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Post by excelsior on Apr 24, 2023 1:43:12 GMT -5
We covered Super Star Wars all the way back in week 5, so it's about time we got around to its sequel, don't you think? Actually, I've done a rewatch of the original Star Wars trilogy lately; the first time I've seen them in over 20 years I think, so the games have been on my mind. This game, I think, does an even better job of replicating the action and settings from the film than the original did. We see memorable scenes recreated, from the battle on Hoth all the way to the confrontation with Vader. Personally, this goes a long way to making the game enjoyable. On top of that, gameplay is improved some with a double jump manoeuvre which basically serves as your main attack as you swing your lightsaber around. Also, this makes platforming easier to handle, after the somewhat awkward movement in the original. On the flip side I would say this game is even less forgiving than the original, and for me the most difficult of the trilogy. Passwords are a godsend this time around and do much to make the game more beatable. Personally, I think this is overall a better representation of the franchise and a more accessible game so I prefer it to the original.
Rank - C
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Post by spanky on Apr 24, 2023 6:47:43 GMT -5
I actually like this a little less than Super Star Wars. It just seems like you're wandering around on Hoth FOREVER, and it's really tough too with all kinds of stuff flying all over and knocking you around. The game gets more tolerable after that but I can never see myself past the first few stages. The Darth Vader battle is pretty cool though and VERY challenging and who doesn't like the Snowspeeder level? I'd rank it along the lines of the original. C.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Apr 25, 2023 11:29:31 GMT -5
While there are some minor control/mechanics improvements and better variety, it still feels pretty sloppy and various design choices or misses make it one of the most frustrating SNES games I've played through, with its low point being the snow speeder level. It's a shame because it captures the vibe of the movie pretty well and looks and sounds nice to boot. Giving this one a D. |
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Post by dsparil on Apr 26, 2023 7:21:42 GMT -5
Empire Strikes Back is just an awful game. It's buggy, finicky and just poorly designed in general. The snow speeder and X-Wing levels are a rare example of variable height in a Mode 7 style, I'm not sure if it's actually 7 strictly speaking, but there's not a lot to recommend otherwise.
D
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Post by personman on Apr 28, 2023 14:35:38 GMT -5
Late as usual but I say Pilotwings deserves an A. Its a nice relaxing game that has a vibe to it that you only really find in Nintendo's early SNES catalogue that I really like. Things such as Sim City and Super Scope 6,they just felt different. Maybe it's just me.
As for Empire Strikes Back I played through all three last year and looking back I think I was way too forgiving of them. It suffers many of the same problems the first game did but even worse. Some of the poorest stages are at the beginning and enemies are just so damned cheap with way too much health and damage. It does improve decently when you get past the first initial Hoth stages and I think they actually did a good job with the actual battle. But once you get to a Chewbacca stage in Cloud City the game just tries its hardest to do nothing but have cheap enemies shove you into pits and it falls apart.
In fact if you don't get all your force powers at Dogobah the second to final stage as Luke is borderline impossible. It's just terrible sadly and it's clear most of the effort went into making it look and sound good which to it's credit it achieves that.
Also worth noting the whole affair becomes reasonably playable if you put it on easy mode. This goes for the entire trilogy but it's ridiculous that you should have to do that.
I give it a D. It has its pros but they're behind a mountain of cons.
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Post by excelsior on Apr 30, 2023 5:27:10 GMT -5
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Post by excelsior on Apr 30, 2023 5:41:05 GMT -5
We've made it to 50 weeks. To celebrate, here's one everyone has likely played. A Link to the Past was my first adventure experience in video games and as such did much to set the foundation of where my interest would develop. Hand crafted, explorable worlds have always been the biggest driver of my enjoyment, and Link to the Past's is quite the world to explore. It was also the first time I'd ever come across a map included in the game box, which really helped draw me into the setting. Who didn't spend hours poring over this.  Of course the adventure itself was truly gripping, with wonderful artwork, simple yet satisfying action combat, a tonne of dungeons, and fantastic boss battles throughout. Link's arsenal of weaponry seemed huge, with some items being optional to reward players who searched every corner of the map. All the action based play was polished to perfection. What's more, there's also a nice story by standards of the time, accompanied by a truly wonderful audio track. I consider this an adventure masterpiece. Rank - S |
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Post by vnisanian2001 on Apr 30, 2023 10:25:20 GMT -5
Do I really have to say anything about this game? S
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Apr 30, 2023 11:46:05 GMT -5
Excellent game that made a big impact on me and some friends at the time. I was gonna say it doesn't have the replay value of SM for example and that it's a bit too easy overall but I suppose the romhacks help with that and I should try some of them out. It's an S. |
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Post by spanky on Apr 30, 2023 15:17:23 GMT -5
Yeah I don't have anything unique to say about this game, but I'll try anyway. The Zelda "formula" settles in here, with it's dual worlds and Master Sword and whatnot. Plus the inscrutability is pretty much gone - you are no longer burning rows of identical bushes hoping to find a secret, or bombing featureless walls. As the years went on, I began to find the formula in the series a bit restrictive and well, formulaic(this is one of the reasons I liked Breath so much) but it's a bit more restrained here. There's a little less linearity than you'd expect. The Dark World offers just enough freedom in how you tackle the dungeons to make things interesting. I always do the 4th dungeon before the 3rd to get a better sword and do the 6th before the 5th as the item there helps you bypass a puzzle. The more involved plot is pretty great and I do like the opening raid on Hyrule castle (and the later one on Hyrule Castle Tower).
I think the game has a very unique art style, there's lots of abstraction in the art. Link's pink hair, Aghanim's hard to read sprite, the weird trees and topiaries in the castle. But it's all very distinct and appealing - the Light World overall is one of the coziest overworlds in a video game. It's like relaxing under a shady tree on a hot summer day. It's an easy S for me.
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Post by vnisanian2001 on Apr 30, 2023 18:37:48 GMT -5
You can do the Dark World dungeons in order that pleases you? I never knew that. I always go by what’s listed numerically in the game itself.
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Post by spanky on Apr 30, 2023 18:58:09 GMT -5
You can do the Dark World dungeons in order that pleases you? I never knew that. I always go by what’s listed numerically in the game itself. Well, kinda. You have to do the 1st dungeon first because you can't get anywhere without the hammer, but I think it opens up a bit after that. You can't just jump into Turtle Rock or the Ice Palace but you can do a few of them out of order (it might just be the examples I gave lol). Of course all you really need is the dungeon items I guess, so you could just get the item without beating the dungeon and move on to the next one. |
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on May 1, 2023 13:44:18 GMT -5
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Post by Snake on May 1, 2023 18:17:03 GMT -5
Zelda: A Link to the Past
Just a pure joy. S, S, S Rank. It's a fun adventure, without being overly complicated. Just a lot of cool items and ideas. An appropriate challenge level. Sharp, tight, thoughtful control scheme. I love how each boss usually wants you to use the newly acquired dungeon item. A bucketlist, must play game for any kind of video gaming, period.
S
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Post by dsparil on May 2, 2023 8:02:56 GMT -5
ALttP is an assailable classic, and that's all there really is to be said. I never knew that there was actually that much freedom in the Dark World! That being said, my personal feelings are a bit cooler because it might actually be a game that's too good. There was a period of time that I kept going back to it to the point that I have a mild ambivalence to it now. These days, there's plenty of ROM hacks to keep things fresh, but those were basically non-existent until ~10 years ago.
S
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