VideoGame_Discussion

I can confirm that benstylus is the Urban Champion!

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You may have the belt this year, but I'll train hard with Doc and will be back for a rematch next year!

Some context for everyone confused:

In mid-April, I received a package with a small poster for a singer I had never heard of. A little weird but I figured maybe a seller I bought something from on ebay mixed up his addresses somewhere. I wasn't missing any ebay items but I didn't think too much about it.

Then it happened again a couple weeks later. Same poster from a different address in a different part of the country. Now I'm a bit weirded out. I check my history on Amazon and eBay and don't find anything unusual. I check my bank and credit cards to make sure there are no unknown charges
There are not. I change my passwords anyway just in case.

Now I start to think maybe this is a brushing scam and someone is placing fake orders from a shill account and sending low value trinkets to prove delivery, and boost their ratings. Not a whole lot I can do about that.

Then I get a message from Citizen_zane saying he made a mistake. He had to do a last minute re-order my Secret Satan gift (of Bubsy 3D) because the first seller flaked. And then he forgot to change his address back so when he ordered the poster it came to me. And then frustrated when it never arrived, he ordered a second one. When THAT one didn't arrive, he researched and discovered his error and reached out to me.

I happily mailed them to him and noticed he lived in the same city as one of our OMG!Con staff, roughly 2 hours away. So I invited him to OMG!Con to see who was really better at Urban Champion, since we would be able to have both fans of the game in the same place. His work schedule didn't allow it, so I mentioned we would also be at Akaicon hosting their video game room, which is only about 30 minutes from his city. He checked his schedule and the plan was made.

And so while sitting behind our table where we keep the games, a man i don't recognize approached and says "I'm looking for someone named ben?"

The realization washes over me. My greatest rival appears. I stand and unsheath my 3ds. One of other omg volunteers asks if everything is OK, and I answer "yes, this is personal."

We both load up 3D Classics Urban Champion and the first round of the competition begins!

- to be continued

So far, an extremely accurate depiction of all the events that transpired. It was funny, we didn't shake hands or exchange pleasantries, it was straight to battle. It was on.

It's not often I get to use this (everything is relative):

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Ha! Great story. :)

Back from day two of Akaicon, so I have a little time before I go to bed and do it again tomorrow. So part two of the story begins...

3D Classics Urban Champion is loaded, we choose multiplayer. I host and citizen_zane joins. The game starts instantly, with neither of us realizing it right away. Within a second or two we notice and start playing in earnest.

And it feels like some inputs are being dropped, as well as some bugginess due to lag (keeping in mind we are playing local wireless within two or three feet of each other). Sometimes punches just don't land. The sway move when you are within arms' reach often just wouldn't work - you would take a step back instead.

Both of us were shaken by the terrible laggy gameplay. I got off to an early lead, but the police stepped in to assist zane at a critical point in the match when he was almost backed up against the edge of the screen. The 3d angled perspective shift on alternating stages also caught him off guard, since he always played with that off. However, in a down to the wire battle, citizen_zane made an amazing comeback, fought through the control lag and awkward viewing angles, and took a victory for our first match.

We then pulled our the NES version and plugged it in to the FC Twin that was hooked up to a nearby TV. This time citizen_zane was first player and I took the player two seat. With no muddy wireless code to worry about, we were able to play as we typically would. High and low punches connecting as they should. The ability to sway back, just long enough to dodge a fist and throw your own in reply. There were stretches where neither of us punched, waiting for the other to make the first attempt of some segments of the round. Other times the punches flew fast and hard. The move of the match was hitting him with a hard punch and knocking him into a falling flower pot for an instant stun, which gave me the opportunity for another free hard punch. Eventually, citizen_zane crumbled, and the victory tally was now even.

It needed to be settled. There was one more Urban Champion game to finish the fight... the arcade version, VS. Urban Champion, which quite conveniently I had purchased for Switch when it came out.

Quite inconveniently, my Switch was already out on the game floor, and a group of people were playing Mario kart 8 DX. And I was sure that none of the other Switch consoles that were out would have it (a fact I can now confirm).

We would have to wait until the Mario Kart crew were finished, but how long would that be?

- stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of this "Made for TZ" movie

(As a side note we used that Mario Kart time for all the pleasantries we dispensed with in part 1)

I love everything about this story and can’t wait to see the action packed conclusion.

Make this into a screenplay. Act 1: The shipping mixups. Act 2: Preparing for the Urban Championship. Act 3: The confrontation and fisticuffs. Benstylus is the official winner, but citizen_zane is the people’s champ!

It could kick off a successful film series, resulting in them putting an out of place robot in the fourth one for no reason.

This was such a joy to read. Love stuff like this.

Urban Champion Zone Act 3, in which benstylus finally claims victory (no spoiler alert, you already saw the topic title) and citizen_zane's daughter makes an appearance!

After giving citizen_zane the tour of the gaming area (which has about 30 stations, about half of our OMGCon loadout, but hey we're traveling so we don't bring everything), we talk about collecting and tetris and Nintendo and Sega and every couple of minutes glance over at the station with my switch.

Citizen_zane's daughter sits down at the Egret Mini station and shows her good taste in games by playing Bubble Bobble and Liquid Kids. When she finished, two of the three people playing had left. The third one stays on a little longer for some single player; but eventually he is gone and we hurry over to the switch and pick up where we left off.

Neither of us has played VS Urban Champion extensively, and we haven't played the two player variant of it at all. I am player one for the final match, and citizen_zane is player two.

Thankfully the game plays pretty much the same as we are used to. Although we do notice after a couple of rounds that this plays to a best of 7 instead of a best of 5. And the police and flower pot guy are not very active at all. One other difference is that the winner of the previous round has just a little bit further to walk to get to the middle of the screen so they can't just rest on their laurels and hope for a win by cop. They have to make up some ground! Most of the rounds go nearly to time. Citizen_zane fought well, but there can be only one winner, and the final match of thr championship ended with him knocked into an open manhole.

So the recap:

MATCH 1: 3D Classics Urban Champion (3DS): Inconsistent gameplay due to lazy multiplayer code. The camera angle changes make it even less playable.
Results: citizen_zane 3, benstylus 2

MATCH 2: Urban Champion (NES): The classic beloved by all. No frills, just fists.
Results: benstylus 3, citizen_zane 2

MATCH 3: VS Urban Champion (Switch): A slightly longer game, fewer appearances by the police and the flower pot guy.
Results: benstylus 4, citizen_zane 2

Kind of fun how each variant has its own slightly unique flavor. Just wish the multiplayer on the 3ds version worked better.

The unsanctioned Urban Champion tournament was over, but with a winner declared for this year, the rivalry is renewed. He has vowed to try to claw away my title next year, and I need to be ready to defend it. Next time it may be on my home turf! We really are very evenly matched.

We talk about the strategy, the depth of gameplay at high level, and citizen_zane's daughter recounts how when she was younger, zane would force her to play Urban Champion against him (probably not child abuse), and how she could never win. He didn't sugar coat it. He said "if she's going to beat me, she's going to have to actually beat me!" She refuses to play Urban Champion against him anymore.

So what's next?

citizen_zane is going to be coming back today to compete in our Tetris tournament. We have a sign-up sheet that we will be putting out when we open. His name is preprinted on it along with his title, the Tennessee Tetris King. (If you haven't seen his tetris collection pic, it's pretty impressive).

https://m.gametz.com/VideoGame_Discussion/finally-...

Also, despite having our 3ds systems in proximity to each other, we didn't streetpass! So we might have to rectify that.

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Bravo! Yes, I was ultimately defeated, but it was a spirited match indeed. The tension was real. I have to redeem myself, especially since I suffered a defeat in the presence of my daughter. My schedule looks to be clear for next year, so I'm pretty certain that I'll be making a road trip to even the score.

Your recollection of events is impeccable! I couldn't have told it better myself. And yeah, I was all Cobra Kai on my kids when it came to games. Strike first! There is no mercy in this household!

I got up bright and early this morning, just itchin' to play some Tetris. I think I'm going to get the convention early and get my Tetris on. Maybe try some version I haven't played before. I got a kick out of being given the title "Tennessee Tetris King." No pressure, right? I have to live up to that lofty title now! I'm looking forward to hanging out with you guys today. Thanks for making this all happen!

"We talk about the strategy, the depth of gameplay at high level, and citizen_zane's daughter recounts how when she was younger, zane would force her to play Urban Champion against him (probably not child abuse), and how she could never win. He didn't sugar coat it. He said "if she's going to beat me, she's going to have to actually beat me!" She refuses to play Urban Champion against him anymore."

🤣

So... just got home from the final day at Akaicon. The video game room closed at 4, we finished packing and got out of there around 6:30, back to the storage unit around 9:00, and now am finally back home.


Sunday is always the slowest day, so it's a good day for a silly tournament that is intended more for fun than anything else. Especially after the Saturday Smash Bros and Street Fighter tournaments.

The Tetris tournament was packed with thrills and excitement, as our commentator introduced citizen_zane, hyping him as the Tennessee Tetris King, and the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament. (After all, he was the only name preprinted on our signup sheet, AND there was a note that his appearance was by special invitation.

So no pressure on him or anything. We had 8 participants in a double elimination bracket. (Our other tournaments over the weekend are typically larger, but again, Sunday so fewer people overall).

I participated in the tournament as well in the hopes of facing citizen_zane to see how good he really was. The names were shuffled and we ended up on opposite ends of the bracket. I was in the first matchup, and he was in the fourth.

The game being played is Tetris Battle Gaiden for Super Famicom.

As it so happens, this game plays VERY differently than other Tetris variants. One major change is that you are both pulling from the same stack of upcoming tiles. So you may hold off on fast dropping a tile to make sure your opponent gets the next piece you don't want, or you can hate draft a piece you don't need just so your opponent can't get it.

Then there are orbs. They are included with one out of every few tetrominos, and they fuel your special moves. So grabbing orbs and denying orbs to your opponent are far more essential to winning a match than just speed building lines (though that helps too).

I started playing and building lines as quickly as I could, quickly forgetting all the strategy we had discussed during the practice rounds earlier in the day. (I played a good amount of Tetris Effect the day before Akaicon started, so my mentality was definitely "rush, don't think."

Big mistake. I was trounced 0-2 and was the first one to enter the loser's bracket.

Citizen_zane showed off his prowess by not only easily dispatching his first opponent, but in both rounds, using his character's level 4 special "Medusa" right as the opponent is about to lose, just to add insult to injury. The commentator makes some jokes about him being a cruel ruler, and citizen_zane plays along by giving a thumbs down like a Roman emperor to a fallen gladiator in a Hollywood movie.

I am watching the play, start remembering the right way to play, and begin the first loser's bracket match a changed player. I choose the Halloween pumpkin character, as looking at the abilities, it had the best odds of countering citizen_zane's Ninja character. That 4-orb Medusa move the Ninja does is absolutely devastating. It makes all the blocks currently on your screen turn to stone, so you have to clear them twice before they disappear. Maybe not a game ender if you only have a small stack, but if you are more than halfway to the top it is very difficult to come back from. The Pumpkin has a 3-orb vampire ability that lets you steal all the orbs your opponent currently has. So my thinking was as long as I can get Vampire first, then zane would never get Medusa. Because as soon as he gets a second or third orb, I activate and take it. Which then primes me to get it again!

So for my opponent in the loser bracket I carefully worked the tetromimo supply and learned what the other moves the pumpkin was capable of. His 2 orb attack can make the opponent's screen go dark so they can only see a couple spaces immediately below the tile that is dropping (useless against the CPU, great for human opponents that haven't memorized their entire board). His 4 orb attack explodes a bomb on the opponent's side which randomly destroys about half their blocks (making for a lot of difficult gaps to fill). And his level 1 sets it so after your next drop, the bottom 3 rows will be filled as well (plan it right and you can combine it with a tetris for a 7 line clear).

The first loser bracket match is pretty lopsided. The opponent wasn't focused on the well, so I got plenty of orbs and was able to keep the pressure on. This time I had a 2-0 victory.

Citizen_zane kept winning in the main bracket, and I kept winning in the Loser's bracket. Finally it comes time for the loser bracket final, where the winner goes back to the main bracket to face the Tetris King in the final, and the loser is awarded 3rd place overall.

Tune in tomorrow for more! But a preview:

Up next: benstylus vs Remy (who also climbed the main bracket, only just dropping down due to a loss to Zane in the semi-final, and i am standing in the way of their rematch)

And then the winner of that match will go toe to toe with the Tennessee Tetris King to dethrone him and take his title (and also first pick from our prize tub!)
_

Shame @citizen_zane hadn't ordered Balan Wonderland and that was arriving to you instead @benstylus

I already own a copy

benstylus wrote:

I've never heard of that variant before, that sounds awesome!


How do you clear a line twice? Wouldn't the block you used to clear it then be in the way? Or does the block you used to clear it just disappear after the first clear?

Scott wrote:

The pieces of the block you used for that line disappear. But considering you won't always get perfect fits, it will leave anything above it in place until the second clear.

So if you had

XXXXXX XXX
XXXXXX XXX
XXXXXX XXX

and you dropped the long block in there, it becomes

      X
XXXXXX XXX
XXXXXX XXX
XXXXXX XXX

Dang, that's rough.

benstylus wrote:
Would love to see a pic of the prize tub.

benstylus wrote:
I'm trying to understand that diagram/explanation. So if you drop the long block in a 3 deep space where the Ninja had used the 4 orb Medusa move, the bottom 3/4 of the long block will unstone the surrounding area, but the top 1/4 of the long block will float in the air above the open area?

Con weekends are rough when you are working them. From setup Thursday through packing up Friday Sunday, it's a good 50+ hours in those 4 days.

I'm waking up after crashing last night. As good a time as any to finish the tale.

Before we get to benstylus vs Remy, let's talk about the previous match, Remy vs citizen_zane.

Like me, Remy also paid attention in the tournament's early rounds. Taking a cue from citizen_zane, they went with the Ninja, hoping to use his powers to great effect. I've already described the 4 orb power, Medusa, but the Ninja's other powers are:

1 - Assemble: All the blocks in your play area are swept as far to the side as they will go (making for an easy Tetris if you had a lot of "nearly clear" lines) at the bottom)
2 - Fraud: Your opponent gets a random block instead of the one shown in the queue.
3 - Ruin: when your opponent clears a line, the blocks above it don't move down. This lasts for 20-30 seconds (at least that's what it feels like)

So Remy and citizen_zane are locked in battle, one determined to depose the despot and the other to maintain his monarchy.

Citizen_zane actually loses the first round (each game is a best 2 out of 3) with an early misaligned drop, and a late Fraud where he forgot it was random and dropped a piece into a poor position thinking he was getting a different one.

Shaking off the initial round, citizen_zane bounced back. The remaining two rounds were close, but with no more mistakes and focusing on orb control, citizen_zane pulled it out.

Clearly you won't be able to beat the master at his own game.

His winning streak completely unbeaten, the King of Tetris would be the ultimate victor... if this were a single elimination tournament. But with double elimination, he would have another match shortly.

Remy now dropped to the loser's bracket to compete against me for the honor of facing citizen_zane. It was a close match, but zealous orb control and judicious use of the darkness, vampire, and bomb powers ultimately led to my victory.

So the Hollywood match everyone here hoped to see is happening. GameTZ representing on both sides of the final!

(Speaking of, citizen_zane was wearing a GameTZ "neg" shirt. It was awesome and I want one)

The final begins and the pieces start to fly. I manage to get a lead on the orbs, but citizen_zane does get a couple as well, which I help myself to with the vampire ability and then almost immediately use to put his side in darkness. It was a hard fought round, but eventually I get the win.

Round 2 and citizen_zane is far more aggressive with orbs. We fight over them and get about half each. He is more successful at clearing them from his board to collect them, and after a Ruin prevented my pieces from falling after some good line clears, i have a bunch of stuff at the top with empty space below that i can't get to and my stack touches the top.

Round 3 begins, and we scrap for those orbs giving no quarter. Again we both get about half of them. I clear a third orb to zane's two, and as I am about to throw the vampire to take his, he uses them to play Fraud. This was a very effective move in his previous matches, but I use it as an opportunity to hate draft. I specifically take whatever I can that will give zane pieces he doesn't need and deny him the pieces he does. Since I get random either way it doesn't affect much. I grab a fourth orb, bomb lots of holes into his stack, then as he is dealing with the fallout (pun intended) I manage to get two more orbs and throw him into darkness, and he is defeated.

The king is dead? No, just like any good boss fight, this wasn't even his true form! It's a double elimination tournament, so that first loss means I will have to beat him again if I am to take the Tennessee Tetris King crown back to Kentucky.

He turns his game up a notch and focuses more on denial and manipulating the well of upcoming pieces. When you use a special attack, the pieces in play on both sides are thrown out, and you get the next piece in the well. However, if the piece has already started to appear in a player's "next" box, they will still get that piece. It's a level of strategy I had never witnesses, and zane repeatedly used Assemble to snatch up a straight block and get a quick tetris. He also used it to crash my piece out of play when it contained an orb.

The final form of citizen_zane overwhelmed me and he soundly defeated me, retaining the title that we had imposed on him as the Tennessee King of Tetris!

He is planning to come to OMG!Con next year (June 14-16) for an Urban Champion rematch, and begin his conquest to expand his Tetris kingdom. Is there a player in Kentucky who can send him back home with his head hanging in shame?

We will find out in 2024

nonamesleft wrote:
Yup.

After the tournament was over, Remy and citizen_zane played again and zane got creamed.

The adrenaline and the pressure of a made up title really put citizen_zane on his A game. Once the stakes were gone, he was a normal player again.

I also gave citizen_zane a copy of Yakuman DS. He doesn't know anything about mahjong but it's got Mario characters in it and maybe when OMGCon rolls around he'll be a pro at that too

I tend to play better under pressure as well. Good job @citizen_zane!

This got even better somehow haha

Man oh man, that tournament was intense! Both Remy and benstylus gave me quite the challenge. I had to buckle down and use my orbs wisely or else I was kaput. Benstylus played very strategically and made a lot of wise choices. I have to credit my Tetris skills for giving me a slight edge.

Tetris Battle Gaiden is quite unique and requires you to slow down and pay really close attention to both your opponent's board and the shared trough. I felt a bit frustrated over the fact that I couldn't play fast and furiously. As benstylus said to me, "if you want to do that, go play a different version of Tetris," or something along those lines.

That being said, I held it together and was able to eke out a victory, but man was it close. As the announcer proclaimed my victory, I stood upon a couple of chairs and triumphantly raised my arms into the air. After my moment of glory had passed, I felt a sense of relief that I had been able to pull it off. Remy wanted to play me again, to which I agreed. She soundly put a whoopin' on me! I guess I no longer had that competitive fire burning within me. All I know is that I better bring my A game next year. If not, I'm toast.

citizen_zane wrote:

For context, it wasn't trash talk. It was pre-tournament when we were discussing strategy. We were talking about how you have to sometimes play slow to get the piece you want. If you want to play fast tetris you need to play a different version.

This was fantastic to read, awesome stuff.

benstylus wrote:

Thanks for clarifying. I don't want anyone to think that any negative exchanges occurred. It was a very cordial and well-spirited affair. I love how Remy was coaching me on during my battle with benstylus. It was like having Doc in my corner!

@citizen_zane we are going to need a theme song for your royal entrance into the tournament at OMG.

I need to find a pomp & circumstance + korobeiniki mashup

citizen_zane wrote:

It was the most fun I've had playing tetris in a long time

@Frank you're somewhere in the Midwest too right?

OMG!Con could use another tetris beast for our tournament next year

Depending on where the convention is held, I might be able to get time off from work.

This picture is a bit outdated, and my Not For Resale Tetris Attack is hidden, but that's my Tetris stuff. I accumulated it from very little over the course of Covid.

Last time I played some Tetris online with Citizen he creamed me, but I was definitely not on my A game. I think we played Puyo Puyo Tetris a few years back?

Frank wrote:

OMG!Con is in Owensboro KY, which is probably about a 7 hour drive from northern Ohio. So not really viable for a day trip - you would probably want to plan to be around the whole weekend (or at least Saturday which is our biggest day, and Sunday which is our Tetris day). Next year is June 14-16. We do have a few gaming stores nearby too if you need to go game hunting. Secret Castle has the best selection, then there is 2nd and Charles, Book & Music Exchange, and Big Bang Comics that also have quite a few games. Secret Headquarters (in Evansville so a bit further out) is decent too and has a mini arcade inside. Book Broker (also in Evansville) has a small selection but sometimes some surprising deals. We haven't had a lot of video game vendors at the convention itself but it's something that we are trying to get more of, and there are usually at least a couple vendors with some games for sale.

@citizen_zane we are less than 4 months out from OMGCon... have you got a training montage video for our rematch?

I actually have been training. Check out the high scores on the Switch! Still, that's only against a computer. Let's hope it's enough.

Don't let your tetris skills atrophy. You need to defend that title too!

benstylus wrote:

Now that I am ready for.

citizen_zane wrote:

We are gonna have to pile on the pressure then

Bring it! Just don't bring in any ringers.

I still need to see if I'll be able to drive out there this year.

It would be cool to meet you guys... Also to witness the Urban Champion Championships 2024

Do it

I'm gonna call off from work on that Sunday morning and drive on up and spend the day there. It looks to be 2 hours and 45 minutes away, which isn't bad at all. Plenty of time to get up there to put the smack down on some fools.