Good goals for some classic arcade games

[Good goals for some classic arcade games]

4 hours ago, mr_me said:

Arcade pong didn't have computer AI; it didn't have a computer.  It was a two player game.  If atari vault has a pong ttl simulator they could program a computer player layer on top of it to control player input.  Does it have difficulty settings?

No, no difficulty level. It just had a 1 player or 2 player option and the computer controlled the second paddle in the 1 player option. I assume they just built a simple AI layer on top, in the same way they built the games to have online multiplayer options. It's a pretty dumb AI though. It didn't take long to win a match against.

[Good goals for some classic arcade games]

17 hours ago, mr_me said:

Curious what version of pong you played, I think the Atari 2600 version is one of the only ones at that time that had computer ai.

I'm trying to find as original and official sources I can find without going crazy. For Pong, I played the version in the Atari Vault set on Steam. It was in the arcade section as opposed to the Atari 2600 section so I assumed it was the original arcade code. 🤷‍♂️

[Good goals for some classic arcade games]

23 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

For Bubble Bobble, aim initially for 100K, then push that to 200K when you hit it.  Keep building your score up in steps and you should have a pretty good challenge on your hands.

 

FWIW, I'd recommend reading up on the various secrets, etc. the game has.  If your initial focus is just on score, I wouldn't start worrying about them until you're consistently over the 300K mark, but they are good to know about.

Actually, I wasn't aware Bubble Bobble had an ending. I think shooting for the bad ending, since I will be playing solo, is a good enough goal. Unless that's like insanely difficult?

 

BTW, any suggestions for Space Invaders? I had mentioned beating level 5, but it does seem like shooting for scores is more in line with the spirit of these classic arcade games.

[Good goals for some classic arcade games]

Thank you Cynicaster! That is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for.

[Good goals for some classic arcade games]

So, I've been told this is the place to come for opinions on classic arcade games. Basically, I have set myself up for a somewhat odd project, completely for fun. I've decided I want to play through video game history essentially. I am wanting to use the list as presented here

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered_the_best

 

Now, I understand one does not drop a list like that into a forum like this and not expect some sort of backlash. I like it though. It passes the sniff test to me, so it's what I'm using. I'm not really posting it to debate over the validity of the list or what games should or should not be on there.

 

Anyway, my goal is to play each of these games in order. I've played Pong and beat the computer, which was very easy. I also just finished up Zork, which I'll own up to some cheating on my part going on. That one was not easy.

 

With those two games, the ending was easy. With modern games and the advent of console games, there is usually a definitive ending. The problem with most arcade games is there is no ending. You just play until you die or the machine freezes up. So, what I am asking here is: What are suggestions for good goals in each of these games? As in, what is a goal I could set for myself that I can feel like I've seen what the game has to offer? Basically, I want something a little challenging, but I don't want to spend months on end trying to get to master ranks on something.

 

For example, I'm doing Space Invaders right now. It seems the aliens drop lower and lower until Level 5. Would beating Level 5 be a good goal there. Challenging, but nothing I have to devote a major chunk of my life to? Anyway, here are a list of the arcade games on that list, that from what I can tell, don't have a defined ending:

 

Asteroids

Missile Command

Pac-Man

Defender

Donkey Kong

Galaga

Joust

Ms. Pac-Man

Robotron: 2084

Gauntlet

Bubble Bobble