NES Completions thread 2023 - 600/677 (bonus games - 75/100)

[scaryice | 589]

3 hours ago, BlackVega said:

Beat Captain Hamburgerica. Probably for the 1st time ever if I remember correctly

 

Looks like you beat it in 2017 as well.

[McBryce | 375]

Got Dirty Harry done yesterday.

[Daniel_Doyce | 477]

2 hours ago, McBryce said:

Got Dirty Harry done yesterday.

Those jumps in level 2 when the boats are firing rockets at you is a beast. Well done!

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Roger Clemens MVP Baseball is done for another year. And with this completion, I believe I am also setting a new single-year record for completions and becoming the first in the history of this thread to go over 900 points.

[McBryce | 375]

22 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Those jumps in level 2 when the boats are firing rockets at you is a beast. Well done!

It was awful until I figured out you can shoot the first box to kill that boat. The timing is tricky but it makes it much easier.

[Khromak | 770]

1 hour ago, nerdynebraskan said:

Roger Clemens MVP Baseball is done for another year. And with this completion, I believe I am also setting a new single-year record for completions and becoming the first in the history of this thread to go over 900 points.

...Sorta...

[BlackVega | 583]

12 hours ago, Khromak said:

...Sorta...

What is this internet 2005???

[Khromak | 770]

I've been playing tecmo cup soccer game for about a week now and I've learned a few things I didn't realize, or at least didn't write down last time. That said, some of the computer teams just have ridiculous stats. I think some matches you're just supposed to lose until your characters level up a certain amount. I'm on my 4th or 5th attempt at the tecmo cup. I smash the first 3 teams 5-0 or worse, then the final team i shoot special shots at point blank range off a cross field pass 15x and the goalie blocks them all. Finally ended a match 0-0 and lost in the RNG fest of the penalty kicks. It's a fun game but the randomness can be really frustrating when you think you're doing everything right. Will be happy to be done with this one

[PII | 1,894]

19 hours ago, nerdynebraskan said:

Roger Clemens MVP Baseball is done for another year. And with this completion, I believe I am also setting a new single-year record for completions and becoming the first in the history of this thread to go over 900 points.

I've been wondering if you're going to hit a 1000 this year?  

Granted a hundred points at this time of the year is a much, much taller order than it is early in the year but, there's still a quarter of a year left...

On the other hand A 10-pointer every ~9 days on average would be a pretty excruciating schedule..

Anyway,

CONGRATS ON HITTING 900!!  

222 games in 9 months (273 days) has gotta be a record as well...

[Khromak | 770]

Tecmo Cup Soccer Game is beaten, my second time doing so. This time I followed my own tips from my 2021 clear, but also noted that headers/bicycle kicks and some of the special shots can only be performed by passing to someone inside the goal lines. It also seems that marking attempts to stop people from passing or shooting (low success rate) and cutting attempts to stop passing or shooting.

I still spent a lot of defensive actions on tackling. I wish there was more to do on defense as a lot of times it just feels like waiting and not pressing any buttons, hoping your defense intervenes while they walk up to your goal and shoot.

It seems that the game keeps track of how long it will take for your pass to end up at the recipient, so they, and all your opponents, will move between the pass starting and the end. This can lead to some real BS interceptions. Once you get the hang of it though, you can reasonably predict how many opponents will have a chance to stop your pass.

[BlackVega | 583]

Beat Holy Diver

[Khromak | 770]

1 hour ago, BlackVega said:

Beat Holy Diver

Damn man that game is rough! Congrats! Had you beaten it before or was this your first time? I've never made it very far, though I haven't made a concerted effort. Watched some twitch/YouTube gameplay though and certain parts are just not fun

[BlackVega | 583]

2 minutes ago, Khromak said:

Damn man that game is rough! Congrats! Had you beaten it before or was this your first time? I've never made it very far, though I haven't made a concerted effort. Watched some twitch/YouTube gameplay though and certain parts are just not fun

Yeah I beat it several times before. Levels 4-6 are unforgivingly hard and boss 4 is just super balls, probably the worst of them all. However I found out pulling overdrive and bare buttonmashing fireballs at it works best. Level 6 is just stupid hell but manageable. This game is sort of like Ninja Gayden for Famicom and you can get a hold of it if you remember how to get through all of those cheap moments

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

18 hours ago, PII said:

I've been wondering if you're going to hit a 1000 this year?  

Granted a hundred points at this time of the year is a much, much taller order than it is early in the year but, there's still a quarter of a year left...

On the other hand A 10-pointer every ~9 days on average would be a pretty excruciating schedule..

Anyway,

CONGRATS ON HITTING 900!!  

222 games in 9 months (273 days) has gotta be a record as well...

Thanks for the kind words. I must admit that I've wondered about what it would take to hit 1000 points in a year, but it doesn't seem likely for at least this year.

I tend to lean on games that I know well to rack up my points, and the only game left that I can beat reliably is All Pro Basketball. It's in the same category as the Clemens baseball game, in that it's an easy clear but too long and kind of tedious to do. Except I have more enthusiasm for Clemens, as I prefer RBI-style baseball games to any kind of basketball. There are a handful of games on the unlicensed list that I've beaten once or twice before, but they're pretty tough and I don't know them that well.

There are still some pretty good games on the list that I'm interested in learning, so I may still find a few more to do. But we'll see how much time and energy I have to learn new games...

[Khromak | 770]

20 hours ago, nerdynebraskan said:

I tend to lean on games that I know well to rack up my points, and the only game left that I can beat reliably is All Pro Basketball. It's in the same category as the Clemens baseball game, in that it's an easy clear but too long and kind of tedious to do.

I've tried a few games of All Pro Basketball so far but I seem to just be getting my ass kicked by the CPU. Not like 70-20 or anything, but they manage to consistently steal from me and get rebounds more often than I do, and I get fouls more often than they do. These things combined put me behind since every turnover is at least 2 points changing hands.

Other than "Don't charge into the opposing players" or "A steals, B jumps", any advice on playing this game better? I don't mind the tedium of playing 35 matches in a bad game, but I don't want to do 100 because it takes me 3 tries to beat anyone.

Aside: the goal says beat each team 3 times, does that mean you only need to win 21/35 games, or does the game also have an internal goal for whether you beat the game, like over 30 wins, or something else? I was thinking of taking a few Ls here and there to make it go by quicker but don't want to end up at the end screen and get a "game over" or the wrong ending or whatever because my record was too bad.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Khromak

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

4 hours ago, Khromak said:

I've tried a few games of All Pro Basketball so far but I seem to just be getting my ass kicked by the CPU. Not like 70-20 or anything, but they manage to consistently steal from me and get rebounds more often than I do, and I get fouls more often than they do. These things combined put me behind since every turnover is at least 2 points changing hands.

Other than "Don't charge into the opposing players" or "A steals, B jumps", any advice on playing this game better? I don't mind the tedium of playing 35 matches in a bad game, but I don't want to do 100 because it takes me 3 tries to beat anyone.

Aside: the goal says beat each team 3 times, does that mean you only need to win 21/35 games, or does the game also have an internal goal for whether you beat the game, like over 30 wins, or something else? I was thinking of taking a few Ls here and there to make it go by quicker but don't want to end up at the end screen and get a "game over" or the wrong ending or whatever because my record was too bad.

I believe that you only need to win at least 3 of your 5 games against each team. I think you have that right. Although the announcer will tell you in the post-game babble that even one loss might cost you the championship. At least until you get about 25 wins in, then the script changes to "well, your championship is guaranteed..."

I get my basketball games a little bit confused when it comes to gameplay. I know that I prefer to dunk in APBB. It's more reliable than shooting from the floor. Experiment with timing until you let a defender into the frame of your dunk, while still being too far away to block your shot. They only have one animation for that scenario, and you'll score 100% of the time.

I get the stealing mechanics confused in 8-bit basketball games. In some games, passing is essential to keep defenders away, and in others passing is a way to get stolen from more easily. I want to say that in APBB it's better to try and run up court without passing. I think I generally get more steals on defense selecting a fast player, covering the ballholder like a shadow, and spamming the steal button. 

[Khromak | 770]

I think I just about have the offense down and you're right, shooting is terrible and dunking is great. You may be on to something with letting them attempt to block, since I've never seen a failed dunk if the defender is attempting to block but in the wrong place, though TBH most of my dunks go in anyway.

The defense part kinda sucks because in this one B is jump and A is both steal AND swap player. So as soon as the player gets out of your range/closer to another one of your players, A swaps to another player, which not only screws up your running directions, but also stops your steal spam.

I've still got the cart on my desk, I'll probably give it another try in the next few days and see how it feels. Ultimately if I get trounced a few more times I might give it up, though it would also be nice to first clear another game and get it off my personal list, so I'm trying to be persistent. I think I'm up to like...5 or 6 losses in a row. Closest I've ever gotten was maybe 7 points behind?

With some practice I should be able to get it down, it's just the defending/rebounding controls are awful. Half the time before I realize where the ball is on a rebound, the CPU has already picked it up and is dunking it. It doesn't help that it's a little tough to figure out who has the ball too, so sometimes I steal but don't realize I've stolen and accidently throw a "pass" off the court.

Good to know you only need to win ~21 games (7 teams other than yours, 3 wins each). If I get into a rhythm where I'm winning I might strategically accept a loss or two so I can play fewer games rather than striving for 35 wins.

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

3 hours ago, Khromak said:

I think I just about have the offense down and you're right, shooting is terrible and dunking is great. You may be on to something with letting them attempt to block, since I've never seen a failed dunk if the defender is attempting to block but in the wrong place, though TBH most of my dunks go in anyway.

[...]

With some practice I should be able to get it down, it's just the defending/rebounding controls are awful. Half the time before I realize where the ball is on a rebound, the CPU has already picked it up and is dunking it. It doesn't help that it's a little tough to figure out who has the ball too, so sometimes I steal but don't realize I've stolen and accidently throw a "pass" off the court.

Good to know you only need to win ~21 games (7 teams other than yours, 3 wins each). If I get into a rhythm where I'm winning I might strategically accept a loss or two so I can play fewer games rather than striving for 35 wins.

Yeah, APBB is definitely clunky.

The thing about dunking is that there are only four animations in the game:

1) You go up to dunk alone and hit it.

2) You go up alone and fail.

3) You go up with a defender, but he's too far away and you dunk in his face.

4) You go up with a defender, and he blocks the shot.

If there is no defender close to the basket when you initiate the dunk, you will get Option 1 or 2 randomly. You will usually hit it, but it's not unusual to fail 3-4 times in a row. If a defender is nearby, you will get option 3 or 4 but it is NOT random. Thus, I try to get a defender just barely into the shot because that's a guaranteed bucket.

And honestly, once you acclimate to the game and lock your strategies into habits, you'll never lose a game again. I reliably win each game by about 50 points, and I probably only had to play through about 20 games to get there. It's an easy game to exploit.

EDIT: Oh, and PS:

Even if you win all 35 games, the game will glitch and give you a final record of 34-1. I've done this three or four times now, and it's always the same. It's a nitpick, but my OCD for perfectionism is always irritated with that last screen.

Edited October 2, 2023 by nerdynebraskan

[BlackVega | 583]

Beat Lagrange Point. I actually beat that one many years ago but I decided to replay it because I felt like it and it didn't take me too long. Also it is here on the list so yeah. I would also recommend this for everyone to play.

Also Shrek is in this game!

[Khromak | 770]

I beat ultima 4: quest of the avatar! I've beaten it once before, it's an alright game but like most games of the era, the spells are not very balanced and combat is kind of rote. Love the idea of the game and the number of locations and secrets is pretty interesting. That said, if you're going to play it you probably want a guide because it's a doozy.

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

I've been trying Low G Man for the last few days. I've generally been able to brute force my way through, but I've been stuck on stage 5-1. I figured out quickly that you can fall all the way to the right and avoid all the floating enemies, but the boss is still so brutal. It's hard enough to get rid of the minions before they drain half of my HP. But then I'm still left with a randomly teleporting boss throwing fireballs that I have to awkwardly harpoon at least 30 times to destroy?! Does anyone have any tips? 

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Low G Man is now done.

I finally got over the hump and killed the teleporting boss tonight, then I got stuck on the last level for a little while. The platforming is seemingly impossible, except the walker vehicles have a special move that allows them to jump like crazy. If I hadn't found a PDF of the game's manual online, I would have never figured that out.

I can definitely see how this game was programmed by the same people who did KickMaster and the G.I. Joe games, but I can't say that I would recommend Low G Man. It plays like a half-baked alpha prototype of especially G.I. Joe. It has a lot of interesting ideas that they later got right in A Real American Hero, which is probably the most underrated run-and-gun on the NES. But the execution is just so poor in Low G Man that it wasn't much fun.

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

Shockwave is done.

I'm generally fond of Sokoban-style puzzle games, but this one was just too obtuse for its own good. I leaned heavily on walkthroughs, although I was able to find some hidden warps on my own in some of the intermediate stages. Luckily, you can skip to Level 40 of 50 pretty quickly with the abundance of warps. I know I skipped almost 2/3s of those stages.

[PII | 1,894]

SHADOW OF THE NINJA is done.  This one is pretty fun.  It's like Contra and Ninja Gaiden got together and Vice Project Doom decided to get in on the action and this is what popped out.  I would say the gameplay feels closest to VPD and there are some enemy elements that feel very Contra-ish and then of course you are a ninja.  

Overall though I don't feel it is as good as any of those three.  It lacks the really consistent fast paced flow of those games just a bit, the bosses are pretty easy and there tend to be spots that are easier to just push through and take a hit or two rather than work through the combat, although having various multi-hit enemies more in line with CastleVania or VPD is a cool element and it is ultimately more fun to figure out how to take on those enemies and or give them the slip.

Very good game with a great soundtrack.

..and the Garuda battle at the end runs a bit looooonnnnng.

[PII | 1,894]

1 hour ago, nerdynebraskan said:

I'm generally fond of Sokoban-style puzzle games, but this one was just too obtuse for its own good. I leaned heavily on walkthroughs, although I was able to find some hidden warps on my own in some of the intermediate stages. Luckily, you can skip to Level 40 of 50 pretty quickly with the abundance of warps. I know I skipped almost 2/3s of those stages.

It's been a few years since I've tried playing Shockwave.  I haven't beaten it but I remember liking it fairly well and yeah, I also got the "obtuse" vibe.  Wasn't sure if it was the game design or just my inexperience with it.  Always have had the plan to get back to it at some point...