G'Day everyone……. Its your interim host here once again…….. Its a raining Saturday here right now…….…… Well it was another iffy week weather wise……. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and today have been rained out……. So no walking those days…… Thursday I took Natasha to puppy school for the first time…… She did really well…… Not much to report….. Just the usual yard work and real work……..


Dog Tired…….

As for gaming this week in Emulationville I played…….

Arcade

Final Fight (1989 Capcom) - Beat 'em up
Shadow Dancer (1989 Sega) - Platformer


Console

Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (1991 Sega) - Sega Game Gear - Platformer
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (2003 Tecmo) - Microsoft Xbox - Sports (Beach Volleyball)
Gran Turismo 4 (2004 Sony) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Racing)
Kirby's Return to Dream Land (2012 Nintendo) - Nintendo Wii - Platformer
NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona (2002 Infogrames) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Racing)
NHL Hitz Pro (2003 Midway) - Microsoft Xbox - Sports (Hockey)


PC

NASCAR Heat 5 (2020 Motorsport Games) - Steam - Sports (Racing)


NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona - Dick Trickle Career: Part 8

Hi im Murray Eastlake and im going to be bringing you all the action from the 2002 Weekly Dirt Racing Series: Round 8 of 10 here at Kingsfield Raceway……..

Kingsfield Raceway is a medium banked dirt track with the grass apron very close to the racing line that causes chaos when you touch it……. This is the 2nd time here this season after Dick Trickle won here in round 3…….

The fans have come in and packed out the stadium section……. They might have paid for the whole seat but the way this championship has been shaping up they might only need the edge…...

This season is going to go down as one of the greatest of all times…….. 7 races….. 7 different winners….. With 3 races left the championship is so WIIIIIIDE open even 2 Dicks couldnt touch the sides…….

Dont touch the sets…… Dont touch the dials…… You wont want to miss a single moment of the 2002 Weekly Dirt Racing Series action…….



Kingsfield Raceway……...


Dick Trickle at the track ready to race…….

Dick Trickle got into the groove early as he was setting some rather quick lap times compared to what he was doing here back in round 3……. The car was behaving nicely and he has good long run pace……

Onto qualifying and Dick set a respectable lap time of 16.542 and that puts him in 6th overall……. So Dick will be starting 3rd in Heat 2…….


Qualifying Results……..

The green flag dropped to start the 5 lap Heat 2 race and Dick got off to a great start from 3rd and was pounding the rear end of Erik Truet into the first turn….. This unsettled Truet just enough that when more contact came from John Rafter it put Truet into a spin and out of contention for the race win……

John Rafter took the lead and was never headed as Dick just didnt have the ponies under the bonnet to stay with Rafter…….

Rafter took the win easily from Dick who can 2nd…….. Trickle booked himself a spot in the A Main and will be starting 4th…...


Heat 2 Results…….


Dick Trickle lined up ready to start the A Main…...

The 75 lap A Main Final started in a similar fashion to last week…….. Dick got another great start and slid his way into the gap in front of him…… Only to get squeezed hard at the first turn as they tried their best to go 4 wide……. And this time Matthew Kato #425 come off second best and was turned sideways in front of Dick #445, Mark Hunter #429 and John Rafter #442…… They mostly managed to miss him and Kato took a hard lick against the outside wall……

Lap 2 and Zach Zins #476 touched that grass apron while trying to rub up against Dick….. Zins spun the car in front of John Rafter who could not avoid Zins and after crashing into Zins bounced up the track and into the side of Mark Hunter and they all spun as more cars piled in from behind…….

This left Dick Trickle all alone in 2nd as Ted Finger had turned up the jets and was in a comfortable lead…..

Championship leader Josh Ginter who does not qualify well……. Caught Dick after 20 laps and passed him with ease down the back straight…… And was on a hard charge to catch Ted Finger……

Dick was left in 3rd….. Not quick enough to catch Finger or Ginter and to fast for Kato and Joe Fazioli as they both had damaged cars after the lap 1 and 2 incidents…….

Dick came home in a comfortable 3rd place….. Some 8 seconds ahead of Zins…… but was 1 lap behind Finger and Ginter…..

I congratulated Dick Trickle on his 3rd place finish and asked for his thoughts on the race…... “Thanks Murray……. That was an intense start……. First few laps cars were going everywhere….. Thankfully I only suffered minor body damage during the scuffles on the 1st and 2nd lap…… And from then on it a quiet race for me…… That fast bastard Ginter got past me on about lap 20 and I just couldnt keep up……. I kept hoping Teddy would be able to hold him off…… But I just heard Ginter won and that is a kick in the balls….. We are in a hole now…. Some 100 points behind Josh with 2 races left…… But we will keep digging……. I dont know where Kato finished yet as I havnt seen the full finishing order but he was somewhere behind me thats for sure……. We might be able to steal 2nd place in the championship yet………. Onto Anoka I guess and with 110 points for a win…… Who knows what could happen…...”

With Josh Ginter being able to not only catch but also pass Ted Finger for the win……. Ginter now becomes the first 2 time winner this season and is now 78 points ahead of 2nd place Matthew Kato who had a disappointing race after that 1st lap crash nursed home a damaged car in 6th place….. Dick Trickle is 20 points behind Kato in 3rd place…….

The 2002 Weekly Dirt Racing Series now heads back Anoka City Speedway….. Mark Hunter won there in Round 4 earlier this year……. Can he back up that performance or will Josh Ginter seal the championship?…..

With just 2 races left in the championship is there any fight left in Matthew Kato and Dick Trickle???…… Tune in next week so you dont miss a moment of the penultimate round of the 2002 Weekly Dirt Racing Series…..

This is Murray Eastlake reporting……. And until next week its goodbye from me….


A Main Results……


Winnings……


NASCAR Heat Weekly……


2002 Weekly Dirt Racing Series Championship Standings after round 8 of 10……
Dick Trickle is still 3rd in the standings…..







Dirty Dick A Main Action……...


Final Fight



Final Fight is a game of its time……. And it does not hold up that well today…… Its not terrible.... Theres just is not enough variety in the game…… This was fine when it released as there was not many Beat ‘em ups in the arcade but today….. It is just overshadowed by many other fantastic beat 'em ups…… Including many by Capcom themselves….

The story is very simple…… Mike Haggar is the Mayor of Metro City…… His daughter April O’Neil has been kidnapped and only the Ninja Tur……… wait……. Wrong game…….. *Shuffles papers*……. His daughter Jessica has been kidnapped and only Mike Haggar, Cody and Guy can rescue her…….. Hmmmm not much difference…...

This is a very basic and standard Beat ‘em up……. Not a big variety of moves…… And some super cheap AI in places that are designed to suck as many quarters out of your pocket as possible……. The controls are nice and simple….. 1 button attacks and 1 button jumps……. Push both buttons together and gear a special attack that drains life……… It does feel good and responsive when playing thought…..

The graphics are nice for the time and the enemy variety is nice…… There are a few weapons scattered through out the game…… The usual pipes and swords and knives…….

The levels are usually short and sweet but the final two levels drag on for an age…….. And the bosses are nothing to write home about…… Being so generic and forgettable that I have honestly forgotten who they were and I only played the game 3 days ago…….

Much like Altered Beast and Golden Axe……. This is a product of its time and really not worth playing today when there are so many other much better beat ‘em ups to play……. Unless you want to experience it from a historical viewpoint……


Final Fight…..


This Week

Dont know much about what I will be doing this week….. The weather looks like it might be iffy at best…….. There will be a second lesson at puppy school though…… As for the rest who knows……. The weather will decide what I do this week…….

Daylight Savings ends tonight so I need to remember to change the times on the clocks before I go to bed.....

As for gaming there will be more hardcore Dick Trickle action in NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona……. NO MORE KIRBY GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!…..

I will be doing a 3 week mini series battle.... The 3 Final Fight Super Nintendo games vs the 3 Streets of Rage Mega Drive games…….. Which is why I played the Final Fight arcade game this week…..

I might even look into some PSP gaming…….


Well thats it from me…… Have a good week everyone……

Now for my bad joke of the week……
Q: What do you get if you cross a Border Collie with a flower????
A: You get a Cauliflower…...
*ba dum.... tssssh…...*