MAME ROW #6: Pang
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Well I went for Pang! in the end, even though I am already very familiar with it.
Even allowing for the age of Playball, it's pretty clear it's a prototype, as the gameplay needs a bit of work! Quite a frustrating exercise in random rushing back and forward bouncing balls, where your guy with the glove just isn't quite fast enough.
I did like Mazinger-Z, and had I not been playing on my tiny 8" Picade screen, then it may well have got my vote. As it was, it was just a bit small, fast, and with too much going on at once for me. I'll probably go back for another try though.
Pang! is a classic, simple to pick up and play, but difficult to master. Most importantly, it has that elusive feature where you always feel there was something you could have done better to avoid dying. There's never that feeling of unfair deaths, even when you're unlucky enough to pick up a dynamite - it's your own fault!
Looking forward to some practice on this.
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Back from journey!
As always nice selection with one of my favourites and it won!So have fun! :)
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pang is such a troll! at least half the power-ups seem to make things harder for you :) so addictive, though!
you can select any stage at the start, and it shows up in the scoreboard if you start from anything except level 1. i guess we should all start from level 1? although i'm not sure it's particularly an advantage if you start at later levels as i don't think you score any different.
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@dankcushions There is a potential score advantage in starting on later levels, if you manage to survive the increased difficulty.
The bonus food which drops down can be shot/picked up for hundreds (later thousands) of points.
The food (and it's value) changes as you progress, eventually in later levels it becomes a slice of cake. This is worth 48,000 points. Subsequent food is always a slice of cake, and alternates between 48,000 and 50,000 points each time.
So basically, if you start on later levels, you get to the bigger bonus items quicker.
For that reason I think a 'all scores must be from a level 1 start' rule is advisable.
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@GtBFilms I can barely get past the second screen!
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@obsidianspider Heh heh, there's a rhythm to using that double harpoon as you walk in the same direction a balloon is moving, just a little in front of it.
Also the power-up item drops aren't random. So if you know where the gun is on a level, you can usually get it every time.
Those are the tips I have so far!
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@obsidianspider said in MAME ROW #6: Pang:
I can barely get past the second screen!
Like Master Yoda said:
To practice a bit, you have, then learn, you will. Yeesssssss.
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@cyperghost When I get frustrated with my GBA build I play some Pang and then when that gets frustrating I go back to the GBA. :-P
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Let's start the score race!
My current hi-score: 146k.
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@meleu 8th stage :)
Not bad :) I think I can beat this :) -
Best item is the .... Vulcan gun :)
Some tipps (usage help) can be provided by the intro screen!@meleu
FIrst attempt boosted me to level 5 - be aware :) -
LEVEL 6 - 107500 :)
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Wow - what a great and fun initiative! Won't promise I'll have the time to join every week, but will certainly follow at least.
Are your high scores based on single credits, or what's the idea there?
Cheers!
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@pjft This doesn't matter. Everybody is welcome :)
The ROW gives a nice possibility of playing not very popluar games.Well... PANG! indeed is very popular :)
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@cyperghost Thanks :)
I'll make a note to drop by and at least vote every week :)
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@pjft with Pang specifically it doesn't matter, because the score goes back to zero after a continue.
The most important rule here is have fun. The rest are optional (but being honest with the score would be nice :-) ).
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@meleu Haha, of course :) I'm in this above all for the fun.
The reason I asked is because, since I do not have a lot of time these days, when I do have the chance, I just pop up a random game and try to take it to the end, burning as many credits as needed, just to go through it for nostalgia's sake as I obviously wasn't able to do it back in the day as credits did cost money :)
I'll try to submit high scores after a single credit, though, should be fun :) Being honest, always!
Thanks!
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Welcome @pjft!
I agree the MAME ROW is a great chance to try some of the less popular games that might have passed us by. I enjoy it because there are some games (Bosconian I'm looking at you) that I probably wouldn't have played more than a couple of times, but actually get better the more you play them.
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Wow. This was fun. I thought I'd do better at Pang, but it's not as simple as I remembered it to be! :)
The first credit I ended up making a few basic blunders and losing all 3 lives around stage 2 or something, which was a shame, with only around 10k points.
I added a second credit and continued, the score went back to zero, and then went to stage 6 (Mt. Keirin), with a score of 85020.
Then after starting from scratch I got to Mt. Keirin on 1 credit - with a few lives - but lost there, again. This time, I scored 104310. That was good! Similar to @cyperghost , also on stage 6 :)
Then I spent a last quarter, from level 1, but only scored 44930 and died at around stage 4 :P
I find that I like the double arrow weapon the most, I suppose - the gun should be better in theory, but requires some movement precision that I don't always have when the screen gets full of small balls that only bounce slightly higher than the character. As such, I find myself deliberately avoiding picking it up - even waiting for it to disappear if it comes my way.
As for strategies, definitely not going to the corner is a big one, as you have no escape and few ways to navigate that should a ball go straight at you. Also, I find that I try to shoot all removable blocks from the screen so that I can then best control the ball trajectories, but there are unbreakable blocks in some of the later levels, which make that difficult.
It's a fun game, though more "rigid" than I remembered it to be. I'll definitely try to come back in the coming days if I have the chance, to see if I can at least move past stage 6. :)
Also, are you always starting at Level 1? Or is there another place to start that ends up being easier?
Cheers!
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I got a new joystick top, at 66g it's double the weight of the old ball top.
And with this new level of control I bagged myself a score of 189600! (stage 10)
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