MAME ROW #58 - R-Type
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@gtbfilms Agreed. My main "pain" is having to find and install the Japanese version, as that's the one that was randomly selected. But it's a minor thing, I suppose.
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@pjft I'm a bit confused about the (Japanese) bit there actually.
I'm aware of several R-Type roms:
rtype.zip
rtypej.zip
rtypeu.zipBut rtype.zip (listed above) appears to be the (World) version.
The Japanese version is rtypej.zip
rtypeu.zip is the USA version.
I'm not actually sure that there are actually any differences between them, apart from the text?
I just gave rtypej.zip a quick try - it says it's a prototype version, and I played most of the first level. Couldn't really see any difference from the usual version I play (World) apart from the initial 'Press Start' text was inverted.
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@gtbfilms oh, you're right! In that case we're sorted :)
Sometimes different regions will have slight changes to the game, specifically in what concerns difficulty, so I imagined that for MAME ROW it would matter that everyone played the exact same ROM. If it is RType.zip, though, that's great because that's the one I have.
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@andershp said in MAME ROW #58:
Getting a tiny external USB wheel or spinner, perhaps?
Lol!
Pole Position ;-)And yes, playing with an own built spinner, as mentioned, works quite nice.
You can also use dpad but not ideal to steer a formula 1 car. -
@pjft said in MAME ROW #58:
@gtbfilms oh, you're right! In that case we're sorted :)
Soo... World edition rom is OK?
Just gave it a spin last night. I know I've been to level 2, but couldn't yesterday. Damn these 1 hit = death shooters :)
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Guys, guess what new overlay is now available.
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@andershp I can do the first three levels without getting hit on the MS version, the MAME version I can get to level three, but its quite different and I havent memorised it yet.
I recently completed the MS version, its harder than nails!
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@spruce_m00se Seems I have to up my game, then...!
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@andershp level four will destroy you if you ever make it there, I never got past it back in the day, but did so recently, the rest fo the game is then easy until the very end boss, which will destroy you and then stomp on your corpse.
I will play it through again soon on an original MS joypad, it will be much harder than with the ps4 joypad
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This week's winner is R-Type
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@spruce_m00se Level 4 is always the one that finishes me off.
R-Type is an awesome game but it does suffer from the feature that when you are all tooled up, and lose a life, there's no coming back.
Particularly that little orb that floats above the ship (and eventually is joined with another below the ship) once you lose them there's no opportunity to get them back and you soon get a battering.
I think I've got to the end boss on Level 4 a couple of times, but no further.
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@gtbfilms once you are at the level four boss you should be able to get to the end of the game without being hit again fairly easily, the trick with the bosses is to look for the "blind spot" where you dont get hit ever.
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Improved overlay graphics:
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I forgot how difficult this game is. It's going to be a challenge this week!
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Just to get things started (and to throw my name in the bowl before anyone smacks a massive hiscore on the table), here's my humble, initial contribution: 66.600
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@andershp well done! You inspired me to give it a go as well.
On my first attempt I made a terrible mistake at the end of stage two which caused me to pretty much lose all my lives there.
On my second attempt I managed to fly past that and then also made a mistake that led me to crash as I was getting ready to fight the end of stage 3 boss, and then lost all my lives trying to get back there. I scored 175700 though, which should be good until someone who's actually a proper pro on this game comes by and obliterates my score. :)
I don't think I've ever gone past stage 3 on a single credit in the arcade - and actually my main experience with the game had been on the ZX Spectrum back in the day. Fantastic game and great conversion - if anyone wants to read about it, the author has created a free ebook with the story. It's somewhat technical, so if you didn't have a Spectrum or you don't harbor any special feelings towards RType or this kind of topic, you might not really enjoy it that much. Still, it's a fascinating read and gives some perspective about the UK gaming industry in its early days.
You can find it at his site: http://bizzley.com/
Anyway, here's my score:
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Sorry @pjft,
180900
All my student time and money wasn't wasted!
P. S. I second the recommendation of Bob Pape's Making of R-Type free ebook, I read it while waiting for a delayed flight and it brought back some happy memories of scamming my way into the trade day at the big Personal Computer World Fair at the London Olympia in the 1980s. So much so I emailed him to thank him for the free book and he emailed back straight away to say EVERYONE scammed their way into the Olympia exhibition on the trade day, there were hardly any legit trades people there! Nice guy and a good read!
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@gtbfilms well done! That's a very good performance! How far did you make it in level 4?
Glad you liked Bob Pape's book. I was actually halfway through it and then ended up being distracted with other more serious books, but it's still in my backlog. This week's game is getting me in the mood to go back to it!
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Jesus, I'm not getting halfway there I think.
Loving the game though.Very ahead of it's time, and clearly, Amiga games like Z-Out and Disposable Hero are very much influenced by it.
How do you rank the games in the trilogy against each other? -
@andershp great that you're enjoying the game! Where or what are you struggling with? Happy to try to share some tips from my limited (and likely somewhat lucky) experience.
I haven't played the other games in the series very much. I heard good things about Leo, and played it once, managing to go through the first level quite easily, only to be demolished in the second level as the difficulty ramps up. It looked fun, though.
I had R-Type 2 on the Gameboy, I think, but don't recall playing it that much. I always liked 1 the best.
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