192 replies to this topic

[NE146]

Vaughan, on Thu Sep 1, 2011 1:09 PM, said:

Sorry guys, Defender for me too. I haven't even found a configuration in MAME that works for me.... must get back to it....

I try and replicate the arcade layout.. sorta

Q = UP
A = REVERSE
Z = DOWN

/ = THRUST
L SHIFT = FIRE
ENTER = SMART BOMB

SPACE = HYPERSPACE

Works good for me man.. I have a blast playing Defender in Mame. Not as much as I do on a real cab though but eh, it is what it is.

[ghsqb]

Surprised I didn't see Rastan mentioned, maybe it's not popular enough?
Very difficult game.
Another I didn't see mentioned was Splatterhouse.

[Armonigann]

For me, some of the hardest on a quarter...

Legend of Kage
Spy Hunter
Paper Boy
Joust
Defender
Pacman
Major Havoc
Karnov
Arkanoid
Centipede
Missile Command
Kangaroo
Track n' Field

[Bountybob]

Quote

Not got the machine in the house here to check the exact score. I've been just over 200K a couple of times in 20 years, but that's it. This is on factory settings. I used to score much higher on a machine in a London arcade.

Being from Ireland I only ever saw a Sinistar Arcade game once and that was at the Queensway Ice Skating Rink in Bayswater London in 1983 on a school trip.It wasn't a very common game to find although I suspect that there may have been a few in Dublin ?

[Tempest]

Armonigann, on Mon Sep 5, 2011 10:06 PM, said:

For me, some of the hardest on a quarter...

Track n' Field

Track and Field really depends on what the arcade operator set the difficulty to. If it's set on the highest level (which is pretty common for some reason) it's nearly impossible to get through all the events, but if it's set to the normal difficulty then it's not too hard (for awhile anyway).

Tempest

[Cafeman]

Tempest, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:43 PM, said:

Armonigann, on Mon Sep 5, 2011 10:06 PM, said:

For me, some of the hardest on a quarter...

Track n' Field

Track and Field really depends on what the arcade operator set the difficulty to. If it's set on the highest level (which is pretty common for some reason) it's nearly impossible to get through all the events, but if it's set to the normal difficulty then it's not too hard (for awhile anyway).

Tempest

Did you ever see someone use a ruler to help them tap left/right faster?

[ghsqb]

Rulers, pencils, lighters...lol.
Was pretty funny to see everyone looking for that edge.

[JohnnyBlaze]

No one's mentioned WWF Wrestlefest? Try beating the Legion of Doom ONCE on a single quarter......

[Bountybob]

Quote

Did you ever see someone use a ruler to help them tap left/right faster?

It must have trumped using it for trigonometry then again maths can be fun and without maths
we would not have had video games.It is sort of ironic for me considering I spent most of my maths classes
daydreaming about playing video games.

[mr. toast]

NE146, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 1:08 PM, said:

Vaughan, on Thu Sep 1, 2011 1:09 PM, said:

Sorry guys, Defender for me too. I haven't even found a configuration in MAME that works for me.... must get back to it....

I try and replicate the arcade layout.. sorta

Q = UP
A = REVERSE
Z = DOWN

/ = THRUST
L SHIFT = FIRE
ENTER = SMART BOMB

SPACE = HYPERSPACE

Works good for me man.. I have a blast playing Defender in Mame. Not as much as I do on a real cab though but eh, it is what it is.

I basically just screwed around with the default controls and came up with this:

Up arrow - up
Down arrow - down
z - fire
x - thrust
c - reverse
left ctrl - smartbomb

I've tried hyperspace with both left shift and space, and both work okay.

[retrorussell]

In case no one mentioned it..
Looping

[Vaughan]

mr. toast, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 11:19 PM, said:

NE146, on Fri Sep 2, 2011 1:08 PM, said:

Vaughan, on Thu Sep 1, 2011 1:09 PM, said:

Sorry guys, Defender for me too. I haven't even found a configuration in MAME that works for me.... must get back to it....

I try and replicate the arcade layout.. sorta

Q = UP
A = REVERSE
Z = DOWN

/ = THRUST
L SHIFT = FIRE
ENTER = SMART BOMB

SPACE = HYPERSPACE

Works good for me man.. I have a blast playing Defender in Mame. Not as much as I do on a real cab though but eh, it is what it is.

I basically just screwed around with the default controls and came up with this:

Up arrow - up
Down arrow - down
z - fire
x - thrust
c - reverse
left ctrl - smartbomb

I've tried hyperspace with both left shift and space, and both work okay.

Thanks for your help guys!

I have done some playing with this - and want to use my controller rather than the keyboard.

After a fashion I've actually found a setup that works!

But everything has degrees of success - I can now clear a single screen. After that no chance.

Still - this IS progess, but I won't be winning any high score competitions any time soon.

[Bountybob]

Quote

Thanks for your help guys!

I have done some playing with this - and want to use my controller rather than the keyboard.

After a fashion I've actually found a setup that works!

But everything has degrees of success - I can now clear a single screen. After that no chance.

Still - this IS progess, but I won't be winning any high score competitions any time soon.

Try this keyboard setup that I use.

W - Up
S - Reverse
X - Down

D - Hyperspace

O - Thrust
P - Fire (Reassign H to Pause on MAME General Input)
Spacebar - Smartbomb

[JohnnyBlaze]

retrorussell, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 2:41 AM, said:

In case no one mentioned it..
Looping

Yeah, how the fuck DO you play that. I've NEVER seen a soul get past the first screen. How do you do that?

[NE146]

DOH! I put "L Shift" = Fire above

Of course I meant R SHIFT = Fire!

Can't have "/" as thrust and not be able to fire right next to it. Ah well.. can't edit it any more.

[ThunderFist]

atarian63, on Sat Aug 1, 2009 7:28 PM, said:

ericwierson, on Sat Aug 1, 2009 7:22 PM, said:

Luckily I grew up during the arcade boom and was able to play tons of different games. Some were quite a bit of fun, some were boring, some easy and others were just plain impossible. Below I have listed 10 of the hardest I ever played at the arcades. Hopefully others can chime in and jog my memory of other tough coin-ops.

#1 Sinistar- UHGGG Never could get past the 3rd or 4th level.
#2 Star Castle- I believe this is the best of the tough games.
#3 Q-Bert- I sucked big time at this one I think I was able to get where you hit the cubes twice occasionally.
#4 Marble Madness- Great game, but I could never get past the reverse level.
#5 Space Ace- I never could finish the game on Expert even after many, many, many quarters.
#6 Tempest- After level 20 or so I am done unless I added more money.
#7 Asteroids Deluxe- Terrible game and no way near as easy as Asteroids.
#8 Super Punch Out- Ouch, I could run 3 or 4 times thru Punch Out, but could never get anywhere in this game.
#9 Gravitar- Extremely hard game when started in the advanced level (which I never completed).
#10 Paperboy- Frustrating cheap hit game, had potential, but almost impossible to get very far.

Star Castle was super tough back in the day! Gotta agree on that one as well as most of your list.

Hearing people say Star Castle was tough makes me more proud now. Back in 1982, that was the first game I personally remember playing, and at the age of 4, I had to be help up to the control panel both to reach it and see the screen, and more than once, I was able to destroy that cannon at 4 years old. Too bad I was never able to do it more than once a game back then.

[rmaerz]

ThunderFist, on Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:46 PM, said:

Hearing people say Star Castle was tough makes me more proud now. Back in 1982, that was the first game I personally remember playing, and at the age of 4, I had to be help up to the control panel both to reach it and see the screen, and more than once, I was able to destroy that cannon at 4 years old. Too bad I was never able to do it more than once a game back then.

This is my vid - fast forward to about the 4:45 mark if you haven't seen how fast Star Castle can get.

Edited by rmaerz, Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:00 AM.

[Chris++]

Holy cow! Great job. I've never seen anyone play Star Castle like that.