ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

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akeley
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ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by akeley »

Sorry folks, I was away this weekend and didn't manage to rustle up a vote. So let's see what has the RNG blessed/cursed us with...

Mikie (Imagine, 1985, chosen by Greencard)

Hunchback (Ocean, 1984, chosen by R-Tape)

The round ends at midnight on Sunday 27th September. Look out for THE RETURN OF KOSMIC KANGA!!!11! a bonus game on Wednesday!

New players can still join in, at any time. Rules of this HSC are written up here and here, any questions please ask.

So, another brilliant arcade port by Imagine (yet another game I haven't seen in +3 decades, looking forward to it). And Hunchback, game I know nothing about, so hopefully it'll turn out to be as great as KK.

It's the penultimate round, time flies, eh? So get ta steppin', try to max out your scores and climb up that ranking ladder. Good luck!

EDIT: there seems to be a bugfixed version available for Mikie, probably best to play this one?
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by cmal »

Nice selection. Haven't played Hunchback for years. Hardly played Mikie at all so it'll be a new thing to get into.
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by clebin »

Looking forward to this round. Hunchback is one of the few games I ever remember seeing my Dad play, who is a massive technophobe. I was never particularly good at Mikie, but I enjoyed it. Haven't played either for decades, so I'm interested to see how they've held up.
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I have some kind of phobia to the 2nd screen of Hunchback, it's almost impossible for me to pass! Let's see how does it go this time...
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by GreenCard »

akeley wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:20 amEDIT: there seems to be a bugfixed version available for Mikie, probably best to play this one?
I've never played the bugfixed version, but I'm assuming it sorts out a bug in which teachers would appear in the "middle" lane of the corridors and therefore be impossible to pass. Quite looking forward to seeing how far I can get without that happening, it was usually what would make me lose all of my lives. It's been a long time since I've played Mikie, so I'm interested to see if I've still got "the skills". :)

EDIT: Nope, just had a look in the archive, and the bugfix is to fix a crash that would sometimes happen on achieving a perfect round. I didn't even know this bug existed. Guess I'm not as good at it as I thought I was! :lol:
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

My first attempts:

Hunchback: 9,000
Mikie: 7,800

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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by GreenCard »

My first scores for the week...

Mikie: 76,800
Hunchback: 13,500
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Morkin »

Quite looking forward to playing these.

It's been a while but from what I remember Mikie is good solid arcade fun. Hunchback has issues (like with the swinging ropes) but I remember enjoying playing it a bit.
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by GreenCard »

More scores!

Mikie: 156,300 (new)
Hunchback: 43,000 (new)

That's definitely the highest I've ever scored on Hunchback. Those arrows that go from left to right are ridiculous!
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Morkin »

...Good scores, particularly the Hunchback one. I had a couple of goes earlier today.

Hunchback - 25,200
Mikie - 52,600

I think I can probably do better with some practice, on Mikie I didn't bother going for the bonuses though I probably could have.

Glad to see that [mention]Juan F. Ramirez[/mention] seems to have conquered his fear of pits and swinging ropes... :lol:
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Morkin wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:44 pm Glad to see that @Juan F. Ramirez seems to have conquered his fear of pits and swinging ropes... :lol:
HSCH as a therapy! :mrgreen:

New scores!

Mikie: 9,000
hunchback: 18,900

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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by akeley »

I also have a phobia of swinging ropes, pits and a general gaming vertigo, which is why platformers are my last favourite genre. Unfortunately Hunchback won't be a game to cure me of these afflictions, because I hate it dearly :)

Out of ~20 tries on that accursed second screen I think I managed to catch the rope in maybe 2. Even though I was actually on it most of the time. Aaarrrghh !!!1! Talk about lousy & unfair collision detection. Next screen after that was not much better so I probably won't be playing Hunchback much.

Thank god for Mikie. Though it does not bode well for my 2nd-place defense...
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by R-Tape »

Hunchback 34900. I love this game.

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Ropey strategies:

Getting on: stand near the edge, jump when the rope is truncating about halfway along the bottom of the 'B'.
Getting off: when the rope is just about to hit the 'N', jump off. This is harder than getting on.
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by clebin »

Mikie - 56,200
Hunchback - 79,500

First scores of the week. Hunchback is kind of crap but also loads more fun than it has any right to be. Mikie has the opposite effect on me - it's a cool game but less fun than I expected. [mention]R-Tape[/mention]'s tip for the swinging ropes in Hunchback helped a bit- the margin of error is ridiculous!
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by cmal »

Both games are enjoyable but I prefer Mikie. Hunchback was probably the 3rd or 4th game I ever played on the Spectrum back in 1984 or so. I couldn't get very far. I don't think I ever passed the rope swinging. Not a bad game for an early title but too unforgiving.
I have never played Mikie before. Loaded it up once but I didn't know what to do. Thanks to Youtube I saw what to do this time. Now to get more practice at these.

Hunchback: 18,900
Mikie: 23,400


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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Morkin »

clebin wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 10:33 pm Mikie - 56,200
Hunchback - 79,500

First scores of the week. Hunchback is kind of crap but also loads more fun than it has any right to be. Mikie has the opposite effect on me - it's a cool game but less fun than I expected. @R-Tape's tip for the swinging ropes in Hunchback helped a bit- the margin of error is ridiculous!
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Great Hunchback score... :o

Though you appear to have stepped in two fireballs... :)
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by clebin »

Morkin wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 8:37 am Great Hunchback score... :o

Though you appear to have stepped in two fireballs... :)
Ha! Yes, Quasimodo's novelty slippers!
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Morkin »

Hunchback is an interesting game for a high-score comp - do you only score points when you complete a screen...?

I'd also forgotten about the bonus if you can complete screens without losing a life. Might push a few people ahead in the scoring if they manage to 'git gud'...

Am still struggling with the ropes. Sometimes I can get over first time, other times I lose every single life. There's a big discrepancy between knowing how to do it and actually doing it... :oops:
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by akeley »

My strategy for Hunchback is not to play it 8-)

Ok,ok, I guess I will have one more stab at it. Just one. Should get on Mikie too...hopefully tonight.

BONUS GAME BONUS GAME BONUS GAME BONUS GAME BONUS GAME BONUS GAME BONUS GAME

This week it's another trip to 1982. And your chance to wreak havoc on, or make Britain Great again.

Great Britain Limited (1982, Hessel Software)

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Yes, it's a management sim, probably not as good as Yes, Prime Minister or 1984 but amusing nonethelss. It also lets me mention the fun (to me) fact that I've met the No 10 cat once ='_'=

Let's see how many years will you manage to survive and perhaps the Treasury score?
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

"Playing with hair in a mess obligatory"
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by clebin »

Mikie - 103,800
Hunchback - 100,200
Great Britain Ltd - Year 5

Some new scores. I don't know why but I'm enjoying Mikie more today.

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Shades of 2010 as my Labour administration collapses to defeat in GB Ltd... must. resist. political. commentary.

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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by akeley »

clebin wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:55 pm must. resist. political. commentary.
Haha yeah, I knew it'd be tough...got the same urges (especially after seeing JFR's brilliant scenario). Think of it as an additional challenge...
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Living at 10, Downing St. hasn't been a good experience for me... :cry:

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No changes in:

Mikie: 9,000
Hunchback: 18,900
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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by smurphboy »

Mikie: 21200 - just as tough as I remember it. But a great conversion of the arcade game but still has that Joffa style shining through.

Hunchback: 16000 - I never really played this back in the day, despite it being on my first C-45 of 'swapped' games. And I can see why. Controls are annoying and the timing is too exact for my taste. Offset pixel perfect jumps... meh.

GB Ltd: 160 seats but ended up in opposition to a CON / LAB coalition! - this is a great little game. The tune is dodgy AF but the dynamics of the variables is fun to work out. I can keep unemployment down but inflation just spirals... Need to work at this a little

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Re: ZX HSC Round 9 - Mikie / Hunchback

Post by smurphboy »

Scores in progress....

Mikie

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Hunchback

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GB Ltd

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