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

[+thegoldenband]

Exactly!

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Kaboom!-492 minutes

 

 

High score of the week: 162,770

 

I felt comfortable playing this week but my score doesn't indicate it.

[+thegoldenband]

My times for the week:

 

Intellivision:

Royal Dealer - 36 min.

Tower of Doom - 97 min.

 

NES:

Arkanoid - 5 min.

Side Pocket - 3 min.

 

Sega Master System:

Kung Fu Kid - 88 min.

Line of Fire - 6 min.

 

3DO:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents - 95 min.

Battle Chess - 1337 min.

Demolition Man - 3 min.

Dragon's Lair - 5 min.

Drug Wars - 7 min.

Fire Wall - 5 min.

Flopon the Space Mutant - 43 min.

Flopon World - 5 min.

Fun 'N' Games - 5 min.

The Last Bounty Hunter - 5 min.

Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge - 19 min.

Ultraman Powered - 23 min.

VR Stalker - 73 min.

Way of the Warrior - 19 min.

 

No, that Battle Chess time isn't a typo, though obviously I didn't spend much of it in front of the machine! I beat the computer on Level 5 with the White pieces, and then on Level 9 with Black. Since the computer takes 20-25 minutes per move, and the game lasted over 50 moves, it was destined to be a long one.

 

Thoughts here on Battle Chess, and I've also posted the games and commentary here. In addition I wrote something here about the other game I beat this week, Kung Fu Kid for SMS.

 

Meanwhile I put an embarrassing amount of time into one of the worst games I've ever played, Alfred Hitchcock Presents for 3DO. It's basically a 12-panel game of Concentration (plus a bare-bones roulette game which seemed fixed to me). On the two easier settings, where you get 2 minutes or 90 seconds, the Concentration game seems routine. But on the highest level you only get 60 seconds, and it may be literally impossible to complete on that level because every pair you successfully match triggers a 9-second unskippable cutscene during which the timer doesn't stop running. I managed to get 5/6 pairs matched several times, but never had time to move my cursor over and grab that last pair. Pathetic.

 

I also pulled out the Intellivision for another attempt on the 12-level Tower in Tower of Doom, which went better than before and was largely spent mapping. The three ladies in Royal Dealer, alas, seemed uninterested in letting me win at Hearts; that red one shot the moon several times...

 

Finally, other than some brief games of this and that, I played a couple more missions in VR Stalker (though I can't figure out how the plane acquisition and retention system works), and battled my other half in Flopon the Space Mutant, a Japan-only release that's basically an earlier version of Trip'd with different (but very similar) graphics and seemingly identical gameplay. (Trip'd itself wasn't released as a standalone in Japan, but as part of the "Short Warp" 9-game collection disc.)

 

That said I think I'm getting 3DO-ed out, and am looking forward to busting my Sega Genesis back out next year, when Sega-16 will be doing a "beat 'em all" project similar to the ones seen at NintendoAge.

[zylon]

Lynx-

Robotron- 15min

[twoquickcapri]

2600:

Pac-Man 4K - 45 min.

Seaweed Assault - 15 min.

 

7800:

Donkey Kong Jr. - 45 min.

F-18 Hornet - 20 min.

Pole Position II - 55 min.

Scramble - 30 min.

Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator - 15 min.

 

Atari Jaguar:

Impulse X - 315 min.

Tube SE - 45 min.

 

Gameboy Color:

Top Gear Pocket 2 - 670 min.

[Kurt_Woloch]

Here are my times for the past week (December 10th through 16th)...

 

I only played one game, but it's a classic one:

 

Arcade:

Road Runner - 37 min.

 

Road Runner is a game I didn't play for a long time. It's pretty fast and rather difficult... I didn't survive two minutes in any game. Remarkable is the speech output which is apparently typical for Atari games of that time, and of course, it contains the typical "Meep Meep" which isn't present in any home version of the game... at least not as understandable speech. Other than that, I didn't hear the speech synthesizer say any meaningful words (not that "Meep Meep" would be meaningful...)

 

Sorry for not posting earlier... last week was extremely busy, and yesterday I attended an Opel Ampera meeting (for those who don't know, the Opel Ampera is the Opel version of the Chevrolet Volt). It took place at a town about 90 miles away from Vienna, and I came back just in time to go to sleep at my normal time. And I had to do that because today I had a team workshop at work which started at 9 a.m., so I didn't have time to post my times yesterday evening.

[+thegoldenband]

Here's the summary for Week 50, running from December 10 - 16. We logged 3078 minutes of eligible play, playing 33 games on a total of 10 systems.

 

Top 10:

 

1. Battle Chess (3DO) - 1337

2. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 492

3. Impulse X (Atari Jaguar) - 315

4. Tower of Doom (Intellivision) - 97

5. Alfred Hitchcock Presents (3DO) - 95

6. Kung Fu Kid (Sega Master System) - 88

7. VR Stalker (3DO) - 73

8. Top Gear Pocket 2 (Game Boy Color) - 70

9. Pole Position II (Atari 7800) - 55

10. Pac-Man 4K (Atari 2600) - 45

10. Donkey Kong Jr. (Atari 7800) - 45

10. Tube SE (Atari Jaguar) - 45

 

Pre-NES top 10:

 

1. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 492

2. Tower of Doom (Intellivision) - 97

3. Pole Position II (Atari 7800) - 55

4. Pac-Man 4K (Atari 2600) - 45

4. Donkey Kong Jr. (Atari 7800) - 45

6. Royal Dealer (Intellivision) - 36

7. Scramble (Atari 7800) - 30

8. Double Dragon (Atari 7800) - 20

9. Seaweed Assault (Atari 2600) - 15

9. Tomcat: The F-14 Fighter Simulator (Atari 7800) - 15

 

Top 10 systems:

 

1. 3DO (1644)

2. Atari 2600 (552)

3. Atari Jaguar (360)

4. Atari 7800 (165)

5. Intellivision (133)

6. Sega Master System (94)

7. Game Boy Color (70)

8. Arcade (37)

9. Atari Lynx (15)

10. NES/Famicom (

 

Like a swarm of mayflies, the 3DO seems to rule the roost this week by an overwhelming margin. Yet the wily old Atari raises its head, snorts, and thinks of the many challengers who have come, and gone.

[twoquickcapri]

 

Top 10:

 

 

2. Top Gear Pocket 2 (Game Boy Color) - 670

 

Sorry, but that was 70 min. not 670 min. my mistake

[+thegoldenband]

Aha, that changes things! No worries, and updated.

[sega_SHARK]

I follow this thread for Atarian7's KABOOM! scores and times...

I don't know why, but that amount of dedication is awesome.

[+thegoldenband]

Absolutely, and I think there are a lot of people pulling for him to make 999,999. I know I am! I can't imagine what it felt like to make 900k -- I would've had very mixed emotions.

[Atarian7]

All I want for Christmas is "999,999",

and some jeans, and some snow, and ....

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Kaboom!-564 minutes

 

 

High score of the week: 132,745

[+thegoldenband]

My times for the week, since I'm not expecting to play tonight:

 

Atari 2600:

Donkey Kong WIP (Joe Musashi version) - 2 min.

Dot - 3 min.

 

SG-1000:

Champion Kendou - 3 min.

Soukoban - 7 min.

 

Sega Master System:

Altered Beast - 7 min.

Cyborg Hunter - 126 min.

Miracle Warriors - 7 min.

 

Sega Saturn:

Crimewave - 65 min.

 

Didn't play very much this week, but I did beat Cyborg Hunter for SMS. Thoughts on that game here.

 

I watched the movie Crimewave partway through the week, so I thought it was time to try out Crimewave for Sega Saturn, which my fiancée picked up this summer in that insane $20 lot of games. It's a great concept, but the camera, controls, and stuttering framerate are maddening.

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, this time I'm in time again... nearly (I think it will be a few minutes past midnight here when I complete this post)...

 

Here are my times for this past week (December 17th through 23rd)...

 

Arcade:

Road Blasters - 26 min.

Road Runner - 96 min. in 3 sessions

Toobin' - 117 min. in 4 sessions

 

Atari 2600:

Toobin' (WIP) - 13 min.

Donkey Kong (WIP's) - 12 min. in 2 sessions

 

The first game I played extensively was Road Runner. I managed to beat Level 4, after which the levels repeat with added elements and obstacles. Encouraged by this, I played some other Atari arcade games... In "Toobin'", there seem to be 3 distinct "classes" with 5 sections each. The sections don't always appear in the same order, but the order depends on if you keep left or right at certain split points. However, it seems like you always have to cross all 5 sections in order to complete a class, no matter which way you go. Actually, Toobin' reminds a bit of the Kayaking event in Summer Games 2, but I didn't play that one, only watched a Youtube video of it.

 

Then I played some Road Blasters, also one of Atari's later arcade games. Playing in MAME; the steering by mouse is definitely better and more accurate than by using the cursor keys.

 

I managed to find an Atari 2600 version of Toobin' as well, but it's a WIP done in Batari Basic which is greatly simplified compared to the original version. Then I stumbled upon two (yes, two!) new versions of Donkey Kong for the Atari 2600, and both look better than I ever thought DK for the 2600 might be able to look like. They had the idea of introducing heavy flicker in order to be able to better represent the screen structure of the original. They take a bit different approaches, however... Joe Muchachi did a very accurate title screen and copied the beginning intro, but currently his version only has the pie factory and the rivets screen. It, however, is a bit more playable than iespostas version which includes all 4 screens, but with a bit less graphical detail. OK, actually iespostas screen structure is more accurate, but the sprite graphics are simplified.

Joe's demo still seems to be under development... let's see if he makes it to finish the game.

[+thegoldenband]

OK, this time I'm in time again... nearly (I think it will be a few minutes past midnight here when I complete this post)...

 

Anything before 3 PM EST on Mondays is "in time" as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes I wait until the evening to see if there are any stragglers.

 

And yes, I was impressed by Joe Musashi's DK WIP too! Come to think of it, I think I fiddled around with it for ~2-3 min. myself, so I'll add that to my times. I haven't checked out the other one yet.

[twoquickcapri]

Atari Jaguar:

Degz - 45 min.

HMS RaptoR - 45 min.

Kobayashi Maru: Final - 190 min.

Impulse X - 225 min.

[Atarian7]

All I want for Christmas is "999,999",

and some jeans, and some snow, and ....

 

Well we're getting some snow on Christmas Eve right now. The jeans are under the tree (i think). Maybe I'll get to 999,999 next.

[+thegoldenband]

Man, that (10^6 - 1) would be a great Christmas miracle indeed. May the power of St. Nick help guide your bombcatcher!

[+thegoldenband]

Here's the summary for Week 51, running from December 17 - 23. We logged 1553 minutes of eligible play, playing 18 games on a total of 6 systems.

 

Top 10:

 

1. Kaboom (Atari 2600) - 564

2. Impulse X (Atari Jaguar) - 225

3. Kobayashi Maru (Atari Jaguar) - 190

4. Cyborg Hunter (Sega Master System) - 126

5. Toobin' (Arcade) - 117

6. Road Runner (Arcade) - 96

7. Crimewave (Sega Saturn) - 65

8. Degz (Atari Jaguar) - 45

8. HMS RaptoR (Atari Jaguar) - 45

10. Road Blasters (Arcade) - 26

 

Pre-NES top 10:

 

Not enough entries for a top 10.

 

Top 10 systems:

 

Not enough entries for a top 10. (The Atari 2600 would have been #1, with 594 minutes, with the Atari Jaguar at #2 with 505.)

 

To quote an ancient Finnish proverb: "Aikana hiljainen viikko, Kaboom on vienyt paikan huippukokouksessa."

[Atarian7]

Man, that (10^6 - 1) would be a great Christmas miracle indeed. May the power of St. Nick help guide your bombcatcher!

 

It took me a minute or two to get that "(10^6 - 1)". lol

[+thegoldenband]

Just a note to say that we'll be running an extended deadline for this final week of the year, so gameplay times aren't due until Tuesday, January 1. Have a nice New Year's Eve!

[zylon]

Cool. I'd taken a week to rest as I've been very sick, but will catch up some today then.

[Kurt_Woloch]

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

 

Arcade:

Toobin' - 37 min.

 

Atari 2600:

Bomb on Pixel City - 3 min.

Hack'em - 9 min.

Sensational Santuci Sisters! (Demo) - 2 min.

Spike's Peak - 58 min.

 

I started off the week by playing some more Toobin'. Finally, I made the first class without the use of continues and then stopped playing because there are not too many new game elements in subsequent classes.

 

Then I tried the Atari 2600 version of Spike's Peak. This is a game I've played extensively on the C-64 back in the day. It's a bit chaotic, but with a bit of strategy you can learn how to play and win it. And I did make it to the top of the first mountain.

 

Hack 'em is a pretty faithful port of Pac-Man, including demo mode and intermissions, only the sound is a bit on the weak side, and very noticeably, for the first rounds the ghosts only travel at half the player's speed (which is pretty fast), which makes the game very easy. From Round 5 on, however, their speed picks up.

 

Sensational Santuci Sisters! is a demo of a plumber-inspired game, and Bomb on Pixel City is kind of a shooting game, although I'm not sure if I got the right ROM there because in the forum thread where this gets introduced, there's also a link to a Youtube video showing a different game.

[zylon]

5200-

Gauntlet- 40min