This game has been sticking in my craw since 2013 when I first tried to beat it, so it feels good to finally take it down.
I used WashYourFace's 18th floor hideout tactic on Levels 3 & 4 to reduce enemy aggression (plus luring enemies to the top of your elevator at the beginning of Level 4). It worked like a charm, plus I did most of the dishes and got some work done while I waited for the hail of gunfire to stop.
This game has been sticking in my craw since 2013 when I first tried to beat it, so it feels good to finally take it down.
I used WashYourFace's 18th floor hideout tactic on Levels 3 & 4 to reduce enemy aggression (plus luring enemies to the top of your elevator at the beginning of Level 4). It worked like a charm, plus I did most of the dishes and got some work done while I waited for the hail of gunfire to stop.
what is this 18th floor tactic? I tried for a week to beat this game and the best i got was the first red door on level 4
what is this 18th floor tactic? I tried for a week to beat this game and the best i got was the first red door on level 4
Here's the word from the man himself, back in 2014:
Originally posted by: WashYourFace
re: Elevator Action
I am the glitchmaster
Although I wouldn't call this a glitch exactly, it's just the way the game works.
There is an aggression counter, where the enemies get progressively more difficult - Elkovsky and some others figured that out before. It gets reduced (although I don't think it resets to zero, could be wrong though) when you die or get to the bottom. However that doesn't work when you complete the level - the new level has some default starting point where the enemies will always start, and especially on level 4 that's pretty difficult.
So I wondered what would happen if I just waited long enough - how "aggressive" would the enemy get? The answer is VERY.
The way to beat the game is this: go to a level that is split with a wall in between - level 18 or 20. Get on one side of the wall, and the enemies will stay on the other side stupidly shooting at you. If any enemies are on your side, kill them until they respawn on the other side.
I prefer level 18 because on 20 the enemy can get on the elevator and go off the screen, and then respawn on your side.
Protip: on level 4 if you are on the elevator one level below an enemy, he will stupidly climb on the roof and ride wherever you take him and not get off as long as you are on the elevator. You can get all 4 enemies on top where they can't hurt you. I actually use this method on level 4 to get to level 18 safely.
The "aggression counter" increases with time - you will soon see the bad guys shooting a constant barrage of bullets at you. But here's the best part... if you wait long enough, the counter flips over to zero and all the enemies become as docile as they were when you first started the game!
It takes a little while though... about 18 minutes for a full cycle.
I estimate you have about 5 minutes where the enemies can be dealt with... and about 13 minutes of "crazy time".
So just have the NES going, while you grab something to drink, or read a book, or stare at the wall, but listen for the sound of silence - it comes abruptly and obviously. When they stop shooting all crazy, this is when they've reset back to zero aggression. You should be able to beat any level pretty easily this way, as easy as you can beat level 1.
Just remember that when you get to the next level, they will start with their default aggression level.
Pretty sure this works on every level, but I only did it on levels 3 & 4.
Pretty cool stuff. The enemy fire rate gets insane before the aggression counter rolls over.
Meanwhile I beat Jimmy Connors Tennis:
Beaten on Intermediate difficulty, which plays identically to the other two difficulties IIRC (for some reason they didn't bother making the difficulty setting actually do anything in either the NES or Game Boy versions).
Yeah. It was kind of nice to finally see the end of a game I rented a few times as a kid. The AI is really weak in RBI 2, so it's really pretty easy. I'm now halfway through RBI 3 as well; it's only slightly harder than 2.
The screenshots are my wins in the full game (CPU Level 1, 87-72 over Jordan) and the slam-dunk contest (the CPU whiffed two of its dunks). I also beat Jordan 12-9 in the 11-point game, and won the 3-point contest.
EDIT: Went back and played the full game again on CPU Level 4 -- and beat Jordan even more badly, 81-56. Bird is so deadly with the 3-point shot, there's no reason to ever go inside the line on offense.
Since the end-level boss actually deigned to show up three times, the "Star Evil" game from Action 52 is done. (If you beat 3 levels, the 4th is a blank screen.)
...and since I just couldn't get enough Action 52, "Alfredo and the Fettucini" aka "Alfred N the Fettuc" is done. AdamL's list says it crashes after Level 3, but my ROM/emulator just looped back to Level 1.
Kinda funny that you can avoid the consequences of falling down a pit by just swinging your pan like mad, wrapping around the screen, and landing again. Beware of plugs and blue windows, they warn of dangerous enemies!
Even tho its done already I beat Ninja Gaiden 3 only using 1 contiue. Loving this game and have been playing it a lot.
My dream is to no death it, but that's super hard. The best I've done is only losing two lives.
I'm happy to see another fan. It might be my favorite in the trilogy. It's incredibly underrated, IMO. The initial high difficulty factor turns people off.
...and since I just couldn't get enough Action 52, "Alfredo and the Fettucini" aka "Alfred N the Fettuc" is done. AdamL's list says it crashes after Level 3, but my ROM/emulator just looped back to Level 1.
Kinda funny that you can avoid the consequences of falling down a pit by just swinging your pan like mad, wrapping around the screen, and landing again. Beware of plugs and blue windows, they warn of dangerous enemies!
It's hilarious that "Action 52" is _less_ broken on emulators than on real hardware. ROFL.
Comments
Fun times were had.
This game has been sticking in my craw since 2013 when I first tried to beat it, so it feels good to finally take it down.
I used WashYourFace's 18th floor hideout tactic on Levels 3 & 4 to reduce enemy aggression (plus luring enemies to the top of your elevator at the beginning of Level 4). It worked like a charm, plus I did most of the dishes and got some work done while I waited for the hail of gunfire to stop.
Elevator Action is done!
This game has been sticking in my craw since 2013 when I first tried to beat it, so it feels good to finally take it down.
I used WashYourFace's 18th floor hideout tactic on Levels 3 & 4 to reduce enemy aggression (plus luring enemies to the top of your elevator at the beginning of Level 4). It worked like a charm, plus I did most of the dishes and got some work done while I waited for the hail of gunfire to stop.
what is this 18th floor tactic? I tried for a week to beat this game and the best i got was the first red door on level 4
what is this 18th floor tactic? I tried for a week to beat this game and the best i got was the first red door on level 4
Here's the word from the man himself, back in 2014:
re: Elevator Action
I am the glitchmaster
Although I wouldn't call this a glitch exactly, it's just the way the game works.
There is an aggression counter, where the enemies get progressively more difficult - Elkovsky and some others figured that out before. It gets reduced (although I don't think it resets to zero, could be wrong though) when you die or get to the bottom. However that doesn't work when you complete the level - the new level has some default starting point where the enemies will always start, and especially on level 4 that's pretty difficult.
So I wondered what would happen if I just waited long enough - how "aggressive" would the enemy get? The answer is VERY.
The way to beat the game is this: go to a level that is split with a wall in between - level 18 or 20. Get on one side of the wall, and the enemies will stay on the other side stupidly shooting at you. If any enemies are on your side, kill them until they respawn on the other side.
I prefer level 18 because on 20 the enemy can get on the elevator and go off the screen, and then respawn on your side.
Protip: on level 4 if you are on the elevator one level below an enemy, he will stupidly climb on the roof and ride wherever you take him and not get off as long as you are on the elevator. You can get all 4 enemies on top where they can't hurt you. I actually use this method on level 4 to get to level 18 safely.
The "aggression counter" increases with time - you will soon see the bad guys shooting a constant barrage of bullets at you. But here's the best part... if you wait long enough, the counter flips over to zero and all the enemies become as docile as they were when you first started the game!
It takes a little while though... about 18 minutes for a full cycle.
I estimate you have about 5 minutes where the enemies can be dealt with... and about 13 minutes of "crazy time".
So just have the NES going, while you grab something to drink, or read a book, or stare at the wall, but listen for the sound of silence - it comes abruptly and obviously. When they stop shooting all crazy, this is when they've reset back to zero aggression. You should be able to beat any level pretty easily this way, as easy as you can beat level 1.
Just remember that when you get to the next level, they will start with their default aggression level.
Pretty sure this works on every level, but I only did it on levels 3 & 4.
Pretty cool stuff. The enemy fire rate gets insane before the aggression counter rolls over.
Meanwhile I beat Jimmy Connors Tennis:
Beaten on Intermediate difficulty, which plays identically to the other two difficulties IIRC (for some reason they didn't bother making the difficulty setting actually do anything in either the NES or Game Boy versions).
RBI Baseball 2 is done.
Nice -- that puts us at roughly 50% unlicensed completion, especially since some of the multicarts are partially done.
The screenshots are my wins in the full game (CPU Level 1, 87-72 over Jordan) and the slam-dunk contest (the CPU whiffed two of its dunks). I also beat Jordan 12-9 in the 11-point game, and won the 3-point contest.
EDIT: Went back and played the full game again on CPU Level 4 -- and beat Jordan even more badly, 81-56. Bird is so deadly with the 3-point shot, there's no reason to ever go inside the line on offense.
Kinda funny that you can avoid the consequences of falling down a pit by just swinging your pan like mad, wrapping around the screen, and landing again. Beware of plugs and blue windows, they warn of dangerous enemies!
Even tho its done already I beat Ninja Gaiden 3 only using 1 contiue. Loving this game and have been playing it a lot.
My dream is to no death it, but that's super hard. The best I've done is only losing two lives.
I'm happy to see another fan. It might be my favorite in the trilogy. It's incredibly underrated, IMO. The initial high difficulty factor turns people off.
...and since I just couldn't get enough Action 52, "Alfredo and the Fettucini" aka "Alfred N the Fettuc" is done. AdamL's list says it crashes after Level 3, but my ROM/emulator just looped back to Level 1.
Kinda funny that you can avoid the consequences of falling down a pit by just swinging your pan like mad, wrapping around the screen, and landing again. Beware of plugs and blue windows, they warn of dangerous enemies!
It's hilarious that "Action 52" is _less_ broken on emulators than on real hardware. ROFL.