SHIRO! announced its next Community Challenge in May will feature two titles in the Digital Pinball series: Last Gladiators Ver. 9.7 and Necronomicon.
Co-organizer Gregori Rasputin said May’s Community Challenge boasts seven events each with its own prize up for grabs.
The KAZE-produced Necronomicon and Last Gladiators Ver. 9.7 were released in November 1996 and September 1997, respectively, featuring a total of seven gorgeously rendered tables and a few John Petrucci-composed tracks.
Rasputin called the games “panic flip-inducing, silver ball-slapping classics.”
“May’s games were initially recommended by Double Dime (fellow challenge co-organizer and online tournament director),” he said. “The opportunity for a Score Attack-focused month felt like it was necessary following two racing-heavy months.”
The contest runs from May 1 through May 31, and photographic evidence of scores is required. Video submissions are encouraged, and contest organizers reserve the right to request video evidence.
Scores will be submitted to the SHIRO! Discord server‘s Community Challenge channel.
Participants must use real Sega Saturn hardware. Optical drive emulators are permitted. Emulation as well as Action Replay and PseudoSaturn cheats are prohibited.
Last Gladiators Ver. 9.7 is the setting for the month-long score attack challenge, with submissions from all four of the games tables, Gladiators, Knights of the Roses, Dragon Showdown and Warlock, being accepted throughout May.
Weekly score attack challenges will take place over the last three weeks of the month, each devoted to a specific Necronomicon table.
Scores for Arkham, Cult of the Bloody Tongue and Dreamlands tables will be accepted May 8 to 15, May 16 to 23, and May 24 to 31, respectively.
Rasputin called the games a “natural fit” for the Community Challenge.
“The two titles are solid, visually engaging (with some cheezy FMV scenes), and have a good deal of variety,” he said. “It honestly just felt like a natural fit, so much so that the weeks of debate we had for March’s game was largely absent this time around.”
Contest Categories:
- MONTH-LONG SCORE ATTACK (Last Gladiator Ver. 9.7)
o Gladiators
o Knights of the Roses
o Dragon Showdown
o Warlock - WEEKLY SCORE ATTACK (Necronomicon)
o Arkham (May 8-15)
o Cult of the Bloody Tongue (May 16-23)
o Dreamlands (May 24-31)
Cecil H4rvey is a contributor to SHIRO! Media Group, writing stories for the website on NetLink League events. H4rvey cut his teeth on Sega Genesis games as a kid in the ’90s, and his love Sega was reignited like many during the 2020 pandemic, when he discovered the massive amount of innovation in the retro scene. He purchased a model one Japanese Saturn and installed a Fenrir ODE in 2022 and never looked back. H4rvey joined SHIRO! on the heels of a career as a newspaper reporter in the Rocky Mountain West.
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