Less hits with fire. Just have to be precise. Stones are almost as powerful as fire and you get 2

I dont mind the boomerang on the easier ones like trex. The fire explodes on the ground and helps with the wooly mammoth.

Contra 3 - Game Complete (475,869)

Love me some Contra 3, even though I think I still prefer the NES entries. The twin-fire technique, while cool-looking, I have yet to find a practical use for. The forced jump/spin delay of it simply puts you in too much danger for it to be worthwhile. Contrary to the first two games, the Spread Gun is actually one of the worst weapons in this one. Yeah, the spread coverage is nice but the bullets are very weak and the rate of fire leaves you open too often. The Homing Gun is more reliable than Spread here. Fire is almost certainly the best weapon for general stage-clearing, Laser is the best on the top-down stages and the Crush Gun is the best for most bosses.

I've gotten to the point with the game that I can no-death Stages 1-3 most of the time and Stage 4 about half the time. It's mostly falling off the jagged corridors in Stage 5 that gets me or (the worst offenders in this game), getting blockaded by a Twylobite while crossing an exploding bridge. I try to avoid the bridges if at all possible for that reason.

Stage 6 is the real beast and low-scoring that stage is next to impossible. Mobs and projectiles will pile up so quickly at certain points that if you're not clearing the screen, you'll be completely skunked. Not a chance. And the final boss is a real bastard, too.

Update: Reached Stage 6, right before the final boss rush. If you have the Crush Gun, the boss rush itself isn't too hard, except if you get unlucky with Red Falcon's final form.

Update: Game complete! Against the final form of the Red Falcon brain, I found the "eyeball" and "blue legs" forms the easiest to deal with. Keeping the score down was rough, though. It's so counter-intuitive to a hectic run-and-gun like Contra.



Joe & Mac - 149,700

This is one of those games that I've always known about but never owned, rented or even played for more than a few minutes at a time. It's an interesting platformer, a bit sluggish perhaps but ultimately fun. The jumping controls are the only real gripe I have with it. Got as far as Stage 10 for the first time ever. For those who know the game better than I, is there any strategy to avoiding the lightning bolts in that stage or are you just at the mercy of the game? They seem to strike at the exact same progress points but because they're "baited" that way, I can't seem to avoid getting hit by them. Actually, the entire stage (and it's boss) seem rigged to drain your lives.

Update: Got to the final boss but couldn't finish off his second form. Joe & Mac was really fun once I started to get into it. Certainly a game I'll have to play more often.

I usually lose 1 life in that stage at the long trex battle. On trex stay near his back jaw shooting up at him constantly with the boomarang. Takes 4 hits for one pellet on all the weapons so might as well use the one with range. Stay at his back jaw and follow him back and forth. I get hit the least when I do this. When you get more to the mouth section he dips down more and hits you. I beat the game again today but was about 20k short of my other score. I always have so many lives by the time I get there I dont stress about it anymore. You don't get less points for losing lives. I finished with 9 this time.

The lightning. it blinks in the background before striking. You need to do a quick pullback move when you see it. You really have to just know its coming. That level has so much meat in it though I usually just take the hit. Other than the lightning and trex that level isnt too tough.

Is that the skeletal boss where you move up and down? When I beat the game earlier this year I think I remember finding a way to dodge his stuff

yeah there is one thing you can do to not get hit   . It really is a cheap boss. Should be a more obvious way to avoid it.
 

Is that an R8 in the corner?

Maybe

Also, if you beat the game it only gives you a moment to get your score. Otherwise you go back to level 1, and you'll have to kill yourself until your credit is up to see it again

Did another run on joe and mac. Got 150k. My other run was just perfect. Took out everything and it just added up.

Updated my Contra 3 run above. Got to Stage 6 but couldn't quite finish.

I guess people cant beat contra? I know i cant. Got to stage 3 boss a couple times.

I know Andy can, but he'll be keeping those cards close to the chest I'm guessing

Contra III: Stage 3, 232791

 

Joe & Mac: 25100

I've been away for the last two weeks, so I haven't had a chance to play. 

Contra III completed (2 terrible deaths). Score: 325,583. I played quite passive, but could definitely shave down the score. I'd say you get close to 250K just from the bosses but I am unsure exactly how the game score works. I recorded the gameplay, but likely won't upload unless there is some interest due to pure laziness. 





 

51,200 on Joe and Mac for me. Gonna hit up Contra this week. I've beaten it fairly recently, so I'm hoping I can at least beat it on Normal.

I finally get an afternoon to myself tomorrow, so I'll be submitting my Contra score, hopefully.

Yeah, I actually thought Contra III would be one of the more popular installments.
 

Ill get my contra score posted. Its not too impressive.

Contra 3 - Stage 4 Boss, 308,292





Died stupidly in a few spots.  Doubt I'll get another chance to give this one a try.

Joe and Mac - 117,000



Wow, is this game ever fun.  Super easy to figure out and not really all that difficult of a game, Joe and Mac on the SNES is definitely a hidden gem in my book, and I can't stand the NES version.  Got all the way to stage 9 and blew my few remaining lives on some stupid jumps.  Decided to keep going after this and ended up beating the game.  The one thing I could not consistently do was figure out how to get to the bonus areas where you get the keys.  I only did it on stage 1 once, but could do it every single time on the log stage that scrolls to the right and has all the fish that jump from the water (stage 3, stage 4?)  I couldn't figure out how to make the pink Pterodactyl spawn to get these bonus areas.  How in the heck do you do it?  I looked at some FAQs and they weren't any help.

It should be, but it's a low-score/progression contest. I understand why it is what it is(infinite point farming is really easy), it just feels counter-intuitive to what the game is about. I basically played normally and just tried to avoid the occasional respawning enemy when possible. I know we don't have to go out of our way to get a low score, but given the contest conditions, it's always going to be part of play. 

I was pressed for time last night, got towards the end(one of the forms of the final boss) and I accidentally set off my bomb right as I respawned on life 00(I do it a lot to clear the area when playing normally). Not sure I should post this one, or just try it again later. 
 

Unless you can beat Contra III I wouldn't even worry about the score part.  That's just a tiebreaker.

I believe I can, though. I've gotten to the alst boss mutliple times last night and once during break time today(not enough time for multiple runs). I've scored 1-ups on the eyeball version of the last boss, but then hit some crappy version that kills the crap out of me. 

I got all the keys on my run bimmy