Beat every Game Boy game - 2021 - 154/497

[koifish | 555]

Also I figured out Alien 3, it's rather interesting how it feels like it aims to be a long-format story adventure game, yet instead is a high score game, almost like an action-oriented version of king's quest.

[JVOSS | 1,762]

Sea Battle has a best ending.  for the best ending and you will need to win 5 times in Super Battle Game.   After you win the 5 game there is a screen where all the sailor are saluting you for the victory then it goes back to the main screen where Super Battle Game is removed. The ball buster: you get no passwords, so all 5 wins have to be done in one sitting(unless your using a memory cart). To make it longer the graphics are shown during each shot the human player shoots about 3 seconds ( for my games that was 1400 shots, or about 60 min of pushing the "A" button hoping to move faster).  So if you are want to play 5-10 games of battle ship at one time for the best ending is better done on a rom system you can save and play at a later time.   As for this list it is best to leave at one win vs computer in Super Battle Game.

Game play 4+ hours  ( i lost 3 games in a row)

Good Ending:  One win in Super Battle Game

Best Ending:  5 wins in Super Battle Game

Graphics Good.

Bad:  after each game if you press the wrong button you will rest the game instead of starting a new game (did this 2 times).  You might have to play more then 5 games to get to the best ending.  No way to by bass the graphics when Human player shoot.  Computer has you out numbered. (ie not a fare fight)

Replay Ability: 8 (if i was able to bypass the graphics between shots i would totally try to get a lower shot count.  I had a 25% hit to shot ratio.)

 

 

[koifish | 555]

I didn't take time to play over the weekend, as it was the first set of clear days in two weeks, and we got out and cured some cabin fever instead.

I'm currently working on the following games. I'll keep updating this post through the end of the year rather than make new updates and forget what I'm doing.

1. Pyramids of Ra - Pyramid 2, Stage 819
2. Blaster Master Boy - Have reached 9-2 and lost, need to hoard lanterns from the early game in order to clear the late game.
3. Alien 3 - Need to write out the "strategy guide" for winning (where to go and when) but so far I can get the flamethrower and the third card key, just not sure where to go next and need to map it out
4. All-Star Baseball 99 - I've lost my magic touch for baseball recently, so I need to redouble my efforts to git gud It doesn't help that my Indians keep running into amazing teams on their road to the pennant (eternal fate of CLE teams, getting good just in time for someone else in their conference to become legendary, I call it "Secretariat Syndrome").
5. Championship Pool - This is going to have to wait until next year. It's really demanding of perfection once you pass the first two players, and then you still have to beat the tournament twice past that! I expect this to be a struggle for half of next year as well.

 

Also, if it's alright, I'd like to "stake a claim" on Metroid 2 for next year. I've never finished that game before, and think it might be fun to do so. Of course I say this, and I've still got to finish Samus Returns, AND start Metroid Dread...so maybe I will drop that claim later We will see.

[Splain | 2,560]

@JVOSS good info, I'll update the requirement on Sea Battle.

I beat McDonaldland aka Spot's Cool Adventure. I mostly fired it up because I wanted to see how terrible it was, being re-sprited to shill for both 7up and McDonald's. But I actually got sucked in, thinking things like "wait no, I want to try that level again." There's actually an okay moveset (crouch to jump higher, jump while moving to jump farther, grab objects that behave in different ways) and an ok progression of new level mechanics as the game goes on, and I stuck with it (ok, for like an hour?) until I beat it. The last level is ridiculous, and the boss is a head-scratcher, but I'd say this game is in the upper half of the library. Just barely. It helps that I figured out a way to consistently get the entire bonus in the bonus level, because I almost ran out of lives at the end.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Making surprisingly okay progress on Hyper Lode Runner. Almost 10 hours in and I'm now working on level 17, which is the first password I've obtained.  I don't like the key & door mechanic, but so far it beats the earlier levels that have split second timing requirements to get through.  I tried level 9 for probably 2 hours total and level 12 for about 45 minutes, mostly just trying to get the order and timing down.

I actually got through level 11 pretty quickly, but it was kind of a fluke occurrence. There was a giant ladder with a brick wall on the side. I was trying to figure out the sequence and timing of digging through all that when suddenly one of the robots came by and fell in which gave me the perfect opportunity to swoop down and grab the gold I was working towards. I really don't know if I could have replicated it if I died after.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Quick little update. I'm nearly 19 hours in now and just beat level 27. I spent over 2 hours on level 22 and then zoomed past 5 more in an hour.  I'm thrilled to be over the half way mark but I'm getting very close to averaging an 1 hr/level and worry that the worst is yet to come.

I don't think I'll get to try anything more until next week, but I'm still optimistic I can beat this by the end of the year.

[JVOSS | 1,762]

B.C. Kid - Is done.  did not see it on the pal list.  little difficult as there is no contuses, nice little 1 day game.  off to find a new game.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

I think BC Kid is the same as one of the Bonk's, but not sure which one?

I'm making really good progress on Hyper Lode Runner. I finished level 40 tonight. Total playtime so far is just under 25 hours.  I plan to put a chunk of hours into this on Sunday, so if these last 10 levels aren't completely obnoxious, I think I'll be able to beat this before Thanksgiving.

[Splain | 2,560]

Yes, sorry @JVOSS, BC Kid 1 and 2 are Bonk's Adventure and Bonk's Revenge in the US and on the list. Both of which were already completed.

[JVOSS | 1,762]

4 minutes ago, Splain said:

Yes, sorry @JVOSS, BC Kid 1 and 2 are Bonk's Adventure and Bonk's Revenge in the US and on the list. Both of which were already completed.

cool just one to mark off my list.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

After roughly 40 hours, 6 minutes and 38 seconds, Hyper Lode Runner has been completed without the aid of a guide.

There was this weird cut scene after beating level 50 that made me worry there was going to be a boss fight or something else, but it was just slow moving text that made absolutely no sense within the context of what I was doing (evil swords and whatnot).

Anyway, absolute trash game. It requires expert level play from the very beginning and does not let up. There were several levels where I knew exactly what to do, but still took over an hour to actually execute those plans due to either semi-random enemy movement/actions, controls that were too slippery, controls that were too stiff (don't ask me how, but there were plenty of instances of both catching on corners when I shouldn't have and moving more than I expected/wanted), seemingly pixel perfect character placement.  The worst ones were the extremely annoying time-based puzzles where you need to break a very specific sequence of bricks in a certain order and you have to do it with absolutely perfect timing or else you will die.  And usually those types of things are near the end of a level where you have to go through a barrage of other things first because you can't backtrack to grab those gold piles later, so you spend 5 minutes doing the same crap over and over until you do that last thing right and hope that the exit ladder isn't also part of a trap that will lead enemies back to you.  Around level 16 or 17 you get passwords and you need a key to enter a door that's timed with extra crap you have to get. You can exit the door and go back in to reset the timer, but it just adds more difficulty and technically more levels. So in all you're really completing about 80 screens worth of puzzles within the 50 levels and it is rarely fun.

Taking a break for the rest of the week and then I'll start up Blades of Steel next.  That should bring happiness to the Super Game Boy again.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Blades of Steel is done, but it wasn't easy on Pro difficulty

By the way, I recommend SGB pre-set 3C. The pink for the ice against the blue of other details worked much better than expected.

I played one game on College, and it was a total breeze. I always planned to play this on Pro to get the best ending and it was annoying and a bit brutal. There are a lot of AI problems and your computer teammates do absolutely nothing to help you win or go towards the puck when it's loose or when its near them.  You cannot initiate a fight against the opponent (fights are a waste of time and happen way too often). You can't even check them on defense, you can only swap to the person closest to the puck.  Passing doesn't really work well. Half the time you pass to yourself and the game will completely ignore your directional guidance. You control both one of the skaters and the goalie at the same time, at all times. So, if you're dealing with shots on goal, you have to focus on the goalie as the CPU can position themselves really well for rebounds and multiple shots (you can't because your AI team is not on your side). Meanwhile your skater is pushed to the corner or way off-screen and no one on the team comes to help at all. The other problem with the multi-control thing is that the CPU will shoot from mid-ice and score a decent amount because you're controlling a defender and the goalie moves extremely slow and can't get in position in time. Your goalie will also pass to the other team about half the time (again, you can press up and he'll pass down or straight). It felt like a total crap shoot as to when I would get any sort of lead and near the end, my strategy was to circle their net to run down time.  The only good thing about this game, really, is that it is only a 3-game tournament and the graphics are absolutely fantastic and they have three well-animated intermissions. But...no Zambonis.

Next up I'll be playing Sneaky Snakes and fingers crossed I'll get that done tomorrow.

[JVOSS | 1,762]

Animaniacs is done. i played the -1 version.  will upload end pic soon.   stages 1,2,3 easy.  stage 4 was painful.  went through quite a few games trying to smash the wall and out run the exploding floor.  then to win it all you had work all three to beat pinky and brain the weights flying was comical.  over all the replay ability of this game was 7 out of 10.

[koifish | 555]

I don't know if I'll even beat any more games this year! Turns out moving and looking for new jobs is more work than I thought Maybe I will beat Pyramids of Ra just so my passwords don't go to waste. Otherwise, most of those games in my list don't have much in the way of save game debt, so I won't lose a big investment of time on them by not finishing until next year.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Pretty sure that Sneaky Snakes will be my last when I get to it because after that I have Wave Race and I'm not confident I'll be able to get through the World Circuits in time. Doesn't mean I won't try - and there are no saves/passwords there, so maybe I'll get a bunch of practice in and finally crack it shortly after the new year?

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Sneaky Snakes is finally done.

This was sneakily hard for me.  I really enjoyed the concept of the game. Each level is its own little mini puzzle, most with various secrets inside the lids (or plates as I was calling them) and hidden lids. I liked that the idea of grabbing the balls or pellets remained but how you go about doing that was totally different in each of the first 15 levels. Then the final level was a whole new mechanic to learn as well, but not in a bad way. Where the game goes south is the slippery, imprecise controls. It reminded me of Pagemaster in that regard. There were too many times when the game was looking for absolute precision, but the controls are not programmed to give you that much control. Thankfully, extra lives are plentiful if you're hunting, and I even found a secret warp that let me skip a couple of levels and save time. Still, it took me several restarts before I finally conquered it.  Could have been great, instead it was just pretty good.

Next up for me is supposed to be Wave Race, but as I mentioned before, I seriously doubt I'll get that done before the year is over.  So...until 2022, I guess?

[Floating Platforms | 713]

So, I have a question about Wave Race. It does look like it has some sort of battery save since a fresh file will start you off at the lowest cc to force you to unlock each new level.  For the beat in a year challenge, do I need to start from scratch for both modes, or would it be acceptable to unlock the 800 cc in 2021 and then win those modes in 2022?  I'm guessing start from scratch.

[Splain | 2,560]

Finally updated! Sleeping on the job. @Floating Platforms you've been busy! I'm not likely going to be able to take that #1 spot back from you, especially with those high-point clears. Yes, you have to start Wave Race from scratch, but those early cups are easy peasy, especially if you've dabbled in the higher classes.

Anything different we want to do with this thread next year? Maybe we can do more compiling strategies for each game. Or something about tracking everyone's individual total clears, even if they overlap. Or just not reset the list? My dream would be for us to put together a fully ranked list of all GB games but it's also fine if we just keep everything the same and just play games.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

On 12/10/2021 at 7:43 PM, Splain said:

Finally updated! Sleeping on the job. @Floating Platforms you've been busy! I'm not likely going to be able to take that #1 spot back from you, especially with those high-point clears. Yes, you have to start Wave Race from scratch, but those early cups are easy peasy, especially if you've dabbled in the higher classes.

Anything different we want to do with this thread next year? Maybe we can do more compiling strategies for each game. Or something about tracking everyone's individual total clears, even if they overlap. Or just not reset the list? My dream would be for us to put together a fully ranked list of all GB games but it's also fine if we just keep everything the same and just play games.

I did sorta okay this year, but didn't beat as many games as I wanted. It seems there are always multi-month gaps in my contributions. The goal was to get through 50 games and I only managed 31. Honestly I'm a bit surprised at the standings and how I may end up winning. I guess we didn't have a terribly big turnout on the thread this time?

My thoughts on next year's thread is a little selfish. I still like the idea of resetting each year, but what if bump the point incentive for first time clear games higher, but we track everyone's individual clears with reduced points if they are the second/third/etc to do it (with a 0.5 minimum). So, using 2021 point values, the first person to clear DuckTales gets the full 2 points. The second person would get 1, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th would get 0.5. - Or maybe the second through X only gets .5 points for a game regardless of initial value?

The reason its selfish for me is that I have my personal challenge that I'm streaming, so I won't repeat games from previous years (for the most part) and I now have enough regulars to do viewer votes. I try to keep up with the thread well enough to remove games completed here from my votes over there, but the votes happen far enough in advance that there can be overlap. Also most of the games I categorized as Arcade and Puzzle get taken by people over here pretty quickly, so it's easier for my options to run thin when those genres come up (since I only play the carts I own). That leads to situations like having Hyper Lode Runner get picked -- although some of them have been pretty sadistic with their picks and I'm almost guaranteed to be playing Dragon's Lair at some point in 2022.

That's my long-winded answer. I'm also down to help compile strategy stuff. I'm still not really sure where on VGS it would go. Is that for the Guides section of the forum, or is that something that would fit the Database category? Or keep it in here?  What do you have in mind for ranking the full list? 

[JVOSS | 1,762]

3 minutes ago, Floating Platforms said:

My thoughts on next year's thread is a little selfish. I still like the idea of resetting each year, but what if bump the point incentive for first time clear games higher, but we track everyone's individual clears with reduced points if they are the second/third/etc to do it (with a 0.5 minimum). So, using 2021 point values, the first person to clear DuckTales gets the full 2 points. The second person would get 1, and the 3rd, 4th, 5th would get 0.5. - Or maybe the second through X only gets .5 points for a game regardless of initial value?

I like this thought.

[koifish | 555]

I pretty much only play games I haven't beaten before, and try to focus on never-before-finished games, but whatever happens with the rules won't bother me much.

I'm really just posting to show off my new GB themed profile pic. Hopefully someone here recognizes and understands what it is </attentionSeeking>

[Floating Platforms | 713]

On 12/16/2021 at 3:53 PM, koifish said:

I'm really just posting to show off my new GB themed profile pic. Hopefully someone here recognizes and understands what it is </attentionSeeking>

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know what it's from... Hopefully it's a game I haven't gotten around to playing yet so I can avoid the wrath of the mosh pit GB sprite

[JVOSS | 1,762]

1 minute ago, Floating Platforms said:

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know what it's from... Hopefully it's a game I haven't gotten around to playing yet so I can avoid the wrath of the mosh pit GB sprite

lol. that is Nintendo Baseball the 1st baseman in the "i'm looking" glitch.

[Khromak | 768]

I beat Mega Man 4 and 5 (and all the others) this weekend.

[Khromak | 768]