MAME ROW #143 - Pengo

obsidianspider · 8 Jul 2019, 15:45

This is the MAME Random Of the Week #143

The three random numbers for this week are: 595 91 1704 1340 321

Click here to vote! Which game do you choose for MAME ROW #143?

The result of the poll is posted on Wednesday, so we have Monday and Tuesday for experimentation.

595
Game Name: Galaxy Gunners
Company: Electronic Devices Italy
Year: 1989
ROM file name: galaxygn.zip

91
Game Name: Baku Baku Animal
Company: Sega
Year: 1996
ROM file name: bakubaku.zip

1704
Game Name: Sly Spy (US revision 3)
Company: Data East USA
Year: 1989
ROM file name: slyspy.zip

1340
Game Name: Pengo (set 1 rev c)
Company: Sega
Year: 1982
ROM file name: pengo.zip

321
Game Name: Cops'n Robbers
Company: Atari
Year: 1976
ROM file name: copsnrob.zip

What is the MAME ROW?

MAME ROW stands for MAME Random Of the Week. We randomly select an arcade game from the 0.78 MAME Reference Set to play on the week. The idea is to play games we've never played before, interact with other forum members, post hi-scores, share game strategies, fun facts, and (the most important) HAVE FUN!

We're still working things out with the new MAME ROW structure. We will play the winner all next week.

Previous Rounds

IanDaemon · 5 Aug 2019, 13:51

@obsidianspider Baku Baku Animal goes against everything I know of matching games. I think that would mess with my head, but it's different and Arby's had television commercials that said "different is good". So I'm not going to argue with a fast food roast beef chain. BUT, Pengo looks like it could get devious after a while. I'm torn.

IanDaemon · 8 May 2019, 16:56

At first I thought "oh, Galaxy Gunners is Galaga with a scrolling background". I like Galaga, so the decision should be easy right? Wrong.

While there are things that I might personally find fun to play as a good time-waster, for high score chasing and MAME RoW I have to with Pengo.

cyperghost · 5 Aug 2019, 16:33

So no games for me :( Vacation time :D

IanDaemon · 6 Aug 2019, 14:00

Pengo gets surprisingly difficult.

obsidianspider · 7 Aug 2019, 14:44

The winner this week is Pengo

thelostsoul · 7 Aug 2019, 21:40

@obsidianspider Nice to see Pengo winning here. I have this game on my radar for a bit of time. Now its the perfect time for playing it. I like the main theme of it, its so happy, so cute.

celly · 8 Aug 2019, 05:43

@obsidianspider Pengo is the new smash hit cartoon game everyone’s been waiting for, of course it was going to win this week!

IanDaemon · 8 Aug 2019, 13:38

You don't see those kinds of "cocktail cabinets" anymore. (the kinds in the ads) I guess the tables themselves didn't hold up well. Maybe not the best design.

IanDaemon · 12 Aug 2019, 14:01

I played Pengo, but I must be lousy at it.

b3k · 16 Aug 2019, 01:37

I enjoy the soundtrack

thelostsoul · 16 Aug 2019, 02:43

@b3k Me too, the theme never gets old here.
@IanDaemon The game is not easy. I recommend you to watch the demo play when you boot up and don't press any button, after those animations. You can even wobble the wall, if an enemy is near to it and it gets stunned.

My score so far (yeah I know, a little bit late):
Score: 5260 (Act 2)

b3k · 16 Aug 2019, 02:50

@thelostsoul Agreed, the demo helps.
But I'm having trouble finding patterns. Board is different every time (or there are many) and enemies don't pop up in the same spot at start. Really challenging.

thelostsoul · 16 Aug 2019, 02:55

@b3k I like that random factor. It makes each game a bit different and you can't plan ahead and just memorize a route. Thats especially good if you play again and again from start of the game. About the enemy moving pattern, I am still not sure. It seems to be a bit more luck is involved compared to Pac-Man.

b3k · 17 Aug 2019, 13:23

Pushing together the diamond blocks gets a big bonus -- I was able to do in 1 round.
Score: 7490

b3k · 18 Aug 2019, 17:06

I finally beat the default hi-score.
I got 2 bonuses for pushing the diamond blocks together -- 5000 in one round and 10000 in another.
Score: 23030

thelostsoul · 18 Aug 2019, 17:27

@b3k Holy Broly! Nice job there. I'll go back and try again. Do you use the wall bounce effect?

b3k · 18 Aug 2019, 17:35

@thelostsoul yes, the wall bounce helps knock out the enemies -- I think I defeat more that way than crushing them with ice blocks. I think you need a two block distance between you to execute and not get caught.
Also, when you get the diamond blocks together it paralyzes the enemies just like the wall bounce. You can then clear the board of enemies.
I still have much to learn about the game, but it's coming together so I'm not just scrambling around in a panic.

thelostsoul · 18 Aug 2019, 22:16

@b3k The enemies are not easy. Update, I almost got you!

Score: 22910

obsidianspider · 19 Aug 2019, 13:26

MAME ROW #144 is live!