What have you actually PLAYED tracker for 2012 (Season 5)

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, seems like I'm back. Swimming season is over for this year, so I had more time for gaming this week, although I actually rather should have spent it to catch up on some other projects, but somehow I needed a break from that. So here it goes, my times for this past week (September 10th through 16th)...

 

Facebook (non-eligible for the Top 10):

Chefville - 114 min. in 3 sessions

Cityville - 130 min. in 2 sessions

 

TI-99:

Alien Addition - 2 min.

Junkman Jr. - 3 min.

Micro Pinball II - 2 min.

Moon Patrol - 13 min.

Moonsweeper - 20 min.

Superstorm - 3 min.

 

Following the TI-99 meeting on Wednesday, I tried some TI-99 games, starting with "Moon Patrol" which one of the meeting attendants acquired. The TI-99 version has the flaw that it's very difficult to avoid enemy fire.

 

The TI-99 version of "Moonsweeper" is quite good (actually, I don't know any other versions of that game except for the Atari 2600 one). It's a bit similar to "Alleykat" on the C-64 which I played last week.

 

"Superstorm" is a game where you shoot up shields that are supposed to deflect drops coming down from space.

 

Micro Pinball II is a pinball game, as the name says, with for the most part realistic ball movements, they only fouled up on the ball rolling down a ramp which makes it jump when it shouldn't do that.

 

"Junkman Jr." is pretty similar to "Jumpan Jr." by Epyx on the C-64, but it's done by a different company for the TI-99... I suppose it's an inofficial port.

 

Finally, Alien Addition is an educational game where you have many aliens descending, bearing an addition each with a result from 0 to 19. You type in the correct result, then aim your spaceship at the alien giving that result and fire at it. It's not very exciting.

 

As for the Facebook games, I revisited Cityville where my father and my aunt are also still playing, but it seems to be pretty confusing since by now there are dozens of different tasks you can do.

 

I started a new game of Chefville which is another restaurant simulator with a social touch where you can pick up ingredients to cook different types of food, mixed with the typical elements of social games.

 

Apart from that, I also played a new Puzzle Bobble clone on Facebook, but I forgot its name and how long I played.

[+thegoldenband]

My times for the week:

 

Atari 2600:

Astroblast - 3 min.

Bumper Bash - 6 min.

Star Wars: Jedi Arena - 4 min.

Super Breakout - 7 min.

Video Olympics - 3 min.

X'Mission - 5 min.

 

Intellivision:

Championship Tennis - 32 min.

Diner - 12 min.

Pac-Man - 23 min.

 

NES:

Destination Earthstar - 10 min.

 

Genesis:

Davis Cup World Tour Tennis 2 - 5 min.

Onslaught - 11 min.

Star Odyssey - 57 min.

 

N64:

All-Star Tennis - 7 min.

Battlezone: Rise of the Red Dogs - 34 min.

Rat Attack - 4 min.

Tigger's Honey Hunt - 369 min.

 

My main gameplay this week was Tigger's Honey Hunt, a gentle 2.5D platformer that's meant for younger kids but gets tricky if you're trying for 100% completion. Thoughts here.

 

Otherwise I tried out several new N64 acquisitions, of which I was most intrigued by the FPS/RTS update of Battlezone. Neither genre is normally my cup of tea, but so far it seems to play fairly well, though the graphic style occasionally takes a turn for the bizarre (like when you're on foot).

 

On the Intellivision front, I started getting the hang of Diner, played Pac-Man a bit for the HSC, and was humbled by the computer in my first Championship Tennis match in ages, 6-0 6-2 6-2.

 

I also played tennis on the Genesis, in the form of Davis Cup World Tour Tennis 2, which turned out to be an unfinished prototype. The basic gameplay is there but many options are unavailable, though in any event it seems a lot like the first game in the series.

 

Later I tried in vain to make sense of Onslaught, an action/strategy hybrid ported from the Amiga. Unfortunately they didn't update the Amiga-style controls, so you have to press Up for jump, which is silly. Finally I restarted Star Odyssey, the Super Fighter Team RPG release in which I made it to the final boss last summer, only to have my savefile go corrupt overnight.

[d-tec]

I played Final Fantasy on NES for over 5 hours last night....in the end I died and now gotta do it all over again....

[zylon]

Through monday night-

 

5200: River Raid 30 min

 

Lynx: Gates of Zendocon 2hrs 10 min

[+thegoldenband]

Here's the summary for Week 37, running from Sept. 10 - 16. We logged 2292 minutes of eligible play, playing 29 games on a total of 8 systems.

 

Top 10:

 

1. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 541

2. Dragon Warrior (NES/Famicom) - 385

3. Tigger's Honey Hunt (N64) - 369

4. Final Fantasy (NES/Famicom) - 301

5. Baseball Stars (NES/Famicom) - 270

6. Gates of Zendocon (Atari Lynx) - 130

7. Star Odyssey (Genesis) - 57

8. Battlezone: Rise of the Red Dogs (N64) - 34

9. Championship Tennis (Intellivision) - 32

10. River Raid (Atari 5200) - 30

 

Pre-NES top 10:

 

1. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 541

2. Championship Tennis (Intellivision) - 32

3. River Raid (Atari 5200) - 30

4. Pac-Man (Intellivision) - 23

5. Moonsweeper (TI-99) - 20

6. Moon Patrol (TI-99) - 13

7. Diner (Intellivision) - 12

8. Super Breakout (Atari 2600) - 7

9. Bumper Bash (Atari 2600) - 6

10. X'Mission (aka UFO Patrol) (Atari 2600) - 5

 

Top 10 systems:

 

Not enough entries for a top 10. The NES would've been #1, with 966 minutes.

 

I will now take my usual end-of-week comments and put them into Google Translate, going from English to German, to Swahili, to Korean, to Azerbaijani, to Vietnamese, and back to English:

 

"Kaboom each category, with the help of the system, RPG games, NES console, which is used at the top of the charts."

 

Hmm, that wasn't as humorous as I'd hoped. Oh, well.

[+cvga]

Baseball Stars (NES) - 45 minutes

[twoquickcapri]

Atari Jaguar:

I-War - 90 min.

 

Atari ST:

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge - 30 min.

 

NEC TG-16:

Victory Run - 25 min.

 

Nintendo 64:

Ridge Racer 64 - 90 min.

 

Nintendo SNES:

Top Gear 2 - 75 min.

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Kaboom!-584 minutes

 

 

High score of the week: 191,791

[Kurt_Woloch]

For this my last week (9 BISM VIP times vao thg 17, 23) (translated the same way as thegoldenband did it):

 

This week, I didn't play any classic games, only those Facebook games which aren't eligible for the Top 10:

 

Facebook (non-eligible):

Chefville - 231 min. in 6 sessions

The Ville - 50 min. in 2 sessions

Cityville - 3 min.

 

I played some sessions of Chefville, which is basically a restaurant simulator, though not a very realistic one. You have to collect various ingredients in order to be able to cook various dishes with them. During the course of the game, you unlock further recipes and appliances and ways to collect some ingredients yourself which prior to that you can only get from neighbors.

 

The ville basically plays in your flat where you can interact with the furniture and with friends who come to visit you.

 

Cityville is a city simulator. I played it only for three minutes because it got a bit confusing... there are dozens of tasks you can do and I could not decide which one to tackle.

 

All three games have some basic elements in common... there are always some persons suggesting certain tasks you have to do. Some of them you can do yourself, and for some you need the help of your neigbors which you have to ask for help in various ways. Playing those gives a small hint of how life could work... but only a small one.

[+cvga]

Baseball Stars (NES) 46 minutes

Dragon Warrior (NES) 65 minutes

[+thegoldenband]

My times for the week:

 

NES:

Bard's Tale - 71 min.

Elevator Action - 40 min.

 

Genesis:

Star Odyssey - 143 min.

Wani Wani World - 63 min.

 

Sega CD:

A/X-101 - 3 min.

BC Racers - 2 min.

Crime Patrol - 20 min.

Formula 1 World Championship: Beyond the Limit - 3 min.

Keio Flying Squadron - 8 min.

Lords of Thunder - 3 min.

Mega Race - 2 min.

Midnight Raiders - 37 min.

RDF Global Conflict - 4 min.

Star Wars: Rebel Assault - 165 min.

 

Lots of Sega CD this week. With the help of my fiancée, I beat Star Wars: Rebel Assault on Hard, which takes care of some unfinished business from last year. Thoughts here.

 

I also spent some time with Crime Patrol -- a typical FMV light gun game (also playable with the gamepad) that turned out to be surprisingly fun -- and Midnight Raiders, a sort-of sequel to Tomcat Alley, in which the designers clearly had big ambitions but apparently forgot about the gameplay.

[zylon]

5200-

Gorf- 35min (had this one for years but never actually played it. It does have issues, but not as bad as many say.)

 

Lynx-

Gates of Zendocon- 55min

[+thegoldenband]

Here's the summary for Week 38, running from Sept. 17 - 23. We logged 1704 minutes of eligible play, playing 24 games on a total of 11 systems.

 

Top 10:

 

1. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 584

2. Star Wars: Rebel Assault (Sega CD) - 165

3. Star Odyssey (Genesis) - 143

4. Baseball Stars (NES/Famicom) - 91

5. I-War (Atari Jaguar) - 90

5. Ridge Racer 64 (N64) - 90

7. Top Gear 2 (SNES) - 75

8. Bard's Tale (NES/Famicom) - 71

9. Dragon Warrior (NES/Famicom) - 65

10. Wani Wani World (Genesis) - 63

 

Pre-NES top 10:

 

Not enough entries for a top 10.

 

Top 10 systems:

 

1. Atari 2600 (584)

2. NES/Famicom (267)

3. Sega CD (247)

4. Genesis (206)

5. Atari Jaguar (90)

5. N64 (90)

7. SNES (75)

8. Atari Lynx (55)

9. Atari 5200 (35)

10. Atari ST (30)

 

The second game begins with the third game, and ends with the first game. ("First it is warm then it gets cold.")

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Kaboom!-411 minutes

 

 

High score of the week: I didn't even reach 100,000.

[Kurt_Woloch]

Here are my times for this past week (September 24th through 30th)...

 

Arcade:

Cavelon - 44 min.

 

Commodore 64:

Space Pilot II - 27 min.

 

Facebook (non-eligible):

Chefville - 82 min. in 2 sessions

 

I'm already getting fed up with Chefville. The goals keep getting harder and you have to keep inviting friends to do this-and-that for you.

 

Then I replayed Space Pilot II, that sequel to the inofficial Time Pilot clone on the C-64. Surprisingly, on only the second attempt, I made it through all 8 levels, something I haven't managed to do during long hours of play back in May.

 

I don't know what happened to that game this time... actually, I'm a bit sick, so I expected doing worse than when I was healthy, but the opposite came true. And I can remember that I laid the game aside back in May after deciding there was no strategy that would prevent dying more often than the extra lives get awarded. Maybe instead of a strategy, you need some "Zen" or something like that... which, as a sick person, lets you instinctively go into the right direction without you even knowing it.

 

Encouraged by this, I replayed Cavelon in order to see if I'd make it through there as well, but I didn't make it there. After getting relatively far in the first game, from the second game on, I made a lot of stupid mistakes, so I quit playing it.

[+Darrin9999]

Atari Jaguar ~ Duckie Egg 5 min

[twoquickcapri]

Atari Jaguar:

Club Drive - 10 min.

 

Atari ST:

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge - 10 min.

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge 3 - 30 min.

 

NEC TG-16:

Victory Run - 10 min.

 

Sega Genesis:

Formula One World Championship - 60 min.

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge - 30 min.

Top Gear 2 - 85 min.

[+thegoldenband]

My times for the week:

 

NES:

Prince of Persia - 6 min.

Rally Bike - 5 min.

 

Genesis:

Columns III - 26 min.

Star Odyssey - 553 min.

 

Sega CD:

Brutal: Paws of Fury - 3 min.

Lethal Enforcers II: Gunfighters - 2 min.

Links: The Challenge of Golf - 5 min.

Mad Dog McCree - 3 min.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - 2 min.

 

Sega 32X:

Blackthorne - 122 min.

T-Mek - 3 min.

 

PlayStation:

Heart of Darkness - 20 min.

 

I've been sick with a cold this week, so it seemed like a good excuse to go after Star Odyssey and, this time around, finally finish it. Thoughts here.

 

Otherwise I tried out a few games per usual, and spent some time working on Blackthorne for 32X. It resembles Prince of Persia, Flashback, and Out of This World, but I don't like its aesthetic nearly as much as any of those games. Along similar lines is Heart of Darkness, which is of course designed by the guy behind Another World/Out of This World, and seems like good fun so far.

[twoquickcapri]

Forgot one

 

CD-i:

Braindead 13 - 50 min.

[+thegoldenband]

Here's the summary for Week 38, running from Sept. 24 - 30. We logged 1522 minutes of eligible play, playing 24 games on a total of 12 systems.

 

Top 10:

 

1. Star Odyssey (Genesis) - 553

2. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 411

3. Blackthorne (Sega 32X) - 122

4. Top Gear 2 (Genesis) - 85

5. Formula One World Championship (Genesis) - 60

6. Braindead 13 (Philips CD-i) - 50

7. Cavelon (Arcade) - 44

8. Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge 3 (Atari ST) - 30

8. Lotus Turbo Challenge (Genesis) - 30

10. Space Pilot II (C64) - 27

 

Pre-NES top 10:

 

Not enough entries for a top 10.

 

Top 10 systems:

 

1. Genesis (754)

2. Atari 2600 (411)

3. Sega 32X (125)

4. Philips CD-i (50)

5. Arcade (44)

6. Atari ST (40)

7. C64 (27)

8. PlayStation (20)

8. Sega CD (15)

10. Atari Jaguar (15)

 

Rather than post commentary this week, I'm just going to post Youtube links to things that reference our top 3:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NwikF9LoXY

 

 

[Atarian7]

Why do people's youtube links only show an empty box with a red x in the upper left hand corner?

[+thegoldenband]

Hmmm, not sure -- are you using an older operating system or browser? Or do you have a Flash-blocking browser extension installed?

[littleman jack]

Atari 400

Basketball 10 minutes

Donkey Kong 10 minutes

Space Invaders 15 minutes

 

Atari 2600

Pinball 10 minutes

[Kurt_Woloch]

Here are my times for this past week (October 1st through 7th)...

 

Colecovision:

Smurf's Rescue in Gargamel's Castle - 43 min.

Tapper - 32 min.

 

Facebook (non-eligible for the Top 10):

Chefville - 35 min.

Farmville 2 - 43 min.

 

I decided to replay Colecovision Smurf (as it was called here) because I was curious how hard and how diverse it really is. Compared to the Atari 2600 version, there are fewer distinct screens, but each screen in itself varies while it stays pretty much the same on the 2600 version. It seems like each skill level doesn't get harder after you rescue Smurfette (I played through Skill Level 1 for 4 levels without an enemy ever appearing), while the 2600 version automatically increases the skill level up to Level 4 each time you save her. Level 4 on the Colecovision is already pretty hard, especially jumping on the meadow section is tricky because it's hard to get the correct jump (low / high / forward / in place), and doing the wrong jump usually results in death on those levels.

 

The I replayed Tapper on the highest level, not expecting to make that level, and those expectations were fulfilled... I didn't make it this time as well. :-)

 

Then I played Chefville for a while, but couldn't make too much of it. Today I actually went to play Chefville again, but was steered into playing Farmville 2 instead by a big pop-up that was impossible to close in any other manner than opening Farmville 2 instead of Chefville. I didn't like Farmville 1 that much. Farmville 2 is definitively different... there are 3D graphics, and your animals now move, but in the end it's the same combination of tasks to do as in other current social games.

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Kaboom!-690 minutes

 

 

High score of the week: 210,952