Hydlide

[ReyVGM]

Ah, I see.

[starscream]

I have stumbled over an Italian Hydlide review of an MSX version of the first game a short time ago, which also made me take a look at the article again.
This
The only version familiar to non-Japanese gamers is the FC/NES version, known as Hydlide Special in Japan and simply Hydlide everywhere else.

isn't correct. Check out the releases at

www.generation-msx.nl/msxdb/softwareinfo/578

The first T&E Soft release there even has English and Spanish (I think) on the box, and there are Phillips and Sony releases listed, most certainly distributed in non-Japanese territories as well. I remember also seeing some MSX advertising in magazine scans I read before, showing the game's titlescreen on the monitor.

[The Great Klaid]

Updated Link: www.hardcoregaming101.net/hydlide/hydlide.htm

[Scylla]

Wow, it really took a long time for this article to get finished. Since tomorrow is Orthodox Easter, it's almost time for Virtual Hydlide, haha, so I read the article in full for the first time today and really enjoyed it. It's a perfect example of one of my favorite things about HG101 articles, in that it pops the bubble of Western perspective. Many people would be content to do nothing but rip Hydlide apart from the standpoint of their closed, Western window to the series, but this article paints the true, full picture, explaining its genuine place in history. From explaining the importance of games like Hydlide and Tower of Druaga to telling Americans that, no, Cho Aniki isn't a series made for gay gamers, HG101 goes against the mainstream herd and tells it like it is, and I really appreciate that.

[DarkShingo]

Does any of the Windows versions got fan translated?

[Échalote]

Nov 5, 2015 11:48:41 GMT -5 DarkShingo said:

Does any of the Windows versions got fan translated?

The first one was translated.

[DarkShingo]

Nov 5, 2015 13:26:44 GMT -5 Échalote said:

Nov 5, 2015 11:48:41 GMT -5 DarkShingo said:

Does any of the Windows versions got fan translated?

The first one was translated.

Nice. Would have loved to check 2, but that's fine. Thanks.

[Resident Tsundere]

Perhaps I'm tempting fate, but I'm curious about Super Hydlide.

[toei]

Jul 9, 2016 22:28:55 GMT -5 Resident Tsundere said:

Perhaps I'm tempting fate, but I'm curious about Super Hydlide.

  I *like* Super Hydlide. This wasn't a foregone conclusion; it took me years to overcome my initial revulsion at the graphics and gameplay concepts like hunger, fatigue and weight slowing you down. But once I really gave it a chance I realized those things weren't that hard to manage if you plan ahead, in fact they even add something to the game by forcing you to mind what you're doing. The game has that earnest early-RPG sense of wonder to it; it starts off like looking like the most generic fantasy landscape, but you end up in some pretty cool locations and situations.
 It also has an amazing theme song.
 
 Just one piece of advice, although it's probably mentioned in the article somewhere. Some monsters out on the field will not attack you; if you slaughter them regardless, it will affect some kind of (hidden or just very discrete, I can't remember) morality meter. You will find out why later on in the game. It probably doesn't matter if you do it early on to gain a few levels since you start off very weak and your first weapon blows, however you'll want to stop later on, or you'll hit a wall when you come up against the final boss.

[hydlidian]

I had great time with Super Hydlide as well. As said, it goes for a bit different kinda flair than other JRPG's with the weight, hunger and weariness aspects and meters. I thought they were kind of nice, especially since I've played very little of games that use those. The soundtrack kicks ass (got to love that funky overworld theme with that "guitar solo"), the gameplay is okay and the game is not too cryptic either if you know some basic stuff beforehand, like that morality meter thing. Curiously, though, I never found how to go to that cloud place on my own, even though the game has harder things to figure out. The graphics are really rough though, no arguing there. It also has some amusing humour (those useless items come to mind). Or at least I found it oddly amusing.

Also, I guess I mention Virtual Hydlide in half of my posts here, but got to love that one. It's ugly, it's crude, but it's loveable and (quite) perfectly playable. And it's pretty unique in concept: score attack RPG. And the game just has that weird aura to it. I wonder whether it's Japanese version is any different...

I might be a little lenient on the Hydlide series, since it's nice to show the games some love for a change. And it's nice to like the underdog. It's sad that there isn't more of Hydlide's. I bought and trudged through T&E Soft's Blaze & Blade because it was made by the same company but it wasn't the same thing. Although, I guess at times it also had some of that crummy likeability to it...

It would be cool if Hydlide would have lived on to the present day similar to Ys series. Oh well. I actually came here to check whether, for some really really weird reason, there would have been some new Hydlide or Hydlide related thing that someone had posted about, but finding quite recent discussion was perfectly ok as well.

[wyrdwad]

I'm really curious about Super Hydlide myself, and actually just won a CIB auction for the MSX2 version of it, which should be arriving soon -- so I'll probably give that a whirl when it does.

(Admittedly, though, I mostly bought it because it comes with the game's soundtrack... on cassette tape! Which is just too much of a novelty not to love!)

-Tom

[hydlidian]

Jul 12, 2016 16:41:55 GMT -5 wyrdwad said:

(Admittedly, though, I mostly bought it because it comes with the game's soundtrack... on cassette tape! Which is just too much of a novelty not to love!)

Wow, that is too cool. I take it it's an official cassette?

There is also some arranged soundtrack for that game but I have not found it online in its entirety. If someone has it or has heard it, I would like to hear what's it like.

[wyrdwad]

Yeah, it's definitely official. And TBH, I'm not 100% certain if it's a soundtrack or some other kind of bonus something, as I can't find too much info on what it is beyond just an audio cassette that comes with the MSX2 release of Hydlide 3: The Space Memories -- I'm only assuming it's a soundtrack.

I don't even have proper audio equipment to listen to it, but I should be able to rig up my cassette drive to play it back (or buy a cheap Walkman from Goodwill or something, if all else fails), and I'm really curious to find out what's on it!

-Tom

[Feynman]

I own the Genesis version of Super Hydlide and I quite enjoy it. I even mentioned it in that thread about Genesis games we had a while back.

It's an odd game, and kind of janky, but still fun. The systems are unusually detailed for a console action-RPG. Managing your character's weight and food supply adds a lot to the game! You have to carefully choose equipment that won't weigh you down too much, pack rations so you don't starve, and keep some extra space so that you can carry the money and items you find. The money enemies drop come in several coin types of different value, and coins have weight, so you need to keep a money changer on hand so you aren't crushed by a flood of copper coins, and deposit excess gold in the bank. Exploring the world or a new dungeon basically requires you to pack and prepare like you're on a jungle expedition. It sounds dull on paper, but in practice it is surprisingly entertaining.

[wyrdwad]

Yeah, it sounds really intriguing. Kind of reminds me of the original Xanadu in a way, where you constantly have to watch your stats and manage your resources super-duper carefully or you're just kind of screwed.

Honestly, Xanadu was probably a pretty big influence on it, all things considered. And I loooooove Xanadu, even if I am constantly terrified when I'm playing it (since it autosaves, and definitely doesn't have any failsafes in place to keep you from permanently screwing up your save data in such a way that you have no choice but to start over from scratch).

-Tom