What have you actually PLAYED tracker for 2010 (Season 3)

[+thegoldenband]

My times for the week:

 

Sega SG-1000:

Elevator Action - 8 min.

 

Sega Master System:

Air Rescue - 38 min.

Comical Machine Gun Joe - 7 min.

Marble Madness - 2 min.

Mortal Kombat II - 18 min.

Pit Fighter - 3 min.

 

Sega Game Gear:

Double Dragon - 2 min.

Dynamite Headdy - 7 min.

Gunstar Heroes - 4 min.

 

Sega Genesis:

Atomic Robo-kid - 60 min.

Chiki Chiki Boys - 5 min.

Columns - 20 min.

Dark Water - 2 min.

Dynamite Headdy - 3 min.

El Viento - 3 min.

General Chaos - 3 min.

Granada - 70 min.

Gunstar Heroes - 4 min.

MERCS - 22 min.

Ranger X - 2 min.

Sparkster - 2 min.

 

Sega CD:

Android Assault - 56 min.

Chuck Rock - 3 min.

Final Fight CD - 5 min.

Out Of This World - 7 min.

 

Sega 32X:

After Burner - 3 min.

 

Sega Dreamcast:

Worms World Party - 172 min.

 

Turbografx-16:

Atomic Robo-kid Special - 3 min.

 

Without planning it, I dedicated my week almost exclusively to Sega consoles, and ended up playing all of them except the Saturn (which I don't own). Granted, the SG-1000 and SMS/Game Gear stuff was via emulation, but at least I was emulating it on the Dreamcast!

 

Android Assault and Atomic Robo-Kid are very different games, but they share an affliction that seems common to many Sega titles: the first 95% of the game is a relative breeze, and then as soon as you get to the final level or final boss, boom, all hell breaks loose and you're completely outgunned. Android Assault is by far the worst offender of the two: level after level of manageable difficulty, and then absolute bullet hell for the final stage. Challenge is one thing, but this seems like a cheesy way to extend the game's longevity, and it's one of my pet peeves. (At least they didn't change the gameplay style for the final level, which is unforgivably bad design when that final level is brutally hard. For that, see Back to the Future for NES, Toys for Genesis, et al.)

 

Air Rescue for the SMS has a similar problem, but it's not as bad, per se. The issue here is more that by the time things start to heat up, the game's questionable control becomes a major factor. Still, for a port that's nothing like the arcade title on which it's based, it's actually a pretty well-done game. I also had fun playing, and beating (on Easy level), the bizarro port of Mortal Kombat II which I'm told is pretty much identical to the Game Gear version. I even fought and defeated Jade (I reached her purely by accident), which I'm not sure I've done before on any other platform.

 

Even so, I have to say that I remain largely unimpressed by the Master System library; one reviewer described it as "mostly ranging from mediocre to terrible", and I have to agree. Oddly enough, I like the Game Gear just fine, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

 

The SG-1000 was roped in mainly for the sake of "completeness", once I realized that I'd played (or emulated) all the other Sega consoles. But actually, I enjoyed my games of Elevator Action, which strikes me as one of the best titles on the system. I've read criticisms of this port, but it certainly plays well enough, though I have yet to get past Level 2. Are there any bonuses for not using your gun? This game seems like it would benefit from that sort of thing, in the same vein as the "Use the Force" no-shooting bonus in the Star Wars arcade game.

 

By the way, I'm a big fan of the SNES version of Out of This World, but I have to say that the Sega CD version looks almost identical but is a lot faster and crisper by comparison. I kind of liked the slow framerate of the SNES version, in the same way that I like the Intellivision's 20Hz animations, but I could get used to the brisker pace. OTOH, at first listen it sounds like the SNES version's music is a lot better.

 

Oh, and I also played about 35 minutes of Super Monkey Ball 2 for the Gamecube, though that doesn't count towards the weekly standings here.

Edited March 22, 2010 by thegoldenband

[Kris Snyder]

Genesis -

Toejam & Earl: 123 min.

 

I came so close to gathering all the parts of the ship...

[VectorGamer]

Do me a favor and include these times for the ween ending 3/21. I got home late last night from the tournament. I encourage all classic gamers to read this post.

 

Arcade

Eagle 120 mins

Sinistar 120 mins

Super Breakout 30 mins

Gyruss 90 mins

Pole Position II 30 mins

1943 20 mins

Monaco GP 60 mins

Mario Bros. 30 mins

Bosconian 30 mins

Crystal Castles 90 mins

Galaga 30 mins

 

 

All games played at the Classic Arcade Gaming Dot Com 2010 tournament hosted at Richie Knucklez Arcade in Flemington, NJ.

 

How did I do? Thanks for asking...

 

Out of 42 entrants for Mark (Crystal Castles) Alpiger's CAGDC tournament playing alongside some of the greatest classic gamers today like Ben Falls, Ken House and Donald Hayes, I placed 25th.

 

You had to qualify on 7 games in order for your scores to count in the tourney. In order to qualify a score you had to break a threshold score for a respective game. For example on two of the games I qualified on, Sinistar's threshold was 75,000 and Eagle was 25,000. There were 25 games in the tournament and you can submit scores on all the games as long as you break the respective game's threshold.

 

Last Thursday was practice and I scored 102K on Sinistar. I felt good about breaking the threshold on Friday.

 

When Friday came, I broke the 1,000 threshold on Super Breakout roughly one hour into the tourney. Then, my crowning achievement came one hour later on Eagle as I was the first player to qualify and held the top score on that game for roughly two hours until Steve Wagner bettered me by about 900 points. The point was moot because on Saturday, Jimmy Linderman showed up and crushed our scores coming in around 110K. Eagle was a game that many gamers cursed, gave it the finger, pounded the control panel and walked away frustrated. So for me, placing on that game was one of the high points this past weekend.

 

Sinistar frustrated the heck out of me on Friday. After beating the threshold in practice, I could not do it at all on Friday. Mark Alpiger asked me at the end of the night if I would get my seven qualifying scores and after being beaten down on Sinistar I said "No."

 

Saturday gave me 12 hours to work on my scores. The third score I got was on Gyruss, beating the 100,000 threshold with 126K. Shortly thereafter, I broke the 50K threshold on Bosconian (I've only ever played this game once in MAME) with a qualifying score of 63K. Finally, I broke the threshold on Sinistar with 83K to earn my 5th qualifier. I started messing around with Crystal Castles and with some pointers got my 6th qualifier breaking the 150K threshold with 162K.

 

Six qualifying scores by the end of Saturday with one more day to go...

 

I gave up on Popeye because of a bad joystick. I set my sights on Mario Bros. where the threshold was set at 50K. I played about a 1/2 dozen times and qualified early Sunday morning with a score of 62K. Now, I got my seven and I had time to increase my scores on other games to play spoiler.

 

I failed to increase my scores on Sinistar and Eagle which I felt were the best opportunities. Ironically, I increased my score on Crystal Castles to 300K and I had never played the game in the arcade before this weekend.

 

In other news the King of Kong, Hank Chien was there on Saturday and Sunday playing Donkey Kong in an attempt to break his own record. He brought a film crew with him on Friday night for a documentary he is working on. I was filmed playing Eagle so maybe I make a cameo in the film. One of the funniest moments was my son playing Donkey Kong Junior next to Hank Chien as he was playing Donkey Kong. I should have taken a picture of this but in a panic I pulled my son away from the machine so he wouldn't disturb Hank. He's 8 years old.

 

At the end of the tournament, I received number 19 of 20 posters that Billy Mitchell made and autographed for the event. He put all the players names on the poster and I will definitely frame and display this in the Retrocade.

 

I covered the event for Classic Video Gamer magazine and I believe I was the only one representing a video gaming mag. I got pix and quotes from the event and I think this is HUGE coverage for this young magazine. This should be in the spring issue. www.classicvgm.com

 

Lastly, all players that attended event are welcomed back in August which will be the biggest event in the history of classic gaming. I will cover this event for the magazine as well and this could potentially take the mag to the next level. This event has not been formally announced so until then my lips are sealed.

 

This past weekend was a blast. Everyone was extremely friendly, the arcade captured the true arcade experience on the Golden Age and Richie Knucklez is the nicest guy you could ever meet.

[VectorGamer]

Do me a favor and include these times for the ween week ending 3/21.

 

I guess I got home l8r then I thought...

[Kurt_Woloch]

Just wanted to say I forgot to put the word "minutes" after some of the minute values (those with 8 minutes and less, and the non-classic game) in my last post. The number at the end should mean "minutes" for those. Sorry, I can't edit it anymore...

[Taskmaster99]

PC Engine/Turbo Grafx

----------------------

PC Denjin - 30 min.

 

Neo Geo AES

-----------

Magical Drop 2 - 20 min.

[StanJr]

All VCS tonight:

 

Taz 10 mins.

Dark Chambers 1 hour (always get stuck on Level X!)

Crossbow 10 mins.

Pole Position 15 mins.

Stargate 20 mins.

[+cvga]

Dragon Warrior (NES) 2 hours (and I beat it! I rock!)

 

Out of curiosity, o keeper of the records, could you tell me how long it took me to beat this game, like you did with FF?

 

Final Fantasy 2,430 minutes (if this doesn't agree with an earlier post, IIRC it's because your last post for FF was on a Monday which would have been part of the next week)

Dragon Warrior 1,255 minutes

 

congrats on beating both games!

[StanJr]

Hey, thanks! Only 21 hours to beat Dragon Warrior. Wow. What a disparity!

 

Oh, are we counting handhelds? Because I spent about 15 mins. playing the Tiger handheld Little Mermaid game just now. I rocked it!

[+cvga]

Hey, thanks! Only 21 hours to beat Dragon Warrior. Wow. What a disparity!

 

Oh, are we counting handhelds? Because I spent about 15 mins. playing the Tiger handheld Little Mermaid game just now. I rocked it!

 

Go ahead and list it.

[+cvga]

Here is the week 11 Top Ten...

 

1. Dragon Warrior (NES) 615 minutes

2. Shamus (TI-99) 349

3. Eagle (Arcade) 255

4. Sinistar (Arcade) 195

5. Toejam & Earl (Genesis) 182

6. Worms World Party (Sega Dreamcast) 172

7. Gyruss (Arcade) 130

8. Burgertime (Aquarius) 122

9. Dig Dug (TI-99) 111

10. Quake II (Nintendo 64) 100

 

The Top Ten for Pre-NES only is...

1. Shamus (TI-99) 349

2. Eagle (Arcade) 255

3. Sinistar (Arcade) 195

4. Gyruss (Arcade) 130

5. Burgertime (Aquarius) 122

6. Dig Dug (TI-99) 111

7. Super Breakout (Arcade) 90

7. Crystal Castles (Arcade) 90

9. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 79

10. Pole Position II (Arcade) 70

 

I'm not sure but this may be the first week ever that an Atari 2600 game failed to make the overall Top Ten!

 

102 games were played for a total of 4,024 minutes!

 

Also, thanks to all of you hitting this with a rep point! I'm glad so many people are enjoying the Top Ten!!!

[+cvga]

Dragon Warrior (NES) and Millipede (Atari 2600) join the 1,000 minute club!!!

 

From the archives...

 

Season #1

1. Pitfall (2600) Week 2

2. Man Goes Down (2600) Week 8

3. Kaboom! (2600) Week 9

4. Toyshop Trouble (2600) Week 11

 

Season #2

5. Adventure (2600) Week 1

6. Jack and the Beanstalk (2600) Week 2

7. Dragster (2600) Week 3

8. Park Patrol (C-64) Week 5

9. Galaxian (2600) Week 24

10. Mouse Trap (COLV) Week 25

10. Donkey Kong (2600) Week 25

12. Midnight Magic (2600) Week 27

13. Pepper II (COLV) Week 29

14. Galaga (Arcade) Week 30

15. Jr. Pac-man (7800) Week 37

16. Ms. Pac-man (2600) Week 40

17. Medieval Mayhem (2600) Week 42

 

Season #3

18. Missile Command (2600) Week 1

19. MisAdventure Revised (2600) Week 3

20. Centipede (TI-99) Week 4

21. Devil's Crush (Turbo Grafx) Week 5

22. Reactor (2600) Week 7

22. Final Fantasy (NES) Week 7

24. Hang-On (Sega Master System) Week8

24. Phantasy Star 4 (Genesis) Week 8

26. Sword of Vermilion (Genesis) Week 10

27. Dragon Warrior (NES) Week 11

27. Millipede (Atari 2600) Week 11

[VectorGamer]

 

Also, thanks to all of you hitting this with a rep point!

 

You know what's interesting? How my post about CAGDC has only generated one rep point!

 

Atari isn't just computers, Lynx and consoles. There's coin-op also. But there's no interest from anyone here in AtariAge about CAGDC. Not a "hey Rob, can you post a pic of the Billy Mitchell poster?" or "congrats on finishing 25th" or "did you get any pix of Hank Chien?" or "c'mon Rob stop teasing us with what the big news is and spill the beans"...yadda yadda yadda...I even did a cross post in the Arcade forum.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not teed off at all. I'm just truly amazed at how members of AtariAge have little interest in coin-op which is the roots of Atari. Look at the meager participation in the Arcade/MAME High Score Club. Week 29 of the HSC was for arguably the most popular classic games of all time in Galaga. How many people participated? FIVE.

 

Now, if anyone wants to continue the conversation, let's move it over to arcade/coin-op instead of trashing this thread:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/160113-news-from-an-epic-weekend-at-cagdc/

[VectorGamer]

Arcade

Eagle 7 mins

Sinistar 20 mins

[+cvga]

 

Also, thanks to all of you hitting this with a rep point!

 

You know what's interesting? How my post about CAGDC has only generated one rep point!

 

Atari isn't just computers, Lynx and consoles. There's coin-op also. But there's no interest from anyone here in AtariAge about CAGDC. Not a "hey Rob, can you post a pic of the Billy Mitchell poster?" or "congrats on finishing 25th" or "did you get any pix of Hank Chien?" or "c'mon Rob stop teasing us with what the big news is and spill the beans"...yadda yadda yadda...I even did a cross post in the Arcade forum.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not teed off at all. I'm just truly amazed at how members of AtariAge have little interest in coin-op which is the roots of Atari. Look at the meager participation in the Arcade/MAME High Score Club. Week 29 of the HSC was for arguably the most popular classic games of all time in Galaga. How many people participated? FIVE.

 

Now, if anyone wants to continue the conversation, let's move it over to arcade/coin-op instead of trashing this thread:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/160113-news-from-an-epic-weekend-at-cagdc/

 

I gave it the rep point I was very interested and appreciated the time you took to write about your experience. Unfortunately, I've been extremely busy this week so I haven't had time to comment.

[StanJr]

 

Also, thanks to all of you hitting this with a rep point!

 

You know what's interesting? How my post about CAGDC has only generated one rep point!

 

Atari isn't just computers, Lynx and consoles. There's coin-op also. But there's no interest from anyone here in AtariAge about CAGDC. Not a "hey Rob, can you post a pic of the Billy Mitchell poster?" or "congrats on finishing 25th" or "did you get any pix of Hank Chien?" or "c'mon Rob stop teasing us with what the big news is and spill the beans"...yadda yadda yadda...I even did a cross post in the Arcade forum.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not teed off at all. I'm just truly amazed at how members of AtariAge have little interest in coin-op which is the roots of Atari. Look at the meager participation in the Arcade/MAME High Score Club. Week 29 of the HSC was for arguably the most popular classic games of all time in Galaga. How many people participated? FIVE.

 

Now, if anyone wants to continue the conversation, let's move it over to arcade/coin-op instead of trashing this thread:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/160113-news-from-an-epic-weekend-at-cagdc/

 

 

Dude, I wish I knew more about it, but arcade stuff is way outside my area of expertise. I have never liked MAME and I don't own/have access to many arcade cabinets, so your story was awesome, but way outside my jurisdiction. Plus, I'm not very good with the whole "rep point" thing, so I don't really think about giving them out, except when prompted, like cvga does. I read your post with great interest, but ultimately don't really know enough to ask any intelligent questions.

 

Now, if you want to talk 1990 Little Mermaid Tiger handhelds...

[zylon]

TI99: Jungle Hunt 10min

Tandyvision: Demon Attack 20min

2600: Burgertime 30min

 

As for the arcade games mentioned earlier, those were all "ghosts of the past" when I first got access to arcades back in 88. The oldest we had there was a Galaga machine. Instead, we had Double Dragon, Xenophobe, Black Tiger, Gauntlet, TMNT, Rampage, and newer as they came out.

[StanJr]

Magician (NES) 1 hour

 

Also please add that original

 

Little Mermaid (Tiger handheld) 15 mins. (I beat it, I rock!)

[zylon]

5200: Dig Dug 45min

2600: Burgertime 1hr

[Taskmaster99]

Sega Saturn

-----------

Xmen vs Street Fighter - 19 min.

Panzer Dragoon Zwei - 30 min.

 

PC Engine/Turbo Grafx

---------------------

Salamander - 15 min.

[StanJr]

Magician (NES) 30 mins.

[+thegoldenband]

Times for Monday - Thursday:

 

Tandy CoCo 3:

Radwarrior - 5 min.

 

Sega Genesis:

Alisia Dragoon - 5 min.

Bonanza Bros. - 22 min.

Columns - 46 min.

Dashin' Desperadoes - 19 min.

Ghouls 'n' Ghosts - 5 min.

Golden Axe 2 - 40 min.

 

Sega CD:

Final Fight CD - 30 min.

 

Dreamcast:

Worms World Party - 56 min.

 

Notes:

 

If only because it offers a two-player mode, Final Fight CD is way better than the SNES version. I got a Sega CD in part because I wanted to laugh with my girlfriend at the cheesy voice acting and FMV in some of the early CDROM games, and Final Fight's intro and cutscenes have plenty to mock. But the game itself plays very well indeed, though it's tough as heck -- we got our butts handed to us relatively quickly.

 

We beat the third-to-highest difficulty in the Flash mode in Columns doubles -- I believe it's Pro 7 -- taking it down in under a minute! However, Pro 8 proved too much for us, as we lost five or six games in short order before packing it in.

 

Though it's cooperative (not competitive), Bonanza Bros. reminds me a little bit of the old Spy vs. Spy game (released for the NES, and Atari 8-bit as well?), but IMHO it's a much better game. Those riot police (or whatever they are) can be a real hassle!

[StanJr]

Logged some more time on Magician (got to level 3)

 

Magician (NES) 1.5 hours

[StanJr]

Guess I am the only one playing video games these days...

 

Jr. Pac-man (VCS) 5 mins. (I hate this game)

Gravitar (VCS) 15 mins. (personal best score, getting better at this one!)

Desert Falcon (VCS) 10 mins.

 

Overlord (NES) 30 mins.

[accousticguitar]

2600

Quick Step - 7 min

Deadly Duck - 14 min

Tooth Protectors - 5 min

Pengo - 7 min

MissAdventure Revised - 19 min

Evil Magician Returns - 9 min

Chase It - 6 min

 

I need to get going on Intellivision Demon Attack before it's too late!