SHIRO! Media Group’s Community Challenge closed May 31 with about 150 scores submitted by nearly two dozen gladiators, but only one reigned supreme.
May’s challenge centered around two Digital Pinball titles on the Sega Saturn, Last Gladiators Ver. 9.7 and Necronomicon, released in November 1996 and September 1997, respectively, and both produced by KAZE.
Of the nearly two dozen combatants, SHIRO! Discord server member privateye stood tall, setting the high score on four Last Gladiator tables: 4.03 billion on Gladiator, 12.6 billion on Knights of the Roses, 3.9 billion on Dragon Showdown, and a whopping 68.1 billion on Warlock. Privateye also took the top spot on the Necronomicon table Dreamlands with a score of more than 18.5 billion.
“It feels great but, honestly, the better feeling comes from finally giving these oft-lauded classics the attention they deserve and doing so in a very memorable way,” privateye said in an interview. “Saturn’s library is full of incredible pick-up-and-play experiences, and I’m happy that I can now add two more excellent games to that pile.”
He said with every table, he learned “the approximate moments that each flipper should be activated in order to hit the desired target and, whenever possible, I tried to catch the ball(s) with the flipper(s) in order to set up further shots,” opting for a more methodical strategy over “a basic hit-and-hope approach.”
Aside from some Kirby’s Pinball as a youngster, privateye said he’d never played much video pinball.
He said he also learned a valuable lesson: “Never underestimate the skill and determination of the gamers in the SHIRO! community.”
“I thought that my score of 69 billion would easily be enough to claim the top spot in Cult of the Bloody Tongue… only for Double Dime to top it with a score of 72 billion in the dying moments of that table’s weekly challenge!” privateye said. “After that, Dreamlands was my last chance to place first on a Necronomicon table, and I knew that I had to give it my all in order to accomplish that.”
SHIRO! Online Tournament Director Double Dime said he was working on that high score as privateye was posting his.
“I was in the middle of a great run and lost my 2nd ball when privateye posted his score of 69 billion,” Double Dime said. “Seeing his score gave me enough motivation to push to 72.”
Fellow SHIRO! Discord server member DirtyChancer, who went by Stu in the challenge, rounded out the leaderboard with a high score of 5.4 billion on Necronomicon’s Arkham table.
“We’re looking for lesser known Saturn exclusives with multiple challenges, and Digital Pinall Last Gladiators & Necronomicon really fit the bill! With 7 tables total we had plenty for the month and weekly challenges,” Double Dime said.
Double Dime did not respond to a request for information pertaining to July’s SHIRO! Community Challenge.
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