Having failed to repair the machine designed to maintain Neopia's unstable core, Roxton A. Colchester III and Cog set out through the fiery lava tubes of Moltara to find the mysterious cavern dwellers, who just might be able to help. Unfortunately, with the planet's core going wildly out of balance, it's going to be a rough ride...
It's going to be a fun ride? Fantastic!
How to Play
Like the other Atlas of the Ancients games Tunnel Tumble, Clockwork Codebreaker, and Clara on Ice, Moltara Run is a re-skin of an existing Neopets game. Specifically, it's a slightly modified version of Volcano Run II. The only change between the two is that Volcano Run II's hero, Glubgar, has been replaced with Roxton.
A huge improvement, right? ...Right?
Moltara Run has an interesting control scheme, using both the mouse and keyboard at the same time. To flap Roxton's wings and fly higher, hold down the left mouse button; you will automatically drift down when the button isn't being held. The V key is used to speed up, while the C key causes you to drift backward, to the left side of the screen. As you will lose a life if you touch the edges of the tunnel, it's best to stay near the center. When you do lose a life, you will start over from 0 meters, the farthest you've gotten in the current game session becoming your "best distance".
THIS IS NOT A FUN RIDE!
When the game starts, you will be given three lives. It's recommended that you type the code glubgar right away, before any obstacles appear, as it will grant you an extra life. The goal in Moltara Run is simple: to stay alive as long as possible. The game will continue infinitely, in theory, randomly generating obstacles in your path. So long as you can continue to dodge them, your best distance will increase, and with it, your score.
You will come across the following elements in the tunnels:
Appearing in groups of three, yellow gems are worth 10 bonus points each.
Red gems will occasionally replace the yellow ones, and are worth 20 bonus points.
This shield will protect you from damage for five seconds, or until you collide with an obstacle.
Fireballs fly toward the left side of the screen, and will cost you a life on contact.
Rocks will either remain stationary, or move up and down at varying speeds. They will cost you one life on contact.
These geysers start to appear at the bottom of the screen after the 500 meter mark, and will occasionally spew jets of lava that reach the top of the screen.
While it may be tempting to collect those shiny gems for extra points, it's recommended that you avoid them whenever possible. Once you've gained 450 points from gems (about fifteen groups of them), they will no longer appear, and will be replaced by series of three fireballs. These can be difficult to dodge, so unless you have no choice or are on your last life, avoid collecting gems.
Scoring
When the game ends, your best distance will be converted to points, with every meter worth one point. This is then added to any bonus points you gained from gems to create your final score. An effective strategy to get the highest score possible is to type the code glubgar at the start of one of your lives, then to use your first three attempts to get as far as possible, avoiding gems. If you get a satisfactory distance on one of these lives, you can then use your last life to collect the rest of the gems you're allotted.
While you can normally only get 450 points worth of gems before they're replaced with fireballs, it's possible to go slightly above this limit by carefully monitoring your bonus points. Once you've reached 420 points, only collect two from the next group, bringing your score to 440. Since gems will always appear in groups of three, the next time you see gems there will be enough to bring your score to 470. If you're lucky, you'll get a red gem with your final group... Or you might even find two groups of gems on-screen at once, for a full 50 points more than the game is meant to give you!
Prize
If you score 400 points or higher, you will be rewarded with a Charred Steam Wings.
