Skippy B. Coyote Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 (edited) This morning I learned something interesting about Midnight Magic that seemed worth sharing! Simply put, it does not seem to be possible to earn more than one extra ball in this one ball challenge. I was playing some more this morning and hit all 5 drop targets to raise the score multiplier to 2X then shot an outlane to earn an extra ball, then proceeded to drain the ball and went on the extra ball. While playing the extra ball I hit all 5 drop targets again, raised the score multiplier to 3X, then shot an outlane and... nothing happened. So, as far as I can tell you're capped at a max of one extra ball for this challenge. And oh, one helpful tip for new players! If you pull the ball launching spring back to just the right spot before firing the ball it is possible to do a skill shot and bounce the ball off the top bumper to knock down the center drop target and enable the kickers and center post before the ball even touches the flippers. Figuring out the right spot to launch the ball from is up to you! Edited August 29, 2022 by Skippy B. Coyote 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absalon Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 My first score for Mr. Do!: 27450 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Midnight Magic (one ball) 9375 Probably going to spend most of my time with Mr. DO! :) And an extra pic just for @McCallister haha 😄 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Tyler Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 22,700 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Mr. Do does improvement: 29550 Some artwork in honor of the challenge! N'oubliez pas : affichez un visage heureux ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 I think I'm actually starting to like this game! Mr. Do! (Game 1, B/B Difficulty): 46,550 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Got the bonus multiplier up to 5X and somehow managed to earn two extra balls, so I guess I was wrong in my assumption that you can only get one extra ball! Midnight Magic (Game 1, A/B Difficulty, 1 Ball Challenge): 304,045 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Last score improvement for today I think Off The Wall (Peasant, B/B Difficulty): 12,660 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermit73 Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 4 hours ago, Skippy B. Coyote said: Got the bonus multiplier up to 5X and somehow managed to earn two extra balls, so I guess I was wrong in my assumption that you can only get one extra ball! I've been wondering about multiple extra balls as well. I seems that you can have only one extra ball in reserve. I think I had a game or two where on the original ball, I got the first extra ball after hitting the 2x, but when running it up to 3x, it didn't give me a second extra ball to put in reserve. As for getting a second extra ball, I'm wondering if you have to drop all five targets before hitting the corner lanes. For example, if you start your extra ball with only three targets left to drop, do you have to drop those three and then the next set of five before you can get another extra ball? Midnight Magic has been an interesting game so far. As a pinball simulation, it's terrible. Several ball control techniques that I do instinctively on a real pinball machine or even on a halfway decent emulator just aren't going to work on this game due to the (lack of) gravity. This game is also lacking the ability to nudge the table (risking a tilt). With that said, I'm finding the game quite fun and addictive even though it's nothing close to real pinball. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickster8 Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 A little better Off The Wall score.... 👍 Off The Wall (GAME 1/ DIFFICULTY B/B): 3,220 POINTS!!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) 45 minutes ago, kermit73 said: As for getting a second extra ball, I'm wondering if you have to drop all five targets before hitting the corner lanes. For example, if you start your extra ball with only three targets left to drop, do you have to drop those three and then the next set of five before you can get another extra ball? That's one of two theories I've been wondering about, that to earn a second extra ball you have to complete all drop targets currently on screen when your first extra ball starts plus an additional set of drop targets before shooting a corner lane. I know I did that on my 300K game so it's certainly plausible. My other theory is that maybe you're only allowed one extra ball per corner lane, because when I earned the first extra ball I completed the drop targets to raise the multiplier to 2X then shot the left corner lane to earn an extra ball. After that I drained the original ball, and with the first extra ball raised the multiplier to 4X by completing all the drop targets remaining on screen from the first ball plus an additional set before shooting the right corner lane; which earned me the second extra ball. So was it completing two full sets of drop targets or just shooting the opposite corner lane from the one I earned the first extra ball on that scored me second one? Either theory seems possible to me at this point, so please do let me know if you figure out which is correct! Edited August 30, 2022 by Skippy B. Coyote 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariSphinx Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Off the Wall (Peasant B/B): 9,240 Interesting game. Breakout with power ups! Really like this one. Would have been amazing if they had allowed paddle controls. Continue to be impressed by the red label games from last season to this season. Would have thought Atari would have been phone it in at this point of the 2600 life cycle. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariSphinx Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Midnight Magic (1 A/B): 44,345 Mr Do (1 B/B): 16,200 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absalon Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Mr do improvement: 38250 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tituzzz Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 after almost 3 hours of very frustrating moments I finally succeeded. thanks Skippy B for the tips. in fact I was able to get 2 extra balls and bonus x4 to reach that score. I'm totally broken but happy. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 On 8/29/2022 at 3:57 PM, Skippy B. Coyote said: I think I'm actually starting to like this game! Mr. Do! (Game 1, B/B Difficulty): 46,550 Heya @Vocelli, just a quick heads-up that I think you missed my Mr. Do! score in the last couple score updates 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krytol Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Off the Wall b/b peasant- 1,919 Midnight Magic a/b 1, one ball - 3,620 Mr. Do! b/b 1 - 7,650 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absalon Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 small improvement for Off the Wall (Peasant): 4638 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonhrb Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 I must admit, I've struggled a bit with all three of these games for different reasons. Midnight Magic just hasn't aged well imho. I think a bit like sports games, pinball games on really old systems often struggle because they're trying to replicate a "real" activity. This means that realism is important, and inevitably newer systems just do it better. But as a new title to kick off the "under £50" era for the 2600, it probably did it's job well enough at the time. I'm glad to have clocked up something half respectable, and probably wont be back for more on this. Off the Wall on the other hand, imho demonstrates just how far behind the curve the 2600 was by 1989 (which we all knew of course, and would have been no surprise at the time given the 2600 was 12 years old at that point). I think this had an RRP of £9.95 in the UK (although in practice 2600 games could be had for a couple of quid less than RRP at this point if you knew where to look, and I suspect there would have been places selling this for about £7). This at a time when C64 owners could get Arkanoid for £1.99 (and the price of a C64 itself was dropping fast). It's a decent little game once you get into it, but was outdated and expensive when it was launched. . . . .no wonder it's rare now And as for Mr. Do . . . .well I love arcade Mr. Do. And given the 2600's limitations, this is actually a decent effort in many ways. So why do I srtruggle with it ?. Well, the picky musician in me just gets really irritated by the incomplete scale caused by there only being 6 sets of cherrrys in each bunch. It's a small thing, but one that really irritates me. That and the change to the start music. I don't get why they have done that given that replicating the original tune would probably have ben easier than what they did. Crazy how those minor things take so much of the fun out of what's actually a reasonable port. Anyway, that'smore than enough of me rambling on. Here are some scores : 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrMooCowz Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 I was going to add that I thought I had the brilliant idea of using the Track & Field controller for Midnight Magic since it is left/right/fire only. Great in theory until you have to press down to pull back the plunger 😄 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jeremiahjt Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Scores to get on the board: 3,282 for Off the Wall, 16,775 for Midnight Magic, and 14,800 for Mr. Do!. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermit73 Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 On 8/29/2022 at 6:01 AM, Skippy B. Coyote said: And oh, one helpful tip for new players! If you pull the ball launching spring back to just the right spot before firing the ball it is possible to do a skill shot and bounce the ball off the top bumper to knock down the center drop target and enable the kickers and center post before the ball even touches the flippers. Figuring out the right spot to launch the ball from is up to you! The first couple times I loaded up the game, I found the sweet spot and was able to consistently take out that middle target. I had even considered posting the tip, then saw that @Skippy B. Coyote beat me to it The past day or two when pulling the plunger to seemingly the same spot, it usually does one of three things: (1) misses the top bumper completely, (2) hits the top bumper, but takes down the wrong drop target (one of the two adjacent to the center), or (3) hits the center target, but then goes through the consistent sequence of bounces which eventually drains down the middle before you even have a chance to contact the ball with any flipper. I'm wondering if I'm doing something different or if this is just randomness built into the game. Have others who have perfected the "skill shot" had similar experience? How consistently can you get it to take down the correct target right away? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absalon Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Well, I also can't do the perfect skillshot in the beginning. Similar problem. Sometimes it looks like there is a sweet spot, but then the ball reacts totally different and jumps away. I had to "deactivate" all my pinball senses to get into the groove of the game. I guess it's the influence of the moon magic, playing pinball at midnight.😃 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Atari Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Midnight Magic: 145,150 Mr Do!: 23,350 Off the Wall: 4,838 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 OTW: 5,088! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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