by Sarge Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:55 pm
January
1) Rollergames
2) Bayou Billy
3) Whomp 'Em
4) Love+ (repeat, B-)
5) Love+ (repeat, B)
6) Zen: Intergalactic Ninja
7) Battletoads & Double Dragon
8 ) Battletoads (repeat, first time with Game Genie, this time using save states, nowhere near legit win... but it was "beaten")
9) Battletoads (repeat, legit, no Game Genie, no continues, no save states!)
10) Rockin' Kats
11) The Little Mermaid
12) Tiny Toons Adventures
13) Tiny Toons Adventures 2
14) Code Name: Viper
15) Bayou Billy (completely legit!)
16) King of Dragons (on Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded)
17) Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
18) Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
(A bit of cross-post from TT.)
First, the one I'm really proud of: Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. Not the Japanese version or the Trilogy version, the NES one. Legit. Finally. I don't know if I can count the number of tries it took me to get a proper run through 7-3. I also absolutely detest 5-1B. Climbing those moving platforms with all the enemies popping up all around you, and more than willing to ride you right off the platforms back to the bottom is tough. It took me a lot of runs to figure out the best patterns against the final bosses, too.
I'll also mention that the game is calibrated a lot differently from Ninja Gaiden II, which I'll get to in a second. All enemies hit for at least two damage, and most actually hit for three. And that sucks. There's not a whole lot of hit recoil, though, which is both good and bad. Good in that you don't go flying off as many ledges. Bad in that the hit invincibility is really short and you can hemorrhage life fast. The other crappy thing is the limited continues. The last run I made, though, I didn't need any. And for the first time, I abused the 1-Up loop in 6-2. Turns out I didn't need 'em, but better safe than sorry in case my 7-3 run turned out terribly. (I actually had a phenomenal run on the third go, so I didn't even come close to exhausting my stock.)
It's a great game. It's just a bit too hard in a lot of ways. I'm tempted to try out the Japanese version, or compare to Trilogy.
So I decided, I've beaten the first and third games legit, might as well go for the second. So Ninja Gaiden II is down legit-style. And that one wasn't as bad. At least until you hit 7-2. I had several problems with Jacquio until I got a pattern down (play defensively and let your clone do the work), then the second part got me stuck until I had an excellent run where I managed to keep the Art of the Fire Wheel to that point. Very effective in bringing that life meter down. Last form went down like a chump.
In a lot of ways, NGII is less stressful, though, because of those infinite continues. You can go as long as your patience holds out. I probably beat my head against 7-2 for around an hour or so. And you die in much different ways. Lots more pit deaths like the first game, and less rarely from just running out of life, because most enemies do just one damage. Even the danged falcons.
In hindsight, I think NGII is the most balanced of the series, but I really like some of the combat in NGIII. The Super Sword is awesome stuff... and now I'm thinking and wondering if a little of that inspiration came from Strider. Either way, glad to have 'em both done.