SNES Game of the Week 118 - Clock Tower

[spanky]

I thought I had played this, but turns out I had actually played it's sequel. I thought I would just play it for a level or two but it ended up being so engaging I saw it the entire way through. SHMUPs are a genre that has never really clicked with me. I just find it so demoralizing getting tagged by a stray bullet and getting sent back to a checkpoint with your weapons downgraded. Parodius on the other hand completely wins me over with it's humor and music. Thankfully, Konami figured out the slowdown problem and the game runs very well. Checkpoints are frequent and it appears you have infinite continues (I went through a few on my run) so the game isn't too hard.

This is peak Konami charm. What happened to this company? Anyway, it's a high A for me.

[dsparil]

Played through Hook, and at first I barely got into it. The movement and controls in general were just too clunky. Then, I noticed that someone had heard my future cries a few months ago and had made a a patch that fixes up nearly all the control issues! There's still a handful of sore spots since it's a bandaid fix, but it makes the game so much more pleasant to play. It is too easy, and the levels are generally too short, but it's fun enough. I guess I'd go with a B.

[excelsior]

Oct 8, 2023 22:52:54 GMT -5 vnisanian2001 said:

Who's that in your avatar now, excelsior? Kylie Minogue?

Haha. No, it's not Queen Kylie. Though she does have a new album out. I'm sure you'll be picking it up, fabulous as it is.

The lady is professional wrestler 'Timeless' Toni Storm. She's recently taken up the gimmick of becoming unhinged, with delusions of being a fading Hollywood starlet modelled after the character of Norma Desmond (Sunset Boulevard). She very much appeals to my kitsch sensibilities.

[🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀]

Konami shmups are always good, and I like Parodius more in general than Gradius. Though on the SNES I prefer Gradius III (and also Axelay), all the Parodius games are very close.

I've played SNES Gokujou and especially SNES Jikkyou Oshaberi more than SNES Da!, probably because I have the arcade versions of Da! and Goukojo on the PSX (and why emulate the SNES versions if I can play the arcade versions on a CRT with the world's worst controller for shmups imaginable?). I'm still going to give it an A, because it's still Parodius, it's still Gradius, and it's still a great Konami shmup. It's a bit more traditional than the more crazy sequels, but it's got more variety in playstyles than Gradius and good level design. They also got a pretty damn good emulation of the arcade version's soundfont IIRC.

So yeah, an A for Parodius.

[Snake]

Parodius - Rank A

Solid game, creative shooter.  Definitely dig using Octopus and Pentarou.  Interesting mish mash of remixed classical music soundtrack, and some funny looking bosses from a posing beauty, an eagle and in flag hat, or the octopus in a bath house.  Though the last boss fight is a bit anti-climactic in design.  

[grad]

I did not realize that the SNES version of Parodius was highly regarded. I should give it a whirl.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts gets my vote for being seasonal. C'mon, people! 🎃

[excelsior]

Oct 13, 2023 23:23:50 GMT -5 grad said:

I did not realize that the SNES version of Parodius was highly regarded. I should give it a whirl.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts gets my vote for being seasonal. C'mon, people! 🎃

I'm not sure there's a version of Parodius that isn't highly regarded. Thanks for joining in.

(A tie means each leading game will be featured in consecutive weeks. Poor Contra, though. Poor, poor Contra.)

[grad]

Thank you for the welcome. It's great to see this place is still alive and kicking.

My realization was more of the SNES version being highly regarded among the series. Parodius always seemed like one of those games that was supposed to shine brighter on, I dunno, Turbografx or something.

[grad]

Thank you also for welcoming retroactive participation. I only cast votes for games that I have known intimately... but jeez, there were some tough calls in there.

|||||| S  1 Super Mario World
||||   B  2 Gradius III
||||   B  3 Super Off Road
||     D  4 Mortal Kombat
|      F  5 Super Star Wars
||||   B  6 TNMT IV: Turtles in Time
||||   B  8 Super Mario Kart
||||   B  9 The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse
||     D 10 NBA Jam
||||   B 11 Super R-Type
||     D 13 Final Fantasy IV
|||    C 14 Tiny Toon Adventures
|||    C 15 Street Fighter II
||||   B 20 Soul Blazer
|||||  A 21 Mega Man X
||||   B 24 Zombiies Ate My Neighbors
|||||  A 25 Super Punch Out!!
|||||  A 28 Legend of the Mystical Ninja
||||   B 30 Donkey Kong Country
|||||  A 33 Super Bomberman Series
|||    C 38 Mario Paint
|||    C 40 Mortal Kombat II
||||   B 43 Joe & Mac
|||||| S 50 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
|      F 59 Top Gear
||||   B 60 Street Fighter II Turbo
|||    C 64 Earthworm Jim
||||   B 69 Actraiser

The collage in the first post is something else. I would hang that on a wall.

[dsparil]

Oct 14, 2023 1:24:20 GMT -5 grad said:

My realization was more of the SNES version being highly regarded among the series. Parodius always seemed like one of those games that was supposed to shine brighter on, I dunno, Turbografx or something.

As weird as it sounds, the SNES was the main home system for the middle three games; just to be complete, the first game was MSX exclusive and the last was arcade/PSX/Saturn. The PC Engine only got the this game which cut two levels like I previously mentioned. It does have an extra level selected from the main menu, but it's mostly made up assets from other parts of the game and it still leaves it down one. The SNES on the other hand has every original level plus a new bathhouse set level. The next game initially only got an SNES port and the one after that is exclusive to it.

[ommadawnyawn2]

It's a good game held back by the same old and rigid gradius power up system, which I think I've explained why I dislike already. That and slowdown, which happens quite a bit IIRC. Actually I don't like the negative power up either. Then again you can tweak the difficulty a lot and I guess overclock it in emulation, maybe I should try that some time.
Aesthetically it's more of an A, I like silly and cute in shoot 'em ups, and most of the additions to the formula such as the projectile walls are welcome.

C

[excelsior]

Oct 14, 2023 1:54:18 GMT -5 grad said:

Thank you also for welcoming retroactive participation. I only cast votes for games that I have known intimately... but jeez, there were some tough calls in there.

snip
The collage in the first post is something else. I would hang that on a wall.

Thanks. It'll take me a while to get to these.

[excelsior]

• Publisher - Takara
• Developer - Genki
• Genre - Wrestling
• Initial Release - 31 July 1992

King of the Monsters is an action/fighting game that features city-destroying battles between huge monsters. Choose one of six monsters and travel around Japan, stopping to fight in various famous cities, with the aim of becoming the ultimate winner. In addition to punches, kicks, and other regular moves, each character has the ability to use more devastating maneuvers, like throwing flames and shooting laser beams, to defeat opponents. Wrestling elements are also incorporated, as you must completely exhaust your opponent and get a three-count to pin him and be victorious. Take on the challenge and claim the title of King of the Monsters!

  

  

[excelsior]

If my memory's not failing me this is our first SNK port. King of the Monsters is something of a wrestling game masquerading of a beat-em-up, actually playing a lot like Technos' enjoyable WWF arcade games. Unfortunately the gameplay comes across as confusing here and it's difficult to shake that initial about-turn. Not only does the game not play as it looks like it should, but the actual wrestling isn't well polished - either in the arcade, or this conversion. There's not a whole lot of fighters, also, making this not the best pick for either genre in terms of longevity. Fortunately the sequel course corrected, but for this game, I struggle to get much enjoyment.

Ranking - D 

[grad]

The Game Center CX episode for this one was pretty fun.