the_wizard_666

I was gonna say I'll take it, but damn, that shit's gonna be expensive to ship to Canada

I gotcha. It just isn't very clear is all. A simple "Any scenario" should suffice for that.

I don't think any homebrews that aren't available freely should be considered. Anything that can be found for free or that isn't out of print I suppose could be done, but even then it'd rule out competition for anyone who doesn't actually own it...so unless the ROM is publicly available to download, it probably shouldn't be used. I might even go so far as to disqualify Mapper 30 homebrews as they can't be put on a cart using a donor (it's a specifically homebrew mapper), so anyone wanting to make a cart like @Dr. Morbis would, would have to order a custom board to do it. But that may be extreme since at the very least it could be emulated. But yeah, anything that isn't freely available in some form shouldn't be considered. Also, any game used should be researched ahead of time so we don't encounter a last minute issue like Holy Diver last year. I know not being able to have a standard repro precluded at least one person from performing a run. Or completely broken games like World Games, that while a great game, probably shouldn't be used for a competition, at least one that isn't head-to-head in the same room.

So although my score wasn't good enough to get an actual ending (250+), apparently all that's required for Championship Bowling is beating the high score, so that can be crossed off. Wasn't even gonna bother posting a single pointer, but what the hell, nobody else is hitting it. Surprisingly tricky, it took a few tries to even get the 214 I did. Probably gonna keep going on it after class tomorrow though, cuz now I wanna tick it off my personal list

So I'm gonna point something out with regard to the Koei requirements: Bandit Kings of Ancient China - All scenarios give the same ending. Requiring a specific scenario is stupid. Gemfire - All scenarios give the same ending. Thus there shouldn't be a scenario requirement. Genghis Khan - World Conquest isn't necessary. If you beat Mongol Conquest, it sends you to World Conquest to finish the game. So in order to see the entire game, you need to play through the Mongol Conquest. World Conquest should be all that's needed (as you only need to win that to see the ending), but it shouldn't be a mandatory requirement L'Empereur - Similar to Genghis Khan, the earlier scenarios just progress to the later ones naturally, thus starting the earliest scenario is the only way to see the entire game. Scenario 4 should be the minimum requirement, not the mandatory starting point. Nobunaga's Ambition - Nothing is mentioned in the Pastebin file, but since the number of fiefs makes a HUGE difference in game duration, there should be a note whether either game is okay or if the 17 fief game is not acceptable. Either way is fine, but it needs to be noted. That said, I've never played the short game...it's entirely possible the 17 fief game progresses to the long game like several other titles...in which case this can be disregarded entirely. Nobunaga's Ambition II - I haven't really played it, but considering pretty much every other Koei game either gives the same ending regardless of scenario or progresses through each scenario anyway, there shouldn't be a scenario requirement. Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Much like L'Empereur, the game proceeds through each scenario anyway. Even though some scenarios technically say they only need X number of territories to win, after achieving that goal, you are then told to conquer the entire map. You don't actually get an ending until you do that, so any scenario should be an acceptable starting point. Romance of the Three Kingdoms II - Again, the scenario is irrelevant to the ending. Hell, the sixth scenario isn't even the hardest one, unless you stupidly decide to use Meng Huo as your leader. Thus, requiring a scenario shouldn't be a factor in completion. Uncharted Waters - Okay, I'm just putting this for completion's sake. The game has a definitive ending and only one way to achieve it, and no real options when setting the game up, so while it's not listed, there's also no ambiguity about the requirements. I just didn't want someone questioning why I didn't mention it So yeah, the gist of it is that none of the Koei games should require a specific scenario to complete it, aside from Nobunaga's Ambition, which should require the longer game (unless the game naturally progresses to it anyway).

Took out one of my childhood problem games and knocked out Platoon. Pretty decent game, although it's short as hell once you know what you're doing. The last level was fucking hell, but the rest of the game was simple enough.

I was just gonna say that...it's probably the "best of both worlds" option - you publicly disclose any information, but for those who don't want to know about it, it's hidden from view and won't ruin their experience. And yeah, that Golf script was balls. No way that should be legal going forward...while it's not cheating outright like a Game Genie would be (you at least have to actually execute correctly based on the info the script provided), it does take the bulk of the challenge away from the gamer. At the time there was no precedent for such a thing, so I'm okay with how that round went, but it definitely shouldn't be legal going forward.

I'm with @BeaIank on the code peeking thing...go ahead, but share anything useful that's found. But writing a script like @0xDEAFC0DE did for Golf should be disallowed. Even if it's completely external, it gives an unfair advantage to the person using it that is not available in-game. As for games, I'd like to see games that have rarely, if ever, been used. I'm partial to The Punisher because, well, that game is my jam, and I can beat it in my sleep, but there's a ton of others that would be great fun. And since we've proven that a distance run can easily be doable (like with Batman), I'd like to see one or two of those. Don't overdo it, but a couple of them would be a nice way to change up the pace. One thing I'd like to see though would be to make the genre leaderboards matter. I'm not sure how exactly, but I think winning a genre should be a bigger deal than it is at present.

Legend of the Ghost Lion is in the bag. Damn, that was a short and easy RPG, not really much to it. That said, it was also enjoyable enough to be worth playing through. Just maybe not playing through a second time

Progressing nicely through Ghost Lion tonight. Based on the maps shown on VGMaps, it looks like I'm roughly half-way through the game. Should be done by the end of the week if I'm lucky, and when I do, it'll mark my 10th first-time completion of the year, and will be my 220th completed US release (well, since I started tracking them in 2006 anyway). Always nice to have a nice round number EDIT: Also, I just noticed that I'm not ranked correctly @scaryice...I'm in 8th, but should be 5th. No biggie, but on the next edit you might wanna fix it

Farmel has been saved, and my contribution is beyond description, according to the ending. Air Fortress is in the books. Now to focus on Legend of the Ghost Lion...

@scaryice It would appear a mistake may have been made during the editing process Anyway, a bit of progress in Air Fortress, knocked off the fifth fortress. Also started the next RPG in my queue...made some progress in Legend of the Ghost Lion. Seems like a bit of an entry-level RPG, there's not really much to it...but that's not really a bad thing. It's got a simple story, and although the directions are a bit vague at times, there's only ever a couple places you can go before making further progress, so it's tough to really get lost.

So I probably would've had Air Fortress beat today if I wasn't taking a mental health break (aka not getting out of bed for the bulk of the day). That said, when the fog lifted, I knocked off fortresses 3 and 4, so progress is being made. Only four more to go...including the two tough ones...oi...

I haven't played it in over 20 years, but I do remember it being pretty damn fun when I was younger. Was never really into basketball though, so I didn't play it all that much, but it was definitely well done.

Two more levels down, and I'm gonna call it a night. Level one was pretty much identical, just a few more enemies than before. I just steamrolled it like I did the first time. But level 2, that got dicey. Still, I took my time, cleared my path, and got through it, although it took a couple tries. Hopefully the rest goes down relatively painlessly. I do have my doubts though...considering how levels 6 and 8 wrecked me for a bit, I feel like their repeats aren't gonna do me any favours either.

Well the first quest of Air Fortress is in the bag. Hopefully it's smooth sailing from here...hopefully... The seventh fortress was actually pretty simple...managed to run through it without issue the first time. The eighth however, was bloody hell. It was like level 7 was the calm before the storm that was 8. The worst part was the absolute perfect timing you needed to get out in time...one of my runs I was a fraction of a second away from the escape pod. @Dr. Morbis was right though, just stick with it and you'll get through it eventually. But man, even getting through the first quest feels like an achievement!

Yeah, it's weird, you'd think the only three tunes in the game would get grating after a while, but I actually really dig it. Anyway, knocked off #6, which was the toughest one yet. I had the path perfect, and no issues aside from the timing...then I watched a longplay that showed the dude using the kickback from his gun to move faster than normal walking/floating does. Still took a couple runs to get the tactics down, but I finally made it out...barely. Holy crap, there's almost no room for error at this point, and I think the only reason I survived was because I fully cleared my route beforehand. I'm starting to see why it's listed as a 10

Man, there's nothing I hate more than getting a game over screen as the bloody ending, especially after a grindfest like that!

Air Fortress is coming along. Spoke too soon about how easy it was, as the difficulty has jumped a fair bit now, but I've knocked off fortresses four and five, so progress is being made. @Dr. Morbis was telling me earlier how the difficulty spikes hard for the seventh and eighth, but then drops back down to a manageable level once you get through them, so I know I have even more of a challenge ahead of me at this point, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the game. I've been collecting for 25 years now, and nobody talks about the game at all...if there's such thing as a hidden gem on the NES these days, Air Fortress is definitely on that list!

Pool of Radiance is now in the books. I definitely know what I will and won't do in future runs (like when I decide to tackle the series on the C64), and the only real tough part was the final battle. Definitely my kind of game, that's for sure!

Another update, since I'm calling it a night. I'm now three levels in on Air Fortress and have completed all the council quests for Pool of Radiance, which should mean I'm on the path to the end game. I've got a few miscellaneous objectives I can knock off though, since I still have a few levels to gain, but I should have it done soon enough, likely this weekend.

Well, Pool of Radiance is coming along. I think I'm getting close to the end, as my Cleric has hit the level cap and the rest of my party is probably not far behind, but there's at least four more missions to do - clearing the graveyard, finding the source of the contamination on the river, rescuing some dude's son and to stop some lizard men from joining "The Boss" (literally, that's how he's referred to in-game). Additionally, since long stretches on an RPG need to be broken up periodically, I started working on Air Fortress. That one may take a bit too, as I'm only two levels in, but it's coming along nicely so far.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly enjoying it, but it is pretty lacklustre compared to the PC and C64 versions. Just about to do the quest to purify the Temple of Bane. I like how the game flows, with the missions being somewhat open-ended in your approach to them. Definitely captures the feel of the pen-and-paper game.

Chipping away at AD&D Pool of Radiance. Kind of a lacklustre port of the game, but at the same time it's pretty impressive that they managed to get it onto a cart like they did.

King of Kings is done. I gotta say, while it was technically better than Bible Adventures, with tighter controls and smoother gameplay, it just didn't feel as fun overall. But regardless, that's another Wisdom Tree game in the books.