Beat every Game Boy game - 2022 - 160/566

[withfoam | 35]

It's in the Upside Down™!!

[Floating Platforms | 715]

1 hour ago, bronzeshield said:

Meanwhile I tried Jeep Jamboree, but man, that game is a painful slideshow. I was able to do OK in earlier races but as soon as the track gets cluttered it's an exercise in misery. The win condition is "Win the Championship race season on at least intermediate difficulty" -- is that because there's a known ending on that mode? The manual (which is garbage) doesn't mention anything about it and the available playthroughs on YouTube don't reach 1st place at the end. The Short or Intermediate seasons might be more achievable.

I show 3 people as "beating this" on my tracker. checking the youtube vids for Moe and Atroz show they both got 2nd overall and said "good enough" and the third deleted their YT and Twitch accounts, so no way to check.  Maybe it would be worthwhile to try the shortest race season and see if it gives an ending for that before going farther?

[bronzeshield | 293]

2 hours ago, Floating Platforms said:

I show 3 people as "beating this" on my tracker. checking the youtube vids for Moe and Atroz show they both got 2nd overall and said "good enough" and the third deleted their YT and Twitch accounts, so no way to check.  Maybe it would be worthwhile to try the shortest race season and see if it gives an ending for that before going farther?

Yeah, I watched Moelleuh's video and maybe Atroz's too, and saw that they got no ending to speak of. It'd be a downer to work to get 1st place only to get the same "nothing" finish!

I think this one is calling out for a savestate playthrough -- or a few of them -- to establish what's what. Not sure I'm the one to do it, as I've got an infant in the house, but I'll see what I can make happen.

Maybe there's a way to turn off collision detection with a cheat? That'd make it much easier to blast through to the finish line (literally) and see what happens.

Edited June 22, 2022 by bronzeshield

[Floating Platforms | 715]

7 hours ago, bronzeshield said:

Yeah, I watched Moelleuh's video and maybe Atroz's too, and saw that they got no ending to speak of. It'd be a downer to work to get 1st place only to get the same "nothing" finish!

I think this one is calling out for a savestate playthrough -- or a few of them -- to establish what's what. Not sure I'm the one to do it, as I've got an infant in the house, but I'll see what I can make happen.

It is a bit disappointing for people like us who are hoping for definitive answers but they basically say things like "eh, it's a racing game. I don't care enough to try for 1st. I saw credits." At the same time, I understand approaching games with that mentality overall. Racing games on GB generally do suck.

I don't think I'll be able to devote the time to a save state playthrough either this year, at least not for a while. Even though I had to play another racing game since, beating Wave Race makes me want to avoid them as much as possible.

[Splain | 2,568]

Found Game Genie codes

3EC-62E-E68 + 01C-63E-19A       Always finish in 1st place
799-D49-19F + 799-D79-19B       Mega speed--stay at constant high speed even
when off course and hitting rocks
02B-F0A-E6E     Race 1 lap shorter
03B-F0A-E6E     Race 2 laps shorter
04B-F0A-E6E     Race 3 laps shorter

I'll dig out my Game Genie and see what I can figure out!

[Splain | 2,568]

I looked for some Gameshark codes so that the label could be right side up...

But failing that, I did the always-first code and swept a Championship at Pro difficulty. This was probably very confusing for the CPU players. ("I lapped that guy four times, how did he win?") And after I think 10 races, I got an ending screen:

 

Sorry, I didn't know the picture was so bad until now. After this screen, it went to the credits like in the YT videos. I'm guessing this screen (with whatever season and difficulty you chose) pops up if you place first in the final leaderboard. But that's just a guess, I'll try other settings to verify.

If the endings are the same, should the easiest mode be allowed? It's not an easy game. But it's actually not the worst framerate I've seen on GB...

 

[Floating Platforms | 715]

5 hours ago, Splain said:

I looked for some Gameshark codes so that the label could be right side up...

I don't know why you would want to change perfection, but okay.

5 hours ago, Splain said:

After this screen, it went to the credits like in the YT videos. I'm guessing this screen (with whatever season and difficulty you chose) pops up if you place first in the final leaderboard. But that's just a guess, I'll try other settings to verify.

If the endings are the same, should the easiest mode be allowed? It's not an easy game. But it's actually not the worst framerate I've seen on GB...

Interesting...  My thought is that if all the endings look the same, but just have the difficulty and season length listed, then we should count the medium settings for both. If its different screens, or if that only appears on the highest level, then maybe the highest is necessary.

[bronzeshield | 293]

2 hours ago, Floating Platforms said:

I don't know why you would want to change perfection, but okay.

Interesting...  My thought is that if all the endings look the same, but just have the difficulty and season length listed, then we should count the medium settings for both. If its different screens, or if that only appears on the highest level, then maybe the highest is necessary.

Well, the difficulty offers NOVICE, INTERMEDIATE and PRO options (capitalization as in the manual), while the season types are SHORT, INTERMEDIATE, and CHAMPIONSHIP. Since the game defaults to NOVICE and SHORT, I tend to think that's enough as long as you get an ending?

(I usually aim for a minimum of Normal in my own playthroughs, and usually don't call a game done until I've beaten Hard. But that's my own quirk -- for efforts like VGS's, I think defaults are enough, barring a bad or non- ending.)

But yes, the key question is which modes do or don't give endings. My suspicion is that either all settings will give the same ending (with the text changed to reflect difficulty and season), or it'll gatekeep itself at INTERMEDIATE difficulty but allow for an ending on the SHORT season.

Thanks to Splain -- you're answering the unanswered questions! Maybe try NOVICE/SHORT next and see what you get? If you get essentially the same ending I think we have our answer and no others would need to be tried...

Edited June 24, 2022 by bronzeshield

[Splain | 2,568]

Welp:

 

The menu calls it Novice but the end screen calls it Beginners. It was 5 tracks long. The game defaults to Novice/Beginners difficulty, but I wouldn't say the season (short/intermediate/championship) defaults to anything, unless you count Practice.

Strictly speaking, it's a different ending screen for each combination of difficulty and season, just because it states what you selected. So the "better" ending screens are only better because they say harder selections. But the image is the same, and the guy is still smiling.

So I guess a case can be made for both Novice (default) and Intermediate (middle/normal) difficulty. There's no appreciable difference in the ending. The seasons feature completely different tracks, not just added tracks for longer seasons, in case that matters.

[Floating Platforms | 715]

6 hours ago, Splain said:

The menu calls it Novice but the end screen calls it Beginners. It was 5 tracks long. The game defaults to Novice/Beginners difficulty, but I wouldn't say the season (short/intermediate/championship) defaults to anything, unless you count Practice.

Strictly speaking, it's a different ending screen for each combination of difficulty and season, just because it states what you selected. So the "better" ending screens are only better because they say harder selections. But the image is the same, and the guy is still smiling.

So I guess a case can be made for both Novice (default) and Intermediate (middle/normal) difficulty. There's no appreciable difference in the ending. The seasons feature completely different tracks, not just added tracks for longer seasons, in case that matters.

Thanks for going through this!

I would count all of these ending screens as the same, even though the words change.  So then the question is what constitutes beating it?  The thread rules say "100% completion is not required, thus the default or “normal” difficulty is typically fine."

If Novice is the default, then I suppose that should count. Which season you choose is an odd wrinkle too, since all 3 are completely different.  So my vote would be something simple like "Get 1st place overall on any season mode."

Like @bronzeshield, I would probably go for at least medium difficulty for my own run, but for this challenge, I wouldn't be mad at anyone claiming points on a novice run.

[bronzeshield | 293]

11 hours ago, Splain said:

The game defaults to Novice/Beginners difficulty, but I wouldn't say the season (short/intermediate/championship) defaults to anything, unless you count Practice.

Yeah, my mistake on that -- I don't remember how I got that wrong, but I did.

Thanks so much for checking on that! So it looks like any season is eligible, and the only question is whether Intermediate difficulty is required or the default Novice is OK. Like @Floating Platforms, for this challenge, I'd say 1st place on any season mode -- and, especially since Novice is the default and the ending doesn't change, any difficulty.

[withfoam | 35]

Finished Bill & Ted’s Excellent Game Boy Adventure: A Bogus Journey! It was really a fun arcade-type puzzler.

Unsure what’s next. Need to finish Spud’s Adventure, so maybe that. I’m halfway through. 

[withfoam | 35]

The last level of Bill & Ted’s was super forgiving. So many pickups that you can easily get two 1-ups per try. It’s also 10 levels. I only saw passwords for the first 9, so if anyone needs the tenth in the future (like when I forgot to write one down), it’s 555-1881. 

Edit: @Floating Platforms, for your spreadsheet, it took me 4hrs and 5mins to complete.

Edited June 25, 2022 by withfoam

[Floating Platforms | 715]

On 6/25/2022 at 10:51 AM, withfoam said:

for your spreadsheet, it took me 4hrs and 5mins to complete.

Hey, if you're trying to beat every GameBoy game, I'll gladly log any times you have records of. Maybe I should make a publicly viewable google sheet version...

[Floating Platforms | 715]

Well, Alfred Chicken is done.  sort of

It's done for now. It's going on the revisit list because I learned afterwards already that there is a "best" ending

I noticed this screen when scrubbing for the screenshot (must have missed it when playing live). I did some research and it turns out that if you get all 10 watering cans, then you get the post credits ending.  Ugh..I kind of wish I knew about that going in. This game is extremely obnoxious and bad and I need a break from it before trying to search absolutely everywhere for those stupid things. The game already requires you to learn from dying. You literally have to jump into danger to find secrets that make the game 10x easier (and it's not easy). Just trying to play the game normally, you will jump or drop into enemies that you couldn't possibly know were there in advance. Even when you know things might be there, you don't know for sure if the looping spike ball is in a safe position for you or not.  Hit detection when landing on moving platforms is not great. Ability to jump when moving off ledges is not good. It's way too easy to double jump (usually into death) when landing  (because its the same button to float safely down as it is to jump, and holding does both). The bonus sections for collecting presents after levels are sometimes literally impossibly laid out.  I was able to earn 2 continues, but it still took me until my last life to beat the boss. Just all around poorly designed and made obnoxiously long from huge spikes in difficulty and the need to search around death to find ways to move forward in levels.  Not fun.

Next up is a game that should be a nice change of pace, Harvest Moon GB

[MagusSmurf | 577]

Beat Mega Man IV after also beating the first three games this weekend. Forgot to take the picture. Best of the first four GB games I think but still feels a little unnecessary and certainly can't hang with 2-6.

[Matt 4120 | 240]

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 done.

WWF Superstars also done. Finished with Hulk Hogan, using 1 fall and no time limit rules.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Matt 4120

[Floating Platforms | 715]

Harvest Moon GB is done

I think I did really well with my first year. Doing some research after beating this tonight, it seems like I was almost as close as I could get to "Ranch Master" status as possible at the end of Year 1. I found all 5 Power Berries, my happiness was 215/255 and my money & house were already maxed out.

The game is quite a lot of fun for a while but gets incredibly repetitive about halfway through Summer. It definitely felt like a chore. It's also strange that the farmland is so large compared to the amount of time & stamina you have. I felt comfortable having a max of 24 plots of seeds at any given time (4 rotating schedules of 6 plots each). There's no way to take advantage of that space with the tools you have.  Also, there simply aren't enough events or things to spend your money on to make the grind seem worthwhile. I maxed out my house before the end of Summer.  The graphics are great, the Super GB palettes and border are a great touch, and the music is decent enough. It's really unfortunate that there are tools that are locked behind years 2 & 3 & 4 since it takes about 20 hours to get through all 4 seasons. In all honesty, I might pop this game in throughout the rest of my challenge if I finish other games early in the night, so I can slowly grind those extra years and get all the power berries and items as I think the game has credits that are visible in year 2 or later (not sure, exactly).  It's a good casual game that has the makings of something great and does a lot within the GB limitations, but I've been spoiled by Stardew Valley.

On Monday I'll be starting my next game - SeaQuest DSV

[RH | 4,903]

FYI, I'm playing James Bond 007 now, cause why not.  I just wanted to do some GB playing and I heard it was an adventure game.  So far it's alright, but I'm just on the second stage. I  am stuck, so I think I might need to reference a guide once or twice on this one.

 

[RH | 4,903]

On 6/22/2022 at 12:44 PM, Splain said:

That's only the requirement because of the generic "Normal mode or higher" rules. I'm open to updating that requirement because I can't get very far in Jeep Jamboree. The common theme here lately is that I can't get very far in ANY game.

I think I've shared it before but here's my copy of JJ:

I think my collection is incomplete--I don't own a single upside-down label for any game, much less the GB.  I need to get on that.

Also, can we get an update to the main roster of games?  I went back a few pages and noticed that even your submissions aren't scratched off.

Edited July 21, 2022 by RH

[Floating Platforms | 715]

4 hours ago, RH said:

FYI, I'm playing James Bond 007 now, cause why not.  I just wanted to do some GB playing and I heard it was an adventure game.  So far it's alright, but I'm just on the second stage. I  am stuck, so I think I might need to reference a guide once or twice on this one.

I've heard good things about it. I know it's not a typical RPG, but I almost played it instead of Harvest Moon for my "RPG" slot.  It lost the raffle, despite having half the votes, so maybe next year.

[Matt 4120 | 240]

Ms. Pac-Man is done. I played on "Arcade" mode and finished with a score of 40,790.

This might be one of my favorite ports of the game.

I guess I should also mention that I beat Super Mario Land 1 and 2. No photo since they are already on the list.

Right now I am playing a few games. I was initially playing Boxxle, but I realized early on that it isn't great so I might take a break on that one. I have switched over to more arcade like games including Qix, Mr. Do and Golf.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Matt 4120

[Floating Platforms | 715]

2 hours ago, Matt 4120 said:

Ms. Pac-Man is done. I played on "Arcade" mode and finished with a score of 40,790.

This might be one of my favorite ports of the game.

Very nice!  Now this screenshot is making me wish they would have also ported Jr. Pac-Man to Game Boy. Loved that one on Atari 2600.

Haven't played Boxxle yet, but it definitely looks like a slog. Still, it has to be better than Hyper Lode Runner!

[Matt 4120 | 240]

2 hours ago, Floating Platforms said:

Very nice!  Now this screenshot is making me wish they would have also ported Jr. Pac-Man to Game Boy. Loved that one on Atari 2600.

Haven't played Boxxle yet, but it definitely looks like a slog. Still, it has to be better than Hyper Lode Runner!

Unlike Hyper Lode Runner, Boxxle is fun at first, but really slows down after floor 2 or so.

On that note, Golf is now completed. I had a tough time on the Japan course, but managed to get a par 69 on attempt 6 or 7. The US course was a lot easier, and I got a 66 on my second try. I have actually owned this game for many years on the 3DS virtual console, and I think I completed the Japan course once but it was a terrible score. I really like the music in the game, even though they are short songs.

This was a really tough challenge, but unlike Boxxle it was fun to try different approaches.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Matt 4120

[RH | 4,903]

1 hour ago, Matt 4120 said:

Unlike Hyper Lode Runner, Boxxle is fun at first, but really slows down after floor 2 or so.

On that note, Golf is now completed. I had a tough time on the Japan course, but managed to get a par 69 on attempt 6 or 7. The US course was a lot easier, and I got a 66 on my second try. I have actually owned this game for many years on the 3DS virtual console, and I think I completed the Japan course once but it was a terrible score. I really like the music in the game, even though they are short songs.

This was a really tough challenge, but unlike Boxxle it was fun to try different approaches.

I loved Golf as a kid.  I think a friend let me borrow it and he was so bored with it, I kept it for years.  He might have even given it to me.  Still, those basic, early sports games were good for what they were. I also had World Cup Soccer and that one kept me entertained too.