NE146 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I'm not bad at many games.. as a matter o' fact I consider myself to be pretty good at most classics. No.. not CRAZY good, but by that I mean I can score a million in Robotron, I don't die in arcade Defender in the first 20 seconds , etc. However I CANNOT for the life of me get good at arcade Asteroids no matter how many times I've played it over the decades. I struggle to even reach 10,000 for my first extra man. I don't know what the deal is.. some people can score in the bazillions on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatefulGravey Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 The list of games I'm good at would be smaller. I can't handle FPS games, though I love to play them with friends and the like I'm always getting poo'd on. Fighting games in general, my love them long time yet they don't love me back. I love Robotron but it has a habit of making me it's bitch. I think that part of the reason I feel like I'm bad at so many games is the fact that all things are compared on a global scale now. So you see the best of the best all the time. When its just the people I know playing I can compete, when I start playing against people from all over the world I can't keep up too well. There is also a breaking point based on how many games you play. I know people that only play FPS games, they are great at them, but all they will play for 9 months if COD, I beat 12 games in that time and play countless others. If I studied COD for 9 months 3 or 4 hours a day I would more then likely be that good too. Just thoughts on the matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorTat-G Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Kaboom! Even with the paddle controllers, I can only get about 2,000 points on a good day. But still one of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seob Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 shmups for me to. love to play them, but my hand eye co-ordination must be the worst ever. in a lot of games I can't get past th first level, without being killed a gazilion times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raskar42 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Sinistar. I am terrible at it, but i love the graphics and gameplay. Lunar Lander. on the harder settings I usually just spin uncontrollably until I smash into a wall, but i love that game so much. for me it's a totally immersive experience. Phoenix- love it - I suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Sinistar. I am terrible at it, but i love the graphics and gameplay. Hint.. Nobody is good at Sinistar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Sinistar. I am terrible at it, but i love the graphics and gameplay. Hint.. Nobody is good at Sinistar. This is the game that immediately came to mind. With any other game, I have found that I improve with practive (Defender/Robotron included). Not with Sinistar. I don't suck at fighting games like VF5 or Street Fighter IV, but I also never come close to winning most of the time, in online matches. SO there must be something I just don't get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 Sinistar. I am terrible at it, but i love the graphics and gameplay. Lunar Lander. on the harder settings I usually just spin uncontrollably until I smash into a wall, but i love that game so much. for me it's a totally immersive experience. Phoenix- love it - I suck Ooooh, Lunar Lander, going to download and try it right now in MAME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I've never tried Lunar Lander in mame.. since it needs that analog thrust lever I figured it wouldn't translate well. Does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 I've never tried Lunar Lander in mame.. since it needs that analog thrust lever I figured it wouldn't translate well. Does it? I'm playing around a lot with the input controls to find something adequate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hard Drivin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Thunder Spirits on the SNES. Awesome game, but terribly hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 However I CANNOT for the life of me get good at arcade Asteroids no matter how many times I've played it over the decades. I struggle to even reach 10,000 for my first extra man. I don't know what the deal is.. some people can score in the bazillions on it. Geeze, I hear ya on that one. It's like those little UFO's are possessed. Granted I only started playing the game about a year ago, but I remember putting in several marathon sessions a few months back and I just cannot seem to get any better at it. I did manage to score a whopping 25k a few times, but then I'd turn around and have a 7k game. Maddening! Another one for me is Missile Command. I feel like no matter what I do, I just can't take the next "step". My high is only 49k, but love the game nonetheless; there's nothing quite like a clean spray of bombs wiping out an entire wave of missiles in arcade MC. I also stink at the pattern-based maze games. My high on Pac-Man is 55k. I guess memorization doesn't appeal to me, so I play the game as if it's random. And it shows. Centipede! Love the game, have yet to crack 60k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 I'm not particularly good at Pac-Man, but I like it. I enjoy Ghosts 'n Goblins, and all the later sequels of that game, but I can never get very far in any of them. The difficulty is just too brutal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 Pinball. I suck so bad at pinball. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Pinball. I suck so bad at pinball. do you mean real pinball, or video game pinball? I've always found real pinball to be cheap and irritating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) I've always found real pinball to be cheap and irritating. It can be irritating.. but it isn't cheap anymore than a falling physical ball is cheap. I hear you though.. you wonder how can you "play" pinball rather than just popping the flippers when the ball gets near, but then you see someone who is actually really good at it and it's amazing. it's like they can control the thing, aim their shots, nudge the table just right when the ball is falling to avoid it getting lost, etc. Once you realize the physical effort needed to be good at pinball and watching someone good at it play, it all makes sense. (and no, I suck at pinball too. I have a hard time just understanding most table's objectives. ) Edited May 21, 2012 by NE146 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I always try to play it without nudging or bumping the table. Maybe that's where I am effin' myself in the A. Because I always get pretty mad when it's like , it goes to the side of the flippers into what I call "The gangbang zone", and the ball bouces around a bit, and falls to the far left or right part where theres no way you can even do anything. I guess next time it does that, I'll slam my pelvis into the table so it makes it fall onto the side that lets it roll back onto the flipper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Pinball is all about learning the table objectives (missions/modes/whatever you prefer to call them) If you know the ruleset and how to beat all the modes (and enter wizard if applicable) you will score big, even if you lack in actual skill Some bumping/nudging is required but guys that count on that too much often do poor in the tournaments (myself included) since the tilts are all fully functional and too much of it can also get a DQ. One of the best players I know (and in the united states as he is ranked pretty high in the database) uses a barstool to play, he just barely slaps the table enough to avoid the drains, really cool to watch and would be awesome if I could do the same but I tend to be a tilt-monster, guess I just lack the patience, lol. Take a Game like Monster Bash, if you don't know how to achieve monsters of Rock, you WILL lose to anyone who does. Many tables have horribly uneven multiball/bonus scoring Dr Who is another great example, if you don't get multiball (and know what to do when you get it) but someone else does, they will win, even if your ball time was longer/better, you hit a ton of ramps/etc. Uneven scoring is why many games that should be worth more are not. Sucking at pinball can come down to a number of things, a lot of tables "in the wild" are just shit, nobody takes care of them, nobody cleans or repairs them unless absolutely needed and well, they usually don't care if that means a fast game because it means more quarters in there eyes (even though they are wrong, lol) The number one reason though is just not knowing the rule sets. If you are just kind of randomly flipping at ramps and stuff you miss out on a lot of the big points for modes/bonus/etc. There is a reason TAF, TZ, MM, etc go for big money, they are EXCELLENT balanced games with very deep rule sets so serious pinball players want them for home use. Overall, learn the rules and you will win since yeah, a lot of actual playing has a bit of luck involved, even if you know how to bump it right, the goal is making the time you have with the ball count instead of just trying to stop it from draining Oh - games I suck at that I like - AMAGON for the NES comes to mind Pretty much ANYTHING made by CAVE too, lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 The thing I always notice is sometimes the ball just flies back at you and just goes down. What I do wonder though is, like you said, maybe the tables are treated like shit. Or, if they're on unlevel flooring. I rarely play pinball. The only one I ever really liked was the Beetle Juice one. and the Kiss one. Who the hell doesn't like Kiss pinball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 The only pinball game I've ever put any serious time into is Theater of Magic, which we had in college. I have fond memories of that one, though I have no idea how it ranks in the pinball hierarchy. Oh - games I suck at that I like - AMAGON for the NES comes to mind Great game! A lot of people don't like Amagon, but I've always found something really appealing about it. I beat it in emulation years ago, but that was with savestates, I think -- I'd like to go back and beat it on the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 The thing I always notice is sometimes the ball just flies back at you and just goes down. What I do wonder though is, like you said, maybe the tables are treated like shit. Or, if they're on unlevel flooring. I rarely play pinball. The only one I ever really liked was the Beetle Juice one. and the Kiss one. Who the hell doesn't like Kiss pinball. Yeah, if you hit a post wrong/miss a ramp/etc you can often get a SDTM (straight down the middle) it happens to everyone. I was placed in a local tournament about 5 years back againsts Paul Madison, not only one of the best in my state but ranked in the top 20 worldwide (actually have quite a few top players here in MN). We were playing an old game called Mata Hari and his first 2 balls shot straight down the middle. I remember thinking holy shit!! I'm going to beat Paul Madison!! Well, his third ball he nearly rolled the score, I was out, lol but yeah, shitty tables makes a difference for sure. Operators seem to just barely keep them running these days which is a shame. They wonder why nobody plays pinball, lol. I am lucky enough to have a cousin that owns pretty much every "A" title pinball. He takes care of them like they were his kids, I would too though with $50k worth of machines. We also have a local pinball place with many of the same titles where the guy "just keeps them running" and it's a big difference, needless to say I always have a better game on my cousins machines. I'm guessing by Beetlejuice you mean "The Addams Family" in which case your not alone. It was the HIGHEST production pinball ever made and is ranked number 1 on the International pinball database fan ratings. Even though they made over 20,000 units a good Addams will still cost you 4k+ which is just insane....the reason? It's one of the best pinball machines ever made KISS pinball is just eye candy. As far as a playable game goes it is just steps above the old EM machines, I think KISS pinball was actually one of the first SS machines but don't hold me to it as I don't remember for sure. It looks cool though, would love to own one, but I would never actually play it, kind of like a lot of the expensive atari games I buy, lol I tend to buy late 80's solid state games. You can get them CHEAP these days and they still have a great rule-set and some are damn good. My only pinball currently is an F14 tomcat, sometimes I have as many as 10 but sometimes zero, depends on my compulsion at the time... Here is a pic of another buddies collection here in MN. Last time I popped over he had just shy of 100, lol Okay, back on topic (sorry OP but pinball distracts me easily, lol) Another game I like but suck at.........Lightning Force!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) This pinball talk is on topic. My dads friend used to have a pinball game that I can't remember the name of. Maybe you can help. It was pink, and had 4 aces on it, and I sucked balls at it when I was little. I prefer early 80s arcade games. I own a Tron cabinet, and want a Defender one next edit: holy shit, its called 4-aces. I am retarded Edited May 21, 2012 by Arkhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyHW Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Pinball. I suck so bad at pinball. do you mean real pinball, or video game pinball? I've always found real pinball to be cheap and irritating. I meant real pinball. Hey I'm surprised you didn't list Street Fighter II in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I'm sweet at SF2. Chun Li, all day, everyday. and Dhalsim, and Zangief. Screw Guile. He's a toolbag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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