monthly hardcore gaming quiz

[Mr_Horizon]

August Quiz - Answers & Score

Thirty players with 20+ points, and equally thirty people with 5 or less points.... perfectly balanced, as all things should be?
Winners of Commander Keen game vouchers will be contacted separately.

And where are you in the high score table? Scroll down and find out. Let's start with the scoring of the puzzle.... first the names of the games as text, then the pictures, then the award ceremony.

1) Commander Keen 4
Probably the most famous DOS platformer ever (with ports for Game Boy Color and Switch) - but it's slowly being forgotten.
Solution rate: 82%
Other suggestions: -

2) Descent 2
There was a Playstation port of this with new levels.
Solution rate: 69%
Other suggestions: Cybermage, Epic, Forsaken, Star Wars, Titan Wars

3) Jazz Jackrabbit
The most solved game of this round, we see the spin-off "1995 Holiday Hare".
Solving rate: 83%
Other suggestions: Bucky O'Hare, Flood, Banyou Banzai

4) Space Hulk
Any variant of "Star Crusade" or "Warhammer 40k" was accepted as a solution.
Solution rate: 76%
Other suggestions: Chaos Engine, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D

5) SkiFree
Yes, there was also a DOS version of this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkiFree#History
Solution rate: 62%
Other suggestions: Ski or die, Ski Craze, Woodruff

6) Little Big Adventure
The adventures of Twinsen were also available on the Playstation.
Solution rate: 71%
Other suggestions: Little Big Planet, Runescape, Ultima, Zork

7) Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth.
This is not the Gobliiins series, even though the games had a very similar graphic style.
Solution rate: 39%
Other suggestions: 18x Gobliiins, Day of the Tentacle, Adventure's Planet, Bubba n Stix

8.) Star Control 2
Some players had wanted this title for a long time - let's go into battle against the Ur-Quan!
Solution rate: 47%
Other suggestions: Elite, Master of Orion, Space Quest, Star Trek, Starflight 2, Xcom UFO Defense, Xenon

9) Jagged Alliance
Solution rate: 45%
Other suggestions: 6x Warcraft, Albion, Battleground, Cannon Fodder, Command & Conquer, Deadly Games, The Settlers 1, Dune 2, Fallout, GTA, Merchanents, Sid Meier's Pirates, War Inc

10) Space Quest 2
Solving rate: 55%
Other suggestions: 4x Kings Quest, Leisure suit Larry, Flashback, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Prince of Persia, space janitor, The Black Cauldron, Wizardry

11) Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Well, where is she? Two thirds of you have found her!
Solution rate: 65%
Other suggestions: Indiana Jones, Indian Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Laura Bow, Sam and Max

12) Yo! Joe!
Solution rate: 35%
Other suggestions: Blues Brothers, Magic Pocket, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon, Trolls

13) the Humans
Stone Age #1
Solution rate: 48%
Other suggestions: Big Nose the Caveman, Caveman, Caveman Ugh-Lympics, Toki

14) Prehistoric
Stone Age #2
Solution rate: 62%
Other suggestions: Chuck Rock, Caveman, Humans, Joe & Mac, Lemmings

15) Ugh!
Stone Age #3
Solution rate: 40%
Other suggestions: Lemmings, Little Big Adventure, Stone Age

16) Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
Solution rate: 56%
Other suggestions: 7x Toonstruck, Sam & Max, Moon Mania, Rayman, sega rally

17) D/Generation
Solution rate: 41%
Other suggestions: Space Quest, Star Trek

18.) Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed
Were there any other sci-fi RPGs with the Goldbox engine?
Solution rate: 32%
Other suggestions: Pools of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Dungeons & Dragons, Bio Menace, Ghoul Patrol, Sunset Riders, Tegel's Mercenaries

19) Sign of the Sun
The hardest game of this round, a rather mediocre adventure game from 1997.
Solving rate: 8%
Other suggestions: Quest for Glory, Baldur's Gate, Chronicles of the Sword, Chronomaster, Kings Quest, Bard's Tale, Daggerfall, Defender of the Crown, Dragon Lore 2, Dune, Ecstatica, Fable, Fallout, Hell, I have no mouth and I must scream, Silver, Talisman, Tower of Souls

20) Boppin'
Solution rate: 26%
Other suggestions: Chex Quest, Cool Spot, Gabriel knight 3, Zool

21) Battle Chess
No RPG, just chess.
Solving rate: 50%
Other suggestions: 7x Kings Quest, Ultima, Defender of the Crown

22) Gorillas.bas
Solution rate: 48%
Other suggestions: California games, King Kong, Superman

23) Innocent until Caught
The sequel "Guilty" also gave the full point.
Solution rate: 23%
Other suggestions: 10x Beneath a Steel Sky, Gabriel Knight, Full Throttle, Terminator, Dalek Attack, Dreamweb

24) Ravenloft: Stone Prophet
Solution rate: 26%
Other suggestions: Dune, Albion, Barbarian, Daggerfall, Final Fantasy, Full Throttle, Magic Carpet, Mdk, Might & Magic, Outlaws, Space Harrier, Ultima

25) Test Drive 2 - the duel
The baby from the difficulty setting - not exactly easy!
Solution rate: 10%
Other suggestions: Indy Heat, Chav Racer, Commander Keen, Crystal Caves, Ferrari Formula One, Grand Prix Cricuit, Offroad, Outrun, Pit Stop II, Speed Racer, Superkarts



Here is the quiz picture again, followed by the answers:



Answer picture:

Direct link: i.imgur.com/YH9sQXz.png


HIGH SCORE TABLE

01 - 25 points - rta - Marek
02 - 25 points - spz - The_BACH
03 - 25 points - mnc - East-West Elite
04 - 25 points - mtc - KainXVIII
05 - 24 points - mmx - Nayuta
06 - 24 points - mmx - Knuckles
07 - 24 points - mmx - fedprod
08 - 23 points - mnc - Gerhard S.
09 - 23 points - can - Dark Kariya
10 - 23 points - spz - Striderblade
11 - 23 points - gsg - TheLastToKnow
12 - 23 points - ntl - lifer
13 - 23 points - rta - EarthPainting
14 - 23 points - mnc - Mangamaniac2171
15 - 23 points - rpg - Calastellio
16 - 23 points - mnc - Andy1977
17 - 22 points - eab - Little Havie
18 - 22 points - hcg - windfish
19 - 22 points - hcg - teroknor
20 - 22 points - smu - Herr Schatten

21 - 22 Punkte - gsg - partykiller
22 - 22 Punkte - mnc - Dream Team
23 - 21 Punkte - gms - kopyright
24 - 21 Punkte - eab - Havie
25 - 21 Punkte - eab - TheCyberDruid
26 - 21 Punkte - gpo - DocMoody
27 - 21 Punkte - eab - darkwave
28 - 20 Punkte - eab - NOBBY_UK
29 - 20 Punkte - sh2 - Vino
30 - 19 Punkte - eab - gimbal
31 - 19 Punkte - mtc - FunnyJay
32 - 17 Punkte - hcg - excelsior
33 - 17 Punkte - mmx - Dnamei
34 - 17 Punkte - rta - malus
35 - 17 Punkte - ftg - Destria
36 - 17 Punkte - gav - Wizdom
37 - 17 Punkte - ftg - rwklau
38 - 16 Punkte - f64 - Endurion
39 - 16 Punkte - mtc - Valdien
40 - 16 Punkte - rtc - ElginMcQueen
41 - 16 Punkte - hcg - dsparil
42 - 16 Punkte - ftg - DeekyFun
43 - 16 Punkte - ata - jgkspsx
44 - 16 Punkte - cib - LockeBoss
45 - 16 Punkte - smu - drauch
46 - 15 Punkte - eab - Mailman
47 - 15 Punkte - hcg - Woody Alien
48 - 15 Punkte - mnc - PaulBearer
49 - 15 Punkte - rtg - Chinnico
50 - 15 Punkte - rtc - Antiriad2097
51 - 14 Punkte - ntl - Matt_Barber
52 - 14 Punkte - mtc - Wibblewozzer
53 - 13 Punkte - gpo - FireSmoke
54 - 13 Punkte - mnc - elementalMaster
55 - 13 Punkte - sh2 - FoxSpitzer
56 - 13 Punkte - hcg - Son of Suzy Creamcheese
57 - 13 Punkte - rta - Illusionary
58 - 13 Punkte - sh2 - Bonz
59 - 12 Punkte - gms - j1m
60 - 12 Punkte - m!g - Greg
61 - 12 Punkte - hcg - personman
62 - 12 Punkte - rtg - markopoloman
63 - 12 Punkte - ntl - Bunkerneath
64 - 12 Punkte - hcg - Alexmate
65 - 12 Punkte - gms - kanedat
66 - 12 Punkte - pop - Don Como
67 - 12 Punkte - mtc - MegaApple
68 - 11 Punkte - wtd - Rossyrg
69 - 11 Punkte - mtc - Parsnip
70 - 11 Punkte - mnc - HomiSite
71 - 10 Punkte - f64 - Rockford
72 - 10 Punkte - smu - Mischief Maker
73 - 10 Punkte - m!g - geohound
74 - 10 Punkte - rta - *Splinter
75 - 10 Punkte - mmx - LittleChoco
76 - 09 Punkte - gpo - Bully
77 - 09 Punkte - nto - Lockenvogel
78 - 09 Punkte - f64 - ZeHa
79 - 09 Punkte - gpo - Eddie
80 - 09 Punkte - rkb - Philippe161
81 - 09 Punkte - mmx - Cutter Slade
82 - 08 Punkte - sh2 - godzella
83 - 08 Punkte - spz - Geddoe
84 - 08 Punkte - rpg - Fyrchtegott
85 - 08 Punkte - f64 - Jammet
86 - 08 Punkte - nto - 4C8en
87 - 08 Punkte - can - M.Rick75
88 - 07 Punkte - ftg - wuntyate
89 - 07 Punkte - gms - Schneitzel
90 - 07 Punkte - gms - Bianco
91 - 07 Punkte - f64 - Joystick
92 - 07 Punkte - ntl - Late
93 - 07 Punkte - gpo - MessorTorvus
94 - 07 Punkte - mtc - QFNS
95 - 06 Punkte - rtg - necronom
96 - 06 Punkte - mnc - Biberle
97 - 06 Punkte - m!g - Red XIII
98 - 06 Punkte - off - Qual der Wal
99 - 06 Punkte - rta - SinOfHeart
100 - 6 Punkte - mmx - Klunky
101 - 6 Punkte - gpo - KHlover
102 - 6 Punkte - ftg - LockeTribal
103 - 6 Punkte - mtc - freshVeggie
104 - 5 Punkte - mmx - Lynx
105 - 5 Punkte - mnc - Mitschel
106 - 5 Punkte - rkb - Addearheart
107 - 5 Punkte - pop - Sascha
108 - 5 Punkte - wtd - svenoble
109 - 5 Punkte - rkb - ToniLustig
110 - 5 Punkte - rpg - Zion
111 - 5 Punkte - gms - hellermarie
112 - 4 Punkte - rkb - salversurfer
113 - 4 Punkte - pop - daiyama
114 - 4 Punkte - rkb - flof1ghterLegend
115 - 3 Punkte - rkb - BobvonKrakauerzuSenf
116 - 3 Punkte - gpo - Konsolomio
117 - 3 Punkte - cib - Retro_Willie
118 - 3 Punkte - ntl - Dogorilla
119 - 3 Punkte - gav - Rippi
120 - 3 Punkte - cib - Elemental Master
121 - 3 Punkte - gav - Scorplian
122 - 3 Punkte - mmx - Shades
123 - 3 Punkte - gav - Yoshi
124 - 3 Punkte - rpg - D4rkD
125 - 3 Punkte - gpo - Navarone
126 - 2 Punkte - rkb - DSOP_ape
127 - 2 Punkte - cib - Sectorchan
128 - 1 Punkte - rpg - Moons.of.Kandar
129 - 1 Punkte - m!g - Kong
130 - 1 Punkte - mnc - Arne
131 - 1 Punkte - sh2 - BVBFabi09
132 - 1 Punkte - gpo - GAMEPROFF
133 - 1 Punkte - gms - hellifanboy
134 - 1 Punkte - gpo - Rave
135 - 0 Punkte - smu - Guigui
136 - 0 Punkte - cib - tharathiel
137 - 0 Punkte - gpo - OutOfBounds


So then, award ceremony: Congratulations to Marek, The_BACH, East-West Elite and KainXVIII... you all got FULL POINTS and won this round!

Scroll up if you want to see the other players in the top 20.


LOCAL HIGH SCORE

1 - 22 points - windfisch
2 - 22 points - teroknor
3 - 17 points - excelsior
4 - 16 points - dsparil
5 - 15 points - Woody Alien
6 - 13 points - 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀
7 - 12 points - personman
8 - 12 points - alexmate


Congrats to windfisch & teroknor for the local leads.

Thanks to everyone for participating!

[Snake]

Damn, been missing too long, totally missed answering. Though I think I would've only got 1 point anyways, for Commander Keen. >___<

[teroknor]

I'm (very slightly) disappointed because I'm one point below my DOS average. Still, that was again a lot of fun. Sign of the Sun was the only game I hadn't heard of; I only found it through the hint. I knew of Boppin' (mostly due to the Apogee connection) but I don't think I had ever looked at it, and I think I might have even played Innocent Until Caught for a bit, but still didn't get it. With Test Drive, I thought "EGA palette" and "racing game", which narrowed it down just right, and I'm pretty sure I even looked at the correct game, but must have missed the difficulty selection. Great choice of screenshot!

And one complaint: SkiFree was never on DOS - that mention on Wikipedia was misleading.

[excelsior]

Well done to teroknor and windfisch for the high score!

The only ones I knew from sight this time around were 3, 4 (the only one I've ever played) and 6, everything else was from research. I did of course put in a bit extra at the end after being shamed for not knowing no.1. Definitely I know the name and have seen the image attached to the name a number of times, but it's not a game I encountered during childhood or have ever played. This whole topic in general falls outside my experience base. It's been a while since there was a subject covered that I knew, so hoping for some nice Nintendo games next month or something of that nature.

[dr_st]

I'm usually quite bad at these quizzes, so I never bother to participate. This time was one of the best for me, and I still only knew immediately 8 out of 25 - Keen, Descent, Jazz, Skifree, Humans, Prehistorik, Battle Chess and Gorillas. About Carmen Sandiego - I guessed it was her, but wouldn't be able to place the specific game in the series.

[dsparil]

Literally just the ones I recognized for me which was quite a few: 1-6, 8-11, 14, 16-18, 20, 22. I did misidentify which Putt Putt #16 was though. Of the rest, I have never heard of 7,12,15 and 19. Really just kicking myself over Ravenloft because I forgot the second one was Egyptian themed.

I just want to say that D/Generation is a game more people should play. It used to place fairly highly on Best PC Games of All Time lists, but it's largely forgotten today. There was a bad remake a five or six years ago for all platforms, but the Switch exclusively also got a straight port. I never got it because it felt slimy to make them two separate purchases instead of just updating the HD version to include the original.

---

Sept 4, 2022 1:16:52 GMT -5 dr_st said:

I'm usually quite bad at these quizzes, so I never bother to participate. 

You should still do it because it helps everyone collectively at the end. I sat out of these for a really long time and regret it a bit.

[Mr_Horizon]

Sept 3, 2022 14:14:18 GMT -5 teroknor said:

And one complaint: SkiFree was never on DOS - that mention on Wikipedia was misleading.

Can you elaborate on this one? I had an Amiga in the 90s and only played on PCs at friends houses, so the details of DOS titles elude me.

But this bit from Wikipedia...wait... where is it!? YOU EDITED IT OUT YOURSELF! 

I need to be careful with Wikipedia sources from now on, you'll just change stuff when you get it wrong.

[dsparil]

SkiFree just never had a DOS version and Wikipedia was outright wrong in saying there was one. All the original Microsoft Entertainment Packs were for Windows 3.x. The DOS reference got added in April 14, 2019 and comes from someone misunderstanding a list of system requirements at the end of an article. There were originally more incorrect references to DOS but one managed to stick around.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

I am legit surprised there would be anyone on this forum who wouldn't recognize Commander Keen instantly. Maybe it's because I grew up with those games, but I thought they'd be like super well known to retro gaming enthusiasts. Not shaming anyone, just genuinely did not expect that.

13 Punkte is about what I expected. I find it interesting Space Hulk is on the first row...I've never heard of it (on the contrary, I thought Putt Putt would be one of the easier ones). D Generation looks really neat. I feel every month there's at least one game I find out about I never heard of but that looks very cool. I also see I'm one of probably several people who knew #7 had something to do with Gobliiins but was too lazy to inquire further.

Sept 4, 2022 3:46:17 GMT -5 dsparil said:

You should still do it because it helps everyone collectively at the end.

It does?

[dsparil]

Sept 5, 2022 7:02:35 GMT -5 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 said:

Sept 4, 2022 3:46:17 GMT -5 dsparil said:

You should still do it because it helps everyone collectively at the end.

It does?

General participation at year end

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Ok, yeah I just went back in the thread a bit. That makes sense.

[teroknor]

Sept 4, 2022 15:07:52 GMT -5 Mr_Horizon said:

But this bit from Wikipedia...wait... where is it!? YOU EDITED IT OUT YOURSELF! 

I need to be careful with Wikipedia sources from now on, you'll just change stuff when you get it wrong.

Yes I did, and dsparil already explained why above. Basically, Windows 3.x and earlier require DOS to run on, so the system requirements may say "DOS required", but the game itself still runs on Windows and will not run in Windows-less DOS (but might run on a DOS-less later version of Windows like 2000 or XP).

We could agree on a Win3.x game being DOS-adjacent.

[excelsior]

Sept 5, 2022 7:02:35 GMT -5 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 said:

I am legit surprised there would be anyone on this forum who wouldn't recognize Commander Keen instantly. Maybe it's because I grew up with those games, but I thought they'd be like super well known to retro gaming enthusiasts. Not shaming anyone, just genuinely did not expect that.

13 Punkte is about what I expected. I find it interesting Space Hulk is on the first row...I've never heard of it 

Do you have Games Workshop in your country? Space Hulk is a spin off of Warhammer 40K, so without knowing the particular game the Space Marine design is much more recognisable. 

I was kidding about being shamed on Commander Keen. Mr H playfully pointed out that I'd missed it before the deadline so I was going off of that. You can't know them all I guess - the series is just kind of on the periphery for me. It's there but I never paid attention to it. I've wishlisted it for now to remind myself to take a proper look down the line.

[dsparil]

The two shareware episodes (1,4) are really all you need. The original trilogy is a little rough, and they're more on the historically important side. It doesn't take too long to get through Episode 1. 4 is great though with some nice graphical variety and level design. 5 and Aliens Ate My Babysitter aren't as good for various reasons. The only one I'd recommend totally staying away from is Keen Dreams. Without getting into all the legal backstory, it's basically just a test for the engine used in the second trilogy and plays totally differently.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Episodes 2/3 and 5/6 are similar to 1 and 4 of course, but I think they have enough to offer to stand out. Keen 1 in particular feels very short and easy, and Keen 2 and 3 nicely ramp up the difficulty (3 maybe a bit too much). Episode 4 seems to be people's favorite, but I liked 5 a bit better.

Sept 6, 2022 2:10:07 GMT -5 excelsior said:

Do you have Games Workshop in your country? Space Hulk is a spin off of Warhammer 40K, so without knowing the particular game the Space Marine design is much more recognisable.

I think I saw a store with warhammer figures once in my life. And I'm honestly not even sure if that was in the Netherlands or not. So I don't think it really caught on here. Then again, I always thought it was a bit more niche to begin with. I have a friend who plays one of the newer Warhammer games though.