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What have you actually PLAYED tracker for 2021 (Season 14)


carlsson

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Here are my times (sorry for being a day late):

Atari 2600:

Missile Command- 4 minutes

Tapper- 9 minutes

Beany Bopper- 3 1/2  minutes

Astroblast- 6 minutes

Amidar- 2 1/2 minutes

Lock n' Chase- 6 minutes

Crazy Climber- 1 1/2 minutes

Communist mutants from Space (Supercharger game)-  6 1/2 minutes

ZX Spectrum:

Tapper- 5 minutes

Star Wars Arcade- 2 minutes

Jetpac- 3 minutes 

 

That's about what I can remember from last week.

Edited by Prosystemsearch
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Being Halloweek, I focused on the slightly spooky. Well, very slightly.

 
Famicom:
 
Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-kun - 65 minutes. This is Alucard's finest hour. Fight me. (Or don't.)
 
Getsū Fuma Den - 45 minutes. Another Castlevania influence, this game would be helped if I played it with my phone in live-translation mode, but it was pretty great as is. The music is magnificent. Shame it never came out here.
 
Turbografx 16:
 
Veigues Tactical Gladiator - 25 minutes. Talk about scary. Actually, while this game has a truly funky control scheme, I have always liked it more than most people do, and that's still true today.
 
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Microvision:
 
Blockbuster - 40 minutes. You know what the biggest challenge in this game is? Image ghosts. lol. This is my best score in a while.
 
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Game Boy Color:
 
Merlin - 70 minutes. Wizards are appropriate for Halloween, right? I really like this game. It’s sweet and looks, sounds, and plays good. The Gradius-derived powerup system is really clever and works well. One of my favorite European exclusives to date. I will not just finish this one but replay it. (Sorry @carlsson I forgot this one until just now.)

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And the MAIN EVENT:
 
Game Gear Halloween Spooktacular:
 
Garfield: Caught in the Act - 45 minutes. Believe it or not, this is one of the Game Gear's best looking titles, and unlike some great looking Looney Tunes games, it plays really well too. It was developed by Novotrade, the developers of the Ecco series and Kolibri and many other beautiful games of the era. There is a surprising amount of strategy and finesse involved, even though the platform's ubiquitous blind jumps and unavoidable hits are still somewhat present. I played through the first few stages and then looked at the time and realized I needed to skip to the Halloween level.
 
In the Wake of Vampire / Vampire: Master of Darkness - 45 minutes. I played both, but mostly the Japanese version, which is totally identical except the title screen, as far as I can tell. Oh, and for some reason they omitted the word "Ouiji" from the American version, so Dr. Social gets a message on his board. His messageboard.
 
FE3A87F6-DADF-48D4-B965-E9478365FDFD.thumb.jpeg.df6b7aee56eeab6e15c771fde952305c.jpeg
 
Dracula no Shirō (Dracula's Castle) - 15 minutes. This game is too cheap sometimes but it is great fun.
 
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Bram Stoker's Dracula - 25 minutes. Though cheap compared to the largely identical NES version because of the reduced viewport, this is still a much better game than the 16 bit versions and way better than the awful Sega CD disaster. I think it's honestly one of the best platformers on the system.
 
Wolfchild - 15 minutes. The lack of music in this means you can play your own spooky music. Sigh. The music in the other versions was really good, too. It's a very capable demake in every other way, though.
 
Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special - 20 minutes. Ran out with a party of three, wiped the floor with the first dungeon first level monsters, and promptly got my butt handed back to me on the second floor. This is a marvelous looking game with really nice scrolling animations that make it look very authentically 3D even though it's not.
 
Devilish - 25 minutes. The super-cramped screen does hurt this otherwise excellent handheld port of the Genesis classic, but eventually you can adapt to it by playing much more defensively. The timer makes totally defensive play a non-starter, though. One of my favorite Breakout derivatives that uses a D-pad.
 
0A6727A2-BA90-427E-85BF-C4F72FACC2DD.thumb.jpeg.d21d2289c4847673c83789bd6ad44e5a.jpeg
 
Wizard Pinball - 20 minutes. This is janky in a lot of ways, but it's the only multiscreen pinball game in town on the Game Gear and it plays well enough to be very entertaining. There is a lot to do on the super tall, super skinny table. Shame real cartridges are so hard to come by.

2B72F30D-9FB4-4697-998D-A28985796EF7.thumb.jpeg.a233c1e184ad8e97868751f9b7133b8b.jpeg
 
Pinball Dreams - 15 minutes. Played the Graveyard table. It's... not the best, but it's not awful.
 
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Chakan: The Forever Man - 15 minutes. This is a pretty darn cheap game even for a system full of cheap games.
 
The Addams Family - 25 minutes. Another near-direct NES port. It's too darn cute, but also the number of unavoidable hits is really not cool. It's not terrible, but it's not great either.
 
And then I went ghost hunting:
 
Pac Man - 10 minutes.
Ms Pac Man - 15 minutes. The scrolling screen really kills these for me. But then I suck at the series and have no recognition for original Pac Man patterns - if you are better than me it might not be so bad.
 
Atari Lynx:
 
I don't know if this is okay, but I realized I forgot to log the Lynx games I played in this week: 
 
 
probably because I played them at the very beginning of the week. So if it's not too late to count them:
 
On Duty - 55 minutes. This is a super fun game and everybody ought to grab a copy. There is an unexpected musical selection in the game that made my wife laugh out loud.
 
Xenophobe - 25 minutes. Ooooh spooky. Is this the best home port?
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1 hour ago, Prosystemsearch said:

OOPS! I remembered that I also played Doom II: Hell on Earth last week via Crispy doom for about 11 12, maybe 15 minutes!

Ok, I'll add that to the Modern Tracker since I figure you need at least Windows XP in order to run Crispy Doom. Usually we count it as an older system (e.g. PC DOS) if it is full emulation but I'm not sure this is the case, more like reusing the old WAD files?

 

For that matter, perhaps DOOM is the modern ZORK in such that WADs (Z-Files etc) can be reimplemented on many newer systems, playing the old game with modern controllers and frame rates without being a binary emulation.

Edited by carlsson
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Here's the summary for Week 43, running from Oct 25 - 31. We logged 3465 minutes of eligible play, playing 71 games on a total of 19 systems.

 

Top 10:

 

1. Kings of Edom (Atari Jaguar) - 720 min.
2. Tetris (Game Boy) - 200 min. (#4)
3. Knockout Kings 2000 (N64) - 195 min.
4. Cosmic Defender (Atari 8-bit) - 155 min.
5. Solar Fox (Atari 2600) - 130 min. (#7)
6. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) - 110 min.
7. Revenge of the Toothless Vampire (TRS-80 MC-10) - 109 min.
8. Worm War I (Atari 2600) - 104 min. (#10)
9. Jr. Pac-Man (Arcade) - 98 min.
10. Night of the Vampire Bunnies, The (TRS-80 MC-10) - 85 min.

 

Pre-NES top 10:

 

1. Cosmic Defender (Atari 8-bit) - 155 min.
2. Solar Fox (Atari 2600) - 130 min. (PN#2)
3. Revenge of the Toothless Vampire (TRS-80 MC-10) - 109 min.
4. Worm War I (Atari 2600) - 104 min. (PN#5)
5. Jr. Pac-Man (Arcade) - 98 min.
6. Night of the Vampire Bunnies, The (TRS-80 MC-10) - 85 min.
7. Pac-Man Collection (Atari 7800) - 80 min. (PN#1)
8. Bug Fire (NEC PC-8001) - 75 min.
9. Kaboom! (Atari 2600) - 57 min. (PN#7)
10. Ms. Pac-Man (Atari 8-bit) - 42 min.

 

Top 10 systems:

 

1. Atari Jaguar (810)
2. Atari 2600 (388) (#2)
3. Game Boy (370) (#5)
4. Atari 8-bit (323)
5. Game Gear (290)
6. N64 (198) (#6)
7. TRS-80 MC-10 (194)
8. NES/Famicom (176)
9. Arcade (110) (#4)
10. NEC PC-9801 (95) (#7)

 

Quote

I don't see Jaguar on the lists anywhere.

 

Well, now you do. The brand new Kings of Edom is a smash hit as #1, knocking piece smasher Tetris and the Knockout Kings down to 2nd and 3rd place respectively.  Pre-NES, Solar Fox for another week has to settle with second place as Cosmic Defender (which is not even a HSC game right now) takes that title. Relatively few directly Halloween themed games in the top lists, though I suppose Revenge of the Toothless Vampire and The Night of the Vampire Bunnies on the MC-10 both might qualify. Systems wise, obviously the Jaguar is the most played this week, with the 2600 and Game Boy battling for second place.

 

Actually I expected quite a bunch of entries to the 1000 Minute Club after the clue posted last week, but at least we got one new entry:

 

#463 Pac-Man (Atari 8-bit) - 1008 min.

 

Yes, another of those classic implementations which has taken quite some while to exceed the 1000 minute marker. We'll see if more games make it next week.

Edited by carlsson
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ATARI 8-BIT

Cosmic Defender - 116 minutes

 

GAMEBOY

Aerostar - 5 minutes

Super Mario Land - 325 minutes

 

Super Mario Land is my TOP favorite game on Gameboy port. The main objective is to rescue Princess Daisy by defeating Tatanga, an alien that appears at the end of final stage. This game has 12 stages (4 worlds with 3 stages per world), and can be completed in 30 to 60-minute average time. In addition, this game has two skill levels - Normal and Expert; Expert mode is activated after the completion of 12 stages (Princess Daisy saved definitely with the message - “OH DAISY DAISY. Thank you Mario”) and final credits. When I had the real Gameboy Classic in the 1990s, I had lots of fun with Mario game.

 

GAMEBOY COLOR

Space Invaders - 63 minutes

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Atari 8-bit:
Prince of Persia - 67 min.

 

Yes, it is a brand new homebrew release of PoP for Ataris with 128K or more, as part of the current HSC round. It looks pretty, plays well but isn't necessarily my cup of tea, though I spent a good hour on getting to know it.

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Here are my times for this past week (November 1st through 7th) on classic systems...

 

Arcade:

Gyruss - 6 min.

Jr. Pac-Man - 90 min. in 3 sessions

 

This week I continued to play Jr. Pac-Man. I also wondered how I would implement an AI playing the game automatically. I would probably do some kind of A+ search emanating from Jr. and from the ghosts. The ghosts would each do a "fill" from their position, but starting only in the direction they look into while another "fill" emanating from Jr. Pac-Man would go in all directions since the player can change the direction at will. When the Jr. fill hits one of the ghosts' fills, both won't overwrite each other. But the first time it hits an eatable object, the path to this object will be the "valid" path and Jr. will move in the according direction to run that path. If no paths lead from Jr. to an eatable object, the path is chosen that leads Jr. the farthest away from its current location before dying out.

 

I also threw in some Gyruss this week, but only played one game with, I think, a result of roughly 70,000 points which I estimate to be around 35% of the way to Earth.

 

 

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My times for the week:

 

MC-10:
Beneath the Temple of Zeus - 73 min.
Castle of Dracula - 98 min.
Gost Ship - 40 min.

 

DOS:
Mindwheel - 3 min.

 

N64:
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero - 488 min.

 

Together with my wife, I beat two MC-10 text adventures -- but not Beneath the Temple of Zeus, which opens with a puzzle so stupidly obscure that we could hardly believe it wasn't referenced in some kind of documentation. (Searching the magazine in which it was published revealed nothing.)

 

I also beat MK Mythologies on Medium difficulty (and maximum lives/continues). So much to like about this game, and so much not to like.

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Quite a mix this week.

 

Game Boy:

 

Batman - 45 minutes in bits and pieces.

 

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Game Boy Color: 

 

Inspector Gadget: Operation Madkaktus - 20 minutes. Another licensed GBC title that betrays expectations by being very good indeed. Another title by LSP who did the aforementioned Merlin.

 

Genesis:

 

Beyond Oasis - 15 minutes. Beat the game! 

 

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Spoiler

From a save state right next to the final boss.


Oh well, need to start this one over again.

 

Master System:

 

Power Strike II - 20 minutes. The only Power Strike game explicitly created as such, this is not quite as balanced or as fun as the Aleste games, but it’s still a great time, and the steampunk aesthetic is a great companion piece to Robo Aleste.

 

Game Gear:

 

Aah! Harimanda - 95 minutes. This game goes on wayyyyy too long for a handheld game without a password system. I only got halfway at most. Most fights thus far can be won by simply repeatedly slapping your opponent in the face, which seems contra to the spirit of the thing. When I have pulled off some throw I have been very proud of myself. I need to Google Translate the manual…

 

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Factory Panic - 20 minutes. Losing the Gorbachev license hurt this one a lot. This kid is just creepy.

 

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Zool - 25 minutes. One of the smoothest and fastest games on the system. Got to the second boss with full lives, forgot how to fight him, lost all my lives. Bleh.

 

33785054-7AAE-4E9E-B57B-13C185748608.thumb.jpeg.5795ee875dfb69fbe171a467f04a9cd4.jpeg
 

GG Aleste 2 - 35 minutes on the Game Gear Micro. Died on the boss of the penultimate level.

 

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Lynx:

 

Super Asteroids and Missile Command - 90 minutes. 15 for Super Asteroids and 75 for Super Missile Command Lynx HSC. I am certain I used to be better at SMC. I didn’t try too hard at Super Asteroids.

 

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Atari 7800:

 

Rikki & Vikki - 60 minutes. Awesome to finally play this. Definitely worth the hype if not the shocking going price on eBay. Thank goodness for kind fellow forum members.


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Baby Pac-Man - 45 minutes. What I wouldn’t give for more pinball this good on the 7800. The Pac Man part is a litte sadistic for my weak skills.

 

8C4EAB4C-C45E-459F-983E-5C1A4503C1E4.thumb.jpeg.323bae3fd3daa8d4a9faffdad8b47808.jpeg


Tower Toppler - 25 minutes. Shrill soundtrack aside, this is one of the standout 7800 games. It took me way longer than it should have to pick it up.


2CD08404-AD4B-4D30-8E11-7EC8504BABAC.thumb.jpeg.9f7e736049dc99c667e35fda463a70ba.jpeg
 

Plutos - 35 minutes. Plays a whole lot better on a real 7800 than on my lame Atari emulation handheld. I wish this would be released on an Evercade collection. I wonder who owns Hewson’s rights?


99772851-754E-4678-AC39-C5A704237925.thumb.jpeg.bbb96160d577142af84607f99c38dde3.jpeg
 

Motor Psycho - 25 minutes. Outrun it ain’t, but it is a good time. Some balancing and polishing and a better sound chip would have made this one to remember, but it isn’t quite there.

 

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Atari 2600:

 

Pooyan - 20 minutes. A valiant attempt, but this is a LOT harder than the arcade (perhaps my favorite arcade game of all time) and also a lot more random. There are no discernible patterns the wolves follow, at least that I can see. Better as a collectible than as a game to play, alas.


41715007-CB0E-450C-A06F-6BCBD3D6AD35.thumb.jpeg.f40e2881a04497ee4a29793f3f953b3b.jpeg
 

Crystal Castles - 65 minutes. Did this one for an Evercade group HSC. Not actually easier on your hand with a dpad than a joystick. Oh for a trackball.

 

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49 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

Super Asteroids and Missile Command - 90 minutes. 15 for Super Asteroids and 75 for Super Missile Command

I hesitated how to list this, but after consulting other multi-game entries (i.e. Channel F, Studio II but also more modern systems), I decided to combine those into one entry. In the case of a double ender where the games also were sold separately, the decision would be the opposite.

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