Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!

mrbwa1

@mediamogul said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

@ZogZogAkita

Most Tetris enthusiasts tend to favor the NES version for competitions due to it's accessibility and polished presentation. However, those same people usually agree that the unlicensed Tengen version for NES is a better game overall with it's wide variety of play modes. You really can't go wrong with either of those two.

The Tengen version is 2 player as well (The official Nintendo Tetris is only one player)

If you are going retro though, the Gameboy version of Tetris has the classic "Tetris Music" and you should be able to simulate 2 player via the Game Link cable.

mediamogul

@mrbwa1 said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

The official Nintendo Tetris is only one player

Good call. I overlooked his two player requirement. However, you can always add two player support to the official Nintendo version with this.

mrbwa1

@mediamogul said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

@mrbwa1 said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

The official Nintendo Tetris is only one player

Good call. I overlooked his two player requirement. However, you can always add two player support to the official Nintendo version with this.

Good Point...

Now if you could only patch the Gameboy Tetris theme in with that 2P support, you may just have the ultimate Retro Tetris.

EDIT: The first Retropie I set up was broken in with NES Tetris to show my then 7yr old. I sat down and played an epic 45-minute session much to his chagrin. I wish retroachievements had been implemented at that point.

mediamogul

@mrbwa1 said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

I set up was broken in with NES Tetris to show my then 7yr old. I sat down and played an epic 45-minute session much to his chagrin.

I love that! When he grows up and writes his Christmas Story-esque memoirs, he can talk about how his "old man" worked in 'Tetris' the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium; a master.

mrbwa1

@mediamogul said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

@mrbwa1 said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

I set up was broken in with NES Tetris to show my then 7yr old. I sat down and played an epic 45-minute session much to his chagrin.

I love that! When he grows up and writes his Christmas Story-esque memoirs, he can talk about how his "old man" worked in 'Tetris' the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium; a master.

My wife is actualy a pretty talented artist in clay and acrylic pain so he takes after her. I'll probably get an Epic Tetris painting from him someday. lo

mediamogul

@mrbwa1

Entitled: The Night My Father Hogged the Television

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backstander

Also in the Arcade (MAME2003) version of Tetris: The Absolute: The Grand Master 2 PLUS, there is a Doubles Mode that is a two player cooperative mode that puts both players in the same well. Make sure you're playing the "PLUS" version.

mediamogul

@backstander

I've heard of that one, but never played it. The frantic pacing looks like a lot of fun.

ZogZogAkita

I found Tetris Battle Gaiden on Super nes. This is one of the best Tetris game I've ever played, with powers and attacks depending on bonus grabbed while playing. I can imagine this should be very fun with 2 players.

Feyd89

i was thinking about 'Super Tetris 3', because it's a 4 Player game.

mrbwa1

I'm starting to think we are just trying to put together a Retro Tetris Gaming Tournament. Sadly, I'm not unhappy about that idea.... Play through Tetris games chronologically and aggregate the scores to get a champion.

mediamogul

There's been so much talk of 'Tetris' here that I have to make mention of two amazing documentaries about the game that are a must see for all enthusiasts.

The first covers the fascinating story of how the game first came to be and how Russia "borrowed" and leveraged it as their first big experiment with capitalism. It also covers the bidding war and circumstances that brought the game to everyone's favorite handheld.

The second follows the world's best 'Tetris' players as the they come together to compete for the top title. Of particular interest is Thor Aackerlund, who actually competed and won the 1990 Nintendo World Championship and had since fallen off the map due to a series of unfortunate happenings. As the doc moves along, competitors express doubt that anyone could progress past a certain point. However, Thor mentions a technique that he used when he was a kid where he would rapidly vibrate his thumb to get the pieces to move in the desired direction quickly enough to make it possible. Is he telling the truth? Can he reclaim this ability? Will Gerald ever profess his undying love to Susan before his mysterious illness takes his life? Well, spoilers prevent me from saying, but it's well worth the watch.

...OK, Gerald dies, but it turns out he was Susan all along, so no big loss there.

backstander

@mediamogul
I've seen Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters before. It was a pretty interesting documentary and it mentioning Thor was a cool surprise. I actually went to the "1990 Nintendo World Championship" when it came through my state. I tried out for the auditions behind the stage but never got a score high enough to make it in the competition on the stage. I remember the movie The Wizard being a lot like the "1990 Nintendo World Championship". The Wizard was the first time we all got to see Super Mario Bros. 3!

I also remember a local video rental store had a Super Mario Bros. 3 contest to see who could get the highest score in 5 minutes of game play. I actually got 2nd place and I started talking to the guy that got first place and we ended up becoming best friends. He also taught me how to use MS-DOS.

mrbwa1

Both of those are good Tetris Documentaries. There are a couple other good gaming documentaries on Netflix as well:

Atari: Game Over
Video Games:The Movie

I pretty much only watch documentaries anymore on Netflix though....

backstander

@mrbwa1
I enjoyed "Video Games: The Movie" with Sean Astin narrating. I like that one of the video game devs asks the question "Is Facebook a video game?".

mrbwa1

@backstander I like Sean. It was actually recommended after I watched a couple good music documentaries ("The Wrecking Crew" and "Muscle Shoals") along with "Dear Mr. Watterson (the awesome documentary in Bill Watterson who drew Calvin & Hobbes then just kinda disappeared.

mediamogul

@backstander said in Best Games for a Retro Gaming Tournament / "Decathlon"!:

I actually went to the "1990 Nintendo World Championship" when it came through my state.

That is really cool. Of course this now makes you this closest thing this forum has to having the real life Fred Savage as a member. I hope your ready for that level of responsibility.

@mrbwa1

Atari: Game Over
Video Games:The Movie

Both fantastic documentaries.

meleu

My 2 cents: "Man vs. Snake"

It's about Tim McVey and the Nibbler arcade game. I liked it.

backstander

@meleu
continuing documentaries list...
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

Non-documentaries:
The Last Starfighter (1984) - because he became the last starfighter by playing an arcade game back home at his trailer park were he lived!
WarGames (1983) - because Ferris Bueller also starts World War III trying to play the earliest online deathmatch PC games; Thermonuclear War and Tic Tac Toe.
Tron - because...well it's Tron and you get to see what goes on behind the scenes of an actual game in progress...simular to Wreck-It Ralph.

Because the topic is the best video game movies, right? Or was it the best Tetris games. I don't remember.

mrbwa1

If you are even in Las Vegas, there is a great place off the strip called the Pinball Hall of fame. It's gaming machines from the 50s, pinball from the 60s on and some 89s and 90s arcade game. Oh and one modern change making machine. As long as the games are working p, you can pop in a quarter (or 2 or 3) and have a go.

Hands down the best $$ I have ever spent in Vegas. It was really great for my kids to see true retro in action (and realize how easy modern games are).