rdrunner

Maybe I'd view it differently if I had hit one of the "bad" endings in my first playthrough, but I got to the inverted castle without ever seeing one. So I naturally assumed it was part of the intended game. I have a hard time calling half the game map a "bonus", especially when you need to play through at least some of it to get the good ending. Anyway, it's a minor problem. This is still a great game, no doubt about that!

Main Castle: 10/10 - If the game had stopped here, putting the Dracula fight in the last room instead of a teleporter, it would have been perfect. Loved the story, the pacing, and all the abilities and items that unlock new areas. As much as I hate the term, I can see how this game led to the "Metroidvania" craze. And the music! One of the best gaming soundtracks of all time. Inverted Castle: 8/10 - What happened? Everything I just said was thrown out the window in favor of what felt like a gimmick. Little or no cutscenes to speak of, almost the entire castle is accessible right away, and almost every area uses one of the same two songs. Still a good game, but wow what a dropoff. Overall average: 9/10

Sorry, but no I didn't save the game footage or I would have posted it. Hint: Bonus stages. It's all about the bonus stages!

I've hit the kill screen score a few times. In my experience, the screen is still readable enough to see the whole scoreboard. Since this usually happened to me after a bonus stage, what I used to do was manually add the bonus stage points to my score. This created a fun challenge of seeing how big a bonus I could hit once my game was about to end.

With the few RPGs I've played, I've only cared about reaching the end of the story, usually at a reasonably low level. Most of the time I didn't even know that there were "rare" things to find and collect (about the only one I can even think of is the WarMech encounter in Final Fantasy 1). Not that I would have cared. The idea of grinding experience in RPGs is bad enough, but to grind even more for an item drop or overpowered monster? No thanks! I will say that the RNG does get to me in one area: Death spells. I swear despite the advertised hit rate of 10% or whatnot, the spells work almost every time a monster uses them, but never when I try them myself. I'm sure this has something to do with me being under-leveled, but still.

I plan on trying this eventually. Have heard the soundtrack though, which was awesome.

Breakthrough game tonight! Just shy of 300k on 4 lives puts me ahead of the pace set by the marathon world record of 921,800, where the different settings would instead allow for a total of 17 lives. Not like I plan on finding time to do a marathon game or anything, but yeah. Happy with the score!

Still working on Arcade Archives Kangaroo. Been slowed down by real life, but I've had enough time to master the harder loops. Biggest breakthrough is I found a strat for round 3 that always works (the one with the cage on top of the big pile of monkeys). I was getting murdered here on loop 4 and higher, thinking it was random. Turns out that there is a winning pattern here after all. I can now reach loop 9 when I don't point press, and that was on a sloppy effort. Now, to find a completely free hour to do a Hi Score Mode run with point pressing. Hard to do that without sacrificing sleep!

Yes, Switch version included, along with all major consoles. Sorry for the initial confusion. I edited the main post to reflect.

We suddenly have a LOT more TMNT to look forward to this year besides Shredder's Revenge... I don't even care that I own half the games either. I'd buy this just for the arcade ports! Love the inclusion of the three Gameboy titles as well. EDIT: Yes, the game is being released for all the major consoles. The link I posted above specifically mentioned Nintendo Switch though.

Yup, understood. Mostly just lamenting how many months it would take me to beat these types of games on my usual 30-60 minute gaming sessions. If I was ever going to play one, it would be Zelda BotW, but that would probably take me half a year (or longer) at my rate. And that would have to be with a walkthrough and skipping all side quests.

(marvels at how "60 hours" and "short" are used to describe the same game)

Alternatively, you can use one of the ninja magic spells (Jitsu of Fushin) to temporarily increase your jumping height. But yeah, master that double jump!

Has anyone played much with the Arcade Archives series? I've spent way more time than I expected with "Kangaroo" on Nintendo Switch. Crazy fun game that has only now been emulated properly (all the MAME records abuse incorrect behavior of certain enemies). All-time first for me: I have the #1 spot on an in-game online leaderboard. Scores are all pretty low, but this is a low scoring game, especially with game settings that only allow a total of 4 lives (start with 3, bonus at 10,000). Still working on improving this score, but here's what I have so far, reaching level 5-3:

Awesome work! I've always wanted a home version of Q*Bert's Qubes, but nobody made one for the systems I have. Surprised it didn't get at least a Nintendo version (instead we got Q*Bert 3 for SNES and a bunch of remakes of the original).

Great so you're saying I actually have a chance of finishing a modern game for once.

Thanks for the heads up. I had to fix my Day 14 Zelda link because of this. Funny how it was all too easy to find another video. Nice going, copyrighters. The world is now a slightly safer place. Reminds me of when one of my arcade gaming videos was slapped with a ban in Europe because it contained about 20 seconds of an Annie Lennox song that just happened to be playing in the background at the arcade. Still not sure if I should be angry or flattered that it was worth somebody's time.

Day 31 Favorites: It's been a great pleasure listening to music with everyone through these threads. Time to celebrate all of our efforts! AverageOliver98 Day 15: Freedom Planet (Various), Major Boss Battle Day 16: Mega Man 7 (SNES), Walk the Invisible Day 22: Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers (NES), Zone J Day 23: Raiden 5 (Various), Fortress of Philosophy Day 25: Undertale (Various), Bergentruckung + ASGORE * Thanks for giving me another reason to eventually play Freedom Planet. I keep putting that one off. ** Thanks as always for putting this challenge together! Aguy Day 4: Star Fox (SNES), Corneria Day 14: Crypt of the Necrodancer (Various), Mausoleum Mash Day 16: Alien 3 (Genesis), Main Theme Day 19: Silver Surfer (NES), High Score Day 22: Pokemon Main Theme (Italian) * That Pokemon theme surprised me the most. I have less than zero interest in playing/watching anything from this series, but the music keeps getting in my head. fox Day 2: No More Heroes 3 (Various), Start the Game Day 8: Witcher 3 (Various), Another Round for Everyone Day 16: Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis), Simon's Theme Day 26: Blazing Chrome (Various), Snow Base Day 28: TMNT (Arcade), Shredder * Wish that Castlevania track was used for longer during an actual game. I think it only plays while you climb the stairs to the last bosses. 0xDEAFC0DE Day 6: Pikuniku (Various), Free Money! Day 16: Super Dodge Ball (NES), USSR Day 17: Top Gear (SNES), Las Vegas Day 25: Gravity Rush (Various), Douse Shinundakara Day 26: Delta (C64?), Main Theme * I had to look up Pikuniku after hearing this song. I then promptly added it to my want list. Looks like a nice game that's good for a bunch of laughs. ZeldaFreak Day 1: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube), The Legendary Hero Day 8: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie King's Double Trouble! (SNES), Bonus Time! Day 14: Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA), Temple of Droplets Day 15: Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS), Stagnox Day 16: Castlevania 64, Opposing Bloodlines * I recently started playing Spirit Tracks for the first time. So far I agree that it's underrated. Glad I finally bought a copy before the price skyrocketed! PII Day 2: Willow (NES), Battle Day 3: Farming Simulator '19 (Various), Electro Radio - Hyper Life Day 13: Mega Man 2 (Genesis), Metal Man Day 16: Getsu Fuuma Den (FC), Overworld Day 24: Pin-Bot (NES), Title * First off, how is Farming Simulator a thing? That said, blown away by all three of those songs! sp1nz Day 7: Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (PC), Carrotus Day 21: Pokemon Gold and Silver (GBC), Goldenrod Game Corner Day 26: Mushihimesama Futari (Arcade), Sea of Frozen Crystals (Stage 2) Day 29: Ketsui Death Label: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi (Various), No Remorse Day 30: Shovel Knight (Various), A Return to Order * Glad to see some Cave songs up here. Not much of a bullet hell player, but I really enjoy all their soundtracks, especially Mushihimesama Futari. nesmaster14 Day 1: Demon Sword (NES), Title Day 4: Astyanax (NES), Cover Arrangement by Harmsing Day 9: Batman (NES), Stage 2 (Stage 1 on FC) Day 10: Sonic Spinball (Genesis), Stage 1 Day 11: Baleful Sonata (NES Castlevania hack), Mindlessness * Toxic Caves is probably my favorite out of the whole Sonic series. Never gets old! tigerwolf Day 9: Tetris Attack (SNES), Yoshi's Stage Day 14: ActRaiser Renaissance (Various), Birth of a People Day 16: Bomberman 64, Main Garden Theme Day 24: Jaki Crush, Main Board Theme Day 26: Thunder Force 3 (Genesis), Stage 3 * Looking forward to playing ActRaiser Renaissance after hearing this!

8/10 - Loved the first half of the game, hated the second half with all the space pirate fights.

RdRunner's Picks IV Difficulty: Custom (aka "No Rules") I'm just going to pick some good music without thinking so hard. Still going for variety though! Day 1 Title: Magic of Scheherazade (NES) Day 2 Opening: Mushihimesama Futari (Arcade), Setting Off Together (Stage 1) Day 3 Simulation: Lords of the Realm 2 (PC), Scroll 3 (midway through game) Day 4 Impressive: Valis (Genesis), Flash of Sword (Stage 1) Day 5 PlayStation: Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PS1), Warp Room Day 6 Strange: Battleblock Theater (Various), Buckle Your Pants (Ending) - One of the best ending songs ever is also more than a little weird! Day 7 Computer: Panther (Atari 8-bit) - Yes, this video is from my channel. It's the only video I know of with the music at full speed. Guessing it's because I did this on original hardware. Day 8 Bonus: Mighty Final Fight (NES) Day 9 Different But Same: Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES), Aquarius US Version JP Version Day 10 Nostalgic: Zelda Cinematica, Endless Journey, by Sam Dillard Day 11 Fangame: Sonic Mania (Various), UFO Special Stage Day 12 West: Final Fantasy 6 (SNES), A Fistful of Nickels (Shadow's Theme Remix), by zircon Day 13 Remake: DuckTales Remastered (Various), Money Bin Day 14 Dungeon: Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS), Lorule Castle Day 15 Boss: Castle Crashers (Various), The Show Day 16 Retro: 8-Bit: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (NES), Horse Chase/Duel 16-Bit: Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES), Victory 32-Bit: Metal Slug (Neo-Geo), Ridge 256 (Mission 4) 64-Bit: Diddy Kong Racing (N64), Boss Day 17 Racing: Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Various), Ocean View Day 18 Short: Game and Watch Gallery (Gameboy), Game Select Menu Day 19 High Score: Super Smash TV (SNES) Day 20 Indie: Horace, First Drums - Used this game last time, but it's way more than worth another mention. Every retro indie fan should play this! Day 21 Casino: Dragon Warrior 4 (NES), Large Poker Win Day 22 Cartoons: My early childhood summed up in two shows! Game: Smurfs (NES), Title Show: Saturday Supercade Day 23 Opening Stage Theme That Could Pass for End Credits (Free Space): Gradius Gaiden, The Heavens Are Calling, by Ivan Hakstok and Juan Medrano - One of my favorites on OCRemix! Day 24 Pinball: Pin-Bot, Multiball Day 25 Vocals: Final Fantasy 7 (Various), The Rules of the Road (Crazy Motorcycle Chase), by XPRTNovice Day 26 Shooters: Heavy Barrel (Arcade), Final Stage Day 27 Foreboding: Metroid 2: Return of Samus (Gameboy), Queen Ambience - Pure horror from just one repeating note. Day 28 Final Boss: Contra 3: The Alien Wars (SNES), The Final Gauntlet (3 parts) - Still one of the best finales to any game! Day 29 Hidden Boss: Star Fox 64, Andross Brain Day 30 Ending/Credits: Catherine (Various) - Words cannot describe how great this soundtrack is and this song is the icing on the cake. After all the classical music and spooky nightmare stuff, it's time to jam! VGMC Favorite: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (WiiU), Scorch 'n' Torch [Sumez, Season 1, Day 17]

Nice. Years later and people still read that thing. I haven't updated it in years, but it's still fairly accurate. Glad it proved useful! I actually only own two other Famicom games (Gradius 2, Goonies 1) so not much of a gamble at all. Still need to branch out obviously. Thanks again!

A big thanks to my Secret Santa, @the_wizard_666 for this awesome assortment of NES games! I'm slowly building a modest set of my old favorites after (regrettably) selling them off a decade ago and these games get me closer to completing my list. He also surprised me with this sweet homemade repro of one of my old arcade favorites, Yie Ar Kung-Fu! I have never played the Famicom version, but I love the idea of having this for a home console. Merry Christmas!

One separate comment: I personally don't think that we should change the weekly deadline, especially given this week's confusion. A week is still a week no matter what. We all have busy lives. Just plan/play accordingly. Plus, I can vouch that living in the west is not necessarily a disadvantage (I lived in Arizona when I participated).

First off, wow a 29-page thread! Are these contest threads normally this long nowadays? I feel like I've aged just reading it! I only started following when Wiz asked me about the Pooyan video, but that seems moot now. Sorry I was out all weekend when that came up, but FWIW I think the video looks fine. The gameplay isn't completely perfect and the appearance of "turbo" could simply come from having two fire buttons to mash (both A and B do the same thing). That said, I don't play Famicom games and have barely played this on my PS1 arcade classics disc, so take this info with a grain of salt. Otherwise, glad to see things were resolved peacefully. You guys proved yet again why this is such a great group!

Last time I checked, the only side scroller Zelda is The Adventure of Link. Metroid and Zelda share a few concepts, but it would be a disservice to both series to say they're that alike.