DT Kofoed

That is a 1975 Ford Thunderbird 8-track deck. Well, nevermind then!

First time playing Submarine Commander: 590. Also the first Sears exclusive I've played.

Wouldn't that picture be all the sweeter in an 8-track deck?

OK, here's initial scores for the three I already own. Night Driver: 59 - definitely room to improve there; a simple, but fun game. Spike's Peak: 41,550 - best I've ever done, seeing as I've never bothered to move past that horrendous first screen before! I love the HSC for giving me reason to play games I never really gave a fair shake to in the first place. Also, I love the double-enders, though I only have two of the four necessary for a complete set of all 8 unique Xonox games. Crypts of Chaos: 2818 - great concept, crap execution. Tonight I figured out for the first time which screens indicate you can actually turn left and right! I know some of you will cringe to read it, but I really need to make some maps here. Submarine Commander is on my Harmony, and I'll get to it soon... it's one I voted for in the past. Also, do the variety packs alter the length of the HSC Season? Is 25 still the end? I got into this one late, and don't think I'll crack a top five finish. Maybe next season, maybe not.

The Earth Dies Screaming HAS to be the best game title ever!

Made it to the third level on my first life, not that my score increased much! 14,300.

"Hard" improvement bonus: 13,800. Military Hero Bonus: my wife's friend's brother, Peter Gould of Syracuse KS, was just awarded the Silver Star for bravery in Afghanistan.

Back from camping: 8900. This game is making me grumpy, and I won't be content until level 2 is laid to waste.

Didn't have a chance to play this morning; top score from last night: 8000. I'll wait to post a picture until I crack 10K. Thanks for the advice, JacobZu7zu7... I figured out my problem, and found a beneficial error when attacking the fort. Though my shots from the foot soldier looked like they were reaching the fort, it turns out you have to be MUCH closer for them to register and trigger the fort's destruction than the actual displayed shot distance. Also, if you're in a tank that's destroyed and you jump to safety, the program will switch your shot IN-TRANSIT from tank fire to foot soldier fire, thus making it appear that I could only kill the fort when I was myself hit.

Groovy, I'll give it another go here. Thanks.

6100, and a scout camping trip the next 3 days... Anyone know the trick to destroying the fortress thingy? I know tank fire isn't supposed to work, but neither does my soldier's "Anti-tank missile" seem to have any effect... UNLESS, that is, I DIE as I fire! I have only ever destroyed the fort when 1) my tank was hit as I fired, where I jump to safety and the fort blows up, or 2) I get shot and die and the fort blows up. I have never yet destroyed the fort with any shot from the soldier or tank EXCEPT for when I myself am hit by the fort, in which case both tank and soldier fire work. We both fire at each other, I get hit, and THEN my shot kills the fort. Only AFTER the hit registers on me will the fort blow up. So. Either my ROM is flawed, or I'm missing something terribly obvious as to what triggers the destruction. Help?

Zero, not that it's terribly important, since most of us qualified last round, but it appears that the Plant Manager Certification bonus +4 thingy wasn't applied to the standings.

Second that. I have literally tried to lose, and you cannot; I have set the joystick on the floor and stepped back, only to watch the flames die out all on their own. I can neither see, nor care to know, how that competition would play out

I like this. Did you build it from scratch or are they smaller units arranged together? All custom work - one giant, slightly flexible piece of woodwork.

I love the XONOX double-ender carts... but I've yet to find a game of theirs I actually enjoy playing (no, I haven't played them all yet).

Thanks: I hadn't realized you can hug the top and bottom of the screen and slip around the fans. That really helped me clear level 9.

I definitely recommend a Harmony, even if only for the HSC. I received one for Father's Day this year, and it's saved me a huge amount of hassle each week (and money, since I can pick up the cart later when I find a good deal). I've only had trouble with the Mindmaster, as is well known, and that only on the final score screen. It will handle PAL game ROMs fine, assuming you have a PAL TV to play them on! Otherwise, a lot of the PAL games have NTSC conversions some diligent programmers made available. +Actual hardware+

Naturally, as soon as I make this griping public, I decide to play one more game for vengeance, and: (pardon the flash) I finally got it. Woot. I think I'm good for this week's games now...

Level 9 -200 and still I meltdown; just can't seem to clear that last one regardless of all those damned lives the game accumulates!

Bonus territory: I resorted to emulation and did much better. Still not a fan... we'll see if I try to get the all-clear before the week is up.

21963 This is much more fun.

Alright, completed a game: level 6 - 185. Can anyone explain what triggers the level to end? I don't seem to get it.

OK, so I got bored playing China Syndrome and quit on the 5th level... I'll come back to finish a game later. Meltdown, however, I found to be pretty fantastic. First time playing I scored 6977 and had a blast; looks like I'll be playing the challenge game more than the actual pick! [and I even voted for China Syndrome]

Patch me up: 58! So close to that 2nd patch, I must fight on... Also, I haven't encountered any of those aforementioned glitches with my old standard label cart, so I think there really is something fishy going on with that blue label chip. As for weather conditions, the only one I can't cope with is snow, so I took the forums advice on backpedaling, there. Fog is no big thing, it's like night, but easier because you can see them even when they're not shooting; just use the radar to get close and play it like normal daytime.

Possible glitches? Ok, I've been playing my blue label copy, since the chip contacts are more stable, but now I'm encountering some funkiness I don't recall seeing with my older standard label copy: weird things happen above 40 kills... 1) Tanks that are behind me (as shown on radar, and not visible on screen) launch shots that come FROM IN FRONT OF ME and 2) I'm getting MULTIPLE enemy shots on screen simultaneously. Am I just going crazy from preparing for my daughter's birthday party, or is this some funky shite going down on my cartridge? Anyone else playing a blue label, or encountering similar wonkiness? I'm going to switch to my standard cart for the final couple days and see if I can finally crack that patch, because I'm awful frustrated at this point...