![Robotron 2084 [Atari Lynx] - 1,264,350 pts (to Wave 52) @psymagearcade](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/snsFizuyNCQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Robotron 2084 got a lot of ports back in the day, but one of the most surprising ports is the Atari Lynx version of the game. Released in 1991, it managed to get around the lack of dual joysticks by allowing the player to change the direction of the shot with the B and A buttons while your character autofires by default. Not only that, but it manages to cram a very fast paced game onto the small Lynx screen, and does so without slowdown despite plenty of sprites on screen.
I've had this game in my Lynx collection for over a decade and it has always been a favorite of mine. I decided to come back to this one via emulation to see how far I could push my high score, and I managed to score over a million points for the first time on this run.
I may create a discussion video breaking down this version of the game in the future, especially if people are interested in it.
00:00 Intro
00:14 Waves 1-5
01:39 Waves 6-10
03:38 Waves 11-15
05:35 Waves 16-20
08:09 Waves 21-25
10:32 Waves 26-30
12:46 Waves 31-35
15:15 Waves 36-40
17:23 Waves 41-45
19:29 Waves 46-50
21:57 Waves 51 and 52
Played in RetroArch using the Handy core. My shader preset is a custom combination of the PSP color and Fakelottes shaders.
Robotron 2084 got a lot of ports back in the day, but one of the most surprising ports is the Atari Lynx version of the game. Released in 1991, it managed to get around the lack of dual joysticks by allowing the player to change the direction of the shot with the B and A buttons while your character autofires by default. Not only that, but it manages to cram a very fast paced game onto the small Lynx screen, and does so without slowdown despite plenty of sprites on screen.
I've had this game in my Lynx collection for over a decade and it has always been a favorite of mine. I decided to come back to this one via emulation to see how far I could push my high score, and I managed to score over a million points for the first time on this run.
I may create a discussion video breaking down this version of the game in the future, especially if people are interested in it.
00:00 Intro
00:14 Waves 1-5
01:39 Waves 6-10
03:38 Waves 11-15
05:35 Waves 16-20
08:09 Waves 21-25
10:32 Waves 26-30
12:46 Waves 31-35
15:15 Waves 36-40
17:23 Waves 41-45
19:29 Waves 46-50
21:57 Waves 51 and 52
Played in RetroArch using the Handy core. My shader preset is a custom combination of the PSP color and Fakelottes shaders.
![Robotron 2084 [Atari Lynx] - 1,264,350 pts (to Wave 52)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/snsFizuyNCQ/mqdefault.jpg "Robotron 2084 [Atari Lynx] - 1,264,350 pts (to Wave 52)
Robotron 2084 got a lot of ports back in the day, but one of the most surprising ports is the Atari Lynx version of the game. Released in 1991, it managed to get around the lack of dual joysticks by allowing the player to change the direction of the shot with the B and A buttons while your character autofires by default. Not only that, but it manages to cram a very fast paced game onto the small Lynx screen, and does so without slowdown despite plenty of sprites on screen.
Ive had this game in my Lynx collection for over a decade and it has always been a favorite of mine. I decided to come back to this one via emulation to see how far I could push my high score, and I managed to score over a million points for the first time on this run.
I may create a discussion video breaking down this version of the game in the future, especially if people are interested in it.
00:00 Intro
00:14 Waves 1-5
01:39 Waves 6-10
03:38 Waves 11-15
05:35 Waves 16-20
08:09 Waves 21-25
10:32 Waves 26-30
12:46 Waves 31-35
15:15 Waves 36-40
17:23 Waves 41-45
19:29 Waves 46-50
21:57 Waves 51 and 52
Played in RetroArch using the Handy core. My shader preset is a custom combination of the PSP color and Fakelottes shaders.")
![Pirate Ship Higemaru [Arcade] - 1CC Playthrough 712,400 pts](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ux5ond525RM/mqdefault.jpg "Pirate Ship Higemaru [Arcade] - 1CC Playthrough 712,400 pts
Pirate Ship Higemaru is an action-puzzle arcade game created by Capcom and released in 1984 in Japan only. This was Capcoms third video game after Vulgus and SonSon as well as their first game that wasnt a shmup or shmup adjacent.
This game would be best described as an action-puzzle game inspired by Pengo with a pirate theme. Each stage, called a Deck, is a single grid-like screen where you use barrels (in Pengo it was ice blocks) or some non-destructible items like coins or stuffed bags to slide/roll toward enemies in order to take them out. On most stages, you have to take out all of the chubby little bearded pirates known as the Higemaru. There are also optional pirate captains to take out known as the Bows that regenerate continously until you kill all the Higemarus and the stages ends. On Decks 4, 8, 12, and 16, there are Hi-Point decks that only spawn the Bows and you have to kill all of them in order to move on. There are flashing barrels that you can pick up that have items that are worth a small amount of extra points. Another way to score extra points is to take out more than one stunned Higemaru in a row with a single barrel or non-destructible object. You get a slight bonus for this as demonstrated right before Deck 1 in the introduction.
There are some differences between this and Pengo in terms of gameplay. One, this are secret items underneath the non-destructibles that can be acquired by big scoring bonuses or an occasional 1-UP if you dont grab anything else prior on the stage. This applies to Stages 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 15 on the first loop. This adds an extra scoring component along with the items from the flashing barrels. This game also lacks bonuses from clearing stages quickly as well as anything like the diamond block mechanic. Plus, the barrels work a bit differently than the ice blocks in Pengo. You can pick them up and move around until youre ready to use them. Also, your barrels goes slightly up in the air whenever you roll it left or right, meaning that it can kill enemies slightly above your position. Taking advantage of this is key to success in the later stages.
As far as difficulty goes, this game starts out fairly chill until the second half of the first loop. By Round 10, the enemies become significantly faster and smarter and the challenge ramps up until it peaks at the end of Loop 1 on Deck 16. Also, despite the stage layouts staying the same and the secret items staying in the same places, there is RNG in terms of where enemies spawn on a given stage, so you cannot memorize this game completely. Despite all of that, this is not a super challenging arcade game. After the first loop is done after Deck 16, the game repeats Decks 9-16 infinitely until the player runs out of lives. There is no difficulty increase after the first loop either.
As far as other versions of the game go, there is a virtually perfect port of this game on Capcom Generation 3 for Playstation and Sega Saturn that includes a remixed soundtrack that sounds better than the original music. You can also play this nowadays on Capcom Arcade Stadium for cheap. It has also been included in the past on mini-consoles like the AtGames Legends Flashback and the Retro-Bit Super Retro-Cade.
Played on MAME .287 via the MAME Current RetroArch core and recorded in OBS Studio. Also, I left my mic plugged in by accident (it was actually on the floor away from my PC). You can hear my voice in the background at the end of the first loop because I was pretty excited about beating Deck 16. Oh well lol.
00:00 Intro
00:17 Deck 1
01:06 Deck 2
01:58 Deck 3
02:59 Deck 4
03:52 Deck 5
05:10 Deck 6
06:13 Deck 7
07:20 Deck 8
08:16 Deck 9
09:43 Deck 10
11:14 Deck 11
12:54 Deck 12
13:44 Deck 13
14:42 Deck 14
16:19 Deck 15
17:48 Deck 16
18:49 Loop 2")
![Mickeys Speedway USA [Game Boy Color] - A Forgotten Handheld Racer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vS4OYDDn1cM/mqdefault.jpg "Mickeys Speedway USA [Game Boy Color] - A Forgotten Handheld Racer
In this video, I discuss the Game Boy Color version of Mickeys Speedway USA, why this game was an outstanding handheld racer when it came out, and why it was forgotten in the long run. All footage was recorded in Sameboy using color correction and the monochrome LCD shader.
#gameboycolor #rareware #mickeymouse #disney #disneygames #disneygame #nintendo #gbc #racinggames
00:00 Intro
00:10 Start of Review, Graphics and Music
02:40 Gameplay
05:16 Why This Game Was Forgotten")
![The New Tetris [N64] - Ultra Mode Run 2:36](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vhS9KgBqSG0/mqdefault.jpg "The New Tetris [N64] - Ultra Mode Run 2:36
The New Tetris is one of my favorite Tetris games and definitely a highlight of the N64 library. I recorded this to show off the 4x4 square block mechanic to @LukesAwakening64, who does a lot of N64 first impression videos and live-streams. I recommend his channel if you like N64:
https://www.youtube.com/@LukesAwakening
This isnt a perfect run by any means, but this is my fastest run of Ultra Mode. I do regret some of the later moves I made but it didnt make much of an impact on the final result. The goal is only to get to 150 lines cleared, which was made easier with the silver and gold squares. If you make a 4x4 square blocks with the same exact type of piece, you get a gold square that makes any line that has a row of it worth 10 lines instead of one when cleared. If a variety of different pieces are used to make that 4x4 square block, you get a silver square thats worth 5 points per line that has a row of it included. If theres a row of both a silver and a gold square like in this clip, its 15 points per line so the bonus stacks with more than one square block.
Also, the DUSK video is still in the plans, but it has been a very busy month for me. I havent been playing video games as much as Id like either, but this was really easy to put together. I should start getting more free time next week, but its going to take more editing than usual to get that video to a finished state.
Played in RetroArch with the Fakelottes shader.")
![San Francisco Rush The Rock [Gamecube/Arcade] - Embarcadero 1st Place (Midway Arcade Treasures 3)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wL8pkYCD70s/mqdefault.jpg "San Francisco Rush The Rock [Gamecube/Arcade] - Embarcadero 1st Place (Midway Arcade Treasures 3)
San Francisco Rush The Rock Alcatraz Edition got a port to 6th generation consoles via Midway Arcade Treasures 3. Unfortunately, a lot of the games included had emulation issues, and this game has issues on this compilation as well.
To start with the good, it runs most of the time at 60 FPS with only some minor dips near the beginning of races. This is noticeably better than the original game though that may disappoint those wanting perfect emulation. It looks pretty nice when using upscaling in Dolphin. It does have all the levels from Rush The Rock obviously, so it is based on the arcade version and not the console versions.
The main problem here is the physics getting tweaked. The cars are now too touchy, especially on jumps. This even applies to the Beginner car. Also, its pretty much impossible to keep your car on a straight line for some reason. You car always wants to veer to one side or the other and trying to correct can cause you to start losing traction, and it’s super obvious. It almost makes you wonder if your controller got stick drift from this game. Just compare this to the original running in MAME and you’ll see the differences right away.
Embarcadero shows off the problem with jumps pretty well, and this was my best run at that course. The ending is quite humorous, as the last car suicides right as I’m about to pass him. I avoided most of the shortcuts here because honestly, they’re not helpful.
Played in the Dolphin Emulator using a Razer Wolverine V2.")
![Cameltry [Arcade] - Beginner Course 1CC 109860 pts](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xaRwlOQrJwQ/mqdefault.jpg "Cameltry [Arcade] - Beginner Course 1CC 109860 pts
Played on default settings using the MAME Current core in RetroArch.
Taito was more known for shmups back in the companys heyday as they helped pioneer the genre back in the 70s with Space Invaders and continued in the 80s and 90s with games like the Darius series and Rayforce. However, they did experiment with other genres from time to time, with Bubble Bobble, Arkanoid, and the Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move spinoff games being pretty successful examples of that just to name a few.
Cameltry is quite unique even amongst the Taito library as its a physics based game where you rotate a maze in order to get a marble inside of it to the end of said maze, within a time limit. You can also press a button to bounce the marble off the wall and into the air, which can come in handy from time to time. On the surface, its a simple game, but there is plenty of depth in the scoring system as you can grab items from points and break bricks to gain points as well. Its a lot to balance scoring by grabbing items/breaking bricks and getting to the end within a reasonable amount of time, as finishing quickly also helps your score.
I think itd be great if whatever is left of Taito created an expanded version and released it on modern consoles and PC.")
![Slipstream [PC] - Grand Tour Playthrough (Route 12, All Rivals Beaten)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y1NvVChtvFI/mqdefault.jpg "Slipstream [PC] - Grand Tour Playthrough (Route 12, All Rivals Beaten)
Slipstream is a 2D racer created by Brazilian developer ansdor and released originally in 2018 on PC via Steam. This game is not to be confused with the Capcom racing game from 1995 of the same name. It takes a lot of inspiration from the Outrun series. In particular, it takes quite a bit of inspiration from the second Outrun game, incorporating a slipstream mechanic as well as a pretty similar drifting mechanic and a Rival system.
The main mode of the game is Grand Tour, which used to be known as Arcade mode in prior versions of the game. This is structured like the Outrun, where you start out on a single section and once you get to the end of it, you start getting branching paths. Just like Outrun, you keep getting branching paths until you get to the fifth section, which is the last part of the run. You have a time limit and checkpoints as you would expect.
The drift mechanics works similar to the one in Outrun 2. You get off the accelerator pedal while turning and hit the brakes quickly, then get back on the accelerator quickly. Since you dont have gears in this one, you cant shift down then back up to do this like you could in Outrun 2 or even something like Daytona USA. The slipstream mechanic does work a bit differently here. Instead of getting a speed boost as soon as youre in a cars slipstream, you charge it up until you spell out Slipstream and then you get a big boost. As long as youre in a cars slipstream, the boost will continue. This seems to work best as a catch-up mechanic after making some mistakes because if youre driving fast and clean, you will have difficulties pulling this off.
It plays pretty well overall, especially if you play it with digital controls from a Saturn or Genesis style controller. However, this game sadly lacks a scoring system. Outrun 2 benefited so much from it, but this game didnt even bother with it even though the driving mechanics come from that game. The Rival system especially suffers because there seems to be no real incentive in passing all of them up in a run outside of getting an in-game achievement for it one time.
That being said, this is a fun game to play. It controls pretty well, looks good, and the music fits the game pretty well. It does have some extra modes like a Grand Prix style mode thats similar to the old Top Gear games as well as Cannonball mode, which allows you to have a more customized checkpoint-to-checkpoint experience but without branching paths. Also, it is cheap, as it is only $10 when its not on sale. It is even on modern consoles as of 2022.
Slipstream on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/732810/Slipstream/
00:00 Intro
00:23 Race
06:21 End Results")
![Outrun [Sega Genesis] 1st Hyper Mode Clear - Goal A (45408)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yBmRKJVkNgI/mqdefault.jpg "Outrun [Sega Genesis] 1st Hyper Mode Clear - Goal A (45408)
This is my first clear of the hidden Hyper mode on the Genesis port of Outrun, which is one of my favorite SEGA games of all time. The time limits are the same as the Pro difficulty, but your car has a 30 mph higher top speed than it normally does.
For my first time winning on this mode, I think I had a pretty good time with 15 seconds to spare at the end despite running into the back of other vehicles several times. However, I never flipped the car over in this run so that helped.
I do have some other non-shmup arcade game content planned at some point, as well as more shmup related videos.")
![Assault Shell [PC] - Original Full 2-ALL Playthrough (B2)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ySQYxsbIXZQ/mqdefault.jpg "Assault Shell [PC] - Original Full 2-ALL Playthrough (B2)
Assault Shell is a bullet hell shmup created by Team Overclocked and released in 2020 on Steam. Team Overclocked is a one-man team consisting of Tyler Hughes, aka Someguy009, a member of the Western shmup community. One man team or not, this is definitely one of the best indie shmups on Steam that Ive played yet.
Stylistically, this game borrows a lot from Crimzon Clover as well as the Dodonpachi and Espgaluda games made by CAVE. The Stand system is very similar to the Break system from Crimzon Clover. Interestingly enough, you do not have a bomb in this game, but it doesnt feel all that necessary when you have the Break activation and your SP weapon to cancel bullets.
The thing that really stands out is how well the game plays and the overall balance. All the ships (4 ships, 2 SP weapon choices per ship) feel viable for a 2-ALL even if some are a bit better than others (G1 is an excellent survival ship in particular compared to A1) and theres a ton of depth when playing for score, like there should be in a bullet hell shmup like this. Nothing feels too spongy or ridiculously unbalanced from an enemy standpoint. Even the TLB, though very difficult, is definitely learnable and pretty reasonable by TLB standards. I just dont think it should be able to be fought in every mode, only Original Full. In particular, its a bit weird to put that fight in Light Mode, which is the games Novice mode. However, thats a pretty minor complaint. The bullet patterns are quite creative and actually take a little bit of influence from Touhou at times. You can tell from playing it that the dev is a serious shmup fan.
There are a couple of small flaws with this game. One, the graphics are a bit lacking. Granted, this is a one-man team so its probably a bit unfair to expect CAVE levels of art, but it could have been better. Two, the dialogue between stages in the first loop doesnt add much and comes off as forced. However, this complaints are small in the grand scheme of things.
This game is supposed to be receiving a sequel some time this year, so itll be interesting to see if it improves on the original or not. Someguy009 has a bright future as a shmup developer IMO.
Assault Shell Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1432970/ASSAULT_SHELL/
Assault Shell itch.io page: https://overloadedstudios.itch.io/assault-shell
Assault Shell 2 Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2173850/ASSAULT_SHELL_2/
00:00 Start
00:33 Stage 1-1
03:40 Stage 1-2
07:14 Stage 1-3
11:33 Stage 1-4
17:10 Stage 1-5
23:46 Stage 2-1
26:42 Stage 2-2
30:12 Stage 2-3
34:26 Stage 2-4
40:01 Stage 2-5
46:37 TLB
Note: I did notice a little bit more micro-stuttering when playing the video file back in VLC before uploading. Not sure why that happened, but if you noticed some stutters, those are not frame rate dips and not something I experienced when playing through the game.")
