CGC Game 2: Grobda [Arcade]

[PistolsAtDawn]

Grobda_arcade_flyer.png (217.88 KiB) Viewed 9010 times

Grobda gameplay video

Game info

This week's semi-random game pick is Grobda! This is another game that I have never played, and although it is only a scant four years newer than last week's Lupin III, the amount of technological advance in that time is blatant. There are more colors, it's faster and has more detailed sprites.

Grobda is a 1984 multi-directional shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco.It is a spin-off from Xevious, as the player's tank first appeared in that game as an enemy. It runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware but with a video system like that used in Mappy and The Tower of Druaga, and it also uses a DAC for the "Get Ready" speech sample at the start of each round.

(emphasis mine)

Play however you'd like! The point is to enjoy and have fun, but if you would like to compete on high scores, please let us all know how you played (as in, with a arcade control panel, gamepad, etc.). We're on the honor system here for reporting high scores, so if you used cheats, fess up!

Please share with us your thoughts, jokes, frustrations or anything else related to this game that you may discover (i.e. if you discover the game itself was featured or visible in some other form of entertainment like a movie or TV show).

[charmless]

Ok, first impressions. I really like this game. At first it felt like it would be much better with 2 players (and it probably still is) but after a while I started getting into it. I like the fact that the explosions from killing an enemy can kill you but more importantly other enemies. And you get more points by chaining together kills (at least I think) rather than just picking them off one-by-one. Nice little combo system of sorts.

It’s also nice that you can score points after you’ve died. Feels good. My High Score right now is 15900, but I am definitely coming back for more.

[PistolsAtDawn]

So I really like this game as well! I definitely think it's more fun than Lupin III, and I can see it becoming one of my go-to arcade games when I want to play something in a quick session.

I am not seeing how to activate the shields though. I remapped my input buttons several times just to be sure I didn't mess that up, but I cannot activate the shields. I see them working in the attract mode of the game. I looked it up to see what I might be missing, but nothing I could find mentioned needing a special pick up item or anything else before the shields can be used. The game seems extra difficult without them as those enemy tanks have pretty great aim. Anyone know what's up here?

Edit: upon further reading, the shields should always work from the beginning of a level. Maybe a bug? I filed a report on the github page for this core.

My high score so far didn't quite break 13k, but I'm going to keep playing this one to see how far I can get. I'm much more motivated to get better at Grobda than I was with Lupin III.

[charmless]

So I really like this game as well! I definitely think it's more fun than Lupin III, and I can see it becoming one of my go-to arcade games when I want to play something in a quick session.

I am not seeing how to activate the shields though. I remapped my input buttons several times just to be sure I didn't mess that up, but I cannot activate the shields. I see them working in the attract mode of the game. I looked it up to see what I might be missing, but nothing I could find mentioned needing a special pick up item or anything else before the shields can be used. The game seems extra difficult without them as those enemy tanks have pretty great aim. Anyone know what's up here?

Edit: upon further reading, the shields should always work from the beginning of a level. Maybe a bug? I filed a report on the github page for this core.

My high score so far didn't quite break 13k, but I'm going to keep playing this one to see how far I can get. I'm much more motivated to get better at Grobda than I was with Lupin III.

Ah, I was wondering about the shield. I just assumed it was a pick-up on later levels, but then the meter at the bottom of the screen didn't make any sense. So maybe it is a bug.

[Hetzen]

It's not just that the shield is missing, it looks like the turret should rotate too!!

Do we know who built this core, it'd be good to get the extra controls implemented as this looks a really good Robotron type game.

Grobda_Turret.JPG (26.56 KiB) Viewed 8949 times

[PistolsAtDawn]

It's not just that the shield is missing, it looks like the turret should rotate too!!

Do we know who built this core, it'd be good to get the extra controls implemented as this looks a really good Robotron type game.

The core's github page is here

If the shield gets fixed by a developer, I'll look forward to playing more of this game. As of now though, it feels gimped. Not that I expect or demand perfection from any core or developer!

[charmless]

If the shield gets fixed by a developer, I'll look forward to playing more of this game. As of now though, it feels gimped. Not that I expect or demand perfection from any core or developer!

Totally agree. Let's just call this the Hardcore MiSTer version.

[PistolsAtDawn]

If the shield gets fixed by a developer, I'll look forward to playing more of this game. As of now though, it feels gimped. Not that I expect or demand perfection from any core or developer!

Totally agree. Let's just call this the Hardcore MiSTer version.

It's definitely still fun and playable as-is, just Hard as you said.

[Chakan4ever]

I played this one for about ten minutes. It was okay, not my favourite game but worth giving a go. Shield would be nice! Only made it to the level six and that stronger baddie killed me. Looking forward to some non Tate games so I can play on my CRT which is not flipped.

[PistolsAtDawn]

I played this one for about ten minutes. It was okay, not my favourite game but worth giving a go. Shield would be nice! Only made it to the level six and that stronger baddie killed me. Looking forward to some non Tate games so I can play on my CRT which is not flipped.

The MSX core is up next, and I can give it until this evening to do the game selection if you're interested in making some nominations for it. Definitely no tate mode there. I've already played some games on it, and I think they'd look amazing on a CRT.

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