Squad Challenge - Elevator Action (Arcade/MAME)

[nosweargamer]

Finding my groove!

30150

[socrates63]

17,650

I'm super glad that Elevator Action was chosen for the challenge this month. It's one of my favorite arcade games, and I probably wouldn't be playing it if it wasn't for the high score challenge. Re-living a lot of memories from childhood.

 

[DegasElite]

18,100. My personal best so far. I made it to Level 3.

Edited November 4, 2020 by DegasElite

[Atari Creep]

I have been trying to find a ROM that will play in OpenEMU with no luck. I have downloaded SOOOOOO many so far. If anyone has a ROM that will work in that emulator, please let me know. 

[socrates63]

23,800 -- yesterday's best. This was the only time I managed to break 20k, and I've been stuck at 12k-18k.

I'm finding the background tune to be a little annoying when I play several games in a row. Game telling me to take a break? 🙃

[btbfilms76]

15700

 

[socrates63]

26,150 -- inching closer to 30k, but I really need a better controller option than the d-pad on the Xbox 360 controller. I hate d-pads to begin with but the one on this controller doesn't feel good.

Taito made so many good arcade games ❤️

[HDN]

1 hour ago, socrates63 said:

I hate d-pads to begin with but the one on this controller doesn't feel good.

How is that possible! D-pads are awesome! Actually, I have heard lots of people who grew up with the Joysticks of the second generation say the same thing.

 

1 hour ago, socrates63 said:

Taito made so many good arcade games

Mmm, yes. Space Invaders, Phoenix, Bubble Bobble, Zoo Keeper, Plotting, Electric Yo-Yo, Jungle Hunt; all top-tier classics.

[RickR]

11 hours ago, HDN said:

How is that possible! D-pads are awesome! Actually, I have heard lots of people who grew up with the Joysticks of the second generation say the same thing.

My personal feeling....I know it sounds really stupid....but the original Atari and many of the old arcade games were "right handed".  You'd hold the joystick in your right hand and push buttons with your left.  I even remember gamepads on the PC that were right handed (the pad was on the right).  But it must have been the NES that set the modern standard of gamepad on the left.  It has never felt comfortable to me, although I have gotten used to it. 

[HDN]

8 minutes ago, RickR said:

My personal feeling....I know it sounds really stupid....but the original Atari and many of the old arcade games were "right handed".  You'd hold the joystick in your right hand and push buttons with your left.  I even remember gamepads on the PC that were right handed (the pad was on the right).  But it must have been the NES that set the modern standard of gamepad on the left.  It has never felt comfortable to me, although I have gotten used to it. 

No. Doesn’t sound stupid at all.

I don’t mind left-handed d-pads at all. Probably as I have used them so much throughout my life. Much more than a joystick. 
However, I can’t use left-handed joysticks. They drive me absolutely crazy. I have the Pac Man 35th anniversary plug and play, which has the stick on the left. When I use it, I need to criss-cross my hands.

[RickR]

I tried the game on the XBOX "Taito Legends" disk, and I can assure you, it's the same ROM as the arcade.  Play this version if you have it as an option!  Constable RickR says it's legal and valid. 

New high score for me:  6100.  I'm really bad at this one.  I'm hoping one of you will post a video of your gameplay to give a lousy player like me some hints.

 

[socrates63]

7 hours ago, RickR said:

...I even remember gamepads on the PC that were right handed (the pad was on the right).  But it must have been the NES that set the modern standard of gamepad on the left.  It has never felt comfortable to me, although I have gotten used to it. 

Interesting! I thought it was Street Fighter that popularized the the joystick/d-pad on the left. I had a couple of PC gamepads back in the day (ones by Gravis and Microsoft), and I think both had the d-pad on the left.

 

7 hours ago, HDN said:

I don’t mind left-handed d-pads at all. Probably as I have used them so much throughout my life. Much more than a joystick. 
However, I can’t use left-handed joysticks. They drive me absolutely crazy. I have the Pac Man 35th anniversary plug and play, which has the stick on the left. When I use it, I need to criss-cross my hands.

I've gotten used to using the joystick with my left hand although I grew up using my right hand (original Atari controller, Wico joysticks). I find I can go with either hand and it feels ok. All this discussion points to the fact that controllers are a very personal thing and greatly influenced by what we used when we first started playing video games.

[socrates63]

35,500 -- got to level 4

 

[HDN]

The Elevator Action 2600 prototype is pretty bad, though it had potential if they kept working on it. Impressive for the hardware.

[DegasElite]

Yeah. Atari just needed to tweak it more. It's just a prototype, so expect the bugs. I guess. It definitely could've been a great title for the A2600. I agree with you on that. :O)

[btbfilms76]

17050. I feel like my first game is always best, then after that it’s all down hill, I start rushing and making stupid mistakes. Slow and steady wins the race. 

[MaliciousCarp]

Here is my first go that is worth posting - I am playing on the PS4 Arcade Archives because I was having some trouble with MAME.

19250

(As far as I can tell - Hamster does use original roms when creating their arcade archives games) 

[socrates63]

44,900 -- the action gets intense pretty quick after level 3! It doesn't take long to find yourself surrounded.

I got the SN30 Pro gamepad by 8Bitdo the other day, and while I'm not a fan of gamepads, this one is very good. The d-pad is certainly very responsive and comfortable. 

Edited November 9, 2020 by socrates63

[HDN]

Hey @Justin, I'm just wondering: Who is all signed up for @btbfilms76's giveaway?

[Atari Creep]

This game seems to be cursed for me. LOL First I could not find a ROM that worked with OpenEMU for Mac. Then I was given a "working" ROM from @RickR (thanks again) that kind of worked. I streamed last sunday trying the game for the first time and it was a DISASTER!!!! Elevators wouldn't go down, escalators wouldn't work, I just go nowhere. So mid stream I put on the NES port just to get a feel for the play style and see if maybe it was me. The NES rom worked great but I just did not have any fun with it. Maybe because I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the ROM no working on my system?? Either was I feel bad but will pass on this challenge. (hangs head in shame) Looks cool enough, just not for me I guess. Hate to do it because I know @Justin works hard to get these running EVERY 2 weeks and more times than not has to come up with the game we will be playing. I can imagine that can't be easy to do twice a month. 

 

....sigh

[RickR]

35 minutes ago, Atari Creep said:

I feel bad but will pass on this challenge.

Don't feel bad!  This is our first MAME challenge.  And I think it's clear that the platform is a mess.  Too many different versions of MAME, emulator front-ends, and ROM sets make it hard to find consistency for all of us.  Check to see if you have "Taito Legends" on any of your other systems (PS2, XBOX, etc) as the game is on there. 

Hopefully, this won't be the last time we do a challenge on an arcade game.  But we'll need to find a better way to make it accessible for everyone.  Maybe one of the games readily available on the most common compilations or plug & play units?  Ideas are always welcome.

[Atari Creep]

19 minutes ago, RickR said:

Don't feel bad!  This is our first MAME challenge.  And I think it's clear that the platform is a mess.  Too many different versions of MAME, emulator front-ends, and ROM sets make it hard to find consistency for all of us.  Check to see if you have "Taito Legends" on any of your other systems (PS2, XBOX, etc) as the game is on there. 

Hopefully, this won't be the last time we do a challenge on an arcade game.  But we'll need to find a better way to make it accessible for everyone.  Maybe one of the games readily available on the most common compilations or plug & play units?  Ideas are always welcome.

I'm 100% all for more MAME. Just because I had a bit of bad luck here would never mean I would not want to try either a beloved classic or something new to me. 🙂

[socrates63]

Yes more MAME, please! 

For those running linux boxes, you may want to consider setting up a retropie build. I have it running on my Raspberry Pi 3+ that I bought back in 2018. It's a lazy man's emulation station. I downloaded a build that came with a bunch of games and everything was preconfigured and worked without much tinkering on my part.

Here's the housing for my Pi 3+. The photo is from the etsy seller that I bought it from.

[RickR]

@socrates63, what kind of controller are you using?  Did you have to change the configuration for that?

 

[socrates63]

@RickR I previously used the Xbox 360 wired controller. It detected it automatically and I didn't have to do anything. A few days ago, I got the 8Bitdo SN30 Pro wired controller, and RetroPie also automatically detected it and set it up without any work on my end. This gamepad is great.