|
Post by Revolver Ocelot on Jan 14, 2008 12:41:36 GMT -5
Oops. Sorry. I have your notes from awhile ago but it didn't have it down as "officially claimed" since there was other stuff on your plate. Uh, skip the Earnest Evans stuff then. Go for broke on the others though. Alright, sorry about that. I guess I should've posted it in the RAT anyway, so it's my fault. At any rate, I still wrote a bit about El Viento and Earnest Evans (though I didn't get around to playing Annet Futatabi). Would it be cool if I just included the texts I wrote and then a link to your articles or something? And yeah, I have a lot on my plate, but I plan on getting it all done. I'm mainly focusing on Dynasty Warriors right now. I'm writing an incredible amount of stuff for it and it's going to leave me with Carpal Tunnel. Just the first part of the article (Dynasty Warriors 1-3 XL) is about 30,000 words so far.
|
|
|
Post by vgninja on Jan 15, 2008 19:49:39 GMT -5
cool article. I want to pick up El Viento. Part of me wants to play Annet Futatabi, but it doesn't sound too hot.
|
|
|
Post by Kid Fenris on Jan 18, 2008 21:31:55 GMT -5
Good article. I see I'm not the only one who's looked up Kazutoshi Yamane. Ever play Fiend Hunter? I sometimes lump it in with the El Viento/Earnest Evans series, since the main character is a blatant rip-off of Earnest. The game plays more like a crappy Prince of Persia, with lots and lots of cutscenes and conversations. But hey, it's got Feed Sluster. One weird footnote: the Genesis version of Earnest Evans (which, I believe, never came out in Japan) actually rewrites the story so that it takes place in the present day, with the Earnest Evans of the title being the grandson of Annet and the original Earnest. All of this is conveyed in the instructions and box copy, since there aren't any cutscenes in the game itself. I could be remembering this wrong, as I sold off my copy of Earnest Evans a while ago, but MobyGames has a synopsis that seems to be taken from the game's box.
|
|
|
Post by Discoalucard on Jan 18, 2008 21:36:27 GMT -5
One weird footnote: the Genesis version of Earnest Evans (which, I believe, never came out in Japan) actually rewrites the story so that it takes place in the present day, with the Earnest Evans of the title being the grandson of Annet and the original Earnest. All of this is conveyed in the instructions and box copy, since there aren't any cutscenes in the game itself. I'd heard about the plot rewriting but I only own the bare cart so I've never seen the manual. I didn't know that it was only released on cartridge in America, which seems to be correct - I can't find a Japanese ROM for it.
|
|
|
Post by Ganelon on Jan 18, 2008 22:04:02 GMT -5
Ever play Fiend Hunter? I sometimes lump it in with the El Viento/Earnest Evans series, since the main character is a blatant rip-off of Earnest. The game plays more like a crappy Prince of Persia, with lots and lots of cutscenes and conversations. But hey, it's got Feed Sluster. Yeah, not to mention Fiend Hunter is just as easy and awkward controlling as the Annet games.
|
|
|
Post by Scylla on Mar 22, 2008 14:28:59 GMT -5
I've been looking forward to reading this one for awhile (which is kind of odd considering I've never played any of the series except I think a tiny bit of El Viento via emulation), and I finally got around it.
I have a strong fascination with Wolf Team (for obvious reasons), and I was really sad to see Shadda Tannis disappear but this helps fill in the gap nicely. I'd definitely love to see more Wolf Team coverage here. The more the better.
I was a bit surprised that your El Viento review wasn't more positive. Most reviewers I've come across (at least of the ones that are worth anything) really love to gush over that game.
I was also a little surprised that you didn't mention that Ernest Raviede from Star Ocean 2 and Blue Sphere is a very blatant homage to Earnest Evans. Sure, I'm biased, but I think that's a pretty interesting, important detail in terms of Earnest Evans trivia.
Oh, and just out of curiosity, how did you go about playing Earnest Evans on Mega CD? It's the only version of any of the games I own, and I'd love to give it a play. Did you just use emulation or what? I've tried to burn a copy with US bios, but that didn't work. I've sort of resigned myself to the idea that I'll have to buy a Mega Drive + Mega CD or a Wondermega someday, but I don't want to fork out that kind of cash. :P Especially since it would only be useful for CD games since I can already play Mega Drive carts on my Genesis 3 (poor video quality aside).
|
|
|
Post by Discoalucard on Mar 22, 2008 14:56:47 GMT -5
Emulation. Real Sega CDs are hit or miss when it comes to reading CD-Rs. I own an actual copy of the CD too. It was like 100 yen or so in Akihabara. El Viento is pretty huge mess, but it somehow ended up being kinda fun anyway, just for the sheer absurdity of it all. It's one of those games, like Ys III, that's kinda hard to justify it being objectively "good" but it all comes together in a way that makes it enjoyable regardless of its technical ineptitude. I miss Shadatannis too. I didn't realize Earnest from SO2 was a meant to be a reference, although it makes sense given the lineage of Tri Ace.
|
|
|
Post by Scylla on Mar 22, 2008 15:29:19 GMT -5
My Sega CD can play CD-Rs of US games just fine, so I think the program I was using to change the region was just crap. It didn't work with my Japanese Night Trap either, but maybe that's a good thing, haha.
|
|
|
Post by Ganelon on Mar 23, 2008 1:15:24 GMT -5
I use the MegaCart (although it's sort of an expensive solution). Works fine with everything. Only little issue is it's based on the default BIOS rather than my faster default CDX one.
Another person who misses Shaddatanis here. Zigfried doesn't seem to post much nowadays either.
As for El Viento, I honestly don't see why people admire it so. It has such an interesting 1920s atmosphere but the game mechanics are too rough. It didn't have the tightness that, say, the Mega Man series had.
|
|
|
Post by Allie on Mar 23, 2008 2:52:18 GMT -5
As for El Viento, I honestly don't see why people admire it so. It has such an interesting 1920s atmosphere but the game mechanics are too rough. It didn't have the tightness that, say, the Mega Man series had. I have no idea why people like it, either. I think it may be the same reason people liked Valis, though. Platformer with anime-esque cutscene graphics in the early 90s... I seriously doubt you'll find many people who'll sing the praises of the English-language Valis games who weren't taken in by the graphical design of it. (I'm not in a fair position to judge the PCE-CD versions of the series, however, sadly.)
|
|
|
Post by Scylla on Mar 23, 2008 13:55:45 GMT -5
On the subject of Valis, while El Viento wasn't made by the same team who made Valis for Genesis, Wolf Team WAS the team behind the very first Valis (but not any of its ports/remakes or sequels). That might play at least a small role in the similarities between the games, so maybe that would be worth mentioning.
|
|
|
Post by zzz on Oct 18, 2008 4:38:59 GMT -5
|
|