September Leaderboard

[holiday972]

The top score is currently 408.1 and was finished in 54 seconds less than a minute. Is this possible? If so how, I guess there is a way to boost the entire time, which is fair if it is possible. Can someone verify this? b/c it's kind of takes the wind out of my glider otherwise, lol. Thanks.

[joeysipos]

Although it is a super high score, I believe it is possible. FiorinoM240B had a time remaining of 7:06, so he completed the map in just under 3 min, and if you count getting the Eagles that are 15 points each, I believe this score is possible. FiorinoM240B has been the leader for 4 months so he has a ton of practice under his belt as well. Woluld be cool to see a video of his run... I am very interested in how he does it.

Tough competition I know!

[holiday972]

Thanks for the reply. I feel a little better that it was closer to 3 mins, but i swear the in game leader board said 54 seconds. Also I second the I would like to see a video of the run or at least some text describing how it's possible.

[Call_Me_ViperTTV]

You know, it's funny...I was wondering just the other day if someone would call me to answer for my crimes against the leaderboard these past several months....

All joking aside, this game feels like it was built for me. See, when I was a boy - maybe 11 or 12 - my mom went to this weekly bowling league, and I would go with her most nights. I'd scrounge up what allowance and begged money I could get my hands on, and I would sink it into my all-time favorite arcade cabinet of the racing genre: San Francisco Rush 2049. Ah, Midway...how I miss thy glory.

Anyway, they had two cabinets linked together for head-to-head racing. It's always been my belief that I was born with gasoline in my blood and a bigger right foot (that last part is actually true) - so I took to this particular game like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥' champ. It was like sitting in a futuristic version of Race Drivin' (look it up) and I fell in love the first time I saw it.

Another bowling alley regular - a dude who was in his mid-30's - was just as excited to play the game as I was. We would play head-to-head when we could, but as he was there to bowl in the league, we wound up falling into a routine of just trying to knock each other out of first place. And so, one of the greatest Philadelphia rivalries between differing generations was born - VIPERGTS vs. ICEMAN.

Month after month, we battled for that #1 Time Trial slot on every. damn. map. San Francisco? Easy, but with some super sneaky shortcuts. The Rock? Strap your ankles down because this is a wild ride. I will always remember the sound of the voiceover guy as I manually changed my handling preferences before the race - "Normal! Advanced!! EXTREME!!!!1!" Manual ♥♥♥♥♥♥ all day, and you better damn well hit that ramp juuuuust right if you want to ride the grate down to the finish line without ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ detonating and blowing your shot at shaving that quarter second off your lap time.

Obviously, Glider Island is not a racing game (yet...?), but it does take me back to those days of being one with the machine, with finding what I believe is the most effective path from Point A to Z, making sure I can do it reliably every time, then shaving time off with clever use of boost and conservation of momentum.

My path on Volcano Island is pretty well dead-set, with a max speed of about 60mph leading directly into what is arguably the highest-stakes, sharpest and most difficult turn in the run. That video is already available on YouTube, as I stole it from them. If I go find it, I will post it here. Forest Island is also nailed down pretty well unless I suddenly find a path that looks more efficient, but since it's so incomplete, I don't want to betray my secrets there just yet.

I have not yet perfected my path on Desert Island. My expectation is to be able to shave another 15 to 20 seconds off of my time this month, if I get a few chances to play. In fact, I will do that now...and perhaps I will see about making a video.

[Call_Me_ViperTTV]

Ask, and ye shall receive! Keep in mind that this is not even remotely the most effective completion, I just haven't taken the time to really focus on hammering out the perfect path yet. ;)

https://youtu.be/SWzfXayAcBw

[holiday972]

Hey, thanks for the reply and the video, I didn't expect it but i'm glad it's here, lol

[holiday972]

Wow, I had no idea you could even go that fast. I looked down at the speed and thought I wasn't seeing it correctly at 70+ MPH. I barely get to 30 on the Forest level, I've never played the others yet since I just got the game during the last sale, thanks again.

[holiday972]

Wow, San Francisco Rush 2049 is one of my favorite games, I used to play it all the time but on the Dreamcast, sadly I wasn't that good at the game.

My arcade highlight was Tekken 2, I just happen to get a japan import copy of game for the PS1 and who knew but it was exactly the same as the arcade version of the game. My friends and I would play the PS1 version all the time. Then at the mall there was a Giant version of Tekken 2 in the arcade. I started playing and then someone challenged me, of course I wasted them, then more and more people started to challenge and I just kept winning. Suddenly I looked around and there was a big crowd of people watching us. After winning a ton of games my opponent got upset and made me choose a different fighter (I think Lee was my favorite). I still won again and again then after so many matches they made me play more and more characters that I was unfamiliar with and I eventually lost. But I agree it was super fun being the best.

[joeysipos]

Damn, that video was fun to watch! Thanks for posting. Would love to see you fly the other islands too FiorinoM240B ;) If you ever get a chance!