[cake]

Wow Mad Planets is almost a stereotypical early videogame. It can get really frantic - sometimes I feel in control, and other times I can't hit anything and constantly die. I got my high score on my third credit, and then just couldn't exceed it.

First:
- cake: 8063

Best:
- cake: 55031

There's a large bonus for shooting all the planets in a round before they can form. Also, holding down the fire button limits the range of your shots. I used the second stick of a dualshock for aiming - I had to turn the analogue sensitivity right down, and it was kind of twitchy but still pretty playable.

[Levi]

consistently poor

EDITED BY CURATOR

[Youpi]

The mouse control really gives me trouble, it shouldn't be that hard to perfect the first 2 rounds...

First:
- Youpi: 4673
Best:
- Youpi: 11087
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[cake]

Thanks for posting that overlay, Youpi, it's kind of amazing - the contrast between a hi-res static image and a lo-res moving one is pretty interesting. The palette selection for the text screen and starfields seems quite different from a lot of other games, but it doesn't really extend into the main sprites themselves.

Levi, thanks to your scores I went and got the ROM for Rodland (which i guess is maybe too well known for suggesting here?), but it seems the screen I was searching for wasn't in the arcade version. It said something like:

Thanks for playing!!
Please try again ❤

[Sniper Honeyviper]

TODAY'S GAME IS: Beast Busters (Arcade), a relentless gun shooter from SNK's pre-Neo years.

Definitely intended to be a quarter muncher, which is why I wouldn't expect anyone to get too far on one credit. Still, I made it to the second boss on my first try, and the balance and pacing are much better than in Operation Wolf and most other gun games of the era. It's also nice that there aren't any hostages to avoid shooting--they'd have been zombified anyway.

The gun and both buttons should go to the mouse. Button 1 shoots, button 2 throws grenades. You technically have limited ammo, but it's so plentiful that you'll easily be able to hold the trigger down through the entire game.

There's actually a sequel on the Hyper Neo Geo 64! Looking forward to playing it when that system's emulation finally gets perfected.



First:
1005080

I admit it: I'm picking all these mouse games because I'm too lazy to set up the table + HDTV for my arcade stick. I'll stop after this one.

[Schwere Viper]

whew. Light gun games were crazy way back.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

First attempt: 344440

I bit it in the long hallway right after the subway. I was almost to the end too.
_________________

[cake]

First:

- cake: 124160

[Sniper Honeyviper]

Only our two usual participants checked in yesterday, but I'm still going to keep this trainwreck rolling along nonetheless.

spectralsound's suggestion:

TODAY'S GAME IS: Tube Panic (Arcade)

(AKA Tunnel Vision: The Game)



I had never heard of this! I guess this could be described as a primitive Afterburner, not yet evolved from the primordial soup of space invaders and abstract death-voids. You can speed up and slow down by moving forward and back: there's limited fuel, and greater bonuses for finishing a stage fast, but momentarily slowing down for safety is necessary. Speed does not affect fuel consumption. There's also a little mothership-docking challenge between levels for a fuel refill, with a special bonus if you land in the exact center.

This being 1984, the scaling and rotation are hardly perfect: sprites have an unfortunate tendency to flicker out of existence for up to a full second, especially bad when dealing with bullets. Amazing they got it to work so convincingly that early, though.

First: 71915

[cake]

[Mr. Mechanical]

And I will keep posting scores until my demands are met in full! Or until I forget to or fall out of the habit of doing so.

First attempt: 14159

My best attempt at Beast Busters wasn't much better than my first attempt so I won't bother posting it. Also I can't remember what it was but I made it to the first boss at the end of the tunnel after the subway.

I like Tube Panic though, especially how the tube has holes in it that you can fall through.
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

Yeah, sorry Mech, you were on ignore for reasons I don't remember. Don't take it personally! I'm happy to have you participate!

[Schwere Viper]

Man, this is insane for the time. The sprite limit does let it down quite a bit, though.
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[Levi]

I could not get a working Beast Busters rom to save my life.

Edit: My best score is the first place one there

[Sniper Honeyviper]

Use edge|emulation to find roms that work with recent versions of MAME.

[Mr. Mechanical]

[Levi]

Thanks!

(first with xbox controller, second on keyboard)

[Sniper Honeyviper]

You're supposed to use the mouse for MAME gun games, Levi! I won't add your Beast Busters scores until you do.

TODAY'S GAME IS: Cosmic Ark (Atari 2600)

I would explain the controls and objectives and everything, but there's a great vintage video right here that does just that!





First: 12220. Like many games of its era (1982), it gets very hard, very quickly after a certain point.

[cake]

With Beast Busters I just couldn't find a setup where the cursor would consistently follow the mouse, so I'm afraid my amazing score was achieved using a DUALSHOCK 3.

I can never get into "the zone" when playing computer games, but I imagine it's like completing a fast level of the asteroid section from Cosmic Ark without dying. That part was kind of fun, but elements of the creature abduction felt too arbitrary and after 10 minutes I felt like I knew everything about the game. The stars are nice, though, and the small saucer reminds me of the Catellite from Wizball.

First score:
- cake: 10980

Best score:
- cake: 14530

[Schwere Viper]

13700 on the first go!

Atari games still have their charms. Thanks for linking that strategy video too, Snipe!
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[Loki Laufeyson]

first

this game is kind of creepy
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[Levi]

Your Atari picks are inspired.

[Deets]

Whoaaa going back and playing some of this stuff

Gunbuster (first play)

420,000 -- Spark

This game is mindblowingly ahead of its time/well-executed. Oh, and if it wasn't confirmed elsewhere in the thread, the multiplayer is co-op.

[Sniper Honeyviper]

One more Atari pick.

TODAY'S GAME IS: Game 1 of Demon Attack (Atari 2600). An unnerving Space Invaders-style shmup, with a bit more devious personality to the enemies.

Another vintage strategy video:



As the video shows, the first few waves before the enemies start splitting are deceptively easy. I like that your ship has the exact shape as the one from Centipede/Millipede.



First: 6270

[cake]

This is pretty good! Here's my first and early best:

First score:
- cake: 1860

Best score:
- cake: 12750

I hope you all tried GAME 3 and, if you have a friend, GAME 9.

[Schwere Viper]

First try.

What a neat twist on Space Invaders! I have to admit I got flustered at about the sixth or seventh wave where the bullets start to follow the demons across the screen. Totally screwed me up and I just couldn't get out of the rut. Oh well.
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

Ah, didn't realize there was more than one game option. We'll just go with GAME 1 for this thread's scores.

[cake]

Those How to Beat Home Video Games films are kind of wonderful, and the tips really helped me. Here's the Demon Attack cover in better detail:



I'm not sure any game could ever really deliver on that.

[Sniper Honeyviper]

TODAY'S GAME IS: Sasuke vs. Commander (Arcade)

Shin Nihon Kikaku's second game, and their first one in color. Didn't they include this as an unlockable in some port of a Neo game?

The falling purple corpses of ninjas are invincible, and will still kill you. Stay away from the edges when you can, it's easy to get trapped there. Losing against the bosses won't cost you a life, but it will deprive you of a huge bonus. Unfortunately, the game becomes extremely difficult after the first boss.



First: 7480

[Schwere Viper]

Managed to take out the second boss and get a sweet double shot before losing it all by being too excited :<

Always liked this style of graphics. It helps the game stand out.
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[cake]

- cake: 1200
- cake: 12200

[Loki Laufeyson]

sasuke vs commander

satan's hollow

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[Loki Laufeyson]

suggestion: palamedes (arcade)
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[Rud31]

sasuke vs. commander

1st: 140

I...feel like you guys played a different version than I did.
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THERE ARE DEFINITELY WORSE VIDEO GAME PODCASTS

[Loki Laufeyson]

don't worry, rudie, as i was playing, i feared getting a sub-1000 score. i only managed to scrape most of my points in my final life
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[Sniper Honeyviper]

sorry for the lateness, I will have another game up soon

[Sniper Honeyviper]

TODAY'S GAME IS: Crime City (Arcade)

Another forgotten Taito gem, kind of a more polished take on Bad Dudes/Sly Spy. In a sense it can be considered a combination of those games, since you can perform both punches and bullets.

You have limited ammo. Although you have a life bar, bullets and bombs will always insta-kill you. Yes, the white packets are drugs. Their point value decreases for every bullet you shoot after they appear. There are also three special moves, which are pretty much essential for survival:

High jump: Up + Jump
Air somersault: Jump button in the air
Ground somersault: Crouch + Jump. Good for plummeting through long rows of grunt enemies.

Somersaults do damage, and you are invincible to physical attacks while performing them.



First: 41150

If you can beat the default top score (50000), you can leave a message in bullet holes on the machine. There's a service option to disable this, presumably for arcade owners that didn't want dick doodles in their establishment.

[Bennett]

First: 22500 (crapped out on the boss fight, mainly)


I want to put in a vote for Tower of Doom and New Zealand Story. Amazing idea for a thread, btw. Really breathes new enjoyment into MAME.

[Sniper Honeyviper]

The Capcom D&D games are too multiplayer-oriented, unfortunately.

[Bennett]

Nah, you can solo TOD just fine. That is why I prefer it to SOM.

[cake]