Retro Club - 8 & 16-bit puzzlers - The Bear and Badger

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Cool, I might bid on Atlantis on Ebay then. There's an unboxed one for 99p with 3 days left.

I been after that (and plenty of other 2600 games) for the last few months but a combination of forgetting to bid or some fucker outbidding me has resulted in zero purchases. Really want Activision Ice Hockey (again) too, that was superb!

davyK

retroking1981 wrote:

Will set my Atari up at the weekend. Haven't got many of the games on the list but I'll play what I do have from it, plus Asteroids. Can't set the Atari up and not play that right?

Moot you wanna come up mine for some multiplayer? Combat and Air Sea Battle are musts imo

Top notch 2 player games those...

Had a couple of goes there. My CRT is rotated for playing DoDonPachi on my Saturn so had to slum it using Stella instead of the real thing:

Berzerk - game 9: 6,680
Atlantis - game 2: 67,501
(always wondered why the game adds 1 point to your score when you get game over)

davyK

To gets things going: just a few goes here to get a score up:

Frostbite game 3 - 4720
Chopper Command Game 3 - 1400

These are both really tough at game 3 - not even clearing the first wave - keyboard control may be a disadvantage at this level actually.

retroking1981

Not had time for Atari yet. I'm currently nearing the end of Uncharted on the Vita, when I've finished that I'll put a bit of time into this thread before moving on to Castlevania on the 3DS.

Moot_Geeza

I'll be back on this from tomorrow.Â Atlantis has managed to get into my head and I'm itching to play it again.

Moot_Geeza

davyK wrote:

To gets things going: just a few goes here to get a score up:

Frostbite game 3 - 4720
Chopper Command Game 3 - 1400

These are both really tough at game 3 - not even clearing the first wave - keyboard control may be a disadvantage at this level actually.

7100 on Chopper Command, but that was game type 1. I'll have another go shortly.

Edit: Haha, only 1200 on game type 3. It's a touch hectic!

Moot_Geeza

1600. Phew.

Edit: 5800 - I managed to clear the first wave.

Edit 2: The less said about Frostbite the better. I got the hang of it eventually but couldn't work out a path to nip into the igloo without being attacked by the polar bear. 1100 was my highest I think.

davyK

9150 on Frostbite - died returning to the second igloo for the bonus so could have been more.
You have to move like hell - no time to hang around on game 3.

Chopper Command - finished the first level but only got to 4,700. Staying high up the screen seems to be the way as they make their way up into your line of fire eventually - if you can stay alive long enough. With 2600 games there is usually a trick and when you get it you tend to have it beaten once the speed increase tops out -but this is a real bitch of a game.

Moot_Geeza

Just hit 7400 on Chopper Command after 15 minutes of constant restarts.Â I found being more hesitant was helping, at least on the first wave - I was attempting to almost stop and creep onto the periphery of the flightpath of the blocks of three enemies.Â I also think you get extra points for the amount of lives you have remaining after each wave, as I had two lives left when I finished the first wave and it seemed to boost my score.

It's not as good as Atlantis, but it's still fun, if a little random with regards to avoiding enemy bullets.

davyK

I think the end of level bonus is connected with the number of trucks left in the convoy. This is basically a Defender clone but it was quite a thing back in the day.

If you want to try something more original , Yars revenge is well worth a look - may require a quick look at the manual though. This started off as a port of Star Castle and ended up going its on way. Apparantly the neutral zone in the centre of the screen is generated by using the code of the program as display data which is effing cool.

Watch out when you get game over as this was a later game that uses the fire button to start a new game!! Easy to lose your score.

Yars Revenge - game 4 - diff A - 16,440. I used to clock over a million on this when I was a kid.

38,735.

Pitfall - 9672
Thrust v1.21 - 20,100 (got to mission 4)

Moot_Geeza

51,293 on Yar's Revenge.Â I selected game type 4, but couldn't see a difficulty option.Â When I selected 4 there seems to be a 0 above it? Or Q maybe?Â This is a great game.

davyK

Moot_Geeza wrote:

51,293 on Yar's Revenge.Â I selected game type 4, but couldn't see a difficulty option.Â When I selected 4 there seems to be a 0 above it? Or Q maybe?Â This is a great game.

That's just the score and lives indicator screen you see before each life - 0 score and 4 lives at the start of a game...

Re diff a and b - it will depend on the emulator you are using. In Stella F5 sets the left (player1) switch to A. You face faster swirl attacks at the A setting.

EDIT: 71,449.

have you managed to get an extra life yet by hitting a swirl while it's moving?

I love this game - pity it never really got a proper sequel. Think the Gameboy got a version but I'm not sure it was up to much - the old GB screen probably couldn't handle the movement.

I can remember thinking how cool the score font was back in the day - I was used to standard atari or activision score display - but this was all space age-y and cool!!

retroking1981

New recommendations for coming weeks.

Wreckin' Crew NES
Action Fighter SMS
Castlevania (I, II, III, IV, Vampire Kiss) - We've done Rondo of Blood and Bloodline and I will recommend these everytime untill we've done them all.
Altered Beast - MD

Also some sort of Double Dragon/Final Fight & Streets of Rage week akin to the Batman/Mickey Mouse weeks we've done. The highlight of each series deserve dedicated fortnights of their own but they're so similar I guess a combo week would be best?

Moot_Geeza

I'm a massive fan of Action Fighter. Never saw the appeal of Altered Beast, it just had big sprites, average gameplay and a two player mode.....

Played Yar's Revenge again just now and didn't do very well. I blame my d-pad.

davyK

Altered Beast was good fun back in the day but that was because a 2 player brawler was quite a novelty at home. I've never really got on with scrolling brawlers which is probably why God of War sent me to sleep.

I'd go for Battletoads. The Megadrive got a good remake of the NES original and the SNES got a good sequel. The gameplay changes every level and that keeps the interest up.

Moot_Geeza

I've never played Battletoads, so I'm up for that.Â That fast scrolling vehicle level always looked like a piece of piss.

davyK

That bit does have a reputation for being too tough but I was able to get past it without too much trouble - not sure how well I'd fare now as it is a real speed test.

Can't imagine how anyone would have got past it in 2 player mode though.

The SNES game is far more approachable but the jet bike section is just as tough as the original.

davyK

If you are looking for some more recommendations:

Solomon's Key - an excellent action/platformey/puzzly type game with loads of secrets etc. It got a very good NES port and the arcade original has been MAME-ed for years. The Wii VC got the arcade version too.

Toki (aka Ju Ju) - monkey based platformer/shooter - what's not to like? The Megadrive got a solid port and its also MAME-able.

I think its about time we had something from the Parodius series too...available via MAME and it got lots of ports. The SNES got a surprisingly good attempt but the PS1/Saturn versions are probably the best ports.

retroking1981

Up for all 3 of them, although I have never heard/seen the second.

What about it then moot? You gonna add some of these suggestions?

Moot_Geeza

Yep. I'll go through the list and pick the ones I want to play

davyK

toki....

and this one was another cracker in the same vein

Wardner...I could 1CC this years ago - but this guy makes this look SO easy....(the Megadrive got a solid port of this too)

Moot_Geeza

I got an import copy Wardner Special with my 2nd hand Megadrive in November '92.Â It was an unexpectedly good freebie.Â I'll add El Viento as well then, which also came with the machine.Â A brilliant game, with incredible music.

I'll update the OP tomorrow with a selection of the suggestions.

Moot_Geeza

Updated schedule:

Fortnight twenty five (18/03): Cybernator (SNES)
Fortnight twenty six (01/04): Sonic & Knuckles + Sonic 3 LOCK-ON! (Megadrive)
Fortnight twenty seven (15/04): Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Fortnight twenty eight: (29/04): Midnight Resistance (arcade, Megadrive, Amiga etc)
Fortnight twenty nine (13/05): Rub you own Rhubarb: Retro Batman week (various)
Week thirty (20/05): Action Fighter, Teddy Boy and The Ninja (Master System)
Week thirty one (27/05): Battletoads (NES)
Fortnight thirty two (03/06): Toki (Arcade, Megadrive, Amiga)
Fortnight thirty three (17/06): Castlevania IV (SNES)
Week thirty four (24/06): Free choice Parodius (various)
Fortnight thirty five (01/07): Scrolling beat 'em up free choice (various)
Fortnight thirty six (15/07): El Viento (Megadrive)

I've opted for single weeks for the 8-bit games.Â And Parodius by mistake, but I'm not changing it/checking the calendar again.Â The Master System week is slightly similar to the 2600 week, as all three games were budget releases (Â£12.99, Â£9.99 and Â£9.99 respectively), and there's not a lot to each one.Â Maybe I'll finally finish The Ninja properly by finding the sodding scrolls.

retroking1981

Some good games coming up. I really need to get into this more. I'll be posting Atari scores at the weekend for Sky Skipper, Frogger and Pitfall as they're the only ones I have from the list.

davyK

retroking1981 wrote:

Some good games coming up. I really need to get into this more. I'll be posting Atari scores at the weekend for Sky Skipper, Frogger and Pitfall as they're the only ones I have from the list.

Stella is your friend....I know it isn't the same but it is handy and will let you at least try them. Think I posted earlier - my CRT is rotated as I'm shmupping on the Saturn at present so I'm having to use Stella for this.

Castlevania IV eh? Great call.

retroking1981

davyK wrote:

retroking1981 wrote:

Some good games coming up. I really need to get into this more. I'll be posting Atari scores at the weekend for Sky Skipper, Frogger and Pitfall as they're the only ones I have from the list.

Stella is your friend....I know it isn't the same but it is handy and will let you at least try them. Think I posted earlier - my CRT is rotated as I'm shmupping on the Saturn at present so I'm having to use Stella for this.

Castlevania IV eh? Great call.

I do have an emulator for my PSP but I do like to play Atari with the proper Joystick, on a piece of shit CRT TV, lights off, room flashing, bleep sound effects in that psychedelic atmosphere only the Atari can create. Will probably try Atlantis out on it though, been after that for a while.

Castlevania IV - my fav one, good choice moot!

davyK

I hear you re the joystick - there is nothing like it - especially for something like Yars Revenge.

davyK

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Updated schedule:

Fortnight thirty two (03/06): Toki (Arcade, Megadrive, Amiga)
Fortnight thirty three (17/06): Castlevania IV (SNES)

If you go for Megadrive Toki you are going to need 2 weeks - it is rock hard - harder than the arcade version if I remember right. Totally non-apologetic bite-the-controller-with-rage hardcore. Actually it is so hard it is funny because it looks as if it should be easy.

retroking1981

51,222 on first attempt at Yar's

I'm off out now for the day but the Atari is set up ready to go so I'll be putting some time in tomorrow.

Moot_Geeza

I put a bit of effort in on Pitfall today; 40 minutes-ish.Â Ended up with a high score of 50009.Â Somehow I've managed to never play it before today, and my verdict is: absolutely brilliant.Â The pick of the bunch so far.Â Ridiculously superior to Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure.Â

We'll have to do another Atari fortnight soon.

Also scored 72,722 on Yar's Revenge over the weekend.

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