SNES Game of the Week 118 - Clock Tower

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Banpresto
• Developer - Aspect
• Genre - Action
• Initial Release - 21 July 1995

  

  

[excelsior]

It's been longer than I realised since we covered the first Go Go Ackman. Eleven months, actually. The original game had some issues but was a nice enough time to sit through. I don't know what happened here. It's as though the decision was made to go all in on the previous games weaknesses rather than it's strengths, resulting in what must be one of the weakest games we've covered. I don't want to rag on it too much, but I'm quite torn on my rankings. This is either a very low D or an F. I'll try being generous and go with the former.

[dsparil]

D is about right. The controls are a bit better compared to the original, but it’s just not as good overall. 2 and 3 were developed by Aspect in what seems like months based on release dates (all three came out within a year) while 1 was internal at Banpresto. Maybe the plan was always to hand it off, but I think there’s a good possibility that the first was originally intended to be a one off.

[Snake]

Go! Go! Ackman 2

Pretty cool graphics and character design. Definitely get a kick of fighting an Elvis impersonator angel and Arch Angel Metatron in a mech suit. Lackluster level design and gameplay.  In some ways, the whole angels and demons motif feels like an alternate universe to Sand Land.  This is a play once and done kind of game. 

Rank - C-

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Capcom
• Developer - Capcom
• Genre - Action
• Initial Release - 16 December 1994

Just when Mega Man X thought he had brought down all the X-Hunters, several months later an uprising moves from within an abandoned factory. While 8 all-new X-Hunters occupy Mega Man X, a triple threat plots to resurrect a secret weapon that is all too familiar!

The good Dr. Light supplies Mega man X with incredible new abilities hidden in capsules buried deep below the surface. And with new vehicles like the mobile attack cycle plus powers he gains from the X-Hunters, Mega Man X will be ready to face his destiny as a Maverick Hunter. Now it's all or Zero for Mega Man X!

  

  

[vnisanian2001]

Excellent sequel. Lots to do and collect. Two possible endings. S. Capcom really pushed the limits of the SNES as hard as possible with their C34 graphics chip. Both X2 and X3 are also very fucking expensive. Good thing I got them 14 years ago.

RIP Green Biker Dude.

[spanky]

I apologize for not getting around to Go Go Ackman 2. Last week I was busy prepping for a powerlifting meet I had last weekend so I had less time to game. However I've played X2 plenty enough to have a say on it.

Mega Man X1 is the best game of it's respective series and is a strong contender to the best game across the entire franchise. So it's a little disappointing that instead of a great sequel that builds on the original and makes a series-defining classic, we are getting diminishing returns already. I can't put my finger on it exactly but it's just not as good. Maybe it's the music which all I can recall from it is a bunch of wailing distorted guitars. It's a big step down from X1. I don't really like chasing around the X-hunters either, you never get strong enough to fight them before they disappear and moreover, the Zero fight is really cool so why would you want to skip it? It still looks great though, goofy wireframe effects aside, there's some gorgeous sprite art and backgrounds. Like the sunset background to Bubble Crab's stage, which you only see for a few seconds.

But my old adage "It's a Mega Man game so it's better than 90 percent of the junk out there" holds true. It's an A. Now X3 is a game I genuinely do not like but let's ssave that for another day.

[excelsior]

Aug 13, 2024 8:54:34 GMT -5 spanky said:

I apologize for not getting around to Go Go Ackman 2. Last week I was busy prepping for a powerlifting meet I had last weekend so I had less time to game. However I've played X2 plenty enough to have a say on it.

No apology necessary. If you were going to skip a week it was a good one to miss tbh. 

Hope the powerlifting went well.  💪

[personman]

Yeah on its own its still a great game that looks utterly gorgeous to boot. Compared to X1 however it does seem rather weak with its biggest issue being stages that are so brief if you blink you'll miss them. Like Overdrive Ostrich's stage is just nothing plain and simple. The bosses are a complete joke and the soundtrack loops way too fast which tends to make it grating. I consider it the worst of the SNES trilogy by a decent margin with the only strength it having is spectacle, of all the opening stages between the three 2 is definitely the most memorable helped by the famous Green Biker Dude's valorous efforts. Props to the fallen.

Despite its short comings next to its kin its still and easy A.

[vnisanian2001]

Just finished replaying it. Anybody here thought Morph Moth was a cool boss fight? I do. Torching him with the Speed Burner rocks. And nothing is more awesome than finishing off a boss in one hit with the Shoryuken. I think it's even better than the Hadouken bonus in X1.

Sigma Virus looked mindblowing three decades ago. That showed how far technology had come in the four years since the launch of the SNES in Japan.

[nightdreamer]

X2. Not as good as X1 but rarely does a Mega Man game come out that could even compare to X1 so I won't hold that against X2. Still an S for me easily. I liked it more than X3 and I think the intro stage has the best song out of the SNES trilogy too.

[dsparil]

Overall, I'd give X2 a B. I don't like it as much as the first game, and I find it weirdly unmemorable. Stage length is erratic, the bosses are so-so, and I don't like the way the extra bosses move around. Still solid at the core, but there's some missteps in my opinion.

[ommadawnyawn2]

X2 was my fave when I played through the first four back to back some time ago, though by a small margin. I find it has the best overall pacing and boss design. I'll give it an A- since it has one of the weakest soundtracks and that's a big part of the MM appeal for me, and because it's mostly more of the same.

Edit: Personally, I never went for 100% or even that close to it in the X series, exploring isn't really what I look for there unless the whole game structure and balance is built around it. Which I don't feel it is. Instead I tried to go buster only for most bosses. 

[Snake]

Mega Man X2

I loved, LOVED Mega Man X.  So all my saved up cash went to buying X2 on release day.  While the difficulty on boss and stage design is turned up a notch, it was still relatively doable to finish it all within a day.  Dr. Light still had even more armor and weapon upgrades scattered throughout another city, knowing that X would later excavate them so far in the distant future! Having a charged dual arm blast is pretty cool. But the armor with an inescapable mega crush explosion is a fun touch reminiscent of some Dragon Ball Vegeta or Majin Buu.  The soundtrack takes a step back, with more of a sinister feeling synth riffs. A little less tempo, a little more somber.  I still enjoy the different boss weakness reactions to the weapon effects, like seeing Wire Sponge get split clean in 2 halves with the Ostrich's sonic slicer.  Or messing with the snail by deshelling him and then bouncing it away with dashes.  The chance to face off against Zero is a nice very cool touch, as is cheesing your way through with the invincible shoryuken.  Overall, not a bad game, but it's missing a little something that feels it comes up short against the original.

Rank - A

[excelsior]

I think there's some experimentation going on with this sequel, but with mixed results. The stages are generally more interesting in theme and complex in design, but there's inconsistent length to them. I enjoy the added exploration involved in each, but I really wish the secret entrances were used for something more interesting than the optional boss battles. What's more, power ups such as heart containers and sub tanks are usually nicely hidden, but actually collecting them manages to be a bit finicky, requiring too much precision. There's a bit of this finickyness all around, including utilising some of Mega Mans upgrades, the grapple for example, this taking some of the fun out of Mega Mans growing power set. Boss design is definitely more interesting this time around. I do generally like Morph Moth and that his Robot Junkyard stage offers some nice continuity. Definitely nothing wrong with experimentation, but I feel this game needed a little sanding around the edges. As it is, it falls a little short of the original game.

Ranking - A