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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2021 21:15:07 GMT -5
Elebits (as it is called in US) is quite fun but I like the DS sequel a lot more. Uses action-adventure elements. While maybe not as original as the shooter/Katamari kind of experience of the Wii game but well worth hunting down. Klonoa is easier because you have more health and certain level design placements change. It is a good remake but I wish there was a hard mode. Thanks for the recommendation. It doesn't seem there's copies around online at the moment but I'll keep it in mind if I can find it at a good price in future.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Apr 4, 2021 4:56:43 GMT -5
Gunstar Heroes (Mega Drive; First Time; 1 hour 18 minutes)
I've been playing a couple of unexpectedly long games (by my standards) recently, and I wanted to go for something I could beat within maybe a sitting or two. So I went with Gunstar Heroes, the first of many beloved classics by the insane technical wizards at Treasure. Despite their reputation, the only game of theirs I put more than 15 minutes into was Astro Boy: Omega Factor back in 2010/11, so I was curious to see how it would turn out here. I played it on Easy cuz I'm a wimp, though I'm genuinely quite pleased that not only are you given that option, but you can play the entire way through without suffering from any omitted levels (something I'm always kinda fearful of considering how many games from the early-mid 90s did that). It's just really nice for people who wanna experience all the game's thrills while mindlessly blasting away at everything.
I imagine certain parts would be much more memorable if I had to really work to survive and get shots in, though I'm able to recall a good chunk of the game as is. It's pretty cool how every stage has its own thing going on, with loads of unique bosses and even the structure of the level design changing between stages. It makes for a very varied time, and one heck of an introduction to what Treasure can do. That's not even getting into all the crazy technical stuff like how much there is onscreen, all the effects including the bosses rendered and animated to look 3D, and how it all happens while barely impacting the framerate. I can't imagine what it must've been like to have seen the game in late 1993, but it's glorious to behold regardless.
Despite my praises, I can't say I love it. There's no particular reason for that; I'm able to understand and appreciate the heck of what it does well, but I don't have any personal affection for it otherwise. That's okay, though, since I can see why it's so fondly regarded to begin with. Being able to understand that much is just as awesome, and I'm pleased to have finally played this one after hearing about it for nearly 15+ years.
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Post by dsparil on Apr 4, 2021 6:26:36 GMT -5
Gunstar Heroes is really a game that needs to be played on Hard because it takes things away on lower difficulties. It might not actually be that much, but at a minimum you miss out on all the 7 Force forms. Try the homing laser or "lightsaber" (fire+laser) on the higher difficulties. The homing laser in particular makes it much easier since you can focus on avoiding attacks assuming you're in free shooting mode. Some bosses do have "traps" for it though so it isn't quite an instant win weapon. The lightsaber destroys projectiles and I think it might be every projectile.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Apr 5, 2021 6:39:09 GMT -5
Monster Hunter Rise (Switch, First Time) (...) I finished in 20:52:56. That seems very, very short for a MH game. Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't the multiplayer also kind of double as a more challenging difficulty for those who're done with the main game? Either way, a lot of the changes in Rise do sound pretty appealing to me. For me, in Gen Ultimate everything that wasn't part of actually fighting a monster was such a drag. Having to stock up on items, grind countless times to get lucky enough to get drops, having breakable tools, and sending your cats out to retrieve items were all things that didn't make the game any deeper or more challenging. They just made playing the game (especially if I hadn't booted the game up in a while) feel like a bunch of chores.
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Post by dsparil on Apr 5, 2021 8:54:18 GMT -5
Monster Hunter Rise (Switch, First Time) (...) I finished in 20:52:56. That seems very, very short for a MH game. Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't the multiplayer also kind of double as a more challenging difficulty for those who're done with the main game? Either way, a lot of the changes in Rise do sound pretty appealing to me. For me, in Gen Ultimate everything that wasn't part of actually fighting a monster was such a drag. Having to stock up on items, grind countless times to get lucky enough to get drops, having breakable tools, and sending your cats out to retrieve items were all things that didn't make the game any deeper or more challenging. They just made playing the game (especially if I hadn't booted the game up in a while) feel like a bunch of chores. One difference is that what's presented as the ending of the single player happens earlier than in other ones. I looked it up and in Gen. it's the Village 5 urgent quest that's the formal end of the single player with Village 6 available after that. Here it's the Village 4 urgent with 5 and 6 unlocking after that. There's also somewhat fewer quests than most of the others and significantly fewer compared to Gen. which has more quests in its first two stars than Rise has in the first four! The later gather quests also stay purely gathering quests and any large monsters prowling about are totally optional and not really worth going after to be honest. I also found out since then that the Hub has it's own ending so it can go on quite a bit longer if you want to hit the "real" ending although there's supposedly there's an additional ending on top of that being aded eventually. Monster HP does scale to the number of players in Hub so playing those solo is the hardest mode since HP per player is the highest that way. For the purposes of this thread, I don't think it's be fair to count that as the actual ending. It also isn't apparent from just playing Village that it's even like that considering other games in the series don't have a Hub ending from what I can tell.
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Post by dsparil on Apr 5, 2021 9:58:26 GMT -5
Everhood [: an overly long subtitle I forgot to note] (Switch, First Time)
I mostly disliked this for it's roughly six hour run time, but it slightly redeemed itself by the end but not by anywhere near enough. This is a weird mix of rhythm/action and a clearly Undertale inspired "story". I say story in quotes because its complete incoherence is a major problem for what it's trying to do thematically. You play as Red Geno, a puppet trying to get its stolen arm; there's also a very pretensious intro that adds to the general feeling of confusion. There isn't much of a plot at all during this part, and it takes a gigantic turn once you do get your arm back that just comes out of nowhere. Then it takes another huge turn for the final quarter. By the very very end you do get a semblance of what the developers where going for. It's actually a little interesting, but the story just does not come anywhere close to fulfilling those ambitions. Without getting into spoilers, it's like a commentary on Undertale, but it's all thesis with no body.
The gameplay also has significant issues. The genesis of it seems to be "What if you had to avoid the notes in a rhythm game?" I don't think this works fundamentally because reconceptualizing notes as attacks divorces the player actions from the rhythm of the music and makes it seem more like a gimmick than anything else. The developers seem to have squared this by making the "note field" about a third of the screen height so you only have a fraction of a second to react. This narrow window makes the difficulty options feel like trolling since everything but the very easiest one is nearly impossible, but there's no challenge at all on the lowest one. Many of the battles are also over in less than a minute, but perhaps that was an act of mercy. There is one that's in the style of an easy-ish bullet hell shooter (minus attacking) that works much better since you actually have some time to as the full screen in used.
I only picked this up because Nintendo Life gave it such a good review, but I don't understand why at all. I even paid full price! It is in line with the amount of content, but this honestly comes off as something made for people on drugs by people on drugs that perhaps forgot the "edit sober" part of that old saying.
There is a timer, but it's broken.
Rating: 4
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Post by spanky on Apr 5, 2021 13:15:14 GMT -5
Accidentally posted my draft message, whoops...anyway...
The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors (Switch, First Time)
Finally got around to playing this and hoo boy, this is, as they say, extremely my shit. Basically a hyper charged version of the old SNES game. I love the graphical style, I don't know what I would call it? Super 16-bit? Very challenging and some of the ninjas are difficult to use, but the game definitely rewards you for taking the time to learn the moves and strategies for each character.
Mega Man (via the Legacy Collection on PS4, replay)
The recent Retronauts where they ranked the Mega Man games inspired me to replay the series...which is something I do every few years anyway. I think I'll rank them as I go too. I own the physical copies of most of these but I'm going to play them on the Legacy Collection, which will allow me to interrupt save when I need to. I didn't use the rewind feature but I did use the pause trick. Sue me!
Everything that can be said about these games has probably been said a 1000 times so I'll keep this short and simple. This is a great game but is outshined by nearly all of it's sequels. It's a little rough around the edges, some wonky hit detection and glitches (those STUPID flying platforms) here and there, and a few of the bosses are really tough if you don't abuse the pause exploit.
The Legacy Collection is pretty good, no complaints there. I swear there's a hint of input lag and some graphical glitches that aren't in the original but nothing too bad.
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Post by Apollo Chungus on Apr 5, 2021 14:39:43 GMT -5
Gunstar Heroes is really a game that needs to be played on Hard because it takes things away on lower difficulties. It might not actually be that much, but at a minimum you miss out on all the 7 Force forms. Try the homing laser or "lightsaber" (fire+laser) on the higher difficulties. The homing laser in particular makes it much easier since you can focus on avoiding attacks assuming you're in free shooting mode. Some bosses do have "traps" for it though so it isn't quite an instant win weapon. The lightsaber destroys projectiles and I think it might be every projectile. Huh, I wasn't aware of that. I was slightly confused when I looked up some discussions and heard about how awesome the Seven Force fight was, because I couldn't remember anything of the sort. I half assumed it was some kind of cool boss that showed up in the GBA sequel before reading your post. It's pretty cool to know there's actually a decent bit to tackle on higher difficulties, though I'm not gonna do it myself for the time being. I'm happy to leave things as they are right now. In the meantime, I've got another game to add to my tally, and it's the longest one I've played this year by a country mile! Crystal Towers 2 XL (Windows; First Time; 13 hours 41 minutes) This is a cool collectathon 2D platformer developed by David X Newton, and is a expanded version of the 2011 game Crystal Towers 2 with a bunch of new stages, bosses, and various tweaks to both the gameplay and presentation. It's structured much like Mario Sunshine, where levels have a series of missions that reward you with magic orbs (1 per stage) and rainbow gems (seven per stage). You can also find magic spells, scrolls, keys and crafting items, which are used to both upgrade your abilities and give you access to more levels alongside the orbs/gems. I've always dug the idea of having 2D platformers being structured like collectathons ever since I played a Sonic 2 hack called Retro Remix back in 2012, and I find that Crystal Towers 2 is a pretty great take on the concept.
The main mechanics are solid, missions are often quick so you can get a lot done in very little time, and there's plenty of secrets to discover within the levels and the central hub world. However, I specified that it was structured like Sunshine in particular since you can only do one mission at a time, and it has to be in whatever order you get them. This can cause some problems if a level hands you a mission you can't overcome, which then blocks you off from getting the rest of that level's gems. This happened to me quite a few times with the "make sure you don't run out of the little shards you can grab" mission cropping up so early in certain stages. Some of these can be overcome by getting certain abilities or upgrading your health/magic, but others just require luck to make it through depending on what you're comfortable doing.
It's alleviated somewhat by how you can go to other stages, though that itself is marred by the hub area being this enormous castle where it's fairly easy to get lost. You have little arrows pointing out nearby level entrances, but you don't know which levels they are apart from bosses. You have to get a scroll and the right ingredients in order to make an upgrade that tells you which levels are nearby, and that's a deeply unnecessary complication to what is already the game's biggest flaw. But apart from that, I really dug Crystal Towers 2 and would frequently spend way more time per session than I intended to while listening to podcasts or old Let's Drown Outs.
It's available both Steam and itch.io for a few bucks, and I'd absolutely recommend giving it a go if this sounds up your alley: davidxn.itch.io/crystaltowers2
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Post by spanky on Apr 7, 2021 8:36:52 GMT -5
Finished off Mega Man III (via Legacy Collection, PS4, Replay) this morning.
OK, so I realized I had played II sometime last year so I skipped it, but I think we all know where II ranks. Jumping from I directly to III is a bit of a shock. By this point in the series, the gameplay has become very refined and it plays much more smoothly.
I really don't care for the Doc Robot stages, they just feel like padding to me and they are the main reason the game ranks below II in my book. For whatever reason they are much harder than the Wily stages. At least you can skip them with a password.
This game does feel incomplete, there's lots of cut content and there are some weird debug codes left in the game. As much as I like the overall story for this kind of game, it does seem to be missing plot points. Like, you fight Break Man before the Wily stages...but why? And why is he wearing a mask this time? It's never explained. Doc Robot is never explained either really.
Overall though, this is one of the best Mega Man and best NES games and I wouldn't judge anyone who ranked this as the number one Mega Man game. It looks, plays and sounds brilliantly. The title screen music in particular is amazing.
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Post by ZenithianHero on Apr 7, 2021 18:11:46 GMT -5
Sonic Forces (PS4, First Time, 6 hours)
I do not know what to make of this game. I had enough fun with the game yet it is certainly mediocre and lazy. Sega had a couple missed opportunities to take this game further in hype if they spend more time on the game's story and level design.
Getting this out of the way, Classic Sonic didn't need to be in this. They could gave it to Tails who just tags along in his stages with nothing to do. Other characters show up in the cutscenes they tell you what is happening and they claim to be doing things off-screen. Various story beats are given to the player like it was shortened from its original script like a recap episode of a TV show. It is the illusion of Adventure Sonic direction with a full cast of characters. I like the premise but I wish there was more of it actually. The IDW comic does pick up where this game ended which is probably the best thing about this game.
I quite like the avatar gameplay the wispons are a good evolution of the wisp mechanic. The levels with Sonic and the avatar are alright. I think the game fell apart is not enough 3D gameplay. There's maybe 1 or 2 good levels with 3D to it. Far too brief for much of the game. Many levels do come off as half-baked. A couple just "end" abruptly or barely give a twist to the levels' gimmick. I never felt like the 3D gameplay gave you enough interesting things to do and Sonic Team's design team just bankrupted designing set pieces for it and feed you 2D segment after 2D segment.
Like, 2D isn't a total problem, there's some different routes to experiment with (finding Red Rings are a challenge to me). It can be blocky at times, with not so great placement or interaction with enemies and gimmicks. I also not a fan of how Sonic moves in this game. His jumps are a bit weighty? Something is off when there's heavy platforming. The homing attack's timing seems borked as well. Sonic totally lost his flow in certain actions. In a platformer I must stress that if the characters are fun to play as I can forgive a lot of shortcomings. There are not too many games where I can say I didn't like to control Sonic. Everybody tells me about how glitchy Adventure era is, I never once complain about Sonic's control feel in them. I also do not remember having trouble homing attack in Colors or Generations. Sonic Team needs to practice the craft of controlling Sonic again. Get some Sonic fanbase members to playtest.
Sonic Team clearly tapped out on innovating the series here, so that is why if they change the format away from Boost, I would be excited to see what they can do but they need some shakeup in staff leading these projects. I really do not want another Morio Kishimoto directed game.
Because I'm a big fan of Sonic I want to be critical to it. I do come off as having different priorities in what I want to see in Sonic game. I would replay the game in the future but its middle the road score is justified. It is a friendly 5/10, not an angry one.
5/10
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Post by dsparil on Apr 8, 2021 10:37:45 GMT -5
Crystal Dragon (FDS, First Time)
Another early Square game, this time a regular adventure game. This isn’t very good either as it is very short and doesn’t have a well developed plot. It feels like the adaptation of a movie that doesn’t exist and knowledge of that would fill in the gaps. It is interesting that the UI presages the icon based system that would be much later adapted by adventure games although this one is a little “backwards” in that you select a point and then the action. There isn’t a whole lot of interactivity though. At least the graphics are nice and it doesn’t waste your time too much.
I finished in 0:41:05.
Rating: 6
Metal Slader Glory (NES, First Time)
This has the reputation as the game that bankrupted HAL (which I’ll get to), but it sure is a doozy. It’s hard to believe this was actually on the Famicom and isn't some modern faux-retro game! This is the largest Famicom/NES game at a whole 8Mb and the English translation even needs the ROM expanded out to 12Mb. This did set you back ¥8900 back in ’91 which is still roughly that much due to Japan’s lack of inflation for the last thirty years.
This is a lot closer to a modern visual novel than a menu driven adventure game although there is one adventure-esque section and one light action portion. While the graphics are very nice, the weakest aspect is actually the plot. The main character is too much of lech at times, and while the back half of the plot is more interesting, it is sadly less developed. Ironically, the fact that this even has a plot substantial enough to actually criticize is a bit of a strength.
I do think that MSG’s role in HAL’s bankruptcy is greatly overstated, and Iwata had said poor management overall was the real root cause. For one thing, Yoshimiru Hoshi did the bulk of the work himself (basically everything except programming and sound) and did not receive a salary from HAL during the four year development period; he instead was to be paid via royalties. Most of that time was him finagling the graphics into the Famicom’s limitations and the actual development cost by HAL was minimal.
It is a testament to that bad management that they would spend more on advertising the game than it was literally possible for them to recoup; this is generally cited as the direct cause. Nintendo gave them a discount for a certain number of MMC5 chips and that was all they could get. From what I can piece together, the game might not have actually needed the MMC5 and could have used the cheaper 3, but Nintendo couldn’t/wouldn’t divert some of the supply to they cut HAL a deal instead.
Overall, this is a game that still holds up and is able to stand on its own merits. I sincerely wish that Nintendo remakes this game after Famicom Detective Club because it could use a true update that isn’t so constrained by storage space. The SFC Director’s Cut does restore some content cut for space, but it’s potentially not a substantial amount. This is a fairly dense game and feels much longer than it is assuming OpenEmu's timer doesn't undercount, but I don't think it does. The game really could use either an extra 25% or a full sequel. Yoshimiru still seems interested in the game and its world so that doesn't seem categorically impossible.
I finished in 3:31:27.
Rating: 7
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Post by alexmate on Apr 9, 2021 12:31:02 GMT -5
Black Belt (Master System, Timer: 19 minutes, first time) Not really recommended. Good Points (black belts): * Loosely based of anime Fist of the North Star * possibly better than Kung Fu Master (which isn't saying a lot) * Short completion time
Bad points (paper belts): * Rough on the eyes * Repetitive even for a game this type * Typical ropey early MS gameplay and glitches.
Rating: 6
The Terminator (Sega CD\Mega CD Timer: 1hr 55 minutes, First time) Good points (Terminators) * Absolutely incredible soundtrack (Tommy Tallarico's best?)
* Second best game on Mega CD after Sonic CD? * Had FMV * Plays surprisingly well with tight controls * Arguably one of the best terminator games.
Bad Points (Metal Mickeys) * Confusing layout and repetitive scenery * Other than the soundtrack and low-res FMV not pushing the hardware. * Dated graphics for 1993. * Not as fast paced or frenetic as Robocop Vs Terminator, but a much fairer game.
Rating: 8
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Post by dsparil on Apr 10, 2021 5:15:32 GMT -5
Toree 3D (Switch, First Time)
This a simple retro 3D platformer starring a baby chick in sunglasses with two unlockable characters. There's only nine levels each with between 50 and 95 obviously placed stars. You also get graded based on your time, but the timings seem extraordinarily tight to get higher ranks. It's only a $1 and you get a decent amount of game for the price.
I finished in about 1h.
Rating: 7
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Post by spanky on Apr 10, 2021 6:52:26 GMT -5
Mega Man IV (via Legacy Collection, PS4, Replay)
This is generally thought to be a step down from the past couple of games and I think I agree with that. I do like the Mega Buster, but to compensate, they turn a fair amount of standard enemies into bullet sponges. I don't it necessarily kills the pacing of the game but it does take some adjustment. In general the game is a good deal harder than II or III. Part of the problem is the bosses pretty much require you to have their weakness, and even then the fights are still very challenging because the bosses do tons of damage now. If you run out of weapon energy or E-tanks, you're sunk.
Technically, the game is great. Tons of large details sprites and the backgrounds are better than ever. I'm mixed on the music, something about the composition evokes a really nostalgic memory of playing the game at my grandmother's house as a kid and I have a handful of tracks(Dr. Cossack stage 3 is great!) that I really like but overall it is kind of a step down.
Oh and I HATE the 2 fortress model, especially since you can't skip to the second one with a password. This is kind of moot in the era of save states but it drove me nuts when I was younger. The Wily fortress is really boring and uninteresting this time around too.
As far as other aspects, the Robot Masters are less interesting this time around and I don't really think I used the weapons at all except for bosses or to bypass an obstacle. And the Rush Jet nerf is heartbreaking. I got a lot of use out of the hidden Wire and Balloon items though. The intro, which explains the origin story of Mega Man looks great and the Mega Man II theme playing during the ending was also a nice touch.
This is probably my least favorite of the 6 NES games but it is by no means a bad game.
II III I IV
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Post by alexmate on Apr 10, 2021 10:16:01 GMT -5
Lords of Thunder (Sega CD, 1st time timer: 57 minutes):
Good points (Thunder): * Nice graphics making use of Sega CD's scrolling and background effects. * Excellent music * Varied enemies and good designs * Choice of craft * Not bullet hell and not impossible.
Bad Points (Chunder): * Really expensive to buy now. * Anime-style cutscenes look dated now (would have been amazing at the time)
* I've not played it, but some people say the TurboGrafix version is better.
Rating: 8
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