn't want it to die and leave you just short of a trophy now, would we?). Also, make sure you have plenty of space around your mouse so you can move it wherever you need it to go!

II. Firing

At the start of the game, you're able to fire one pulse in one direction. The direction is controlled by the arrow keys: left, right, up and down. Pressing the keys will make the pulses shoot out in the corresponding direction! You can also get the pulses to go to the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest corners by pressing down the two component arrow keys at once! Holding down the key will let you sustain a line of continuous fire. Also, you never run out of ammo!

III. Destroy!

To wipe out enemy Novas, hit them with your awesome Nova-pulses! In the first 6 levels, only the Fire Nova (appearing from Level 3 onwards) requires two hits to be taken out; all other Novas go down in one shot.

IV. Scoring

You get points per enemy destroyed. Each enemy also drops a blue gem upon being destroyed. Pick it to add to your gem count and increase your score!

V. Gems

Gems are important in this game for 2 reasons: they are used to purchase upgrades, and they contribute greatly to your score.

At the end of each round, before proceeding to the next round, you are given the option to purchase certain upgrades (found in the section to the left). The name of the upgrade and value of gems needed to unlock each upgrade is stated when you hover over the icon, along with a short description of the upgrade. Upgrades are extremely useful as they can improve your firepower and defensive power.

Gems contribute greatly to your score because they not only give an individual bonus upon collection, collecting multiple gems consecutively will net you an increasing bonus. If you have the sound effect on, you will realize that the notes played upon collecting gems correspond to an octave of a scale. As you collect gems consecutively, the pitch of the "collect" sound goes up and eventually reaches a point where it stays the same. That is where you've reached the maximum additional bonus. To remain at that bonus, try and collect gems in chains, and minimize the amount of time between collecting each gem.

*note: Gems fall to the bottom of the screen, accelerating as they go!

VI. Health and Shield

During the game, you will observe two meters in the bottom left hand corner of the game screen. The red top meter represents your health, and the green bottom represents your shield level.

You start off the game with three lives, and you can only take three hits before you lose a life! You sustain a hit when you bump into an enemy Nova, or get hit by one of their shots. You are briefly invulnerable after each hit, so use that to your advantage!

The shield meter will start off empty at the beginning of each level, but will slowly charge as the level progresses. It will fill to full after approximately 20 seconds. To activate the shield, double-click your left mouse button. Any Nova which impinges upon your shield will be destroyed immediately (and cough up its gem). Shots will also not harm you while your shield is active. Your shield lasts for about 10 seconds though, and will start to flicker when time is almost up, so remain alert! When your shield is gone you will immediately be vulnerable to enemy fire again!

Also, while your shield is active, gems do not give bonus when collected consecutively! Hence, using a shield is not always the best way to increase your score!

VII. Red Gem

This is one of the most crucial things to take note of during the game. In the middle of each level from 2-6, a red triangular gem will spawn in the middle of the screen (usually after 40 seconds or so). Upon collecting it, your Nova will be surrounded by a golden circular aura (like a golden shield) and start spewing out pulses rapidly in all directions! This effect lasts for a few seconds, and you will not take any damage while it is activated. Furthermore, you will be able to receive the consecutive gem bonus as per normal, even though you are shielded! In other words, upon collecting this gem, remember to take out as many enemies and collect as many gems as you can!

VII. Codes?

Unfortunately, there are no known codes for this game :(

Well, this is the introduction to the basics of Nova Defender. Keep an eye out for my follow-up guide on how to get that trophy, as it contains a detailed walkthrough for each level!