{"id":937,"date":"2017-08-04T18:37:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T18:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sull.co.uk\/?p=937"},"modified":"2017-09-10T20:56:09","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T20:56:09","slug":"mame-wr-no-15-dr-micro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sull.co.uk\/?p=937","title":{"rendered":"MAME WR No. 15 – Dr. Micro"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Doctor Doctor my arcade cab has no PCB.”
\n“How does it work?”
\n“MAME!”<\/p>\n

This time around over on the excellent\u00a0Ten Pence Arcade<\/a> the high score challenge is for Dr Micro. \u00a0I think it’s fair to say we’re familiar with all the Drs. \u00a0Drs Watson, Mario, Spock, Oetker and the most famous,\u00a0Alban<\/a> but not so much the titular Dr Micro of this wondrous retro throwback. \u00a0 Developed by Sanritsu, who would later go on to create the classic Bank Panic for Sega, and released in 1983, Dr Micro is a three screen platformer clearly drawing inspiration from Donkey Kong. \u00a0You control what one assumes to be the hero of the game. \u00a0A hero which looks to be a toddler in earmuffs wearing a jump suit in colours not dissimilar to Donkey Kong’s Jumpman. \u00a0Hey, if you can’t innovate, imitate right? \u00a0The toddler has to progress through the three aforementioned screens towards a climactic showdown with an evil scientist (he’s evil because he has a moustache) who bears a striking resemblance to Dr Eggman<\/a> before the biscuit and pie addiction took hold.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The current high score over on Twin Galaxies on MAME for this is 2,116,910 by Kane Mawhinney<\/a>\u00a0which is quite\u00a0some going considering the low scoring nature. \u00a0Although I suspect the points per enemies ramps up as you progress. \u00a0So without further ado, lets kills some stuff and destroy a scientist’s lab while we’re at it. \u00a0I’m going in!<\/p>\n

25,430<\/strong> – First attempt and the first screen is made up of multiple moving platforms that you have to traverse from left to right to collect a V (why a V I have no idea) to finish the level. \u00a0The platforms are attached to a series of pipes which connect from a glass flask bubbling away atop a bunsen burner, funnelling red, mostly evil, liquid to a tank full of the stuff in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. \u00a0Every few seconds what I consider to be an egg, or a piece of cheese rolls into the tank, is transformed by the evil red liquid, possibly cherryade, into a frantic eyed reptile of some kind. \u00a0Complete with boxing gloves… \u00a0\"\"They’ll head across the platforms towards you, launching their boxing gloves in the vain attempt to do you considerable death based damage. \u00a0You come armed with a gun which aids in talking them down. \u00a0Drop the V on them however and you get a nice 1000 bonus. \u00a0Also, a test tube with legs (?) makes its way to the top of the screen where the evil mustached Dr. Micro awaits, ready to fill him up with evil red liquid so it can pour it upon your cherubic bonce and thereby death-ing the hell out of you. \u00a0Should you take a wrong step from one of the moving platforms, fear not as at the bottom there awaits a saviour in the shape of an inflatable dinghy ready to bounce you back up to the platform from whence you came, allowing you to carry on the fight to stop Dr. Micro doing something evil I assume. \u00a0Can’t quite work it out to be honest.<\/p>\n

31,850\u00a0<\/strong>– So, on to the second screen we go. \u00a0Once again the nasty blinder Dr. Micro hovers atop dispensing his cheap Aldi shiraz to hurt and maim the toddler. On the right hand side of the screen there is an open pipe which dispenses floating balloon enemies, with boxing gloves, again… \"\" There is a pipe on the left hand side of the screen which momentarily creates a green bubble or is it a ball? Yet when you jump on it you begin to float so perhaps it’s a balloon? Or an over inflated beach ball? Either way you’re transported up up and away on a beautiful, a beautiful, ballooooon ball thing from whereupon you can take pot shots at the evil red boxing glove balloons. But beware as every shot you take, your flotation device loses air, and after five you fall either to the floor or onto other green ball balloon things. Every now and again a random penguin appears which will give you a bonus of 3000 so it’s key that these are picked up. \u00a0All this occurs whilst being buffeted about by fans at either side of the screen. \u00a0You can’t fault the developers for introducing some element of physics into the game but it really is all a bit shonky and a tad uncontrollable. \u00a0On the plus side, you’re not maimed when you come into contact with the fans. \u00a0After you kill enough of the red enemies a vent opens up at the top of the screen. If you reach it before it closes you are taken forward to screen three. \u00a0Catch yourself on the back foot, it closes and you have to kill the red guys again until it opens up once more.<\/p>\n

\"\" On the third screen, the nasty fuzzy faced lab rat has progressed from chemistry lab surrounding to a factory production line setting reminiscent of BBC’s 80s kids program Bertha<\/a>. \u00a0Four floors of oncoming bits and bobs of moving machinery with the the odd bits of conveyer belts. \u00a0The objective here is to reach the fourth floor where Dr. Micro is sat. \u00a0I don’t. \u00a0I mistime many jumps and squander my remaining lives…<\/p>\n

84,790 –\u00a0<\/strong>Aha. \u00a0I manage to reach and conquer the fourth floor on the third screen, successfully destroying the patrolling robots and the toddler angrily throws his gun away and gets all up in Dr. Micro’s grill and gives him a swift kick. \u00a0However, he quickly runs off and you’re back at screen one. \u00a0Oddly, the gun you collect on the third floor must be very heavy as he loses the ability to jump once he collects it. \u00a0Having completed the loop, I have no idea what the Dr’s intention is here. \u00a0What micro components is he making? \u00a0Or is it that he has made the hero microscopic? \u00a0Or is the Dr. himself micro? What exactly is he building on that third screen? \u00a0It looks to be taking the form of a chair but then it’s melted down into a lump of molten slag then reformed into a shit vase. \u00a0 It’s baffling. \u00a0Perhaps I’m reading too much into this but upon close inspection it’s fair to say it’s batshit crazy. \u00a0Oh and I’ve failed to mention the soundtrack is a chip tune version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. \u00a0Yes. That. \u00a0On Loop. \u00a0After an hour of that on repeat you’re ready to go postal so do yourself a favour and mute that sucker.<\/p>\n

114,550<\/strong>\u00a0– Now we’re hitting our stride. Not much changes on the first couple of screens. \u00a0The enemies on screen one are somewhat more aggressive and fleet of foot but no more a threat than the previous loop. \u00a0The second screen is also the same but with the penguins replaced with water balloons or bubbles or summat. \u00a0The third screen swaps the conveyors around a bit and over all three stages the enemies are worth more but that two million Twin Galaxies scores seems a long way off…<\/p>\n

334,850<\/strong> – Reaching screen 12 and by rights I should have progressed further. \u00a0A few silly mistakes rushing through the levels contribute to a one way ticket to Deadsville.<\/p>\n

…and with that, it’s time up. \u00a0Time to submit the scores before the Sunday cutoff. Not a bad score, not as good as @_CharlieFar<\/a>\u00a0(of course…) but decent enough to place me at fifth over on Twin Galaxies. \u00a0All in all it’s a nadequate platformer but ultimately let down by some weird design choices. \u00a0Impressive sprites for its age though. \u00a0I’d encourage you to try it out if you’re curious and it does offer a challenge but for me\u00a0Sanritsu really hit their peak with Bank Panic. So play that instead.<\/p>\n