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Post by windfisch on Jul 15, 2016 9:25:28 GMT -5
I'm the writer of this piece, so please direct all of your complaints directly to me from now on Vectorman's massive sprite size is, as I said in the article, its biggest weakness, as it really makes dodging enemy fire and other hazards very difficult. The sequel tried to fix that by making the level design more compact as a whole, but since that game is even cheaper than the original in some spots, it's obvious that the problem wasn't with the stage structure itself. And yeah, Vectorman isn't a great game per se, but for a game of its genre, country of origin and year of release, it's pretty damn good. Vectorman 3, however, would probably be downright mediocre if it was released, since we all know how well 3D action games from that era aged. SEGA did tout the game's unique "Vector-Piece" technology on its marketing, but at the time I wrote this I thought it was just a silly marketing slogan not unlike Blast Proccessing (although that one does have the Motorola 68000's speed to back it up...). And yeah, Vectorman was marketed as SEGA's answer to Donkey Kong Country at the time of its release, so the comparisons are unavoidable. First of all let me state that I have a lot of respect for you writing this article, it's a good read overall! I hope my criticism does not come across as too harsh. I also must admit, that reading the article a second time, it actually seems a little less polarizing than I initially thought. I agree that DKC needs to be mentioned in the article, especially in the context of marketing and graphical technology. However, to me it felt like it was mentioned just a few times too often , instead of having an even stronger focus on more related games of the time, like Earthworm Jim, B.O.B., Terminator (and other US movie tie-ins) and maybe Mega Man X or Contra III/Hard Corps. The same goes for the music: how about comparing it to more Techno-inspired soundtracks like the ones from Streets Of Rage 3, Contra Hard Corps or Adventures of Batman and Robin? But I also have to agree that Vectorman is a rather unique game and therefore it's difficult to find direct competitors. Btw: The first Vectorman was also released on the Sega Smash Pack collection for the Dreamcast - and the emulation is pretty terrible.
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Post by Woody Alien on Jul 18, 2016 11:09:24 GMT -5
I liked the article, it had many good info, but I think it was a bit too focused on the technical aspects to the detriment of the other parts. For example, "Morphs" are mentioned a couple times but it's never stated what they are and how do they work in the context of the game, and the article could use a couple more pictures of them. Also it would be interesting to know a little more on the game's settings and the level design that has been compared to Turrican, but those who don't know that series wouldn't understand how that works.
A little nitpick: at the beginning the name of the FBI director is written as "Williams S. Sessions" with an extra S, but this can be excused since some coin-ops made that same mistake, and there are already so many S anyway...
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Post by 320x240 on Jul 19, 2016 4:56:44 GMT -5
It is not the size of the characters in itself that is the problem with Vectorman but the way that the rest of the game is built around them. When in an idle position Vectorman is only about 48 pixels tall, which is nothing compared to games like the Shinobi series etc. Of course it doesn't help that the status bar occupies the lower 40 pixels of the screen, leaving only 184 pixels for the actual gameplay area.
No, the problem with Vectorman is the same as it is with a lot of the American developed games from the early to mid nineties: Everything has to be so fkuking dynamic and full of energy that it overshadows the actual gameplay. Large characters is only one part of that, although I don't doubt that it is the main part and what everything else is built around.
The difference between an American and a Japanese developed game from that period of time seems to me to be analogous with the difference between American and Japanese animation.
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Post by Snarboo on Jul 19, 2016 5:51:07 GMT -5
The difference between an American and a Japanese developed game from that period of time seems to me to be analogous with the difference between American and Japanese animation. But Japanese animation is just as flashy if not more so than American animation in most cases? Not to mention that Vectorman isn't anywhere near as dynamic and energetic as some Japanese games of the era, such as Gunstar Heroes. Unless I'm misreading your post. I think the biggest thing that separates Vectorman (and really most Western titles) from Japanese games is that your character has momentum. It takes a while for Vectorman to build up speed, and he has a lot of weight to his jumps. This even translates over to how Vectorman takes damage, as there's a fair amount of knockback in the game. DKC also had a lot of weight and momentum to it in a way that Mario or Sonic didn't. For whatever reason, Japanese games even today give you absolute control of your character, letting them turn on a dime even when it doesn't make sense. I can see why Vectorman wouldn't jive with most players that were used to Japanese games exclusively.
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Post by 320x240 on Jul 19, 2016 6:52:23 GMT -5
Gunstar Heroes is dynamic in a completely different way than Vectorman. It is dynamic within a very rigid framework. In Vectorman the framework itself is dynamic. By framework I mean how the screen moves around your character - i.e the scrolling.
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Post by JDarkside on Jul 19, 2016 7:00:58 GMT -5
Gunstar Heroes is dynamic in a completely different way than Vectorman. It is dynamic within a very rigid framework. In Vectorman the framework itself is dynamic. By framework I mean how the screen moves around your character - i.e the scrolling. I noticed a lot of western platformers were like this too. The camera would whip around your character instead of staying still. It would get a tad tiring for an extended period of time.
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Post by Snarboo on Jul 19, 2016 7:09:31 GMT -5
Ah! Yeah, a lot of western games had dynamic cameras for whatever reason. I can't say it every really bothered me for whatever reason...
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Post by JDarkside on Jul 19, 2016 7:36:00 GMT -5
Ah! Yeah, a lot of western games had dynamic cameras for whatever reason. I can't say it every really bothered me for whatever reason... It's an off-putting thing for me in excess. Games like Bubsy were particularly bad with how active the camera could get, made it near impossible to make out what was around you. And if the platforming was floaty, well, welcome to hell!
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Post by elektrolurch on Jul 19, 2016 7:36:01 GMT -5
I think the biggest thing that separates Vectorman (and really most Western titles) from Japanese games is that your character has momentum. It takes a while for Vectorman to build up speed, and he has a lot of weight to his jumps. This even translates over to how Vectorman takes damage, as there's a fair amount of knockback in the game. DKC also had a lot of weight and momentum to it in a way that Mario or Sonic didn't. For whatever reason, Japanese games even today give you absolute control of your character, letting them turn on a dime even when it doesn't make sense. I can see why Vectorman wouldn't jive with most players that were used to Japanese games exclusively. I always felt Vectorman was pretty close to earlier european platformers in that regard- the character just feels like it has some "weight" to him, also in the jumping, which to me feels natural and satisfying, but well, I was mainly raised on amiga, not on an NES or SNES... I also often feel that a lot of hate for amiga platformers around this community comes from people who are very used to japanese platform games. BTW, I always felt mario felt "european" as well, I mean he gains a bit momentum as well. Not much, but he does.
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Post by personman on Jul 19, 2016 8:27:47 GMT -5
Its been a long time since I played either game but I just didn't really have a problem with the sequel. Even liked 2 in some spots more than the first actually. It might be vanity though admittedly for I really love the atmosphere of the first set of stages a bunch and when I think of fond memories of the genesis its one of the first things I think of. Plus the second one gave us this amusing thing:
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Post by GamerL on Jul 23, 2016 6:37:24 GMT -5
Plus the second one gave us this amusing thing: "His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti."
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Post by moran on Jul 25, 2016 12:13:12 GMT -5
The Bolo gun isn't that oddly named as it resembles a bola throwing weapon, sometimes called bolo. It is usually two balls connected by a rope that is thrown end over end, similar to the shape of the shot in the game.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2016 21:57:43 GMT -5
I think the biggest thing that separates Vectorman (and really most Western titles) from Japanese games is that your character has momentum. It takes a while for Vectorman to build up speed, and he has a lot of weight to his jumps. This even translates over to how Vectorman takes damage, as there's a fair amount of knockback in the game. DKC also had a lot of weight and momentum to it in a way that Mario or Sonic didn't. For whatever reason, Japanese games even today give you absolute control of your character, letting them turn on a dime even when it doesn't make sense. I can see why Vectorman wouldn't jive with most players that were used to Japanese games exclusively. Uh, yeah, no. Have you tried to do an about-face mid-run in yoshi's island or any good 2d sonic? Yoshi in particular has a lot of weight in his jump that necessitated the flutter jump, and there's a ton of knock back contigent on an enemey's size. Games with weight and inertia are are rare trait regardless of region. Just watch this game grumps video wherein they compare the twitchy european plok to Yoshi's Island. P.s., it's "jibe", not "jive."
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Post by Snarboo on Jul 26, 2016 1:30:18 GMT -5
Uh, yeah, no. Have you tried to do an about-face mid-run in yoshi's island or any good 2d sonic? Yes, I have? I'm not speaking from a position of authority here, but rather personal experience. Obviously there is bias involved, but I think one of the reasons why Western games (particularly European ones) are notorious for so called "jank" is because of misplaced or inappropriate momentum. Most of the western games I've played, whether they be shmups, platformers, or FPS games, have had momentum in them, even today. It's also a common complaint among people when talking about western games. In that context, I could totally understand why someone would not enjoy Vectorman, as his physics aren't as tight as Sonic's or Yoshi's, despite having lots of weight. Edit:Maybe the word I'm looking for is inappropriate physics, of which momentum is a part, as that's more consistent among Western games.
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Post by evktalo on Jul 28, 2016 14:45:20 GMT -5
I liked the article, it had many good info, but I think it was a bit too focused on the technical aspects to the detriment of the other parts. For example, "Morphs" are mentioned a couple times but it's never stated what they are and how do they work in the context of the game, and the article could use a couple more pictures of them. Having not played Vectorman (or DKC, which seemed relevant for Morphs as well), I must say I could've used more explanation about the Morphs. Also, the overhead portions were barely even glossed over. Really good article apart from that! (As an aside, I really dig this rearrangement of the game's music.)
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