As I mentioned in an earlier post a couple months ago, I've been trying for ages to crack the Famicom Galaxian record. Well, at least I've been trying to break the only Famicom Galaxian record that I've been able to find, which was set in 1985 by someone named Hitoki from Gunma prefecture and reported in my Hishousakusen Mecha Guide.
That record was 85,030 points. It pales in comparison to the arcade record listed at Twin Galaxies, which is somewhere over 1,000,000 points but its still a pretty good score. I've never gotten within 20,000 points of it. Until today. Today I finally did it: 97,720 points! Yes!
I had the game of my life. I didn't even loose my first life until just after hitting 70,000.
The best part of breaking the record is that I can finally stop playing Galaxian!! Galaga is way better.
Anyway, short post but I couldn't wait to tell everyone - no point in setting a new high score otherwise:)
Oh and to end this on a petty note: IN YOUR FACE, Hitoki from Gunma in 1985! Oh yeah!
Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, it'd be really funny if by some crazy twist of fate this Hitoki guy was actually a reader of your site and, seeing his record had been beaten, rushed to beat YOUR record and somehow contact you saying he did. But what are the chances of that happening?!
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, congratulations on that world record, dude! :D
Discoalucard - thanks!
ReplyDeleteSkyrunner - LOL, THAT would be cool! Maybe I should try to look him up or something!
congrats, but did you take your photo in accordance with the Nintendo Power rules? You need a photo of the screen WITH the console in the same shot to make sure you weren't using a game Genie (did that even make it to japan?)
ReplyDeleteI only say this because I am bitter that my Stunt Race FX Time trial best never made it into Nintendo Power because I failed to show the console in the picture.
Seriously though, That is a way impressive score. I'm way to ADD to be able to do that good a job on a classic (pre 1989) game.
Oh man, no I didn't! Just took a picture of the screen!
ReplyDeleteActually that is an interesting question, I'm not sure if the Game Genie was ever released over here. I've never seen one, so if it did it definitely wasn't as famous as the NES Game Genie.
I doubt Galoob released one over there, But I wonder if perhaps someone else did (after all, in later years on later systems the GG did have a few competitors like the Game Shark and that crazy time-reversal device).
ReplyDeleteYou should record some Famicom stuff and start a Youtube page with it. There is a guy called Luke Morse1 who also lives in Japan and has posted over 1000 videos on all sorts of gaming stuff like the Hard off stores, Famicom Disk system belt replacements etc etc. Not sure if you have ever seen his videos but if not it is well worth checking out.Anyway if you ever do it I'll be your 1st subscriber for sure!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely possible, Ecto glow! I'll have to take a look around, I might stumble across one in a shop someday!
ReplyDeleteZen Lunatic - thanks, I'll check that guy's Youtube page out! Hard Off stores are sometimes pretty awesome places to find retro games (though they can just as easily disappoint). I might get around to something like that, but I hate the sound of my own voice on video:)
Nice job! I'm terrible at Galaxian, but I love the game nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteWow, congrats Sean! Great effort! :) My favourite game of this type is Galaga '88 on the PC Engine but I very much doubt I could ever achieve a top score. Where was your dog during your hi-score run? Nowhere to be seen I'm willing to bet! :P
ReplyDeleteThanks Sean and Simon!
ReplyDeleteI love Galaga on the Famicom, Simon, I'll have to try the PC Engine version sometime if I can find one!
*coughMagicEnginecough* :P
ReplyDeleteJust looked "Magice Engine" up. Oh I don't know....using an emulator for the first time would be a big step for me.....:)
ReplyDeleteIn Dave Barry's book "Dave Barry Does Japan." He went to Japan with his family in like 1991/2. And while they're in Kyoto, he visits the Nintendo headquarters with his son and he says that his son asked them about the Game Genie, but the person they were talking to at Nintendo had no idea what they were talking about. So, I guess it's either because it never came to Japan or the person didn't want to acknowledge a 3rd party accessory.
ReplyDeleteAlso, although parts of it are outdated, Dave Barry Does Japan is still my favorite book about Japan. A lot of it is still true.
I love Dave Barry. When I was in high school I read most of his books, but for some reason I never got around to reading Dave Barry Does Japan. Everybody tells me it is such a great book about Japan, but its hard to track down a copy of it over here.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that he visited the Nintendo headquarters while here, now I REALLY have to read that book:)
Yeah, I became a fan of Dave Barry in high school too. And since I was taking Japanese classes in high school and planning to go on the exchange, when I found out that he wrote a book about Japan I bought it immediately. It actually prepared me for some aspects of Japan, even though it is so old.
ReplyDeleteI think the best part about it, is that, because it's Dave Barry, it's not pretentious at all like some other books about Japan I've read (*cough cough* Japanland *cough cough*). He just tells it how he says it. Really excellent book.
After they leave the Nintendo HQ, their tour guide (a native of Kyoto) brings them to the infamous "Nintendo Playing Card Co." plaque. Which I keep meaning to seek out when I go to Kyoto, but haven't had the chance.
Also, Sean, I got your Famicom Games yesterday. Awesome selection! Thanks again!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteGreat, I'm glad the games got there, I hope you enjoy the ones I sent. Route 16 is a particular favorite of mine, I think it was only released in Japan.
I totally have to read that book now. Just talking about it makes me kind of nostalgic for high school. Does he still have a column?
I agree too, a lot of books about Japan like that can be extremely pretentious. I haven't read Japanland, but I have stuff like Alex Kerr in mind.
Yeah! At first I was really confused with Route 16, but after consulting Wikipedia and finally understanding it, I'm having a lot of fun with it. Also, I've forgotten how fun Yoshi's Cookie is too. I'm glad you included the Gegege no Kitaro game too. You were right, all of the games you included are definitely enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely buy Famicom games from you again. Since, they're so hard to get over here and it's better to get them from you rather than some hawker on eBay. Do you still have that Tetsuwan Atom cart? I noticed it after we made our deal, if you do, I might be interested in picking it up with some other games in the future. If not, don't worry about it.
Unfortunately, Dave Barry retired from writing a weekly column a few years back.
Yes, Route 16 confused me a bit too, but once you get the hang of it I think its pretty cool. Gegege no Kitaro is a fun one too, my wife had it when she was a kid and is a firm favorite.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check for that Tetsuwan Atom cart, I know I sold one but I might have another. If I dont though I can probably find one in my travels at some point!
Bit late to seeing this, but well done! I once found a high-score entry for Pinball on the Famicom (I think it was Twin Galaxies), and was stunned to find that I had beaten the listed score on a few occasions. I never took a photo, but perhaps I should. Then again whoever submitted it obviously wasn't trying very hard.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sketcz! Browsing Twin Galaxies I have also been surprised at how low some of the scores listed are. Often times it seems the top 1 or 2 scores are quite high, but the ones lower down on the list are basically just average scores that anybody could get with minimal practice. Not sure why the people even bother submitting their names, I guess because it is easy!
ReplyDeleteA WINNER IS YOU!!!
ReplyDelete