What have you actually PLAYED tracker for 2010 (Season 3)

[4Ks]

This weeks times.

 

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64 4 hours

Banjo-Tooie 2 hours

 

Game Boy

Boomer's Adventure in ASMIK World 30 mins

 

Intellivision

Donkey Kong 10 mins

[JayWI]

Colecovision

 

Space Panic - 20 minutes

Mr. Do - 15 minutes

Pepper II - 10 minutes

Ladybug - 10 minutes

Zaxxon - 10 minutes

[accousticguitar]

2600

MissAdventure Revised - 19 min

Miniature Golf - 10 min

Asteroids - 15 min

 

Intellivision

Shark Shark - 15 min

[Atarian7]

Atari 2600

Kaboom!-65 minutes

[littleman jack]

past two weeks

Atari 800

Galaxian 10 minutes

Congo Bongo 7 minutes

Super Pac-Man 10 minutes

Preppie II 20 minutes

K-Razy Shootout 10 minutes

Beef Drop 30 minutes

Atari 2600

Evil Magician Returns 15 minutes

Donkey Kong 10 minutes

Pac-Man 8k 10 minutes

Congo Bongo 20 minutes

Edited April 18, 2010 by littleman jack

[Kurt_Woloch]

Here are my times for this week:

 

The classic games (eligible for the Top 10):

 

Shamus (Atari 8-bit) 260 minutes in 4 sessions

Shamus (VIC-20) 356 minutes in 5 sessions

Park Patrol (C-64) 22 minutes

 

The non-classic game (non-eligible for the Top 10):

 

SteamBirds (Online game) 10 minutes

 

As you can see, I played two different versions of Shamus this week... I finally beat the Atari 8-bit version at normal speed after I noticed I was getting better. In the end it didn't even seem that hard... you just have to get used to the relatively high speed at the red level.

 

Then I revisited the VIC-20 version, which is actually the first version I got to know and play back in late 1983 on my cousin's VIC-20. It was one of three games he had on cartridge (the other two being Gridrunner and Protector II), and I remember I bought him another one, a Galaxian clone by Commodore, for a Christmas present.

Anyway, this version, compared to the Atari 8-bit one, is relatively slow, but still hard as it's impossible to cancel out the enemy fire, so you have to avoid it. Luckily, enemy fire in this version is rather slow (but speeds up as you progress) and very predictable (the enemies will always fire when you get into their line of fire, which also means that at that point you can shoot them). The enemies themselves in most rooms move very slowly, so you have to adopt another strategy than on the Atari 8-bit... that strategy is getting into their line of fire, then fire, then retreat. There's, however, one particularly hard room where on entering the room, you face enemies left, right and below you, and they all shoot at you because you are in their line of fire on entering.

The VIC-20 version actually also has a better ending than the Atari 8-bit and all other ones (except maybe the GBA one), in my opinion... but to reach it, you have to beat the 32-room maze twice. On the first time, it displays Level One, on the second time Level Two. On beating Level Two, you get into the "Lair" (which replaces the room number) which is an empty room with one big enemy in it - the Shamus itself. It's about two times as big as you and homes in on you, but it moves a bit slower than you, and your job is to hit it with your shots. On placing about 10-20 shots, you reappear on Level One without a further ending sequence, but on the Expert speed, which means they took out all the delay loops taking the speed up to the level of the Atari 8-bit version in the red level.

Actually, this ending impressed me a bit because it looks very much like the "bosses" in other games which are frequently being found at the end of a level, or at the end of a round (like, for instance, in Rainbow Islands or Rod Land). But this game came out in 1982 or 1983, so it's one of the earliest occurances of a "boss" I know.

 

Then I revisited "Park Patrol" on the C-64, but I only played one game in which I made Level 6, so I didn't bother continuing to play this.

 

As for non-classic games, I only briefly played one online game, "Steambirds", which basically is a turn-based aircraft control simulation where you try to outmanoeuver the enemy planes with your planes. You could maybe compare it to "Time Pilot" in a way, but it's still very different.

[VectorGamer]

Arcade

Mario Bros. 75 mins (HSC game)

Popeye 5 mins

Eagle 50 mins

Quantum 25 mins

Asteroids 5 mins

Missile Command 27 mins

Sinistar 7 mins

Frogger 5 mins

Galaxian 7 mins

Ms. Pac-Man 20 mins

Trog 15 mins

Zookeeper 10 mins

Super Mario Bros. 10 mins

Pepper II 10 mins

Cutie Q 90 mins

Bomb Bee 45 mins

Lunar Rescue 2 mins

Phoenix 15 mins

Galaga 15 mins

Monaco GP 20 mins

[+thegoldenband]

Times for Thursday - Sunday:

 

Vectrex:

City Bomber - 7 min.

Rockaroids - 5 min.

Solar Wars - 3 min.

Spike's Water Balloons - 2 min.

 

Sega Genesis:

Arrow Flash - 60 min.

Centurion: Defender of Rome - 25 min.

Mortal Kombat - 32 min.

Sword of Sodan - 193 min.

Wiz 'n' Liz - 30 min.

World of Illusion - 65 min.

Zoop - 8 min.

 

Sega 32X:

Metal Head - 75 min.

 

Super NES:

Art of Fighting - 5 min.

Batman Forever - 4 min.

Super Tennis - 27 min.

Wordtris - 42 min.

 

Dreamcast:

Worms World Party - 93 min.

 

Some notes:

 

I seem to be one of the only people on the planet who likes Sword of Sodan, despite all its flaws and frustrations. Aesthetically, it's totally a "computer-style" game rather than "console-style", which is part of why it seems so out of place on the Genesis. Obviously, the game originated on the Amiga, but in a weird way it reminds me of the CoCo 3, though I'm not sure why. (I guess maybe because it's the kind of game you can imagine being made on a system that doesn't have hardware sprites or autonomous sound hardware!)

 

Anyway, I'd beaten SOS before on Easy with 7 starting lives, but this weekend I beat it with only 3 starting lives. It's really not much harder, since extra lives are pretty easy to acquire if you plan carefully. In both cases I used the female warrior, so the next step would be to beat Easy using the male warrior, whose increased power is more than outweighed by his poor movement. After that comes Normal mode (there is no "Hard" per se), which I'm not looking forward to as it seems like all the enemies can take a ridiculous amount of punishment (i.e. repeated stabs to the groin).

 

Other "incremental conquests" include beating Mortal Kombat on Hard for the first time (using Scorpion). Despite a controller malfunction that cost me a couple matches, I managed to breeze through the last few fights on my last continue. Maybe my controller glitch somehow confused the AI, as it was letting me get away with some seriously cheap jump kick tactics. Goro's no Kintaro, I tell you what.

 

I completed the Donald solo quest in World of Illusion. His is the most challenging of the three quests -- the flume ride has some tricky jumps reminiscent of some of the nastier NES platformers -- but since the game offers unlimited continues, you're more or less guaranteed to beat it every time you play it. Indeed I've done just that: three sessions, three completed games. But somehow I don't mind, since WOI is a pleasure to play, and the different quests make me feel like I've gotten a lot of replay value out of the game.

 

Finally, I bought Arrow Flash this week (for less than two bucks!). Like WOI, I beat it the first time I ever played it. But that was on the game's easiest settings; when in the spirit of hubris, I tried again on the hardest settings, I immediately got slaughtered. My girlfriend and I had a huge chuckle midway through Stage 1, when warning klaxons sound to tell you that you're "OUT OF DANGER". That has to be the strangest alert I've ever seen!

Edited April 19, 2010 by thegoldenband

[StanJr]

Palamedes (NES) 20 mins.

[cvga]

I apologize for this post being a full week late. Week 14 brought 79 games played for 4,557 minutes. A strong week for the NES and various Sega systems!

 

Week 14 Top 10...

1. Hang-On (Sega Master System) 360 minutes

2. Defenders of Dynatron City (NES) 285

3. Shamus (Atari 8-bit) 259

4. Rampart (NES) 240

5. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 192

6. Hatris (NES) 180

7. Smurfs Travel the World (Sega Master System) 170

8. Atomic Robo-kid (Sega Genesis) 152

9. Bandai Golf Pebble Beach (NES) 150

10. Worms World Party (Sega Dreamcast) 148

 

Week 14 Pre-NES Top 10...

1. Shamus (Atari 8-bit) 259 minutes

2. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 192

3. Toy Bizarre (Commodore 64) 120

3. Adventure (Atari 2600) 120

5. River Raid (Atari 2600) 91

6. Indenture 2600 (Atari 2600) 90

6. Shark! Shark! (Intellivision) 90

8. MisAdventure Revised (Atari 2600) 78

9. Cutie Q (Arcade) 60

10. Evil Magician Returns (Atari 2600) 52

 

Also, Congrats to Pepper II (Arcade) for becoming the 30th title to make the 1,000 minute club! It also becomes the first title to make the 1,000 minute club with two different systems!

[cvga]

OK, now I'm just about caught up. Week 15 brings 86 titles for another 3,773 minutes! I don't recall another week where all of the Atari consoles are shut out of the Top Ten.

 

Week 15 Season 3 Top Ten...

1. Bandai Golf Pebble Beach (NES) 450 minutes

2. Shamus (Vic-20) 356

3. Shamus (Atari 8-bit) 260

4. Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64) 240

5. Worms World Party (Sega Dreamcast) 228

6. Sword of Sodan (Sega Genesis) 193

7. Power Strike (Sega Master System) 120

7. Banjo-Tooie (Nintendo 64) 120

9. Adventures of Bayou Billy (NES) 105

10. Cutie Q (Arcade) 90

 

Pre-NES Top Ten...

1. Shamus (Vic-20) 356 minutes

2. Shamus (Atari 8-bit) 260

3. Cutie Q (Arcade) 90

4. Mario Brothers (Arcade) 75

5. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) 65

6. Eagle (Arcade) 50

7. Bomb Bee (Arcade) 45

8. Beef Drop (Atari 8-bit) 30

8. Toy Bizarre (Commodore 64) 30

10. Missile Command (Arcade) 27

[cvga]

Shamus for the Atari 8-bit becomes the 31st game to reach the 1,000 minute club!

 

Here is the historical record of the titles that have reached the 1,000 minute club...

 

Season #1

1. Pitfall (2600) Week 2

2. Man Goes Down (2600) Week 8

3. Kaboom! (2600) Week 9

4. Toyshop Trouble (2600) Week 11

 

Season #2

5. Adventure (2600) Week 1

6. Jack and the Beanstalk (2600) Week 2

7. Dragster (2600) Week 3

8. Park Patrol (C-64) Week 5

9. Galaxian (2600) Week 24

10. Mouse Trap (COLV) Week 25

10. Donkey Kong (2600) Week 25

12. Midnight Magic (2600) Week 27

13. Pepper II (COLV) Week 29

14. Galaga (Arcade) Week 30

15. Jr. Pac-man (7800) Week 37

16. Ms. Pac-man (2600) Week 40

17. Medieval Mayhem (2600) Week 42

 

Season #3

18. Missile Command (2600) Week 1

19. MisAdventure Revised (2600) Week 3

20. Centipede (TI-99) Week 4

21. Devil's Crush (Turbo Grafx) Week 5

22. Reactor (2600) Week 7

22. Final Fantasy (NES) Week 7

24. Hang-On (Sega Master System) Week8

24. Phantasy Star 4 (Genesis) Week 8

26. Sword of Vermilion (Genesis) Week 10

27. Dragon Warrior (NES) Week 11

27. Millipede (Atari 2600) Week 11

29. Worms World Party (Sega Dreamcast) Week 12

30. Pepper II (Arcade) Week 14

31. Shamus (Atari 8-bit) Week 15

[VectorGamer]

Arcade

Monaco GP 65 mins

Eagle 10 mins

Mr. Do! 10 mins

Missile Command 7 mins

Cutie Q 20 mins

Tail Gunner 10 mins

[StanJr]

Karate Kid (NES) 15 mins.

Atlus Golf Grand Slam (NES) 1 hour

Abadox (NES) 10 mins.

Arkanoid (NES) 20 mins.

 

I promise to get in some VCS action later this week!

Edited April 21, 2010 by StanJr

[zylon]

2600: Grand prix 10min

SMS: Double Dragon 1hr

INTV: Pinball 30min

[VectorGamer]

Arcade

Monaco GP 45 mins

Eagle 20 mins

Asteroids 20 mins

Mr. Do! 15 mins

 

 

How close is Eagle to joining the 1000 min club?

[cvga]

Arcade

Monaco GP 45 mins

Eagle 20 mins

Asteroids 20 mins

Mr. Do! 15 mins

 

 

How close is Eagle to joining the 1000 min club?

 

I have it at just over 700 minutes.

[cvga]

Arcade

Monaco GP 45 mins

Eagle 20 mins

Asteroids 20 mins

Mr. Do! 15 mins

 

 

How close is Eagle to joining the 1000 min club?

 

I have it at just over 700 minutes.

 

 

Arcade through Week 15 Season 3

 

1. Galaga 2,341

2. Pepper II 1,014

3. Sinistar 868

4. Ms. Pac-man 746

5. Eagle 678 (doesn't include your times for this week so far)

6. Pac-man 605

[VectorGamer]

Arcade

Monaco GP 45 mins

Eagle 20 mins

Mr. Do! 5 mins

Missile Command 3 mins

Cutie Q 20 mins

Tail Gunner 5 mins

Asteroids 7 mins

Edited April 22, 2010 by rmaerz

[StanJr]

Atlus Golf Grand Slam (NES) 1.5 hours

Pitfall! (VCS) 35 mins.

Pitfall II (VCS) 10 mins. (perfect run ruined early)

Plaque Attack (VCS) 30 mins.

Final Approach (VCS) 30 mins.

 

 

See, VCS love!

 

[StanJr]

LOLO 3 (NES) 3 hours (yeah that's right)

[VectorGamer]

Arcade

Monaco GP 25 mins

Eagle 25 mins

Missile Command 5 mins

Cutie Q 20 mins

Asteroids 20 mins

Sinistar 10 mins

[StanJr]

Lolo 3 (NES) 1 hour

Super Jeopardy! (NES) 30 mins

[zylon]

SMS: Double dragon 2hrs

2600: Astroblast 30min (got a replacement)

INTV: Dragonfire 15min

INTV: Reversi 25min

Edited April 24, 2010 by zylon

[StanJr]

Atlus Golf Grand Slam (NES) 1 hour

Lolo 3 (NES) 2 hours