To cheat or not to cheat...

Supporter (14)

30-07-2009, 14:21

Hi...
I just wanted to make a survey whether the new PCs increased or decreased our skills in playing old MSX games.
The new emulators give us the ability to use cheats to facilitate the gaming process, but this might reduce our skills or focus on playing the game itself.
N.B. I believe those emulators made my day, and I enjoyed playing many games more than before, but I just wanted to know who are enjoying themselves by themselves and just are using emulators as a mean to an end

Personally, I can completely finish the following game types without using any cheats:
- Nemesis (1, 2, and 3), Salamander, SpaceManbow, Parodius... etc.,
- The Goonies,
- Kung-Fu II,
- Penguin Adventure,
- Metal gear and Solid Snake,
- The Castle and Castle Excellent,
- Quarth,
- The treasure of Usas,

N.B. I consider the Konami GameMaster, for example, as a means for cheat. Also, this is not the complete list, I finish many others as well, and I need your ones be added here to remind me

I don't finish the following without using cheats (someway or another)
- Vampire Killer,
- Kinghtmare,
- King's Valley II,
- Golvellius (I use passes),
- Zanac EX,
- Psycho World (I cheat in the files),

For King's Valley II, I've (just like many others have) made a program to give me the required password (knowing the required lives and the stage numbers). I finished all the 60 stages 15 years ago, but I remember only few of them now.

Для того, чтобы оставить комментарий, необходимо регистрация или !login

By nikodr

Paladin (750)

30-07-2009, 14:36

I always remember Boaccjlm from the last stage of king's valley 2 ,even more than 17 years ago that i used to play it on my msx.
However i typed so many times that password (and i had to play SO MANY TIMES stage 60 till i could finish it) ,that it became reflex memory

By ashry

Supporter (14)

30-07-2009, 14:46

Any idea why most people have similar histories in this regard???
Was the game designed in a way that you must repeat it several times?

I always remember ...
(and i had to play SO MANY TIMES stage 60 till i could finish it)...

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5684)

30-07-2009, 15:10

Well, it seems that with the coming of age, my gaming skills declined together with the time I have left to play games (waaaaay to little).

In this regard, save states are the best thing ever.

I don't mean, like, doing quick save state after each jump that goes good or when you manage to do something without getting hit, since this really kills the gameplay and is no fun.

What I really mean is using it when you would normally have had to change disks, or leave the computer on, etc.

I don't really use cheats though, usually not the in-game built ones (maybe only to test) and certainly no emulator-endorsed cheats.

I believe openMSX has quite some cheating possibilities.

By LeandroCorreia

Paladin (963)

30-07-2009, 15:25

I can finish Thexder without using cheats. I did it at the MSX Rio.

[EDIT] And without using the shield too.

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5684)

30-07-2009, 16:49

@ LeandroCorreia
I find that quite impressing.

By LeandroCorreia

Paladin (963)

30-07-2009, 17:00

@ LeandroCorreia
I find that quite impressing.

Not so impressive after you know where the secret items are. As soon as I have time, I´ll upload a video.

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5684)

30-07-2009, 17:21

Looking forward to that!

By Leo

Paragon (1236)

30-07-2009, 19:10

I remember 20yr ago i played nemesis and finished it and it started from stage 1 again !
and i looped like that for 8 times !!!!! with 1 live !!!!
the computer was burning it has been lighted on for 3 days and 2 nights !!!
after 8 times i got bored and just turned it off ...

Otherwise i finished usas, knightmare and yie arkung fu ii back in the 80's.
I also finished dragon slayer 6 in japanese it took me loooong time , at the end i programmed by hand my own data with a zilllion gold , zillion experience , and the possibility to set any X,Y coordinates in the world , i think back in that time i completly executed the mission in the wrong order !!!!
I think i finished psycho world normally ...
I never enjoyed much playing on emulators ... just feel like a loosy Pc game.

By jltursan

Prophet (2619)

30-07-2009, 19:22

Long time ago I was able to do speed runs of Sorcery, Disc Warrior, Zanac or Magical Kid Wiz games; but now I can barely remember how to start the games (thanks god most of them use the space bar! ). Well, that's not totally true, I'm still pretty good playing "Xyxolog"

Lately I've been able to finish "Space Manbow" by means of the emus quicksave feature; but definitely I'm not a game player at all...

By konamiman

Paragon (1211)

01-08-2009, 01:03

Games I can remember right now to have finished at least once, without cheats (in no particular grouping):

- Gradius 1/2/3, Salamander, Parodius, Space Manbow
- F1 Spirit, Maze of Galious, Vampire Killer, Metal Gear 1/2, Usas
- King's Valley 2, Penguin Adventure, The Goonies, Quarth, Pippols
- Snatcher, SD-Snatcher, Gryzor, Nyancle Racing, Hinotori, Hydefos
- Aleste 1/2, Zanac, Zanac Ex, Mister Ghost, Gal Force, Ship
- Golvellius 2, Undeadline, Laydock 2, Xak 3, Super Cooks
- Psycho World, Fire Hawk, Lazy Jones, Green Beret, Breaker
- Pentaro Odissey 1/2, Pumpkin Adventure 3, Paradream, Kyokugen

And now some ultra-freak bonus facts:

- I got once 5000 points on Hyper Somen. At that point the game became just too boring for me so I switched off the computer.
- The only way I can finish Salamander, is with one single live. If I get killed once, I must just start over.
- I once finished Gradius playing in R800 mode. It was quite funny.
- I could not go beyond the first world on Head Over Heels, even with cheats.
- I put once an infinite lives cheat to Gauntlet. After a full afternoon, I reached the end of the cassette tape. Only then I realized that the game was endless.
- I managed to have a SD Snatcher saved game with the best weapons and the maximum possible values for life, money, ammunition and drugs. But I used no cheats to achieve that, just normal gameplay.
- One day I was very bored and I started typing random password in Kings Valley 2. One of these passwords got me to stage 4 with 99 lives.
- The only game I have created a cheat for by myself is Jet Set Willy 2. I managed to patch it for having infinite lives. Unfortunately that was a long time ago and I have lost that patched copy.
- About Jet Set Willy 2, it is the only game whose melody is nowadays remembered by my father and my sister! Did I play that much to that game??