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Congrats Rick, and thanks for all your work organising such a great HSC. It's been fun! ?

One more try at Course 5 - I've improved my time slightly but I think that's about as far as I can push it with this car. Anyway, at least this hopefully proves that there's no real difference playing the game on NTSC or PAL - you can get very similar times on either version. Course 5 (White car) : 3:36 (NTSC)

Thought I'd have another try at this on my Ultimate Flashback. I messed up a couple of corners on the last lap, but pretty pleased with this! Course 5 (White car): 3:38 (NTSC Disc speed)

Thanks Rick. Al's only human - his scores can be beaten! ?

This ☝️ ?

OK, I've just tried Course 5 on my Ultimate Flashback, disc speed, and my best time so far is 3:41, and that was by no means perfect. There's definitely a difference between PAL and NTSC in the way the game plays, but I'm doubtful that either version is easier or harder than the other. Comparing the two, PAL feels noticeably slower, but so too does the steering, the responsiveness and the braking. I actually think it makes it harder to play. NTSC is much smoother and nicer to play. And at the end of the day, as you can see, the times you get are pretty much the same. I'm confident I could match my PAL 3:39 on NTSC with a bit of practice. As mr_me said in his post, try playing the NTSC version on speed 1 or 2 and you'll get an idea of what it's like to play PAL Auto Racing! I'm not sure if you still think PAL times shouldn't count on this HSC, Rick, but honestly there is no advantage one way or the other. Course 5 (White car): 3:41 - NTSC disc speed

I'll try course 5 again on it just out of interest to see what time I get, but I'm not going to drive all the courses again - I've already spent too much time on it!

No, it's OK - count me out of this round if my times are going to cause problems for records etc. I just wish I hadn't wasted so much time playing it! Lol Thanks for organising the HSC, Rick. It's been fun revisiting the old games. Edit: Just for clarification, my old course 3 record (7:03) was played on my Ultimate Flashback which is NTSC. I've only recently started playing on my PAL console again when I bought my portable CRT TV.

I just had a look at Auto Racing on Twin Galaxies, and it seems strange because on there it says "This variation is for both NTSC and PAL as there is no difference between the two on the Intellivision Video Game Console". Still, if you think my times aren't valid, then fair enough - you don't need to include them in this round.

Ah, so that's why I'm doing well. ?

I'm using original hardware but I'm in the UK so I guess it's Pal? What's really impressive is Biffman's record on Course 1 - I can't get anywhere near that!

Managed to improve by a couple of seconds. Course 5 (White car): 3:39

I know! I couldn't believe it myself! ? I think the white car does suit this track though. It's tight and twisty, so the lack of top speed isn't so much of a problem. I didn't think I'd get anywhere near your time though!

I just played this and crashed and couldn't believe my finishing time was still 3:49, so I tried it again without crashing: Track 5 (White car): 3:41

I know where you're coming from, but I actually think it's an amazing driving game, considering its age. Whoever designed it got the car dynamics just right - the feeling of momentum, the drifting round corners, the reward for driving smoothly etc. The only thing that lets it down (and admittedly it's a big thing!) is the controls. Because of the way the disc is made, it just isn't sensitive enough. You end up constantly trying to correct your position on the track and either turn too much or not enough and end up spinning off. If only the disc was a bit less on/off, it would be an absolutely incredible game, but instead it becomes extremely frustrating. Very rewarding when you get it right though.

Bit of an improvement on course 5. I don't think I'll be able to get any quicker than this though! Course 5 (white car) : 3:48

Finally managed to get round course 2 without crashing. The last lap was a bit raggedy, so I'm pleased I managed it! Course 2 (tan car): 5:39

Thanks Rick. No, I played these on original equipment. I can't believe my 3rd course time is a world record - it wasn't a perfect run by any means, though I managed not to crash! Although the green car's not fast, I think it suits course 4 pretty well as it's quite twisty. I'd probably have gone with the red car if I hadn't used it on course 3 though. I never normally use the blue and tan cars as they take a lot of effort to drive (I don't play Auto Racing much so just stick with red or green when I do as they're the easiest to pick up and play), but I can see that with practice they are very quick cars to drive. I managed to get my course 2 time despite crashing twice, so I think that could come down by quite a bit! Your course 5 time is very impressive! I stuck with the white car for that course as it's very technical, but you've probably chosen the best car for that course and your time reflects that - very nice driving!

I've managed to get a few races on each of the courses now. Strangely enough, I've chosen different cars than Rick for every course apart from Course 2! Here are my best times so far. I'm still getting to grips with the blue and tan cars - I normally avoid them like the plague! Course 1 (Blue Car): 3:06 Course 2 (Tan Car): 5:39* Course 3 (Red Car): 6:55 Course 4 (Green Car): 8:40 Course 5 (White Car): 3:36* *updated as at 26th November

OK, I just don't see the point of the levelling up as you'd play this game very differently if you're aiming to hit an exact limit compared to if you're trying to get as high a score as possible, but fair enough! I'm finished with this game too. I'll have a go at Auto Racing over the weekend. ?

This scoring system has been confusing me since the start! ? So what you're saying is, there basically is no cap limit?

Haha, when you look at the HSC record, I can't get anywhere near it, but I guess I'm OK. As I said, the tricky thing playing this special scoring mode is knowing what your score is as it doesn't show it on the screen until you crash. I had 141K after the fall roadway (I'd crashed 50 cars for a 25K bonus on that level) which meant I had to be really careful on the winter roadway to not go over the limit. I just had to crash and hope I'd judged it about right!

Choosing a different car for each course is a good idea and makes it interesting - I think I'd probably have chosen the same car for virtually every course if I was able to! I'll try to post some times soon!

OK, I've tried to get close to the Level 2 cap this time. Bump n Jump Special Scoring (one 50,000 bonus): 148,880

Thanks Rick. I did see that, but the hard part is getting the exact score. When you get close to 149,998, you have the same problem as you have at 99,998 so you might as well just try to get to that figure.