SNES Game of the Week 118 - Clock Tower

[excelsior]

Great track spanky!

Going back to Mega Man & Bass - I've been going back to it to try and give it a fair shake, being the charitable fella you all know me to be. Problem is the game is just far too difficult for me. The only stage I can beat without using save states is the opening one - with either character. What order should I be approaching stages in? Is there any way to make them easier? Like an upgrade I might have missed? I'd preferably be using Mega Man, because Bass is a bit of a chore with his pea shooter.

[personman]

I find Bass much easier to play myself thanks to the directional aiming and double jump but that's me I guess. Some stages just flat out feel designed around him exclusively imo.

One thing I did notice is how much the shop upgrades make a difference. You'll want to grab the armor upgrade soon as possible and lean on that. Get the recovery upgrade and switch to that before picking up health for a good heal. I don't know if Megaman gets access to it but the Counter part gives you a ton of power so if you're fighting a boss and are low on health (when your doing the hurt idle animation) put that on and go for broke.

Hell even the weapon energy saver is vital for beating King in his last phase. Switch to that then spam the lightning attack to get him to half health which may give you a fighting chance.

As for order Cold man is the easiest which then let's you beat Burner man (which is freaking impossible without his weakness) but after that I seriously think you can't access of the rest of weakness for the bosses you can take on at that point which is bad. Best I can say is Ground man has a manageable pattern and then you can take his weapon to Tengu man and his to Magic man then Astro man. Otherwise I seriously couldn't figure out what the rest were weak to.

[retr0gamer]

Didn't realise the run saber soundtrack was hitoshi sakimoto

[dsparil]

Pirate Man is weak to Burner Man's weapon. The full order:

SPOILER: Click to show

Cold, Burner, Pirate, Ground, Tengu, Magic, Astro, Dynamo

The game is definitely much easier with Bass. The shop only opens up in chunks based on bosses defeated so there isn't much help from items in the beginning. The part of Burner Man's stage with the birds is a good place for grinding bolts. The spots with those hatching eggs are good too.

[excelsior]

personman & dsparil - Thanks both for the advice. I'll only read the specific weapon weakness order as a last resort. From what I can tell Bass is better in stages but Mega Man has a stronger standard weapon and so I find that better for combat. I'm generally a stronger player when it comes to platforming and struggle with the combat so I'm having more success with Mega Man at this point. I beat Cold Man (I fluked it. I didn't have a clue how to deal with the floating smog thingy.) and Ground Man after many attempts.

[retr0gamer]

Beat run saber just there. That's a fun little game. It very obviously wants to be Strider and it never gets anywhere near as good as that game but it's a great attempt and a fun game in its own right. The levels are fun. Enemies are well designed and the controls are tight with quite a lot of nuance with how the special attacks and how each cyborg controls differently. There's some good boss battles here and plenty of them. The use of mode 7 just adds flair to the proceedings. The visuals are great with some gorgeous sprite work, particularly the bosses. The soundtrack feels a bit out of place with how upbeat it is but it's still really good.

The cherry on top is the two player mode, something strider can't match it on. It works really well and adds replay to an otherwise short game.

This would a B for me and the two player mode almost takes it a notch higher.

Also hitoshi sakimoto didn't do the soundtrack... Oops.

[excelsior]

I've added revised comments to my Mega Man & Bass post from last week. I'll post them again here:


So I put on my big boy pants to give this a better chance (not literally - it's too hot for pants right now). I switched over from playing handheld mode to TV which gives me a better view of the action and a better controller. I've also ended up with two games concurrently; one as Mega Man and one as Bass. The suggestion does seem that you play as both in order to collect the CD's and see a few dialogue segments. On the difficulty front - I'd say it starts off easier with Mega Man and then Bass surpasses him once he gets a few abilities under his belt. There is some BS found throughout though there's usually a life to be collected before the most obnoxious sections. The end game stages are beyond me in terms of beating without save states. Actually I resorted to using them a few times before standard bosses. The reason being one of my bigger annoyances in the game, that your abilities drain too fast, meaning there's only one attempt at a boss really, making lives seem a tad pointless. It would make sense for your powers to recharge on death here (I know this is how it works in Mega Man, but I don't remember the abilities draining so quickly for the most part). I still think the game would be better off with a traditional Mega Man stage select - there's times when you're not taught how to deal with certain enemies in the 'correct' place with this set up, and it doesn't allow for freedom and experimentation. It does kind of guide you to which ability should be used on a boss though. The bolt power ups unlock too slowly and require too much grinding for my liking. They are a nice (necessary) addition. I can see why these aren't power ups located in stages since the CD's fill that exploration role (and I do like seeking those out), se I don't know what a better answer is. Perhaps if you could switch characters within one save file you would pick up more bolts naturally as you would beat each stage with both characters?



Anyway, my opinion has changed significantly as I've grown to mostly like it. I just have too many niggles, and the late stages are just too difficult for me to be as generous as I'd otherwise like.



Ranking - C

[dsparil]

I agree with spanky on this including the sacrilege. Never played it before and it really grabbed me right away. It is a little too short, and I'm not sure what the difference is between Easy and Normal although I haven't tried Hard yet. I'll go with a B unless Hard turns out to add in a bunch of stuff.

[Snake]

Mega Man & Bass
I would've bought this new for SNES if it had a proper release, but I did end up getting it on Gameboy Advance, and playing it on a proper TV via Gamecube GBA Player.  Quite impressed with the level of sprite work that carried over from Mega Man 8.  The challenge is definitely amped up, and adding Bass/Forte is for sure a plus for replay value.  I appreciate it for being a proper Mega Man game, even if the challenge was set to push hardcore fans.  

Rank A



Run Saber
I remember seeing early previews of it in a game magazine, I think Electronic Gaming Monthly, where the skeleton lady boss was actually a giant flesh and blood pretty lady.  Gameplay is well paced and isn't half bad for a wannabe Strider, with some similar motifs, but with 2-Player Simultaneous action.  It was a great rental game to beat through the course of a weekend.  Decent fun, but not completely addictive memorable.  

Rank B

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Data East
• Developer - Data East
• Genre - Puzzle
• Initial Release - October 20 1995

Eliminate your challenger by linking the matching coloured drops to clear your levels. But don't blink, before you know it the drops will be on you!

  

  

[excelsior]

Magical Drop is a nice puzzler which, like many in the genre, is better suited to two player competitive action. There's a one player mode but it's pretty bare. As the first game in the series, despite the gameplay being pretty on point with simplistic and addictive qualities, this original has expectedly been outdone. Visually there's some charm but the colours aren't as vibrant as they could be and there's a lack of animation. 

Ranking - B

[spanky]

Fun little puzzle game though one I'm not very good at - I get destroyed in seconds when I play against higher level CPU opponents. B.

[dsparil]

I don't really like Magical Drop [1] at all. The concept is fine, but the single player story mode is beyond unfair and the puzzle mode is skimpy. The sequel is better which makes this one immensely skippable.

D

[ommadawnyawn2]

Giving floaty generic Strider with coop a C, just barely.

minirevver.weebly.com/run-saber.html

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Bandai
• Develpper - Natsume
• Genre - Beat-em-up
• Initial Release - September 1994

Don't look now, because her Hideousness is back and she's meaner and uglier than ever. This time Rita Repulsa is out to pulverize the Power Rangers once and for all and she's brought all of her nasty friends along to do the dirty work. But, Jason, Trinl, Billy, Kimberly, and Zack are at their morphing best with the awesome power of the Super NES machine on their side. Incredible graphics, amazing sound, and unbeatable action make this battle of good and evil an instant SNES classic. The game features seven challenging levels of play ending with breathtaking, all-out battles against Rita's most fearsome henchmen including Bones, Eye Guy, and many more! Only the power of the Super NES can put all of the characters and excitement of the phenomenal hit TV series right at your fingertips. So what are you waiting for? Morph into action now with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.