HSC Round 4.7: Pengo

[NE146]

I guess I kind of find it interesting a lot of you guys sound like you're playing the game for the first time. I guess I'm just old

[Cynicaster]

I guess I kind of find it interesting a lot of you guys sound like you're playing the game for the first time. I guess I'm just old

 

Since you brought it up, here’s my history with this game (my brother MAME Offender would have a similar tale). The only reason I even know of this title is because there was a Pengo machine in the arcade at the bowling alley where we participated in a Saturday morning kid’s league back in the mid/late 80’s. Every week after bowling, we’d hang in the arcade for a while. The Pengo machine was kind of off the “main wall” of games, tucked in the corner. All kinds of newer machines would come and go from that arcade, but the Pengo must have belonged to the bowling alley, because I remember it being more or less a permanent fixture. If I ever dropped a single quarter in that machine back in those days, I don’t remember doing so—it just didn’t seem terribly interesting to me at the time. When you’re 10 years old with $2.50 in quarters to your name, each credit is precious, so I was sure to spend them all on the more “cutting edge” games that went through there: Ghosts and Goblins, Exciting Hour (aka Mat Mania), Altered Beast, Double Dragon, Ring King, and the like. Of course, by “cutting edge”, I simply mean “better graphics and sound”. (“Riiise from your graaaave.”)

 

The irony is, I had to get into my 30’s and get into MAME to realize that early 80’s games like Pengo—with their fast action and skill-testing gameplay—are 100 times more fun and rewarding than clunky late 80’s/early 90’s quarter suckers like Altered Beast. I honestly don’t know why I was so enamored by such games back then; I find so many of them unplayable nowadays (there are exceptions, of course). Just for a laugh I fired up Robocop the other day, because I used to play it at a local convenience store back when convenience stores had arcade games. Man, does that game ever suck the high hard one; I couldn’t stand it for more than 5 minutes. Yet, somehow, I thought it was awesome back in the day.

Edited October 13, 2011 by Cynicaster

[bigbee99]

I made a small improvement.

 

36140

 

B

[M.A.M.E Offender]

I noticed the Sno bees get smarter as you go. One key example is freezing them with the outer walls. In the early boards, the Bees will hastily head to the wall and kind of hang around it, giving you plenty of time to shake them up. As you get further, however, they tend to go to the wall, tag it, then quickly run away from it.

 

Did you know that you can eat them while they're freezed for 100 points.

 

 

my score: 53,780

 

Yes. I only eat them if I can't quickly get an ice block to the outer wall and pound him with a cube while he's dizzy. It's nice when you freeze three of them, then squash 'em for an easy 3200.

[M.A.M.E Offender]

An attempt to widen the gap between the Cynner and myself.

 

Richard is sittin pretty with a 79K entry.

 

52,780

[Cynicaster]

Not so fast, bro

 

67,910

[NE146]

Played a couple more games tonight.. 62,300 is the best I could do. Dang them snowbees get quick

[mr. toast]

Well, I'm just glad I made it past level 1.

 

32,600

[patbb]

61.340

Edited October 16, 2011 by patbb

[patbb]

70,660

Edited October 16, 2011 by patbb