Games Beaten In 2018!

[DragonGrafx-16]

 

Just beat ALTTP... took longer than it should have because the battery died when I was playing 2 years ago and I had finally replaced it earlier this year.

Edited November 12, 2018 by TravisHuckins

[mbd30]

 

Double Dragon 1 has a nice, brisk pace to it and flows really well in my eyes. The platforming is far less irritating and I think it's more enjoyable as a simple "pick up and play" kind of game. Double Dragon 2 has an... interesting difficulty, to say the least. You can master it without a lot of trouble, but there are some supremely irritating parts, most notably the platforming (which there is a lot of).

 

I watched your one life clear for DD1. I no deathed it for the first time a few months ago.

 

I might try your wall strat next time. What I do is wait for a top block to pop out and then a pause and then another top block to pop out, and then make a run for it. This works pretty consistently, but it can take a long time to wait for the right pattern. Someone on Youtube actually did map out all of the wall patterns. For the longest time it seemed entirely random. I think the game designers just expected everyone to lose a life or two there as a cheap way to increase the challenge.

 

For the DD2 contest I managed a low score of 22,440 without a death. I almost beat the final boss without taking a hit. What I do is keep jump kicking him. If you can time it right, you can keep jump kicking him as he's getting back up. But you have to watch out for that spin attack.

 

[Austin]

I might try your wall strat next time. What I do is wait for a top block to pop out and then a pause and then another top block to pop out, and then make a run for it. This works pretty consistently, but it can take a long time to wait for the right pattern. Someone on Youtube actually did map out all of the wall patterns. For the longest time it seemed entirely random. I think the game designers just expected everyone to lose a life or two there as a cheap way to increase the challenge.

Yeah, it's tricky and isn't guaranteed to work. I think the idea is to jump from the solid black line and land on the next two blocks over. Getting it right will make it so the second column of blocks won't trigger. I had use save states on my flash cart to practice it and it was supremely inconsistent (I got quite lucky when it came to the real deal in the LP, honestly).

[+thegoldenband]

Here's the DD1 video I think mbd30 means:

 

 

There's also this:

 

 

BTW is this run still the Double Dragon world record? It seems like there's a lot that can be improved upon:

 

 

EDIT: Ah, I see lower times listed here:

 

https://www.speedrun.com/doubledragon

[Silverfleet]

Over the long weekend, I spent some quality time with my Switch, and ran through two games:

 

Castlevan... err... Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch)

 

 

This one was fun. Definitely easier than most Castlevania games, and it borrows so much from Dracula's Curse and contemporary games like Shovel Knight. Can't wait for the full Bloodstained game to come out, if it ever does. I still need to run through it again for the 2nd play-through to unlock everything.

 

The Legend of Zelda (NES, via the Switch)

 

I haven't played through the original Zelda game in years. It really never gets old; such a great game. I forgot that Ganon gets reduced to a bloody pile of chunks after you defeat him! And speaking of games with second quests... I've never played through the second quest before. That's on my list now!

[+thegoldenband]

42. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (Genesis)

 

Beat this back in August with E. Honda on 8-star difficulty, though I lost a few matches along the way. The day before I beat the game on 6-star and had a lot of trouble with M. Bison, but on my winning run I took him out on my first try. Nice port, all things considered, despite some imperfections with the graphics and sound. B+.

 

43. Gekisou Sentai Carranger: Zenkai! Racer Senshi (SNES)

 

One of the very few titles released for the Sufami Turbo attachment, this looks like a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers game at glance, but (as I understand it) is based on a show that was a self-parody of the series that was adapted into MMPR. (Phew.) Anyway, it's very short and easy, but controls well, looks good, and makes for a fun diversion. Can't imagine paying $39 for it, though, if that really was its original retail price. C+.

 

44. Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy (Jaguar)

 

Much-maligned shmup isn't so bad, but the chintzy feel of it reminds me of early 1990s shareware, which isn't a good thing for an allegedly next-gen system. Fishing around on the keypad to select special weapons is a non-starter, and the original Jag controller made for a painful experience when I've tried this before.

 

But Starwander's reproduction Pro Controller makes this far easier to play -- not just because the D-pad and primary face buttons are better, but because those five extra buttons make it possible to select five of the game's nine weapons via muscle memory. With that in hand, Trevor McFur becomes quite playable and, in truth, relatively easy.

 

Anyway, I don't mind the game's lack of music as much as I mind the unskippable furry dialogue sequences that force you to wait 5 seconds before you can proceed. What's up with that? And that level that looks like a 10-year-old boy's bedroom wall decor is just embarrassing. C-.

 

45. Tetris (NES)

 

In a fit of pique, I spent four hours the other day trying to beat Type B, Level 9, Height 5 in emulation. Then I sat down today and did it on real hardware in 20 minutes. Tells you something, doesn't it? A.

[mbd30]

42. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (Genesis)

 

Beat this back in August with E. Honda on 8-star difficulty, though I lost a few matches along the way. The day before I beat the game on 6-star and had a lot of trouble with M. Bison, but on my winning run I took him out on my first try. Nice port, all things considered, despite some imperfections with the graphics and sound. B+.

 

43. Gekisou Sentai Carranger: Zenkai! Racer Senshi (SNES)

 

One of the very few titles released for the Sufami Turbo attachment, this looks like a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers game at glance, but (as I understand it) is based on a show that was a self-parody of the series that was adapted into MMPR. (Phew.) Anyway, it's very short and easy, but controls well, looks good, and makes for a fun diversion. Can't imagine paying $39 for it, though, if that really was its original retail price. C+.

 

44. Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy (Jaguar)

 

Much-maligned shmup isn't so bad, but the chintzy feel of it reminds me of early 1990s shareware, which isn't a good thing for an allegedly next-gen system. Fishing around on the keypad to select special weapons is a non-starter, and the original Jag controller made for a painful experience when I've tried this before.

 

But Starwander's reproduction Pro Controller makes this far easier to play -- not just because the D-pad and primary face buttons are better, but because those five extra buttons make it possible to select five of the game's nine weapons via muscle memory. With that in hand, Trevor McFur becomes quite playable and, in truth, relatively easy.

 

Anyway, I don't mind the game's lack of music as much as I mind the unskippable furry dialogue sequences that force you to wait 5 seconds before you can proceed. What's up with that? And that level that looks like a 10-year-old boy's bedroom wall decor is just embarrassing. C-.

 

45. Tetris (NES)

 

In a fit of pique, I spent four hours the other day trying to beat Type B, Level 9, Height 5 in emulation. Then I sat down today and did it on real hardware in 20 minutes. Tells you something, doesn't it? A.

 

I've beaten level 9 height 5, but it's still tough for me. Sometimes it takes me my tries before I can do it.

 

My A Type best score is 424k with a level 9 start. But my usual best is in the 200-300k range. I've only broken 400k several times.

 

I'm awed by people who can play at level 19 speed. I can sometimes score in the 100-200k range when starting at level 18. Level 19 is much harder than even 18. I can't make a single Tetris.

[+thegoldenband]

I've beaten level 9 height 5, but it's still tough for me. Sometimes it takes me my tries before I can do it.

 

My A Type best score is 424k with a level 9 start. But my usual best is in the 200-300k range. I've only broken 400k several times.

 

I'm awed by people who can play at level 19 speed. I can sometimes score in the 100-200k range when starting at level 18. Level 19 is much harder than even 18. I can't make a single Tetris.

 

I've been trying to remember exactly what I accomplished with Tetris in the early 1990s, and especially whether I ever got to Level 20.

 

I have it in my head that I did something with Level 19, but what? Maybe I just got a Tetris? Or did I break through to Level 20? Or did I beat Level 19, Height 0 on B-type?

 

No idea what my high score was, though I got the Kremlin blastoff on many occasions, so it was at least over 120k. I beat Level 9, Height 5 a few times, not sure how many but obviously the cutscene is memorable.

 

Has anyone ever beaten the more difficult Heights of Level 19 in the B game? Can't imagine anyone pulling off Height 5...

[mbd30]

 

I've been trying to remember exactly what I accomplished with Tetris in the early 1990s, and especially whether I ever got to Level 20.

 

I have it in my head that I did something with Level 19, but what? Maybe I just got a Tetris? Or did I break through to Level 20? Or did I beat Level 19, Height 0 on B-type?

 

No idea what my high score was, though I got the Kremlin blastoff on many occasions, so it was at least over 120k. I beat Level 9, Height 5 a few times, not sure how many but obviously the cutscene is memorable.

 

Has anyone ever beaten the more difficult Heights of Level 19 in the B game? Can't imagine anyone pulling off Height 5..

 

 

It's a combination of things that makes level 19 so brutal. There's the slow DAS (meaning that if you aren't "hyper tapping" the directional button at least 11 times per second or holding down the directional button well in advance then you can't get the pieces over), the insane speed, unforgiving RNG that often gives long bar droughts, and the pieces locking as soon as they land so that you can't make last second corrections. It blows my mind that there are players who can MAX OUT starting at 19. I actually consider it an accomplishment to even make one Tetris at that speed, haha.

[agb]

 

I've been trying to remember exactly what I accomplished with Tetris in the early 1990s, and especially whether I ever got to Level 20.

 

I have it in my head that I did something with Level 19, but what? Maybe I just got a Tetris? Or did I break through to Level 20? Or did I beat Level 19, Height 0 on B-type?

 

No idea what my high score was, though I got the Kremlin blastoff on many occasions, so it was at least over 120k. I beat Level 9, Height 5 a few times, not sure how many but obviously the cutscene is memorable.

 

Has anyone ever beaten the more difficult Heights of Level 19 in the B game? Can't imagine anyone pulling off Height 5...

I have beaten level 19 height 2 a few times. Edited December 3, 2018 by agb

[+thegoldenband]

I did some research after that post, and it looks like 19-3 has been beaten by a bunch of people, whlle 19-4 has at least one documented clear:

 

 

There are a bunch of tool-assisted clears of 19-4 and 19-5 on YouTube, but the one above by Dan Z/Spectre appears legit for 19-4. He also has a 19-3 video where he says his odds of clearing 19-4 on any given attempt are about 1 in 250.

 

I wasn't able to find a trustworthy video for 19-5, but allegedly Thor Aackerlund cleared it at least once.

[Cybergoth]

Is that comparable to the Game Boy difficulty? I cleared the highest level/height combo there in my youth. You get a rocket launch scene similar to the one when doing 200 lines in the regular game.

[mbd30]

I'd like to see Joseph Saelee try level 19 height 5. Even with mad hyper tapping abilities you probably still need to get lucky with an extremely favorable board layout to clear that.

[mbd30]

I would say there's a bigger difference in difficulty between level 18 and level 19 than between 9 and 18 in Nintendo Tetris.

[agb]

After reading this post about Tetris I was able to complete 9-5, 10-5, 11-5, 19-0, 19-1 pretty quickly. Took about three hours for 19-2. I wouldnt even try

19-3.

Edited December 7, 2018 by agb

[mbd30]

After reading this post about Tetris I was able to complete 9-5, 10-5, 11-5, 19-0, 19-1 pretty quickly. Took about three hours for 19-2. I wouldnt even try

19-3.

 

How long did it take you to learn how to play level 19? I can sometimes get 100-200k starting at level 18, but 19 seems impossible.

[agb]

I always started at level 18 and after 140 lines it goes to level 19 and then goes up a level every ten lines. I started playing level 19 over 20-25 years ago. I played super lot to get to those levels. Ive been to level 25. Very fast.

[agb]

Earlier this year. Level 23.

[derFunkenstein]

#15 (unofficially) - Knuckles in Sonic 2

 

I had all seven Chaos Emeralds. I was in Metropolis Zone 3 with 14 lives and a minimum of 5 continues. The game started to glitch in zone 2, those teleportation tubes didnt draw quite right. The entrance and exit had some artifacting. Zone 3 started out OK but eventually completely glitches out with the music still playing. And then the dreaded reset. SEEEE-GAAAA. MOTHER F

 

And I feel defeated. I dont even want to try again. Not sure if my new-to-me 32X is the cause or if that VA2 Genesis model 1 is the problem. Ill try again when I get my VA1.8 Genesis 2 back from iFixRetro. Its getting a triple bypass and a recap done. Once I have it and I get my OSSC (next week for that) Ill be all set. Model 2 is the model I owned as a kid so to me its worth restoring that one.

 

The worst (which I admit is minor itself) part to me is that Ive never finished Sonic 2 with super knuckles. Ugh.

Edited December 8, 2018 by derFunkenstein

[Cybergoth]

So, I did 95% of Onimusha Blade Warriors (PS2) during the past weeks, beating it with all Fighters except Magoichi. He'd require 200 rounds in Vs. mode to unlock, but my daughters showed no interest in playing this game with me...

 

Capcom games beaten in 2018: Viewtiful Joe, Dino Crisis 3, Mega Man X4, Mega Man X5, Mega Man X6, Mega Man X7, Mega Man X8, Warriors of Fate, Armored Warriors, Onimusha Tactics, Battle Circuit, Maximo vs Army of Zin & Onimusha Blade Warriors.

[derFunkenstein]

#15 for real: Shining Force Gaiden (Sega CD book 1, the Root of Evil). The last battle is supremely tough unless you have three healers with Heal3. Fortunately I had just that by the time I replayed it for the last time. First time I kept attacking with not-Nick and kept not doing damage and Im like wtf. Then I caught on...give him the sword of Hyjia and attack. Fourth or fifth try is when I had Mayfair, Sig, and Cray all Heal3 and I could keep Nick alive long enough to kill the scorpion dude. Having to do two battles back to back without the ability to Egress sucks.

 

Pretty fun game. Looking forward to the other adventures on the disc.

[agb]

NES. Tetris. Type B, I completed 12-5 and 13-5. Has anyone completed 14-5 or Better?

[HoshiChiri]

18. Katmari Damacy Reroll (Switch)

 

My gaming time is limited in November/December, but I'm not passing up one of my favorite games ever! Na, Na-na-na na na, na na...

[Cybergoth]

Just played though that nice little Adventure Gregory Horror Show (PS2)

 

Capcom games beaten in 2018: Viewtiful Joe, Dino Crisis 3, Mega Man X4, Mega Man X5, Mega Man X6, Mega Man X7, Mega Man X8, Warriors of Fate, Armored Warriors, Onimusha Tactics, Battle Circuit, Maximo vs Army of Zin, Onimusha Blade Warriors & Gregory Horror Show

[derFunkenstein]

#16: Mortal Kombat II (as Subzero) - 32X

 

I always felt like the AI of the Genesis version was clairvoyant and TOO good at the default setting. The 32X seems to have refined it somewhat to make it more like the SNES version, which on Normal I felt like it was just right. Easy enough to start out, and challenging to the point you might have to continue if you fail to use strategy.

 

edit: forgot photo.

Edited December 15, 2018 by derFunkenstein