+therealbountybob Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Busy Baby & Runner Bear Ahh grown men pretending to be a baby? and a cute little bear... right on, we're not proud! Keeping things interesting in the HSC we have an oldie and a newie with no doubt a lot of falling off and cursing to boot! Again I don't know these two games so links and comments welcome [see 2nd post] Busy Baby play on default settings [space]=pause [Start]=play [Option]=press when music is playing at start of go, toggles bombs off - icon crossed out on status bar https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=1399 Runner Bear https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=7831 Round ends Sunday 5th September 10am UK time EVERYONE WELCOME TO PLAY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 (edited) Ok, I played each of these a couple times and here's what I've deduced so far: Busy Baby (no manual that I could find, anyway): Clear each level by finding the correct path to the end before the garden hose wets one of your diapers. Stay on the path and don't land in the water. There might be dead ends, forcing you to retreat. You only have a limited amount of time to get to the end of each level. Avoid the "baby bombs" that the stork drops from the sky, along with other surprise obstacles along the way. Question mark tiles award bonus points, reset the garden hose timer, or wet a diaper, causing you to lose a life. You can land on each question block twice. But do you dare risk wetting your diaper? Extra life after completing course "C." Runner Bear: What happens when you cross and endless runner game with Crystal Castles and pepper it with the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack? You get Runner Bear! Jump, duck and shoot your enemies with honey in this endless runner game. You only have a limited amount of honey, so use it wisely. You can pick up extra honey along the way. Pick up the hat for limited invincibility. Grab coins for extra points. The course layout and enemies is always the same from game to game. How far can you run? Should be an interesting round! Edited August 15, 2021 by Deteacher 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 I really like Busy Baby. Believe it or not, I don't get tired of hearing the little song it plays between levels. Anyway, after a few warmup games, here's my first score: 32,850. Point F! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Some early scores for me: Busy Baby - 7150 pts Runner Bear - 467 pts 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Ok, no new score yet, but I found an interesting "infinite lives" bug (and it's easily reproducible.) I was on my last life and I jumped onto a question mark and got the "wet diaper" penalty (costing me my last life.) While the "loser" music was playing, I moved off the square and fell in the water, which I guess counted as another life lost, bringing me to -1 lives. Then the round restarted, with all kinds of garbled crap at the bottom, but it also seems to grant unlimited lives. I tested this theory out many different ways, but it only works if you're on your last life. Here's a screenshot of what I'm talking about: 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Both games are quite enjoyable. In Runner Bear, I realized that you can smash quite some objects/creatures (but not all?) by landing on them, so you have one more option than jumping over or firing honey onto them. Busy Baby - 12230 pts Runner Bear - 767 pts 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 Busy Baby: 60,730! Made it safely to Point K! I'm REALLY liking this game! BTW, extra diapers for clearing Points C, G and K (so far...) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graywest Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 (edited) Yay! Busy Baby is fun. Haven't had a chance to play yet, but I will make some time soon. I wish that there was more info on Busy Baby, like an instruction manual (though the game isn't too difficult to figure out), box scan, etc. It's one of those quirky games that could only come out in the 80s, and surprisingly polished. I'm just sort of curious to know more about the story. Looks like the company, Royale Software, only put out this one game. I found the author, Jeff Lashyro (and wife? Theresa Lashyro) on Facebook. I might reach out and see if they have any interesting tidbits to share. Edit: Busy Baby: 32,250 Runner Bear: 1,298 Edited August 16, 2021 by graywest 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 I found a short blurb in ANTIC: https://archive.org/details/1984-06-anticmagazine/page/n71/mode/2up?q=busy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzspeed Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 I honestly couldn't work out last month's games, but these look alright. As woeful as I am at gaming, I might have a stab this time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graywest Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 6 hours ago, carlsson said: I found a short blurb in ANTIC: https://archive.org/details/1984-06-anticmagazine/page/n71/mode/2up?q=busy Did ANTIC review the same game as the one I'm playing? ? Not sure I would classify this as an educational game that's primarily designed to teach children letters. In fact, it's probably too difficult for kids of the "learning the alphabet" age (4-5 years old). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Somehow the publisher must've contributed some of the info as it was just a preview. Perhaps preschoolers in Minnesota were early to develop motor skills? For being so relatively advanced game, it is curious if that was their only (surviving) piece of software, and that the software publisher as such is not known for any other titles. I saw the person you had found on Facebook, not sure if that one is a bit too young given that we're speaking about almost 40 year old software. But we can surely enjoy the game even without knowing more about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 19 hours ago, Deteacher said: Busy Baby: 60,730! Made it safely to Point K! I'm REALLY liking this game! 14 hours ago, graywest said: Yay! Busy Baby is fun. ... 23 hours ago, carlsson said: Both games are quite enjoyable... You big babies! This is not meant to be fun but a manly competition 10 hours ago, Mazzspeed said: I honestly couldn't work out last month's games, but these look alright. As woeful as I am at gaming, I might have a stab this time. Last round and this time we delve into the unknown but If you're ever stuck just post for help, woeful gamers are welcome too If you or any newer players want to post some games to play on the games list thread I can poll them for future rounds 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graywest Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 3 hours ago, carlsson said: Somehow the publisher must've contributed some of the info as it was just a preview. Perhaps preschoolers in Minnesota were early to develop motor skills? For being so relatively advanced game, it is curious if that was their only (surviving) piece of software, and that the software publisher as such is not known for any other titles. I saw the person you had found on Facebook, not sure if that one is a bit too young given that we're speaking about almost 40 year old software. But we can surely enjoy the game even without knowing more about it. That's what I thought too - he looks young. Makes me wonder if it's something that he wrote in high school or college, but like you said: it would have been a very advanced game for someone of that age. I sent him a note - I'll post here if he replies. Hopefully he doesn't think it's weird, contacting him about a ~40 year old game. ? I sent a note to Greg Omi (author of Captain Cosmo, a game that I loved as a kid) a while back and he was super nice about it. Seemed glad that someone remembered and enjoyed his work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 I've been known to trace old developers too. If you're polite about it, usually they're pleasantly surprised that someone cares and enjoys their old stuff. Unless I'm mixing people up, he might be the president of a company that makes portable kiosks and demo tables. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graywest Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 (edited) Runner Bear: 2,508 My best tip for Runner Bear: you get four continues. Use them for practice! Your score resets after death, so it won't help you in the HSC, but you'll be able to see which obstacles are coming up and practice tricky sections. The next time you start from the beginning, you should be able to get much farther. Edited August 17, 2021 by graywest 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graywest Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Runner Bear: 2,756 There's a second level in a graveyard! Also this may be obvious, but jumping on the enemies to kill them nets you a LOT more points than jumping over them. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariSphinx Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Busy Baby: 23,930 Runner Bear: 827 Quite enjoyable games. Impressed by runner bear though wish it had more lives as option. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariSphinx Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 On 8/16/2021 at 6:00 PM, graywest said: My best tip for Runner Bear: you get four continues. Use them for practice! Your score resets after death, so it won't help you in the HSC, but you'll be able to see which obstacles are coming up and practice tricky sections. The next time you start from the beginning, you should be able to get much farther. Also if you switch to the dragon character rather than Bentley bear none of the enemies hurt you but you can still fall to your death. Perhaps not as great for practice but could be useful 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariSphinx Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 Busy Baby: 30,850 Runner Bear: 1,267 Some improvements 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 20, 2021 Share Posted August 20, 2021 (edited) Busy Baby: 62,060! Made it to point M. Halfway through the game! I took fewer chances with the question mark blocks. I'm just trying to get through the whole game to see what happens after point Z. BTW, when you get to level K (or was it L) the baby bombs fall much faster, so beware! Edited August 20, 2021 by Deteacher 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Runner Bear 3300 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKong Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Running Bear 5055 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted August 21, 2021 Author Share Posted August 21, 2021 Busy Baby 20,730 (d) very nice game not sure why I've not played this - probably people get put off by failing the first platform and shelve it JUMP DOWN AND DIAGONAL! Runner Bear 604 - if you have the patience a fun game - sort of BC's Quest For Tyres style. restart points / stages might be a nice expansion if they are not already there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted August 21, 2021 Share Posted August 21, 2021 Busy Baby: 99,210! Made it to point S! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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