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This is essentially a vertical shooter. Don't focus on spraying DK all the way to the top unless you have the super sprayer, just kill all the bugs and the level will end. This is especially key on the level with the missing platform in the center.

On the level where he is throwing coconuts at you, he alternates between throwing one directly at you, and throwing one at a hive to release bugs. Keep track of which one he is on, and be ready to dodge the one coming for you. You need to move quick, don't be in the middle of a level change or jumping in the air to shoot him. On these levels you do have to spray him to the top, but it is quite easy to do as he doesn't release very many bugs at once. Remember that shooting the caterpillars just stuns them and keeps them in your way, so when you are trying to spray DK to the top on this round, don't hit the caterpillars, let them crawl past your line of fire.

Don't "run and gun" the bumblebees, as they split into parts that will kill you, always be directly under them and stay there until the shrapnel is past.

The blue wasps will fix on your vertical position from the sides and then VERY quickly move in for the kill. Get under them by dropping down one level and shooting them from underneath after they fix on you but BEFORE they move in. If you see blue wasps coming out of the hives, do NOT be on the very bottom , as you won't be able to kill them after you dodge their attack until you move under them again.

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I used Savestate not to get this score, but to train any point where I was having a problem, particularly bosses. Just keep restoring state and replay every sticking point (even if you win) until you have it down pat. The 4th boss was just too tough to get through on one play for me now matter how hard I trained it, but there are peeps on Youtube that have played through the whole game both times (there is a 'secret' ending after the 2nd play through)

Don't forget that unlike virtually all other vertical shumps with bombs, your supply of bombs is restored after each boss win, so don't be shy about using bombs first at the tricky spots in the boss battle, then worry about dodging.

OK, since necroposting on ROW is apparently allowed, I'll start with the oldest first.

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This game has always been one of my loves.

Hints: Unless you are chasing the spy ship (ALWAYS chase the spy ship, letting it get away will cause instant RED ALERT), turn your back to enemies to fire at them with the rear gun, you will run into them less often

Don't kill bases right away by blasting the center. Blow off a few cannons before moving in for the kill. You'll get a lot more points.

As mentioned before, you MUST kill those annoying spy ships, and once it comes onto the screen it will move away from you to get away. If if does, you are blessed with instant RED ALERT status and will be onslaught with enemies until you die.

@IanDaemon That's how I always did it in the arcades. Your money goes further, and you eventually master the game. You can beat some surprisingly hard games that way. I was able to clear Mercs and even NARC on one play, but it took a LONG time to get there.

Although saving state before a boss fight and playing that fight over and over even if you win until you have it down pat really helps with the bullet hell shooters. I can get about 5 million on Donpachi on one play because I trained hard on the boss fights.

MAME ROW #115 is live

Well I'm a bit late, but cancelled trains meant I was stuck at home today and finally managed to get on the high score table. In common with a lot of oldies though, it's just the score that's recorded, you don't even get to put your initials in!

13750 , I'm satisfied with that!

Really enjoyed this one. My only tactics were:

Level 1
Stay as far right as possible, that way you get maximum time for your bombs to take out the rockets, or at least time to take avoiding action. It's annoying when a rocket takes off when you are at the left of the screen and there's no-where you can go to avoid it.

Level 2
A lot easier when you realise the artillery shells have a limited height (apart from a couple which sometimes enter the screen from the right very high up) you can basically fly around the shells if you are lucky.

Level 3
I just ignored everything but the red stars, trying to shoot as many as possible before the fly towards you. Of the ones remaining, by alternating high/low you can avoid most of them - once they start flying towards you they don't have time to adjust to your height. Luckily nothing much on the ground seemed to attack me.

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"Dragon Blaze" and "Hit the Ice"! Two fantastic games right there.

DRAGON BLAZE with the ability to "throw your dragon forward" (and retrieve it in two different fashions) was a nice breath of fresh air in the sea of shmups. I like the added strategy. Psikyo shooters also had bullets that changed speed in mid-flight. Cave shooters had consistent bullet speeds. I love most shmups by both companies, but this is probably my favorite Psikyo shooter.

HIT THE ICE was sorta the "NBA Jam" of ice hockey. It's fun and cartoony! It's easy to pick up and play. Personally I find it more fun than NBA Jam, but that's just me.

"Golden Tee Golf II" (as pictured above) is incredibly slow and tough to play. The later versions are awesome though, don't count them out!

MAME ROW #112 is now live

@pjft said in MAME ROW #110 - Super Spacefortress Macross II:

Wonder if it plays with 4 players or is it 2 humans vs and 2 CPU ones.

Unfortunately it's just two human players verses two CPU. That's another drawback from being such an old genre, is that home consoles didn't yet cater to four players properly. The 2600 supported four players with the paddles, but that was just because the existence of 'Video Olmpics' allowed other games to follow. If 'Snafu' had been developed to take advantage of the Coleco Adam addon, with its two additional controller ports, it could've been the definitive snake party game, but sadly it didn't.

Something else to consider outside of the classic game play are the variants of both 'Surround' and 'Snafu', which are all a lot of fun themselves. 'Surround' has one variant that allows diagonal movement and another where you can use the fire button to briefly accelerate. That latter really amps up the excitement of competition when you have another human player. 'Snafu' also has a variant for diagonal movement, as well as a combat variant. There, each player chases the other's tail, which always has a limited length. A collision with the tail will remove a segment that can grow back over time. When all the player's segments are gone, that player is eliminated.

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@meleu @AndersHP Good idea. A little, but important detail. Here is the new version with better readable text too.

What will we do this week?

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MAME ROW #99 is live