March's Together Retro Theme: Your 2 votes VS 5 bad ideas!

[Ack]

I very rarely see folks talk about strategy video games in general. I've played my fair share over the years, but finding folks to talk to about them just doesn't happen. It's like my current exploration of WRPGs. I figure at some point in the future I'll start doing it with strategy titles too. After all, there are so many, with some long running series. Koei must have done something right with the likes of Gemfire, Liberty or Death, Genghis Khan II, etc.

Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War is excellent, and all of you are missing out.

I think the problem with RTS games for me is they're both more common and generally better played on PC, but I'm not a big fan of that in general. I enjoy the console ports though.

Turn based strategy is more at home on console, and tends to be great. I love me some TBS.

I have played a couple of PC strategy games. I had C&C Tiberian Sun and Pharoah back in the day. I remember playing Pharoah a decent amount.

I went through a period in the mid to late 1990s starting with WarCraft where I loved RTS and played a ton, but in the 2000s I fell out with them. It was for a mix of reasons, including the general decline of the genre, a flourishing interest in FPS, the influence of Starcraft (and experiencing some of the worst of the game's fanbase), and also finding myself regularly playing against one of the best RTS players I have ever seen. I didn't give up entirely on the genre and even won a Microsoft tournament in Age of Empires III, but when I stepped away, I largely stayed away.

Also, I'm glad you like one of my channels.

I figure at some point in the future I'll start doing it with strategy titles too. After all, there are so many, with some long running series. Koei must have done something right with the likes of Gemfire, Liberty or Death, Genghis Khan II, etc.

As I get older, I find myself becoming intrigued by genres (or specific games) which I glossed over as a kid. I was simply too young for the stuff when it was new. Koei created a lot of games that fit this description. Granted they might not all be jams, but one doesn't know until one tries.

I can agree with this. As I go back now, a lot of what interests me are things that I found far too complex as a kid. What were the celebrated titles that got lots of attention but were something that I would have never paid attention to when I was 10? Well, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, P.T.O., and Operation Europe: Path to Victory are all titles like this. Shoot, I'd happily go back to the likes of Super Conflict just to see what it was about.

I haven't yet gotten into tank or flight simulators either. There were a couple of these I'd play as a kid, but as a whole, I never paid them much attention. Maybe someday I'll get around to them.

[marurun]

Only trying to encourage participation within specifically designed frameworks.

And clearly you enjoy coming down like a sack of hammers on anyone who doesn’t conform perfectly.
...
We’re opening manuals to look and see if a mech is piloted, completely missing that it’s a sprite or model on a tv screen and a detail like that is largely irrelevant. Does Evangelion count, since they’re not real robots?!?.

Ah, that wasn't Exhuminator, actually, and he's pretty open on that point. I think Ex is pretty picky on some points in ways I might not prefer, but that's definitely not one of them.

Let me say this right now: you can play any game you want and post about it in the appropriate part of the forum. We have lots of subforums and we love to chat about games. But this new TR format and curator arrangement is a work-in-progress that we're all feeling out, and certainly nothing for any of us to get too hot and bothered over. It's looking, so far, like the easiest themes to find applicable games in are ahead by a good stretch, so I don't think anyone is likely to be without good options for March.

[Segata]

I'm sorry if I accidentally kicked off this debate mentioning ZOE and Astebreed. Astebreed was a genuine slip of my mind as I was so excited and I love Lisa so much..err I mean Astebreed so much. If I didn't then NVM. Still, I'd be happy to go by the rules. I'm in such a mecha mood and have a few lined up that it's cool.

[alienjesus]

I think the problem with RTS games for me is they're both more common and generally better played on PC, but I'm not a big fan of that in general. I enjoy the console ports though.

If we're talking about classically styled (that is to say western style) RTS, then yes PC is where it's at. But I want to be clear, when I say Classic '90s RTS, that means real time strategy games of any sort, which debuted between 1990-1999. That means console / handheld stuff like Herzog Zwei, Dragon Force, Rampart (GB/GBC), Warhammer: Dark Omen, Front Mission: Alternative, Syndicate Wars, Metal Marines, King Arthur's World, Two Tribes: Populous II, Populous (MS), First Queen (SFC), Mega-Lo-Mania (SNES), and so many more are viable. The "obvious choices" under the Classic '90s RTS entries was just stuff I was personally interested in.

Don't worry, you're preaching to the choir here. I actually voted for the RTS option.

Is Dragon Force an RTS though? I was under the impression it was mostly turn based.

The game I intended to play for RTS month was Herzog Zwei, and fortunately enough it turns out that has a mech in it too, so I'll be playing it either way

[MrPopo]

Dragon Force is this weird hybrid. You have turn based empire management, and then a real time combat system that gives you limited management options to tilt things in your favor. I'm not really sure how to classify it beyond "strategy RPG".

[Exhuminator]

I'm sorry if I accidentally kicked off this debate mentioning ZOE and Astebreed.

It was a combination of various things people said, and not solely your fault by any means. I could have approached the discussion more delicately, had I not been exhausted and sick last night when I first brought up my concerns. I also should have brought up my concerns in the official TR thread, not in the voting thread. That was my mistake.

I think we've all gotten things ironed out well enough now. As Maru said, this whole TR overhaul is a new thing, there'll be hiccups along the way. Each successive curator will have a better idea of how to handle the choices going forward.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Hey, I am gonna stick to mechs. I'm playing ONE MUST FALL 2097!! Mechwarrior 2, Teleroboxer and if I happened to beat them all (insanely unlikely) my final pick will be a huge troll pick that is dismissive of the rules (seriously, I will.be lucky to beat one.) Mech romancer!!!!!

I'm just joshing!

[Exhuminator]

Mechwarrior 2

If PMM wins, I will certainly be playing that one as well. To my shame I've never beaten MW2 proper. I did beat the PS1 version of it, but that's just not the same. The PS1 version is rather arcade-like, not as deep in simulation or mission complexity as the PC original. Unfortunately when the original MW2 released, I couldn't get it to run worth a damn on my 486 33-MHz at the time. Better late than never!

[ESauced]

Hey, I am gonna stick to mechs. I'm playing ONE MUST FALL 2097!! Mechwarrior 2, Teleroboxer and if I happened to beat them all (insanely unlikely) my final pick will be a huge troll pick that is dismissive of the rules (seriously, I will.be lucky to beat one.) Mech romancer!!!!!

I'm just joshing!

Sorry, I can’t tell which part of your post is a joke. Is Teleroboxer a mech? If so, that’ll be the second pre 2000 mech game that I forgot I owned and have played. I didn’t think I’d played any until this discussion started.

[alienjesus]

Hey, I am gonna stick to mechs. I'm playing ONE MUST FALL 2097!! Mechwarrior 2, Teleroboxer and if I happened to beat them all (insanely unlikely) my final pick will be a huge troll pick that is dismissive of the rules (seriously, I will.be lucky to beat one.) Mech romancer!!!!!

I'm just joshing!

Sorry, I can’t tell which part of your post is a joke. Is Teleroboxer a mech? If so, that’ll be the second pre 2000 mech game that I forgot I owned and have played. I didn’t think I’d played any until this discussion started.

I plan on playing Teleroboxer. I think it counts as a mech, although others may disagree. It's giant robots punching each other, and they have a pilot .... but only in the sense that drones also have pilots, as they are being telepathically controlled from the outside, rather than in a drivers seat.

Bogus was joking about Mech Romancer, which seems to be a dating sim where you date giant robots.

Other games I'm thinking about on my list currently are Herzog Zwei (Mega Drive), Hyper Dyne Side Arms Special (PC Engine CD), MUSHA (Virtual Console) and, if I have time and can squeeze it in, The Mystical Ninja 2 starring Goemon (N64).

Impact counts as a mech right?

DASH! DASH! DASH!



p.s I'm aware that's a slightly trolly pick, which is why I intend to play the more serious mech games listed above first