Nintendo 64 Weekly Contest Round 10: Ucchannanchan no Hono no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bo

[RH | 4,882]

49 minutes ago, Red said:

The PlayStation sequel (or maybe it would be considered an enhanced port?) was released in the US as Irritating Stick.  It has more levels, a multiplayer mode, and mouse support.  With a name like that, you'd think most parents would avoid buying it as a birthday or Christmas gift, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happened.

I gotta say, this game grew on me.  I originally got it in a lot years ago.  I played it once back then, didn't like it, and didn't touch it again until I was testing out games for this competition.  I wound up playing though all the levels except for the last one, which I couldn't beat.  I started playing again last week and replayed the levels I beat before to get my name on the scoreboards for all of them (during my first play through, I didn't beat the previous owners best times or I used the far left rod, which doesn't let you enter your name on the scoreboard).  I still can't beat the last stage, but I'm getting closer!

So THAT is what irritating stick is?! Well, at least with a name like that they were being honest.  Lol, I have to say the title intrigued me but I never picked it up or even looked up a video.  I guess this could be fun but even at an arcade, this type of game isn't one I would gravitate toward.  I don't mind them much if it's an actual, physical game but with an N64 analog, it was just to annoying.  With a Dual Shock, I might like it a bit better.

[Splain | 2,560]

@Red , thanks a ton for putting this on. It was a ton of fun, just like the VB contest last year and the GB contest the year before that. It takes a bunch of work to pick which games to include, and what the actual challenge should be. I absolutely played some great games that I hadn't before, and I thought I was a decent N64 connoisseur. So thanks!

Those first 4 weeks had 6-7 participants, and then it kinda slimmed out. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, I remember how the VB contest boiled down to just me vs. @ZeldaFan042, and that was still plenty intense enough, easily the most fun I've ever had with a Virtual Boy.

You added the "drop your lowest score" this time, which was great, and would have been very helpful if we didn't all get zeros on Goldeneye Week.

What if there were some crazy meta-mechanic of presenting all 10 games/challenges right at the get-go, then allowing everyone to submit one score per week, whichever game they want. If the problem is that people don't have the same amount of playing time from one week to the next, then they can budget the time they DO have however they want to, and either submit a throwaway score for games they don't really want to sink into, slam out a good score for games they're already good at, save their time for games they want to spend more time on, etc. That would also keep people (to some degree) from hiding their score till the very end of the week; anything they've already submitted can't be improved upon, and everyone else can see what they're up against, bit by bit, as the weeks go on. Of course, if people are procrastinating and waiting till Sunday evening to play, then this won't change much of anything, lol. Just an idea.

As for Ucchannanchan no Hono no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bo, I was thinking about how outrageous it is that that game is on N64, with how simple it is, but the analog stick is absolutely necessary for playing that game. The un-anchored openness of holding the stick in exactly the right position, and then either holding exactly still, or trying to lean it harder in that exact precise direction, is exactly what the game is. It couldn't have existed on any previous console. I'm coming to appreciate that game more and more.

[RH | 4,882]

I also want to be clear @Red when I called you evil for including Ucchannanchan no Hono no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bo, I meant it in a light hearted way.  Though it's not a game for me, I think every contest needs about 5-10% of games that are absolutely infuriating.  That keeps it fun. So, thanks for that pick.  I might not have enjoyed the game myself, but I was entertained by its inclusion.

[Red | 434]

Today I finally accomplished what the previous owner of my cart could not, I cleared the final stage without the second chance rod.  I wound up using the slower moving rod (second from the left) since it made it easier to navigate some of the tougher spots.  After some practice, I was able to get through the earlier parts pretty quickly, so lack of time wasn't really an issue for me anymore, even with the slow rod.

On 2/21/2022 at 5:35 PM, Splain said:

Those first 4 weeks had 6-7 participants, and then it kinda slimmed out. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, I remember how the VB contest boiled down to just me vs. @ZeldaFan042, and that was still plenty intense enough, easily the most fun I've ever had with a Virtual Boy.

The Nintendo 64 and Virtual Boy contests certainly went better than the Sega Master System contest where there was only one participant several weeks, and never more than two!

On 2/21/2022 at 5:35 PM, Splain said:

You added the "drop your lowest score" this time, which was great, and would have been very helpful if we didn't all get zeros on Goldeneye Week.

Yes, Goldeneye saved me from having to do any additional calculations!
 

On 2/21/2022 at 5:35 PM, Splain said:

What if there were some crazy meta-mechanic of presenting all 10 games/challenges right at the get-go, then allowing everyone to submit one score per week, whichever game they want. If the problem is that people don't have the same amount of playing time from one week to the next, then they can budget the time they DO have however they want to, and either submit a throwaway score for games they don't really want to sink into, slam out a good score for games they're already good at, save their time for games they want to spend more time on, etc. That would also keep people (to some degree) from hiding their score till the very end of the week; anything they've already submitted can't be improved upon, and everyone else can see what they're up against, bit by bit, as the weeks go on. Of course, if people are procrastinating and waiting till Sunday evening to play, then this won't change much of anything, lol. Just an idea.

That's an interesting idea.  Definitely something to consider.  Maybe something like that would work better for a tournament for the top players?  Not sure if there's enough participants in the contests I run for that though.

On 2/21/2022 at 5:35 PM, Splain said:

As for Ucchannanchan no Hono no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bo, I was thinking about how outrageous it is that that game is on N64, with how simple it is, but the analog stick is absolutely necessary for playing that game. The un-anchored openness of holding the stick in exactly the right position, and then either holding exactly still, or trying to lean it harder in that exact precise direction, is exactly what the game is. It couldn't have existed on any previous console. I'm coming to appreciate that game more and more.

Did you ever go back and try to beat your times?  Or the later stages?
 

On 2/22/2022 at 9:43 AM, RH said:

I also want to be clear @Red when I called you evil for including Ucchannanchan no Hono no Challenger: Denryū Iraira Bo, I meant it in a light hearted way.  Though it's not a game for me, I think every contest needs about 5-10% of games that are absolutely infuriating.  That keeps it fun. So, thanks for that pick.  I might not have enjoyed the game myself, but I was entertained by its inclusion.

Don't worry, I knew you were just joking around.  I think this game was a perfect fit for this kind of contest.  Not only is it designed to be played for best time, there's no random chance.  It's all about how skillfully you can manipulate the analog stick.