Share your hidden gems and insider tips

mediamogul

I agree. The game is easily one of the top five games on the 2600 in both graphics and game play. It's criminal that it's hardly ever talked about. Also, it was never really improved on when ported to other platforms.

Clyde

@mediamogul @VictimRLSH Here's another self-confessed H.E.R.O. fan. I even "finished" the C64 version back in the days by reaching the maximum score possible.

Fun fact: the score display then would turn into "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" if I remember correctly. You could send a photo of it to an address mentioned in the manual to receive some goodies.

mediamogul

@clyde said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

the score display then would turn into "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I was watching an interview with Carol Shaw earlier this evening and she said the same thing happens to the score in 'River Raid' as well. I never got any of the Activision patches myself. I was old enough at the time to hold the controller and mess around a little bit, but too young to be any good. My older brother, on the other hand, got the Activision Explorers Patch for getting 20,000 points in 'Pitfall!'. A much belated congratulations on your C64 'H.E.R.O.' score. That's quite an accomplishment.

Edit: Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen the Activision patches mentioned here. They're really interesting and they made quite a few, so I thought I'd link to the AtariAge gallery that has them all for anyone who wants to take a look.

Clyde

@mediamogul said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

A much belated congratulations on your C64 'H.E.R.O.' score. That's quite an accomplishment.

Much obliged! I'm often stunned myself what drive and stamina we gamers had back then. :)

m2306

@clyde said

Much obliged! I'm often stunned myself what drive and stamina we gamers had back then. :)

It never stops to amaze me how I was able to win many of these games as a kid. Now, even with saving mid level made possible, I have serious difficulties with most of the titles I actually was good at back then. Fun times but considering the skill, dedication and motivation needed, I feel like I could have done something more productive..

VictimRLSH

@m2306 IKR? Some of my early accomplishments I have not been able to replicate. Can I finish MERCS on one credit now? Nope. Make it into Mr. Big's building on Narc on one credit? Nope. I can't even 'cheat' Time Pilot anymore (never shoot the blimp on the first level, just keep killin' planes to play as long as you want)

pootis spencer

@thelostsoul I totally understand what you mean about the ending levels in Wardner. You really need to have the best weapon to beat it. Got to love the huge fall down to these levels though from the top of the castle. Out of the two I think Willow will probably just take the edge. Playing these games again really brings back memories.

robertvb83

not sure if really a hidden gem... i just played Bad Lands (badlands.zip, mame2003-plus) for the first time today. This is a really cool championship sprint clone! It is to be played with a steering wheel but i also like to play this with my joystick, its very sensitive but you get used to it. It is very addictive (i have a thing for racing games). Especially great as multiplayer!

not only can you collect wrenches during the races that can be used to improve the car after each round, you can also buy missiles to shoot at the opponents. Later the courses repeat in reverse direction and with more disturbing objects and shooting.

side note: again you can exchange real money coins into wrenches to improve your car further :-) (only possible to buy if you dont have collected enough wrenches to improve or after several rounds you are offered to buy more wrenches)

thelostsoul

@robertvb83 Definitive, in my terms. I just tested this for a single race (and won it ;-) ) and I must say, I like the whole setting and graphics. The game mechanic reminds me a sort of Rock'n Roll Racing and the Amiga game Super Cars 2 with the upgrades after each race, very funny. And the most important, the controls are about right. Its not stiff like some racing games of that era, there is some skill to handle in the curves. Now imagine multiplayer with a steering wheel for each!! That would rock.

Btw, I tested this on "regular" mame2003 and it seems to be working. Is there any change on the game for mame2003-plus? Or are you just using -plus, because it replaces the non plus mame on your installation?

A side note from me: I think, its not very important if the game is real hidden gem or not. For someone it is, for the other it isn't.

robertvb83

@thelostsoul yes right now i have replaced my regular mame with mame2003-plus so i was not sure if it is working in regular mame2003.

I think mame2003-plus is very much superior to mame2003 even though its in beta right now (of course you need a dedicated romset)

i need to check out Rock'n Roll Racing now :-)

thelostsoul

@robertvb83 said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

i need to check out Rock'n Roll Racing now :-)

Just noting, this is not an Arcade game! It is for consoles and btw made by the company whats known as Blizzard today. ;-)

caver01

@thelostsoul said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

Now imagine multiplayer with a steering wheel for each!! That would rock.

I have not tried this title but I run Super Sprint using my two spinners as steering wheels. In fact, any racing game that used a wheel works nicely with the spinners. Has anyone tried that? I will have to load this ROM and give it a whirl.

thelostsoul

@caver01 Wow, thats a brilliant idea! Unfortunately I don't have spinner, but it is on my to do list. Until now, I didn't think about racing games with a spinner.

Clyde

@thelostsoul Interesting, because that was one of my first thoughts to try sometime. I even looked for a handheld spinner but, alas, without any luck up until today. So, if you happen to know or stumble upon a handheld spinner, I'd very much like to hear about it. :)

By the way, does anyone remember the NeGcon for the PS1? Or even know where to get (a similar) one? In a way, this controller is a real hidden hardware gem.

Oh, and I just learned about the Jogcon from Wikipedia article. Didn't know that one. Also a nice handheld design for racing games.

mediamogul

@clyde said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

By the way, does anyone remember the NeGcon for the PS1?

The NeGcon controller can be emulated in lr-pcsx-rearmed with the left joystick and there are several configuration options to customize the behavior. Unfortunately there are no USB adapters that support the actual controller itself. However, mapping a steering wheel, spinner or other analog device as the left joystick should allow some pretty creative control schemes to the NeGcon games. The Nintendo labo steering wheel would be an interesting experiment.

Clyde

@mediamogul Very interesting, thanks. But I'm looking for the opposite: a way to steer non-PSX games with a handheld controller like the NeGcon.

It's very unfortunate that there're no NeGcon-to-USB adapters out there. :(

robertvb83

@clyde wow this would be so freaking super cool... I would love to use a NeGcon controller for other games too

standard PSX-controller-usb-adapters won't work here?

mediamogul

@robertvb83 said in Share your hidden gems and insider tips:

standard PSX-controller-usb-adapters won't work here?

Unfortunately not. The NeGcon's analog control scheme actually predates Sony's own and is a non-standard implementation. Also, by all accounts, a few of the buttons don't function either.

Clyde

@mediamogul *hates the universe that makes this possible* ;)

edit: I acquired two RaceRoom Driving Controllers some years ago, but they have a way too strong pull to their center position to provide a pleasant playing experience. :/ And they are too small for my adult hands.

VictimRLSH

I didn't save any dial encoders from my days operating arcades (89-93), BUT I do have two Happ Supersticks. :)