Pro Tip of the Day - mechanics http://protipoftheday.com/taxonomy/term/238/0 en Pro tip: Performing the shoulder tackle in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time http://protipoftheday.com/node/448 <p>One of the things about playing arcade games is that you don't really have much guidance to tell you the ins and outs of the game. So, when I got the Super NES version of Turtles in Time, I was surprised to learn that there was a move in the game that I didn't know about, a shoulder tackle. The instructions in the manual were kind of vague, but I was eventually able to figure out what to do, and I'm going to share that with you today.</p> <p>To do it, you first start running (depending on how your game is set up, either by double-tapping a direction or just holding it in for a few seconds)</p> <div align="center"><img src="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/tmnt4_shoulder1.jpg" /></div> <p>Then, while running, press the Jump Button to do a handspring, which doesn't actually do any damage to anyone</p> <div align="center"><img src="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/tmnt4_shoulder2.jpg" /></div> <p>Then, the instant that completes, press the Attack Button to do your shoulder tackle!</p> <div align="center"><img src="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/tmnt4_shoulder3.jpg" /></div> <p>And, since it's kind of tough to follow along with just my description, I've provided an animated .gif for you <a href="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/tmnt4_shoulder_ani.gif">here</a>.</p> <p>And, yes, this does work on the arcade version.</p> arcade mechanics pro tip SNES technique tmnt4 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:54:22 +0000 Will 448 at http://protipoftheday.com Pro tip: Tetris is (usually) balanced http://protipoftheday.com/node/419 <p>It's really easy in competitive Tetris, especially if you're matched up against someone who's at about the same skill level that you are, to feel like the game comes down to the selection of pieces you get. But, in most games of Tetris, both players get the same pieces. It really comes down to who can put them in place the fastest. </p> <p>Which is kind of hard to wrap your head around, I know, so I prepared the video below where I use the same controller input for both controllers and play a short round of competitive Tetris.</p> <div align="center"> <object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/inCkK58En54&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/inCkK58En54&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object></div> <p>It's actually pretty illuminating. Everything's the same: pieces dropped, garbage sent, all of it.</p> <p>Of course there are probably variants of Tetris that don't make everything equal like this, but you probably don't want to play those.</p> ds game boy gba mechanics NES pro tip SNES tetris Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:58:48 +0000 Will 419 at http://protipoftheday.com Pro tip: getting the multiple shot powerups in Castlevania http://protipoftheday.com/node/235 <p>In the classic Castlevania games, you get the very useful sub-weapons. You can only throw one at a time until you find the Double-Shot and the Triple-Shot powerups, which let you throw two and three of them at a time (obviously). </p> <p>But, aside from certain blocks that always have shot upgrades, finding them is pretty random, right?</p> <p>Wrong!</p> <p>You can make the Shot powerups appear simply by using your sub-weapon to hit things.</p> <div align="center"><img src="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/castlevania_shots1.png" /></div> <p>You can hit candles, enemies, whatever, as long as you actually hit something. Hit about ten somethings and you'll make the Double-Shot appear</p> <div align="center"><img src="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/castlevania_shots2.png" /></div> <p>Hit about ten more for the triple shot.</p> <div align="center"><img src="http://protipoftheday.com/sites/default/files/castlevania_shots3.png" /></div> <p>Just make sure you actually hit things, if you just throw your sub-weapons off a cliff, you won't accomplish anything other than wasting Hearts.</p> Castlevania mechanics NES pro tip technique Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:25:00 +0000 Will 235 at http://protipoftheday.com