1. Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero (Wii U)
2. Blek (iOS)
3. Bloo Kid 2 (3DS)
4. HarmoKnight (3DS)
5. 3D Fantasy Zone II W (3DS)
6. Fantasy Zone (SMS/3DS)
7. 3D Fantasy Zone Opa Opa Bros. (ARC/3DS)
8. Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa Opa (SMS/3DS)
9. 3D Classics Twinbee (NES/3DS)
10. Rainbow Bell a/k/a Twinbee (ARC/DS)
11. The Legend of Zelda:Breath of the Wild (Wii U)
12. The Guardian Legend (NES)
13. The Clash at Demonhead (NES)
14. The Goonies II (NES)
15. Day of the Tentacle Remastered (iOS)
16. Mario Kart 64 (N64/Wii U)
17. Drancia Saga (3DS)
18. Chain Blaster (3DS)
19. Color Commando (DS)
20. Ace Mathician (DS)
21. Jump Trials Supreme (3DS)
22. Dragon Quest VII (3DS)
23. Fairune II (3DS)
24. RBI Baseball (NES)
25. River City Tokyo Rumble (3DS)
26. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (Wii U)
27. Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders (iOS)
28. Device 6 (iOS)
29. Transformers: Human Alliance (ARC)
30. Metroid Samus Returns (3DS)
31. A Ride Into the Mountains (iOS)
32. Super Mario Run (iOS)
33. Legend of Kusakari (3DS)
34. Banjo Kazooie (N64/360)
35. Go! Go! Commander Video (iOS)
36. River City Knights of Justice (3DS)
37. Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo (3DS)
38. Tomb Raider Go (iOS)
39. Lume (iOS)
40. To The Moon (iOS)
41. The Executive (iOS)
The Executive (iOS) was a nice palate cleanser after the execrable To The Moon. In it, you play as a worker at the Silverstrike Mining Company who works his way to the top through a combination of acrobatics, martial arts, and business acumen. In other words, you fight werewolves for money, which you use to buy more mining equipment, hire more workers, learn magic spells, and upgrade your fighting techniques. The whole thing is a bit surreal, but it is really a lot of fun. The core gameplay is like a fun version Gladiator (ARC) or China Warrior (TG16), and it is nice building your company from one that earns a few dollars a day to one that brings in billions of dollars a year. (A great feature of this game is that your company keeps earning money even when you aren’t playing; so, if you get stuck, you can turn it off for the night and wake up to enough money for an upgrade.) I really enjoyed it, and while it runs out of steam towards the very end, I highly recommend it.
Games Beaten 2017
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prfsnl_gmr
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Exhuminator
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
prfsnl_gmr wrote:The Executive
After having beaten The Executive myself last year (Android version), I want to concur with prfsnl_gmr that The Executive is a highly decent beat 'em up.
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123. Sakura Santa | PC | 2015 | 6/10
Sakura Santa is a visual novel for PC (also Linux and Mac), developed by Winged Cloud, and published by MangaGamer, in 2015. Sakura Santa's plot concerns a young man named Koji. He's recently started college in a town he barely knows. Christmas is coming soon, but being so far away from his family, Koji will be spending Christmas alone. The thought of doing so has Koji feeling depressed and suffering cabin fever sitting around in his apartment. Distraught, Koji leaves his apartment and starts wandering around town. Soon enough he wanders to the outskirts of town and finds a shrine. Koji decides to make a wish at the shrine. He wishes to not have to spend Christmas alone. "I want to have someone to spend Christmas with this year." Shortly after making that wish, he meets three girls, all with unusual quirks. One is a fox spirit in human form, the other a classmate he once knew, and lastly a young woman who claims to be Santa Clause incarnate. They all want to spend time with Koji during the Christmas holidays. This unexpected situation puts Koji into a dilemma. Which young lady will he spend Christmas day with this year?
This highly improbable setup is contrived for the sole reason that Sakura Santa is a dating sim of sorts. The goal is to romance one of the three ladies, by choosing narrative paths that lead to whomsoever the player prefers. Ultimately Koji will end up spending Christmas with one of these girls. That said, don't expect Koji to bed any of them. Sakura Santa has ecchi scenes, very revealing and sexually oriented poses and such. But Sakura Santa is not a hentai title. There's no sex scenes in this game. Ultimately the overall experience is PG-13, despite all the aesthetic allusions. And speaking of aesthetics, Sakura Santa meets Winged Cloud's usual high level of skillful artistry. From the beautifully rendered backdrops, to the emotive character portraits, to the buxom scenes of scantily clad ladies, Sakura Santa's artwork never ceases to impress. Sakura Santa's OST is also delightful, full of happy tunes that sometimes ring of Christmas cheer. The pleasant audio and arousing artwork go a long way to keep the player's attention. It's a shame the core principle of the experience, the writing, doesn't.
As popular as visual novels are, it's the very rare VN that has a truly good story. Sakura Santa is no exception to this general rule. This VN is chock full of redundant filler designed to pad out an otherwise emaciated plot. Koji has no issue saying the same thing five different ways in the same paragraph. It's hard to hold this issue against Winged Cloud though, as said technique is a (lazy) staple of the genre. However, this is the third VN I have read by Winged Cloud, and consistently their writing has been rather bland. As most VNs do, Sakura Santa supports an autoplay feature. Meaning you don't have to click a thousand times to read a thousand half baked lines. In that regard, it's easy enough to turn on autoplay, lean back, and speed read until something interesting happens. And what's interesting in this game's case are the erotic moments. So if we're being honest, the ham-fisted writing isn't the point of an ecchi infused visual novel. One can't help but wish though, that Sakura Santa's plot and dialogue creation had been as well wrought as its lewdness. Then folks, we'd have a real winner here. Furthermore the Christmas theme of this tale wasn't expounded upon as strongly as one might suspect. But hey, you can still date a vivacious female Santa Clause, a ravishing bunny girl waitress, or a sexy forest fox spirit. On a cold winter day I suppose those are stockings worth stuffing.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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dunpeal2064
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
Something bewitching about that scene indeed! 
Also, really have enjoyed your recent foray into the more obscure, Ex. Good stuff.
If you get a shame break on every phase of the boss, you get the "super riskay" picture thingy at the end of the fight, when you do have time to, umm, appreciate it.
Agreed, I quite like both games (And also appreciate music worked into a non-rhythm game, something Q is good at), but Child of Eden is my favorite game from them.
Also, really have enjoyed your recent foray into the more obscure, Ex. Good stuff.alienjesus wrote:In all honesty, this is a pretty pointless mechanic for several reasons, chief among them ebing that you won’t be looking at the sides of the screen due to all the bullets you’ll be dodging.
If you get a shame break on every phase of the boss, you get the "super riskay" picture thingy at the end of the fight, when you do have time to, umm, appreciate it.
alienjesus wrote:I like Rez Infinite quite a bit, but if I was going to choose between the two games, Child of Eden is far superior.
Agreed, I quite like both games (And also appreciate music worked into a non-rhythm game, something Q is good at), but Child of Eden is my favorite game from them.
Last edited by dunpeal2064 on Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dunpeal2064
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
The End is Nigh
The End is Nigh (Or TEiN, for short) is the latest game from Edmund McMillen of Super Meat Boy/Binding of Isaac fame. It was also made by Tyler Glaiel, who apparently also started in the Newgrounds/Flash scene, and has worked with Edmund before, but who's work I am wholly unfamiliar with.
TEiN is, for the most part, a hybrid of Edmund's take on Metroid (As Meat Boy and Isaac were to Mario and Zelda, respectively), and a spiritual successor to Super Meat Boy. The player will tackle single-screen platforming challenges ala SMB, but instead of the screens being levels, they are now tied together, and can have hidden exits. Instead of collecting bandages, you now collect "Tumors". The hidden exits usually lead to some tougher challenges based on the themes of that world, and reward large Tumors (+5, compared to the normal's +1), or Cartridges. Cartridges can be played at your house, and while they riff on different game names (Rubble Bobble, for example), they tend to just be more tough platforming.
Ash (The main protagonist) will initially feel very similar to Meat Boy. He is squishy, he is fast and has precise air control, and he dies in an explosion-y mess. However, there are some nuanced changes that end up making a huge difference. Ash cannot wall climb like Meat Boy can, and does not have a run button (He is at full speed all the time). Instead, he can now hang onto ledges, and can then perform two different jump types off of those ledges. You can also hold down a button to ensure you grab a ledge as you run off a cliff, no matter your speed. This, on top of water physics and the ability to "ground pound", leads TEiN to feel quite unique, even through its clear inspiration.
This fusion of Metroid and SMB does, unfortunately, means that the Metroid ideas are not as fleshed out, and it is clear that the focus remains on the platforming. This is much more a spiritual SMB sequel than a Metroid game. Other than collecting tumors and finding hidden rooms, this is a platformer through and through. One nice touch, in my opinion, is in the use of tumors. Basically, once you hit about the half way point of the game, every room no longer has tumors, and instead of infinitely respawning whenever you die, you now have a life limit for each world based on the number of tumors you have collected. So, say you have 100 tumors, and you are in room 14 of a zone. If you die 100 times, you'll have to restart the entire zone again, with the amount of tumors you collected in the first half remaining in tact. And while the number of tumors in the game is high, the number of deaths is as well. In my playthrough, I died well over 2,000 times.
To me, this is TEiN's biggest addition to this type of platforming. Super Meat Boy is great, but it always felt removed from the type of challenge older games present, as every 10-15 seconds of success meant permanent progress. TEiN starts you out this way, but eventually gives you a more traditional approach, where you can't just headbutt your way through, as too many deaths means you start over. This adds tension, as even when you clear a screen perfectly, you haven't made that permanent progress until you find a new zone. It also adds a new purpose to the collectibles. If you find yourself just a few lives shy of finishing a zone, you can always hop back to the game's first half and track down a few more Tumors.
I really enjoyed my time with TEiN. Admittedly, there may be some bias here, as I also really enjoyed SMB, and I think The Binding of Isaac is one of the best games ever made. That said, this game is tough to recommend. It doesn't attempt to sell itself to those who may not have been fans of Edmund's previous works, and in fact might turn off even more than SMB, as the game can get very, very difficult. If you like challenging platformers, I can only imagine you would love this game. Its tight, precise, and well-designed in its progression of what it teaches and asks the player to do. If, however, you tend to veer away from games that base the majority of the experience on challenge, I don't think this game does enough in its other aspects to be worth playing.
The End is Nigh (Or TEiN, for short) is the latest game from Edmund McMillen of Super Meat Boy/Binding of Isaac fame. It was also made by Tyler Glaiel, who apparently also started in the Newgrounds/Flash scene, and has worked with Edmund before, but who's work I am wholly unfamiliar with.
TEiN is, for the most part, a hybrid of Edmund's take on Metroid (As Meat Boy and Isaac were to Mario and Zelda, respectively), and a spiritual successor to Super Meat Boy. The player will tackle single-screen platforming challenges ala SMB, but instead of the screens being levels, they are now tied together, and can have hidden exits. Instead of collecting bandages, you now collect "Tumors". The hidden exits usually lead to some tougher challenges based on the themes of that world, and reward large Tumors (+5, compared to the normal's +1), or Cartridges. Cartridges can be played at your house, and while they riff on different game names (Rubble Bobble, for example), they tend to just be more tough platforming.
Ash (The main protagonist) will initially feel very similar to Meat Boy. He is squishy, he is fast and has precise air control, and he dies in an explosion-y mess. However, there are some nuanced changes that end up making a huge difference. Ash cannot wall climb like Meat Boy can, and does not have a run button (He is at full speed all the time). Instead, he can now hang onto ledges, and can then perform two different jump types off of those ledges. You can also hold down a button to ensure you grab a ledge as you run off a cliff, no matter your speed. This, on top of water physics and the ability to "ground pound", leads TEiN to feel quite unique, even through its clear inspiration.
This fusion of Metroid and SMB does, unfortunately, means that the Metroid ideas are not as fleshed out, and it is clear that the focus remains on the platforming. This is much more a spiritual SMB sequel than a Metroid game. Other than collecting tumors and finding hidden rooms, this is a platformer through and through. One nice touch, in my opinion, is in the use of tumors. Basically, once you hit about the half way point of the game, every room no longer has tumors, and instead of infinitely respawning whenever you die, you now have a life limit for each world based on the number of tumors you have collected. So, say you have 100 tumors, and you are in room 14 of a zone. If you die 100 times, you'll have to restart the entire zone again, with the amount of tumors you collected in the first half remaining in tact. And while the number of tumors in the game is high, the number of deaths is as well. In my playthrough, I died well over 2,000 times.
To me, this is TEiN's biggest addition to this type of platforming. Super Meat Boy is great, but it always felt removed from the type of challenge older games present, as every 10-15 seconds of success meant permanent progress. TEiN starts you out this way, but eventually gives you a more traditional approach, where you can't just headbutt your way through, as too many deaths means you start over. This adds tension, as even when you clear a screen perfectly, you haven't made that permanent progress until you find a new zone. It also adds a new purpose to the collectibles. If you find yourself just a few lives shy of finishing a zone, you can always hop back to the game's first half and track down a few more Tumors.
I really enjoyed my time with TEiN. Admittedly, there may be some bias here, as I also really enjoyed SMB, and I think The Binding of Isaac is one of the best games ever made. That said, this game is tough to recommend. It doesn't attempt to sell itself to those who may not have been fans of Edmund's previous works, and in fact might turn off even more than SMB, as the game can get very, very difficult. If you like challenging platformers, I can only imagine you would love this game. Its tight, precise, and well-designed in its progression of what it teaches and asks the player to do. If, however, you tend to veer away from games that base the majority of the experience on challenge, I don't think this game does enough in its other aspects to be worth playing.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Doesn't really count, but I beat all three runs of the Virtual Cabin 2.0 in Friday the 13th: The Game, though I used a walkthrough for some of the tougher parts.
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Exhuminator
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
dunpeal2064 wrote:really have enjoyed your recent foray into the more obscure, Ex. Good stuff.
Thanks man. It's fun to explore the forgotten shores of yesteryear.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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Exhuminator
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
124. Santatlantean | TG16 | 2014 | 5/10
Santatlantean is a parody of Atlantean, both games being homebrew TG16/PCE releases developed by Aetherbyte. The plot concerns Mrs. Claus taking revenge upon Santa using aggressive holiday decorations. I don't know why. Maybe she caught Santa being naughty with the elves? Like Atlantean, Santatlantean is based off of Defender's classic gameplay. The player controls Santa as he flies around shooting enemies (no sleigh or Rudolph required), keeping said enemies from getting too close to gingerbread men. This is all done while trying to rack up the highest score. There's a radar to aid the player in knowing where said enemies are on the playing field. The player can shoot constantly, as well as use a limited amount of screen clearing bombs. The graphics are primitive, but on par with low tier TG16 era stuff. Audio is weak, only one Christmas theme music track plays... but it fits the theme.
Despite the limited presentation, Santatlantean is still fun to play in short bursts. Primarily because the difficulty is crazy high, Santatlantean is quite hard. Enemies show up quickly on screen, and pummel the player with targeted shots extraordinarily fast. Some enemies drop mines, meaning if the player is solely watching the radar, they will run into said mines often. And then there's those stars that emit triple candy cane attacks! Enemies come in waves, defeating one wave spawns another. There is no real way to "beat" Santatlantean by the way. Santatlantean is entirely a high score chaser. I set a personal goal of exceeding 20,000 points, and having met that goal, I consider Santatlantean beaten for my tastes. If somebody wanted to do better than that, nothing's stopping them. That's because Santatlantean is a free game, and there are free TG16 emulators out there. So if you're in the mood for some sadistic Santa shootin' action, step on up to Santatlantean and slay away.
Official page: http://www.aetherbyte.com/aetherbyte-sa ... fx-16.html
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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alienjesus
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- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:10 pm
- Location: London, UK.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
First 50:
51. Gauntlet IV Mega Drive
52. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Master System
53. Psycho Fox Master System
54. The Ninja Master System
55. R-Type Master System
56. Momotarō Katsugeki PC Engine
57. Overcooked: Special Edition Switch eShop
58. Parasol Stars PC Engine
59. Star Parodier PC Engine
60. Cadash PC Engine
61. Dead or Alive Ultimate Xbox
62. Dead or Alive Ultimate 2 Xbox
63. OutRun 2 Xbox
64. Pop'n Twinbee SNES
65. Wild Guns Reloaded PS4
66. Journey PS4
67. Rez Infinite PS4
68. Caladrius Blaze PS4
69. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu NES *NEW*
70. Blue Shadow NES *NEW*
71. Kickle Cubicle NES *NEW*
Replays!:
1. Bare Knuckle III Mega Drive
2. Die Hard Arcade Saturn
3. The World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Mega Drive
4. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble 3DS VC
5. Trip World 3DS VC
5 more until I'm caught up!
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu
So as a lot of you will know, 2D licensed platformers will be our first theme for 2018’s reworked Together Retro. However, I actually got a slight head start on that one as last month I beat Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu, a fun 2D side-scroller starring everyones favourite martial artist.
Jackie Chans AKF tells the epic tale of the time some dude kidnapped Jackie’s girlfriend or sister or something and so he decides to punch some frogs and jump some gaps to save her. Of course, the story is basically entirely unimportant in a game like this.
Jackie Chan’s AKF is a very simple but fairly polished platformer for the NES. Jackie runs to the right most of the time, although it does mix things up with vertical sections on occasion, punching and jump kick enemies as he goes. By kicking lucky frogs, he can gain power ups which allow him to use his martial arts powers – a powerful high kick, a spinning kick which hits both sides, and upwards hitting kick and a jumping somersault attack. These are useful on occasion but often unnecessary, their main advantage being their additional power. Frogs also ramen bowls to heal Jackie’s health. Jackie can also charge up a qi blast by holding B, which shoots across the screen to damage enemies, but these are limited to just 5.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu is a fairly easy game, but with the caveat that it’s limited continues can cause trouble unless you take the time to either learn the games stages or search for bonus stages. Jackie starts with 3 continues, but each credit gives Jackie only one life, so in effect it’s just a life system under a different name. Finding bonus stages allows Jackie to compete for points by jumping along clouds or drop kicking training dummies as they appear, and at the end of the stage your points are automatically spent on power ups. This can be frustrating as the game prioritises health refills over extra lives, so if you have 23000 points but are missing 3 health, you can expect the game to spend 6000 points healing you before buying the lives worth 20000 each, denying you the extra life.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu features a variety of the usual stages, but they do the job nicely and occasionally mix things up. You’ll float down a river on a raft, escape an exploding volcano, slide along an icy path and all the other usual tropes, but it all works nicely enough. It’s not a long game, though it might take a few attempts to beat, especially with the tricky penultimate boss being quite tough to beat.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu is by no means a must-own NES game, but it is good fun and well made. The graphics are nice for the system, with big chunky sprites, and Jackie can be quite expressive for an NES title. Ultimately, whilst it’s a very simple game overall, Action Kung-Fu is an enjoyable time, and I recommend it to anyone considering for Together Retro in January.
Blue Shadow:
So, if you’ve never heard of Blue Shadow, it’s very possible you know it under it’s American name, Shadow of the Ninja. This is a Natsume developed action game where you play as a ninja, but unfortunately, like many games of the 80s, it fell foul of the UKs weird anti-ninja legislation due to the furore over video nasties in the country. Thus Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Ninja Gaiden became Shadow Warriors (at least on NES), and Shadow of the Ninja became Blue Shadow.
Shadow of the Ninja is clearly…inspired by Ninja Gaiden in a lot of ways, especially in regards to it’s graphical style. However, in game play it actually is quite different mechanically. Your character starts with a sword as their primary weapon, but this can be either swapped to a long range grappling hook weapon, or power up by grabbing other sword power ups, allowing it to shoot cutting projectiles a short distance to increase it’s range. The range of the sword can be increased twice, but taking too much damage will lower it back down a level. Unfortunately, whilst the grappling hook seems useful due to it’s longer default range and ability to aim in all directions, it’s weaker damage and lack of upgrading capability means it’s generally the worse option at all times. You can also grab temporary power ups in the forms of bombs and shuriken. Shuriken are decent throwing weapons with homing capability if you sword level is maxed out when grabbing them, whilst bombs are shot range and slow but absurdly powerful – capable of killing bosses in 3 hits when your sword takes 30. Both weapons are limited by small ammo supplies.
Your ninjas (there are two, but as far as I know they play identically) also have the ability to hang off of ceilings, which is one of the core gameplay mechanics of the game. Whilst hanging off of the ceiling they can attack, move around or drop, but if there is a ledge directly above them, they can also flip up through the ceiling onto the ledge above. The game has many moving platforms, timed obstacles and patrolling enemies you must manoeuvre around with this mechanic.
Difficulty wise, Blue Shadow is actually fairly easy. Some of the bosses can be tough without sword power ups or bombs, but the obstacles through the level are generally never too terrifying as long as you have a strong weapon prepared. Some of the more dangerous elements of the level are the scenery, rather than the enemies, with hazardous steam spouts, moving platforms and dangerous cannons littering the stages.
Blue Shadow is a great little game, and the PAL version is super cheap for an NES game too, which is a rarity over here. I hear it’s more expensive in the US, but if you’re willing to cough up the money, Blue Shadow is a fun time and a nice alternative to Ninja Gaiden if you’re after something easier to pass the time.
Kickle Cubicle:
Having played 2 side scrolling action platformers, I decided that my next game on NES should be something different, so I opted for a puzzle game as my next choice. Initially I went for Lolo 2 but I had some issues with it and the Retron5, so Kickle Cubicle it was.
Kickle Cubicle stars Kickle, a snowman type dude who can breathe frosty breath. Enemies hit with your frost breath are frozen in place, and certain enemy types (the blue blob like guys) turn into ice cubes which can then be kick around. Kicked cubes slide along the ground until they hit a wall, where they stop, or until they run into water, which they freeze to create a new floor tile. This mechanic is the core of many of the games puzzles. In addition to freezing enemies, Kickle can also create ice pillars to block off paths to enemies, which is handy in some later levels.
The goal of Kickle Cubicle is to save the princess of each kingdom (vegetable land, fruit land, sweet land and toy land) and defeat the evil baddy who kindnapped them, all whilst saving the mostly edible citizens of each kingdom along the way. Actually achieving this goal is surprisingly fair for an NES puzzle game – Plenty of games of this type on NES veer into really unfair levels of difficulty either due to overly complex puzzles, or due to an abundance of enemies attacking you and not letting you concentrate on solving the stage. Wrecking Crew is super guilty of both of these things, for example. Luckily, Kickle Cubicle manages to completely avoid the former issue and has only a few minor problems with the latter towards the end of the game.
Although the levels in Kickle Cubicle start off very simple, they hbuild in complexity over time, but never to frustrating levels. New mechanics such as springs you can bounce ice blocks off of, hammers which swing around when hit to knock ice cubes in a different direction, enemies who kick ice at you too and others are added, but they’re generally all pretty easy to get to grips with, and the game offers infinite retries to solve a level. The last world features quite a few levels which are more focused on skilfully dodging enemies rather than puzzle solving though, which feels like an odd decision.
Kickle Cubicle comes with 64 levels and will take you a few hours to see the credits, but upon saving the day (and marrying a cute princess, Hubba Hubba), Kickle can take on the ‘extra’ stages, another batch of tougher levels. I elected to save these for another day though.
Overall, Kickle Cubicle is a fun and charming puzzle game with a difficulty that feels much fairer than is the norm on the system. It’s cheap and accessible and you should pick it up if you spot it in the wild, you’ll have a good time.
51. Gauntlet IV Mega Drive
52. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Master System
53. Psycho Fox Master System
54. The Ninja Master System
55. R-Type Master System
56. Momotarō Katsugeki PC Engine
57. Overcooked: Special Edition Switch eShop
58. Parasol Stars PC Engine
59. Star Parodier PC Engine
60. Cadash PC Engine
61. Dead or Alive Ultimate Xbox
62. Dead or Alive Ultimate 2 Xbox
63. OutRun 2 Xbox
64. Pop'n Twinbee SNES
65. Wild Guns Reloaded PS4
66. Journey PS4
67. Rez Infinite PS4
68. Caladrius Blaze PS4
69. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu NES *NEW*
70. Blue Shadow NES *NEW*
71. Kickle Cubicle NES *NEW*
Replays!:
1. Bare Knuckle III Mega Drive
2. Die Hard Arcade Saturn
3. The World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Mega Drive
4. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble 3DS VC
5. Trip World 3DS VC
5 more until I'm caught up!
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu
So as a lot of you will know, 2D licensed platformers will be our first theme for 2018’s reworked Together Retro. However, I actually got a slight head start on that one as last month I beat Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu, a fun 2D side-scroller starring everyones favourite martial artist.
Jackie Chans AKF tells the epic tale of the time some dude kidnapped Jackie’s girlfriend or sister or something and so he decides to punch some frogs and jump some gaps to save her. Of course, the story is basically entirely unimportant in a game like this.
Jackie Chan’s AKF is a very simple but fairly polished platformer for the NES. Jackie runs to the right most of the time, although it does mix things up with vertical sections on occasion, punching and jump kick enemies as he goes. By kicking lucky frogs, he can gain power ups which allow him to use his martial arts powers – a powerful high kick, a spinning kick which hits both sides, and upwards hitting kick and a jumping somersault attack. These are useful on occasion but often unnecessary, their main advantage being their additional power. Frogs also ramen bowls to heal Jackie’s health. Jackie can also charge up a qi blast by holding B, which shoots across the screen to damage enemies, but these are limited to just 5.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu is a fairly easy game, but with the caveat that it’s limited continues can cause trouble unless you take the time to either learn the games stages or search for bonus stages. Jackie starts with 3 continues, but each credit gives Jackie only one life, so in effect it’s just a life system under a different name. Finding bonus stages allows Jackie to compete for points by jumping along clouds or drop kicking training dummies as they appear, and at the end of the stage your points are automatically spent on power ups. This can be frustrating as the game prioritises health refills over extra lives, so if you have 23000 points but are missing 3 health, you can expect the game to spend 6000 points healing you before buying the lives worth 20000 each, denying you the extra life.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu features a variety of the usual stages, but they do the job nicely and occasionally mix things up. You’ll float down a river on a raft, escape an exploding volcano, slide along an icy path and all the other usual tropes, but it all works nicely enough. It’s not a long game, though it might take a few attempts to beat, especially with the tricky penultimate boss being quite tough to beat.
Jackie Chan’s Action Kung-Fu is by no means a must-own NES game, but it is good fun and well made. The graphics are nice for the system, with big chunky sprites, and Jackie can be quite expressive for an NES title. Ultimately, whilst it’s a very simple game overall, Action Kung-Fu is an enjoyable time, and I recommend it to anyone considering for Together Retro in January.
Blue Shadow:
So, if you’ve never heard of Blue Shadow, it’s very possible you know it under it’s American name, Shadow of the Ninja. This is a Natsume developed action game where you play as a ninja, but unfortunately, like many games of the 80s, it fell foul of the UKs weird anti-ninja legislation due to the furore over video nasties in the country. Thus Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Ninja Gaiden became Shadow Warriors (at least on NES), and Shadow of the Ninja became Blue Shadow.
Shadow of the Ninja is clearly…inspired by Ninja Gaiden in a lot of ways, especially in regards to it’s graphical style. However, in game play it actually is quite different mechanically. Your character starts with a sword as their primary weapon, but this can be either swapped to a long range grappling hook weapon, or power up by grabbing other sword power ups, allowing it to shoot cutting projectiles a short distance to increase it’s range. The range of the sword can be increased twice, but taking too much damage will lower it back down a level. Unfortunately, whilst the grappling hook seems useful due to it’s longer default range and ability to aim in all directions, it’s weaker damage and lack of upgrading capability means it’s generally the worse option at all times. You can also grab temporary power ups in the forms of bombs and shuriken. Shuriken are decent throwing weapons with homing capability if you sword level is maxed out when grabbing them, whilst bombs are shot range and slow but absurdly powerful – capable of killing bosses in 3 hits when your sword takes 30. Both weapons are limited by small ammo supplies.
Your ninjas (there are two, but as far as I know they play identically) also have the ability to hang off of ceilings, which is one of the core gameplay mechanics of the game. Whilst hanging off of the ceiling they can attack, move around or drop, but if there is a ledge directly above them, they can also flip up through the ceiling onto the ledge above. The game has many moving platforms, timed obstacles and patrolling enemies you must manoeuvre around with this mechanic.
Difficulty wise, Blue Shadow is actually fairly easy. Some of the bosses can be tough without sword power ups or bombs, but the obstacles through the level are generally never too terrifying as long as you have a strong weapon prepared. Some of the more dangerous elements of the level are the scenery, rather than the enemies, with hazardous steam spouts, moving platforms and dangerous cannons littering the stages.
Blue Shadow is a great little game, and the PAL version is super cheap for an NES game too, which is a rarity over here. I hear it’s more expensive in the US, but if you’re willing to cough up the money, Blue Shadow is a fun time and a nice alternative to Ninja Gaiden if you’re after something easier to pass the time.
Kickle Cubicle:
Having played 2 side scrolling action platformers, I decided that my next game on NES should be something different, so I opted for a puzzle game as my next choice. Initially I went for Lolo 2 but I had some issues with it and the Retron5, so Kickle Cubicle it was.
Kickle Cubicle stars Kickle, a snowman type dude who can breathe frosty breath. Enemies hit with your frost breath are frozen in place, and certain enemy types (the blue blob like guys) turn into ice cubes which can then be kick around. Kicked cubes slide along the ground until they hit a wall, where they stop, or until they run into water, which they freeze to create a new floor tile. This mechanic is the core of many of the games puzzles. In addition to freezing enemies, Kickle can also create ice pillars to block off paths to enemies, which is handy in some later levels.
The goal of Kickle Cubicle is to save the princess of each kingdom (vegetable land, fruit land, sweet land and toy land) and defeat the evil baddy who kindnapped them, all whilst saving the mostly edible citizens of each kingdom along the way. Actually achieving this goal is surprisingly fair for an NES puzzle game – Plenty of games of this type on NES veer into really unfair levels of difficulty either due to overly complex puzzles, or due to an abundance of enemies attacking you and not letting you concentrate on solving the stage. Wrecking Crew is super guilty of both of these things, for example. Luckily, Kickle Cubicle manages to completely avoid the former issue and has only a few minor problems with the latter towards the end of the game.
Although the levels in Kickle Cubicle start off very simple, they hbuild in complexity over time, but never to frustrating levels. New mechanics such as springs you can bounce ice blocks off of, hammers which swing around when hit to knock ice cubes in a different direction, enemies who kick ice at you too and others are added, but they’re generally all pretty easy to get to grips with, and the game offers infinite retries to solve a level. The last world features quite a few levels which are more focused on skilfully dodging enemies rather than puzzle solving though, which feels like an odd decision.
Kickle Cubicle comes with 64 levels and will take you a few hours to see the credits, but upon saving the day (and marrying a cute princess, Hubba Hubba), Kickle can take on the ‘extra’ stages, another batch of tougher levels. I elected to save these for another day though.
Overall, Kickle Cubicle is a fun and charming puzzle game with a difficulty that feels much fairer than is the norm on the system. It’s cheap and accessible and you should pick it up if you spot it in the wild, you’ll have a good time.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Three great games there. Shadow is my favorite of the lot, but Kickle Cubicle is one of those overlooked games that's a ton of fun. And AKF doesn't do anything special, but it does it well.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 135
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (20 Games Beaten)
August (9 Games Beaten)
September (14 Games Beaten)
October (7 Games Beaten)
November (21 Games Beaten)
December (3 Games Beaten)
135. Valkyria Revolution - PlayStation 4 - December 21
You know how most series have "that game"? The one game that breaks form, tries something new with mixed results, and is generally not well regarded? This is the Valkyria Chronicles' series "that game." Taking place in a separate Europa from the main series' universe, Valkyria Revolution sheds its predecessors' hybrid-but-leaning-turn-based combat for hybrid-but-leaning-real-time combat, and while it's good for a series to try to keep itself fresh, this was perhaps not the best way for Sega to go about doing that.
One thing that Sega did do well and for which I must commend them is making the game distinctly different but still feel like its predecessors. The combat, for example, felt a lot like Valkyria Chronicles except that instead of having a certain distance you can move before you have to end your turn, you move in real time; the only "turn" aspect is an action timer for your attacks. The action takes place, for all intents and purposes, in real time, but it still felt very much like the core series. The visual style also felt very similar. It looked a little less watercolor than Valkyria Chronicles, but the interesting use of visual filters made the whole game feel like a painting in a history book, a feeling that long-time Valkyria fans will recognize right away.
The game's story is a mixed bag. The basic premise is that you're a soldiers from Jutland, a small kingdom that's been under the thumb of the massive Ruzi Empire and suffering from an economic embargo orchestrated by Ruz for the past year. Jutland breaks its less-than-voluntary alliance with Ruz with a surprise attack on the formerly Jutish (now Ruzi) territory of Molda, starting the "Liberation War." In some regards, it's not totally dissimilar from Valkyria Chronicles - you play as a soldier from a small underdog nation that's going up against a massive empire. This game's problem isn't with the story, however, but with the story telling. The narrative is told in the form of a frame story, and while that works quite well, the pacing is slow and, at times, sluggish. The main story battles always seem to end predictably - you fight a big boss, beat the big boss, and then Amleth has a personal crisis at the most inconvenient possible time because plot devices and allows the big boss to escape. It's a shame, too, because the game's story is rooted in political intrigue and manipulation - it's got a distinct House of Cards feel in some ways.
The game's visuals are nice and very artistically done, but they're not impressive, per se. The somewhat blurred artstyle can take away from texture detail at medium distances, and it can make distant objects look much lower resolution than they are. Of course, those are part of that deliberate art style, but I personally think the game could have benefited from a little more sharpness. The biggest visual problem is with the animations in cut scenes. Faces are stiff with mouths that don't even come close to matching up with the words - legit 1950s Godzilla movie tier - and when characters walk off screen during a scene, they'll turn a full second before they start walking. The extraordinarily unnatural movements in cut scenes deals a hefty blow to my immersion.
The sound design here is hit or miss. The soundtrack is great, but the voice acting and sound effects are very 50/50. Some of the voice acting is good - the voice actresses for Uni and Blanc from my beloved Hyperdimension Neptunia series lend their talents here - but some of it is stiff and just awful. The enemy AI's lines also get extremely annoying because they'll get stuck; you'll have an enemy who says "I'm attacking!" over and over again without end until you attack them. Generally, though, outside of the most prominent characters, the voice acting is utterly forgettable.
Despite the issues with pacing, and despite the lackluster voice acting, and despite my personal nit picks with the visual art choices, the game's biggest flaw is without a doubt the bugs. There aren't many that I found, and the ones that I did find were all isolated to the Finale chapter, but that chapters was relentlessly frustrating with the bugs I encountered. The first issue that I encountered was that my weapons would randomly not work; about 85% or 90% of the time, if I had a character use his or her gun or throw a grenade, nothing would happen. No sound effect, no visual effect, no damage. The attack wasn't blocked; it just didn't exist. That continued in all three battles of the Finale as well as the boss battles. Even my magic attacks wouldn't work for anyone except Amleth meaning that I had to just smack giant tanks with my sword until they exploded from the sheer force of my stubbornness. Then there's a bug that I encountered my first attempt that the Finale that, if you run into it, makes it literally impossible to kill the second to last boss. He just won't take that last point of damage. THEN when I finally made it to the final boss, there are orbs indicating which magic types its weak against. Guess what didn't spawn and, I assume, therefore didn't trigger the magic weakness? Yep. Those orbs. So all of my attacks were doing 1 HP of damage, and the boss had like 250,000 HP. Needless to say, I died. Granted, close and relaunching the application fixed most of these (except that bug with the second to last boss), but the fact that they appeared at all was supremely vexing.
Valkyria Revolution is, all things considered, an alright game. It's definitely going to resonate better with newcomers to the series, I think, than veterans and longtime fans, but it's worth playing if you find it on sale. I would not, however, pay any more than $20 for it. It's not a great game, but it's definitely not bad. I was disappointed in it, but I think this is less a case of a sub-par game and more that it just didn't live up to the standards set by the series that preceded it. For newcomers to the the Valkyria Chronicles series, give it a play; you'll probably enjoy it. For series veterans, unless you're like me and have to play every release no matter what reviewers say, I'd suggest just going online and watching the cut scenes to get the narrative; they're so lengthy as it is that I jokingly started calling the game Valkyria Gear Solid, so there's a good bit of story to be had.
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (20 Games Beaten)
August (9 Games Beaten)
September (14 Games Beaten)
October (7 Games Beaten)
November (21 Games Beaten)
December (3 Games Beaten)
135. Valkyria Revolution - PlayStation 4 - December 21
You know how most series have "that game"? The one game that breaks form, tries something new with mixed results, and is generally not well regarded? This is the Valkyria Chronicles' series "that game." Taking place in a separate Europa from the main series' universe, Valkyria Revolution sheds its predecessors' hybrid-but-leaning-turn-based combat for hybrid-but-leaning-real-time combat, and while it's good for a series to try to keep itself fresh, this was perhaps not the best way for Sega to go about doing that.
One thing that Sega did do well and for which I must commend them is making the game distinctly different but still feel like its predecessors. The combat, for example, felt a lot like Valkyria Chronicles except that instead of having a certain distance you can move before you have to end your turn, you move in real time; the only "turn" aspect is an action timer for your attacks. The action takes place, for all intents and purposes, in real time, but it still felt very much like the core series. The visual style also felt very similar. It looked a little less watercolor than Valkyria Chronicles, but the interesting use of visual filters made the whole game feel like a painting in a history book, a feeling that long-time Valkyria fans will recognize right away.
The game's story is a mixed bag. The basic premise is that you're a soldiers from Jutland, a small kingdom that's been under the thumb of the massive Ruzi Empire and suffering from an economic embargo orchestrated by Ruz for the past year. Jutland breaks its less-than-voluntary alliance with Ruz with a surprise attack on the formerly Jutish (now Ruzi) territory of Molda, starting the "Liberation War." In some regards, it's not totally dissimilar from Valkyria Chronicles - you play as a soldier from a small underdog nation that's going up against a massive empire. This game's problem isn't with the story, however, but with the story telling. The narrative is told in the form of a frame story, and while that works quite well, the pacing is slow and, at times, sluggish. The main story battles always seem to end predictably - you fight a big boss, beat the big boss, and then Amleth has a personal crisis at the most inconvenient possible time because plot devices and allows the big boss to escape. It's a shame, too, because the game's story is rooted in political intrigue and manipulation - it's got a distinct House of Cards feel in some ways.
The game's visuals are nice and very artistically done, but they're not impressive, per se. The somewhat blurred artstyle can take away from texture detail at medium distances, and it can make distant objects look much lower resolution than they are. Of course, those are part of that deliberate art style, but I personally think the game could have benefited from a little more sharpness. The biggest visual problem is with the animations in cut scenes. Faces are stiff with mouths that don't even come close to matching up with the words - legit 1950s Godzilla movie tier - and when characters walk off screen during a scene, they'll turn a full second before they start walking. The extraordinarily unnatural movements in cut scenes deals a hefty blow to my immersion.
The sound design here is hit or miss. The soundtrack is great, but the voice acting and sound effects are very 50/50. Some of the voice acting is good - the voice actresses for Uni and Blanc from my beloved Hyperdimension Neptunia series lend their talents here - but some of it is stiff and just awful. The enemy AI's lines also get extremely annoying because they'll get stuck; you'll have an enemy who says "I'm attacking!" over and over again without end until you attack them. Generally, though, outside of the most prominent characters, the voice acting is utterly forgettable.
Despite the issues with pacing, and despite the lackluster voice acting, and despite my personal nit picks with the visual art choices, the game's biggest flaw is without a doubt the bugs. There aren't many that I found, and the ones that I did find were all isolated to the Finale chapter, but that chapters was relentlessly frustrating with the bugs I encountered. The first issue that I encountered was that my weapons would randomly not work; about 85% or 90% of the time, if I had a character use his or her gun or throw a grenade, nothing would happen. No sound effect, no visual effect, no damage. The attack wasn't blocked; it just didn't exist. That continued in all three battles of the Finale as well as the boss battles. Even my magic attacks wouldn't work for anyone except Amleth meaning that I had to just smack giant tanks with my sword until they exploded from the sheer force of my stubbornness. Then there's a bug that I encountered my first attempt that the Finale that, if you run into it, makes it literally impossible to kill the second to last boss. He just won't take that last point of damage. THEN when I finally made it to the final boss, there are orbs indicating which magic types its weak against. Guess what didn't spawn and, I assume, therefore didn't trigger the magic weakness? Yep. Those orbs. So all of my attacks were doing 1 HP of damage, and the boss had like 250,000 HP. Needless to say, I died. Granted, close and relaunching the application fixed most of these (except that bug with the second to last boss), but the fact that they appeared at all was supremely vexing.
Valkyria Revolution is, all things considered, an alright game. It's definitely going to resonate better with newcomers to the series, I think, than veterans and longtime fans, but it's worth playing if you find it on sale. I would not, however, pay any more than $20 for it. It's not a great game, but it's definitely not bad. I was disappointed in it, but I think this is less a case of a sub-par game and more that it just didn't live up to the standards set by the series that preceded it. For newcomers to the the Valkyria Chronicles series, give it a play; you'll probably enjoy it. For series veterans, unless you're like me and have to play every release no matter what reviewers say, I'd suggest just going online and watching the cut scenes to get the narrative; they're so lengthy as it is that I jokingly started calling the game Valkyria Gear Solid, so there's a good bit of story to be had.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.