Justin

This is GREAT! I always loved F-ZERO and it was the first game I had on Super Nintendo also. We have more SNES High Score Squad Challenges coming up, I hope you'll join in!

Pole Position II Atari 7800 Controller: CONTROLLER / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE Difficulty Level: FUJI Achieve high score to win challenge Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔ Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST August 31st, 2019 OBJECTIVE: Play for the highest possible score racing on the FUJI Track in Pole Position II. Post a photo or video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between August 15th through August 31st, 2019. Screen captures are not allowed as they are easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor! ELIGIBILITY: Anyone can join in. All players are welcome! PLAY RULES: Achieve high score to win Grand Prix Challenge. Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following rules and game settings as delineated in the Squad Challenge. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed. DIFFICULTY LEVEL: We are racing on the FUJI Track on Pole Position II. Players will select FUJI at the title screen. FAIR PLAY: Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that no use of cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, Photoshop, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage is allowed. Everybody hates a cheater. MORE: To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: https://forums.atari.io/topic/1219-high-score-squad-how-to-play/ MESSAGE: Welcome to our 67th Squad Challenge, the 2019 Pole Position II Grand Prix! This will be our second Pole Position II Grand Prix Event! This year the Grand Prix will be a little different: This year's challenge will only be for half a month and we will only be racing the FUJI Track in an attempt to achieve your best high score! Last year the Grand Prix lasted for the entire month and we raced all four tracks for the best lap time. This year we are keeping things simple: We are racing for the best possible score on the FUJI Track. Pole Position is one of the most iconic arcade games released by Atari and was genre-defining for its time, setting a new standard of what racing gameplay could be like. Pole Position II of course was the pack-in title for the Atari 7800, and is often remembered as the first game 7800 owners played on their new game system. I have so many wonderful memories of playing Pole Position at Chuck E. Cheese's with my family, shifting gears and whipping around corners with a cheese stick in my hand and a cup of root beer on the floor under my feet. Pole Position II was also one of my favorite games to play at home and a wonderful memory on the Atari 7800. ROM and Instruction Manual are provided below. Good luck to everyone playing! NOTE: Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be for Sega Genesis. Be there! Pole_Position_II.a78 Pole_Position_II.pdf

Congratulations btbfilms76! Congratulations @btbfilms76 on your high score! I hope you guys enjoyed checking out Ninja Spirit on TurboGrafx-16! How does this ninja game compare with Shinobi on Sega MasterSystem? @Atari Creep and @atarilbc likened Ninja Spirit to a shmup, I've never thought of it that way but that's a great point. There's a ton of action and a ton moving around the screen at the same time, especially once you get some powerups and body doubles. You guys posted some seriously impressive scores on a very challenging Single Life Run. @btbfilms76 topped out at 264,200, I came in 2nd with 244,800, @Control Issues had 156,700, @atarilbc with 128,900, @RickR with 105,500, and @Atari Creep rounds things out with 104,500. Congrats to everyone who played! I'd like to encourage @btbfilms76 to post his new high score on the Scoreboard, and maybe this Challenge can continue on! Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be for the Atari 7800! NINJA SPIRIT SINGLE LIFE RUN FINAL STANDINGS 1 BTBFILMS76 264,200 2 JUSTIN 244,800 3 CONTROL ISSUES 156,700 4 ATARILBC 128,900 5 RICKR 105,500 6 ATARI CREEP 104,500

I'm glad you liked it @RickR! It's a fantastic game, and another example of the kind of fun games they had on TurboGrafx that were unfortunately overlooked at the time. So glad you were able to join in on this and try this game out!

I should've responded to this sooner. Some TG games can be very quick with displaying the score. On this one, if you miss it, just give it a minute for the game to end again and it will still display your high score as long as you don't power down the console.

Hey guys, glad to see so much participation in a TurboGrafx challenge! This is a really great game and I was hoping you guys would like it. I spent hours playing and this is the best I could do. I've been meaning to do a livestream but it didn't work out. I may go back and play this game live on Instagram and YouTube later in the week. My High Score: 244,800 Played the real game on real hardware using real Duo Pad controllers

I've never had that happen to me before. I would have addressed it sooner had I seen it. Thanks guys.

Yes, this was what was happening when the top image on the main page of the site had disappeared. The top image carousel was not appearing and some people were receiving strange messages about updating Adobe Flash (which we don't use on the home page, I made a conscious effort to not use Flash anything when building this version of the site in 2014). I thought this was all part of one problem that had been resolved. Now it appears it's possibly two different problems. Thanks guys.

Ninja Spirit TurboGrafx-16 Controller: CONTROLLER / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE Difficulty Level: PC-Engine Mode (Press Button I) SINGLE LIFE RUN: Achieve high score using only one life to win challenge Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔ Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST August 14th, 2019 OBJECTIVE: Play for the highest possible score using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between August 1st through August 14th, 2019. Screen captures are not allowed as they are easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor! ELIGIBILITY: Anyone can join in. All players are welcome! PLAY RULES: Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following rules and game settings as delineated in the Squad Challenge. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed. DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Press Button I to begin PC-Engine Mode. In the PC-Engine Mode, you begin the game with five energy points and three lives. In the more difficult Arcade Mode, you begin the game with only one energy point. We are playing the game in PC-Engine Mode. SINGLE LIFE RUN: You are only allowed ONE LIFE to achieve your high score in this Squad Challenge. FAIR PLAY: Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that no use of cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, Photoshop, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage is allowed. Everybody hates a cheater. MORE: To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: https://forums.atari.io/topic/1219-high-score-squad-how-to-play/ MESSAGE: Welcome to our 66th Squad Challenge! This time we're playing Ninja Spirit for the TurboGrafx-16! Ninja Spirit was released as a HuCard (TurboChip) for the TurboGrafx systems, and was included as a pack-in title with most TurboDuo game systems sold in the US! I think you'll find that Ninja Spirit is one of the stand-out titles among the US releases for TurboGrafx. It's a fun game with powerful jumps, different power ups and some serious ninja strategy. This has become my go-to game when I'm craving a ninja game. I should also apologize to you guys for posting this Squad Challenge five days late. I always try to post these on time. I have been absolutely swamped with work and have been distracted from the site and from playing games for the past few weeks. I'm here though, and this is going to be a great game for those of you just discovering the TurboGrafx-16. This is a SINGLE LIFE RUN Challenge, and you are only allowed ONE LIFE to achieve your high score in this Squad Challenge. ROM and Instruction Manual are provided below. Good luck to everyone playing! NOTE: Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be for Atari 7800. Be there! Ninja Spirit.pdfNinja Spirit.pce

Congratulations RickR! Congratulations @RickR on your ULTIMATE score! I want to thank EVERYBODY for participating in our little event this year, and for celebrating the life and works of Howard Scott Warshaw who went for so many years without recognition, carrying "the blame" for the video game crash. I hope doing HSWDAY once a year is a fun way to break out these old games and appreciate them for what they are. I hope everyone had a good time playing Ultimate Yars!. Congrats to @RickR @greenween @atarilbc @TrekMD @kamakazi20012 and @Atari Creep for being among the most elite Yars' Revenge players! I'd like to encourage RickR to post his new high score on the Scoreboard, and maybe this Challenge can continue on! Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be for the TurboGrafx-16! ULTIMATE YARS FINAL STANDINGS 1 RICKR 216,578 2 GREENWEEN 212,454 3 ATARILBC 109,885 4 TREKMD 67,007 5 KAMAKAZI20012 49,420 6 ATARI CREEP 37,092

Thank you @atarilbc! I love that you picked up on that. I think a lot of us grew up playing the default game variations. Mixing up the game variations and looking for the most challenging mix is a fun way to change things up and find new ways to enjoy these common titles. It's definitely been a fun approach to High Score Squad.

Congratulations atarilbc! Congratulations @atarilbc on a most excellent high score! Did you guys enjoy Robotron on the 7800? I'd like to offer @RetroGameBoyz a very special welcome to the forums! The new dual-pad Atari 2600/7800 controller is a great new addition to the platform! You guys posted some seriously impressive scores on a very challenging game. All of you give yourself a pat on the back, I hope you all had fun with this one! Congrats to everyone who played! I'd like to encourage atarilbc to post his new high score on the Scoreboard, and maybe this Challenge can continue on! Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be for the TurboGrafx-16! ROBOTRON: 2084 FINAL STANDINGS 1 ATARILBC 408,475 2 CHAS10E 278,350 3 RICKR 231,675 4 GREENWEEN 160,025 5 KAMAKAZI20012 138,200 6 ATARI CREEP 134,800 7 CONTROL ISSUES 68,050

I had reports of this about a month ago from another member. Asking to "update Adobe Flash" etc. I thought we had this sorted out, I'll have to reexamine the issue which I believed to be a conflict in Wordpress. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Hehe that was an inside joke, he was the head of the department I believe 😂

Yars' Revenge Atari 2600 Controller: CONTROLLER / KEYBOARD / PLAYER'S CHOICE Difficulty Level: GAME 6 - ULTIMATE YARS! Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔ Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST June 30th, 2019 HOWARD SCOTT WARSHAW DAY: July 30th is our 6th Annual Howard Scott Warshaw Day! Howard was a game designer at Atari who was responsible for creating some of the 2600’s most memorable titles. Howard’s birthday is July 30th. We’ve chosen HSW's birthday to celebrate Howard’s creations as one of Atari’s most prolific game designers. Howard's games encapsulate so much of what Atari was about, it's a fun reason to break out the 2600 and have fun playing Atari games with friends and family. To celebrate HSW Day, we're playing Yars' Revenge on the ULTIMATE YARS setting this weekend! OBJECTIVE: Play for the highest possible score using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between July 27th through July 30th, 2019. Screen captures are not allowed as they are easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor! ELIGIBILITY: Anyone can join in. All players are welcome! PLAY RULES: Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following rules and game settings as delineated in the Squad Challenge. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed. DIFFICULTY LEVEL: ULTIMATE YARS: GAME 6 - Ultimate Yars features a bouncing Zorlon Cannon, plus some unusual twists that distinguish it from the other Yar games. First, you must bounce the Yar against the left side of the screen to make the Zorlon Cannon appear. Also, to make the cannon appear, you need five TRONS. TRONS are units of energy which you can collect at the following rate: Eat a cell from the shield: 1 TRON Touch the Qotile: 2 TRONS Catch a Zorlon Cannon shot after it bounces off the shield: 4 TRONS If a Yar bounces on the left side with less than five TRONS, it will not get a shot, but it won't lose the TRONS it has either. (Each time a Yar is destroyed, it loses its TRONS). Each Yar has a capacity of 255 TRONS.If a Yar tries to take on more than that, it will short out and the Yar will lose all its TRONS. The count of TRONS is not displayed on the screen. Yar scouts understand the count instinctively. FAIR PLAY: Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that no use of cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, Photoshop, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage is allowed. Everybody hates a cheater. MORE: To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: MESSAGE: HAPPY 6TH ANNUAL HOWARD SCOTT WARSHAW DAY! We're celebrating HSW's birthday with a short round of Ultimate Yars! Yars' Revenge is one of the best original Atari 2600 games. For this challenge we're playing on the highest difficulty setting, GAME 6: ULTIMATE YARS! Remember this is for "nerd cred" and meant to be a fun celebration of Howard Scott Warshaw! This challenge runs from today through Tuesday, so you'll have until 11:59 pm PST Tuesday, July 30th, 2019 to complete this challenge and successfully submit your score. The ROM and Instruction Book are provided for you below. Remember, share Atari fun with family and friends, and enjoy the game! Good luck defeating that Evil Quotile! Yars_Revenge.pdfYars_Revenge.bin

It's funny you phrased it that way. I always thought the same thing. In the mid-80s, (certainly before I had seen the NES) I always saw the Atari 7800 as a robust, industrial strenth arcade machine, the same way we saw the Neo-Geo Gold a few years later. The 7800 was released in 1984 in some markets. Had Warner held on a few more months (even if they ended up "loaning" the company to Jack) the 7800 would've seen national distribution and perceptions would be different. That two year gap cost them big time. What's more is Atari's loss of the Lorraine chipset from Amiga, which Atari had licensed for a new video game system. Imagine Amiga-like graphics on a home video game system from Atari in 1986. That TRULY would have been an arcade-quality console and would have been a 16-Bit console on the market 5 years before SNES reached US shores.

I was hoping you'd get to join in!

We're celebrating this amazing new controller through the rest of the month with a special Robotron: 2084 High Score Squad Challenge!

Robotron: 2084 Atari 7800 ProSystem Controller: CONTROLLER / KEYBOARD / @RetroGameBoyz 3-D PRINTED CONTROLLER / PLAYER'S CHOICE Difficulty Level: Intermediate Play on: Real Hardware / Dedicated Console / MAME / Emulation OK! ✔ Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST June 31st, 2019 OBJECTIVE: Play for the highest possible score using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between July 15th through July 31st, 2019. Screen captures are not allowed as they are easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor! ELIGIBILITY: Anyone can join in. All players are welcome! PLAY RULES: Games may be played on real hardware, Flashback or emulation, using any controller or keyboard, following rules and game settings as delineated in the Squad Challenge. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed. DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Intermediate FAIR PLAY: Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that no use of cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, Photoshop, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage is allowed. Everybody hates a cheater. MORE: To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: https://forums.atari.io/topic/1219-high-score-squad-how-to-play/ MESSAGE: Welcome to our 66th Squad Challenge! This challenge celebrates new Atari I/O Member @RetroGameBoyz's latest creation, the 3-D Printed Robotron: 2084 Controller for Atari 7800 with one of the system's finest arcade titles! Robotron has always been a favorite of mine and I think now is as good a time as any to give it a play in High Score Squad! ROM and Instruction Manual are provided below. Good luck to everyone playing! NOTE: We have HSW Day 2019 coming up on July 30th. Be there!

Congratulations Control Issues! Congratulations @Control Issues on your score! I'd like to offer "Rick R Jr. Too" a very special welcome to the forums for participating in this Squad Challenge. This was a really challenging game, I hope you guys enjoyed the challenge and had fun with this one. Congrats to everyone who played! I'd like to encourage Control Issues to post his new high score on the Scoreboard, and maybe this Challenge can continue on! Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be posted shortly! Stay tuned! GRADIUS III FINAL STANDINGS 1 CONTROL ISSUES 61,800 2 RICKR JR. TOO 25,800 3 RICKR 20,600 4 ATARI CREEP 15,600