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

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

The only game left that I've even played is Michael Andretti's Racing and I did awful. Best of luck to the troopers that knock the rest of these out.

[scaryice | 579]

Super Glove Ball defeated:

 

It really wasn't that hard of a game. Not even close to Ikari Warriors. I spent two hours farming 50 lives, and then I only ended up using half of those. Now, of course I was using guides - playing blind and not knowing which rooms to go to would be a nightmare. All the lives made it very easy to tank the last few rooms and finish the job. The farming would probably go faster on a second playthrough.

This game may seem like an Arkanoid/Breakout style block breaker, but your shooting ability is way more useful, to the point where you should almost never even bother bouncing the ball to clear the screen. So your first impression of the gameplay ends up being quite different than your optimal strats. This is the kind of game that maps shoot to the select button, though. I think I pressed select more in this game than any other. Naturally, select is also the button to go to the next screen (when you get that option). It's just that kind of game. I will note that from the Youtube footage I saw, you can seemingly move the glove much faster when playing with an actual Power Glove. So that may be the way to go here. I know some people in these yearly threads complained previously about how hard it is to avoid the bosses - well, that may be why they had issues.

I also want to complain about just how terrible the diagonal tiles are to clear in the corners, and also how dumb it is to have warps you can easily trigger by accident under random tiles. There's a lot of flaws here, but still, not the worst experience to power through and complete. I think Arkanoid would be much, much worse.

[scaryice | 579]

With 13 games left, there's only 146 points remaining to be won. Second place Gaia Gensouki can only get a max of 706, which means that nerdynebraskan has clinched first place! This is his third straight title, and fourth overall (no one else has won it more than once).

 

NES Completions Thread Champions

				Second	Third
2012	Crabmaster2000	124 games		scaryice	8-bit boice
2013	WashYourFace	79.5 games		Crabmaster2000	Red
2014	nerdynebraskan	487 points		DoctorNick	scaryice
2015	DoctorNick	697 points		Bea Iank	nerdynebraskan
2016	Bea Iank	657 points		nerdynebraskan	tablew/chairs
2017	guitarzombie	475 points		John198X	nerdynebraskan
2018	nerdynebraskan	852 points		Crabmaster2000	Kid Dracula
2019	nerdynebraskan	872 points		Crabmaster2000	tablew/chairs
2020	nerdynebraskan	711+ points		Gaia Gensouki	Kid Dracula

 

The first two years predated the point system, so the winner was decided by total games beaten. Second/Third can still change this year, but it's very unlikely.

Edited July 22, 2020 by scaryice

[Tablew/chairs | 242]

@scaryice awesome work to you and @Crabmaster2000 super glove ball and last starfighter are two games where after a couple days of getting no where I just said I’ll get back to these some day

after reading your thoughts though maybe ill give super glove ball another look, what’s the strategy for farming lives?

[Crabmaster2000 | 500]

1 hour ago, Tablew/chairs said:

@scaryice awesome work to you and @Crabmaster2000 super glove ball and last starfighter are two games where after a couple days of getting no where I just said I’ll get back to these some day

after reading your thoughts though maybe ill give super glove ball another look, what’s the strategy for farming lives?

I did that with Last Starfighter as well. Tried it years ago and couldn't get last stage 2 so I out it on the backburner

[PII | 1,883]

On 12/31/2019 at 8:29 PM, scaryice said:

It's not necessary to get every ending or play on the highest difficulty (with a couple of exceptions where you don't play the full game otherwise).

As I've understood this so far, it seems to regard the playing of games like Double Dragon II or Bram Stoker's Dracula, on hard, as necessary because anything less leaves out entire levels; and refutes the necessity of playing a game (say Milon's Secret Castle) twice in a row in order to get the good ending (Ghosts n' Goblins being a technical exception here.)

My question is: In Mighty Bomb Jack, is it considered necessary to save the Queen, Princess AND enter the super-secret Final Chamber to deal with whatever awaits (in addition to saving the King) which grants the final ending?  Or is it only necessary to save the king which grants the player with the first ending?

[Daniel_Doyce | 470]

I'm still getting around to Stealth ATF, and will work on it this weekend.

Is Athena really so awful that no one will claim it or touch it with a 10 foot pole?

[Crabmaster2000 | 500]

8 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

I'm still getting around to Stealth ATF, and will work on it this weekend.

Is Athena really so awful that no one will claim it or touch it with a 10 foot pole?

Yes Athena lives up to its reputation. It's pretty terrible.

[scaryice | 579]

21 hours ago, Tablew/chairs said:

after reading your thoughts though maybe ill give super glove ball another look, what’s the strategy for farming lives?

Just go back and forth between two different rooms. I did it in 2 & 11 like TMR did in his playthrough, but I imagine you could do it in a lot of other places too. Going down from room 11 takes you to 2, and going up on 2 takes you back to 11. Meanwhile, just shoot every power up and grab the stars (which counts as a power up) for the rarely seen "life" drop. That's different than the "extra" power-up, which refills your balls (6 balls = 1 hand) - those 6 balls get refilled every time you switch rooms, so it's not too hard to farm lives once you get the hang of it. You get maybe one life drop per room clear though, so it's pretty slow. Some enemies instantly take a life (hand) so you gotta watch for that too.

Edited July 23, 2020 by scaryice

[scaryice | 579]

15 hours ago, PII said:

As I've understood this so far, it seems to regard the playing of games like Double Dragon II or Bram Stoker's Dracula, on hard, as necessary because anything less leaves out entire levels; and refutes the necessity of playing a game (say Milon's Secret Castle) twice in a row in order to get the good ending (Ghosts n' Goblins being a technical exception here.)

My question is: In Mighty Bomb Jack, is it considered necessary to save the Queen, Princess AND enter the super-secret Final Chamber to deal with whatever awaits (in addition to saving the King) which grants the final ending?  Or is it only necessary to save the king which grants the player with the first ending?

Any ending is fine for MBJ.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

1 hour ago, Crabmaster2000 said:

Yes Athena lives up to its reputation. It's pretty terrible.

I was wondering why there was a 4 point game still on the list. I just figured someone was working on it.

[Daniel_Doyce | 470]

Stealth ATF is done; at least, I think it is, since I beat mission 8.

I never figured out what purpose the stealth mode has. It doesn't seem to help me at all. What I ended up doing was flying in a loop over and over, slowly picking off planes with my cannon, until I could take some easy shots with the missiles when most of the planes were gone. Not too bad once you figure out how to freaking land the plane.

 

 

[Daniel_Doyce | 470]

I think every remaining game is either semi-claimed or not something I have any chance with, except Athena. I'll work on that as my last contribution to the contest this year.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

I don't think there's anything left that I'd be able to finish anytime soon. I'm currently 5th on the overall completions list, so hopefully I can try and beat that next year.

[Tablew/chairs | 242]

@scaryice

thanks for the tips i was able to beat super glove ball today

[ninjistar | 517]

On 7/22/2020 at 6:06 PM, Daniel_Doyce said:

I'm still getting around to Stealth ATF, and will work on it this weekend.

Is Athena really so awful that no one will claim it or touch it with a 10 foot pole?

I tried Stealthy ATF much earlier this year. Man that game is rough. It's so long and drawn out, at least for a player who's new to it. Happy to see it's finished, also intrigued  

[Daniel_Doyce | 470]

Does Athena have unlimited continues? My first impression is that it's not terrible, but I only got to the second world after a couple of attempts.

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,066]

I think it has unlimited continues so you can brute force your way through this game. However, it gets very difficult very quickly. My biggest annoyances with this game were the lack of mercy invincibility as well as the fact that you lose all your weapon upgrade, if you pick up another weapon. And if you have the wrong weapon for a boss fight you're basically already dead. It gets really awful in level 3. That's where I gave up earlier this year.

[Crabmaster2000 | 500]

On 7/26/2020 at 1:05 PM, Daniel_Doyce said:

Does Athena have unlimited continues? My first impression is that it's not terrible, but I only got to the second world after a couple of attempts.

Yeah it seems fine at first. The water stage and the labyrinth stage are the worst. Also if you accidentally pick up the wrong weapon upgrade, which is very easy to do in any level, it can quickly turn a great run into a devastating one. 

[nerdynebraskan | 345]

I got a bit burned out on Mighty Bomb Jack, but I haven't completely given up on it. I'm also wanting to give the Power Pad games a go, but the other day I gave into my cravings and started a new game of the first Fire Emblem. So that will probably consume my gaming time for the next couple of weeks...

[Crabmaster2000 | 500]

I'm heading out of town for the weekend. I'm currently trying to beat Wario's Woods (it's hard as heck!) and will keep at that when I get home, but after that's done I'll start work on Sky Kid. 

[Daniel_Doyce | 470]

Putting in some hours on Athena.. Maybe I'll finish this weekend.

[nerdynebraskan | 345]

@Crabmaster2000

I absolutely love Wario's Woods, and it's probably one of my fonder memories of my years of doing this challenge that it was what provoked me to finally sit down and play the game to its end.

What's the latest round you've managed to reach yet? There are 99 before you get to the credits on both Game "A" and "B." I prefer Game B because I enjoy the bosses on the rounds ending in 9.

A few hints on my basic strategy:

First of all, if you haven't noticed it yet you can totally pause the game if you need more time to consider your next move. Most puzzle games black out the game board, but not Wario's Woods.

Second, it is often easier to beat the really late rounds by starting from Round 1 and earning a few extra credits so you can afford to make a few mistakes. That is, of course, slower.

Third, you really want to be earning and quickly using the diamond power-ups. You will need to string together a detonation of five or more same-colored enemies and bombs (in one consecutive line; two diagonals or a cross connected at the center won't count.) I usually look for a spot with four enemies arranged vertically or diagonally and put a bomb at the end, but sometimes there are spots where you have three enemies in a line and space to either hold two bombs (for a vertical) or can plant a bomb in the row above and beyond where you need it to detonate a diagonal (at which point your next bomb of that color can go where it originally belonged and you still get a five-piece detonation with only three enemies in the line). It is crucial on the late rounds to eliminate entire colors of enemies quickly, and to be sure you've also eliminated all bombs of that color (because that will otherwise keep them spawning).

Combining the first and third tips, one of the first things I do at the start of a late round is to consider where from the very first move I might have options to build a five-piece detonation and get my first diamond power-up. The enemies are stacked so high after Round 80 or so that a handful of minor mistakes in bomb/enemy placement will doom you to a loss of credit/game over. If there's a spot near the top with four enemies already lined up, or a place where in two or three quick moves you can get them lined up, you open that area up and drop the first bomb of that color you get right there and BOOM. Breathing room.

[Crabmaster2000 | 500]

2 hours ago, nerdynebraskan said:

@Crabmaster2000

I absolutely love Wario's Woods, and it's probably one of my fonder memories of my years of doing this challenge that it was what provoked me to finally sit down and play the game to its end.

What's the latest round you've managed to reach yet? There are 99 before you get to the credits on both Game "A" and "B." I prefer Game B because I enjoy the bosses on the rounds ending in 9.

A few hints on my basic strategy:

First of all, if you haven't noticed it yet you can totally pause the game if you need more time to consider your next move. Most puzzle games black out the game board, but not Wario's Woods.

Second, it is often easier to beat the really late rounds by starting from Round 1 and earning a few extra credits so you can afford to make a few mistakes. That is, of course, slower.

Third, you really want to be earning and quickly using the diamond power-ups. You will need to string together a detonation of five or more same-colored enemies and bombs (in one consecutive line; two diagonals or a cross connected at the center won't count.) I usually look for a spot with four enemies arranged vertically or diagonally and put a bomb at the end, but sometimes there are spots where you have three enemies in a line and space to either hold two bombs (for a vertical) or can plant a bomb in the row above and beyond where you need it to detonate a diagonal (at which point your next bomb of that color can go where it originally belonged and you still get a five-piece detonation with only three enemies in the line). It is crucial on the late rounds to eliminate entire colors of enemies quickly, and to be sure you've also eliminated all bombs of that color (because that will otherwise keep them spawning).

Combining the first and third tips, one of the first things I do at the start of a late round is to consider where from the very first move I might have options to build a five-piece detonation and get my first diamond power-up. The enemies are stacked so high after Round 80 or so that a handful of minor mistakes in bomb/enemy placement will doom you to a loss of credit/game over. If there's a spot near the top with four enemies already lined up, or a place where in two or three quick moves you can get them lined up, you open that area up and drop the first bomb of that color you get right there and BOOM. Breathing room.

I'm stuck on the rounds between 75-80 on mode B currently and my best has been 77. I've been trying to use your tips already and it's still destroying me  

[PII | 1,883]

Mighty Bomb Jack Is Done.  And I have learned the true meaning of PAIN...  ...  ...   ...... points.

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by PII