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alienjesus
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:33 pm

I've had a busy day playing games, and I've made a lot of summer challenge progress. I took down 3 games from my list today!:

1. Probotector (NES)
2. Tetris Attack (SNES)

3. Mario Party 2 (N64)
4. Mario Golf (GBC)
5. Mother 3 (GBA)
6. Ape Escape (PS1)
7. Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PS1)

8. Gate of Thunder (PCE)
9. Shinobi (SMS)
10. Herzog Zwei (MD)
11. Shining Force III (Saturn)


First up, I spent a while playing through Shinobi on Master System. I've played this one a bit before, so my first attempt got me quite far, close enough to the ending that I decided to give it another go. I failed at a stage just before the final boss where annoying blue ninjas jump out of nowhere and they're almost impossible to react to. Luckily, second time around I got there with enough lives to learn the stage a bit and managed to scrape through. The final boss seemed tough at first, but once I figured out how to handle his 4th stage (he changes attack strategy 4 times, and the first 3 are fairly simple), he went down like a chump. The game is decent enough, but the series really came into it's own on the Mega Drive and Game Gear. This one is just OK.

I followed up that success with some Probotector. I gave this one a few goes too. My first run was pretty terrible, I used 2 continues on the waterfall stage (stage 3) and game overed on the second fortress (stage 4). Second time around faired a little better though, and I got to stage 7 before I wiped out. The game is actually pretty generous with extra lives, but again I lost a lot of lives in the second fortress. I think I get overconfident when I get a spread gun, because I always die shortly after. I spent most of my run using the machine gun.

Third time's a charm though, because I got through the fortress with only 1 life lost this time, and I only lost another 1 or 2 before that. From stage 4, the game actually feels easier to me - stage 5 is challenging but not as bad as 4, and stage 6 is really easy if you take your time, as is stage 7. Stage 8 was no problem either, with only the mini-boss (the giant alien head) killing me because I got a bit gung-ho. The final boss here is way easier than the version of it in Contra 3.

In fact, my overall assessment of the game is that it was easier than I expected. Contra 3 is a game that wrecks me every time, I struggle to make it past the stage 3 boss. This one is pretty manageable though - no contra code required!

As it was getting quite late and I wasn't in the mood for replaying another game with game overs, I decided to skip my plan to play Gate of Thunder next, and instead moved onto Tetris Attack. I played the 1p Stage Clear mode (theres 3 single player campaigns, but this seems like the most 'classic' puzzle gameplay. There are 30 stages plus a final boss to play through, and the game keeps a timer counting as you play. It took me about 43 minutes to play through the first 29 stages, which were relaxing for the most part, although challenging towards the end. I didn't die until world 5-4 (stage 24) and I only died 3 times until world 6-4. 6-4 ramps stuff up though and took about 10 attempts. 6-5 though (stage 30) is where things get brutal. 43 minutes to get to this stage - and about another 40 minutes to beat it! :oops:

After finally getting through, it was time for the final boss. The boss has a HP bar, which is deleted by doing combos, so the game expects you to play a little differently. It doesnt ease you in though, because the speed of new blocks coming in is crazy. It took me about an hour and 20 minutes to beat bowser, and probably over 100 tries. Once I beat it I felt more relief than satisfaction. It's a shame the difficulty spikes so sharply at the end though - because I otherwise had a fun time with this game. I plan to give the other 2 play modes a try before moving on from this game for the challenge. One mode is a Vs mode (with a story) which has garbage blocks and other puzzle game staples. The other is a puzzle mode, where you must clear all blocks in limited moves. Should be fun to try.



Next up, I probably will finally get to Gate of Thunder, which I expect will take a while because I am not good at shmups, even if this is considered an 'easier' one. I'm also going to continue working through Mario Party 2 maps with my wife.
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:48 pm

I've been working on 2 games on my summer list this week.#

First up is Mario Party 2. I managed to get 4 people together willing to play a map with me, and we decided to tackle Horror Land. Things were going well, until my dog got very exciting and ran through all the controller cables, knocking the console and causing the game to crash on turn 16/20, over an hour in. Unfortunately, this game doesn't save between turns (I think Mario Party 3 does?) so all our progress was lost. I'll have to replay this map again later :( :lol:

I also started up Gate of Thunder today - the game is a shmup, so I'm expecting it to take a while and many attempts to see it through. It's quite generous with extra lives and you get 7 continues though, so I managed to get quite far through for my first attempt - finally game overing just before the stage 6 boss, of 7 stages. I'd like to get consistently to stage 7 soon as I imagine that's going to be a sticking point! I'll try and play a run of this every day or couple of days over the next 2 months until I beat it or run out of time on the summer challenge!
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by marurun Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:30 pm

I hope you are cranking the soundtrack.
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:24 pm

marurun wrote:I hope you are cranking the soundtrack.


As loud as I can get away with whilst the wife is at home anyway :lol:

I did another run of Gate of Thunder yesterday, and it went better than before. This time I got to stage 5 before getting my first game over, which is much further than last time. If I hadn't had a few stuped deaths on stage 1 I think I probably would have made it even further, to stage 6.

Unfortunately, whilst stage 5 is a step up in difficulty from what came before, stage 6 is a much bigger jump in difficulty from 5. It's made even worse if you game over in it, because opportunities for power ups are quite spaced out, whereas opportunities to die and lose your shields, weapons and missiles are much more frequent. I managed to push through stage 6 this time though, to stage 7. I died fairly early in the stage due to needing to learn patterns - there's lots of enemies appearing from behind, and tight corridors where it can be hard to dodge when you don't know what's coming, so I think it'll certainly need a few more runs before I can make it through to the stage 7 boss. I believe stage 7 is the final stage, so I'm expecting a tough boss with multiple forms, but we'll see. The bosses in earlier stages are all fairly easy, besides the occasional slip-up on Boss 3 causing a snowball effect where you die multiple times in a row.


I also started up Herzog Zwei yesterday, which means 3 of my remaining 6 games are in progress (Mario Party, Gate of Thunder and this). In order to try and balance my time better, I downloaded the Switch SEGA AGES port of Herzog Zwei so it can be my portable game. I'm glad I did too - it comes with a tutorial mode which is perhaps a bit long, but quite charming, and it really helps to understand the game. There are 8 levels in Herzog Zwei, with 4 difficulties of play on each one. Being that it took me over an hour and a hald to beat the computer on the lowest setting, I was worried about needing to beat all 4 difficulties which is required for credits. However, apparently all that changes is the type of units that the enemy base starts surrounded by, with weak armoured cars on A, anti-air SAM sites for B, powerful tanks for C and defensive turrets which cover ground and air for D. Seeing as by the time I got to the base in A it was already surrounded by many units of all types, this seems pretty minor in the grand scheme of things! The only thing to worry about is the time it'll take to beat all 32 maps (8 stages x 4 difficulties) as completing just 1 took me over 90 minutes!
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by Note Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:29 am

I've made it to the final battle in Chrono Trigger, in about 20 hours of game time! But I'm going to complete the sidequests before finishing the game.

Just completed Fiona's sidequest, and going to take a break for tonight -- some great cutscenes in it. Hopefully can complete another one or two tomorrow.
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:14 pm

Still plugging away at Herzog Zwei. I've cleared the first 5 maps on the 'easy' difficulty so far, out of 8. The first map is, ironically, definitely the hardest of the 5 I've played so far, and the second map was second. After a long game on both of those maps lasting over an hour each, I took on maps 3, 4 and 5 and they lasted 25-35 minutes a piece. That's more like it, the game will be much more manageable at this pace. It's possible my play has just improved too - tbh there's little variance in the CPU strategy so once I sussed map 1 I've never really been in danger of losing. Map 3 was a little different as the CPU more consistently targeted my base, so it's the one map I've really needed to build defences on - however, my strategy of capturing the outlying choke points whilst keeping the CPU busy with a well guarded base wherever he's targeting works just fine. It's a bit dull if anything!
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:29 pm

Had a productive day playing games for my Summer Challenge today

Started off with another run of Gate of Thunder. It was a pretty good start - I died early in stage 1 but after that there were no deaths at all until stage 4, which is nice. I died quite a few times to the boss though which is disappointing as he's pretty easy (all the bosses are). I got my first game over on stage 5 unfortunately as I didnt get a shield back in time to make a recovery, but I advance to stage 6 quickly after that. Stage 6 took a few attempts as I was restarting a few times with the basic pea shooter (I'd love to make it here fully powered up for a change!) but I got through to stage 7 with 4 continues to spare. Unfortunately, I don't know this stage well hyet and power ups are limited, and so although I got quite far into it, I didn't finish the game this time. I feel like I'm really close though, and this seems pretty feasible to finish this month.

I followed up with Mario Party 2. Last time I played I lost progress due to my dog knocking the console over, so I replayed the same map I did that time to just get it done - Horror Land. I chose Luigi (my usual choice is Wario) and man, that L on his head really does draw in all the bad luck because this was a rough game of mario party. Peach got a star on turn 2 because it spawned within 10 spaces of the starting square, all the mini games kept being luck dependent making earning money difficult, I was a frequent target for boo and seemed magnetically drawn to the bowser and red spaces. Eventually I managed to get a boo bell from an item mini game and stole one of Peach's stars using it, and then later I bought a plunder chest to steal anything good people got. Peach got a magic lamp so I stole it and used it take the star right before all 3 computer players could - they were all within 4 spaces of getting it! Peach did steal a star back from me, but I narrowly won the game thanks to the end of game bonuses - I got the mini game star for most mini games one, meaning all 4 characters finished with 2 stars - but I had a narrow coin advantage! 2 maps down, 4 to go!

Finally I picked up more Herzog Zwei and played through the last 3 maps on level A difficulty. You need to beat all 4 difficulties to get the ending, but they're basically the same besides the enemies base being surrounded by progressively stronger enemies. It's going to be a slog getting through all 8 levels 4 times seeing as there's little change each time!

Speaking of the enemies, let me describe all the units in the game - there's only 8 so it shouldnt take long. The infantry is your bread and butter and you use it to capture bases (there are 8 on the map). Capturing bases makes you generate money faster so the majority of the game is based around taking the majority of these from the opponent. 4 infantry must enter a base to capture it, and they are lost after doing so. Otherwise they are slow, fragile and weak - but they don't require fuel so you can give them a command and leave them to it, so long as they dont get shot down. Motorbike units are essentially the same power as infantry but they are super speedy. They're annoying but probably the msot useless unit - they cant capture bases and are too weak to contest most other units.

Your main land based units are the armoured vehicle, which is a bit faster, stronger and more durable than infantry. I'm sure they're useful but I never use them as it doesn't take much longer before you have enough money to build the superior tank, which whilst slow is the most powerful and durable land based unit. They're my second most used.

Both commanders fly around as planes, but you can set up anti-air options to defend bases against them - this is crucial as the commanders can turn into mech which match up well vs tanks and armoured vehicles. Anti-air units launch missiles which can wipe the plan out fast. Your main anti air units are SAM vehicles, which cant defend themselves from ground attacks but are mobile and can be used offensively. Defence turrets are by far the priciest unit, but they combine the anti-air functionality of SAM vehicles with long range and powerful ground combat. However, they aren't mobile so you need to ferry them wherever you want them, and they're also less durable than tanks.

The final 2 vehicles are the oddities. The resupply truck is used to replenish fuel and ammo - especially important for anti-airs. They can't repair units though. They also have absolutely dogshit path finding, even for a Mega Drive RTS, so your best option is to surround them with the units they need to resupply so they cant wander off. The last unit is the boat, which has super long range but can obviously only move in water. These have limited use for me as the game is lacking a command to say 'fight nearby enemies' and you cant make boats attack the enemies base as far as I can tell (although theres do so maybe I'm doing something wrong?). I just set a few near my base on water maps as extra defence against their boats.

Anyhow, my plan for tomorrow is more progress on all 3 games. I'd like to be down to 9 games ideally by the end of the month so this can be my first ever summer where I beat all my games - which will take some doing. My biggest concern is that I have 2 long RPGs to get to yet!
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:18 pm

1. Probotector (NES)
2. Tetris Attack (SNES)

3. Mario Party 2 (N64)
4. Mario Golf (GBC)
5. Mother 3 (GBA)
6. Ape Escape (PS1)
7. Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PS1)

8. Gate of Thunder (PCE)
9. Shinobi (SMS)
10. Herzog Zwei (MD)
11. Shining Force III (Saturn)

I'm still plugging away at my summer games for the year!

Last week I finished up my 6th game of the challenge, Herzog Zwei. It was a good game but honestly became a bit of a slog due to the need to beat all 8 levels 4 times. On the 'hardest' difficulty mode the main difference was the enemy base was surrounded by turrets. This was annoying as there's no way to command troops more than one at a time, and sending in units one at a time vs 5 turrets got them all killed very quick. My ultimate tactic was to picks off a space arround the enemy base by dropping tanks in and then flying away, and then whittling health down by continually dropping tanks in these gaps.

I'm also still working at the other 2 games I started this month: Mario Party 2 and Gate of Thunder. Mario Party 2 I've had bad luck with - 2 seperate games where the game crashed 15+ turns into a 20 turn match. I've found a function in the options that saves the match after every turn though, so I'm activating that now and making good progress. I've cleared 4 of the 5 initial maps needed to unlock the final map. Playing the final map should give me credits.

Gate of Thunder I'm continuing to make attempts at every so often, but so far they all keep ending around the same point - about half way to two thirds through the final stage. I don't think it'll take much to finally tip this one over the edge and beat it, but I need to make more regular efforts so I can get better at the tough stage 5 and 6, where I tend to waste many of my lives.

Having finished up Herzog Zwei, I started up another summer game to replace it- Mother 3. It's a pretty dark game, lots of tragedy in the first act which feels very dour for a Nintendo game and a sequel to Earthbound. I cleared the first chapter though, as Flint, and am now playing as Duster and breaking into a castle to steal something.

I'm making good progress in my challenge, but I'm behind where I hoped to be so far. I'm not sure I'll manage all 11 by the end of August, but I'm gonna give it my all anyway!
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by alienjesus Wed Jul 28, 2021 6:06 pm

This is my 4th post in a row, so I'm guessing I'm the only person still plugging away at my summer games.

But plugging away is what I'm doing, and this evening has been a productive one:

1. Probotector (NES)
2. Tetris Attack (SNES)
3. Mario Party 2 (N64)

4. Mario Golf (GBC)
5. Mother 3 (GBA)
6. Ape Escape (PS1)
7. Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PS1)
8. Gate of Thunder (PCE)
9. Shinobi (SMS)
10. Herzog Zwei (MD)

11. Shining Force III (Saturn)

To start up, I finished Mario Party 2 this evening. Beating the game requires just playing through all 6 boards, and I unlocked the final board yesterday. The final board was Bowser Land, and I was in last place until the very end, when winning the bonus awards for most mini games and highest coin count pulled me into the lead. Mario Party 2 is definitely a classic, but playing through the first 2 games on N64 lately has honestly made me appreciate the later entries a bit more. Whilst the board designs are great in this one, the mini games can still be rather stiff or slow paced, and I think the mini-games improved in later entries on more powerful hardware.

After that I took a shot at my now customary run of Gate of Thunder - I play one attempt at beating the game every time I play another console title. Yesterday I did a run too and it was my best so far - I made it to stage 6 without dying and to stage 7 without continuing. Unfortunately, stage 7 is brutal and I game overed there, but I did make it to the final boss for the first time and gave him a good attempt before wiping out. With this success, I had high hopes today but to be honest, it was a rough playthrough. I died on the stage 3 boss and then multiple times in stage 4 and 5. I continued multiple times in stage 6 and went into stage 7 with no power ups. I had to continue another time in stage 7 too, so needless to say I wasn't feeling great about my chances. On my next run, I lost a life before I could get to the first shield power up, and then lost the shield quickly too. However, I managed to get through to the boss with a few lives to spare and the Earthquake power up fully powered, and I used this to take out his cannons at top speed. After that he shoots missiles from his core, and I died twice to these but defeated it on my last life. This switches him to phase 2 where he shoots fast bouncing projectiles 5 at a time, but somehow my skill returned to me just on time successfully dodge several volleys of these and I took him out - for my second summer game beat of the evening, and my 8th of the summer!

I have started working on Mother 3, although I'm near the beginning. I also plan to start up Shining Force III as my last non-handheld game of the summer, so here's hoping I can muscle through 2 RPGs in the next month - and even better if I can do so with time to spare for Mario Golf!
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Re: Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2021- Lets play games!

by dsheinem Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:24 pm

shit lists all around
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