Do you SUCK at gaming?

[RCmodeler]

Do you find surviving the first Ms. Pac-Man maze to be impossible? Do you think the Space Invaders move too fast and un-predictably? Are you one of the unlucky people who DIE in Pitfall 2 (even though David Crane made you invincible)???

 

If so, this thread's for you!

 

Tell us all about your frustrations with these "hard" Atari games like Fun With Numbers, Air-Sea Battle, and Ernie's Alpha Beam... or whatever else makes you throw the joystick against the wall.

 

[joeybastard]

I completely suck at Gravitar, Star Raiders and Solaris. I'm at least passable in most other games.

[~llama]

Sinistar and (ashamedly) Pac-Man have always given me problems...

 

I can get past the first... four or five boards of Pac-Man and then i die.

 

Galaga, on the other hand, is my forté

[bjk7382]

I am good at some games. Such as Joust for 400/800, I can get 257,350 which is a high score on the TG scoreboard, I just have to get it recorded.

 

But I also am horrible at some other games. Like Kaboom (can't get over 3000) and Chopper Command, I can't get more than 3 levels into it on easy machine gun fire

 

I think everyone is good at some types of games, and really bad on others. I don't know if anyone could be bad at ALL games. Unless they just really suck at hand eye cordination.

[Adrian M]

I'd say that my skills have deteriorated somewhat over the years, primarily due to the fact that I took a brief hiatus from console gaming in the mid-1990's after I grew tired of my Sega Saturn. During that hiatus, I played primarily RTS and shareware games on my varous Mac computers.

 

I guess I needed games that posed a more cerebral challenge or whatnot during that time, but I eventually got over it and got back into console gaming. I'd venture a guess and say that the slower, cerebral games did a number on my gaming skills. When I rediscovered the Atari in early 2000, I found that my gaming abilities were very weak. HOwever, after some practice, I was able to hold on my own on most games. I'll still probably never get back to the level of skill I possessed back in my childhood, but that's just the way it is I suppose.

[Goochman]

All Pac Man games

Gorf (Though I managed to figure out the 2600 version )

Megamania

Kaboom

 

I had a problem with Chopper Command way back but a few years ago I picked it up and scoredd 300K, I then got the max 999,999

[hepcat]

Let's review my high scores on a few classic games:

 

Dig Dug: 1,500,000

Mr. Do: 776,000

Donkey Kong Jr.: 497,000

Ms. Pac-man: 232,000

 

Defender: less than 1,000.

 

Each of the first four games is controlled with only a joystick or a joystick and one button. I don't think I've ever gotten an exceptional score on a game with more than two controls, which is one reason I don't enjoy most of today's overly complicated games.

 

--Jason

[~llama]

Oh, geez, i completely forgot about defender... I'm possibly the worst person in the world at both Defender and Stargate

 

Galaga =

Defender =

[bjk7382]

Oh, geez, i completely forgot about defender... I'm possibly the worst person in the world at both Defender and Stargate    

 

to use this little emoticon again, this is me playing Defender:

 

can we add that smiley to the list?

 

I hate the 2600 version. But the 400/800 version is much better. I got 1,973,650 on that version Still not TG score of 4million+

 

I also tried the MAME version of Defender and I can say I don't like that one either. The 400/800 version is almost exactly the same and is much easier.

[Classic Pac]

I can't even get off the top level of Pitfall 2. Although I do well on some titles for most of the systems I own and I did got over 4,000 points in Sloaris. But I am not ashamed to say that sometimes I heavily reley on cheat devices such as the game genie and Game Shark

[chairmonkey4406]

Kaboom I can't get over 325. It's impossible to me!

 

Pitfall II: I can't even get past the first little taradactyl thing you come across. How do I?

[SS]

That’s part of what makes Atari collecting so cool : I can own hundreds of games that I suck at!

[D.Yancey]

Kaboom    I can't get over 325. It's impossible to me!  

 

Pitfall II: I can't even get past the first little taradactyl thing you come across. How do I?

 

Notice that the Condors fly in a sort of Sine wave pattern from high to low. Pick a spot where it will be up high and quickly duck under it before its wing flaps down to hit you. You can run away from it a few times to try to get an idea of where you'll have to stand to get under it. This is the toughest part of the entire game.

 

For Kaboom!-it's a must to have a good non-jittery set of paddles. Maybe yours need to be cleaned inside.

[chairmonkey4406]

Kaboom    I can't get over 325. It's impossible to me!  

 

Pitfall II: I can't even get past the first little taradactyl thing you come across. How do I?

 

Notice that the Condors fly in a sort of Sine wave pattern from high to low. Pick a spot where it will be up high and quickly duck under it before its wing flaps down to hit you. You can run away from it a few times to try to get an idea of where you'll have to stand to get under it. This is the toughest part of the entire game.

 

For Kaboom!-it's a must to have a good non-jittery set of paddles. Maybe yours need to be cleaned inside.

 

No, my paddles have been cleaned before and they are real smooth. I don't know, maybe I just suck.

 

Oh yeah, by the way thanks for the advice

[+Nathan Strum]

I'm terrible at Kaboom. It always amazed me to watch good players on that one.

 

Arcade-wise, Galaxian for some reason always had my number. As did Robotron and Stargate (I was pretty good at Defender, but they just made Stargate too hard).

[~llama]

I hate the 2600 version. But the 400/800 version is much better. I got 1,973,650 on that version  Still not TG score of 4million+  

 

I also tried the MAME version of Defender and I can say I don't like that one either. The 400/800 version is almost exactly the same and is much easier.

 

well for 2600 ther's Defender and Defender II... and as far as i can tell Defender II is just a better port than the first Defender.

[StanJr]

I suck at most paddle games.

I'm also terrible at Fishing Derby of all things and I just cannot play Gravitar at all. It escapes me.

[minorleagueguy]

I do the best I can in every game, win or lose. Bad at most, but good at a few....

 

minorleagueguy

[~llama]

I suck at most paddle games.

I'm also terrible at Fishing Derby of all things and I just cannot play Gravitar at all.  It escapes me.

 

I'm not bad at the arcade Gravitar, but i blow at the 2600 version.

[Karrolls56]

I'm terrible at Kaboom. It always amazed me to watch good players on that one.

 

The first time I played Kaboom I got like 400. Now I average around 3000. This game cannot really be compared to anything else. After so long, you don't really think about what your doing you just follow the bombs. My highest score is 7,000. I hope to one day reach the all-powerful 10,000.

 

Im best at Breakout though.

 

I suck at Missile Command. I haven't played it enough, I guess.

 

By the way, where can you check high scores?

[Ed Siegler]

I suck

 

Thanks for the info Brother Stan

[bjk7382]

By the way, where can you check high scores?

 

The Twin Galaxies Scoreboard is pretty much an end all high score list for every system and arcade ever made.

 

www.twingalaxies.com

[RCmodeler]

Chopper Command, I can't get more than 3 levels into it on easy machine gun fire

Amazing. I can literally go forever on Chopper Command, Phoenix, and Dig Dug. The KEY is to look for patterns. These old games are very repetitive, so you watch the choppers/planes and observe that they only move within a limited space, so you sit *outside* that space, and attack the suckers.

 

So, if you have a game you have problems with... sit back and watch how it operates. Look for the patterns and use those patterns to avoid/destroy your enemies. Like the condor in Pitfall 2. Sit back and watch how the condor flies, and you'll see a very predictable pattern.

 

 

 

Now for me, the games that make me bang my head against the wall are puzzle games. Like SwordQuest. Or Zelda. I can stare at a puzzle all day, and still not know how to solve it.

 

.

[Shannon]

I suck

 

Thanks for the info Brother Stan

 

hehehe...

 

He said suck...

 

hehehehe

[bobafett07728]

Amazing.  I can literally go forever on Chopper Command, Phoenix, and Dig Dug.  The KEY is to look for patterns.  These old games are very repetitive, so you watch the choppers/planes and observe that they only move within a limited space, so you sit *outside* that space, and attack the suckers.

 

Hmmm. . . weeks have passed, and I still haven't found this *outside* area. Seems like everywhere I go, the choppers/planes follow. I'll be sure to let everyone know when I get a respectable score.