NES Completions thread 2020 - 677/677 (All Clear!)

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

@bronzeshield

Nice to see you pull two off completions in one day! I hope I didn't twist your arm too hard the other day towards doing Jimmy Connors again, but you have indeed shown why I call you the tennis master. What's next for you? Are you still working on Solomon's Key?

@Daniel_Doyce

You also knocked off two in one day! Wild stuff considering we're into our last hundred games... Can you beat Othello legitimately, or do you rely on online strategy generators like scary does? I've wanted to try the game legitimately someday, but I'm really bad at Othello. It sounds like L'Empereur is next for you, but I wonder if you'd be interested in Wall Street Kid? I checked your recent activity a few days ago wondering how you were doing, and you seem to be active on some stock market thread here. Wall Street Kid might be right up your alley.

@Crabmaster2000

I wish you luck on Black Bass and Top Gun: Second Mission. I never got into the fishing games, but Black Bass seems like a serious chore. And Second Mission is definitely harder than the original Top Gun; I got deep into the third mission of the original when I tried to beat it for this thread a couple of years ago, but I've never seen the end of the first stage in the sequel. I still wish you'd give us specific updates of how many games you have left for your personal quest. I'd especially like to know how many of those games (and which titles specifically) you still need to do that are on the list here.

@PII

Welcome to the challenge! I'm not sure if you're aware, but we only get counted on the leaderboard for being the first in a given year to beat a specific game. You are on the board now, because you are the first to beat Cool World. You can always keep track of the remaining games by looking at the first post in this thread, and then looking for posts on the back end that have been made since scary's last update. But he does a pretty good job of keeping the active games and leaderboard updated every couple of days or so. Is there anything else left on the board this year that you're planning to tackle soon? Supposedly, if we finish the NES library the forum admins will give us an NES controller icon for our profiles (which you would have already earned, for contributing to this thread).

@Gaia Gensouki

The burnout factor is very real as we get down to the games that no one seems to want to play at the end of the list. If you really need a break, I'm sure there are much more interesting games remaining on the challenge threads of less popular platforms. But I will also mention again that the Ultima games are very well regarded by RPG folks, and you're on the record here as digging RPGs. Exodus and Quest of the Avatar are probably among the 10 best games left on this list. Warriors of Destiny, on the other hand... feels like a mediocre stepping stone to the 16-bit Ultimas of the SNES. There are also I think three other RPGs left on the list, but not as well regarded as the two Ultimas: AD&D Pool of Radiance, Might & Magic, and Wizardry Knight of Diamonds.

[Tablew/chairs | 250]

5 hours ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

 

I also have to say that I'm starting to get burned out by these subpar and oftentimes frustrating games. If it wasn't for the community effort and mutual help and encouragement here I would probably have thrown the towel on some of these games. Thanks everyone! Despite that I might take a short break from NES games. We'll see.

 

the problem is you’re playing some really poor games but that’s ok if we’re gunna finish someone has to beat them

ultimate air combat and Michael Andretti world gp are both really well done games. As someone who doesn’t enjoy those genres I still appreciated the design of the game and the attempt toward realism.  I would recommend both of them for the challenge which to me made them fun. Downside would be length and the undesirable genres.

loopz is another excellent game that’s still available 

@bronzeshield

as far as taking one for the team we really need someone to start these bases loaded games. There’s still a few on the list I can do pretty easily but they’ll be repeats me so I’ll wait a little bit more to see if anyone picks them up

 

[PII | 1,886]

@nerdynebraskan

Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up, I really wasn't certain.  I think I'll try Dracula next.  I played it on easy recently and was dismayed when the game came to an end prematurely after a few levels, so I'm not sure, but I think its like double dragon II where you have to play it on hard to get the full game.  Wish I could be the one to knock Loopz off the pedestal, as it's one of my favorites.  Currently I can rock it pretty hard at level 7, but level 8 is rough and level 9 still kicks my butt.  I usually consider a level beaten when I've hit a few hundred loopz and my fingers start to go numb...

[scaryice | 588]

20 minutes ago, PII said:

I think I'll try Dracula next.  I played it on easy recently and was dismayed when the game came to an end prematurely after a few levels, so I'm not sure, but I think its like double dragon II where you have to play it on hard to get the full game.

Yes, that's correct.

Edited April 16, 2020 by scaryice

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

@Tablew/chairs

I think I've neglected to call you out recently. You're a rock star as usual, casually dusting off some pretty daunting games. How many of the remaining games would be first-time clears for you? What are you planning to do next?

I've been thinking about trying Ultimate Air Combat again recently. I've only dabbled in it, but I was pretty impressed with it. I'm really not sure if I can get into the Bases Loaded games, but I'm starting to feel cravings for Roger Clemens MVP again. Unless someone is determined to clear it for the first time someday soon, I might bite the bullet and play some 15-18 hours of that to get it off the board.

But today? I think I'll try my hand at Mighty Bomb Jack.

@PII

I think about finishing Bram Stoker's Dracula once in a while, but I get too frustrated with that game having no continues. I'll be rooting for you!

RE: Loopz

I played a lot of that one a few years ago trying to beat it for this challenge. I think clearing "A" and "B" games is pretty easy; just a modest high score to be passed. The nightmare is the "C" game, i.e.: the memory challenge. 50 puzzles that have to be reconstructed identically after being deconstructed in seconds before your eyes. You have one life, and you only earn a password to continue with every fifth puzzle. The first ten or fifteen of the puzzles were fun and even casual, but the puzzles get more complicated and the timer that forces you to make each move gets shorter with every round. I may have seen the 39th or 40th puzzle, but the password for 35 was the furthest progress I earned.

[bronzeshield | 293]

1 hour ago, Tablew/chairs said:

as far as taking one for the team we really need someone to start these bases loaded games. There’s still a few on the list I can do pretty easily but they’ll be repeats me so I’ll wait a little bit more to see if anyone picks them up

I've actually been seriously considering doing the first game, since I've never finished it and I've meant to since childhood. I know it'll be a grind, of course. So -- sigh -- yes, count me in for Bases Loaded.  But only the first game; the others don't look like my speed.

And @nerdynebraskan, thanks for your kind words! We'll see about Solomon's Key -- I'll need to start out by learning Levels 44-48 so I've got them down pat, as that concluding gauntlet is so brutal.

Edited April 16, 2020 by bronzeshield

[PII | 1,886]

@ nerdynebraskan

Thanx, I've never really buckled down on B.S.D., just pick it up and give it a go once in a while, so I'm kind of overdue for it.

Regarding Loopz, I just checked the conditions for victory listed and yeah, A and B are pretty easy that way.  I typically spend most of my time on A and every once in a while give C a go.  I guess this'll be a good opportunity to buckle down on that one too.  Who knows maybe I'll actually get there by the end of the year, lol.

[Strikezone1 | 154]

22 hours ago, Crabmaster2000 said:

Anyone have any tips for Top Gun Second Mission? I played the first one and beat it yesterday, tried the second one today and it seems a bit tougher.

I think Top Gun: The Second Mission is significantly tougher than the first TG game. I beat it a couple years ago in 2018.  I think it may be the most difficult game out of all the 180 NES games that I've beaten.

It requires precise and intricate movement and timing, in addition to a lot of memorization. The insta-death missiles that enemies fire at you from behind is incredibly frustrating.

If order to get the feel & memorization required in order to beat it, you gotta practice a lot with with either save states if you're emulating, or the infinite lives code using game genie. The game only gives you 4 lives (3 to start, 1 via points right around the time you clear the first boss), which is ridiculously not nearly enough to get the practice needed for the later 2 missions.

I always took the 40 missiles (the middle choice). There are spots in each mission to utilize them, both in dogfights and on normal enemies.

I literally made hand written notes for each and every sequence, detailing where & how to move for each, and when to shoot a missile. This includes the dogfights.

It is imperative to take out the enemy of each dogfight quickly. If it goes to a long drawn-out battle, there's a much greater chance they'll kill you.

Another frustrating thing about this game (as you know I'm sure) is that you cannot pause, and refer to your notes. What I did was I made notes in large writing and put them right next to the tv so I could quickly glance at them.

Best of luck! I know that you have the skill to beat it!

[Tablew/chairs | 250]

@nerdynebraskan it's probably like 20-25 of those left i haven't beaten, everything i've done this year beside temple of doom has been a first time, but there's another one i see i might repeat if i get a chance today.  i'm kind of interested in nightshade or maybe best of the best and i've never done any of the ultima games but after wizardry not sure if i'm ready for another rpg yet.

@bronzeshield that;s the spirit! I haven't done BL 3 or 4 yet however they aren't anything i feel like doing immediately but i could see myself playing them later this year

[Splain | 2,571]

I want to contribute! Hmm, which game.

I put in maybe 10 attempts at Battletank. The Game Boy one is nearly identical, except the NES enemies are way better at actually hitting me. My GB strategies don't work on NES. Seems like you have to get lucky to take down anything without getting hit at least once. And you need as many hit points as possible for the "attack objective" at the end of each mission. I can get to mission 4 or 5 consistently-ish, but that's using the 1 continue to restart a mission.

There's a trick where blowing up your own resupply depot (after resupplying) counts as an enemy kill, so you can skip an enemy and still finish a mission. There's a review on YT that says the helicopters get worse at hitting you if you're going exactly 15 km/h, but I haven't found that to be true. I've got some ok strategies worked out for both tanks and choppers, but again, nothing good enough to keep me from getting hit, especially when they team up, which they do more and more the further you get. Raaaage!

[Daniel_Doyce | 475]

@nerdynebraskan

"You also knocked off two in one day! Wild stuff considering we're into our last hundred games... Can you beat Othello legitimately, or do you rely on online strategy generators like scary does? I've wanted to try the game legitimately someday, but I'm really bad at Othello. It sounds like L'Empereur is next for you, but I wonder if you'd be interested in Wall Street Kid? I checked your recent activity a few days ago wondering how you were doing, and you seem to be active on some stock market thread here. Wall Street Kid might be right up your alley."

Othello's algorithm appears to be deterministic, so once you beat it, you can always beat it with the same set of moves.

I've beaten Wall Street Kid before. It's not like you need any actual stock knowledge to win. I remember it being pretty tedious, but I will think about doing it again

[Tablew/chairs | 250]

ok klash ball is done, i like this game but it seems pretty unpopular.  it's actually really short just a 10 game season and then 2 playoff games.   You can also change the game length from 2 minutes to 1 minute to make it extra fast.  There's a little bit of a learning curve but after you understand how the ball bounces around and the best time to grab it the game becomes fairly straight forward.

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,075]

6 hours ago, nerdynebraskan said:

@Gaia Gensouki

The burnout factor is very real as we get down to the games that no one seems to want to play at the end of the list. If you really need a break, I'm sure there are much more interesting games remaining on the challenge threads of less popular platforms. But I will also mention again that the Ultima games are very well regarded by RPG folks, and you're on the record here as digging RPGs. Exodus and Quest of the Avatar are probably among the 10 best games left on this list. Warriors of Destiny, on the other hand... feels like a mediocre stepping stone to the 16-bit Ultimas of the SNES. There are also I think three other RPGs left on the list, but not as well regarded as the two Ultimas: AD&D Pool of Radiance, Might & Magic, and Wizardry Knight of Diamonds.

Yeah, I will play some other games for a change of pace and then probably try my hands at Exodus, if no one has started it by then. Next week I should also receive the remake of Trials of Mana, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

I actually tried Might & Magic last year, but realized that I might not have made it until the end of that year so I stopped. Luckily I didn't get too far into it and was also somehow punished for having male party members when I entered that city of amazons and got damaged every few steps I took. I loved 6 and 7 and the heroes spin-offs, but at least the first two games in the series seem to be very difficult to go back to.

[Kid Dracula | 126]

Played through Smash TV today. Never played the arcade or a port of any kind but I thought it was quite good. The voice samples, while quite scratchy were actually well done! “Good luck, you’ll need it”, “I’d buy that for a dollar!”

[bronzeshield | 293]

I had a hankering to play some Sky Kid last night, and made it to Level 14. We'll see how I do -- no one else should hold off on my account, if they feel like taking it on -- but it's been on my priority list for a while, so I might put some time into it and try in earnest to beat it. Tough game, though.

[Crabmaster2000 | 501]

Might need a judges ruling on Black Bass. So I finished all 12 tournaments. I won 1st place in a class A tournament on tournament 7. On the final lake I got a 2nd place (so dang close!) to finish the game off. Still got a congratulations screen prior to the ending screen and a 1st during the tournament so I'm happy with that for my personal list. I'll leave this here and let you guys decide if it counts or not. 

 

@Strikezone1 - thanks for the insight and tips. I might leave that on the back burner for a bit. Not sure I'm in the mindset for another super challenging game right this second and might opt to work on something a bit less stressful like an RPG or Strategy game. Will definitely reference back to this when I'm ready. 

 

@nerdynebraskan - With Black Bass crossed off my personal list is currently down to 102 games (1 is a game I just need to rerecord because for some reason I lost the last bit of footage when I uploaded it). There are still some pretty tough ones like Ikari Warriors and Q*Bert that I need to get to, but I purposefully saved some real softballs or games that I knew I'd enjoy very late so I'd have some good choices left with my final 100 and not just the most brutal and obscure stuff at the end. The games remaining that crossover with this challenge are just these 19 games:

Battle Tank

Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge

F-117A Stealth Fighter

Gauntlet

Ikari Warriors

Immortal, The

Last Starfighter

Loopz

Might & Magic

Mutant Virus

Pirates!

Q*Bert

Sky Kid

Smash TV

Super Glove Ball

Tecmo World Wrestling

To the Earth

Top Gun Second Mission

Ultimate Air Combat

 

[scaryice | 588]

So there's two A lakes, the highest rank, and you got first in one of them? And there's no difference if you get first on the other one? Well, it sounds like what you did was what Arnpoly said would be acceptable, but I'd like to hear his response since he's the expert.

BTW, I think you need to replay Rally Bike since you beat it before we realized that it ends after the second loop.

[scaryice | 588]

On 4/16/2020 at 4:46 PM, Splain said:

I put in maybe 10 attempts at Battletank. The Game Boy one is nearly identical, except the NES enemies are way better at actually hitting me. My GB strategies don't work on NES. Seems like you have to get lucky to take down anything without getting hit at least once. And you need as many hit points as possible for the "attack objective" at the end of each mission. I can get to mission 4 or 5 consistently-ish, but that's using the 1 continue to restart a mission.

I was playing Battle Tank a bit earlier this year. Doesn't seem too hard or long for a game that's gone unbeaten in 5/8 years. I only made it about as far as you, though. The hard part is just doing it in one go, of course. With passwords or more continues it would be trivial.

If anyone's looking for an easier game to beat, Goal Two and Golf Grand Slam are quick clears. They both have passwords after each match or hole.

[Daniel_Doyce | 475]

L'Empereur is done. That's the last of the Koei block.

I'll get to Shingen soon, but I'll work on Break Time first. I beat it a few years ago and remember it was tough, but not excessively so.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Daniel_Doyce

[Crabmaster2000 | 501]

1 hour ago, scaryice said:

So there's two A lakes, the highest rank, and you got first in one of them? And there's no difference if you get first on the other one? Well, it sounds like what you did was what Arnpoly said would be acceptable, but I'd like to hear his response since he's the expert.

BTW, I think you need to replay Rally Bike since you beat it before we realized that it ends after the second loop.

There are 4 lakes that just keep looping. The 4th Lake is only open if you keep in the A Class which assuming you did well in 2 of the first 3 lakes you'll have open to you and then it was actually incredibly easy to stay in A class. The Lakes themselves don't have class ranks so you could theoretically get a 1st place in A rank on the easier Lakes too, but it seems unlikely with the size of bass available. 

So I beat C class, which opens B Class. Beat B Class which opens A Class. Beat A Class which does nothing other than congratulate you. At the end of the tournament whatever rank you get in that final class you're in gives you the same congratulations screen as you'd have gotten by beating A class in any previous tournament level. I got 2nd so I still got a congratulations screen which I feel is similar to getting a silver medal in something like Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular as an ending. 

Also interested in @arnpolys opinion though. 

 

Also don't add more work for me when I'm so close to a big milestone!

[Crabmaster2000 | 501]

Regarding Rally Bike. Is there any difference if you finish the second loop in 1st place? I can only find videos of it ending in 10th and 16th. 

[NESfiend | 1,515]

Empire Strikes Back is finally done!  Really loved playing the game overall, but there are some really frustrating aspects. I would encourage anyone who is fan of the series and other games to make an attempt if you can put some time into it. Use a longplay video as a guide or you will be at it a long time. LIke months. I am sure that's why it has no traction as a major release. I didn't get out of the hoth caves (level 1) as a kid and I am sure 99% of people didn't. Even if you know what to do, the execution of some of the games hardest jumps and enemies is really tough to learn. There is a dragonfly on Dagobah that takes up three quarters of the screen. and moves about 300 mph across to kill you. The bounty hunter fights are pretty challenging. Boba Fetts ship battle is also really tough to learn, to name just a few. If someone needs help on those in future years, feel free to reach out.

Once you know what to do though, and figure out how to execute those frustrating parts (long battle there), this  is a fantastic star wars game. It has a really dark feel and sound that fits with the movie's overall theme/feel. It's true to the story of the movie and where they had to get creative, like the bobba fett fights, the content is still really good. What I think is really cool is the empire's machines are appropriately powerful/dangerous. For example, the two legged AT-STs take what seems to be hundreds of blasts with the standard blaster to destroy it. You can hide away and take longer safer approaches like blasting that thing from a distance, or fire up the lightsaber power and go hard to beat it fast, wiht more risk. By the end, you are executing jumps and force maneauvers with ease that once seemed unimaginable. It feels like you actually have become a jedi. And the Vader battle at the end is one of the best final boss fights I have played for any NES game, regardless of whether I beat it. Really too bad there wasn't a Return of the Jedi for NES. Finally, this game has about 10 cool end screens, so here are 3.

Glad to have finally had the time to go through this game. Can't imagine I will enjoy anything on the list as much as I did this game. This was my 10th first time clear for the thread. SInce I got to most of them later in the competition, all are 7-10 point games and most have been deep in the competition. Surprisingly, I have really lucked out with quality as I have really enjoyed almost all of them. 

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by NESfiend

[nerdynebraskan | 356]

I'm about halfway through Puzznic, which is more like 1/4 of the way through the cart since I haven't started Gravnic yet. I also plan to keep grinding on Mighty Bomb Jack, but it's pretty brutal. I also want to keep working on Gauntlet, but I'll stay away from the rest of @Crabmaster2000's list until at least June because of how close he is to his great triumph.

Oh, and crabby:  I'm no expert on Black Bass, but I don't see why your end screen would be inadequate for this challenge. Best endings are rarely required for this challenge, and usually boil down to: 1) you didn't play the whole game (the Double Dragon II/Galaxy 5000 rule) 2) you didn't play enough loops of the game (the Mystery Quest rule) or 3) the game hands out endings willy-nilly so it's not an accomplishment unless you get the best (the Pirates! rule). To the best of my knowledge, none of these caveats apply to your clear of Black Bass.

I plan to start Roger Clemens MVP Baseball in the next week, unless someone explicitly says here that they want the honor/burden more. This game takes almost 20 hours, friends. Only one of us should play it! Speak now, or the burden shall be mine.

[NESfiend | 1,515]

@Gaia Gensouki - way late for it, but congrats on clearing 500 points. Crazy feat especially since so much of it was late into the game list. Understand the fatigue. When the empire grind was wearing on me, I played around with a few SNES games during the day when my kid was playing in the game room area downstairs. I just started looking at the completion thread for it and there are an endless supply of good games to be played there. I am going to be mixing it up more going forward. Not sure how much longer I will be at home so I need to get a couple other systems in while there is still time. Thanks for powering through a lot of clunkers. 

 @Kid Dracula - I used to rent Smash TV and I have no idea why because I only remember two things. 1. Getting nowhere. 2. "Good Luck! You'll need it!" That sound clip pops on in my head whenever I read the title anywhere. Nice clear. I looked at youtube footage to remember what it looked like. Looks really tough. At some point I read the backstory about why you are on a game show slaughtering thousands of people to stay alive yourself. Can't remember it though. 

@Crabmaster2000  - down to 100 games to complete the library is incredible. If you complete it, I vote the mods give you a lucas barton head badge. Do you have longplay videos for every game you have completed? I'm going to go back to that Galaxy 5000 video to get to your page and look around. 

@nerdynebraskan - Good luck with MVP. Nice of you to commit to that. A not terrible baseball game doesn't sound like a bad side project, especially as the list keeps thinning out. I am looking at that option. 

@bronzeshield - on the topic of long baseball commitments, really nice of you to grind through bases loaded. Good luck!

@PII - cool you got involved with the thread late. That little TV with the big nobs is badass. 

 

[Tablew/chairs | 250]

Best of the Best is finished, pretty blah game