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What have you actually PLAYED tracker for 2010 (Season 3)

cvga

By cvga
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StanJr Quadrunner

StanJr

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Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (TG-16) 30 mins.

Popeye (VCS) 15 mins.

Q*Bert (VCS) 15 mins.

Montezuma's Revenge (VCS) 15 mins.

Mr. Do!'s Castle (VCS) 10 mins.

Frankenstien's Monster (VCS) 25 mins.

 

playing some NES later today...

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Kurt_Woloch River Patroller

Kurt_Woloch

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Here are my times for this past week (April 27th through May 2nd):

 

The classic games (eligible for the Top 10):

 

Shamus (MS-DOS) 108 minutes in 3 sessions

Shamus (Gameboy Color) 7 minutes

Shamus (Atari 8-bit) 8 minutes

Wonder Boy (Arcade) 75 minutes

 

The non-classic games (not eligible for the Top 10):

 

Burger Bar (Online) 119 minutes

Burger Bar (PC) 104 minutes

 

As you can see, I still played the PC version of Shamus, but during this week I decided to stop playing it. I tried to keep my sessions short (30-40 minutes per day) and then realized that I was actually getting worse at this game, so I decided to drop it entirely. Between that, I replayed two other versions of Shamus... I remembered the Gameboy Color version to be pretty easy, which it is, but in order to really beat the first level, you are not allowed to leave too many rooms before you have finished them, otherwise your score won't be high enough to be counted as eligible for the next level. Unfortunately, it is hard to make some of the rooms without prematurely exiting them, and I stopped playing this version when I realized this.

 

At the end, I also revisited the Atari 8-bit version for a short play, and it is really so much smoother and so much better to play than the PC version.

 

Then there came a phase when I couldn't decide what to play next. Somehow none of the games I know would fulfill my expectations of a game to play. But then I thought about writing a TI-99 game which hasn't done before in this style... a vertically scrolling Jump'n'Run. Think Pitfall, Smurf's Rescue in Gargamel's Castle and Cabbage Patch Kids / Athletic Land, but not divided into several screens, but in big levels which just continue to scroll and scroll.

And then Wonder Boy came to mind as a game that somehow would fit this description, although I still don't imagine my game to be exactly like this... I would like to have it a bit leisurely, more playfully and slower... in Wonder Boy, you can move pretty fast, much faster than in the other games I mentioned. OK, so in Wonder Boy, your character is actually also much bigger than in the other games, so moving faster actually makes sense here. In my game, the character would only be a 16x16 sprite.

But at this point I decided to give Wonder Boy a try since I really haven't played it much, except for the C-64 port, but I already noticed back in the day that the C-64 version has got one flaw... in the arcade versions, the worlds you have to conquer differ radically from each other... the screen types (water, forest, castle) repeat, but the level structure doesn't repeat. In the C-64 version, however, after beating the first world, Worlds 2 through 8 are pretty much the same, only some things get more difficult with each world... the enemies move faster and there are some hazards added, like platforms which are now moving which used to be fixed, but the level structure stays pretty much the same with each world.

 

After beating the first two areas (each world is subdivided into 4 areas, which are again subdivided into 4 stretches denoted by signs which are essentially save points) without using the Continue feature, I decided to try to get much further using Continues, but I gave up halfway through the 2nd world because they inserted points where you have to memorize certain features in order to avoid dying, like platforms which suddenly start to move as you approach them, or frogs that jump at you. I wouldn't want my game to be like this... in my game, you should be able to see each hazard in time before it gets you, without having to memorize the course.

 

Then I played two modern games which share the same name, but are totally different games... the PC game "Burger Bar" is essentially a remake of Burger Time, but with some features changed and different levels. In addition to the pepper, it has many different additional bonus items with various effects, and there's a steady flow of bonus items at one certain place in each screen. Letting the enemies fall, however, doesn't get you any points (!), and how good it works depend of the type of ingredients you let fall... if it's the top bun, enemies on it will cause the whole burger to clear, and the enemies on it will be trapped in that completed burger for that screen and won't be able to harm you anymore. However, if it's another ingredient, it will still fall only one level, regardless of how many enemies are on it, and after that, the enemies will instantly step out and continue to chase you.

 

However, that game has 7 patterns, after which they repeat from pattern 1 and, unfortunately, never get harder. This game was an entry for the 2004 competition on the Retro Remakes website, but the author mentions that because of this, he wasn't able to include all the features he planned for, and would release a complete version. However, that complete version is nowhere to be found.

 

The online game "Burger Bar" is an entirely different game... here you are behind the counter of a Burger restaurant and have to make burgers, ice cream, cola (OK, that is only filled from a machine, but you have to be careful how long you leave the cup in the machine) and fries and fulfill the customer's orders with them. So, sort of a puzzle or time management game.

Edited by Kurt_Woloch
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JayWI Stargunner

JayWI

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Finally sat down and played some games! Here's the breakdown.

 

Intellivision

 

Body Slam! Super Pro Wrestling - 25 minutes

Night Stalker - 20 minutes

Frogger - 10 minutes

 

I waited for weeks after ordering Body Slam! from the INTV catalog to get it. When it finally came I played the crap out of it. I used to do my own Summer Slams and Wrestlmanias. I remember Chief Big Thunder and Mr. Ugly trading the heavyweight title back and forth. I still have some of those written matchups and tournaments somewhere. Every "season" I'd do a big tournament to determine the heavyweight and intercontinental champs. Then I'd pair up tag teams and random and do that tournament to get the tag champs. Do a few matchups and try to develop storylines, then do the tournaments all over again once I'd set the game down for a while and forgot where I was. Playing the game again was great fun.

 

I had to play Night Stalker to see how well I could do. I used to get to the invisible robot every time I played. This time I lost out on the black robot. He shoots these bullets that eat your bullets so you gotta time your shots and move so he doesn't fire back. 2 shots kills him but with him absorbing your shots it's easy to go through all 6 shots on a single robot.

 

Frogger just struck me as something I should play tonight. I think my controllers are a bit dirty because the response when pressing the disc wasn't always there. I don't remember it being like that 25 years ago so it might be time to take the controls apart and clean 'em. Any advice on what I should look for or what I should pay attention to would be appreciated.

 

 

TurboGrafx 16

 

Legendary Axe - 20 minutes

Vigilante - 5 minutes

 

Vigilante is frustrating. I get to the first boss and either run out of time or get my butt kicked. I kept forgetting that a few hits would kill you unlike Double Dragon or Bad Dudes.

 

Legendary Axe seemed easier this time. I got to the second boss before losing all my lives. I had some continues left but I felt like playing some other games. This is really a fun game and I'm sure one of the few bright spots for this system.

 

I really need to add to my TG16 collection. I only have 5 games and 2 of them are Baseball and Keith Courage. I really have no interest in playing either of those. The other that I didn't play this evening was Bonk's Adventure. I really enjoy that game but tonight just didn't strike me as a Bonk's sorta night.

 

SNES

 

Super Punch Out - 15 minutes

Super Mario World - 15 minutes

 

 

I'm stuck on Mr. Sandman in Super Punch Out. I know I can beat him but my timing is off and dude hits hard when he wants too. He's the champ for the major circuit and I think after him is the skinhead character. I remember fighting him on an emulator and not being able to beat him. Hopefully I'll figure out Mr. Sandman soon so I can advance to the World Circuit and work on that.

 

 

Atari 2600

 

Infiltrate - 15 minutes

Adventure - 10 minutes

Yars' Revenge - 10 minutes

Gorf - 5 minutes

Centipede - 10 minutes

 

Trying out my Atari collection to see which games I want to have a rotation that I play a lot. Out of this batch I'd go with all but Adventure and Gorf. Adventure is fun but once I'd beat I'd be done. Gorf seemed like a Space Invaders clone, but with some additions. I like it but not enough to include in the first rotation of games. I think it will look like this: Infiltrate, Dig Dug, Yars' Revenge, Centipede. I plan to add a couple more the next time I play which hopefully will be tomorrow night.

 

I also played 10 minutes of the Coleco table top Pac-man. (I do not have the box, just a picture to show you what I'm talking about) I don't know if it'll count towards the times for classic games but I'll include it in this post. I really like the table top games. My aunt and uncle have Donkey Kong and Pac-man and I played those when they were new. I have just started acquiring them for myself and Pac-man is the first one.

Edited by JayWI
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thegoldenband Quadrunner

+thegoldenband

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Times for the weekend, including my first Intellivision session in a while:

 

Intellivision:

Utopia - 105 min.

 

Sega Genesis:

Garfield: Caught In The Act - 2 min.

 

For a while now, my girlfriend and I have been bandying about the idea of having an epic Utopia throwdown: maximum # of turns (50), and maximum turn length (120 seconds), though with no rebels or PT boat attacks. Well, we finally did it...

 

...and I wouldn't recommend it! A large number of turns is fine, but the 120 second turn length draaaaaags. After a while it wasn't much fun, though at least we could listen to music and eat/drink while we played. Counting breaks, it took over 2 hours for one game.

 

By the halfway point, my island was packed with every possible building, with almost no room for crops. Perhaps that's why my girlfriend completely kicked my butt! It seemed as if she could do no wrong, and despite getting hit with multiple damaging hurricanes, turn after turn she would score 99 or even 100 points vs. 73 or fewer for me. For some reason, my island population exploded while hers remained stable; I think at the end of the game, I had over six thousand people, whereas she had fewer than 1500. But apparently, her 1500 were far happier than my 6000. Someday I'll understand the game's algorithms...

Edited by thegoldenband
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JayWI Stargunner

JayWI

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Got a new shipment of Genesis games today so I needed to test 'em out.

 

Genesis

 

Columns - 5 minutes

Sonic Spinball - 5 minutes

Sub-Terrania - 5 minutes

Hard Drivin' - 5 minutes

Pitfall The Mayan Adventure - 10 minutes

Judge Dredd - 15 minutes

M-1 Abrams Battle Tank - 5 minutes

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - 5 minutes

Super Off Road - 10 minutes

Taz in Escape from Mars - 10 minutes

Gain Ground - 10 minutes

Zoop - 5 minutes

 

Columns and Sonic Spinball are doubles so I cleaned them up and tried them to make sure they work. The rest are new games for me.

 

From my short play time on each game I'm happy with my purchase. I got all these games for $15. All but Columns and Sonic Spinball are CIB. I'll make a post later in the Market Place looking for trading partners.

 

I played Judge Dredd the longest but not because I enjoyed it so much but because I didn't know where the hell to go. Finally I noticed some ladders that I could take. I have to say the choices of colors in this game make everything blur together. I hope the next level is easier to see.

 

Super Off Road was how I remembered it although the NPCs seemed to be a lot faster. Perhaps it's been so long since I last played that my memory is fuzzy.

 

Hard Drivin' and Abrams Tank are that goofy first person driving view that I dislike. I don't think they'll get a lot of play time but at least I have them in case some others would be interested in playing them.

 

Mean Bean Machine and Zoop are both puzzle games that I think I'll enjoy playing from time to time. Mean Bean Machine reminds me a lot of Columns 3 (I think). It's another Tetris/Columns clone where you play against a CPU opponent. I got to the second one before losing. I'll have to read the manual later because I'm sure there's something I'm missing.

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StanJr Quadrunner

StanJr

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VCS:

 

Reactor: 120 mins.

Sky Skipper: 20 mins.

 

NES:

 

Ikari Warriors: 60 mins.

Snake Rattle and Roll: 45 mins.

TMNT: 45 mins.

 

TG-16:

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood: 30 mins.

 

 

I'm on a working vacation this weeks so times will be high!

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cvga Quadrunner

+cvga

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OK, I'm extremely late with the results from Week #16. I apologize. I've been incredibly busy at work (I'm behind on all of my projects there also) and have been watching my son's baseball team (high school freshman team) play a bunch of games. To make matters worse, I received my iPad last Friday and haven't spent much time at my actual computer (with the Top Ten database).

 

68 games were played in Week 16 for 3,410 minutes.

 

Top Ten: Week 16 Season #3:

1. Shamus (MS-DOS) 590 minutes

2. Lolo 3 (NES) 360

3. Sword of Sodan (Sega Genesis) 283

4. Atlus Golf Grand Slam (NES) 270

5. Monaco GP (Arcade) 240

6. Double Dragon (Sega Master System) 180

7. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 155

8. Asteroids (Arcade) 112

9. Eagle (Arcade) 105

10. Arkanoid (NES) 95

 

Top Ten: Pre-NES

1. Shamus (MS-DOS) 590 minutes [i'm assuming this was pre-NES)

2. Monaco GP (Arcade) 240

3. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 115

4. Asteroids (Arcade) 112

5. Eagle (Arcade) 102

6. Mr. Do! (Arcade) 65

7. Cutie Q (Arcade) 60

8. Pole Position II (Arcade) 55

9. Asteroids (Atari 2600) 39

10. Pitfall (Atari 2600) 35

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cvga Quadrunner

+cvga

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OK, I'm caught up for now. We had 121 games played for 3,053 minutes last week.

 

Top Ten for Week 17 Season #3:

1. Adventures of Bayou Billy (NES) 180

1. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Turbo Grafx) 180

3. Sword of Sodan (Sega Genesis) 140

4. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600) 115

5. Worms World Party (Sega Dreamcast) 109

6. Shamus (MS-DOS) 108

7. Utopia (Intellivision) 105

8. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 81

9. Wonder Boy (Arcade) 75

9. Snake Rattle and Roll (NES) 75

9. Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf (NES) 75

 

Pre-NES Top Ten:

1. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600) 115

2. Shamus (MS-DOS) 108

3. Utopia (Intellivision) 105

4. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 81

5. Wonder Boy (Arcade) 75

6. Frogger II (Atari 2600) 70

7. Ms. Pac-man (Atari 7800) 60

8. Gyruss (Arcade) 57

8. Monaco GP (Arcade) 57

10. Pac-man (Atari 7800) 45

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VectorGamer Quadrunner

VectorGamer

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1. Shamus (MS-DOS) 590 minutes [i'm assuming this was pre-NES)

 

 

The context has been games played on hardware so in that regard it would be logged as "PC" and not the operating system of MS-DOS. Just as you would log on Apple, C64, Atari 8-bit etc...

 

The inclusion of systems that are not of the Golden Age of video gaming, along with handhelds and now what will be "PC" and Apple etc certainly has diluted the fun in the Weekly Top Ten for me. And when you're doing something that isn't fun then it becomes work and I'm already doing that 40+ hrs a week.

 

Just thought I'd mention that in the event you wonder why I'm not posting any more times to this thread.

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