MAME ROW #155 - 1943 - The Battle of Midway

[obsidianspider]

This is the MAME Random Of the Week #155

The five random numbers for this week are: 861 406 649 5 283

Click here to vote! Which game do you choose for MAME ROW #155?

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

861
Game Name: Kick (upright)
Company: Midway
Year: 1981
ROM file name: kick.zip

406
Game Name: Defender (Red label)
Company: Williams
Year: 1980
ROM file name: defender.zip

649
Game Name: Vs. The Goonies
Company: Konami
Year: 1986
ROM file name: goonies.zip

5
Game Name: 1943 - The Battle of Midway (US)
Company: Capcom
Year: 1987
ROM file name: 1943.zip

283
Game Name: Chuka Taisen (World)
Company: Taito Corporation Japan
Year: 1988
ROM file name: chukatai.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

[sirhenrythe5th]

As a die hard SHMUP Fan i vote for 1943.
I still remember the day i started it the first time with MAME back in 1998...gosh, it was like X-Mas to play the original arcade version!
Here in germany us kids had no chance to see or play the original machines, only adults 18+ were allowed to enter an arcade :/
So we were used to play the C64 or SinclairZX or Schneider CPC (UK: Amstrad) versions which were ok...but not so cool as the big machines in the arcades.

[VictimRLSH]

Voting for 1943 too, but Goonies gets a serious nod here. It has been a while for Defender, but going to try seeing how I can fare with some creative controller mapping.

[thelostsoul]

My vote goes to Defender. A couple years ago on a birthday of a friend, I played this game and was just blown away when I first time tried out the VCS 2600 and then the even more blasting arcade version. I just like this action packed audio-visual experience of it and the fact it is from 1980! Also this simplistic look and the gameplay is very appealing to me.

@sirhenrythe5th
I am one of the luckier kids in the 90s Germany (Berlin). I didn't know any arcade hall back then, but here and there some pub and a shop specialized in compact cassette let me play classics as Raiden, Bubble Bobble, Shinobi, Outrun and the newest King of Fighters '95, Samurai Shodown 2,Super Street Fighter 2 and more!

[IanDaemon]

For high score chasing I vote Kick. XD The arcade controls for Defender always seem overly complicated to me. The ship's freedom of movement is still impressive with the highly efficient use of graphics. I'd vote for Defender if I didn't have to use the arcade control scheme. I could change my controls, but then I'd have an unfair advantage.

[VictimRLSH]

Well, Kick certainly isn't an easy game, that's for sure...

[VictimRLSH]

@IanDaemon Without the panel button placements from the original Defender cabinet it is going to be hard enough anyway. That Reverse button was in the exact right place for the left thumb on the cabinet, that would at least have to be a shoulder button. Your direction pad could have thrust mapped to both left and right so as long as you don't want to change direction you can just use the D-pad to move. Defender is hard enough as it is, I don't think reconfiguring your controller to compensate is cheating, unless you actually HAVE a Defender panel, then you must use it. PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. :P

[thelostsoul]

@VictimRLSH I agree with you.
We are playing with different kind of input devices anyway, someone with a gamepad, the other one on an arcade stick (me, true for arcade games). Some time ago I was using autofire and everyone said it was ok when I asked here. Later I realized this was true cheating and gave me too much of an advantage (and i stopped). Button mapping is not considered to be in the same league to me. There are even other factors giving "slight" advantage, like input delay. But we are not at world records here, it is not perfectly fair anyway and just having fun.

[VictimRLSH]

If it wasn't for MAME ROW I would probably not be going back to some of these games. Although 1943 is one I don't suck at, so you had better be on your A game. :)

[IanDaemon]

@VictimRLSH I have somewhat of an original (inconvenient) button layout for Defender on an "Arcade1Up" Rampage cabinet. Everything in the picture is just for one player. Just looking at that layout makes my hands hurt. This is "close" to the original CP with different fingers doing different things.

[VictimRLSH]

@thelostsoul Auto fire will be wholesale cheating on 1943, it gives the 3-way more firepower than the machine gun. In 1943 it is wiser to use the right shoulder for faster fire though, but I wouldn't consider that not playing fair.

[obsidianspider]

The top two contenders are tied. If you haven't voted, be sure to get yours in before the poll closes tomorrow morning!

[obsidianspider]

This week's winner is 1943 - The Battle of Midway

[IanDaemon]

I REALLY like and appreciate the videos/screenshots of the choices every round!

[mitu]

Got by the first level with 74000:

[VictimRLSH]

I'm submitting the 556k score, not the 2 million. That was the result of autofire/save state continuation. In my glory days I have cleared this game on one play. I'll keep trying.

I almost always stick to 3-way fire and only use another weapon if forced to. The 5th boss (Fuso) is an exception, you need to big shells for that one. You might also want to switch to the machine gun to cycle a powerup into a fuel tank. To do this you must concentrate auto fire onto the powerup when it appears at the top of the screen and cycle through all the weapons twice. After the 2nd cycle it will turn into an energy tank. You only have time to do this if the powerup appears at the very top of the screen, and you need to use the machine gun to do it.

Always be firing and moving around even if there does not appear to be anything to shoot. There are many invisible bonuses. You can tell if you found one by the sound of your shots and if those shots stop when it appears there is nothing for them to hit. Always shoot at ships when you are above them before the descent into the boss battle, often one of them will cough up a bonus. Some of the bonuses are random, and some will always be in the same place.

Use your tsunami frequently, it consumes a relatively small amount of energy compared to running into a plane. The best time to do this is when you have cycled a powerup into the weapon you want to grab. It removes all the fire from the screen and gives you time to grab the powerup weapon without having to shoot and risk cycling it into something you don't want. Many of the bosses, particularly the first one, will crowd you into a corner and you need to keep it under constant tsunami, consuming 2 or 3 at the end of the battle.

Stay in the center of the screen whenever possible as planes will come up from the bottom and try and fly up your backside. This is a significant problem after the 5th round, entire squadrons will come from behind in a semicircle and try to surround you from behind. Remember you have two loops per round. To avoid the mob you need to move down toward them and use your loop right before they hit you so you will wind up on the underside of them.

EDIT: I'd like to add that you shouldn't bother using the Shot Gun. Its fire rate isn't fast enough to clear enough bullets from your path and its short range makes it weak offensively.

[VictimRLSH]

BTW, how can I annihilate 1943 but suck majorly at 1942? I never could do well at that game. I'm also giving Defender a good try, but can't break 20k. I'll post a score if I manage, but don't hold your breath, that game is insane hard.

[thelostsoul]

The 2 weeks cycle on games selection is totally welcome. Today I had my first shot on this game.

@VictimRLSH I think your score is out of this world. Really good one, my respect.
@mitu Hey, your score is a bit easier, so I take this one to beat. :D (nothing personal) … and voilá.

Score: 115700

[quicksilver]

Phone on my camera isnt working these days so I can't post a pic easily but I just got 137200. Thats about the best I could do, can't make it past the 2nd stage boss.

[VictimRLSH]

@quicksilver use 3way and focus on the plane elevators. The side guns will die quick enough, you need to get rid of those planes ASAP. There is a 2nd elevator at the front. It is actually a bit easier since you have more time to kill it.