Let's All Play-Current challenge: Beat Outrun - end in one of the bottom 3 goals

[XYXZYZ]

Everyone knows the Ninja Gaiden 2 boss names. I only know the two main enemies(Jacquio and Ashtar) and Cerberus. Are the names Baron Spider and Funky Dynamite official names?

Maybe I should read the instruction manual sometime.

Yeah. The Bosses are

1. Dando
2. Baron Spider
3. Funky Dynamite
4. Naga Sotuva
5. Ashtar
6. Kelbeross
7. Jaquio

[Cryomancer]

The wind and darkness stages gave me a lot of trouble at first, but after i figured those out pretty well it's just 3-2 giving me a hard time. Well, getting through 3-2 with enough of a chance to kill the boss anyway. So far i've gotten him down to half health at best. I had to catch him in a loop just to do that.


edit: Ok, I did it finally. Does using autofire for sword count as cheating? because i did that when i knocked the boss down (but only then). I was emulating, but had I did it on hardware I'd probably have used the NES advantage to do the same. it didn't even swing that fast. I'm done with this either way at this point, arg. Very not fun playing 3-2 and the boss over and over for a couple hours. For the record I've not really every played this one much before, either, so i'm sure that's part of my troubles.

[kupomogli]

When thinking up these challenges can they be any system that's fairly assessable? Super Nintendo for example?

I also have a few challenges in mind but not sure which I'd land on. A few are generic like "beat this in one continue." There is one challenge I thought of that is actually fairly unique, but not sure if I'm going to choose it. It's hard enough to be a sortof challenge, but also easy enough to where everyone could do it if they put enough effort.

[j_factor]

Finished it today, with copious continues. Actually I got up to 3-2 without continuing, but then I had to continue quite a few times. I actually didn't have that hard of a time with the 3-3 boss... when I was able to get to him with a decent amount of health. I had a hell of a time with 3-2. I had a little frustration with the controls; I guess I'm more used to the SMS Ninja Gaiden, which is a bit more responsive.

[Icarus Moonsight]

It's hard enough to be a sortof challenge, but also easy enough to where everyone could do it if they put enough effort.

Sounds like a good candidate, unless your a masochist. Not too many looking for a challenge takes it on when they are cakewalks or seemingly impossible.

I'm playing Ninja Gaiden 2 through PocketNES on my GBAMicro and 3-1 eats my lunch every time... I've always had problems with pitch black or limited view platformer sections.

[c0ldb33r]

I'm gonna give it another go tonight. It isn't looking good though. 3-1 keeps wiping the floor with me. That sucks, this means that I won't be in the #1 list for top 5 scorers! LOL

[BHvrd]

Did it and my hands actually got sweaty in the process. The good ole days of sweaty hand and controllers, lol, the two must be one!

There were a few patterns that were a bitch, mainly the sonuva bitch boss that throws spiders (That bastard pissed me off), the rolly polly guys that can glitch jump whenever they feel it necessary through walls or magically 20 miles in the air and the damn hawks on the last 2 stages until you realize their pattern. Gotta admit the last boss had me stumped till I figured out the way it needed to be done.

All in all a really good challenge as it really shows the frustration us NES gamers went through in the day with respawning enemies and glitch ass shit lol. At least this game gave you continues though!

[Jehusephat]

Did it and my hands actually got sweaty in the process. The good ole days of sweaty hand and controllers, lol, the two must be one!

I wish I could say those were the good old days. I always had that problem as a kid, and passing the controller to a friend after playing usually resulted in screams of terror followed by "I'm only losing because I'm using the sweaty controller!" It was so bad the term sloppy seconds was actually applied to playing games directly after me. Then I grew up, found out I had hyperhydrosis, and learned that there's actually such a thing as sweaty controller disease. I killed my last DS from sweating so much that the contacts under the directional pad actually corroded. Oddly enough, only my hands sweat, so I've come to the conclusion that I once played a video game so intense that my hands started sweating and were never able to stop. Somewhere in my mind I am forever playing Battletoads.

[kupomogli]

There's still a day left to complete the Ninja Gaiden challenge if you haven't done it. I'm going to put my challenge here though.

After some thinking, I decided to not go with the "unique" challenge I thought of. After thinking about it, it was the exact same thing as the Ninja Gaiden challenge actually. Super Mario Bros. 3 but you cannot get any coins, cannot hit any question marks, and can not go to the spade or use any items when on the world map. It's doable, because you can get the mushroom when on stage 2(from a note,) and a leaf(provided you still have the mushroom,) on stage 3 when hitting the side of one of those unbreakable pillars. I'm not sure, but I don't think it's possible to not get coins on one part without the racoon suit.

--

So anyways, decided to pick my first one. Three requirements.

You have to take the shortcut on stage 1, meaning not going into the reservoir part with the fishmen, and beat the game, all without continuing.

Here is the shortcut, the third easiest in the game(the easiest two are both on stage 2.) Wait for the bat so you can take damage and cross the gap(I have 200 points extra on the second picture because I killed another bat that spawned from the left side while waiting for my invincibility to wear off so I could take the screenshot.)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/CastlevaniaStage1Shortcut.png http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/CastlevaniaStage1Shortcut2.png

Doesn't matter how many lives you use as long as it's in a single continue, so I'll throw a tip out to get a lot of extra lives. Look back at those pictures showing the shortcut and at my score. Not much time has passed and I have a pretty high score already. Grab the holy water in the second screen and then wait for a group of three zombies to come, throw it and you'll get a huge bonus for each enemy that is killed after the first with the same thing. If you see the first zombie, jump and throw the holy water, then once you see the third about to hit it, walk the opposite direction so more zombies will appear from offscreen. I'm not sure what point value it is, but once you increase the point value by a certain amount, it doesn't show a point value, but it keeps doubling with consecutive enemies.

At 30,000 and 70,000 points you get an extra life. If you need to harvest points in order to beat the game in a single life then do it. I've had 17 lives before I looped the score before. After looping the score you don't get extra lives.

*edit*

Also. Use Holy Water against every single boss for an easy win.

[BHvrd]

Where exactly are these zombies you are using the holy water on? Also why is the shortcut necessary?

[j_factor]

Not sure about the zombies, but the shortcut is necessary because it's the criteria of the challenge.

I'm in the process of giving it a go right now. Should be done soon.

[j_factor]

Done! I lost one life on Death, one in the last level, and one on Dracula. I used to be able to beat this game without losing a life, but it's been a while.

http://bayimg.com/image/haehdaace.jpg
http://bayimg.com/image/haehfaace.jpg

[Cryomancer]

Jeez, I can't even get the timing for the shortcut right. All my castlevania experience is with later titles, I think this one is well beyond my skill level. Have fun guys.

[c0ldb33r]

Jeez, I can't even get the timing for the shortcut right. All my castlevania experience is with later titles, I think this one is well beyond my skill level.
Same here - I'm gonna try it though.

I've never actually tried to beat Castlevania :D

[j_factor]

Jeez, I can't even get the timing for the shortcut right. All my castlevania experience is with later titles, I think this one is well beyond my skill level. Have fun guys.

In terms of actual enemy placement and level design, the first Castlevania is actually rather easy. The only thing that makes it difficult is the controls.

[Jehusephat]

I never had any luck beating Castlevania. I have no problem getting through the stages, but will die repeatedly while trying to kill Dracula. My friend and I managed to beat it once, but only after hours and hours of playing. I'm going to attempt this one, but I'm 99% certain this challenge is out of my league. Maybe I'll watch a few episodes of GameCenter CX first in order to motivate myself.

[kupomogli]

Beat it. Also putting some pictures. Anyways. I thought the challenge I put was easy. I assumed since I could beat it in one life a continue wouldn't really be hard. I also like taking the shortcuts in the game so I included the one on the first stage since if you don't get it on the first stage you can always reset and there's also some meat right next to it if you need to use it.

Finished. No lives lost(this is after I grabbed the orb, whipped when it froze Simon. I wanted it to freeze Simon when he had the whip behind his back though. Looks much cooler.)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniapwnage.png

These three pictures are on the loop of the game. This is where you should stand to wait for the bat so you can jump across. Shows probably around where you should jump when the bat is coming. You need to land right ontop/behind it so it can knock you to the other platform. Not very difficult. I should get double the points for doing this during the loop as well(I just didn't beat the loop. Quit at stage 3.)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniashortcutstage1loop.png

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniashortcutstage1loop2.png

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniashortcutstage1loop3.png

Shortcut on stage 2. I didn't want to do this shortcut on when I got to it on the loop because I already got hit twice up to that point and didn't want to die(which I died anyway.)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniashortcutstage2.png

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniashortcutstage2again.png

The shortcut on stage 3. I think this is the hardest one to get. I didn't get it during the first run and I didn't make it during the loop. Close both times. And yes, I know, not much of a shortcut, but I guess if I want to speedrun someday.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniashortcutstage3loop.png

Anyways. There's an extremely hard shortcut on stage 4, which I've only tried and did that once(just like the stage 1 bat shortcut but harder. You'll probably find this one used on pretty much any tool assisted speedrun.) There's also one on stage 5 but you have to jump and get hit upward by a bone, which isn't hard, I just didn't think of doing it and taking a picture.

*edit*

Answer to BHvrd's question. Up top I answered the question about the shortcut. I like it, so I just want everyone to use it. Second part about the zombies.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniazombieslinedup.png

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b334/kupomogli/Castlevaniazombiesknockeddown.png

To Jehusephat.

How I beat Dracula. Stay on the ground until he shoots his fireballs out, as soon as he shoots them out, you should have atleast a jumping distance worth of space, so jump over his fireballs and attack at his head. Wait until he teleports and repeat. I think this is the easiest way. His second form. Grab the Holy Water and then toss it, jump and attack twice, throw Holy Water again. When he jumps, his second turn is usually shooting out fireballs, but as long as you hit him with a Holy Water his first time and his first time going up, you'll probably only give him time for a single set of fireballs(meaning he should only hit you one time if you happen not to hit the fireballs with a holy water as he shoots them out.)

[Icarus Moonsight]

1 & 2 skips difficult timing parts (medusahead pit of instant death hell) and whole screens... 2 is almost mandatory because it's much harder than the fishmen pit. When going for time as well as score, the fishmen should not be ignored. I don't know if you can point press there (forgetting time for this case) and wind up positive over the level complete time bonus though. Hmm.

I didn't bring my Micro to work with me tonight. So, I'll have to take the crack at it later. I play this game on a weekly basis though, one of my all time favorites. I'm glad I helped encourage this one to come about. 8-)

[jb143]

Ugh...I've still never beaten Castlevania. I actually put some time into it a few month ago but still couldn't do it. I think I only got the mummies once. Usually I die so often that I decide to call it quits. I do like the game and can get through the early parts with no trouble, but one continue? I don't think that's going to happen. I'd need a LOT more practice.

[j_factor]

How I beat Dracula. Stay on the ground until he shoots his fireballs out, as soon as he shoots them out, you should have atleast a jumping distance worth of space, so jump over his fireballs and attack at his head. Wait until he teleports and repeat. I think this is the easiest way. His second form. Grab the Holy Water and then toss it, jump and attack twice, throw Holy Water again. When he jumps, his second turn is usually shooting out fireballs, but as long as you hit him with a Holy Water his first time and his first time going up, you'll probably only give him time for a single set of fireballs(meaning he should only hit you one time if you happen not to hit the fireballs with a holy water as he shoots them out.)

I beat Dracula in a different way. I throw the cross as soon as he appears, and then whip the fireballs. His second form, I don't do anything fancy; I just cross/whip his head right when he lands from a jump, then avoid/whip fireballs if necessary, and go under his jump when he gets too far to one side of the screen. Not as fast, but I feel more satisfied beating him the "proper" way. When I make it there on one life, I have the aid of the III symbol, making it a cakewalk.

[Icarus Moonsight]

3x sub-weapon + holywater (levels 1-5) or cross-arang (later levels) = win...
Well, as long as you have the heart(s) for it. ;)

Getting ready and amped for my run at it tonight, it's so weird. I play this game so often, I'm never pressed or stressed... This is different. I can literally feel the 'clutch' factor. This is going to be a great night. :D

[XYXZYZ]

This was a hell of a challenge for me. I've never been a big Castlevania fan, and I did manage to finish it in a few credits back in the day but never really played it with any seriousness since then. So now I'm challenged to get good enough to 1CC Castlevania in four days. (I work all day on the 9th and 10th)

I knew this was going to be tough, so I'll have to train hard.

o/`
You're the best!
Around!
Nothing's gonna ever keep you down!
o/`

The first thing I did was fire up the NES emulator and played through the whole game using save states, making note of the parts that were difficult. I didn't have much problem with the first three stages so I started all my practice games at level 4 and went from there, saving one state at the beginning of each level and other states just before the difficult parts so I can replay them to figure out good strategies to rely on. Watching good Castlevania players on Youtube helped as well, at first I didn't think to use the stopwatch on the mongrel man assault in level 6. I had a hell of a time with the Grim Reaper and the hallway preceding him; I concluded that the only way to do it is to have triple shot holy water, which means getting through stage 5 without dying, which once you have the axe armors figured out, isn't so tough. I played four or five times a day, until could get through every stage without dying, taking on the hardest ones first. And I spent more time and wasted more energy trying to do that damn bat shortcut in stage 1 than if I had just gone down to the steps to begin with! Funny enough, I never did have a problem with Dracula. I beat him every time while practicing. My Dracula strategy is to pull back and look at the entire screen, my eyes not concentrated on Dracula or Simon. I can react to is teleporting better that way.

After I was confident that I could take on Castlevania in one go, I dusted off my old cartridge and slapped it in the toaster...

The first game- I was trucking along nicely... this could be it! I'm going to do it. Then that FUCKING MONGREL MAN in stage four- the ones who hop all over the place- the little bastard dropped an axe! And I waked right into it! My triple shot holy water was gone! And I don't know how to fight Frankenstein without it. FUCK. I got mad and turned the NES off.

The second game- I played later that day... I'm gonna do it this time, and I was off to a great start. I was jamming through the game like a pro, waltzing through stage 5 on my first life with full health. And just before I got up the the first door- you know, just where the meat is hidden in the block... that has the little mongrel man waiting to ambush me... I slaughtered him before he could jump me. And he dropped a dagger. Right in front of me. And I picked it up. And my triple shot holy water was gone. The the triple shot holy water I needed to beat death. FUCK. I got mad and turned the NES off.

The third game- I wasn't taking chances- once again, I'm playing through Catlevania without problem; at this point I know just when to whip, just when to jump, which candles to avoid, strategies for every enemy. Whenever I killed a mongrel man, I would stop and wait for any dropped weapon to go away. I managed to charge my way through Castlevania without losing a life, all the way to the end, with six lives in reserve. To Dracula... where I choked and my game went to hell. I don't know what happened. Every time I fought his first form, I always managed to bump into him when he appeared where I was standing. The one time I beat his first form, I just choked and goofed up the holy water > jump > whip pattern and got stepped on. I blew all six lives on Dracula, and he killed me, game over. FUCK. I got mad and turned the NES off.

The fourth game- I woke up this morning nice and refreshed, fired up the NES with no great expectations. I'll just practice, because I'm clearly not up to the challenge yet. Turned the sound off, listened to my favorite radio show... just mindlessly cruising through each stage of Castlevania. I got tripped up a couple times, but nothing serious- screwed up the bat pattern at the beginning of stage 6, but I managed to get back on track and made it to Dracula without dying. Then I got nervous. "I know I'm gonna choke and lose it." I thought...

http://images.fandango.com/images/fandangoblog/karatekid1.jpg

So just like I did in the Super Mario Bros. challenge, I paused the game and took a break. I ate some lunch followed by a delicious piece of pie my aunt made, and watched some cartoons.

Once I was nice and relaxed, I sat down and PUT THAT SUMBITCH BACK IN HIS BOX. On the same life I began the game with. Six lives in reserve. FUCK YEAH... I felt good and turned the NES off.

179,300

Mission accomplished.

[kupomogli]

That's cool XYXZYZ. If there's a game that's harder for me and I need to practice then I think I'll reference this post if I need help.

Pretty cool motivator. You went from not being that big of a Castlevania fan to being able to finish it in one life. Hopefully you have changed feelings on the original Castlevania and like it more than you used to also?

[DDCecil]

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/7672/69246693.png

Finished. I got to stage 17 without losing a single turn. (3x Holy Water on Death was a godsend) I lost a few lives on the area with gears+birds/fleamen. On my final life, I got to and beat Dracula (2nd form), but I died at the same time as him, having to do the battle all over again (I did get the points for killing him which gave me an extra life)! I then redid the battle and beat him.

[c0ldb33r]

Only one day left! The current challenge expires tonight at 11:59 EST.

I've tried this a few times and it's been a no-go. I'll try to squeeze in another attempt today.

j_factor picks the next game. Just FYI, it can be on any system old or new.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Me too, I have 1LC completed this game numerous times... I guess I'm choking.

Found a better place to do the score 1up (multiple 1ups even) with the 3xZombie Holy Water point press. After you do the bat hop short cut and go through the door on the other side, you'll go through the door and be in the hall to the lvl boss. Drop down from the platform to the floor level and walk back towards the door side you just came from and stand where the last column to the left is. You should throw your holy water about where the Zombies drop down from the middle right platform. When the first Zombie of the group of three gets close, chuck your water. Sometimes you can hit a 4000 pt 4th Zombie too. If they are not coming at you from the upper left platform whip or holy water the others until you get consistent groups of three coming from there. I've gotten +/- 90,000 pts after lvl completion.

[j_factor]

Alright, here's the challenge. I kind of over-thought my choice of game. I've enjoyed the challenges so far, but all three of the games were fairly similar -- all side-scrolling action/platformer games on NES. Now it's time for something completely different. I decided to go with something that is neither an NES game nor a side-scroller, and not that much of an action game either. I also didn't want anything too mainstream (inkeeping with the OP's sentiment), but I also wanted something that a lot of people here would have access to (if I picked some random super-obscure PC Engine import, nobody would take up the challenge). I didn't have that many choices of games that fit all of the above criteria. I also didn't put nearly so much thought into the challenge itself. Anyway...

Gain Ground - Genesis, Wii VC, PS2/PSP (Sega Genesis Collection), 360/PS3 (Ultimate Genesis Collection), Genesis emulator
Versions not allowed: Arcade, PC Engine CD, Master System, PS2 (Sega Ages)
Mission: Defeat the Round 3 boss on hard mode

Tips:

- Familiarize yourself with the characters and their different weapons. This is the #1 key to mastering this game. You may want to play a "throwaway game" first just to test out the characters. There's 20 of them, which may sound daunting, but some of them are only minor variations. Take note of the two icons below the character profile, they give you a good hint/reminder of the character's abilities (though not precisely spelling it out).
- Don't try to play it like a quick action game. It's a slow-moving game, and that's a deliberate part of the design. Use a methodical approach.
- Note that hard mode isn't just more difficult, it differs in some important ways. Unlike the other difficulties, you start off with every character. However, you do not have the ability to acquire any new ones through the course of the game. You also have no continues.
- Having every character at your disposal actually makes it easier in some ways. But it means you must beat every level by killing all the enemies, as it's impractical to use the "get everyone to the exit" method (due to the time limit if nothing else).
- It's very important to conserve your characters, as anyone lost is gone for good. If a character gets hit, try to use another character to get him/her to the exit (which will save it). Be aware that you have to get to the exit when doing this -- if you kill the last enemy, the level ends immediately and you still lose the character you're trying to save. Also note that it's impossible to recover a character in a boss level (since there's no exit).
- If you make it to the Round 3 boss with all 20 characters or very close to it, you can easily beat it on sheer attrition.
- This shouldn't be hard, it's only 3/5 of the game, on the same character stock that you would beat the game with (which is difficult to do). I considered having the challenge be to beat it, but I decided against it out of mercy.

[kupomogli]

I'll try it out tomorrow. I've played it once before on the Sega Genesis Collection.

*edit*

Oh yeah. And Gain Ground reminded me of something. One day I was at a Winn Dixie and they had a written sign that said Wet Floor, underlined, then below that Weto Flooro. Obviously they were dumb enough to think that it meant Wet Floor in Spanish I'm guessing, or either being completely racist. Though seeing as they work in a grocery store(and I'm sure many of them have had other jobs,) I'm sure one of them would have noticed a wet floor sign before with piso mojado(wet floor) on one side.

[XYXZYZ]

I have very little experience with Gain Ground, time to start practicing.

[c0ldb33r]

I tried earlier today using the PSP Genesis collection. I made it to round 1-10. It's pretty tough!

[kupomogli]

I finished stage 1 with all 20 characters, stage 2 I started losing some, mostly near the end, came at the end with 12 people. On one of the stages on stage 2 I ended up losing two people that were left over time ran out. Other times I died is when the enemies got more hits to die and I hit them once and moved foward and then ran into them, or running away from the black knights who run fast.

Anyways, on the stage 2 boss there is an exit(the boss with the lightning sword.)

Stage 3 is where the difficulty really ramps up. I lost over half of the people left on 3-1 then the rest on 3-2.

Anyways. Not bad for being the second time I've ever played the game. I made sure to go to options and change it to hard too. Took awhile to get where I got (about 40-50 minutes?)

I'll have to try later on. Tired right now, have to go to work in the morning.
-----
*edit*

Finished. I continued playing until I lost at 4-7. I didn't beat the game but the only thing that had to be done was beat the last mission on stage three on hard.

Playing a second time on stage three, it really wasn't that hard, the fourth one wasn't really hard either I thought. It's just on the fourth one I lost all my characters because every time you killed one of the soldiers another one came out of the edge and they run fast so you're gone if you aren't ready for it.

Anyways. I say the archer characters are the ones you want to keep most and by far are the most useful. Spear characters are good too, but nothing compared to the archer characters who have much more distance when shooting upwards. The one who looks like M. Bison and uses a flame thrower sucks balls. I don't think I've killed anyone with him when I used him. The fire shot character and both missile characters are favorites as well.

Anyways. Good game. Since I already chose a game I'll let whoever finishes next choose the next game(unless they've already chosen one.)

[kupomogli]

Has anyone else been attempting this challenge?

[XYXZYZ]

Has anyone else been attempting this challenge?

Well, not me. I tried it out and I really didn't like the game, I found it to be a real chore as I just don't have the patience for it. So, the thought of spending all the time it would take to get good enough to complete the challenge just gave me a feeling of dread, so I just let it go.

I was hoping I could keep my name in the top position, but it was bound to drop sooner or later I guess.

[c0ldb33r]

I've tried it a few times and ... uggh, I just can't do it. It's friggin hard. Plus, even though I've tried a number of times, I still really have no idea what I'm doing!

[j_factor]

Well, I beat my own challenge today. It was a bit tougher than I'd thought, but I still managed to have 10 characters left when I beat the boss. There's one level in round 2 (I think it's 2-5?) that I always lose one character in, every single time I've played. Other than that, the losses were mostly due to not adjusting correctly for the new round 3 enemies that can shoot farther.

Looks like it'll be just me and kupo on this one. I promise next time I pick it'll be something more mainstream. ;)

[DDCecil]

I made it up to Stage 2-2. Hard game!

[kupomogli]

Alright then. Next challenge I guess. I thought of this one really quickly as I assumed someone else would finish the last one(just wanted to throw something up here.) This is a game I haven't completed, as well as never having even completed the first stage. Never put much time into it though.

Finish stage 1 of Alien Soldier on default settings. Alien Soldier is for the Genesis.

The default setting is hard and you only get one life, but once dying it shows there are 25 stages, so I'm sure this challenge shouldn't be too hard especially since you pretty much start right at the first boss I think. I guess this should be a sortof easy one in front of the recent difficult ones?

I was originally thinking on finishing the first stage of Contra Hard Corps as the challenge.

[c0ldb33r]

Awesome, I'm glad that some people managed to beat it! LOL Kupo's now #1 in the top 5 scorers.

I've never played Alien Soldier, might be fun.

edit: I just learned why I never played Alien Soldier - it was never released in North America. I'm going to download it from the Wii VC. I read about it quickly on IGN and they compared it favourably to Gunstar Heroes. Right on! :)

[j_factor]

Well that wasn't too bad. I completed the challenge on my first try. Really hard game though -- I died on the second boss. I haven't played this game very much, either, because I never really got into it. The controls are pretty frustrating. Definitely one of my least favorite Treasure games.

PROTIP: If you're playing it on the VC, do not play it with the Wiimote, it's terrible. Also, the Virtual Console version is missing the epic text: VISUALSHOCK! SPEEDSHOCK! SOUNDSHOCK! NOW IS TIME TO THE 68000 HEART ON FIRE!

[kupomogli]

I completed it at lunch at work today. I died atleast five times due to the time limit. Started using the flame thrower and if you get his movements down you can own him with those.

I died at the second boss as well. This is probably one of the hardest games out there. If the enemies don't kill you, the extremely limited time limit will.

[c0ldb33r]

Wow that game's hard.

I beat the first level and boss on my 3rd or 4th try. With the first boss, you just have to do the Down+C move and then finish him with your weapon (I had the flame thrower). Still though, tough game. I can see why it was never released here, it's harder than Gunstar Heroes and nowhere near as fun.

Im glad that I finally beat another challenge though - I was starting to wonder about myself LOL

[DDCecil]

I just stayed ont he left side of the screen and tapped B button (counter force) until he blew up.

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/6024/dpaliensoldier.png

[XYXZYZ]

Cool game, I've never played it before. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but I just completed the challenge. I used the down + C move at full health, and just hung in there until he died.

[c0ldb33r]

so j_factor gets to choose the mission this week.

I've kept the top 5 scores list up-to-date and we seem to have a fairly even spread so far :)

[j_factor]

Oops, I forgot. Here's the new challenge. It's an easy one, to get us back in the swing of things.

Kirby Super Star - SNES, DS, SNES emulator
Mission: Beat the Dyna Blade game without the use of helpers

You may temporarily create a helper for the purpose of getting rid of your power, but you must immediately destroy it. TIP: Pause the game to see a description of your current special power. It will list your abilities and how to perform them; some of them are not obvious.

[kupomogli]

Hey c0ldb33r, you forgot to update it so it shows XYXZYZ finished mission five as well. You updated the high scores, just forgot to update it on the mission itself.

Hopefully more people choose to join. I also think that people who haven't chosen a challenge should be offered to choose one. Maybe take turns regardless who wins. That way everyone can choose a challenge and not have to worry about rushing it.

Jfactor and me have already chosen a challenge twice.

[XYXZYZ]

Just finished Dynablade without any helpers, I usually avoid characters that follow you around in video games anyway.

I like Kupomogli's idea, I never get to start a challenge until Monday morning and someone's usually finished it by Sunday night. Maybe the first to finish can select who makes the next challenge?

[j_factor]

Maybe the first to finish can select who makes the next challenge?

How about we change it from the first to finish, to the first to finish who hasn't yet selected a challenge (or who's selected the least number). That way it'll always balance.

And I beat the challenge just now. Piece of cake. I think maybe it was too easy.

[c0ldb33r]

Good idea guys. The rule going forward will be that:

1. it's the first to finish a challenge who has not yet picked a mission who gets to pick the next mission,

2. If no one beats a mission that has not yet chosen a mission, then it will be the person who beat the mission with the lowest number of chosen missions

If we have to rely on (2), and there is a tie in the amount of missions beaten, then it will be the first to finish that breaks the tie.

[DDCecil]

Did it!
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9759/kirby.png

[Sparkster]

Finished it last night... I was trying to get rid of the weapon so I could get the fire dude (for the cannon blast), and the helper offed the fire dude. I had to retreat to get the fire dude to come back... not that using the cannon blast was that useful - I still had 12 lives when I beat the end guy.

[Cryomancer]

Done. Used mirror until the last stage when some bomb guy made me get separated from it. Used ice from there, and pretty much went powerless against the boss (which is easier than most powers anyway). Only lost one life, against Dyna Blade the first time.

I would have done this on hardware but my cart has dissapeared, which has me quite worried as that's one of my favorites from earlier in life. Since I emulated for this, here's a screenshot from me, too:
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4294/kirbysuperstarusa00000.png

[XYXZYZ]

Okay, I guess this would be my turn to pick a challenge as I finished first and haven't chosen one yet.

The next challenge-

Kung Fu (NES)

Break 100,000 on game B

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Kung_Fu_NES_ScreenShot1.jpg
Score at least 100,000 points on game B in Kung Fu for NES. If you're not familiar with it, you may want to try and finish one loop on game A to really get the hang of it.

PROTIP- Use a jump kick on the 12th enemy on every stage for a 5,000 point bonus.

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Kung_Fu_NES_ScreenShot3.jpg

[c0ldb33r]

Damnit, I was hoping to get in on the Kirby one. Me and the wife just bought a new house and we've been crazy busy.

Kung-Fu eh? awesome. I've never really played the NES version but played the arcade one back in the day. Good choice!

If I'm not mistaken, the latest issue of Retro Gamer has something about Kung Fu in it, I'll have to check.

[kupomogli]

Damnit, I was hoping to get in on the Kirby one. Me and the wife just bought a new house and we've been crazy busy.

I pushed it off until Saturday and then come to find out I needed to play Demon's Souls because of the Halloween special(which sucked ass btw because they did nothing to it even though they were supposed to.) So I didn't get to do it. I'm not much of a fan of Kirby Super Star anyways, always thought it was an overrated game that is only somewhat decent which is why I was putting it off in the first place.

On further note. Kung Fu is hard.

*edit*

Kung Fu is hard, though I did get higher than 100,000 points. I'll add the picture later. I'm going to have to put an extreme amount of practice to even come close beating it in game B though(stage 2 is extremely difficult.)

[XYXZYZ]

Okay, I just lost my last man on stage 4 with 113,090. Not my best score, but it meets the challenge requirements.

I may post a better score later.

[DDCecil]

Did it on Stage 3 right when my old nemesis the Knife Thrower got me:

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/1968/46633972.png

[c0ldb33r]

I beat it yesterday with a score of 120 something. It took a lot of practice. When I beat it, I ended up spamming the dragons on the 2nd level, then beat the third level (this took practice) and the flies on the 4th level killed me. Actually, those flies wiped the floor with me.

I took a pic of my victory but can't find my phone. I'll edit my post later to include the pic and my actual score.

edit: According to my calculations, I think DDCecil picks the next mission. Both me and him both have only picked one mission, but he won the mission before I did, so he picks the next mission :)

[j_factor]

Just finished it, barely broke 100k. I never want to play that game again. :)

[DDCecil]

Next up is:

Boxxle (GameBoy) - Beat Stages 01-01 through 01-10.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4669/boxxle.png
(Note: This is the before game demo, not the actual Stage 01-01).

[Scissors]

Hey, a challenge for a game I own posted when I have time to play. I just finished the Boxxle challenge playing the original cart on a Game Boy SP.

[j_factor]

Is that the same game as Shove It! for Genesis, or is it just really similar?

[kupomogli]

I used to own this for the GB. I actually got this game and Hyper Lode Runner at the exact same time.

At work. Will play later.

[Aussie2B]

Hey, a challenge for a game I own posted when I have time to play. I just finished the Boxxle challenge playing the original cart on a Game Boy SP.

Ditto on all counts.

Anybody who's been following the daily playing topic for awhile should be familiar with the torment I went through for a couple years trying to beat the whole game, haha, so doing the the first 10 again is no sweat for me compared to the later stages.

[Sparkster]

... and done. Never played this game before, but I am more or less in puzzle mode, having recently finished Catrap, and slowly working on Adventures of Lolo 2.

I had to go with the emulator since I don't have the game :grrr:. I had some difficulty thinking of how to get through 1-05. And I took a few tries to get through 1-10, but with a game like this with infinite retries, it's only a matter of time before getting through it.

[darkweb]

It's Heavy! Interesting competition going on. Just beat the first 10 levels of Boxxle using an emulator. Not too difficult, just requires some patience.

[DDCecil]

Did it. I've had Boxxle for awhile, but haven't really had a chance to play it. I did finally beat all 10 levels:

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/6540/picture209t.jpg

[kupomogli]

I finished it on my lunch break at work today, took me about 15 - 20 minutes at most. Maybe we should have went through 20 levels instead.

[XYXZYZ]

I did it. It took me two damn hours to figure this shit out.*_* it was frustrating, but kinda fun at the same time. More frustrating than fun though.

[Scissors]

After I finished the challenge, I found myself going back to this game throughout the week. I've had the game for years, but never bothered to play it. It's kinda fun, but I think I've had just about enough of it. I spent over an hour and a half on the same stage earlier today.

[Scissors]

If I'm not mistaken, the Boxxle challenge is over and it's my turn to pick a mission.

Metal Storm (NES) - Beat on normal difficulty.

[c0ldb33r]

If I'm not mistaken, the Boxxle challenge is over and it's my turn to pick a mission.
You're right, sorry for the delay in updating, I've been under the weather. PLUS since we're moving into a new house, our internet and telephone have been shut off, so I've been home sick with nothing to do. [/whiny]

I've never really played Metal Storm a whole lot, but I remember the Nintendo Power that had Metal Storm on its cover. I remember that it looked like play dough.

[XYXZYZ]

Holy shit this game is fun. Now I regret not giving it a shot back when it came out. I'm up to stage 4-1 now.

[XYXZYZ]

FINISHED. I used about 600 credits to do it, but I finished Metal Storm. (Normal mode, I'm not torturing myself with Expert mode) I must say that was a gratifying experience, an excellent platformer that requires a good mix of memorization and plain old skill. It can be rather difficult, but fortunately you get unlimited credits and a password feature.

What really got me was the stage six boss. That sumbitch is fsking HARD. The final boss is a joke though, like the one in Gradius.

My best score was 163,550.

[Scissors]

I just beat Metal Storm playing on the original model NES.