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Post by toei on Jun 10, 2019 21:36:18 GMT -5
From what I've seen, I'm actually OK with the visual style in the new TJ&E game. It's not my preference, but it seems a lot more faithful to the source material than this does. This feels like the developers just don't really "get it." They're trying to replicate the feel of Battletoads, but they don't really know how. With TJ&E, it feels budget, but still in line with what came before. ...Also, my copy of TJ&E from Limited Run Games should be arriving shortly. I'm actually quite looking forward to checking it out, as I've heard they did a really nice job capturing the feel of the original -- and I have a LOT of fond memories of the original! -Tom I played through the new T&E online with a friend. Did a full Fixed World run and started on a Random World. We both liked it. They threw in some stuff from T&E2, like shaking bushes for gifts and the dancing mini-game (I didn't realize T&E2 had rhythm gameplay way back in the 90s, before even Parappa the Rapper, but it did), and added some cool new features. The biggest difference is that are many more enemies on the map now, and they're more aggressive. It's not as laid-back as before. - Didn't realize there was a Toki remake. The visuals seem higher-quality than Battletoads, but I still feel like they got the style all wrong. It looks like Western comics now. Maybe Franco-Belgian bande dessinée, even.
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Post by jorpho on Jun 10, 2019 22:16:06 GMT -5
I would say it made me think of Double Dragon Neon if I had ever gotten around to playing that at all. Especially the new Dark Queen. Why does modern culture hate sexy so much? What is people's fucking problem? Was the Dark Queen in that trailer? Her absence seemed very conspicuous. As for Toki, is that the same one that's been in the works for nine blasted years? I am mighty suspicious of those developers since they left Magical Drop V in such a brazenly unfinished state.
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 10, 2019 23:15:40 GMT -5
I would say it made me think of Double Dragon Neon if I had ever gotten around to playing that at all. Really? See, if I were to pick any game as a POSITIVE example of how to adapt an old property to HD, it would be Double Dragon Neon. That game perfectly captured the feel of the original game, while also expanding upon it beautifully with legitimate, in-your-face nostalgia. Really, WayForward is just good at doing this in general, as also evidenced by their modernization of A Boy and His Blob. They're a company that truly "gets" the properties they work on. -Tom
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Post by alphex on Jun 11, 2019 6:25:02 GMT -5
Nothing at all against this art style: it remembers me of good old Battle Beast and Arcade America for some reason. Yeah, I was gonna say it looks like the Ace Ventura game by 7th Level, who, unless I'm misremembering, also did the two games you mentioned. So yeah, it looks like a 90s SVGA PC game. ...so? Is retro only cool if it looks like 8 bit? Other than the flat shadows, this is - technically speaking - fine. The art direction is a bit too innocent, given how brutal the series always had been, but it's not bad IMO. Maybe they're trying to copy the style of the new TMNT series, who knows. Also glad there wasn't a huge boobied dominatrix prancing around that environment; would have been way off key. But who knows; I doubt the Dark Queen will remain absent.
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 11, 2019 8:05:41 GMT -5
So yeah, it looks like a 90s SVGA PC game. ...so? Is retro only cool if it looks like 8 bit? Not at all. My issue with it is that it just looks really soulless. I mean, having one of the toads just kind of sway from side to side with his tongue flopping around is decidedly NOT cool -- it's like what some suit in his 50s THINKS young people think is cool. As I noted, I think the new Toejam & Earl looks fine, and Double Dragon Neon and A Boy and His Blob look great. And dare I say, the new Bubsy looks fantastic, too! So the lack of 8-bit isn't what turns me off to this game, but rather the lack of ACTUAL 'tude -- which is what you really need for a Battletoads game. It just feels like the developers of this one simply didn't GET it. I think your last comment kind of says it all: you express gratitude that there isn't a "huge boobied dominatrix" running around in the game's environment because she'd look out-of-place. And yes, she would -- which means it isn't really Battletoads! If you can't have edgy or racy designs in the game because the game's world looks too kiddie and cartoony for that to be appropriate, then you simply didn't do a good job of capturing what the series is supposed to be. And that's fine, if that's what you're going for -- but don't call it Battletoads, then! Because that ain't Battletoads anymore. -Tom
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Post by Woody Alien on Jun 11, 2019 8:13:41 GMT -5
I never was a Battletoads fan but to be honest this one looks like crap and seems way too busy and confusing. The 1990s arcade brawler is still unsurpassed in my opinion. It's funny that they opened the trailer with the infamous pause music... I bet it's all the AVGN's fault The 3rd person sequences from the back make me think, what if there'll be a sequence from one of the bosses' point of view? This was one of the coolest and most interesting things from the original game that still I haven't really seen anywhere.
Didn't realize there was a Toki remake. The visuals seem higher-quality than Battletoads, but I still feel like they got the style all wrong. It looks like Western comics now. Maybe Franco-Belgian bande dessinée, even. You're spot on, since it IS made by a French studio. Actually the remake was first teased like 10 years ago from Golgoth Studio which as far as I know doesn't exist anymore. It's amazing that they managed to actually make it come out after all this time.
I don't like that much the style either, but hey, it worked for Wonder Boy.
I don't think Golgoth Studio has still anything to do with it, more like it's a similar situation to Duke Nukem Forever where the game is actually completed by another team. I think they knew they had nothing on their hands and took their time thinking people would forget, then they just closed up shop. They did the same with Magical Drop V, promising patches and additional game modes that never came at all. And I was stupid enough to buy it...
Actually they did the same things but even worse with Joe & Mac: they promised a HD remake but never got past some preliminary sketches, then they hastily erased everything when it was clear that they were never going to actually make it.
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Post by toei on Jun 11, 2019 8:26:13 GMT -5
Woody Alien It sounds like they were trolling for low-value properties just so they could make remakes of literally anything retro just because it's easier than making a game from scratch. I mean, Toki and Joe & Mac?
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Post by Woody Alien on Jun 11, 2019 8:34:07 GMT -5
Woody Alien It sounds like they were trolling for low-value properties just so they could make remakes of literally anything retro just because it's easier than making a game from scratch. I mean, Toki and Joe & Mac? Could be. In any case they managed to insert into Magical Drop V some characters and gameplay from the unreleased Data East puzzle game Ghostlop, so they must have had some connections at one point. Still, Toki and J&M were still somewhat fondly remembered by 90s arcade-goers like me, so they had some, if little, marketing potential!
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Post by kingmike on Jun 11, 2019 9:31:29 GMT -5
Joe & Mac SNES was one of my childhood games. Though from I've seen, the SNES version was pretty much a different game compared to the other ports, which were all based on the arcade game. It looks like the arcade original was closer to a side-scrolling beat-em-up but the SNES version focused on platforming.
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Post by KGRAMR on Jun 11, 2019 16:37:39 GMT -5
I would say it made me think of Double Dragon Neon if I had ever gotten around to playing that at all. Especially the new Dark Queen. Why does modern culture hate sexy so much? What is people's fucking problem? Was the Dark Queen in that trailer? Her absence seemed very conspicuous. As for Toki, is that the same one that's been in the works for nine blasted years? I am mighty suspicious of those developers since they left Magical Drop V in such a brazenly unfinished state. Yes, Dark Queen appears for 2-3 seconds in the trailer and the difference is clearly night and day. I also want to say this as a fan of Battletoads: I don't mind the artstyle, its decent BUT, it will be nowhere as awe-inspiring as the Arcade game (Super Battletoads)...
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Post by wyrdwad on Jun 11, 2019 18:52:19 GMT -5
So the Dark Queen is Bizarro Carmen Sandiego now. Got it. -Tom
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Post by mainpatr on Jun 11, 2019 19:01:03 GMT -5
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Post by Bumpyroad on Jun 12, 2019 0:37:43 GMT -5
The Philips CD-i finally gets another game. Nice!
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Post by spanky on Jun 12, 2019 6:07:56 GMT -5
At least they didn't go full Steven Universe with the art style.
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Post by alphex on Jun 12, 2019 8:52:16 GMT -5
And that's fine, if that's what you're going for -- but don't call it Battletoads, then! Because that ain't Battletoads anymore. Like I said, it looks quite a bit like the latest TMNT reboot / incarnation - a series that also started out as a bloody underground comic, but re-invented itself many times over and over as time went on. It CAN be done, if you find common ground across all versions and make them feel like they share a common thread. With TMNT, it's easy, it's the brotherhood theme. With Battletoads - well, it remains to be seen. 90s edginess ain't it it seems, and given the only people who remember 90s edginess fondly ARE 50 year olds in suits, that might be a good thing.
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