Together Retro November 2021 - How the Other Half Lives

[PartridgeSenpai]

Taken from the original poll post~

Tons of series are great and popular on consoles, and tons of series have always been more at home on consoles. But what about when one becomes *so* successful that they cross over into the territory of the other? This topic is about playing games in series that started on console and then crossed over onto handhelds, or playing games in series that started on handhelds and crossed over onto consoles.

How does a series scale down the experience from a big console experience onto a smaller, portable package? How does a series scale up the experience from a more bite-sized portable adventure into something that makes sense to sit down in front of a console and enjoy? Let's have fun examining the nature of this translation between mediums~

I'm gonna be playing Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children for the GBC~. SMT started as first a Famicom and then a Super Famicom series that originated the genre Pokemon would make famous, so I'm super curious on what Atlus's take on that same Pokemon formula is~.

Let's all have a great month seeing how the other half lives ^w^

[prfsnl_gmr]

Man…it’s November 9, and no one else has posted here yet!

For this month’s TR, I am paying Metroid Prime Hunters for the NDS. It is based, obviously, on the Metroid Prime series, which debuted on the GameCube in 2002, and it was released in 2006, between Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime 3. (Narratively, however, the game takes place between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2, at least according to Wikipedia.)

Like its console forebears, Metroid Prime Hunters is a first-person action-platformer. In it, you explore abandoned space stations and alien worlds, fighting dangerous creatures, obtaining upgrades, and scanning objects for information. Both the morph ball and the scan visor make a return, and the game is presented much like Metroid Prime, but with much smaller environments and lower resolution textures due to the hardware. Still, the game looks great, and I imagine that had a really good Metroid game come to fruition on the N64, it would have looked similar.

The game differs from the home console games in the Metroid Prime series in several important ways, however. First, the Metroid Prime games for the GameCube and Wii are very focused on a seamless single-player experience, and they play very much like a traditional metroidvania, but in three dimensions. Metroid Prime Hunters, in contrast, has more of a “level” structure, and while you slowly obtain new color-coded weapons that allow you to unlock different color-coded doors, you don’t gain any new abilities that enhance your mobility, a hallmark of other Metroid games. In each relatively linear level, you must locate three artifacts, which open a portal to a boss. Once you defeat the boss, you have a set amount of time to return to your gunship and escape the level. These escape sequences can be very tense, especially if you encounter some difficult foes on your way back to your ship, and you repeat this process until, presumably, you collect all eight of the game’s “octoliths” and defeat a final boss. (I haven’t yet beaten the game, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it will play out.)

The game also differs significantly from its console predecessors with regard to its design focus. Whereas the console games are focused on exploration and puzzle-solving, Nintendo conceived Metroid Prime Hunter as a multi-player deathmatch experience, and the game’s primary selling point is its multi-player deathmatch mode. While the single-player experience isn’t entirely an afterthought, the multi-player design philosophy clearly influences it, and the single-player game’s best moments are those in which you fight against other bounty hunters seeking the octoliths. (In a way, these battles-between-equals against other bounty hunters are similar to the battles against the Mawkin Tribe in Metroid Dread.) These encounters occur at set times and locations during the first half of the game, but somewhat randomly during the second half of the game. When they occur, you find yourself locked into a room with one of several other, unique hunters, and you use defeat the Hunter to proceed. If you are defeated, the Hunter steals one your hard earned octoliths, and you must track the Hunter down, potentially in another level, to win it back.

While I still prefer the console games’ formula, I appreciate Metroid Prime Hunters’ deviation from series norms, and I think future games in the Metroid series might benefit from some of Metroid Prime Hunters’ design decisions. The game really nails the “you are alone on a dead alien world” atmosphere whenever you aren’t fighting the other hunters, which is something that Metroid Dread didn’t get quite right. Moreover, it’s nice to see Samus doing some actual bounty hunting, and it’s refreshing to see a storyline divorced from the Chozo, Metroids, Ridley, Space Pirates, etc. The game makes the Metroid universe bigger and weirder (even if the other hunters all look a bit like Lego Bionicle creations…), and I would like to see other Metroid games move in that direction (especially since, I think. Nintendo has now tapped out the original games’ narrative arc).

A few other random thoughts:

* The game recycles two non-hunter bosses repeatedly, and they are both REALLY annoying.
*The standard enemy variety is underwhelming, so say the least.
* The touchscreen controls are both awesome and infuriating, and the NDS’s fragile triggers weren’t meant to handle so much shooting. (RIP left trigger on my trusty silver NDS Lite. I’ll always remember the good times…) I’m now playing the game on a 2DS, which is much better.
* There isn’t as much to scan in this game as in others, which is understandable given the hardware limitations.
* The decaying Celestial Archives is a great location. I’d love to see it make a return in another Metroid game.
* I now understand the cameo at the end of Metroid Prime 3, and I’d be delighted to see some of the cooler Hunters return in another Metroid game.
* An open-world (open-galaxy?) Metroid game where Samus does actual bounty hunting in competition with other Hunters would be amazing. It could be Nintendo’s answer to RDR.

I now have five of the game’s eight octoliths, and I suspect I’m about halfway through the game. I’ll post some more when I beat it. In the meantime, I hope someone else joins me here!

[PartridgeSenpai]

That sounds really cool, Prfsnl! If I can ever get off of my butt to play more of the proper Prime games (at least Prime 2), I'll definitely have to check out Hunters as well, if it isn't too horrible to find a copy over here, that is

[alienjesus]

So I have been playing along this month - I've been working at Klonoa: Empire of Dreams on GBA. The main entries are on PS1 and PS2, and are reasonably iconic examples of the 2.5D style of platformer - where gameplay is on a 2D plane but that plane moves in and out of screen and around obstacles. Obviously, this isn't possible on GBA so it's entirely a 2D platformer.

The game looks nice, but.... well, it also kinda looks a little low res for GBA? Like maybe it was originally concieved for Wonderswan Color, which would make sense as the previous portable entry was on the original Wonderswan.

The game feels really good to play - Klonoa's movement feels very smooth and responsive. All of his moves from the main entries are here, such as his flutter jump, and the ability to grab and throw enemies or use them for a double jump. Theres a lot less grabbing and throwing things into the background and foreground though! Oddly, pressing up and down still turns Klonoa to the front or back of the screen despite this not being useful in 2D, rather than having his do the standard duck or look up.

The levels are fairly formulaic - there are 4 types. The first (main) type of level is standard platforming with some puzzles thrown in. Each level requires you to get 3 stars for the exit door and contains 30 gems to find as an optional extra. There are 5 of these per world, as stage 1,2,3,5 and 7. Stage 4 is a hoverboard stage straight from Klonoa 2. These have you rolling forward continually but are still focused on timing and solving puzzles in a sense as there are 100 gems to grab in the stage as you go, some requiring specific series of movements. Stage 6 is an auto-scrolling level which similarly has 100 gems to grab, often requiring good timing and awareness as the scrolling is pretty relentless - grabbing them is harder than getting coins in a scrolling mario stage for example. Finally, stage 8 of each world is a boss fight, which have all been pretty easy.

I'm on world 5 now, which I believe is the last world, although I suspect something unlocks if you get all the gems in each stage. Should finish sometime this week

[PartridgeSenpai]

Sounds neat, AJ! I remember playing a bit of that game when I was younger, but I never got around to finishing it. Would you say it and the console games are still worth checking out? :O

---

In another thought, I realized I (kinda?) have another entry for this month's TR~. If I can finish Devil Children in a reasonable enough time (which I have reason to believe I will), I'm thinking of tackling another console-to-portable Pokemon-wannabee: Dragon Quest Monsters! I picked it up for 100 yen a few weeks back and nearly totally forgot about it, but that'd fit this month's theme great, I think ^w^

[alienjesus]

Sounds neat, AJ! I remember playing a bit of that game when I was younger, but I never got around to finishing it. Would you say it and the console games are still worth checking out? :O

---

In another thought, I realized I (kinda?) have another entry for this month's TR~. If I can finish Devil Children in a reasonable enough time (which I have reason to believe I will), I'm thinking of tackling another console-to-portable Pokemon-wannabee: Dragon Quest Monsters! I picked it up for 100 yen a few weeks back and nearly totally forgot about it, but that'd fit this month's theme great, I think ^w^

I've only really played a few of the Klonoa games - I've played the original PS1 title and the Wii remake, plus this one. I think all 3 are great games, especially the PS1 entry and would highly recommend them. They're some of the best 'also-ran' platformers out there if you ask me, and deserved to do better than they did. The Wii entry in many ways is the superior version to the PS1, but at the same time it feels more ambitious on PS1, whereas the budget was clearly lower on the remake.

There's a GBA sequel, a Wonderswan entry and a mainline PS2 game I fully intend to get around to. I believe theres some kind of RPG spin-off game in Japan on GBA too. And bizarrely, a beach volleyball spin-off that only came out in Japan and Europe.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The PS2 Klonoa game is really solid. From a gameplay perspective, it’s at least as good as the original, and the cell-shaded graphics still look great.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I believe theres some kind of RPG spin-off game in Japan on GBA too. And bizarrely, a beach volleyball spin-off that only came out in Japan and Europe.

Now there's some stuff I absolutely need to keep my eyes peeled for x3

[alienjesus]

I believe theres some kind of RPG spin-off game in Japan on GBA too. And bizarrely, a beach volleyball spin-off that only came out in Japan and Europe.

Now there's some stuff I absolutely need to keep my eyes peeled for x3

Beach Volleyball is on PS1, if you're looking

[PartridgeSenpai]

I believe theres some kind of RPG spin-off game in Japan on GBA too. And bizarrely, a beach volleyball spin-off that only came out in Japan and Europe.

Now there's some stuff I absolutely need to keep my eyes peeled for x3

Beach Volleyball is on PS1, if you're looking

Officially added to my list of things to look for! x3