Retro Game Challenge #23 (1/2-1/9)
 

Week 23 is over!
The Rules:

1. To enter, you just play one of the games and post a screenshot (F12 key in MAME) with your score.
2. The deadline to post your high scores will be Sunday 9:00 PM Eastern US time.
3. When you post a high score, pick a new game to play by the deadline. The sooner the better.
4. The game should be at least 10 years old and one we haven't played before.
5. Any scores you submit should be played during the week of the contest using no continues or any features of the emulator that you wouldn't get by playing the actual machine.

So far we have only been using MAME to play the games, but that can change, if the winner so chooses.
I am going to host the current ROMs and list of all the past winners and high scores here.
New to MAME? Feel free to ask questions here or read the tutorials

The Games:
(click the titles for info and how to play)

Sinistar (revision 3) - Score to beat: hardcore 85160
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/8096/sinistar8ji.png<img src="http://img52.exs.cx/img52/2925/sini00028ph.png" height=294/>

Super Punch-Out!! - Score to beat: devilshalo 167300
http://img109.exs.cx/img109/3113/spnchout5ji.png<img src="http://img107.exs.cx/img107/2918/spnc00015tr.png" height=293/>

Vs. Super Mario Bros. - Score to beat: Roto 477250
http://img154.exs.cx/img154/8956/suprmrio2vs.png<img src="http://img123.exs.cx/img123/706/supr00083ra.png" height=289/>


The Prize:
Whoever gets the high score for one of the games picks the next game that replaces it, so we should always have 3 to choose from. You also get your name <s>engraved</s> permanently etched onto this eye catching trophy with a genuine Sharpie!

This Week's Winners:
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~dvdtalk/trophy.jpg" align="top"/><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~dvdtalk/engraving23.jpg" height="320"/>

OK, I'll start. I never have destroyed the Sinistar yet. You just collect those little crystals and press button two when he shows up, right? He always swallows me before I can do anything.
http://img130.exs.cx/img130/4337/sini00010ek.png

Took me a while just to get 1000 points. I'll let someone else start Super Mario.
http://img68.exs.cx/img68/8865/spnc00055fc.png

OK, here we go...
http://www.archfamily.com/images/mame/spnchout.png

Good, I don't have to play that game anymore

You don't like Super Punch Out? It was one of the first games I played on MacMAME.

"If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing." Homer J. Simpson

Managed to squeeze in a couple games tonight... Playing stuff like this makes me seriously consider getting that joystick you have Roto. The analogs on a PS controller just don't give me enough control... :)

http://img71.exs.cx/img71/9736/sinistar9hq.png

This is after killing the first Sinistar. Yeah, just run from Sinistar (he actually gives good advice) and drop your sinibombs behind you to take him out.

I'm using an Xbox controller for Sinistar. The X-Arcade is only 8 way, not 49 way like a Sinistar machine :p

Joystick -ohbfrank-








:p

Only 8-way? Forget it then, that'll never do... :)

I gave Punch Out a try last night as well, but that came down to pretty much nothing but random button mashing... Having never owned an NES, I don't really see myself being able to compete in two games that were played to death by the Nintendo generation though. :(

But a joystick won't turn your hand into a permanent claw. :p

I abuse joysticks. Which is probably why I don't care for using them. When I had my NES, I went out and bought the NES Advantage.

http://www.emu-russia.km.ru/data/nes/nes_advantage.jpg

I went thru 3 of them in the course of 2 years. Since then, unless I own the friggin' arcade machine, I never went back to using a home system joystick. I hated using the regular controllers. How did I get by with my SNES, Genesis, Turbo GraFX 16? I didn't. I chose games that were RPGs and required very little on screen movement.

:p

There's sig material if I've ever seen it :D
I'm done waiting for someone to post a Super Mario Bros. score.
http://img92.exs.cx/img92/7066/supr00027cr.png
I never had a Nintendo either. I had a Sega Master System, but I did play this at the 7-11 a lot. Never beat it though.

Many a time spent at the student union in college was because of Super Mario Bros. I maxed out on 99 extra men and rolled the machine over a couple times.

So what, you're still in the middle of the game after two days, and that's what's prevented you from posting a score? Don't tell me it's because you wanted there to be a little competition before you posted an unbeatable score. That's never stopped you before. :p

I always got stuck on level 6-3 because of those long jumps. I should at least be able to get back there before the week is over.

College was in 1986. I don't remember any of the levels. And I have no joystick. :p

Funny thing is that when you do the turtle trick, if you get more than 99 extra men, the game stops.

From ClassicGaming for VS. Super Mario Bros.:

1st trick: The 999 timer bonus trick

This one can be done on any of the -4 Worlds. It is most difficult to achieve on World 6-4 and World 7-4. What you do is try to end the level with the timer at 000, and the machine will act as though you have 1000 units of time instead of 0. It will drop to 999 and count down to 000 from there and award points for each unit of time ( I can't remember how many points it awards for each unit.)

Simply jump to the axe as the timer goes from 002 to 001 and you should finish the screen with the timer at 000 and get the maximum bonus. Need I mention that Bowser should be shot before you try to accomplish this? Of course not :) Since you must be big and fiery, this can be very hard to do. I have managed the feat on all 8 of the -4 Worlds (so I know all of them can be done), but of course not all in the same game! That would take a far better player than me. I wonder if anyone has ever tried i?.

2nd trick: Multiple 1ups on World 6-1

At the end of World 6-1, just before the flagpole, there is a large column of blocks to the right of a hole in the floor and a staircasing set of blocks on the left side of the hole. In the arcade version of Super Mario Bros. a red koopa paratroopa flies above this hole, facing left and slowly moving up and down.

The trick here involves trapping the turtle shell between the left edge of the screen and the staircasing set of blocks, and repeatedly jumping on it until thousands of points are scored and 1ups are awarded. It is very easy to do, and this makes it possible to roll the scoreboard over ( at 10 million points ) and coast through the remaining Worlds. You must be big in order to trap the koopa shell, so grab the mushroom power-up near the end of the level.

To do the trick, first jump onto the column on the right ( avoiding the koopa for the moment ) and adjust the left edge of the screen ( by slowly moving backwards and forwards on the column - forward to actually move the left edge of the screen, backward so as not to walk off the column). It must be set so that there are four blocks along the bottom of the screen between the left edge and the hole in the floor, with the left edge exactly dividing two blocks. If you are off a bit, the trick will still work, but just not quite as well.

When it does work well you will get several bonus lives from one man, so once you get started the game is easily beaten. Once the edge is set, it's time to jump on the koopa. You hold the joystick left and jump on the wing of the koopa ( not the head, which will cause it to change direction and fall in the hole ), bounce over it and then land in the corner and release the joystick. Then jump repeatedly on the koopa ( who is moving toward you now ), making sure that you land on its left side first in order to trap it.

After several bounces ( and lots of points ) it will "catch" and you won't have to press the jump button. When your man comes to a stop, the koopa will still be trapped and you can continue jumping on it, and again after several jumps you will bounce automatically. Just keep going until time runs out and repeat the process by setting up the edge again, etc. Occasionally, there will be no koopa flying above the hole. If this happens, just sacrifice a man by jumping in the hole and returning for another attempt. And always remember to pick up the mushroom power-up each time since you need to be big for the trap to work. Sounds complicated, but it is very easy to do once you have the knack.

Still stuck on 4-4
http://img130.exs.cx/img130/7885/supr00038ei.png

OK, after a marathon session I have finally learned how to play Sinistar.
http://img20.exs.cx/img20/997/sini00046kq.png
You have to follow it around on the radar and prevent the little red guys from building it. They build the sinistar with the crystals, while you destroy it with the crystals.

Has that strategy actually worked for you? I've always just tried to get enough sinibombs before he was built or before he gets to you. You only need 13 to kill him, so with careful bombing you shouldn't need a full load of bombs.

It worked well enough to just barely beat your score a couple of times
http://img134.exs.cx/img134/7167/sini00053io.png
Since you actually destroyed it once, I'm guessing you don't get any big bonus doing it that way, so I think my way was probably easier. I try and follow the yellow dot on the radar, but it's easier once the first piece is actually there that you can see on the screen. Then I just try and keep the little red guys away from it and avoid getting shot by the space tanks.

Usually there are plenty of crystals when you kill the red ones that are bringing the crystals to the Sinistar. So then I hit it with whatever crystals I collected to keep it from getting too big.

Wow, I used to just mine the boulders close to the incomplete sinistar so I'd have enough in case he was completed. I also used the sinistar as a shield by camping out in the middle of him.

If he were ever completed, I'd run like a mofo to get him to follow me and bomb the heck out of him.

On vs. Super Mario Bros. I'm stuck on 4-3. Tho i don't have nearly as many points because of the warp stage.

That's about the same way I've been playing Sinistar, I'm just not very confident about surviving if I let them complete him. Plus I had a target score I was trying to beat :) I just read that destroying the Sinistar is worth 15,000 points, so when I need that I'll try your way.

I doubt you can beat my Super Mario Bros. score using the warps unless you use one of those tricks you posted. When I used to be able to get to 6-3, that was with no warps and the machine was set for 250 coins to get an extra life. I remember seeing a one armed man beat the game at Farrell's ice cream parlor, but I'm pretty sure he used the warps and my best scores were higher.