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HSC17 Round 15: CONGO BONGO & JAVA JIM


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CONGO BONGO

congo_bongo.png.786df3c36390cae3db603d1192bce9ba.png

Holy moly, I didn't see that one winning the poll either! A solid 3.9 rating on atarmania, no not out of 5 :rolling:

Download Fandal XEX

Info Atarimania

no pause?

 

JAVA JIM

Bonus game Java Jim, ha this one is 3.8 which is strange as it's a very playable game. We didn't play it recently right? Try and do the early "phases" levels first it rolls around after the first phase, be careful not to hit 9 accidentally. See comments below but post # of phases you have completed on a go as the scoring is flawed by having too many points on the later stages.

 

Download Fandal XEX

Info Atarimania

[Option] pause

java_jim.png.b8e243d12adeff81eb293affbc71ad27.png

 

Round ends Sunday 16th August at a time of unknown :-o

 

Edited by therealbountybob
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27 minutes ago, therealbountybob said:

Bonus game Java Jim [..] We didn't play it recently right?

It has been up for polling but as far as I can tell, not been played in the HSC since 2014.

 

As for Congo Bongo, it rates 6.3/10 on Lemon 64 and 3/5 on Generation MSX. It was announced but never released for the ZX Spectrum. Mobygames has a lot of user ratings for various systems, neither goes beyond 3/5 and even most critics are scoring it low, with a few exceptions. We'll see if it is any lasting fun, or just a lackluster isometric spin on Donkey Kong.

 

Note that Clint Dyer in December 2003 rated the Atari 5200 version (which should be virtually identical to the A8 version?) at 7/10.

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/congobongo5200.htm

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Ok, after playing for half an hour I must say that Congo Bongo has one of the worst collision detection routines I've encountered in a while. In particular on level 2, it seems very random if you land successfully or die when you jump across objects. I got across to the other side, but hasn't figured out how to clear the level. Also the version from Fandal has bugged high score plus that the game shifts from final score to the title screen so fast that I'd have trouble grabbing a camera unless I had one setup on a tripod, powered on and ready to shoot any time.

 

Congo Bongo - 5560 pts (best score on level 1 without losing a life: 4130 pts)

Java Jim - 20970 pts

 

javajim-20970.jpg.ab6e039d4abe5d01d98619c8d40d7117.jpg

 

Edit: My SIO2SD came with four dumps of Congo Bongo. Three seem to be identical to the one on Fandal, the fourth is a trained version with changed colours so even worse.

 

Edit 2: The .ROM version on Atarimania seems to have OK highscore display and works when mounted in Altirra, but won't run through the SIO2SD.

 

Edit 3: Off-topic, but I got curious and had a look at all the other versions. Most of them omit stages 2 and 3 from the arcade game, leaving only stage 1 and 4 like in this version. The 1985 reimplemented disk versions for Apple II, C64 and PC booter included all stages, the ColecoVision version had at least three of four stages. Despite being a Sega game, the version for the SG-1000 doesn't even have the isometric view seen on every other system from Atari 2600 and VIC-20 and upwards. As usual, the various VDP based versions (TI-99/4A, Colecovision, MSX, SG-1000) all have different graphics despite having the same graphics system which probably is because each was developed by its own team. Nowadays it would be more likely that the same graphics were used across all systems with the same hardware.

 

Edit 4: I also played Java Jim, see above. While Atarimania has nothing to add, Mobygames has a long essay about the game, making it seem rather more complex than at first meets the eye.

Edited by carlsson
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Congo Bongo: 31,530 (The game locked up on me at this point, and this was with a real, physical cartridge. Also, I was on level 3 when this happened, and the crash changed the level back to 02 - you can see a color corruption behind the level number. Bizarre.)

20200802_194440.thumb.jpg.f994004dc9b165ab21e41154e57a00c0.jpg

 

Java Jim: 46,220

20200802_200955.thumb.jpg.1620fef92792786a62282d5a6ca54254.jpg

Edited by graywest
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Playing Java Jim for the first time reminds me of when I was a kid and a family friend gave us a bunch of disks with pirated games and no instructions. I just had to play and figure things out and make up the story in my mind. So here's what I've got so far.

 

JAVA JIM: You're Java Jim, the tiki-mask man. Hop around the board digging holes. You need to pause on a square to dig a hole, otherwise, you'll jump through it without digging. Sometimes holes contain items. The first item you need to collect seems to always be a key. When you find the appropriate item (the next item you need is noted in the upper left of the screen) you need to jump back to that square and push the button to collect it. Collecting a certain number of items (seems to increase with the phase - first phase is 3 items) will open the exit at the center of the screen. Jump up the "stairs" to end the phase.

 

While you are looking for items, the volcano in the center is spitting out rocks or lava. If the rocks hit you, you die. If they hit a hole, the hole is filled in. If they hit a regular square, that square grows a tree or a plant. Now you have to jump on the tree or plant to clear it first, before jumping back onto that square to dig.

 

The rocks can also uncover a pulsating ball of energy that will freeze you in place if it touches you, making you more vulnerable to the rocks/lava. There is also a weird frog(?) that shows up from time to time. If the frog is onscreen, you can't dig for some reason. You have to touch the frog to kill it, but only when it's green. If you touch it when it's pink, you die.

 

After each phase, the number of the next phase to which you travel is cycled onscreen, and you can push the fire button to pick your next destination. If the next phase matches the "bonus phase" which is listed onscreen, you'll have the opportunity to play a bonus game for more "digs". Not sure what triggers the bonus game during the level, but you are taken to a completely different screen with snakes and a red "cloud". Pick up the shovels but avoid the snakes and cloud. Jump on the concentric boxes to exit the bonus game.

 

Did I miss anything? This is a weird game. It's fun, though.

 

Congo Bongo, on the other hand... Ugh. ? The way the coconuts, monkeys, fish, and hippos blink from place to place reminds me of a TIGER LCD GAME. 

 

EDIT: Okay, I just read the link to MobyGames that Carlsson posted, and it seems to be very different from what I was doing. Now I'm totally confused. ? 

Edited by graywest
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Congo Bongo 13,500 34,940 36,140

Not that bad for a 3.9 out of 10 that is :-D Seriousy when you get to the 3rd/4th stage and things get quicker it picks up nicely(ish)!  Got a feeling that I have too many lives here too, don't remeber hacking this one. Tell me it's not 3?!! [edit] looks like it is so scrub this score!!) Hmm the review (link above) says you don't have to avoid the monkeys and there was me perilously jumping over them guys ? [doubole edit] ahh thanks atarimania instructions - they get on your back and stop you jumping gaps etc so you have to jump up three times to shake them off cue some Aerosmith roadrunner :thumbsup:

 

Java Jim 33530 36140

Here's the HSC rub with JJ: It would be better if you could play each phase in order, otherwise like me you accidentally get on a hard level and then get stuck but get a load of points. We could forget the score and keep track of how many phases we have completed on a go (put me down for 2 so far!) Better read up on those digs again...

 

2395847_JavaJim.jpg.634033b88c49113913ce4da8dcdaa82c.jpg1023902142_CongoBongo.jpg.8dff60a0b2d6781881a2ce3ad78a740f.jpg

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7 hours ago, McKong said:

74000 Level 7

That's some going for this terrible game :-o Did the Monkeys start to do anything?

Congo Bongo 23,030 with the 3 lives version!!!

Photo3058.jpg.352e7211f19d045368d3df9b322d9c58.jpg

Java Jim 55,350 completed levels 1,2,3,4 and 5 (so 5 in total)  then hit 7 and failed!

Photo3057.jpg.ba5c273470c7aca993454bf3d02f4b99.jpg

 

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On 8/4/2020 at 6:48 PM, therealbountybob said:

That's some going for this terrible game :-o Did the Monkeys start to do anything?

Congo Bongo 23,030 with the 3 lives version!!!

 

Java Jim 55,350 completed levels 1,2,3,4 and 5 (so 5 in total)  then hit 7 and failed!

 

 

They got a bit quicker, but that's about it. They seemed to still be pretty easy to avoid.

Once you get the hang of the directions to jump the game is quite playable. It's just a shame it looks so bad when compared to the arcade version, and of course the fact that there's two levels missing!

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On 8/5/2020 at 7:23 AM, McKong said:

They got a bit quicker, but that's about it. They seemed to still be pretty easy to avoid.

Once you get the hang of the directions to jump the game is quite playable. It's just a shame it looks so bad when compared to the arcade version, and of course the fact that there's two levels missing!

Congo Bongo

Yes would be good to see a full version one day atari guys :waving: :-D

36,770 (4)

So from the start if you jump up and left you land on the first step round the side, other places you can jump up where you don't expect you can. Jumping the top river before Congo Kong (and I use the term lightly, wasn't that a werestler another one for rr?!) is strange - I'm getting right to the corner and jumping with stick help up, seems to be reliable method. 2nd screen seems too easy until r4 where the mouths randomly? open.  Had a stuck on monkey on level 3 and went for my camera but another blighter grabbed me and they dispatched me over the cliff, the cheeky little monkeys :D

 

Java Jim, still spoiled by accidentally hitting phases 7-9 too early, had a successful 1-6 (40,130 after that) final score 57,350 on level 7, was very close to finishing 7, probably all 9 are completable. Rather than diving in the holes to avoid white storm thingy I found running arround the volcano a better tactic. [Option]=pause

JJ.jpg

JJ1.jpg

CB.jpg

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Java Jim is a fun game, much better than Congo Bongo(!) so give it a try if you have time folks ;)

 

first tables

CONGO BONGO

  1st   Deteacher                     75,240  12pts
  2nd   McKong                      74,000  11pts
  3rd   therealbountybob          53,720  10pts
  4th   graywest                     31,530  9pts
  5th   MagicMarc-er                 6,200  8pts
  6th   carlsson                        5,560  7pts
  7th   jblenkle                         5,100  6pts
  8th   roadrunner                    4,180  5pts
  9th   Mangia-Boy                   3,810  4pts
 10th   RedThunder                     460  3pts

 

JAVA JIM

  1st   therealbountybob            78,050     5pts*
  2nd   graywest                       46,220     4
  3rd   carlsson                         20,970     3
  4th   MagicMarc-er                   7,280     2
  5th   RedThunder                          50     1

*I've completed phases 1-6 you score more points for the higher phases but they are much harder to complete.

 

Round 16 POLL OPEN!

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