January Together Retro: Konami Loves Genesis

[nullPointer]

I myself started playing Rocket Knight Adventures last night, and ... wow! This is a great game. It's interesting, because going into it blindly, I never would have pegged this as a Konami game. If anything, there are several moments where I feel like it hews pretty closely to Treasure in both style and content. It has some of the same elements of arcade style bombast and spectacle seen in Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier, and much like those games, there's a real focus on boss battles. Also like Gunstar Heroes, Rocket Knight Adventures also utilizes a moveset and control scheme that's deeper than it appears initially. Learning to effectively charge and use your rockets is key. It seems like one of those games that's easy to learn, difficult to master (again much like the aforementioned Treasure games).

I'm really enjoying this one, and will hopefully be completing it soon!

[pierrot]

I dont think I've ever really used browny. I usually go straight for the werewolf with the gun arm. I'll try browny out. Thanks for the tips I'm gonna give Contra Hard Corps a shot this month.

Nice! Yeah, Brad Fang is like the hard mode of the game. His weapons are pretty tough to use, he has the biggest hitbox, he's a bit slower, and his mobility is a bit lower than the rest, but he has a lot of really heavy weapons. Key uses him exclusively, because she's a god gamer. I wouldn't recommend him for newcomers, though.

That reminds me of another tip, though: Know your character/weapons. Whoever you settle on for a character, you really need to take some time to get to know their weapons, because there are a lot of intricacies to how they operate. I'm most familiar with Browny's load out, and most of the boss strategies I use are sort of based on those weapons he has. For instance, his Weapon C obliterates bosses, normally, and will just home in on things while the fire button is held down, but, there are times where you can kill things faster with it if you let it stretch out until it hits the enemy, then release the fire button and repeat. Bosses also seem to have some weapon 'affinities,' because the final form of the Stage 4 end boss dies much faster when using Browny's Weapon B against him, than Weapon C. With Weapon B, it dies in about a cycle and a half, but with Weapon C, it takes a number of cycles.

A couple other tips I was reminded of: The opening ~45 seconds of Hard Corps is probably the toughest part of the entire game. I tend to reset if I die at all in that section, or even sometimes if I don't get both of the weapon pods in that stretch. I don't know if others do that at all, but I find that getting off to a good start helps my attempts tremendously. The other thing is, if you're going to be playing it on the Genesis, I'd recommend using the default key bindings, or at least use one of the control layouts that keeps the weapon switch button, and the fire button next to each other. Hitting the weapon change button while firing changes your fire type style, similar to the two types in Gunstar Heroes. There are a number of times where you may want to keep your position locked while firing (type II) to shoot something in the face real good, and it's a lot easier to do that on the fly if you don't remap the buttons. I'm actually not sure whether or not this can also be done while paused, though.

I myself started playing Rocket Knight Adventures last night, and ... wow! This is a great game. It has some of the same elements of arcade style bombast and spectacle seen in Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier, and much like those games, there's a real focus on boss battles.

Yeah, it's a wild ride. Actually RKA, Hard Corps, Bloodlines, and even Sparkster (to a lesser extent) are like this. This might sound like heresy, but with the exception of Light Crusader (possibly), I prefer those Konami games (less Sparkster) to any of the Treasure games on the Genesis. Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, and McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure are all still great, though.

Also like Gunstar Heroes, Rocket Knight Adventures also utilizes a moveset and control scheme that's deeper than it appears initially. Learning to effectively charge and use your rockets is key. It seems like one of those games that's easy to learn, difficult to master (again much like the aforementioned Treasure games).

Yeah, the other thing of note is that the sword blade itself actually deals much more damage than the projectiles it shoots out. One of the things I had to really get comfortable with in order to beat the game was getting up into bosses' faces and actually hitting them with the sword, instead of just shooting projectiles at them the entire time. Spinning in place by charging up the jetpack, and releasing it without pressing the d-pad in any direction, is also really effective for defense, and offense.

[pierrot]

I made another attempt at a Morris clear in Bloodlines. Went better, and I'm getting back some of the patterns and strategies, but Stage 5 was pretty shaky, especially because I forgot what to do against the optical illusion boss before the stage boss. I beat the stage boss without dying at all, though. So I thought I was home free getting to Stage 6 with two lives (although I was out of continues), but I did not remember the medusa heads in the second screen in Stage 6.

I've located at least one extra life in each stage, other than stage 5, though. I'm fairly certain I know where the one in Stage 5 is, but I wasn't able to make it to the ledge at the end of the whip swinging (where I think it is) because those enemies launching bombs, and skulls were throwing me off. Also, a whip upgrade item threw off my timing on one attempt to get to it. I found out that the bomb chucking enemies can also throw meat, though. Too bad when I saw that, it tossed it up onto that ledge at the end of the screen.


I also made an attempt at the Contra Hard Corps ending that I'm targeting. Hopefully not spoiling anything, it's the 'go after Joe' to 'stay and fight' path, and I got about as far as a couple previous attempts: The two crawler dudes spinning around the edges of the screen. The tough thing is the checkpoint on continue goes back to the beginning of the stage, and it's always possible that I take a dumb death to one of the cannibalistic ostrich things that run in from the edges of the screen, which can really mess things up. I'm pretty sure that's the last stage on that path, though. I should be able to at least finish that by the end of the month.


I would also like to get back to Animaniacs, after those two are wrapped up, and if time permits, maybe I'll put some decent time into Sunset Riders.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Good thread guys. I gotta get Hard Corps and Bloodlines someday.

[lordb0rb4]

First of all, happy new year everybody, i've been working very hard this year and i hope i'm not LTTP...
I just beat Contra: Hard Corps.
First time playing this little gem it is one of my top 3 contra games of all times!
Of course i went the easier way and tried the japanese version of the game just to mess around a bit and i could not let the controller go until the credits rolled.
I just need a little more time to give this game the proper time/love it deserves.

[pierrot]

Happy New Year, lordb0rb! Unfortunately, I can't see the image. If I try to go to the link directly, it wants me to sign in to the website with a user account. What path did you pick, do you know? Also, what character did you pick?

I too just beat Contra: Hard Corps, today (again). I've now finished four of the five paths through the game. That ending I just got was kind of a let down, though. It's probably my least favorite ending, so far. Killer music over the credits, though. Something about it just felt a lot less rewarding than the other two main endings I had gotten before. For the fourth main ending, I was going to try to get it with Sheena, but she's kind of tough for me to work with. Mostly, I don't really like how a lot of her weapons function. I made it to the orb mini boss in the jungle with her, but that thing is my nemesis even with Browny, so I'm not surprised that I didn't make it any farther than that with her. I'm thinking that if I ever play the Japanese version, I'll probably do so with Sheena. I tried again with Browny (on the 'go after Joe,' to 'wait to fight' path), and got a little bit stumped on the doctor's death machine, which I think is just before the final boss on that path. It also seems to actually be the shortest path, though, so I would imagine I'll be able to beat it the next time I boot it up. Not totally sure when I'll do that though.

On a related note, I was watching a TAS of the Japanese version, with Fang, and when it got to the credits I found that the "Team" for the game came up with one of the most fantastic puns I've ever seen, for themselves. (Typically, I hate puns, but I have found myself laughing at a lot of Japanese puns I've come across.) So, they call themselves 機知GUY which fully romanizes as 'kichi guy,' and would, based on the characters, mean something like 'witty guy.' BUT! The fun doesn't end there, because this sounds exactly like 気違い, which romanizes as 'ki chigai,' and basically means 'nuts,' or 'insane.' That pun pretty much made my whole day.


Anyway, I also beat Bloodlines with Morris, yesterday. I had gotten to the final form of Dracula on both of my last two lives, but couldn't really remember how to deal with him. So, I ended up doing what I'm pretty sure I did with Lecard, and essentially got to Stage 6 without losing any lives (or with minimal deaths, at least; I think I took one to the optical illusion sub boss in Stage 5), partly by abusing the password system, and just resetting on a stage if I took a death. So, I basically ended up waltzing my way back to Dracula, and delivering some nice, hot death to him. Interestingly, if I had just popped the game in, and played through the game with Morris, on the first attempt, without any real issues, I think my evaluation of Bloodlines would have been overall worse compared to when I played it with Lecard. I think Lecard is a much more fun character to play as, but having to practice the game again with Morris, and revisit the stages a number of times, made me really appreciate the details, and the game as a whole, again. I think I still like Rondo, and Dracula Densetsu just a smidge more, but I'm a bit overdue to play Rondo again. I think it's a little silly that Bloodlines introduces the Belmont family v. Dracula in the first image of the game's intro, and then does a one-eighty into a story that has nothing to do with the Belmonts, but that's a pretty minor complaint.

I started playing Expert mode with Morris, but I kind of gave up after the second screen of Stage 2, because it was flooded with one of my least favorite enemies in the game. Oh, I hate them so. I still have the password, in case I feel like picking back up at that point, but who knows if I'll ever really be in the mood for that.


Lastly, I think I'm gonna pass on Animaniacs. It looks nice, and seems fun, but I don't really enjoy it. I got to the boss of the first Stage, and was so overwhelmed that I just kind of turtled. I don't think that game is for me. It seems competently made, but I just don't really feel like putting the work into learning the stages.

[lordb0rb4]

Happy New Year, lordb0rb! Unfortunately, I can't see the image. If I try to go to the link directly, it wants me to sign in to the website with a user account. What path did you pick, do you know? Also, what character did you pick?

I too just beat Contra: Hard Corps, today (again). I've now finished four of the five paths through the game. That ending I just got was kind of a let down, though. It's probably my least favorite ending, so far. Killer music over the credits, though. Something about it just felt a lot less rewarding than the other two main endings I had gotten before. For the fourth main ending, I was going to try to get it with Sheena, but she's kind of tough for me to work with. Mostly, I don't really like how a lot of her weapons function. I made it to the orb mini boss in the jungle with her, but that thing is my nemesis even with Browny, so I'm not surprised that I didn't make it any farther than that with her. I'm thinking that if I ever play the Japanese version, I'll probably do so with Sheena. I tried again with Browny (on the 'go after Joe,' to 'wait to fight' path), and got a little bit stumped on the doctor's death machine, which I think is just before the final boss on that path. It also seems to actually be the shortest path, though, so I would imagine I'll be able to beat it the next time I boot it up. Not totally sure when I'll do that though.

On a related note, I was watching a TAS of the Japanese version, with Fang, and when it got to the credits I found that the "Team" for the game came up with one of the most fantastic puns I've ever seen, for themselves. (Typically, I hate puns, but I have found myself laughing at a lot of Japanese puns I've come across.) So, they call themselves 機知GUY which fully romanizes as 'kichi guy,' and would, based on the characters, mean something like 'witty guy.' BUT! The fun doesn't end there, because this sounds exactly like 気違い, which romanizes as 'ki chigai,' and basically means 'nuts,' or 'insane.' That pun pretty much made my whole day.


Anyway, I also beat Bloodlines with Morris, yesterday. I had gotten to the final form of Dracula on both of my last two lives, but couldn't really remember how to deal with him. So, I ended up doing what I'm pretty sure I did with Lecard, and essentially got to Stage 6 without losing any lives (or with minimal deaths, at least; I think I took one to the optical illusion sub boss in Stage 5), partly by abusing the password system, and just resetting on a stage if I took a death. So, I basically ended up waltzing my way back to Dracula, and delivering some nice, hot death to him. Interestingly, if I had just popped the game in, and played through the game with Morris, on the first attempt, without any real issues, I think my evaluation of Bloodlines would have been overall worse compared to when I played it with Lecard. I think Lecard is a much more fun character to play as, but having to practice the game again with Morris, and revisit the stages a number of times, made me really appreciate the details, and the game as a whole, again. I think I still like Rondo, and Dracula Densetsu just a smidge more, but I'm a bit overdue to play Rondo again. I think it's a little silly that Bloodlines introduces the Belmont family v. Dracula in the first image of the game's intro, and then does a one-eighty into a story that has nothing to do with the Belmonts, but that's a pretty minor complaint.

I started playing Expert mode with Morris, but I kind of gave up after the second screen of Stage 2, because it was flooded with one of my least favorite enemies in the game. Oh, I hate them so. I still have the password, in case I feel like picking back up at that point, but who knows if I'll ever really be in the mood for that.


Lastly, I think I'm gonna pass on Animaniacs. It looks nice, and seems fun, but I don't really enjoy it. I got to the boss of the first Stage, and was so overwhelmed that I just kind of turtled. I don't think that game is for me. It seems competently made, but I just don't really feel like putting the work into learning the stages.

Thanks for the heads up my friend
I picked the Girl and having played it in japanese i have NO clue about the path i took but i know that all my choices where the top ones.
I suspect i got the worst ending.

[pierrot]

Thanks for the heads up my friend
I picked the Girl and having played it in japanese i have NO clue about the path i took but i know that all my choices where the top ones.
I suspect i got the worst ending.

Oh, yeah, that's the path that I just went through, too. It's not my favorite ending, so far, but I think people who have played more of the Contra series than I have tend to like that ending more because the last stage is very similar to Contra III, and maybe NES Contra and Super C, too. I've only played through Contra III, and Hard Corps, personally.

It's too bad you didn't get to choose between the option based on what you wanted to do. If you were curious, the first two option are: 1) Go after Deadeye Joe (the guy your character talks with at the end of the first stage) 2) Return to the research center. The second set of choices consists of: 1) Fight till the end 2) Surrender and live to fight again.

I'd recommend trying some other paths. There are still about six or seven stages in the game that you probably haven't seen, on the other paths. The first ending that I got is still probably my favorite. It seems to technically be the "good" ending, but the second half of the last stage on that path is pure, chaotic insanity.

[marurun]

Did you do the "secret" ending, yet?

[lordb0rb4]

Thanks for the heads up my friend
I picked the Girl and having played it in japanese i have NO clue about the path i took but i know that all my choices where the top ones.
I suspect i got the worst ending.

Oh, yeah, that's the path that I just went through, too. It's not my favorite ending, so far, but I think people who have played more of the Contra series than I have tend to like that ending more because the last stage is very similar to Contra III, and maybe NES Contra and Super C, too. I've only played through Contra III, and Hard Corps, personally.

It's too bad you didn't get to choose between the option based on what you wanted to do. If you were curious, the first two option are: 1) Go after Deadeye Joe (the guy your character talks with at the end of the first stage) 2) Return to the research center. The second set of choices consists of: 1) Fight till the end 2) Surrender and live to fight again.

I'd recommend trying some other paths. There are still about six or seven stages in the game that you probably haven't seen, on the other paths. The first ending that I got is still probably my favorite. It seems to technically be the "good" ending, but the second half of the last stage on that path is pure, chaotic insanity.

Oh you better believe i'm playing it more, i freaking L-O-V-E Contra III and i found this game surprisingly similar and sometimes even better.
This weekend i'm all about Castlevania Bloodlines though.