+therealbountybob Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 Crystal Castles "XE" As we near the end of the season here we have one of the classic games slightly updated for release for the XE series This is the port of the 5200 version released in 1988 by Atari). XEX on Fandal, Info on Atarimania No warps! If anyone wants a bonus point or two [Max 12] then you can also play any game with the word Crystal or Castle in the title : checkout Fandal or Atarimania Round closes Sunday 3rd December. Everyone welcome to play, just post a score. Mister VCS i'm expecting to see a score from you this time Have fun with the bear 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted November 19, 2017 Share Posted November 19, 2017 51083 67975 137721 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I remember there being some cheats (warps) in this game from the last time we played. They jump you through levels and, I think, give you extra points. We should play without using the 'warps' 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedThunder Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) Must get back into this.. been somewhat busy recently. Liking the fact we are only playing one main game this time :-) and a bonus. Edited November 20, 2017 by RedThunder 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 I count to about 50 games with either "crystal" or "castle" in the title, not counting the main games. I understand one would only get 1-2 extra points no matter how many bonus games one plays, but at least there is a wide selection of both well known ones and totally anonymous ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 I count to about 50 games with either "crystal" or "castle" in the title, not counting the main games. I understand one would only get 1-2 extra points no matter how many bonus games one plays, but at least there is a wide selection of both well known ones and totally anonymous ones. I think it's quite close between yourself and Deteacher for the 3rd place for the season - HSC Hall of Fame position no less. So we'll say a maximum of 5 games 5 points for the bonus I'll update the current standings later today 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Sounds fair. I suppose Castle Wolfenstein (7.5) and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (9.0 !!), Castle Hassle (7.0), Mr. Do's Castle (8.6) and Crystal Raider (7.1) might in particular be worth checking out, and from what I gather haven't really been HSC material in the past neither? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Sounds fair. I suppose Castle Wolfenstein (7.5) and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (9.0 !!), Castle Hassle (7.0), Mr. Do's Castle (8.6) and Crystal Raider (7.1) might in particular be worth checking out, and from what I gather haven't really been HSC material in the past neither? Crystal Raider is another game by the guy who did Twilight World - might be quite similar? The Wolfensteins I would be interested to see if anyone gets anywhere with them. Mr Do's C is an excellent game and probably should get a proper play next season Season 14 Current Standings UPDATED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 As we near the end of the season here we have one of the classic games slightly updated for release for the XE series This is the port of the 5200 version released in 1988 by Atari). XEX on Fandal, Info on Atarimania No warps! Hmm, I really miss the beeps when you collect the dots and no noise for the items, graphics are sharper perhaps but the crazily fast speed is also lacking... sort of sedate version, way to go guys Reading some posts from last time we played (HSC9 R10) both(?) versions the sound missing is a bug on the XEX crack - the cart is ok - if anyone has a XEX/ATR of the 1988 one that has sounds please post a link 66,388 107,947 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) Crystal Castles XE - 14781 pts I found the attached version of this game on a CD/DVD that came with the SIO2SD when I bought it many years ago. It seems to be playing OK and has the clicking sound when you're moving, but please check if it otherwise is competitive. Crystal Castles.xex Edit: Some possible bonus games tested so far... The Bewitch Castle - reached level 2. A typical example of when a graphic artist thinks he or she can also program games. Horrible movement, but rather nice looking after waiting for the extremely long intro. 3/10 due to the graphics. Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein - got nearly nowhere. I understand what TRBB meant with his comment above. The fact that the game insists to run the entire background story every time you restart the game doesn't make it more enjoyable, though I suppose there are people who just love these as they've rated very high on Atarimania. Not fair to put a score on these. Castle Attack - 5580 pts on Medium level. A very simple four direction shoot 'em up, where you rather want the game to end than to last longer. 2/10, perhaps is more fun if you're drunk? Castle Keeper - 13675 pts on beginner, infinite amount of pts on advanced. A Berzerk looking maze game, except that the robots neither move nor shoot. You can also run over them, so the only way to lose a life is to hit one of the walls. Advanced level only means more robots per level, so you have more to shoot before you can escape the maze. The scoring seems odd, sometimes it resets and if you escape the maze when the energy counter hits 0, it rotates to 9999 which means you'll get heaploads of bonus points if you can even bother to wait for it to finish counting. It seems like a game the programmer had ambitions with the game, but failed to come up with an AI for robots to move or shoot, so it ended in its current state. 4/10 if you can avoid abusing score bugs. Castle Mania - 200 pts. A multiple screen platform game with hard to control forward jumping. Not my kind of game, but I suppose it might be interesting to some. 4/10 in my book. Exists in multiple dumps, but I didn't observe any difference. Castles of Confusion - 1400 pts. A classic platform game with teleports between platforms. I found two versions, one with a very annoying "rain" across the entire screen and one without, which made the game a bit easier. Not too unplayable, so I'd be generous and give it a weak 5/10. Crystal Crisis (XEX version) - 4500 pts. A maze game where you destroy boulders and pick up crystals, avoiding the spider and escape when you have enough crystals. Playable, but not overly fun in the long run. Still, I'll rate this as another weak 5/10. Edited November 20, 2017 by carlsson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 Crystal Castles XE - 14781 pts I found the attached version of this game on a CD/DVD that came with the SIO2SD when I bought it many years ago. It seems to be playing OK and has the clicking sound when you're moving, but please check if it otherwise is competitive.... Thanks carlsson the keyboard clicker is better than nothing. Sometimes the items make a noise but usually not - anyone got/know if the cart ver sounds work properly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedThunder Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Crystal Castle XE 62,768 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 264951 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Hmm, I really miss the beeps when you collect the dots and no noise for the items, graphics are sharper perhaps but the crazily fast speed is also lacking... sort of sedate version, way to go guys Reading some posts from last time we played (HSC9 R10) both(?) versions the sound missing is a bug on the XEX crack - the cart is ok - if anyone has a XEX/ATR of the 1988 one that has sounds please post a link 66,388 107,947 I'm using the XEX from Fandal's web site on my 800XL and I get the sounds 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedThunder Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 (edited) Crystal Castle XE173,441 and Castle Hassle Trainee Ghost 11/031 Into the Eagles Nest 19,100 PS It had a picture of a castle on the front page ... hint, hint, nudge nudge :-) Edited November 21, 2017 by RedThunder 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedThunder Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Next round....thoughts How about Archon ?... hard to scoratise as such. But I thought about trying to complete the game in the fastest time, but using a stopwatch on your phone or PC. What do you reckon? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I think McKong is eager to play Donkey Kong Jr this season, perhaps both the original and enhanced versions. Archon on time would probably require some empiric testing that the computer makes roughly the same kind of moves - casting spells, getting into combat - every time, otherwise some games might be won much faster than others. I saw that a few of the Electronic Arts games from 1983 which actually present a score (Axis Assassin, Hard Hat Mack) have already been in the HSC. I suppose Worms? is just too weird, and the strategy games are not really playable in a highscore contest. As you know, there is already a parallel, long time M.U.L.E. HSC so we don't need it in the main one. I have never tried Realm of Impossibility, is it playable? A score of 7.8/10 on Atarimania suggests it should be. Btw, I didn't get Castle Hassle or any other games in .ROM format to run through the SIO2SD. Perhaps that is not a compatible format. I won't really bother investigating, as there are plenty of other bonus games to try out and I prefer to not use Altirra unless I really have to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 A few more bonus games before I have a real go at Crystal Castles (yes, I have by far exceeded 5 bonus games but I like to explore the world): Crystal Raider - 420 pts. TRBB is correct that it is written by the same guy who did Twilight World, which is seen by the fact that the longer you hold the fire button, the higher the guy jumps. A bit basic platform game, but seems quite playable so I'd definitely give it a strong 5/10. Dr. Tom's Castle - 1264 pts, level 3. An avoid obstacles platform game, where each level is different and the score consists of a timer counting down. Unfairly low voted (2/10) on Atarimania, I would go as far as 4/10. Fairy Castle - 4100 pts. While I don't understand Polish, to most part it is easy to play this platform adventure. Nice graphics (2003), seems like a very large game. Not my particular cup of tea, but it seems to have qualities up to a weak 6/10. King of the Castle - 11780 pts. Maze game with four mystery boxes, where three contain enemies and the fourth contains what someone on Atarimania called a "dinette set". At first it appears like instant death by touching it, but instead it ends the level, awards remaining time as bonus ponts and starts a new level. Sometimes one of the enemies may spawn right on top of you, without the ability to escape which means you'll die multiple times in a row. That said, I'd call it another strong 4/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 356505 level 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 Carlson you carry on and you can earn some extra points - it's nice to see the comments on the also ran games, perhaps you will find one or two that are future bonus games at least. We'll have another poll and single game round with one suggestion from each player, then we can go into a final round and perhaps break with tradition and have a pre-season stand alone tournament or something... ideas welcome for this or end of seasoner (yes I have a few as always) Castles and Keys is pretty good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 XEX still no item sounds for the honeypot (occasionally beeps?) or bees, will have to play original ver again to check. 355830 Cross Maze Lv8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 22, 2017 Author Share Posted November 22, 2017 OK you can now play up to 12 bonus games for a point each; see 1st post first tables Crystal Castles XE 1st McKong 356,505 12pts 2nd therealbountybob 355,830 11pts 3rd RedThunder 173,441 10pts 4th carlsson 14,781 9ptsdarn it McKong 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Some 25-30 years ago, I managed a score of 78742 pts on the C64 version of Crystal Castles, so I suppose that is my first aim. Just like on the Atari, there were two versions: the (unofficial) Thundervision version from 1984/85 and the further uglified US Gold release from 1985/86. I never took note which version I used to play, but the Thundervision version seems more familiar to me graphically. User comments on Lemon64 suggest that Atarisoft released their own version as well on the UK market, probably a repackaged version of the US Gold release. Another user comment is from what would be one of the developers, though he didn't recognize the cover artwork so perhaps he was behind the Thundervision version and mistook it for the US Gold version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 I was playing earlier and must have accidentally hit a warp cos annoyingly I was transported from somewhere around level 4 or 5 to level 7 and suddenly had 420000 points and 4 spare lives! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 I keep reaching level 9 around 340-350K but the suddenish increase in speed of the adversaries catches me out and I'm getting zapped too easily Excellent game let's face it a 3d pacman with jumping and various mazes, what's not to like Next poll will start at the weekend do I have it that McKong DKjr Red Thunder Eagles Nest Carlsson what about you? (Archon/MULE maybe something for end of season) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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