Favorite single-screen games

[Sumez]

The other two games aside TumblePop are Joe and Mac Returns and Diet Go-Go, by Data East.

Those are what I meant by Tumble Pop's sequels. They are generally considered to "roughly" being a part of the same series, with good reason.

The biggest issue with the Amiga port is that the "up" direction which is used to lift your parasol over your head (an extremely central gameplay mechanic) doubles as the jump button, per Amiga tradition.
It also doesn't run nearly as smooth, but compared to the standard for Amiga ports, it still handles well.

Does it work with a Mega Drive controller? I remember playing Apidya on a friend's Amiga with my Mega Drive controller which allowed the use of two fire buttons instead of just the one. Handy for selecting upgrades instead of barking 'now' at him to press the spacebar to select for me while I used the joystick to play the game

I'd be interested in knowing that.
The result you want is being able to push up (or any button really) to raise the parasol above your head *without* also jumping.
Once you get to the part where more enemies start firing projectiles, that becomes pretty important. But even the second boss makes it a useful skill. I remember playing the Amiga port as a kid with my cousin, we'd drop down ledges just to raise the parasol, which was kind of awkward.

[RuySan]

The other two games aside TumblePop are Joe and Mac Returns and Diet Go-Go, by Data East.

Those are what I meant by Tumble Pop's sequels. They are generally considered to "roughly" being a part of the same series, with good reason.

The biggest issue with the Amiga port is that the "up" direction which is used to lift your parasol over your head (an extremely central gameplay mechanic) doubles as the jump button, per Amiga tradition.
It also doesn't run nearly as smooth, but compared to the standard for Amiga ports, it still handles well.

Does it work with a Mega Drive controller? I remember playing Apidya on a friend's Amiga with my Mega Drive controller which allowed the use of two fire buttons instead of just the one. Handy for selecting upgrades instead of barking 'now' at him to press the spacebar to select for me while I used the joystick to play the game

I'd be interested in knowing that.
The result you want is being able to push up (or any button really) to raise the parasol above your head *without* also jumping.
Once you get to the part where more enemies start firing projectiles, that becomes pretty important. But even the second boss makes it a useful skill. I remember playing the Amiga port as a kid with my cousin, we'd drop down ledges just to raise the parasol, which was kind of awkward.

Usually modern whdload versions of Amiga games fix these kind of issues, going as far in many cases as supporting up on a second buttons, and still retaining the rest of functions on the up direction. Don't know if that's the case here. I have to check when I get home.

[Randorama]

The other two games aside TumblePop are Joe and Mac Returns and Diet Go-Go, by Data East.

Those are what I meant by Tumble Pop's sequels. They are generally considered to "roughly" being a part of the same series, with good reason.

Yes, the production team should be roughly the same across the games, even if I checked this detail a while ago and I am too lazy to check again. I briefly mentioned the game mechanics and their differences in the post you quote from, but I’d agree that for the most part they were designed as a trilogy (hey, the final boss is the same, and they all have Chelnov and Karnov!).

[Lander]

Usually modern whdload versions of Amiga games fix these kind of issues, going as far in many cases as supporting up on a second buttons, and still retaining the rest of functions on the up direction. Don't know if that's the case here. I have to check when I get home.

I've found this to be the case with a few games, which is always a nice surprise. Though depending on the game, you might also have to hunt down the latest version of its patched-up WHDL image to get all the extra features; Amiga sets can be a bit scattered in terms of keeping each individual title up to date. Ended up having to do that for Shadow of the Beast, though it was worth it for the added jump button.

[BIL]

Exemplary writings as always Rando! Evocative and panoramic yet authentically H4RDCOR3. Indexing as per usual.

Ah yes, Zupapa and Nightmare in the Dark were two games I forgot. Weren't they from former Toaplan guys who were somehow managed to finish these games when the Neo Geo was "officially dead", or something? I genuinely remember nothing about these two titles.

I recall trap saying Zupapa was developed by Face, acclaimed on Neo for Money Idol Exchanger, also vertical STG Nostradamus. Being a topdown tank aficionado, I'm very fond of their PCE Metal Stoker, epigone of Wolfteam's X68k/MD Granada. Just gotta bump the difficulty up with DEM CHEETZ.

Cracking flyer design on ZPP, there's like five new avatar picks right there.

Now when you do it do it well and make sure that it counts!

[Randorama]

Birru-dono:

Money Idol Exchanger is brilliant, especially because it pilfers on DECO's Magical Drop but develops a richer game system coupled with one of the most 1990s visual designs ever I should check again ZPP again, then.

For the squibs, I suggest this:

1. Read the entire piece(s) aloud with an extremely JoJo-esque tone (i.e. try to sound absurdly serious and excruciatingly intense, no matter how flippant and zany the current chunk of text may be);

2. Put Denki Groove's Denki BiriBiri in the background, possibly with a poorly working amplifier. I cannot find a decent link online that is not "arr matey!" stuff, but ol' skool acid house HARDCOR' "ruff stuff" is good. They use a sample dropping them H4RDCOR3 word only 97 times in 5 minutes or so of song

More to come, anyway.

[D]

I really like trap 'em up platform games
Not to be confused with trap 'em up overhead games, although they do offer a somewhat similar experience
My favorite Game like that in that genre is Mr. Do's Castle. An absolute gem!
I recently discovered The Berlin Wall on the Game Gear and it's pseudo port Wani Wani World for the Sega Mega Drive.

[RuySan]

Usually modern whdload versions of Amiga games fix these kind of issues, going as far in many cases as supporting up on a second buttons, and still retaining the rest of functions on the up direction. Don't know if that's the case here. I have to check when I get home.

I've found this to be the case with a few games, which is always a nice surprise. Though depending on the game, you might also have to hunt down the latest version of its patched-up WHDL image to get all the extra features; Amiga sets can be a bit scattered in terms of keeping each individual title up to date. Ended up having to do that for Shadow of the Beast, though it was worth it for the added jump button.

I confirm that there is support for a second button to jump. Using the umbrella is down+fire, instead of up+fire of the pce version. But that was already the case in the old floppy version.

[Randorama]

I really like trap 'em up platform games
Not to be confused with trap 'em up overhead games, although they do offer a somewhat similar experience
My favorite Game like that in that genre is Mr. Do's Castle. An absolute gem!
I recently discovered The Berlin Wall on the Game Gear and it's pseudo port Wani Wani World for the Sega Mega Drive.

The Mr. Do games are all great fun, at least from what childhood memories I can still summon. The Neo Mr. Do! game on Neo Geo is also a fond memory of mine! I would like to also add Rompers, an adorable Namco one-screener in which the protagonist must crush cute enemies by pushing walls on them (ahem!). These are all games that I should revisit, honestly: thanks for mentioning them

[D]

Thanks for the suggestion of Rompers. Whenever I fired up namco musuems I tend to look for the TATE shmups and pac-man games, but I should give this one a spinn, because it looks fun!
Well animated too
A video about it for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv6S2p-MQac

EDIT:
Played Rompers. It actually does not belong in this thread, because it is not a single screen game. Some levels scroll just like Pac-Mania.

Rompers reminds me of Pac-man Plus and mouse trap. It is pretty fun game and also a TATE game! So that's how I played it!

[Randorama]

These games are old enough that ignoring these details about stage area size and on-screen display is convenient for general discussions (game mechanics tend to be similar, e.g. the Pac-Man) games, although imprecise for technical discussions (game mechanics rely heavily on players not seeing the whole stage on screen, e.g. Pac Mania).

If you however want a dedicated thread for…”partially scrolling games” or maybe “multiple screen, non scrolling games” (how to call these games?), you could open one and I would post in it without thinking about it twice.

I suspect that the thread would get…little attention, but also that we can zoom in on a slightly different genre that seems to have evolved after single-screeners, or even in parallel with them.

I have posted squibs in this thread that involve this latter type (e.g. City Connection, Teddy Boy Blues) because I thought that splitting the two game types/genres would be too dispersive.

If we go for the split, though, I think that there could be dozens of interesting games to revisit (e.g. Rally X, Mappy, and so on). any option is fine for me.

[Sumez]

I feel like I already touched on this in this thread, but can't be bothered to check.
Teddy Boy Blues is a really interesting example, because it's scrolling, but it's technically almost still a single screen game due to how tightly it wraps. There is only ever a small sliver of the stage that isn't visible on screen.

[Randorama]

Sumez, we discussed this in the R2RKMF thread…some months ago (I am also being lazy). I believe that there are quite a few games that have bounded/looping stage areas and limited scrolling, so to speak. For instance, Jaleco’s City Connection and Momoko 120% technically work like Teddy Boy Blues but have bigger stage areas/maps. D’s Pac-Man examples also fall in this category.

I never sat down and tried to “identify the genre”, so to speak, so I suspect that if we push the distinction some more, we would a clearer picture. Probably, we could also identify quite a few (mid-1980s?) games that fall under this definition (I am thinking about Rally X, Elevator Action, etc.). At this point I am really curious about the thoughts of everyone interested in the topic.

[hazys]

Little Magic (GBC) is a pretty overlooked Sokoban-like with very cute presentation. I also like Lup Salad (PS) for similar reasons, though I find that one to be super hard.

[Randorama]

Thanks for the suggestions Hazys, they look like nice games!

[Randorama]

I have posted a new, quite meaty squib on Mitchell's Pang in "my" thread: this is the link. I hope that people will not mind me using that thread as a "container" and the other threads as mere advertising tools, but I believe that discussions could be keep smooth and readable if I post 6 pages-long entries at a click away from any ongoing conversation. A few words: Pang is a great 1980s classic and a bona fide single-screen gem. A brilliant mix of platform action and puzzle-oriented levels, it was a bit everywhere upon its year of release, but it somehow faded into gaming oblivion over the decades. If you read the squib and decide to enjoy the game either again or for the first time, I will be a happy old geezer. I am planning on writing a squib about the second chapter in the series soon-ish, but for the time being this revision of a brief post from 2018 should be an enjoyable reading for everything. Tis the season, and so on

[Sima Tuna]

Donut Dodo and several other arcade games are currently on sale on the eshop. I wonder if any here have played Donut Dodo? Jetpack Joyride is also on sale but it is not single-screen iirc. Although the way the screen scrolls does wrap around eventually in Defender-likes.

[Randorama]

Sima Tuna:

I believe that Marc praised Donut Dodo a few months ago, i.e. one or two pages before this one. Marc, if you are reading this: more praise from you, if you wish?

Re: JJ, the truth is that we could actually start a thread that we could call "closed screen/looping scrolling/closed world games" if we want to be highly precise on this aspect (pardon, "facet" ). There are dozens of games which may not show the whole stage at once on the screen (i.e. technically not single-screen games), but that nevertheless provide a single environment/stage with very limited scrolling as the "gaming board". Personally, I am fine with discussing this latter type of game in this thread, since we really have a few posts per month.

Remarkably stupid and peripheral question: I finally bought a fairly more powerful PC (a Quad-core? it runs at a bit below 5 Ghz). Should I be able to play stem games without getting stressed, if you know?

[Lemnear]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned but I'll say Bomberman's PVP (the whole saga). Also Puzzle Bubble (Bust-A Move 1/2/3/4). Tetris but it would be obvious..so Teki-Paki as a substitute.

[evil_ash_xero]

I'm finding Donkey Kong 94 to be pretty damn impressive, but I refuse to play any more of it until the color hack comes out next year. Can't wait.

[D]

I'm finding Donkey Kong 94 to be pretty damn impressive, but I refuse to play any more of it until the color hack comes out next year. Can't wait.

What color hack are you talking about?

[velo]

Donut Dodo and several other arcade games are currently on sale on the eshop. I wonder if any here have played Donut Dodo? Jetpack Joyride is also on sale but it is not single-screen iirc. Although the way the screen scrolls does wrap around eventually in Defender-likes.

I think I've raved about it on this forum before, but Donut Dodo is absolutely my favorite indie golden age throwback. It's fantastic. The developer also released a (scrolling) spiritual successor named Cash Cow. I've only played that one a little bit so far but my first impression is 100% positive. It's like Donut Dodo on a lethal dose of steroids. It's potentially the better game, but I still wouldn't skip DD.

I can't find a game called "Jetpack Joyride"... maaaybe you mean Jetboard Joust or something? (never played it)

[Sima Tuna]

Donut Dodo and several other arcade games are currently on sale on the eshop. I wonder if any here have played Donut Dodo? Jetpack Joyride is also on sale but it is not single-screen iirc. Although the way the screen scrolls does wrap around eventually in Defender-likes.

I think I've raved about it on this forum before, but Donut Dodo is absolutely my favorite indie golden age throwback. It's fantastic. The developer also released a (scrolling) spiritual successor named Cash Cow. I've only played that one a little bit so far but my first impression is 100% positive. It's like Donut Dodo on a lethal dose of steroids. It's potentially the better game, but I still wouldn't skip DD.

I can't find a game called "Jetpack Joyride"... maaaybe you mean Jetboard Joust or something? (never played it)

Sorry, I meant Jetboard Joust. There's another one called something like Satryx DX that's on sale too. Robotron clone, from the looks of it.

[BrianC]

Jetpack Joyride is a thing, though. It is one of those endless runner games on mobile platforms (no Switch version, AFAIK). From the makers of Fruit Ninja, IIRC.

[Turrican]

The biggest issue with the Amiga port is that the "up" direction which is used to lift your parasol over your head (an extremely central gameplay mechanic) doubles as the jump button, per Amiga tradition.
It also doesn't run nearly as smooth, but compared to the standard for Amiga ports, it still handles well.

So the biggest issue is a non-issue.

There's good interview with programmer Mick West at Codetapper. To read it is an humbling experience: underpaid people, trying to basically escape the racket as soon as possible. It's a miracle that him and others retained the enthusiasm to accomplish what they did, because the system was basically geared at churning out the fastest conversion with the least possible added value other than the mere basic.

[Turrican]

I've been trying to read this thread and understand it the "single-screen" genre is basically as saying "no scrolling".

It doesn't seem that the two terms are felt as exactly equivalent, althought I wouldn't know how to pinpoint it.

so we have several single-screen which are admitted into the single screen while not being comprised of a single screen: Teddy Boy, Rainbow Islands, Parasol Stars and so on, and no one seems to mention games which are bigger in scope but whose action is done through fixed screens, like the whole isometric adventures spawned by Knight Lore (Filmation I engine, and by extent up to Cadaver). Or, in an extreme example, the MSX port of Contra.

[Randorama]

I am not sure that ‘are admitted’ may be the right expression, even. At some point we started discussing some games in this thread but also in the 2R2MFK thread because trying to pigeonhole games into single genres is sometimes hard (e.g. Teddy Boy Blues but also Funky Jet).

OP has not posted in a while, also, so personally I did not worry to spend too much time mulling over what counts as a ‘single-screen’ game.

I focused more on keeping the thread alive and on discussing sometimes ancient and often obscure games, rather than splitting hairs in four parts on genre issues (tetrapectilotomia? Apologies to prof. Eco…). After all, ‘single-screen’ could encompass Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Tetris, and even some vs. Beat’em ups (Ye Ar Kung Fu?).

I do not know the games you are citing, but I suspect that we can figure out which is the best thread for discussion upon discussing the games a bit. I would suggest that in 2024 we can be flexible on focus on keeping the conversation alive.

A lingering feeling of ‘this game is 3 parts X, 4 parts Y, and all fun!’ Is a welcome plus, I guess. Don’t forget to shake before serving with olives, please

[Sumez]

I'm finding Donkey Kong 94 to be pretty damn impressive, but I refuse to play any more of it until the color hack comes out next year. Can't wait.

Donkey Kong 94 is fine, but I feel like it's one of the most overrated games out there.
I think it gets a lot of undeserved credit from the admittably awesome way it circumvents expectations and breaks the barriers of the expected straight DK Arcade port, expanding into a much larger game with more mechanics and many more stages. I think a lot of people just play up until that part, act impressed, and support eachother in how cool that is, without actually bothering playing the game until the end. Similar to the "NES Contra is hard" effect.
On the worst days people praise it as being "a big improvement over the original arcade game", which is just a complete misunderstanding given it's not even the same kind of game, and aims for something different entirely - so those takes we can safely disregard right out the gate.

But even looking at the game on its own merits, I think the biggest issue is that a vast majority of the stages - in fact nearly all of them - are designed around puzzle mechanics, rather than platforming mechanics, making it a puzzle game to a much bigger degree than an action game.
But the puzzles are the Zelda-style "non-puzzles" where the solution is usually immediately evident, and exist mostly to add some some user interaction to what would otherwise feel a lot more straight forward. Ultimately this ends up making most of the stages feel like pure busywork. Go to one end to get the key, go back to the opposite end to use the key, etc. back and forth. You already know to do it, and doing it isn't a challenge, it's just work.

Mechanically, the game has a lot of really awesome elements in place though, which I think is the most well deserved praise it gets. The acrobatic skills of Mario in this game really reward successfully embracing usage of triple jumps, backward jumps, etc. That's a lot of fun, and the few stages which are designed mostly as "action" platforming stages, are often decent fun, and by far the best part of the game. I wish the whole game had been designed around this mindset. If it had, it might have been the brilliant game, and underappreciated classic that people often talk about it like it is.

Donut Dodo and several other arcade games are currently on sale on the eshop. I wonder if any here have played Donut Dodo? Jetpack Joyride is also on sale but it is not single-screen iirc. Although the way the screen scrolls does wrap around eventually in Defender-likes.

Donut Dodo is great, but short of being a real arcade-style experience of the likes of which it wants to replicate and pay homage to.
I wish the home version had the Exa-exclusive sewer stage, could even have succesfully replaced the ferris wheel stage, which I don't think anyone likes.

[Turrican]

Donkey Kong 94 is fine, but I feel like it's one of the most overrated games out there.

I played it through the end back then (it was one of those day one purchases, really), and while I can sympathize with your analisys, I think much of the charm also is related to the non stellar performance of platforming in the late Gameboy years. It surely felt a novelty while rehashing Wario for the nth take on SM Land was feeling like the beating of a dead horse.

I focused more on keeping the thread alive and on discussing sometimes ancient and often obscure games, rather than splitting hairs in four parts on genre issues (tetrapectilotomia? Apologies to prof. Eco…). After all, ‘single-screen’ could encompass Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Tetris, and even some vs. Beat’em ups (Ye Ar Kung Fu?)

Right. One thing they have in common, though: having all your goals within the field of a single screen makes you feel more in control of the action. That's the secret why many single screen arcades have the allure of a timeless classic.

[Sumez]

Wario Land felt like beating a dead horse?