MAME ROW #7: Air Duel

meleu

This is the 7th MAME Random Of the Week

The three random numbers for this week are: 1670, 34, 731.
(To be really honest, the first number I picked from random.org was 876. It's a Mahjong game, then I discarded it.)

1670
Game Name: Shuffleshot (v1.39)
Company: Strata/Incredible Technologies
Year: 1997
ROM file name: shufshot.zip
BIOS: -

34
Game Name: Air Duel (Japan)
Company: Irem
Year: 1990
ROM file name: airduel.zip
BIOS: -

731
Game Name: Hero
Company: Seatongrove Ltd
Year: 1983
ROM file name: hero.zip
BIOS: -

Please vote: http://www.strawpoll.me/11592651

We will check the most voted game on Wednesday. So we have Monday and Tuesday for experimentations.

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 ROMset 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!

Every Monday we create a topic at the "General Discussion and Gaming" forum section with the 3 random games to be voted. And on Wednesday we check the results.

The current week's game thread is just where there are more people interacting/talking about the game(s). Feel free to post your hi-score (or any content about the game) anytime you want on the previous "rounds" topics (links below).

These "rules" are constantly being improved!

Explaining the randomness of the process

I took the 0.78 compatibility list and applied the following filters (in this order):

Parent: (empty)
Rpi 3 Status: (empty), OK, Untested
Rpi 2 Status: OK, Untested
Rpi 1 Status: Untested
Manufacturer: clear the "bootleg" checkbox

Saved a new spreadsheet with only the results of those filters here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Q7QEqV5lUo662nvAC3zS_AvQvsjspEcGHVhaHcyzbI/edit?usp=sharing

And then went to www.random.org and generated a random number between 2 and 2185 (ignoring 1 because of the column headers).

Links to the previous "rounds"

Phoenix (not randomly chosen)
New Rally-X (not randomly chosen)

GtBFilms

Shuffleshot

Air Duel

Hero

pjft

Hah, fun choices.

I suspect "Air Duel" is probably going to be one most people will feel excited about, though to be honest it looks like a fairly average shooter, not unlike the 1942-3-etc ones.

I will probably choose Hero, as it looks like a game that I wouldn't usually play, and looks reasonably good for high score purposes,

What about Shuffleshot, is it playable without any devices (i.e. trackball or something)? That looks fun as well, though perhaps more limited scope for high-score chasing?

I'll think about this for a bit more, and see what others suggest as well, before voting.

Best.

meleu

Did you guys noticed how the shooters were so popular?! Since we started the MAME ROW with voting there is at least one shooter game in the list.

I tested Air Duel a few minutes ago and liked it. I think the helicopter is the best choice because it can shoot in diagonals, it's a little weird in the beginning but after you get used to it I think it's the best.

I'm going to try Hero, but this Shuffleshot didn't get my interest at all...

obsidianspider

I have zero interest in shuffleboard, so I didn't even try that game. Air Duel seems like a standard vertical shooter and is pretty fun. Hero is Pac-Man-ish, and is neat in its own way, but wow, that garbled "Speak and Spell" voice when the game first boots is CREEPY.

GtBFilms

Gave them a try last night.

Shuffleboard looked interesting at first, but I couldn't find any way to launch the puck! Zooming in and out had limited appeal, so I gave up on that after a while.

Air Duel I have already played. Like all vertical shooters it's a bit small on my little picade screen, but it seemed like fun and we haven't had this sort of vertical shooter in the ROW before.

Hero was funny, I have no idea what that digitized speech says, and it doesn't every make a reappearance in the game as far as I could tell. It reminded me a little of the old game Tutankhamen, albeit without any gun. Also a bit like Mazogs (ZX81)/Maziacs (ZX Spectrum) I guess, although they had a bit more strategy to them. Couldn't really work out what the ladders were for, as you can go up shafts regardless of whether there is a ladder there. It seemed a bit confused about whether it was a side-on or top-down game.

So my vote went to Air Duel, as it promises more playability than the other two and more scope for a high score challenge.

I enjoyed checking out all three though, from an interest point of view.

dankcushions

i thought about voting for hero just as we've had a lot of shooters, but air duel is pretty good! and really nice graphics for the time. apparently some pixel art from it was used in undertale:

0_1478603809420_upload-f49908d4-6d74-4330-972e-c159c9f23357

0_1478604106372_upload-82169453-eda9-41a8-9112-5c79d92c3e17

(it's used in the wings)

pjft

@dankcushions Is that serious, or are you just making a fun observation?

I mean, I can see the similarities, but it can also be a generic diagonal pattern of sorts, no? :)

Had some troubles with my Pi after the 4.2 upgrade recently, but seems to be back in business (fingers crossed)!

meleu

Let's play "Air Duel"!

dankcushions

@pjft said in MAME ROW #7:

@dankcushions Is that serious, or are you just making a fun observation?

I mean, I can see the similarities, but it can also be a generic diagonal pattern of sorts, no? :)

it's not my observation :) apparently people have hacked the gamefiles and found the asset and it's a match:

0_1478686229901_upload-96613128-6e52-4904-89bb-1d735fbced43

https://www.spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/undertale/sheet/77910/

during gameplay the asset is distorted etc

pjft

@dankcushions Wow - thanks for sharing. I love all bits of retro trivia like these :)

pjft

Ok, shots fired. Since nobody is chiming in yet, I've taken a stab at it and played two credits on it tonight. Both from the start of the game, one with the plane, another with the helicopter. Didn't change any options or dip switches.

I got a humble 8th position on the scoreboard, with 37000 points. Reached the end of first level boss.

This game would probably be a lot easier with auto fire, my thumbs hurt from hammering the fire button. :)

Can't seem to upload a picture from my phone, max size exceeded (2mb), will do it tomorrow from a laptop. Still it doesn't seem like too much of a score that you will question it and demand proof of, hopefully. Will try to improve on it in the coming days.

Cheers! :)

meleu

@pjft What vehicle do you prefer?

I didn't played it seriously yet, but I think the helicopter is the best. We can, like, sweep the screen with shots. :-)

@pjft said in MAME ROW #7:

This game would probably be a lot easier with auto fire, my thumbs hurt from hammering the fire button. :)

We suffered this same problem in MAME ROW #5, and the xboxdrv master @mediamogul gave a good tip. ;-)

mediamogul

@meleu said in MAME ROW #7:

the xboxdrv master

You're too kind. I'm far from being an xboxdrv master. I'm actually part of a narco-syndicous xboxdrv commune. We take it in turn, to act as sort of an officer for the week, but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs.

mediamogul

This is my first week back in the ROW since Sept. and I have to say, 'Air Duel' is quite a challenge. So far I've managed 72400 on one credit. Am I correct in assuming that one credit is the goal post here or have you guys settled on something else in the past?

meleu

@mediamogul yep. The comrades have voted after an intense deliberation and decided to use only one credit.

pjft

@meleu Hah, thanks!

I wasn't actually suggesting I'd use autofire for ROW, as it feels off, but for longer game sessions that'd definitely come in handy. I thought we could also set something up like that in RetroArch itself, but would have to check.

I do prefer the helicopter, indeed - truth be told, even though I only played two credits, I can't see why anyone would pick the plane. It doesn't seem to have any particular advantage - similar speed, same firepower, same "defense" (i.e. one shot and it's down), but is forced to shoot only in the up direction. I played one credit each, and the helicopter was just a far better experience. Anyone with more experience in game can comment on that?

@mediamogul Congrats on the score so far. I assume you made it past the first stage then?

Cheers!

meleu

@mediamogul said in MAME ROW #7:

I'm actually part of a narco-syndicous xboxdrv commune. We take it in turn, to act as sort of an officer for the week, but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs.

I smelled a rat here. Then I executed a grep with this sentence inside my head and got

Binary file british_humour.gz matches

And then no need to use more commands! When my visual input device detects the expression "british humour" automatically loads "Monty Python" into my head's RAM and BINGO! I found the reference!

mediamogul

@pjft

I assume you made it past the first stage then?

I thought I was almost to the end of the second stage, as I was approaching a large mechanical object that I thought was the boss. I played a bit more later where I got further, albeit with a lower score, and it was just some sort of twin turret that you fly right over after destroying it.

@meleu

I smelled a rat here.

No, you didn't. ...Wait, you are here for an argument, right? ;)

mediamogul

I almost forgot, I discovered a tip I thought I'd share. Believe it or not, there's a safe spot you can settle in at the level one boss and take as many normal shots as necessary without retribution. This allows you to go into stage two with more explosion shots where they are arguably more needed. It also gives you a chance to rest your fingers a bit if you like.

Edit: Don't rest your fingers to long. Safety only lasts until the wave of tanks leaves the hangar and a new top-side gun appears. This is still more than enough time to defeat the boss without wasting your bombs, but not enough time to read 'War and Peace'.