New adventures in MAME

[AnonTet]

C64 has thousands of games and he hasn't got to that one yet?
Also, long story short, a lot of stuff had to be customized, even on the emulator (he worked with VICE author) so maybe it's one of those cases still in WIP state

I'm sure it'll be in on the next versions... maybe?

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

C64 has thousands of games and he hasn't got to that one yet?
Also, long story short, a lot of stuff had to be customized, even on the emulator (he worked with VICE author) so maybe it's one of those cases still in WIP state

I'm sure it'll be in on the next versions... maybe?

GB64 counts 29k entries, so it's inevitable some hidden gems and underrated classics get missed with smaller collections.

Diamond Mine is something I never heard of when it came out, and never read any community buzz about either, but it was indeed professionally published by a small developer named "Roklan." Most of their games look pretty forgettable to me, so it's strange they happened to publish such an unusually excellent game. Kinda sucks for the original author, because no doubt could have come in to some significant fame & money if they'd hooked up with a major publisher, like Broderbund or whatnot.

Then there's hidden gems that I'd never expect to be in major collections, mostly because they were published in magazines like COMPUTE! That's right, unless you had a disk subscription, you'd have to type in such programs by hand! One example would be Omicron, easily the best riff on Omega Race I've ever seen or played. Altho graphically simple, it reworks the controls, adds new obstacles, and quickens the pace of the game in a way that improves the fun-factor.

GB64.COM - C64 Games, Database, Music, Emulation, Frontends, Reviews and Articles

 

[xenonph]

Alot of the games ported to C64 had better sound fx, compared to ports of same game on other systems.
So there are alot more gems in C64 collection, if you go by that standard.
Love these old computers, and their games!!
Each game is like a time capsule. Just like when a song plays, it brings back memories of a certain time in your life.
These games do the same for me!!
Keep these posts coming all!!
Great discussion @Isaac Sauvage !!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Hey, so what are some of your hidden gems, Charles?

I played tonnes of Apple2 and C64 games (and even some TRS-80 III stuff), but am sure I'm missing a couple good ones lost in the cracks. Later I jumped up to PC clones and Macs, and so missed almost everything unique on the Atari and Amiga lines.

So I'd love to hear about anything I might potentially have missed.

On a different note, I'll put forward a fun, unique match-3 subgenre I've rarely heard talked about anywhere. It's the "Brick Shooter" class of games. What makes this unique from other match-3 puzzles is that instead of flipping, placing or dissolving tiles as usual, instead you choose how to shoot them from the sides in order to make matches. This allows more complex and dynamic gameplay, in which you can create cascading lines of bricks to help rid yourself of unwanted tiles sitting along the sidelines. There's only one long-ass video I see on these games, here:

Like a roguelike, this is a superb type of game to play while listening to the radio, podcast or even watching TV. I recently worked through the entire M*A*S*H series online in my browser, and had the window reduced so that I could play Hex-It! (the game version I prefer) alongside.

 

[xenonph]

Well I have to start with an Apple IIe game that I played the hell out of.
(It says it was released in 1985, but I swear I was younger than 14 when I played this!!)

Moebius : The Orb of Celestial Harmony

I did tell you I wanted to be a ninja when I grew up? lol
Well in this game you need to train before you can start the adventure.
Bare Handed Combat, Sword Combat, and Mental.
If you kill a good guy, your mental status is affected.
There is alot to this game!!

Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony is a video game produced by Origin Systems and designed by Greg Malone.[1] It was originally released in 1985 for the Apple II. Versions were also released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, and MS-DOS. The game is primarily a top-down view tile-based role-playing video game, but it has action-based combat sequences which use a side view, roughly similar to games such as Karateka.

The player's objective, as a disciple of the Headmaster, is to recover the Orb of Celestial Harmony from the disciple-turned-badguy Kaimen. To do that, the player must train his body and soul in the best tradition of Chinese warriors: to "walk the path of Moebius the Windwalker." The action takes place on the four Elemental planes of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, which the player must traverse in order to recover the Orb. Although gameplay is similar to standard RPGs, there are some differences: in addition to familiar character statistics such as dexterity, the players also has karma, a crucial attribute that goes up or down constantly depending on his deeds. Frighten a citizen with a sword, and the karma will drop; defeat monsters in battle, and it will rise. Combat is also played in a 2D side-scrolling view similar to fighting games, having a wide range of attacks to use, even including shurikens and fireballs if the character is experienced enough.

Origin Systems also produced a sequel to the game, Windwalker.

I have only played the Apple IIe version and the PC version that was released later. (This game was released first and only for the Apple IIe.)
Not to be confused with another game titled Moebius by Infinite Games for C64 here..

First of all this game has lots of game keys used on keyboard, so you will have to familiarize yourself with the keys before you will begin to accomplish things.
You can find detailed instruction book here..

THE BOOK OF MOEBIUS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

THE BOOK OF MOEBIUS

archive.org

And a Reference Card here for keyboard commands.

MOCAGH.ORG: Origin Systems: moebius refcard : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

MOCAGH.ORG: Origin Systems: moebius refcard

archive.org

Here is video of game..(EDIT: this looks like the DOS version also. The Apple IIe version didn't have as good of graphics as the DOS version)

It was later upgraded and released as MS-DOS PC game...

There is really alot going on with this game, which for its time, was a top of the line gaming experience back then.
I still enjoy this game, and play it often!!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Looks like Moebius by Infinite games is a pretty humdrum land-based side-shooter. Pass on that.

Moebius by Origins is something we talked about in messages, and something I've always been curious about. I guess I'll give this enhanced C64 version below a shot, which has "trainer" options:

Moebius +2H

Commodore 64 Crack: Moebius +2H by World Funeral Productions. Released on 2008

csdb.dk

So is most of the game spent playing those fighting stages? The karma system reminds me a bit of Ultima IV, in which one had to act ethically if one wanted to become an "avatar."

You know I too was fascinated by ninjas (and samurai) in the early 80's, altho definitely from the geek side. I loved the ninja sequences in the Shogun mini-series and Frank Miller's ninja arcs in the Daredevil & Elektra comics. I also bought myself some stars from AWMA and used to practice on cardboard with fairly mediocre results, which was most definitely for the best. If I'd actually sharpened them up, who knows what hot water I might have got into.

Then there were the fun ninja and ninja-esque novels from that time. One was Shibumi by Trevanian, and another the Ninja Master series. It all seemed so vital to me, lol. Ah, and some movies from around that time were the ninja films of Sho Kosugi I believe. Even Hong Kong's Shaw Bros did a hilarious, fun film translated as Super Ninjas for English-speaking markets.

 

[xenonph]

There is alot of fighting, but only when you come across an enemy. This is how you build up your skills, and earn badges.
Basically, you want to find the good monk (There are 2 per world.), who is prisoner in Evil temple, and lead them back to their temples, but there is an evil monk in his temple you must defeat first. After liberating both temples and returning the good monks to there temples, the astral gate is opened and you can proceed to the next realm. You will have to talk to villagers for info, and sometimes they give you items.
You need to keep a supply of food and water. I mean there is alot going on in this game.
Talk to villagers bare handed or they will run and be scared of you.
When you come across an adversary, sometimes they steal some of your items, and you have to chase them down to get them back.
Also some doors you open, may set off alarms and alert the palace guards.
You can use torches at night to see better.
You use your sword to chop trails through bamboo forests.
You have to keep your sword sharp so 1 of the items you can find are whetstones.
Use these after hacking through bamboo.
Some places you will not be able to reach unless you find a hammer to break the stone. (Needed to reach the Astral gate on Earth Realm.)
You can also speak to the dead and learn magic spells, but you need to fast, before casting a spell.

 

[AnonTet]

Just like any fantasy game, hidden gems are not lacking in game format for us.
No one had access to every game on a single system, let alone all games for so many systems out there so pick any random emulator and game for it and you'll meet a new experience and that in itself it's awesome.

Even if you pick a terrible game (let's skip E.T. shall we :D ) the possibility to actually play it it's a great feeling. Even if only a feel of relief while thinking "i'm glad I never bought this one" :D

And then there's the music... I've mentioned this before but there's something in it, for me. Analog and 8-bit fuzziness is awesome :D

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

@Isaac Sauvage
I believe you are referring to eXo Apple][ collection that adds to eXoDos, eXoWin3.1, and eXoSCUMM.

I however, am not a fan of apple and to be honest, even if only for the games I still haven't seen anything that was compelling enough for me to try.

Whoops, just realised I missed this post!

The Apple2 collection is called "Total Replay" (as linked on A.O.), seemingly different from the eXo series.

Game-wise, I can understand not being a fan of the A2 if you didn't grow up with it. It had some odd color limitations and was difficult to program hires screens easily in assembly language. It also had a simple sound system, not helped by using a built-in speaker, unlike the C64. That said, I found the A2's sounds to be charmingly bird-like and insect-like. Games would routinely produce funny whistles, chirps, clicks and buzzy growls which to me sounded rather naturalistic.

There's also some excellent A2 titles that I don't believe were produced for any other systems, or if they were, tended to be poorly known. One example would be Bilestoad, in which the game would display a top-down view of knights battling each other across a world of different stages, each with their own layouts and arrangements of power discs and gates.

It's similar in concept to fighting games (like International Karate), except the difference in POV and arena changes everything. It was also surprisingly gory, and a player could actually cut an enemy's arm off or even decapitate them!

 

[AnonTet]

I saw Total Replay and I though it was a video along the lines of Long play videos showcasing games in another collection :D
I don't have time to watch videos...

And as I knew eXo Apple][ was VERY recent.. I don't think it has 2 weeks you could've been referring to that one. My bad.

 

[HZR]

When I built my first co it had to include a trackball to play this game (amoung other controllers)

Even with a 3" trackball calibrated to mimic the game's original spin ratio and a decent amount of dedication I'm afraid I was never able to beat the 1st version.

Around 3 name versions back mm2 came up... Never even really tried. I'm afraid I have this urge to smash my control panel :D

Cabinet smasher game. I remember the level with the horns that suck you in, then the level after that where there are the jumps , i dont think i ever ade it past that level.
MM 2 wouldnt eulate, i need ti grab another rom.

 

[xenonph]

@hellrzr2k1
Try this one here..
Marble Madness 2

https://archive.org/download/mame-merged/mame-merged/marblmd2.zip

 

[HZR]

@hellrzr2k1
Try this one here..
Marble Madness 2

https://archive.org/download/mame-merged/mame-merged/marblmd2.zip

keep forgetting about archive.
you guys see internet mame? its java based uses roms. pretty neat if your away soewhere and really bored.

Internet Arcade : Free Software : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive

 

[xenonph]

@hellrzr2k1
The same guy who uploaded the VPinMAME ROMs v3.5 package, also keeps the MAME collection updated. (v249)
Find here..
https://archive.org/details/mame-merged
List of other MAME goodies on page.

 

[AnonTet]

NO NO. You guys are doing it wrong.

Don't use the Archive for MAME. Why getting stuff the slow way when it is freely available?

Last wednesday of every month... usually

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Love the new avatar, duderino.

Btw, what are some more "hidden gems" you'd recommend?

I mean stuff that not many people have heard of, such as the examples above. Anyway, since it's my turn I guess, I'll give you Marauder (Sierra On-Line, 1982). Certainly, it's more of a 'borderline-hidden gem,' but for some reason wasn't nearly as popular as it deserved to be, given the excellent gameplay and concept.

So that Tiago doesn't have to sit through a long-ass video, I'll just paste the Mobygames link:

Marauder (1982) - MobyGames

In the game you are descending to a fortified enemy base to eliminate its power stations. The plot unfolds during two stages. Stage 1 - Landing. You should pilot one of three jets to break through a set of lasers, turrets, flying bombs, and barriers....

www.mobygames.com

Haha, somehow they chose the absolute worst graphics possible, but trust me, it looks and plays vastly better than those screen-caps. The game involves two stages: 1) a space shooter in which one must carefully neutralise the enemy planet's defenses, and 2) a top-down espionage stage in which one must maneuver past (and blast) enemy guards in order to take out the power reactor, then frantically make one's way back to the ship before the base blows up.

Play it now and thank me later. It's an incredibly well-designed, fun game.

 

[xenonph]

Not sure about "unknown gem", but I played this game alot on Apple IIe computer.
Bruce Lee!
Basically you had to break all the lanterns in the first level to get the passage to second level to open.
While avoiding the ninja and sumo wrestler.
Here is what the original game on Apple IIe looked like..


Well a Remake was made of this awesome game where they upgraded the graphics, and it looks great!!





There is an option to play remake, original, and some other options you will love!!
Find Remake here..

Free Windows remake of Bruce Lee (Ultimate)

Ovine has done it again! This remake of the ultimate fighting classic Bruce Lee is not just a remake, it's a tribute to the original. Whilst being totally polished graphically, the distinctive sounds are left untouched and the game play is simply superb. If you need to get in touch with a little...

www.classic-retro-games.com

If you can't figure out how to download it from their site, I added as attachment here.
Extract contents to its own folder and run the bruceLee.exe.

Notice my favorites always have something to do with Martial Arts?
Love this game!!

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Major classic!
And like you point out, just as with Prince of Persia, the variations and new adventures upon such are straight-up awesome!

<3

 

[TerryRed]

Man, Bruce Lee... played that on my C64! Love seeing remakes of classic games like that.

 

[AnonTet]

I played Bruce Lee on the ZX Spectrum, of course (you might already realized that I grew up with it :) ) but also on the spectrum, Marauder which is a different game apparently and one I really liked and suggest. It's basically a shmup but as it is on the ground it plays like Commando :)

One other game on the small ZX that I played quite a bit because of my 2-wheel passion since before I even remember (according to my mother memories) was Super Scramble. It may not be an hidden gem but since I was the source of the game to all my friends back then maybe that's why I think it was less known. You have top and scroll sideways views and you have to get through a trial course by controlling speed, manual gear shifts and motorcycle placement on the track.

And one of the best "arkanoid" games for me, to this day, also on the little ZX Spectrum, Krakout (1987 gremlin software). It plays sideways, it is colorful, has powerups, some gameplay options and it's just fun. I actually prefer it to the arcade Arkanoid (1 & 2) even if I miss using a spinner :D
Also no idea if it's known or not for teh general public but it was a nice surprise for me when I found about it.

I recall posting some more unknown games on the arcade before so it's a matter of searching here.

In other platforms, like C64 where everything is new to me it's hard to say.

But now i'm thinking about Megadrive/Genesis Alisia Dragoon for some reason... Can can still hum the tune :D

 

[GeorgeH]

I guess I am older than you guys. All I remember playing is Pong and PacMan.

 

[xenonph]

@GeorgeH
Pong started it all!!
I remember playing Pong! We bought the package at Radio Shack. (This was the only video game for homes before the Atari 2600 came out.)
Pacman came out in the 80's. I always tried to make my own pattern, but was not very successful.
That is what is great about MAME.
I can practice trying to make winning pattern on pacman, and it doesn't cost me a quarter every time.
When I was a kid, I didn't have many spare quarters.

 

[AnonTet]

"quarters" (in US, not here...)
That's why we got good really fast at games. It came out of our pockets.
Now you have rewinds, state saves, save points, trainers... Before you either got sharp or you'll only lose money and that wasn't fun.

BTW Do you know you can win Shinobi without firing a single shuriken and/or that power up shot? You also get a bonus at the end of every stage if you do which increases your score considerably.

I could only ever do it on teh first stage though... but I could otherwise one coin the game pretty much every time back in the day.

/edit
Post updated.

 

[xenonph]

"quarters" (in US, not here...)
That's why we got good really fast at games. It came out of our pockets.
Now you have rewinds, state saves, save points, trainers... Before you either got sharp or you'll only lose money and that wasn't fun.

BTW Do you know you can win Shinobi without firing a single shuriken and/or that power up shot? You also get a bonus at the end of every stage if you do which increases your score considerably.

I could only ever do it on teh first stage though... but I could otherwise one coin the game pretty much every time back in the day.

Yes I love the save states option in emulators and specially in MAME!!
This is how I conquered Black Tiger by Capcom. (Game I based my Black Tiger Pinball table on!)
I could play that game for long time on 1 quarter!! (Street Fighter was another Arcade game I could play for quite awhile on 1 quarter.)
With Save States I was able to beat the Black Tiger game!
(Also unlimited supply of virtual quarters helped.)

I love the Shinobi game series!!
I actually have archived almost every system at GameFAQ's site, so I have all the walkthroughs and special codes for all the games, for all the systems.
Also the box art and instruction manuals.

I wanted to create for myself like an offline encyclopedia with all this info included.
Turned out pretty good! (Still working on this on and off.)

Speaking of Sega, I wouldn't mind trying to make a VPX version of Crue Ball! (Loved this Sega game!!!)

 

[AnonTet]

The only Street Figher I could finish with 1 coin was SF2: World Warrior. But I did it with all characters but Zangief
The easiest to win with was with Chun Li! it's a grab and throw fest with that one :D
Been a long time since then and i'm VERY lucky if can reach Vega nowadays...