Season 18 Round 7 of 15 - Gun.Smoke

[asponge]

If you've never played this one before, be aware that you must find or purchase a wanted poster in order to face the stage boss and continue the game.  Having said that, please do your best to defeat the bosses and don't purposefully loop the stages for points. 

 

I read through the official manual and found that it's missing descriptions for most of the pickup items.  I've added an additional link that explains the various items that are commonly dropped from enemies, barrels and sometimes shooting random background elements or just thin air.

 

 

Game Rules:

No Continues

Manual

Pickup Item Descriptions

 

Score Post Deadline: Sunday November 22 at 11:59 PM CST.

 

AtariAge High Score:

999,990 by rjchamp3 posted on 9/8/2006

 

Scores as of 11/22:

Razzie.P      845,510
bubufubu      585,110
asponge       141,240
fakecortex     81,910
mbd30          77,880
AtariSphinx    38,950
empsolo        34,060
roadrunner     33,170

 

Season Standings:

 

 

General HSC Season Rules:

• To participate, just post a score to the thread. Anyone can join in at any time.
• A picture or screenshot is encouraged when posting a score but not required.
• The season is 15 rounds long.
• Games will be posted on Sundays and run two weeks through Sunday at 11:59 PM CST.
• Do not exploit game glitches, take advantage of 1-up loops or intentionally die in order to replay a level.
• If "point pressing" is not specified in the game rules you should be moving forward in an attempt to complete/loop the game and not "camping" for points.
• No emulator save states, slow-mo, rewind, etc.
• No cheats, e.g. Konami code, Game Genie, etc.
• Turbo controllers are allowed.
• Round points are awarded according to the following chart:
  

[asponge]

95,990

 

[roadrunner]

Game info here

https://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/gunsmoke

Review here

https://retrogameman.com/2016/11/14/nes-review-gun-smoke/

[bubufubu]

Pretty tight race that Razzie and mbd got going.

 

For whatever reason(s), I'm just not all that good at Gun.Smoke.  The Arcade version seems pretty difficult.  Best I ever managed was I once made it to the Round 5 boss.  I can't even remember how I fared with the 8-bit port because it's been too long.  I like the theme of a wild west shootout but I never cared for how enemies can avoid hits even when the sprite of your bullets comes into contact with their sprite.  It's as if the game turns off the enemy's hitbox and your shots go right through them.  Makes the game so much more frustrating for me.

[Razzie.P]

I wanted this game so much as a kid, but none of the my local stores had it, and Sears (my go-to for mail ordering) was out of stock.  One day, I was hanging out with my childhood friend, Lindsey, and one of the store owners called my house, told my uncle that he had 1 copy on shelves.   I was super excited (I had the money saved) so I started walking around the neighborhood trying to find a ride to town.  Meanwhile, Lindsey went home, told his mom, and they went to the store to buy the only copy.  

 

It all worked out I suppose - we played games together, so whenever a buddy had a copy of a game, it was the same as me having a copy - but I can still remember the disappointment of being told "Lindsey came and got this about 2 hours ago" when I finally got there.

 

... and then there's the time I realized I just spent $50,000 on a wanted poster for a bounty that only brought $25,000. 

[Razzie.P]

268,850

 

 

 

 

[mbd30]

77,880

 

 

 

[asponge]

141,240

 

[Razzie.P]

371,510

 

Devil Hawk got a lucky shot.

 

 

 

[Razzie.P]

You guys may know this already, but just in case it helps anyone --  if you're having trouble finding the Wanted Posters, but don't wanna lose $$$ buy buying them, these were a big help for me 

 

Gun.Smoke Maps

 

I think I could max out the score on this if real life (mostly the day job) would back off for a bit.  ?  

 

 

[mbd30]

I'm probably done. This game legit hurts my hands to play for very long.

 

[Razzie.P]

37 minutes ago, mbd30 said:

I'm probably done. This game legit hurts my hands to play for very long.

 

 

I thought about asking during Contra, and again during Castlevania, but since you mentioned that -- what are your guys' thoughts on pausing for extended times during the longer games?   I know technically nobody would know, but to keep with the spirit of things, if you're playing and get hand cramps, or work/kids/other interrupts your run, would it seem out of sorts and/or poor sportsmanship to pause the game, turn off the screen, and pick it back up after an hour or 2?

 

 

[asponge]

On 11/15/2020 at 1:25 PM, Razzie.P said:

would it seem out of sorts and/or poor sportsmanship to pause the game, turn off the screen, and pick it back up after an hour or 2?

It's ok in my opinion as long as the game actually has a pause feature and it's not being paused through an emulator.  I don't see the harm in that.

[fakecortex]

Probably shouldn't have bought that first wanted poster...I'll take a look at that map. When you play for levels and not score, you want to buys stuff and try out different weapons, so the game plays a bit differently. Does everyone pretty much avoid spending any money at all?

 

42,370 Level 2

[fakecortex]

According to: https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Gun.Smoke_(NES)/Walkthrough (that @Razzie.P shared)

 

"In this game, points aren't for showing off a high-score, they are actually dollars that you collect and spend at shops."

 

Yeah, tell that to this HSC...

[bubufubu]

On 11/15/2020 at 12:25 PM, Razzie.P said:

 

I thought about asking during Contra, and again during Castlevania, but since you mentioned that -- what are your guys' thoughts on pausing for extended times during the longer games?   I know technically nobody would know, but to keep with the spirit of things, if you're playing and get hand cramps, or work/kids/other interrupts your run, would it seem out of sorts and/or poor sportsmanship to pause the game, turn off the screen, and pick it back up after an hour or 2?

For me, it depends on how long you leave it paused.  On one hand, these are just friendly contests for fun.  They aren't sanctioned tournaments with cash prizes or anything.  Because of priorities, everyone's availability is going to differ throughout the day.  Things happen.  You gotta use the restroom, get something to eat, see a doctor, tend to your job, take care of your kids, etc..  On the other hand, endurance is part of the challenge and abuse of the pause feature would cut into the spirit of fair play.  In this instance, I'm fine with whatever someone can manage within a day.

 

There was a guy on another casual website who played a game for a little while, paused it, slept, and then continued on the next day.  He repeated this for multiple days.  In my opinion, that's way over the line.

[mbd30]

I don't even think to pause and come back later. It's not how I play. I don't really care if somebody else wants to.

 

[asponge]

23 hours ago, fakecortex said:

Does everyone pretty much avoid spending any money at all?

I usually buy the shotgun.  I can get further and score more points with it than without.  But, I'm no expert.

[fakecortex]

I got this score when I couldn't find the level 1 wanted poster and I was forced to loop it a bit. But when I played again, found it, and got to the second level fast, I had a lower score than yesterday. So...I hope this entry is legal. Still has me last, so it doesn't affect anyone yet hahaha.

 

Is there a trick with finding the wanted posters? I've checked the maps, but sometimes they don't show up when I go to the spot. It looks like they appear above a barrel, but can they disappear? I feel like there's something I'm missing. Like you have to shoot, or not shoot, a certain area. I'm gonna do some research.

 

*edit* went back to the instruction manual and it was right there. Ya need to shoot the blank area 8 times. 

 

65,650 Level 1

Edited November 19, 2020 by fakecortex
got my answer!

[fakecortex]

Whoo got to level 3! (No looping.) My thumbs are killin' me. Might be time to bust out the NES Max...

 

81,910 Level 3

[AtariSphinx]

38950

[bubufubu]

208,880

 

This was my second attempt.  My first only netted 84,800.  I'll keep trying for the next day or two.

[bubufubu]

585,110

 

5th or 6th attempt.  I feel better about this score because there were no stage loops.  Last run, I accidentally looped stage 2 or 3.  This time, I managed to beat the game and get all the way back to the last stage on the second loop.  It's not as hard as I thought.  That map from nesmaps.com was a big help.  This game is really rough on your hands, though.

[Razzie.P]

630,560 

 

Played on Mesen this morning.  Had a couple of stupid deaths that ruined the run -- like stuck in the middle of tombstones while getting the wanted poster, and seem to have tripped over a bridge coming out of water or something, I dunno -- but somehow, the most embarrassing was rolling up to a baddie while carrying dual pistols, a fully loaded magnum and a shotgun, and getting taken out by a boomerang.

 

 

[Razzie.P]

On 11/17/2020 at 6:13 PM, fakecortex said:

Probably shouldn't have bought that first wanted poster...I'll take a look at that map. When you play for levels and not score, you want to buys stuff and try out different weapons, so the game plays a bit differently. Does everyone pretty much avoid spending any money at all?

 

 

 

I'll spend on a shotgun and magnum, bc I'm not confident I can consistently beat the bosses without them.  Shotgun for the Ninja, Magnum for Devil Hawk, Joe, and Wingate(s).