Track & Field (etc.) controls.

[JeSo]

Not sure if this is the right forum, but hey, some (most? all?) of you probably know the answer to this..
Anyway, I decided I'd check out Track & Field and related games (namely Hyper Sports and '88 Games), and from my understanding, you're supposed to alternate between run1 and run2 to increase your speed. Well, from my brief mame playing with it so far, it seems that I can achieve just as much speed by simply repeatedly mashing one of the run buttons.
Is this right? Is there some kind of setting that needs changing to make it play properly?
Thanks.

[dphirschler]

I mastered my Track and Field technique in MAME.  I did so because I wanted to kick my friend's ass on his own cabinet.  Yes, he owns a genuine Track and Field cabinet.  My technique worked perfectly on both MAME and on his machine.  My technique did not involve alternating buttons.  In fact, I beat him in one race using only one hand and one button.  haha...

It was fun kicking his ass on his own machine too.  I put top threes in every category that he must now look at.  :-)


Darryl

[RetroBorg]

A good technique I've found is to make a very loose fist (half open hand) and run the nails from your 3 middle fingers across the edge of 1 button, you'll find with a bit of practice you will be able to run faster than you ever thought you would be able to.

Warning.
Using this technique for long session mays result in blisters and bleeding.

There are also ways to run faster using foreign objects but as far as I am concerned these should be ruled illegal and are banned from my MAME machine, as well as the run like hell cheat.

Here are some Track & Field sites with tips.

http://tips.retrogames.com/gamepage/track.html

http://vgstrategies.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.gamewinners.com/arcade/TrackAndField.htm

http://db.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/track_and_field.txt

[Paul Olson]

When I was a kid, we used to use a pen.   Toggle the pen between the fingers of one hand holding the tip at one of the buttons.  Then tap the other end of the pen on the other button with the other hand.  Amazing speed!!

Paul

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

for the original track and field game, you only needed to press one button instead of alternating button one and two... as for my technique, i usually close my fist and use the middle knuckles of my index and middle fingers and button mash as fast as I can on just one button, might not be the fastest technique, but it works for me... most of my other friends use a "crabbing" techique, basically you use your index, middle, and ring fingers in successsion and repeat as fast as you can (it sucks for accuracy though when you have to press the jump/release button)...