The minimum score required in Skiing by Activision for the Atari 2600 to earn a patch was: less than 28.2 seconds in game 3. The best advice in Skiing is to read the manual, so that you know all of the nuances of the game. The manual gives some really good tips. Make sure both difficulty switches are set to B. Activision Skiing was designed by Bob Whitehead.
Activision Skiing is one of those games that will make you hate the console reset button, hence resetting is allowed using the joystick button. Although a fun game, Skiing can be quite grueling. The controls in this game are only left and right. Use the button to reset the game on any of the “Slalom Run” selections or to jump if a “Downhill Race” is selected.
To start the game just move the joystick in any direction. In each course you always start the skier at the top of the slope. It’s a race to see how fast and accurately you can reach the bottom. When you tap the joystick in either direction you will notice that the very front of your skies will point in that same direction. The longer you hold the joystick in that direction, the sharper of a turning bank you will do. The more you point the skis in any direction, the slower you will become.
Choosing either the A/B buttons on the right or left sides adds a level of difficulty, “A” being harder on each. There are 10 different courses to select from. The “Slalom Runs” are games 1 – 5, where you have marker flags that you must pass through ranging from 20-50 gates. The “Downhill Runs” are games 6 – 10, in which there is a race from 200-900 meters. Games 5 and 10 are random.
In the Slalom Run selection you must run between all marker flags in the fastest possible time. Do not miss any marker flags, because if you do, you are penalized five seconds for each. If you hit a marker flag or a tree, just hit the button and your game is reset. This is a race for time and perfection. Memorizing the gate patterns will help you in getting the best possible time. Every pixel of lateral movement on the screen results in a slower time at the end of the race.
In the Downhill Racing selection you must reach the bottom of the slope in the fastest possible time. During your race, above your elapsed time is the distance remaining of your run. There are obstacles that are in your way that you have to avoid. If you collide with any of these obstacles you will lose precious time. Anticipating what is coming and making maps of the patterns will greatly help in your success for a record time.
Learning how to “tap” the joystick for minimal movement rather than holding the joystick in the direction that you want to go is the key to fast times. Remember this is a game of speed and precision. The longer you go straight down the slope, the faster your time will be. The more lateral movement you require, the slower your time will be.
There is a bug in the game where switching the difficulty switch from B to A and back again resets the skier back to the center of the screen. This makes it possible on the slalom courses to get seemingly impossible times. It is my humble personal opinion that on game 3 difficulty bb, the perfect time is 27.94. Any score that is far faster than that probably utilized this bug to achieve the faster time.
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When you are ready to submit a world record score for Skiing by Activision, check the scoreboard here: https://www.twingalaxies.com/game/skiing/atari-2600-vcs
And when you’ve earned your patch, just visit https://www.ActivisionPatches.com
