Aug Together Retro: Animal Main Characters

[Ack]

Inherit the Earth

Hey folks, I figured I would give another update on my progress.

Upon leaving the main sanctuary, I discovered an area that had previously been closed off. Inside, I found a garden...along with some sourberries and a footprint. With no capable trackers, I figured I would have to make a cast. A ferret in the nearby town had offered to sell plaster for fifteen credits, and I could sell my medallion for a few, so I decided this was my best bet. I also found a bucket to pick up.

Once I had met with a particularly nasty little mole who short-changed me for my silver medallion, I then purchased the plaster (and the shopkeeper was even nice enough to throw in the bag for free). I returned to the sanctuary garden, used a fountain to fill the bucket, mixed in the plaster, and made a cast of the footprint. With this cast and the berries, I figured it was time to go visit the leader of the Rat clan.

I snuck my way back in using a disguise and met with the head Rat, who took my clues but then asked me to go investigate the Boar King in exchange for his guidance. Fine, I snuck my way back out and headed to the castle of the Boar, where I had to again trick the guards into letting myself in. I was forced to take the taunts of boar guards and their king, even going so far as to have to climb into his mudbath. That was a mistake on his part; I found a gold ring with a wolf's head engraving in the mud. I quickly returned to the rats.

Once again, I snuck my way to the head of the rats and presented the ring. He revealed it would have belonged to a Wolf Captain, which means the Boar and Wolf clans were uniting. He also informed me that my clues pointed towards a raccoon from the northern lands, beyond "civilized" territory.

I needed a map to progress, so I returned to the dog astronomer and made a deal: fix his telescope for a map. I then took the broken lens to a ferret glassmaker, but he said it was beyond his power to fix. However, I now have a meeting with his guild to determine what can be done. Next up comes the guild meeting...

[prfsnl_gmr]

I’m enjoying reading everyone’s posts this month! I didn’t think that this would be such an interesting topic.

.....

I made some progress in Ecco. I finished up the vents, and I got the sonar attack for finding all the lost dolphins. I will start pushing into previously uncharted territory soon. Reasonable use of save states is saving me a lot of frustration (and time...these levels are long!).

[Exhuminator]

Reasonable use of save states is saving me a lot of frustration

I am looking forward to your opinion of the final level and last boss.

-

I've beaten game 2 of 3 for this TR:



It's 2007's NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for Wii.

At first I didn't enjoy this one too much, but the longer I played it, the better it got. I ended up loving Journey of Dreams overall. As for relevance, NiGHTS is a transmutable creature despite looking humanoid. In this game NiGHTS can transform into a dolphin, a dragon, a rocket, a roller coaster, and a raft. Though not without its issues; Journey of Dreams was a joyous experience overall. Review's here.

-

Despite prematurely making fun of anyone who might play a Sonic game for this TR, my next choice for this TR is a Sonic game.

I apologize in advance.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Awesome review!

I had a similar experience with Nights on the Saturn. I didn’t like it at all, but after it “clicked” with me, I absolutely adored it.

[Exhuminator]

I had a similar experience with Nights on the Saturn.

I've never finished the Saturn original, although I finished Christmas NiGHTS. I noticed there's an HD port of the Saturn original on 360, PS3, and PC. I will be buying the 360 version of that eventually, so I can beat the original NiGHTS. I encourage you to give the Wii sequel a try, it's not very expensive, and I think a well rounded gamer like yourself will appreciate what it does.

[Sarge]

I finally finished a game for this! It's Darkwing Duck for NES. I have certainly beaten this before, but if memory serves, all those times were with save states. For an action-game vet, this won't be brutal, but it definitely has teeth. Since the game patterns itself after Mega Man, there is a temptation to play it as such. That would be wrong. You really need to pace yourself and be quite careful, as DW can only take four hits before he dies. You'll find health-ups, and enemies will often drop them, but if you get in a bad spot, you can die very quickly.

You also get a few optional weapons: Thunder Gas, which shoots above and below at a 30-ish degree angle; Heavy Gas, which follows surfaces; and the Arrow Gas, with which you can make your own platforms. While these may help somewhat, you can very much get through the game without any of these.

While the game patterns itself after Mega Man, the controls have a stickiness to them that also leads itself to not encouraging faster play. Add to that several enemies that can block your shots and take quite a few hits, and several sections will feel very stop-start in nature. Also, the final boss sucks until you figure out how to get to the top without getting reamed by the enemies homing in on you, and keeping them at bay after you get there. Getting to the top involves one other big difference from Mega Man, and that's the ability to cling to the bottoms of some platforms. If you've played DuckTales 2, think of Scrooge's cane hook and you've pretty much got it.

All in all, I like the game, but it isn't nearly as good as the games it tries to copy. Still, Capcom knew how to make a better Mega Man clone than, say, Vic Tokai did with The Krion Conquest, so it still manages to be a very good game. I give this one a solid 7.5/10.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I had a similar experience with Nights on the Saturn.

I've never finished the Saturn original, although I finished Christmas NiGHTS. I noticed there's an HD port of the Saturn original on 360, PS3, and PC. I will be buying the 360 version of that eventually, so I can beat the original NiGHTS. I encourage you to give the Wii sequel a try, it's not very expensive, and I think a well rounded gamer like yourself will appreciate what it does.

Awww....thank you! I try to try out a lot of different genres. I’ve never been able to get into SRPGs or RTS games, though. Oh well...maybe someday.

Also, the HD version is a great choice. I spent some time with it, and it is just like the Saturn original (but much better looking). I have the Wii sequel, but I acquired it Round the same time I acquired a lot of other games and never gave it a fair shake. I’ll have to remedy that (and play Christmas Nights so I can say I’ve run the series).

[Xeogred]

Awesome. I love Okami, and I hope that you do too.

I started Ecco the Dolphin again today. This will be my fifth(!) serious attempt at this game. I respect it and want to love it, but I have now realized I will need help to get all the way through it. Accordingly, I will be shamelessly (or...shamefully?) relying on save states and walkthroughs to see the ending.

Worth noting the CD version has checkpoints throughout the levels, I don't think the Genesis versions do. And I LOVE Spencer Nilsen's scores for the CD games, though the Genesis ones rock too. I still haven't conquered Tides of Time myself.

The ending for the original is worth it. The game is really bizarre in an amazing way, it gets pretty dark and crazy.

[Exhuminator]

As much as I read people talk about the first two Ecco games, I never see anyone talk about Defender of the Future. Is it not any good?

[prfsnl_gmr]

As much as I read people talk about the first two Ecco games, I never see anyone talk about Defender of the Future. Is it not any good?

I took a shot at it a few years ago. I enjoyed up until the gimmicky, too difficult, first(!) boss fight. I gave up at that point. The gameplay just wasn’t compelling enough for me to put up with the frustration.