Took a trip to memory lane and decided to spend my afternoon playing Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 3. Got all 7 emeralds by Marble Garden, Act 2, and only screwed up in 2 special stages, currently finished the Sonic 3 portion with 46 lives (at least 54 collected) and I lost track of how many continues I collected. I would assume at least 18 (kudos to the slot machine checkpoint stage and perfecting all the SSs.
In a sense, I kinda wish I was livestreaming it, but the lag probably would've screwed me up a bit. I'm taking a bit of a break catching up before I take on the S&K portion and work on getting the Super Chaos Emeralds, and getting Hyper Sonic.
I forgot how good the original 2D sonic games were, and I didn't realize how much I rock at them. No savestates necessary (unless I want to keep my in-game saves). That aside, I've been going almost non-stop, excluding this intermission I'm taking.
I might look around for other games I might play. Subterrania is always a fun little game. I wonder if anyone has tried modding games like that yet? I mean, remembering how it plays, and how fun it gets (not to forget how many bullets tend to fly and whatnot (especially from the player)), that game has potential for a Touhou mod, provided somebody has the time to convert the graphics and tweak the settings a tad at least. That last part was more a lingering thought that would be pretty fun to try out.
EDIT:
Previous Stats: (S&K + S3)
Score: 576,420 (50k per life = 11 lives from score alone)
Zone 7 "Mushroom Hill", Act 1
46 Lives (12 lost, making it 58 (minus the starting 3 = 55 lives collected))
10 Continues (according to the saves screen)
7 Standard Chaos Emeralds
And in a few steps I'll lose the Super Sonic ability to go on my quest for Hyper Sonic.
No Savestates (except savegame preservation, and that scorecard above, purposes), No reloading Zone 7 post-completion to get all SCEs, No Continues, no rewinds, no hacks or game genies. Basically a vanilla playthrough.
Back to game. Won't be available for awhile.
EDIT EDIT:
Just making an update since I just got all 7 Super Chaos Emeralds already. That was far sooner than I expected. Damn I'm good.
Previous Stats: (S&K + S3)
Score: 859,420 (50k per life = 17 lives from score alone)
Zone 8 "Flying Battery", Act 1
60 Lives
16 Continues
7 Super Chaos Emeralds (If I was paying enough attention, I could've gotten them all in Zone 7 alone, and Hyper while there.)
Now able to become Hyper Sonic.
No Savestates (except savegame preservation, and that scorecard above, purposes), No reloading Zone 7 post-completion to get all SCEs, No Continues, no rewinds, no hacks or game genies. Basically a vanilla playthrough.
Added Note: Thanks to a good bad bug, I fell through some spikes and landed into another Special Stage Ring while running through the Flying Battery Zone. It would've been my last one, but I botched it, but found another like it a minute later. I think the game lagged for half a moment which threw me off a tad. Oh well, like that'll screw up a veteran like me?
YAY! Hyper Sonic! The rest of the game will be a breeze, and I also unlocked the good ending, and I'm only 2 zones into the other half of the game (and just before facing the Act 1 mini-boss). If I can breach 1 million points, that'll rock.
EDIT EDIT EDIT:
Final Stats: (S&K + S3)
Score: 954,460 (50k per life = 19 lives from score alone)
GOOD ENDING
65 Lives
22 Continues (*3 ilves each = 66, 66 + 65 = 131, + losses (-31) = 162, 162 - Starter 3 = 159 lives collected)
7 Super Chaos Emeralds
Now able to become Hyper Sonic.
No Savestates (except savegame preservation, and that scorecard above, purposes), No reloading Zone 7 post-completion to get all SCEs, No Continues, no rewinds, no hacks or game genies. Basically a vanilla playthrough.
Sorry, didn't reach 1M points, but close still. Considering I marathoned it, that's still nice. Had I perfected one or 2 more Special Stages, I could've guaranteed breaking it easily. Oh well, I'm happy with what I got.