Topic: What are you playing?

[dink]

the_maq, you're right - data east - such a great name in arcade history.  going all the way back to Burger Time

best regards,
- dink

[dink]

Tempest Tips

If you don't have a spinner, try setting up like this:

Map P1 Spinner to the mouse wheel (click grab mouse, move mouse wheel and wait), then set Analog Sensitivity to 400%
X for button 1, Z for button 2.

Ever notice how after a few levels the game seems impossible - especially on the figure-8 level. this will help:
learn how to time your shot to kill enemies on your level by fireing one shot quickly right before they hit you from the side. - try not to let too many shots come out so you can kill many without having to wait for your shots to leave the screen before you can shoot again.
practice the above method, and try to stay as still as possible - once that is mastered, one can really start to kick ass.  For example, practice by playing the easy levels and let the enemies come to you on your level.

have fun
best regards,
- dink

[RandyRVA]

the_maq, you're right - data east - such a great name in arcade history.  going all the way back to Burger Time

best regards,
- dink

Agreed, I remember when Commando hit the arcades.  The sound and graphics were amazing at the time.

Burger Time is still one of my favorites...  although I was never quite able to get all of the eggs & hotdogs to group and the default high score is very high.

[dink]

A few times I came close - got all of the baddies on 1 burger - dropped it, but one of them managed to escape up the ladder (missed by 1 pixel basically).  drat!  One of these days I'll get 'em all

One of these days I need to figure out how to play Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory, the sequel to Burger Time.  It's hard!

best regards,
- dink

[RandyRVA]

Never even heard of Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory...  had to google it...  looks like it wasn't a US game.  The youtube video seems like I'd be fun but hard as hell...  maybe even Ghosts-n-Goblins hard!

Anyone remember "Timber"?  I used to love that game!  Seems like Midway ripped off the Konami Track & Field sprites and dressed them up like Canadian lumberjacks!  They actually had a whole run of games with those same sprites!  But then again, Midway ripped off a bunch of stuff back in the day.  Namco nipped a lot of the Pacman stuff Midway did (ie. Ms. Pacman, Super Pacman).

I'm just glad that I am old enough to remember the glory days of the arcades back in the early 1980s....  where games actually cost 0.25!  Took the kids on vacation over the summer and everything was timed and cost $1.00.  I guess they got wise to us old guys who learned patterns, etc and were able to play for several hours on 0.25! lol

In parting, there was one arcade place we used to go to that used tokens instead of quarters and the floor was planks with 1/2" gaps between the boards....  so that when you accidentally dropped a token, guess where it went?  You'd get that split second of going...  Oh shit!  and then you'd watch it roll and go down between the boards!!   

[dink]

Those were the days, buddy!

The "Amusement centers" kids have today are nothing compared to how it was back in the day.  A few years back whilst taking a break from bowling, me and my buddys nephew's checked out the little arcade area, it was all crap.  a 20 second "game" costs $1, horrific..

bye for now,
- dink

[Bad Dude]

Master of Darkness on SMS
~~
If you take Ghost 'n Goblins, NES Castlevania and Rolling Thunder, merge the three and change the ghosts/people into Zombies, this is what you have.  Oh yea, those bats can be a real pain in the ass, too.
You get a primary & secondary weapon, the Axe primary weapon is a good one to keep most of the time.
The bosses and mid-boss (zombie super-spawn rooms) are a nice touch - most of the time platformers on SMS are lacking (missing depth, I guess), but this one has it all.

2 totally random in-game pics:

Master of Darkness its a hidden gem, like Kenseiden, another gem from SMS. Great games and everybody should play! Yesterday I played Bart vs. the Space Mutants from NES. My sister ask me to play that game, because she want to see the ending. I had this game when I was a child. For me, it's one of the best Simpsons games ever made!

[dink]

Bad Dude,
I rented that game many many many years ago, and unfortunately never figured out how to play it right.
Maybe I have to give it another try now, ~30 years later.  Do you have any tips?

best regards,
- dink

[Bad Dude]

Bad Dude,
I rented that game many many many years ago, and unfortunately never figured out how to play it right.
Maybe I have to give it another try now, ~30 years later.  Do you have any tips?

best regards,
- dink

Yeah. Its a very simple game. To be able to fight against the boss, you have an objective. For example, in the first stage, you have to paint with your spray a certain numbers of purple objects. In the second stage, you have to collect hats. In the third, you have to collect
balloons, and so on... To get help from your relatives against the boss, you have to kill a certain numbers of aliens. To find out if a person is an alien, you need to wear your dark glasses. That's the basics tips! ;-)

[dink]

Bad Dude, thanks - I will definitely give it a try next game-night.

Tonight I played another stage in Master of Darkness on SMS (in FBNeo) - picking up where I left off on August 16 .  I had to record it, It's really great   (at least, I think so)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHp-nR_DZ3g

best regards,
- dink

[dink]

Pooper Scooper (spec_pooperscooper)
It's a fast-paced action-puzzler game.
got great music, sfx and silly graphics.
your characters are: the little guy, the wasp (Willy, who also stars in his own game), sh*t eating beetle and the worm.
your job is to remove the piles of sh*t from the screen using the sh*t-eating beetle character.

Here's a decent YT video of the game in motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Gb_dbDc70

Download the rom here (it's free/homebrew/click the little orange cassette tape): https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.php?cat=96&id=34428
rename to pooperscooper.zip and throw in roms/spectrum

best regards,
- dink

[Stifu]

Here's a decent YT video of the game in motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Gb_dbDc70

Nice. I really don't know much about the ZX Spectrum, as I've never played it back in the days. But the more I see games that run on it, the more I can guess its restrictions when it comes to colors. And here I can appreciate the very clever use of colors, with graphics that have just the right size to fill tiles and have colors that don't bleed to the nearest tiles, unlike most other ZX games. It comes at the price of tile by tile movements, though, but that's fine for this type of game.

[Bad Dude]

Playing J. J. Squawkers. It's a hidden gem, at least for me!

[dink]

Finally finished my game of Don Doko Don 2 (T-Eng version) on NES, which is a nice little platformer with excellent boss battles. 

Defo a good game for fans of Chiki Chiki / Mega Twins-style platformers.  Basically your weapon is a huge hammer, and you squash baddies, then take their squashed body and throw it at other enemies / bosses 

best regards,
- dink

[dink]

spec_oldtower - Old Tower on ZX Spectrum
This is a fun speed-puzzler, kinda like Pacman on speed.  The puzzle element doesn't begin until several levels in.  Even if you have a complete aversion to anything spectrum, check this one out.  It even has great music & graphics.

short gameplay video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai1jLG0GK7c

best regards,
- dink