Chasing Ghosts? Or… Being Chased?

Those of you who love retro gaming as much as we do and can’t wait for our Chasing Ghosts challenge are in for a treat this year… For this year’s Pixels Camp, we decided to up the ante a bit.

Last time around we went for two hard-boiled classics: Popeye and Dig Dug, two games that brought arcade purism to the Pixels Camp main stage:

Last edition’s event, with riveting live commentary by a couple of Muppets… Er… subject matter experts.

And we thought… How are we ever going to top that, short of hiring actual professionals for doing the live commentary?

Well, as it turns out, there are two arcade classics that have been long-running obsessions among the Pixels Camp team and deliver amazing gameplay, catchy tunes, great visuals, and all-too-intense moments of utter panic and mayhem for both audience and players.

Not Just Ghosts, But Goblins Too!

And, guess what, one of them even involves being chased by (and chasing) actual ghosts — Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins, one of the most challenging arcade games ever made:

There’s something oddly familiar about a bearded guy running around on stage

The Toughest Side-Scroller Ever?

And to go with it, we turned to the future — the year 2163, when mankind is fighting for survival against the vicious Bydo in Irem’s R-Type, a side-scroller made infamous by its relentless difficulty:

Causing twitching nightmares since 1987

Qualifiers

Like last time, if you want to be part of the tournament, then you need to qualify before Pixels Camp and prove you’re worthy to participate in a very public way… So here’s what you need to do:

• Pick Ghosts ’n’ Goblins or R-Type.
• Reach the highest score you can.
• Pick up your smartphone and take a selfie next to the high-score, or (even better) stream your playing session on Twitch. Make sure the picture is crystal clear. Cats in the frame are optional, but cannot enter the competition by themselves.
• Post the final score on Twitter with the hashtags #chasingghosts #pixelscamp or on #arcade on the Pixels Camp Slack.
• We will acknowledge your post and invite you to join us.
• Be there Thursday, the 21st, at 9pm, on Stage 2, and take part in the fun.

Rules

• Do not cheat. It’s not fun. Really.
• You can only use one credit.
• If you’re using emulators, then all settings must be standard and you must use the original arcade ROMs only, no variants or clones. The ROM files are: gng.zip, rtype.zip (both World Edition ROMs)

It is rumoured that our Arcade Master this year will bear an uncanny resemblance to the main character of one of these games (but with pants on), and we are going to have prizes for the best.

Start playing!