.

[dogman91]

I'd say as long as you don't cheat then whatever the game flat out gives you to beat the game, and you get to the end and see the credits, then you beat it. Whatever flaws the game has that removes the challenge or makes it very easy/cheap to win is irrelevant then. In Backloggery.com there's a distinction between "Beaten" and "Completed" for a status of a game you're playing... I'd say if you "one credit clear" it, that is beat the entire game without using continues/getting a game over/seeing the password screen at all, then you "completed" it (versus "beating" it). Perhaps there's your real challenge for Road Rash.

[nightrnr]

What about Radiant Silvergun, which levels your weapons based on scoring? That is definitely not a useless gameplay element.

Agreed, this is my favorite usage of score in a game.

Also neat (although almost pointless IMO, considering how quickly you get them) is playing as Predator in Atari Jaguar's Alien Vs. Predator, where higher scores grants access to more weapons.

Otherwise, score to me just shows how good you are at the game; bragging rights and all that.
But you can effectively "finish" many a game without worrying about score.
I say, if a game has passwords, you are expected to use them to complete said game.

[ExedExes]

It never bothered me to beat a game, say, The Guardian Legend, since we're kinda talking about shmups, with a password. That password saves from the last room where you requested the password, score, health, weapons, and weapon levels.

Plus, TGL password makes it a real shmup

[Haoie]

Good lord, nostalgia rush. Haven't seen a PW save system in years and years.

The last few were in the early PS1 days weren't they? At least that's my experience.

[alienjesus]

Good lord, nostalgia rush. Haven't seen a PW save system in years and years.

The last few were in the early PS1 days weren't they? At least that's my experience.

A fair amount of GBA games still had them, although generally not any decent ones.

[ZeoDefender]

I hate score and this is coming from a shmup fan. Most useless gameplay element since the weapon in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

What about Radiant Silvergun, which levels your weapons based on scoring? That is definitely not a useless gameplay element.

I didn't mean uselsss as in "has no effect on gameplay". There's quite a few platformers where you really need those extra lives from getting a high score. I meant useless as in stupid and unwanted.