Hydlide

[YourAverageJoe]

Have you even tried a game by Tri-Ace? If not I suggest you do, they're the best example of real-time RPGs done right and how it makes the game that much more enjoyable.

[kyouki]

I sort of enjoy Hydlide. Sure I was disappointed when I got it back when it was released since it seemed so basic compared to other RPGs, but I think it's aged pretty well. It's fun to explore and it does play a bit more like a traditional western computer RPG than a Japanese one, complete with vague or no direction. It's also a bit like Zelda in that it will take you hours and hours to finish it the first time but once you do you can blow through it in a fraction of the time and it's still fun somehow. I even think the graphics are pretty charming... the sprites are actually pretty detailed when you compare it to something like Dragon Warrior. However the music is undeniably bad.

I think you have to place Hydlide in the same camp as Deadly Towers, Tower of Druaga, the first couple of Zelda games to an extent, Castlevania 2, many of the early western computer RPGS, and most of the earlier Falcom RPGs. They were meant to be played "hardcore," devoting hours to exploring and experimenting, and sharing discoveries with friends in order to get through the games together. For some people (including me when I was younger... don't have the time now) this is a huge draw. You could spend a reasonable amount of money for hours and hours of gameplay and if you are the type that enjoys playing at your own pace and figuring stuff out then it was great.

[necromaniac]

Does anybody here have the PC remake of Hydlide? (only available trough now discontinued Japanese download service, or so I hear).
I have a translation patch on my hard drive that I'm just dying to use, but I can't seem to find the game anywere....

[bioniccommando83]

Wow... over 1 year later and this turkey is still kicking around. I'm going to need to talk with my brother about finding a good MSX emulator for the Mac and trying to do Hydlide II so this can finally get posted.

[mainpatr]

How the heck do you pronouce the name of this game?!?!?!?!?!?

[jameseightbitstar]

mainpatr said:

How the heck do you pronouce the name of this game?!?!?!?!?!?

Hyde lied

As in "Dr. Hyde lied to me! He said my check was in the mail but all I got was this crappy T-shirt!"

[bioniccommando83]

I was browsing through Youtube earlier today and stumbled across a new set of Hydlide related videos. It looks like they gave the series the Ys Eternal treatment and cleaned them up for a PC release with new graphics and cutscenes. I have to admit that they did a fairly good job cleaning up the graphics and with the new cut scenes. www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=TYPE1120

With that juicy tidbit, the call for help is still out there for trying to eventually finish this article.

[chaoticgood]

Apr 8, 2007 4:57:21 GMT -5 YourAverageJoe said:

Have you even tried a game by Tri-Ace? If not I suggest you do, they're the best example of real-time RPGs done right and how it makes the game that much more enjoyable.

Yes I have; Tales of Phantasia and the first two Star Oceans... They are good for sure, but I don't think they are in any way 'much more' enjoyable than turn-based ones, just different.

I pretty much like ones with a bit of strategy-like combat systems the best of all, say Live a Live or Cyber Knight 2 have very fun combat. IMO, of course. Some people can naturally like action RPGs better, but it's rather ludicrous to say they are automatically more enjoyable or more advanced...

[Discoalucard]

This article's like, what, three years in the making?

www.hardcoregaming101.net/hydlide/hydlide.htm

Someone stumbled upon the old WIP in Google (it's not on the main page anywhere but it was linked from the forums) and sent me a disc that had the remakes of Hydlide 1 and 3, as well as the museum, which I uploaded below:

www.hardcoregaming101.net/hydlide/MUSEUM/MUSEUM.HTM

[kyouki]

Nice to see this finished, I have a soft spot for the Hydlide games (even Virtual Hydlide). I think the first game is a pretty nice little adventure/rpg game that is reminiscent of the first couple of Ultima games.

[ryochan]

I played the NES version of this. I consider myself fairly patient, but it drove me mad. I had to shut that music off and play CDs too ><

[Dais]

I think you should seperate the little bit about WOOMB into it's own paragraph below the first three games. I know researching it is a bitch, and you may know more about it than I do, but it was a fascinating service while it lasted, and I'm pretty sure:

-It allowed people to buy games in the US, as far as I'm aware (although Bazix, who ran WOOMB, apparently could only distribute hardware like one-chip MSXs in Europe)
-Bazix actually translated some of the games themselves or hired people in the MSX scene to do them.
-In some cases, including I think Hydlide 3, Bazix created all new translations of titles that already had functional but clumsy, compact English translations.
-The WOOMB service also provided translated manual scans and things like that with game purchases.
-With the canceling of the WOOMB service, it is possible that the newly translated games are unobtainable, commercially or illegally. (for all I know, further distribution might be blocked due to whatever crazy drama went on that caused WOOMB to shut down)

Bazix was honestly trying to provide a great service, and the paltry selection of games at Project EGG's English page is pretty insulting in comparison (since WOOMB sprung from a partnership with D4, who runs Project EGG).

www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12172


additionally, I'd appreciate it if you could put up some tracks from this album, which shouldn't be that hard to find in mp3 format. It's not a totally solid album, and some of the arranges are weird, but the original versions of "Main Theme" and "Dragon!" are some of my favorite chiptunes ever. It'd also be nice to hear some of the stuff from the remakes.

[Ganelon]

Ah, looks like you gave up comparing all the different versions after the first game? Each version has unique looks and sounds though. But I don't blame you.

[Discoalucard]

Couldn't get most of them working. I have the PC-88, MSX and MSX2, NES and Windows versions, but the rest is ganked from J-Wiki.

Similarly, I couldn't get Hydlide 3 SV for the X68000 working either, so there's no pictures.

The museum breaks down some of the monsters that are in the different versions though.

EDIT

Here:
www.hardcoregaming101.net/hydlide/MUSEUM/MAGAZINE/KISYU.HTM

I gotta translate some of them. It seems like the MSX, PC-88 and F7 are the "major" versions. There is some extra stuff in the Windows version, though.

[ReyVGM]

What happened with Hydlide 3? I got it working just fine on both X68000 emulators.