Jump to content
IGNORED

What were the hardest arcade coin-op games?


ericwierson

Recommended Posts

Well, I knew there was a duck button, but I guess I freaked myself out, expecting him to jump to another corner before attacking me. IIRC he'd mix it up, sometimes he'd jump 3 times, sometimes 2, maybe 1. I let that throw me off completely.

 

No, he always has the same pattern. The only thing he mixes up is the direction; i.e., sometimes he makes his jumps around the ring in a counter clockwise pattern like in the video I linked to. Other times he does the same jumps but in a clockwise pattern. It is always 4 jumps plus the jumpkick; the first jump is directly to the left or right into a crouching stance on the mat. The second jump is to the turnbuckle directly behind him. The third jump is to the other rear turnbuckle. The fourth jump is back down to the crouching stance on the mat, on the opposite side of his first jump. At that point you want to duck, because his jumpkick is next.

 

The second Dragon Chan and higher only does one jump, and it is the first jump from his earlier pattern. The difficulty here is that he waits in his crouching stance on the mat for a variable length of time before doing the jump kick, so it is not as easy to predict when the kick will arrive.

Been so long since I played it, I guess.. I wasn't particularly good back then when faced with a one-hit knockdown in boxing games.. my nerves would get the better of me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Toughest Game: Qix

Yeah, Qix used to "Qick" my ass. I read there's a trick to take out the sparks so you only have to deal with Qix.. you make a small "T" out of buildings, and when the sparks come near pull away from the floor/ceiling and let them wander around on the T while you make a big square/rectangle around it. This will trap them on the T and they can't get out. Been a while since I tried it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dragon stomper said: "I can't remember the game, but it's an Elevator Action-like game where you are a cop. MAME doesn't emulate it perfectly, but it emulates it enough to show how bad this obscure game is. It's too easy to die, and it spawns robbers at you so frequently, you have barely any time to react."

 

 

That piece of crap was called Time Limit, and the limit was obviously 7 seconds for each quarter you foolishly inserted. You didn't even have time to focus on the screen, see where your man was, and try to figure out what you were supposed to do before your first death. A truly crappy game which makes one wonder if anyone played these before they were put into cabinets and sent to arcades. Who could possibly squeeze the trigger on Satan's Hollow fast enough to stay alive and not steer haphazardly as you tried to fire fast enough to have any chance. Then the swooping birds become mostly invisible. As if it wasn't hard enough already!

 

I liked Star Castle, but once you crossed 10000 points you might as well just walk away. If you have managed to destroy him half a dozen times you'll have a small chance of making 12000 points, as the sparks are so agressive that you can't do anything but hold your finger down on the thrust button and scroll off and on the screen. There is no way to do anything productive as their speed leaves no time for you do acheive anything, but it was the closest that Cinematronics came to getting it right, with their insistence on using buttons only, which made everything harder to steer. Choose your direction, then seperately press another button to make your man move in that direction.

 

I hope that some day someone will get inside the code of say, Bagman, and make him move faster, get rid of the timer, allow you to fire without the enemy becoming impossible to deal with. One might finish the first board without the timer, with it I can't see how anyone could even walk around the three screen board and collect all the money bags if that was all you had to do, that is, there are no little klondike guys that seemed to always be right there even if you just left the screen and they were on the far other side, immediately scroll back and there they are. I only played this game once. That was enough. Watched others try their luck. Many feet left scuffs on the front as most people booted the game after it basically stole their quarter with its totally disappointing game play. Then again, it was a Stern game and they only came close to a playable game once with Super Cobra, and even that had the one pixel ememy fire that was near impossible to see.

 

Universal's Lady Bug frustrated me big time as well as it was soooo picky about pushing up at just the right time to actually go up, or left, etc., push up too soon and you simply were killed by whatever was on your tail as you weren't in the exactly perfectly right place for up to work, and by the time you realized this, you were dead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm.. never seen or played Time Limit. I concur on Star Castle and Bagman. I still play Bagman because the general gameplay is fun. But Star Castle I was ALWAYS bad at.

 

I liked Ladybug and was able to get to probably the 6th or 7th level. I didn't think it was SUPER hard..

 

The biggest bane to my existence has to be Jail Break, without a doubt. This game makes me want to break it into pieces and stomp them into dust, then relieve myself on the ashes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently bought a Crazy Climber for nothing more than nostalgic reasons, and it is HARD. I forgot how hard it actually was to manipulate the controllers. I own quite a few Coin ops. and this is by far the hardest, it is almost impossible to get very far. I have had it over a week now and still have trouble getting past the second building. For whatever reason I thought I was good at this back in the day, but I suck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently bought a Crazy Climber for nothing more than nostalgic reasons, and it is HARD. I forgot how hard it actually was to manipulate the controllers. I own quite a few Coin ops. and this is by far the hardest, it is almost impossible to get very far. I have had it over a week now and still have trouble getting past the second building. For whatever reason I thought I was good at this back in the day, but I suck.

I never thought Crazy Climber was SUPER hard.. I normally get to the 3rd building. But even veteran CC players hate those stupid girders/dumbbells.

Once you understand the controller scheme, you can move up the building pretty quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently bought a Crazy Climber for nothing more than nostalgic reasons, and it is HARD. I forgot how hard it actually was to manipulate the controllers. I own quite a few Coin ops. and this is by far the hardest, it is almost impossible to get very far. I have had it over a week now and still have trouble getting past the second building. For whatever reason I thought I was good at this back in the day, but I suck.

I never thought Crazy Climber was SUPER hard.. I normally get to the 3rd building. But even veteran CC players hate those stupid girders/dumbbells.

Once you understand the controller scheme, you can move up the building pretty quickly.

The dumb bells are are a major reason I can't get past the 2nd building very often. I can blow thru the first building, but I usually lose at least 3 guys on the 2nd. Any tricks on how to defeat the dumb bells? I have searched online and there is nothing of value at all. The tricks they say do not work AT ALL! I want to eventually go for the T.G. record, but I need some help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently bought a Crazy Climber for nothing more than nostalgic reasons, and it is HARD. I forgot how hard it actually was to manipulate the controllers. I own quite a few Coin ops. and this is by far the hardest, it is almost impossible to get very far. I have had it over a week now and still have trouble getting past the second building. For whatever reason I thought I was good at this back in the day, but I suck.

I never thought Crazy Climber was SUPER hard.. I normally get to the 3rd building. But even veteran CC players hate those stupid girders/dumbbells.

Once you understand the controller scheme, you can move up the building pretty quickly.

The dumb bells are are a major reason I can't get past the 2nd building very often. I can blow thru the first building, but I usually lose at least 3 guys on the 2nd. Any tricks on how to defeat the dumb bells? I have searched online and there is nothing of value at all. The tricks they say do not work AT ALL! I want to eventually go for the T.G. record, but I need some help.

Been a good while since I played.. but all I can say is make sure you have plenty room to move when the dumbbells/girders start falling.. they tend to bounce for some inexplicable reason and move left or right instead of falling straight down. So be prepared to move, or not move! Also, unlike the other dangers, if you fall, when you return they will still come down at you. So you really need to get out of there as fast as you can!

Other than that, I can't really help you too much.. however, check this website out and shoot the webmaster an e-mail.. he might be able to give you some pointers!

http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/climber/climber.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Gotta agree with Sinistar being very difficult. Don't think I ever killed him more than two times

Stargate (Defender II) was tough even after I figured out the warp secret.

Robotron is my all time favorite game and I agree about it being a total hand/eye coordination game and I would put it up there as one of the all time toughest.

Space Harrier always gave me trouble for some reason.

Major Havoc I found very difficult -- I didn't have the patience for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pepper II is pretty tough...the Eyes and Zipper Ripper move quickly...I've found that when you begin the game (or after you die) you have to hit the center of the maze and grab a pitch fork right away, get the Eyes and then start working outward towards the corners.

 

Galaxian is much tougher than Galaga and therefore I would suspect there were more plays on the former.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about Missile Command? Sure a few people have mastered it, but most newbie's find it very, very hard to get past 10,000 points. I own the game, put in tons of practice, and have only got to around 150,000. If I'm not 100 percent focused, I'll lose far before then.

 

The souped-up version, Super Missile Attack, should easily be among the very hardest games.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently bought a Crazy Climber for nothing more than nostalgic reasons, and it is HARD. I forgot how hard it actually was to manipulate the controllers. I own quite a few Coin ops. and this is by far the hardest, it is almost impossible to get very far. I have had it over a week now and still have trouble getting past the second building. For whatever reason I thought I was good at this back in the day, but I suck.

I never thought Crazy Climber was SUPER hard.. I normally get to the 3rd building. But even veteran CC players hate those stupid girders/dumbbells.

Once you understand the controller scheme, you can move up the building pretty quickly.

The dumb bells are are a major reason I can't get past the 2nd building very often. I can blow thru the first building, but I usually lose at least 3 guys on the 2nd. Any tricks on how to defeat the dumb bells? I have searched online and there is nothing of value at all. The tricks they say do not work AT ALL! I want to eventually go for the T.G. record, but I need some help.

Been a good while since I played.. but all I can say is make sure you have plenty room to move when the dumbbells/girders start falling.. they tend to bounce for some inexplicable reason and move left or right instead of falling straight down. So be prepared to move, or not move! Also, unlike the other dangers, if you fall, when you return they will still come down at you. So you really need to get out of there as fast as you can!

Other than that, I can't really help you too much.. however, check this website out and shoot the webmaster an e-mail.. he might be able to give you some pointers!

http://www.basementarcade.com/arcade/climber/climber.html

Thanks for the link. I have since been able to beat the 4th building. I think with some luck I can get near the T.G. top 5 scores.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Gotta agree with Sinistar being very difficult. Don't think I ever killed him more than two times

Stargate (Defender II) was tough even after I figured out the warp secret.

Robotron is my all time favorite game and I agree about it being a total hand/eye coordination game and I would put it up there as one of the all time toughest.

Space Harrier always gave me trouble for some reason.

Major Havoc I found very difficult -- I didn't have the patience for it.

 

Tempest is one of my favorites (actually own one) and pretty good at....people use to hate playing doubles with me

As mentioned earlier you can fly diagonally to beat Star Castle, way back then I played for about 8 hours to see if the score would roll...

Asteroid Deluxe was definitely difficult compared to the original

 

Some that I haven't seen listed or missed:

Fenzy and even Berzerk was difficult after a few levels

Star Wars (another favorite) was also pretty difficult till you learned all the patterns of the towers and trenches...

Tron was somewhat difficult, again once you learn the tank spots and the light cycle patterns it was pretty easy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gotta agree with Sinistar being very difficult. Don't think I ever killed him more than two times

Stargate (Defender II) was tough even after I figured out the warp secret.

Robotron is my all time favorite game and I agree about it being a total hand/eye coordination game and I would put it up there as one of the all time toughest.

Space Harrier always gave me trouble for some reason.

Major Havoc I found very difficult -- I didn't have the patience for it.

 

Tempest is one of my favorites (actually own one) and pretty good at....people use to hate playing doubles with me

As mentioned earlier you can fly diagonally to beat Star Castle, way back then I played for about 8 hours to see if the score would roll...

Asteroid Deluxe was definitely difficult compared to the original

 

Some that I haven't seen listed or missed:

Fenzy and even Berzerk was difficult after a few levels

Star Wars (another favorite) was also pretty difficult till you learned all the patterns of the towers and trenches...

Tron was somewhat difficult, again once you learn the tank spots and the light cycle patterns it was pretty easy

Another tough one I forgot about, Berzerk. I honestly must have invested over $200 plus to get remotely decent at this game. Even getting past the first quick shot round is tough.

Good job on Star Castle, I never have been or will be good at this game.

Tron is one of my favorites and it is one I am good at, of course after learning the patterns.

Star wars is kind of a mixed bag. I can consistently get over a 2 million, but just can't get past the hump and be able to marathon it.

As far as Frenzy goes... I have only played it a few times and was bored.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Frenzy is a pretty flawed game.. the changes they made weren't very interesting. A Gauntlet-like perspective, IMO, would have made for a nice update. But the lack of technology would have made it impossible at the time. Boss robots, a shop for weapon and item upgrades, bonus stages, etc. would be cool. If any game needs a proper update, I'd like to see Berzerk get one. Oh, and Scramble as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Frenzy is a pretty flawed game.. the changes they made weren't very interesting. A Gauntlet-like perspective, IMO, would have made for a nice update. But the lack of technology would have made it impossible at the time. Boss robots, a shop for weapon and item upgrades, bonus stages, etc. would be cool. If any game needs a proper update, I'd like to see Berzerk get one. Oh, and Scramble as well.

How would you update scramble? It is one of my favorite games of all time. If I were to update it I would not change anything accept the controller. The controllers are very petite and when you manage to find one these days (RARE) they do not work very well. I was fortunate enough to get to play a multicade type machine at the Portland retro game expo and the controller worked great. Other than the controller I can't think of anything I would change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Updates in the arcade industry involving classic games generally work out quite well, unlike the movie industry involving updating classic films. I really think a Scramble update could work out. Shot upgrades, more levels, boss fights, animated cutscenes, etc. would make it more enjoyable. I love the original too, but there can always be ways to successfully upgrade it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...