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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by BoneSnapDeez Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:23 pm

^ This post makes me wet.

You should try Romancia now. 8)
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by BoneSnapDeez Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:39 pm

1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
2. Nuts & Milk (Famicom)
3. Commando (Atari 2600)
4. Binary Land (Famicom)
5. Devil World (Famicom)
6. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
7. Popeye (NES)
8. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
9. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Sega Master System)
10 Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter (Famicom)
11. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
12. Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD)
13. Otenba Becky no Daibouken (MSX)
14. Metroid (Famicom Disk System)
15. Mahou Kishi Rayearth (Game Boy)
16. Wabbit (Atari 2600)
17. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
18. Warpman (Famicom)
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There sure were a lot of Famicom games that weren't released on the NES in North America. Yeah, I'm kind of stating the obvious here, but the figures really appear staggering when you get down to the nitty-gritty. Take Namco, for instance. Of their classic eighteen-part "numbered" Famicom game line, only eight made it stateside. Among those that remained in Japan are clunky stinkers like The Tower of Druaga and Valkyrie no Bouken, as well as primitive previously-released-on-older-hardware second-genners like Galaxian and Dig Dug (on a related note, it doesn't look as if Taito deemed Famicom Space Invaders worthy of leaving Japan either). Then there are the obscure oddball titles, like Warpman, which likely would have received some moderate success had it been released in North America early in the NES lifespan. Depending on who you ask, Warpman is either an enhanced port of - or a sequel to - a previously-released arcade game called Warp & Warp. Ports also appeared on the MSX, PV-1000, and Sord M5. Props if you're familiar with those last two.
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I'm typically fond of old arcade games (and their subsequent ports) and Warpman hits all the right notes. I suppose this could be called a "top-down shooter" of sorts; think of a less terrifying Berzerk and a less insane Robotron: 2084. The player controls an astronaut fighting off aliens throughout the course of many fixed-screen levels. Controls are dead simple, the astronaut walks in four directions and A or B perform the identical function of firing the weapon. Aliens are adorable fuzzy things; continuously waddling towards the astronaut they fire projectiles of their own. Surprisingly, the alien gunfire can be cancelled out by astronaut gunfire. The extraterrestrials themselves spawn from the four corners of each board. There are no Gauntlet-style portals here, the aliens merely materialize, so it's important to keep moving. In typical old-school fashion, additional lives can be earned should one shoot down the baddies that harbor letters spelling EXTRA.

There are two "types" of stages to be accessed. The "space" stages are mostly wide open, with the occasional asteroid or two cluttering things up a bit. Then there are the "maze" levels where the gun is replaced by bombs. These have timed fuses à la Bomberman so taking out the enemies becomes a bit trickier. Bomb explosions will also hurt the astronaut. The same can be said for the upgraded gun weapon, which has explosive bullets, so there's a bit of a risk in grabbing power-ups.
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The game's quite fun in that unexplainable cerebral sort of way. It's essentially a pure high score chaser, though an extended play will cause the level counter to roll over eventually. Controls are fluid, and the primordial visuals and sound are ever-appealing. It's an "easy" game, at least for that initial cluster of stages, and one that's highly addictive and tailor-made for lengthy play sessions. There's a bit of pleasant nuance to the score system too, as aliens blasted near screen center are worth additional points. I must admit I still don't understand how the game "progresses" however. Sometimes stages will end once all enemies are vanquished. Other times a portal appears at screen-center; hopping in takes the astronaut to the next stage. There are also portals that pop up in "random" spots that must first be opened. There's certainly some formulae working under the hood, that I'd probably comprehend if I sank more time into Warpman (or possessed the instruction manual).

What you're looking at here is good clean retro gaming comfort food. It's like an Atari game that escaped and made its way to the Famicom. Recommended.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by MrPopo Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:14 pm

1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS

From the studio that brought us The Legend of Legacy comes The Alliance Alive. Like the previous game, it is a love letter to the SaGa style of RPGs. However, this game makes a lot of improvements and is much more digestible for the average RPG fan. Instead of your characters being mostly cyphers, now they are fleshed out with personalities. The game also has brought back standard stats, which is used to differentiate the characters a bit (though it never makes a big enough difference to keep you from having anyone learn any weapon).

Like before, you learn weapon skills through battle as they randomly trigger, and you have a formation system where you can be in an offensive, defensive, or support stance, and your weapon skills have individual power levels for each stance (and an level up in those stances). The big change is in magic. Whereas before you had this system of needing to have control of the elemental field, now things are much simpler. There are two kinds of magic. The first, useable by everyone, is signamancy. It mostly consists of support and healing magic, and it requires you to have at least one item equipped that is an etheract (similar to how you needed an item of the appropriate element in LoL). The second is sorcery, which is only useable by a handful of your characters. It is your attack magic, and doesn't require you to have anything equipped.

Another part of the game's character building is a skill system. You get skill points after battles, and you can spend them on various passive benefits. The major ones are the ones that reduce the cost of skills, increase your passive SP regeneration, and a variety of support effects that you only need on one character (including people not on your party), such as reduced encounter rates and increased selling prices of items. You also won't nearly be able to max out everything (even for just one weapon) in a single playthrough, which is one of the two NG+s is for. There's an interesting split there; one NG+ gives you your skill points, the other carries over weapons and skills. So you get to pick which one you want to try.

The game I actually felt could have used one more act, though I don't know where you might have stuck it in. I think it's because you still feel like you're going through a growing phase up until the final dungeon, which is rather short. I would have liked some more time spent with a fully developed team. Still, it definitely didn't overstay its welcome. It was a pretty standard RPG story, though it does leave some room open for a sequel, and I'd certainly like to see one.
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Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
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alienjesus
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by alienjesus Tue Apr 03, 2018 3:00 pm

Games Beaten 2018
1. Letter Quest Remastered Switch eShop
2. Batman NES
3. Little Nemo: The Dream Master NES
4. Mickey's Wild Adventure PS1
5. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. 3DS
6. Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy 3DS
7. Nier Automata PS4
8. Legacy of the Wizard NES
9. The Legend of Zelda (starring Zelda) NES
10. Tobu Tobu Girl Game Boy *NEW*


Tobu Tobu Girl

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Tobu Tobu Girl is game for Game Boy where you play as a schoolgirl who is trying to rescue her cat. You see, you were taking your pet cat for a walk tied to its favourite helium balloon, as you do, when you tripped on a rock and accidentally let go of the string, and poor old kitty started his ascent into the stratosphere.

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Tobu Tobu Girl is a game for the Game Boy, but it is not an old game – in fact, it came out in 2017. The game is fully playable on all of the usual Game Boy emulators, but it also got a limited run of physical cartridges, one of which is what I played.

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In Tobu Tobu Girl, your challenge is to ascend into the sky after your kitty over 3 main stages – the plains, the clouds and space. Falling off the bottom of the screen is an instant fail, as is touching one of the enemies in the stage from the bottom or side – however, you must use these enemies to bounce on in order to gain altitude.

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Holding B will cause you to boost into the air, but you can only do this for a limited time before you run out of boost power. Pressing A will cause you to dash, which you can do in any of the 8 d-pad directions. Dashing down into an enemy will kill them and cause you to bounce off them, removing you safe platform, but it’ll also slightly refill your boost meter, so this is a crucial mechanic to progress.

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Time is limited in Tobu Tobu Girl, and by the last stage you need to soar upwards at speed. Clock icons can be collected which give you more time, but the stages are randomly generated so you can’t practice to learn the best route – it’s all about reacting to the challenges which are thrown at you. You’ll die a lot, but this is aided significantly by the fact that Tobu Tobu girl doesn’t mess around when you die – the level restarts instantly, the music doesn’t stop and you’re already flying through the stage again.

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Tobu Tobu Girl is a well constructed homebrew title which is fun to play in bursts. The mechanics don’t offer a lot of variety though, and the game is super short with only 3 stages – each of which can be completed in 1-2 minutes. You won’t though, because the game’s difficulty ensures you’ll take a good couple dozen attempts to get through the stages. The game is pretty and sounds great, so if you get a chance to give it a go it’s worth a 30 minute play. It’s probably not worth the cost of the physical cartridge, but I didn’t regret buying it.

P.S. Sorry for the gifs - images of this game are pretty hard to find online, and I had no way to screenshot them myself.

Required Listening:

Tobu Tobu Girl has a really cool soundtrack by Potato-tan. They're all good, so take a listen to the lot, but here's one I particularly enjoyed:

Click the image below to listen to the track!
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alienjesus
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by alienjesus Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:07 am

PresidentLeever wrote:22. Herzog Zwei (MD)

One of the most creative console games of 1989, Herzog Zwei is a fast paced RTS which puts the typical off-screen commander role into an on-screen mech avatar and focuses on grabbing bases to increase production and eventually overpower your opponent (it's similar to Dawn of War but more stripped down). It holds up surprisingly well besides some control/interface and enemy AI issues, but those weren't really improved in a big way until the mid 90s for this genre and the latter isn't much of an issue in 2-player vs mode. It's a real shame this game didn't sell and was a one off for Technosoft, although there was apparently a spiritual sequel of sorts made recently by a different dev that I haven't tried yet. The music is also great, and I've actually covered one of the tracks as a request on my YT channel.

Beat all the maps on A type (easy/default) difficulty and about half on B type.


How long did it take you to beat all the maps in this, and how hard was it to do so?
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by prfsnl_gmr Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:32 am

1. Bastion (iOS)
2. LaserCat (360)
3. Zombie Incident (3DS)
4. Bye-Bye BoxBoy! (3DS)
5. Monument Valley 2 (iOS)
6. Zenge (iOS)
7. Master of Darkness (Game Gear/3DS)
8. Wonder Boy (SMS)
9. Full Throttle Remastered (iOS)
10. Adventure Island (NES)
11. Adventure Island II (NES)
12. Adventure Island (GB)
13. Super Adventure Island (SNES)
14. New Adventure Island (TG16)
15. Adventure Island III (NES)
16. The Legend of the Ghost Lion (NES)
17. Part Time UFO (iOS)
18. Adventure Island II: Aliens in Paradise (GB)
19. Adventure Island IV (NES)
20. Super Adventure Island II (SNES)

Super Adventure Island II is a pretty solid side-scrolling, exploratory platformer...but other than the fact it stars Master Higgins and Tina, it isn’t much of an Adventure Island game. In it, you float between various islands hunting down armor, items, upgrades, and weapons; flipping switches; and fighting enemies and bosses. There are “Zelda II” style random encounters while you float o your raft, and you can get hints at an inn and from the king who sent you on the quest. The game is generally well-designed, and while the last boss is a drag, it’s pretty fun. The game does not, however, feature the familiar dinosaurs, enemies, stone axes, etc. that really make an Adventure Island game, and it ultimately feels pretty generic. I still enjoyed it, though, and it is drastically better than some of the lesser games in the series, even if it lacks personality.

.....

Only one Adventure Island game to go...the ironically-titled Adventure Island The Beginning!
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by BoneSnapDeez Wed Apr 04, 2018 3:21 pm

prfsnl_gmr wrote:Only one Adventure Island game to go...the ironically-titled Adventure Island The Beginning!


I just got that! is that the last Adventure Island game that's been released?

I think the only things I ever downloaded from the WiiWare service were the Adventure Island, Castlevania, Contra, Gradius, and Final Fantasy games.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by prfsnl_gmr Wed Apr 04, 2018 3:53 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:
prfsnl_gmr wrote:Only one Adventure Island game to go...the ironically-titled Adventure Island The Beginning!


I just got that! is that the last Adventure Island game that's been released?

I think the only things I ever downloaded from the WiiWare service were the Adventure Island, Castlevania, Contra, Gradius, and Final Fantasy games.


Yep! Adventure Island The Beginning is literally the last game in the series. Moreover, there hasn’t been a new game in nearly a decade, and since Konami purchased the rights to Hudson’s games, I doubt we ever will again. (Also, the series isn’t THAT beloved; so, I really doubt we’ll get an indie revival either.)

Also, you and me are on the same page with regard to WiiWare...my collection also consists of a bunch of retro revivals. :lol:
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Sarge
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by Sarge Wed Apr 04, 2018 3:56 pm

Nuts, I forgot about that one. Guess it's time to install it through... other means. Wish I'd remembered while I could still add points.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by prfsnl_gmr Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:02 pm

Sarge wrote:Nuts, I forgot about that one. Guess it's time to install it through... other means. Wish I'd remembered while I could still add points.


If it makes you feel better, the game is absolutely terrible. It is like an unironic Epic Dumpster Bear.
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