What Am I Playing Right Now #09

I’m not out of the 8-bit Contra woods yet. In fact, I have two Game Boy games (one of which is Super Game Boy enabled) and the Contra that isn’t a Contra in Contra Force left. I can’t believe the Sega Master System didn’t get its own Contra, or even a port of the NES/arcade ones. So, that puts me three games away from Contra III on the Super NES. Actually, two games away. Yes, I’ll do it before the Game Boy port. No, I’m not doing the Game Boy Advance version. In fact, it’s unlikely I’ll ever review many Game Boy Advance versions of SNES games here at IGC. It just doesn’t interest me as much, with one obvious exception: the Super Mario Advance series. If I ever review the NES Mario games, I’m far more likely to do the GBA versions. Besides, I have a lot of other older games to play. Like Konami’s Metamorphic Force, which just released to Arcade Archives. I think it’s the first ever release of this game. I might do that.

That’s Haunted Halloween from my friends at Retrotainment games. They offered me a demo of this, but I have a strict “no demo” policy and so I’ll wait for the finished game. For your consideration, here’s their (already funded) Kickstarter campaign. If you want the NES cart and not just the ROM, that’s where you get it. I don’t want to know very much about the game. I didn’t even watch the trailer above. I’m going to review this when it comes out, and I want to be ice cold for it. But, they’re good folk. So, what AM I playing?

Nope.

I have a busy IGC/TPC weekend. Contra Force is next. We’re delaying Camp Bloodbrook coverage, at least for Pinball FX. It’s not ready. I assume the mode start isn’t meant to drop balls between the flippers to the degree it does. This is not “challenge.” This is just awful design, BUT, it doesn’t happen on “normal physics” so we assume this isn’t meant to happen. The problem is, we don’t happen to like the normal physics either. Our options are (A) review now and give it straight scores of THE PITS because none of us can have fun with a table where the mode start might qualify as the worst pinball shot of the year or (B) assume the table is broken but it will be fixed. We’re going with option B for now. In attempting to duel on “realistic” physics we had a Vice Family first: everyone tilted at least once. This weekend, we’re going to play on Pinball M and might have to split the review, assuming it works on M. Also, Princess Bride was patched extensively, including fixing some houseball issues. So we’ll be playing that.

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And, we’re going to look at some of the tables exclusive to AtGames Legends and Legends4K tables. Now, almost all Zen tables will eventually be on the digital pinball machines built and sold by AtGames (UPDATE: I meant ONLY the 4K tables. Zen’s tables will NEVER be on the standard Legends Pinball or the Legends Pinball Micro), but the magicians behind Zaccaria Pinball have AtGames exclusive tables, including ones based on Taito games. The Taito pins are mostly tables inspired by classic 70s and 80s pins. For example, the table based on Elevator Action above is actually a reworking of the 1984 Gottlieb (Mylstar) classic Alien Star. Sasha, heir apparent to IGC, wants to work on these with me. Let’s do it! And hey.. wait.. if Zen is working with AtGames and Magic Pixel are working with AtGames.. does this mean older Williams/Bally pins could possibly hit? Throw us a bone, gang! Surely the two companies can come to some kind of arrangement.