MAME ROW #85 - Major Title 2

[obsidianspider]

This is the MAME Random Of the Week #85

The three random numbers for this week are: 136 632 996

Click here to vote! Which game do you choose for MAME ROW #85?

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

136
Game Name: Big Run (11th Rallye version)
Company: Jaleco
Year: 1989
ROM file name: bigrun.zip

632
Game Name: Ginga NinkyouDen
Company: Jaleco
Year: 1987
ROM file name: ginganin.zip

996
Game Name: Major Title 2 (World)
Company: Irem
Year: 1992
ROM file name: majtitl2.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!

Notes:

1. We usually post hi-scores screenshots after playing with only one credit. If you used more than one credit, please mention it on your post.

2. There's no need to use RetroPie to join the MAME ROW! You can play it on any platform you want.

3. Feel free to post your hi-score (or any content about the game) anytime you want on the previous rounds topics (link below).

Every Monday we create a topic at the "General Discussion and Gaming > MAME Random Of the Week" forum section with the 3 random games to be voted. And on Wednesday we check the result.

These "rules" are constantly being improved!

Previous Rounds

[GtBFilms]

I'm a bit late this week, but I did get a quick chance to try these ones out and place my vote.

Big Run
I had high hopes for this one, we've not had a racing game before in the MAMEROW (not that I can remember, anyway), and on the video preview it looked quite good. I know from experience that my pi 3 doesn't really cope with 3D racing games, but Chase HQ/Outrun scaled sprite ones are usually okay. Unfortunately Big Run is the exception that proves the rule. It's fast, but the speed is achieved at the expense of an extremely short draw distance, so you basically get no chance to see and react to bends in the road/obstacles. It's a frustrating experience of getting your car up to speed, then immediately crashing into something which only appeared half a second before you hit it. The controls also seem a bit unresponsive. I'm guessing the arcade machine had an analogue steering wheel, but my digital joystick doesn't let me turn fast enough to prevent careering off the bend and into a billboard/tree.
So sadly Big Run isn't my choice this week.

Ginga NinkyouDen
This is a typical odd Japanese title. I gave it a few goes and did manage to progress further each time, just by being able to predict what was coming next. It's passable, but nothing special, and I'm guessing that even in 1987 this one would have passed under the radar as a pretty uninspiring title.

Major Title 2
I have to confess, I actually really like golf games. I shouldn't really, as the whole concept of hitting a golf ball into a hole over and over again sounds horrendously dull, but ever since I had a pirate copy of Leaderboard on the ZX Spectrum I have really enjoyed video game golf as a refreshing change of gaming pace.

Leaderboard on the ZX Spectrum (1986)

Leaderboard was pretty rubbish, the only obstacle was water, the aim being to use a series of small islands in your attempts to get the ball to the hole. Major Title 2 is a lot better, as you would expect from a 1992 arcade game, but the challenge is the exact same, survey the hole and wind conditions, choose a club, point it in the right direction and select spin and power and hope for the best.

It's a decent game, although the putting section is a bit lacking - I know later golf games did some interesting thing with zooming and rotating grids and contour lines to display the hole, but Major Title 2 is restricted to a top-down view where you basically hit it in the right direction and pray. As a MAMEROW candidate this game isn't ideal, as the arcade golf games were basically designed to be coin guzzlers. This is very apparent with this one, which takes your initials before the game even starts, then informs you that it will only record your progress if you complete all 18 holes (and it's going to ask the average player for more credit every couple of holes).

So I'm not entirely sure how we will score this one - perhaps just seeing how far we can get on a single credit, or perhaps we should make an exception and allow infinite credits, but post the best score for all 18 holes?

None of the random games are ideal candidates this week in my opinion (but that's the thing with a random selection!) but the game I most enjoyed, and which gets my vote is....

Major Title 2 !

[obsidianspider]

Due to a tie the random.org number generator was used to select a number between 1 and 100. The number chosen was 34. Since that is even, the second title was chosen, Major Title 2

[GtBFilms]

@obsidianspider

Loving those instructions "Use your brain...."

I may start saying that to people at work!

[lilbud]

@gtbfilms I'm going to make a bunch of business cards that say "Use your brain"

Maybe a few saying "Please shut up."

[GtBFilms]

Well I had a couple of games (one credit) on this one and despite getting a PAR on the first 2 holes, it still asked me for more credit to proceed, and there wasn't any score displayed, so I think unfortunately this one doesn't really work for the MAMEROW competition.

Unless someone can get further than the 2nd hole on a single credit?

Edit: ah, it appears you have to score a birdie or better to not lose credit on a hole.

I tried unlimited credits to do the whole 18 hole course and managed to come 21st.

[mediamogul]

@gtbfilms said in MAME ROW #85 - Major Title 2:

I think unfortunately this one doesn't really work for the MAMEROW competition.

85 games in, it was bound to happen eventually. Anyone remember if this has happened before?

[obsidianspider]

@mediamogul I have a feeling that the problem is that people are not actually trying the games before voting. Then again, hardly anyone votes. Makes me wonder why I even bother with this.

[obsidianspider]

MAME ROW #86 is live

[thelostsoul]

@obsidianspider i am only voting, if I get interested. And I don't try them out when voting, if I don't know them. It maybe a little bit unfair, but its the way I do my decisions.

[cosmo0]

@obsidianspider said in MAME ROW #85 - Major Title 2:

@mediamogul I have a feeling that the problem is that people are not actually trying the games before voting. Then again, hardly anyone votes. Makes me wonder why I even bother with this.

I'm not playing much because I don't have much time (and so many things to do), but I always want to.
I really like this forum section, there's often great games to be discovered :)
Thank you very much for the time you spend doing all of this.

[GtBFilms]

@obsidianspider Please don't stop, I really enjoy the MAMEROW and it is a great opportunity to try out games that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Your efforts are appreciated!

Perhaps we should think about changing the game every 2 weeks though, as I guess a lot of people are like me and don't always get time to try them out/play them?

On the other hand, a week is long enough when the chosen game turns out to be a bit of a grind.

[mediamogul]

@obsidianspider said in MAME ROW #85 - Major Title 2:

hardly anyone votes. Makes me wonder why I even bother with this.

I always assumed it was for the gorgeous MAME ROW groupies. Personally, I never vote when I know I won't have time during the week to play, so as not to have an effect on the poll results. If no one objects, I'll test and vote regardless. Your efforts here are greatly appreciated, but I totally get that it can be a grind, especially since you probably feel that it's now expected of you. I know for a while, it was you and meleu who would alternate on occasion. Perhaps you could put the word out for some assistance as you need it, even if it meant just giving you a break from time to time.

[thelostsoul]

@obsidianspider Oh, I misunderstood you.
I do enjoy MAME ROW too, but I only play the games I am interested. Last two weeks, it wasn't interesting and thats why it looks as if nobody want play anymore. And thats gonna to happen again, because its totally random. In fact, MAME ROW was the reason to me to stay on this forum. I even looked up all the old selected games to see if I can find something to include in my RetroPie collection. The value is great here!

On the other side, if you need assistance or a break, that would be understandable. Maybe someone can come in to the administration part here? Selection of games every 2 weeks sounds fair too. But if the games aren't interesting, then it would be too bad. You could decide on the fly, if the week will be extended. Like say a great game like Bubble Bobble appears (like it did) and many gamers are interested in playing it for highscores. Or like in the Tetris game we had several weeks ago. There was much more potential. Then you just say this week will be extended. And if we got games nobody seems to like, then a new selection is done. What do you think?

I even made a thread for this in General forum:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17190/mame-arcade-play-for-highscores-mame-row

Aaand don't forget the weekly analysis from GtBFilms. Its always interesting to read it.