MAME ROW #152 - Vs. Castlevania

[obsidianspider]

This is the MAME Random Of the Week #152

The five random numbers for this week are: 987 2168 2 353 179

Click here to vote! Which game do you choose for MAME ROW #152?

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

987
Game Name: Magical Spot II
Company: Universal
Year: 1980
ROM file name: magspot2.zip

2168
Game Name: Youjyuden (Japan)
Company: Irem
Year: 1986
ROM file name: youjyudn.zip

2
Game Name: 5
Company: Sega
Year: 1981
ROM file name: 005.zip

353
Game Name: Vs. Castlevania
Company: Konami
Year: 1987
ROM file name: cstlevna.zip

179
Game Name: Blazing Tornado
Company: Human Amusement
Year: 1994
ROM file name: blzntrnd.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]

Vs. Castlevania is a harder version of the NES game. 005 looks confusing.

[obsidianspider]

This week's winner is Vs. Castlevania

[IanDaemon]

I had no strong preference so I didn't vote this time.

[IanDaemon]

@obsidianspider Don't they let you embed the results instead of posting an image?

[obsidianspider]

@IanDaemon I don't know of a way, but an image is also a point in time capture of the results. The numbers could change in the future as there's no way to put an end to the voting.

[obsidianspider]

@IanDaemon said in MAME ROW #152 - Vs. Castlevania:

I had no strong preference so I didn't vote this time.

I won't lie, I kind of really hate that. Seeing low participation and ambivalence really makes me wonder why I keep doing this.

[IanDaemon]

OK so I voted just now. It sounds like there are two things that a StrawPoll user needs. 1) embedded results [not a link] and 2) a way to end the voting period.

I'll look into it at a later time. (I'll register on their website later.)

[IanDaemon]

@obsidianspider Seeing as I'm one of the few that are actually participating and contributing, I'm surprised at your reaction to my honesty.

[mitu]

I did vote for Castlevania, since this is one of my favourite games.
It's more difficult than the NES version (at least in the beginning), since you lose 1/4 health on each hit and there's a tighter timing limit on each level. On the other hand, there are more money drops and you can get the 'kill all' crucifix often.

I only managed to get to level 4 - and died from a bat, but had great fun doing so. Since the game doesn't seem to keep a hiscore, I attached the game over screen with the points.

Here's a handy walkthrough (for the NES version) which might help beginners:

[thelostsoul]

Score: 19'448
Stage: 06

@mitu I think this is quite respectable. A few tries and I made it to Stage 06, died at the Medusa boss. She is quiet easy, I have more fear against the regular Medusa heads in the levels. Whats funny is, the stop time extra worked on first boss too. Does it work with all bosses? As my score is low and unspectacular, maybe someone else want rival me?

[mitu]

@thelostsoul said in MAME ROW #152 - Vs. Castlevania:

Does it work with all bosses?

Didn't notice that. Might be another 'cheesy' way to defeat the bosses, beside the Holy water. Anyway, didn't make much progress this week, got to level 5 after defeating Frankenstein and his buddy.

[IanDaemon]

@mitu Since the game is generally so 'cheap' in its gameplay I think we can all be forgiven. That's a lot of pixel-perfect memorization. (especially those medusa heads)

[thelostsoul]

@IanDaemon Floating Medusa heads while standing on the brink is just so memorable. Some years ago on a birthday, we played Castlevania while drinking. Each time a player dies, he have to drink. It was hilarious and we made it more far than expected.

[obsidianspider]

Sorry everyone, with the holidays, MAME ROW fell off my radar. MAME ROW #153 is now live, and due to the holiday, and me being late, we'll have the winner announced on Thursday, January 2.