Beat every Game Boy game - 2022 - 160/566

[Philosoraptor | 468]

3 hours ago, Floating Platforms said:

I'm finding that bad cornering from the d-pad is causing most of my deaths. I mean to go one direction but the game doesn't recognize the turn. Ah well.

I find it more consistent to hold the direction you want Pac-Man to turn until he turns that way. It's sadly pretty spotty if you just press the direction before the turn. 

3 hours ago, Floating Platforms said:

I guess the last intermission is after 9?

Yup! It's after 9.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Philosoraptor

[Splain | 2,560]

Wow, great job you guys. We're at 51 total clears for the year. I guess I could put that in the thread title, it's 566 total games on the list, including PAL titles and not including any JPN. So I guess it would be 50/566.

[koifish | 555]

I'm one game away from completing Game & Watch Gallery, I'll have four 1000 scores once I go back to Oil Panic. I still don't know how I managed 1000 points in Manhole, I am awful at that game.

 

[Seppatoni | 59]

Tennis is done. Lovely classic from my childhood.

[Seppatoni | 59]

Bubsy II done. I played through the game for the first time since I was a kid, when my sister borrowed it from a classmate. An then, as now, it's a short, messy and not very entertaining game.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Seppatoni

[koifish | 555]

@Seppatoni Good job falling on that sword, we've been waiting years for somebody to take out Bubsy. What could PAWSIBLY go wrong?!

Edited January 31, 2022 by koifish

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Tonight I finished Pac-Man, which means that @Splain officially has a reason to figure out how to mark the second person to beat a game on the leaderboards now. Congratulations!

Victory snuck up on me. I thought I was on round 8 and then this popped, so I guess I miscounted. Not too terribly difficult, but still pretty fun and the zoomed in screen was rarely a factor. I saw it as an excuse to add a tiny bit of extra challenge.

After finishing this, I started Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and got through the first world. I'm really enjoying this one so far. Let's hope the other 2/3rds don't become obnoxiously hard and ruin the fun. At least there are passwords. I hope to keep playing tomorrow night and get this done.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

In a "wut" moment, Nemesis is done.

I added 30 lives in spirit of the Konami code, but only needed 4. Maybe I'm finally getting better at these things. I play a lot of top-down bullet hells (Dodonpachi Saidaioujou was sitting in front of my TV in my Pokemon Blue clear pictures), but rarely side-scrollers.

Nemesis ended up being a really enjoyable and impressive GB SHMUP. I'll have to come back to it and try B mode in the future. 

On 1/2/2022 at 7:47 PM, Splain said:

Ok, I finally made the GBC completion thread. Games which have identical matches across generations can be counted for both threads.

I have a question about this; I own R-Type DX (GBC), which has Game Boy and Game Boy Color versions of R-Type I and II on it as well as DX. Out of curiosity, if I beat (or attempt to beat) the original GB ports of R-Type I and II on that cart, would it count towards this thread, the GBC thread, or both?

[Seppatoni | 59]

6 hours ago, koifish said:

@Seppatoni Good job falling on that sword, we've been waiting years for somebody to take out Bubsy. What could PAWSIBLY go wrong?!

Oh, really? Good it's part of my childhood memories, otherweise I don't think I would have played it.

[koifish | 555]

@Seppatoni well Bubsy doesn't have the best reputation, I suppose. I'll confess and say I did try the GB game out a year or so ago, but I gave it up as I didn't think it was very good

@Floating Platforms I forgot we had ever talked about that rule change since I totally just skipped the first post. Thanks for writing as always Splain! Anyhow, we'll see if I act on that, typically I try to only play games I haven't beaten before, but then it seems some games only I will want to play through, especially stuff like baseball and golf games. Incidentally, the baseball season is starting soon, so I'll have to actually follow through with my old commitments and play through a couple of ballgames.

[koifish | 555]

I think I will play Animaniacs next. I found that you can run it in proper form on an emulator if you use bsnes 0.73, which uses gambatte game boy emulator to properly simulate the super game boy. This is, so far, the only emulator I have found which supports Animaniacs's unique feature, which is that the Game Boy version, when played on Super Game Boy, plays the music from the SNES version of the game. Every other emulator, if you boot the game in SGB mode, will play no music at all, because it requires SNES emulation layer to run the music.

I am also going to see if I can figure out a way to record either my gameplay inputs, or the game playback video itself, because I have found from the manual that beating the game on Hard gets you a "special ending" and I don't believe there is a video record of it. Personally I would rather record game input as a demo, so that you could re-run the demo anytime and see the same result, because then you would be able to re-record it or something in case you wanted it at a higher quality, or with different look. That said, I don't know anything about how to do that. Anyone familiar with recording game input for replays? bsnes has a replay feature built in, but I don't see anything for input (and perhaps that's an odd expectation anyway). Still, figured I would ask.

[Bucket | 93]

I'm working on Sword of Hope 2. Again.

I also tried The Blues Brothers, and got most of the way through level 3 of 4 before rage quitting. I'll probably go back to it at some point, though.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Marble Madness is done. There is no end screen, so I looped the game twice and got to the fifth stage before running out of time. My thumb just started betraying me by the end of it all.

It's alright. Stage 5 is janky, and the stage 4 start jump can be absolute trash.

This version is definitely easier than the NES version, since it only has 5 stages. It's missing the final race from the NES version, which is the one I struggle with the most.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary is done

I thought this game was a blast and much better than I would have imagined. It's basically split up into two parts: Space and Planet. In space, you navigate a grid to get to the planet and have to shoot asteroids, go through a giant space amoeba or fight alien ships. I had a really hard time with any of the different ship factions. They seemed to be too fast, spawned on top of me, homed in to my position, etc. The Planet sections had you navigate hazards as Kirk and avoid alien life to find 4 pieces of the device. It was harder than expected at times too, because the passwords also record your lives so I had to re-do the second planet a ton with the single life I had left at that point. Anyway, I beat the giant angry empty ice cream cone and got to see the fake trivia in the credits. Even though it frustrated me at brief times, I still really enjoyed this one.

Next up for me is Amazing Spider-Man. This is a game I rented as a kid and kind of enjoyed back then, but I know it has a reputation. Hope to have this done early next week.

[Floating Platforms | 713]

@koifish The way I have my challenge set up, I only play 3 non-racing sports games for every 25, but I'll be joining you on the baseball front this year. 6 games from now will be a baseball game. I haven't played one of those since late 2020.

As far as recording gameplay goes, I'm not sure this is what you're asking but any capture device should be able to record from a console. If you're planning to run off an emulator and a PC, you might actually only need something like streamlabs, which also has a record function. I don't think you have to be live to activate that, but could be wrong.

I can't help with the button inputs thing. I know some streamers and speedrunners will have a graphic of the controller to show what buttons they're pressing, but since I do it all on a SNES/SGB2, it's not an option for me. My guess is there's some sort of other program for that to download.

@Splain I was looking at the list and I noticed that some of the point values are wrong, because a few of my first time clears from last year are still showing as 6 point first timers again.  I'm not sure how widespread these are, but here are ones that I've cleared in the past year or so: High Stakes Gambling, Hyper Lode Runner, Krusty's Fun House, Riddick Bowe (5 points, but still bold), Sports Illustrated Golf Classic.  A couple of the others sound familiar from the 2021 list as well. When you get a chance, can you confirm that?

[Tantalus | 452]

Rather than play through one of the Donkey Kong Country games for the umpteenth time, I decided to play through Donkey Kong Land 2 instead. Not the first time through this game for me, but it has been a few years. Of the three Land games, I feel like this one is the closest adaptation to it's Country counterpart - for better and for worse. While it certainly plays better than the first, I have to give the first one points for at least being an all original adventure. DKL3 is a little more hazy in my memory, so maybe I should take that one for a spin soon too.

[Splain | 2,560]

On 1/31/2022 at 9:22 PM, Floating Platforms said:

Tonight I finished Pac-Man, which means that @Splain officially has a reason to figure out how to mark the second person to beat a game on the leaderboards now. Congratulations!

Haha, thanks. Give me a second to figure something out. Should take me between a day and... 11 months.

 

On 1/31/2022 at 9:42 PM, Philosoraptor said:

I have a question about this; I own R-Type DX (GBC), which has Game Boy and Game Boy Color versions of R-Type I and II on it as well as DX. Out of curiosity, if I beat (or attempt to beat) the original GB ports of R-Type I and II on that cart, would it count towards this thread, the GBC thread, or both?

So the idea was that any GBC games that are identical to a GB game would be able to count for both if cleared, and I guess I missed R-Type DX when I was looking at them all. Pac-Man on GBC is a similar situation, it has 2 games on the cart, and both have identical GB versions. So... YES, clearing R-Type I or II on the DX cart would count for this thread, and potentially both threads if you beat both games.

 

12 hours ago, koifish said:

I think I will play Animaniacs next. I found that you can run it in proper form on an emulator if you use bsnes 0.73, which uses gambatte game boy emulator to properly simulate the super game boy. This is, so far, the only emulator I have found which supports Animaniacs's unique feature, which is that the Game Boy version, when played on Super Game Boy, plays the music from the SNES version of the game. Every other emulator, if you boot the game in SGB mode, will play no music at all, because it requires SNES emulation layer to run the music.

I am also going to see if I can figure out a way to record either my gameplay inputs, or the game playback video itself, because I have found from the manual that beating the game on Hard gets you a "special ending" and I don't believe there is a video record of it. Personally I would rather record game input as a demo, so that you could re-run the demo anytime and see the same result, because then you would be able to re-record it or something in case you wanted it at a higher quality, or with different look. That said, I don't know anything about how to do that. Anyone familiar with recording game input for replays? bsnes has a replay feature built in, but I don't see anything for input (and perhaps that's an odd expectation anyway). Still, figured I would ask.

I believe @0xDEAFC0DE was doing some of this when we were doing @Red's GB contest a couple years back. I remember Deaf was creating "human-possible" TAS's that he would share with us when each week ended, and I don't know how those were made, but it might be the kind of thing you're looking for. Maybe Deaf can chime in?

 

11 hours ago, Bucket said:

I also tried The Blues Brothers, and got most of the way through level 3 of 4 before rage quitting. I'll probably go back to it at some point, though.

I hate Blues Brothers. I've tried to pick that game up a handful of times and I can't bear to play past the 2nd level. So I already commend you for getting that far.

 

1 hour ago, Floating Platforms said:

Next up for me is Amazing Spider-Man. This is a game I rented as a kid and kind of enjoyed back then, but I know it has a reputation. Hope to have this done early next week.

I really don't mind Amazing Spider-Man, I actually think it's half-decent at being just hard enough that you get a little further with each attempt, except I've never made it through the very last level alive.

 

58 minutes ago, Floating Platforms said:

@Splain I was looking at the list and I noticed that some of the point values are wrong, because a few of my first time clears from last year are still showing as 6 point first timers again.  I'm not sure how widespread these are, but here are ones that I've cleared in the past year or so: High Stakes Gambling, Hyper Lode Runner, Krusty's Fun House, Riddick Bowe (5 points, but still bold), Sports Illustrated Golf Classic.  A couple of the others sound familiar from the 2021 list as well. When you get a chance, can you confirm that?

You're right, I definitely screwed something up when I added 2022 to the spreadsheet. That should be easier to fix than... the other thing.

I've been toting my GBA SP around, pulling it out whenever I can, but I keep ending up with only a few minutes to play. I've started Xenon 2 probably 6 times by now, but then I turn it off when my food comes/my names gets called/etc. I'm getting good at level 1, at least.

[0xDEAFC0DE | 1,277]

2 hours ago, Splain said:

I believe @0xDEAFC0DE was doing some of this when we were doing @Red's GB contest a couple years back. I remember Deaf was creating "human-possible" TAS's that he would share with us when each week ended, and I don't know how those were made, but it might be the kind of thing you're looking for. Maybe Deaf can chime in?

I'm pretty sure I was using Bizhawk to TAS those GB games. IDK how it handles Animaniacs though. 

Taking a quick look at bsnes, I think you should be able to record input. Select "Tools > Movie > Reset and Record". That should record a movie file with inputs that can be played back and recorded with the play option. Of course I would suggest testing it out before doing the full playthrough. 

[Seppatoni | 59]

The Flintstones: King Rock Treasure Island done.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Kirby's Block Ball is done. I'm a bit biased on this one. I've owned this game since I was a kid, and pre-Pokemon, it vied for my favorite game alongside Donkey Kong. I still think it's just as great today as it was way back then.

Side note, I'm experimenting with propping my screen name up against the TV instead of frantically trying to grab it like a doofus, hold it up to the TV, and quickly take a picture before the end credits disappear. So far, so good. I am, however, afraid the amateurish, portrait-style pictures with poor lighting are here to stay.

@Splain, I hate to keep bothering you with questions, but what's the scoring policy on playing Japanese versions of games we got NTSC versions of? For example, I have Dragon Tail (Nail 'n' Scale). If I were to beat it, would that be worth 6 points like the NTSC version, 3 points because it's a Japanese game, 0 points because it's not a Japanese exclusive and not the NTSC version of "Nail 'n Scale," or some number of points in between?

[Floating Platforms | 713]

Oops, didn't realize @koifishwas talking about recording steps for a TAS like thing.  Ignore my ignorance above!

But, if people are building TAS, would anyone want to take a stab at a 40-round Penguin Wars playthrough?  I still want to beat that fully legit in one run someday, but doubt I could without learning strategies from a CPU playing the CPU.

[Splain | 2,560]

8 hours ago, Philosoraptor said:

Kirby's Block Ball is done. I'm a bit biased on this one. I've owned this game since I was a kid, and pre-Pokemon, it vied for my favorite game alongside Donkey Kong. I still think it's just as great today as it was way back then.

Side note, I'm experimenting with propping my screen name up against the TV instead of frantically trying to grab it like a doofus, hold it up to the TV, and quickly take a picture before the end credits disappear. So far, so good. I am, however, afraid the amateurish, portrait-style pictures with poor lighting are here to stay.

@Splain, I hate to keep bothering you with questions, but what's the scoring policy on playing Japanese versions of games we got NTSC versions of? For example, I have Dragon Tail (Nail 'n' Scale). If I were to beat it, would that be worth 6 points like the NTSC version, 3 points because it's a Japanese game, 0 points because it's not a Japanese exclusive and not the NTSC version of "Nail 'n Scale," or some number of points in between?

I got Kirby's Block Ball as a kid, and I always thought it was underrated. People just don't seem to pay much attention to it.

Your username isn't required at all, so don't stress over it.

Dragon Tail would be worth 6 points, and I would cross Nail n Scale off the list. Just like Bamse, BC Kid, etc would be taken for their USA counterparts.

I'll update the thread when I get back to my computron.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Kirby's Star Stacker is done. I really, really enjoyed this game. More than I expected after I got the gimmick, actually. It's rare for new ideas to come up in the "falling block" puzzle genre, but they managed to do it. You get a picture of a companion after each difficulty is cleared, so here's all 5 and the select screen showing all 106 rounds done.

I also felt like completing Round Clear mode didn't require elite chain building skills to beat, which I appreciated. It strikes a good balance of thought-provoking puzzles and having to make smart plays whenever possible.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

R-Type is done. There were only 6 stages, even on the second loop. This is the screen you get for clearing loop 1.

This is the first R-Type game I've played extensively, but the hardest stage by far is the fourth one, followed distantly by the first and the fifth.  Sadly, a lot of the bosses just amount to shooting the Force detachable ship part at a specific location, moving out of harm's way, and pressing A a bunch.

I'll be excited to try other entries in the series, but this one gets a solid "meh" from me for the uneven difficulty curve and the one-note bosses, despite how cool the laser that bounces off of walls is.

Edit: Just popped in R-Type for the Sega Master System, and it's a night and day difference (duh). The third boss has a LOT more variety and substance to it, and the cut stages are also interesting. The stages present in both games are mostly the same with larger or more enemies. Lots more bullets coming at you, too.

Based off what I see in the SMS version, I think they did the best they could do considering the hardware limitations. The larger sprites and fewer bullets on the GB version make for a smooth, easy-to-see gameplay experience without a lot of flicker or slowdown, but also make for easier gameplay. It also has a lot less Gradius syndrome than the SMS version. I take back my initial "meh;" it's pretty good.

Edited February 6, 2022 by Philosoraptor

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Final Fantasy Adventure is done. I don't play many RPGs, especially old ones, so this was a nice change of pace.

Of the four FF games on the GB, this is the one I was most looking forward to playing. The combat is really, surprisingly great. I was expecting the Secret of Mana hit detection, but it's much better here. If you have the map that originally came with the game or if you Google what the original map it looks like, getting places is pretty straightforward and there's little moon logic (outside of some palm tree shenanigans) for an RPG of that time. Weapons double as tools to use outside of battle, like using your axe to cut down trees. There are lots of bosses and dungeons, and most dungeons have a Zelda-lite feel to them. It's fun, and relatively short. It took me about 15 hours to beat.

But, on the negative side, it also has:

Spoiler

Lots of grammatical mistakes, even in the Sunsoft re-release. The menus are clunky, and you're in them far too often. Magic is limited, and switching weapons to defeat certain enemies or deal with obstacles needs to happen almost in every other room. Keys take up valuable inventory space and are implemented stupidly; 98% of the doors in the game all use the same type of basic-ass key, which you can buy in shops outside of dungeons. Fire that locksmith. Without the map, this game is as hard to navigate as the original Zelda. Finally, the ending is a whole thing, too, but I'm more bugged by the logic than the ending itself.

So, yeah. Kinda torn on this one. I think it's (probably) better than the average RPG on the console, but not quite amazing. But I can't complain too much, because through it all, it remained fun.