WashYourFace

3 minutes ago, ZeldaFan042 said:

World Class Track Meet is done

Nice, saved me from having to keep trying it. One day I'll beat Cheetah on the hurdles, though. One day.

1 hour ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Damn, Wizardry I is slow going. Going to take a lot of time to level up before I can really start exploring the maze.

It does become easier about halfway through.

3 minutes ago, Strikezone1 said:

Thunderbirds is beaten.

I just got this game in the mail today, and since it was still on the board for this thread figured I’d move it to the top of my list to tackle.

I gotta say, I’m a bit surprised this game is still on the board for this years thread, because it isn’t all that tough. Plus being a 7 pointer and 1 pain point? Easiest pain point I’ve ever gotten (must’ve been a slow year when it went unbeaten).

Anyways, I think it’s a decent shmup game. Kinda bizarre, but yet not bad. There’s no point counter for high score; that’s unheard of for NES shmups.

Yeah not too hard, especially since the levels are pretty short and there are passwords. I always thought it was weird they made a game based on a semi-obscure 20 year old puppet show. I remembered seeing it when I was a little kid, but nobody I knew ever heard of the show.

12 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

Is anyone working on Xevious? If not, I may give it a shot this week.

I'm not but is there a trick to it? Just wonder why the point value plummeted from what it used to be.

2 minutes ago, Khromak said:

Infinite continues? I know you can spam the trigger to continue on the level you just died on, but assumed that was outside of our rules. Is that "code" listed in the manual or something?

I never had to bother with that since I never got past the first stage, but when I stopped trying part of the reason was that there were only 2 lives and no continue without using that method, which I assumed was a code.

Manual tells you how to continue, so it's legal.

28 minutes ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

And Legacy of the Wizard is a fun Metroidvania, but very difficult. However, you can save the game and try as much as you want.

I can't even imagine trying to beat this without some sort of walkthrough. I don't have to imagine it, because I tried when the game was new. Instruction manual is mostly useless, and that's all you get. Later, when I actually did beat it, it was hard even with a walkthrough and videos to help. One of the most logically convoluted games. And the worst part is the font, so that you can easily write down the wrong character in the password. So annoying.

9 minutes ago, Khromak said:

I'm open to suggestions on games which are left in the list that are good but not brutally difficult (ala Arkanoid). Currently working on Toxic Crusaders and almost done with it. As seems to be the trend for me, I'm on the last level but it's tough as nails.

A lot of the remaining RPG type games are not hard or bad, just take awhile. Sky Kid is not too hard, I think, and not terrible (the key is remembering you don't have to engage every enemy, just avoid them). Lolo III is probably a good one that isn't too difficult.

Kings of the Beach done! Sorry it took awhile, busy with work. Pretty repetitive game, and I don't like the "feature" where the ref makes bad calls. And with that, I think I've beaten every volleyball game on the NES! I've also beaten one of every point value this year (1-10)!

5 minutes ago, 0xDEAFC0DE said:

Castlequest done

I started to do it without looking anything up, but I soon got board. I ended up following the speedrun route. 

I think it would take a million years trying to do without any reference/help (although you can legally use the map that comes with the game, and that's really helpful). The thing that sucks (besides no save/password) is I think you can get the game into an unbeatable state (and maybe not know it) and have to start all over. Which reminds me, this is another time a playthrough from @rdrunner helped. I had to use it on one or two spots.

I'm 3 out 5 matches done on Kings of the Beach.

15 minutes ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

I've started AD&D: Dragonstrike, but it's not what I expected at all. It seems to have unlimited continues, so I guess I can power through it with enough time.

If I remember, the only hard part for me was the Doom Dragon, which I used Crabmaster's playthrough to beat. Pretty good game.

So why are Arkanoid and Xevious so low now? Is there some trick to them? Pretty sure I can beat Xevious even though it's hard. But Arkanoid, no way without continuing...

Racket Attack done.

If they were trying to simulate the feeling of wanting to smash a real life tennis racket in frustration, I say they nailed it. I never want to play this again.

24 minutes ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

Damn, you must have been grinding through that one on the downlow for a couple of days now. I did that for the contest a few years ago and it's mind-numbing

I hear that. It's fun for about 20 minutes. Then it's a slog.

18 minutes ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

King Quest V

Too bad these point and click games/ports from PC (like Maniac Mansion, Shadowgate, Lemmings) didn't have a mouse. Maybe they could have brought more of them to the NES. But trying to control a cursor with a D-pad is really annoying and time-consuming.

4 minutes ago, Strikezone1 said:

I’ve been playing this shitty game for almost a week now. Got over 12 hours in on it I’d say. The frustration factor outweighs the fun/quality of Zanac, and by a landslide.

Interesting that you guys mention other weapon #s as been equal to #7. I’m just not seeing that. Sure, a fully powered up #3 or #6 are effective, but yet not at all comparable to a fully powered up #7 IMO. Bullets can still penetrate through fully powered #3. Every quality play through of Zanac I’ve seen utilizes #7. I haven’t seen any others. Even @peg uses #7 is his NDR of it that he uploaded a few months ago on YT.

I’ll probably make a few more attempts at Zanac before I say F it and move on. Kudos to anyone who has actually beaten this POS!

I have to agree. I don't see any reason to use anything other than #7. The problem is, though, there are some levels you just can't run out of lives on (and try to continue). Level 4 especially for example. If you get the continue screen there, you might as well just start over. Whereas if you continue on Level 5, it's still possible to continue, get your powered up #7 back and get past it.

8 minutes ago, bronzeshield said:

I managed to figure out a winning pattern for the tennis game in Quattro Sports -- the details might still be on NintendoAge somewhere, from when I beat it in 2014 (and again in 2016). I think the biggest "aha" moment was getting

I beat it in 2013 I think? I agree it wasn't that bad, except beating it was tough. Not that I particularly want to play it again. Back then I rated it 6/10 quality, 9/10 difficulty.

3 minutes ago, bronzeshield said:

There's one, and only one: Family Tennis by Namco, on the Famicom. It uses the engine that became World Court Tennis on the Turbografx-16, which (ridiculous localization aside) is very very solid. Plus the characters are (thinly disguised) real-life players from the 1980s, and play a lot like the actual players. Navratilova's volleys are sick. There's a fan translation that came out pretty well (full disclosure, I was one of several who worked on it).

All the other NES tennis games suck to varying degrees. The Japanese version of Racket Attack is slightly better since it has upgraded sound, but it's still floaty and slippery. Still, at least it tries. Evert/Lendl is trash, Connors is trash, black-box Tennis is an abomination, the unlicensed games are trash.

Outside of North America, Rackets & Rivals is the only one I haven't beaten yet but it seems trashy. There's a Famicom Disk System game that might be OK but I can't really tell until I give it a proper playthrough.

A lot of the best tennis games are Namco releases. They seemed to understand how to make one that was both accessible and played like the real sport.

Rad Racket is OK, I think. Not great but it's alright. I beat Rackets & Rivals before, but let's just say it's forgettable. Tennis on Quattro Sports is hard as hell.

I started Racket Attack. 1 opponent down, 6 more to go. Damn, this game sucks though.

3 minutes ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

Yes, I've successfully beaten King's Knight. Sorry for the confusing phrasing. 

I still have Hydlide and Starship Hector as cartridges, but I don't think that I will be able to beat Hector anytime soon. So feel free to beat it.

It's weird though. I really like that game, similar to Silkworm, but the last levels in both games are just way too hard for me.

 

The last level of King's Knight is so stupid. It's almost a good game to me, but the last level especially ruins it. It sounds like you are volunteering to beat Hydlide, which I think is an excellent idea! (one I think not too many people want to play) I get better at Silkworm and Hector every time I play them, but they are 2 more on my list of almost-but-never-quite-completed.

Gemfire done!

The battery in my game is apparently dead, so I couldn't save, and had to beat it all in one sitting. Only the 2nd game I've ever seen that happen to. Pretty good game though, but way too easy. The trading makes it really simple to gain resources, and you can easily get enemies to defect to your side, from the very first turn. And the AI isn't very smart. Still not as boring as some other Koei games, though.

5 minutes ago, Crabmaster2000 said:

Towards the garbage can?

Hey now, some games on there are better than some licensed games. I'll take Dedant over X-Men any day.

12 minutes ago, PII said:

Could it be, that this is a sign to  "devisut" a way to incorporate the NES unlicensed collection into the mix? 

My Action 52 is practically jumping off the shelf.

On 1/17/2021 at 7:15 PM, WashYourFace said:

Alright! The only Koei left on the list that I haven't beat is Gemfire. I don't own it, though

Why did I say I don't own this? I totally do. So it goes on my list for this weekend. Unless somebody else is already on it. Hopefully I finally have some time for games!

46 minutes ago, nerdynebraskan said:

I actually played it a lot growing up, but at that time I stalled out on the third boss. I only conquered it a few years ago for one of these threads, and have found it enjoyable enough to make an annual return to it.

Use the walkthrough and maps on GameFAQs for the more cryptic bits. Those are very useful.

Go straight down and to the right from the opening area to the left-right street where the blue frogs will continuously spawn and pursue you. They're really good to farm for items and weapon upgrades on. Don't leave that area for the more cramped forest/sewer areas until you've fully upgraded your gun. The middle-level gun upgrades have really wide arcs and get absorbed by walls in tight areas.

The most annoying detail in the game is how many weapon downgrades randomly appear amongst items dropped by defeated enemies. You'll need to play at a deliberate pace to avoid picking up too many of those. The whip, while stronger than the gun, has the double-edged effect of also picking up items. I tend to use it only on very strong enemies (like those pink-bowling-balls-with-fangs) and late bosses.

In areas where the enemies are really tough or spawn in really aggravating ways (including the UFO dungeon at the end), sometimes it's more prudent to let a few enemies get behind you and slowly walk to your destination. If there are enough enemies on screen, no new ones will spawn in front of you and you're fast enough to outrun anything in the game over open ground (and can still outrun all but the fastest enemies even on screwy terrain).

You should do most of your damage to the hardest bosses in the game by bringing a fully-powered whip and five Invincibility ("Invisibility") potions to each boss fight. Just use a potion, stand right in front of them, and just mash that attack button. If they're still standing after you run out of invincibility potions, run away from them and use your missiles. The walkthrough has elaborate strategies for how to beat those bosses with fancy moves and the gun, but fuck that. There's too much that can go wrong.

Will keep all that in mind. I played it a lot too growing up, and throughout the years, and whenever I thought I might try to beat it, I end up dying or downgrading my weapon and just getting pissed off, and stop playing. I only ever made it about half way. Hoping to finish it off some time this year.