98: Phreds punch out 2 turbo (punch out nes hack)
Generally speaking I am not a fan of sprite swap rom hacks, I like my hacks to present an all new experience as much as possible, and when it comes to punch out hacks it is hard to find anything beyond simple sprite swaps or versions that have you fighting the same character over and over again, for example there is a hack called bald bulls punch out which just has you fighting slightly different variants of bald bull 14 times in a row.
Phreds punch out 2 turbo is a game that is both a sprite swap and an all new experience, I didn't think this was possible given how punch out was made but this game was a very pleasant surprise with lots of new challenges and character movesets.
First off, every character has been replaced with something, I'm not sure if the characters in this game are references that I didn't get are just all new random characters the developer made up, but other than princess zelda, who replaces great tiger, and doc louis, who replaces king hippo, I didn't recognize any of the characters.
The game plays exactly like classic punch out except that you begin every fight with 2 stars, get awarded with 2 stars when you get up from a knock down, and begin each round with 2 stars. There are also lots of different opportunities to earn stars during each fight. Other than that it is identical to the original.
The thing that makes this game worth playing is that most of the fights are fresh and challenging. Its funny, I have been gaming for about 35 years and when people talk about nes hard games I realize I have lost all perspective. Classic hardest of all time games like contra, castlevania 3, and ninja gaiden are easy for me because I have played through them hundreds of times in my life. Mike tysons punch out falls into this category as well, although I sometimes struggle with sandman, the rest of the game is easy for me, including mike tyson. I often wonder how would I fare if I didnt have all these guys patterns ingrained in my head, based on my performace in this rom hack the answer is not very good.
Most of the fights are new and fighters are given new attacks, new patterns, new star opportunituies, and new vunerabilities. Like punch out it starts out super easy, glass joe is replaced with some new nerdy accountant guy who I literally beat in 7 seconds my first time, von kaiser is replaced by a girl named lisa hicks, who I beat in under a minute and didnt seem to offer anything new, but the game really picks up as you get a few opponents in.
There are some low points, bald bull has been replaced with rick bruiser, who has a cool sprite but just does basic attacks the entire fight and is really easy, king hippo is replaced with doc louis who is a bit more aggressive and takes more damage but ultimately is easy, but most of the fights are really interesting and tough. A robot names SW 7 replaces soda popinski and super machoman, he has some really crazy variety to his attacks and I died a lot of times on both of them trying to figure out his new patterns, a masked piston honda named jeko knight who does quick jabs and varying speed uppercuts, his honda rush is also often preceded by blinking eyes instead of a back dash, but when he does back dash the timing is totally different than you are used to. Sandman is replaced by nick bruiser who does not fall victim to the classic sandman trap(you jab, he dodges and follows with a hook) and will try and punish you severely for star punching him, he also follows up his right jab with a quick upppercut. Great Tiger is replaced with Princess Zelda who has different speed uppercuts and does the tiger rush alot, but you often wont have the hearts to capitalize on it making it much more challenging than you would expect. Mike Tyson/Dream is replaced with a blue version of Mr. Dream who presents a serious challenge, just to give you an idea, he starts the round off with a minute and a half of quick jabs that you really have to block and then counter punch, he then finishes the last half of the round with the one hit knock down uppercuts that Tyson is famous for. If at anytime he knocks you down you get up to a quick 4 hit combo that, if dodged successfully, gives you a chance to score an instant knock down with proper timing that I was never able to get.
This hack is a lot of fun, it is challenging and requires you to rethink everything you know about punch out, I don't think there is anything like it out there, but if you love punch out and have played it to death like I have this game is an absolute must play. This is definitely a hack that I will be revisiting during my annual punch out playthroughs.
Games Beaten 2019
Re: Games Beaten 2019
marurun wrote:@Ziggy
I think that idea of yours is pretty awesome, though I would say skip MSU-1 stuff. The SNES renditions of the PCE music are actually pretty darn good, and excellent SNES audio work, and the game doesn't need cut scenes. But I completely agree about level design and enemy placement.
@Pook
I do agree that SNES Dracula X does take heat, sometimes inappropriately, for being a "bad" port of the PCE Rondo, but I think it's actually a frustrating game on its own. The levels are pretty uninspired and enemy placement seems trollish. It's like the game was designed not so much to be too hard, but rather to be a dick to the player. I mean, I beat the game, so it can't be THAT hard, but the game did piss me off on multiple occasions. In an era where Super CV IV, Bloodlines, and Rondo had redefined what Classicvania could be, Dracula X was sort of a throwback to an older style of Castlevania, just draped in the trappings of Rondo and without some of the more inspired level design of the early titles. I can't fault you for enjoying it. I like that this game has its defenders. It's certainly not a bad game, but I don't particularly like it, and I think there's a much stronger case to be made for why it's a lesser entry in the series.
The cool thing about MSU-1 is that if the audio files are missing the game will just default to the sound chip music. So if someone made this hack as I described, everyone could get their music preference simply by including the audio files or not. I do agree though, I think the SNES sound chip music in this game is awesome! It just seems like such an awesome opportunity to try and match the game more closely to the PCE version, especially since that's what most people complain about and it's actually possible with the MSU-1.
Personally, I love that game tried to stand on it's own. It just seems like it was either rushed to completion or else they just didn't put any effort into it. I do like this game, but it's definitely the weakest of the 16-bit Castlevania games. To me, the most frustrating this is that you can see how good the core game is. It could have been amazing if they polished it a little more. The graphics and music are awesome. The fire in the first stage is definitely a lot better than the fire in the PCE version.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
@Ziggy: I agree that a romhack would be great, the odd thing about the castlevania series is there are DOZENS of rom hacks for the original castlevania and a pretty large number of fan games but the rest of the games in the series have virtually no hacks outside of asthetic stuff. Even the wildly popular Super Castlevania 4 only has 1 or 2 level hacks which is just crazy. I think if konami made a castlevania maker in the style of mario maker it would sell by the boatloads and I would love to see the kinds of things people could come up with.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
Now that you mention, pook, I kind of feel like Sega and Capcom must just be waiting for the other to cave, and make Sonic/MegaMan Maker, to open the floodgates.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
pierrot wrote:Now that you mention, pook, I kind of feel like Sega and Capcom must just be waiting for the other to cave, and make Sonic/MegaMan Maker, to open the floodgates.
I feel like there is a hidden Mega Maker somewhere in the world, if you look art fan games and rom hacks there are more mega man games than any other franchise outside of mario.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
29. Blazing Chrome (PC)
1h26m for my first run on Normal, which gives you infinite continues. Beating normal unlocks Hardcore mode and two new characters. A cyborg ninja (perhaps plays like Ninja Gaiden?) and another cyborg chick who looks like a Strider-type.
What you see is what you get. And more sexy 16bit Contra is definitely something I want more of.
The graphics and pixel sprite work is incredible throughout the entire thing. The music is pretty good and fitting, though maybe not mindblowing. Some tracks were really killer though.
There are some definite nods to other games, like a Battletoads tube race styled section (don't worry, it's not AS hard haha), or how about the little mecha you can get in that are straight up just like the ones in Mega Man X. The level design is top notch with some cool powerups that can give you a little Option buddy that floats around, either giving you a shield for two hits, an attack Option helper, or a speed up ability that makes you run faster and double jump. Beyond that this is like classic Contra and one hit, you're dead. You get four weapon types like in Hard Corps, though I'm not sure if there were any powered up variants of their base functions.
There's 6 stages and a nice good of variety with some speeder bike stuff, the 3D flying level in particular was amazingly cool and similar to some Super FX stuff like in Star Fox or Super Turrican 2. I also though the final boss was amazingly cool and interesting, took a bit on that fight too. Perhaps there's a 7th stage and a true ending on Hardcore, hopefully I'll find out.
You do have a roll ability, though you can't manually jump down through a platform to another floor, if that makes sense. So that takes some getting used to. I also kind of forget to check if you have some i-frames while rolling, like Sheena and others did in Hard Corps. I'll have to check next time.
The price might be a little steep to some from what I'm seeing, but I was in the mood for simple traditional action platforming that looked gorgeous, and Blazing Chrome hit all those notes for me. I'll keep plucking away at it with the other characters and see if I can finish Hardcore mod eventually. Highly recommended if you're a fan of this genre.
1h26m for my first run on Normal, which gives you infinite continues. Beating normal unlocks Hardcore mode and two new characters. A cyborg ninja (perhaps plays like Ninja Gaiden?) and another cyborg chick who looks like a Strider-type.
What you see is what you get. And more sexy 16bit Contra is definitely something I want more of.
The graphics and pixel sprite work is incredible throughout the entire thing. The music is pretty good and fitting, though maybe not mindblowing. Some tracks were really killer though.
There are some definite nods to other games, like a Battletoads tube race styled section (don't worry, it's not AS hard haha), or how about the little mecha you can get in that are straight up just like the ones in Mega Man X. The level design is top notch with some cool powerups that can give you a little Option buddy that floats around, either giving you a shield for two hits, an attack Option helper, or a speed up ability that makes you run faster and double jump. Beyond that this is like classic Contra and one hit, you're dead. You get four weapon types like in Hard Corps, though I'm not sure if there were any powered up variants of their base functions.
There's 6 stages and a nice good of variety with some speeder bike stuff, the 3D flying level in particular was amazingly cool and similar to some Super FX stuff like in Star Fox or Super Turrican 2. I also though the final boss was amazingly cool and interesting, took a bit on that fight too. Perhaps there's a 7th stage and a true ending on Hardcore, hopefully I'll find out.
You do have a roll ability, though you can't manually jump down through a platform to another floor, if that makes sense. So that takes some getting used to. I also kind of forget to check if you have some i-frames while rolling, like Sheena and others did in Hard Corps. I'll have to check next time.
The price might be a little steep to some from what I'm seeing, but I was in the mood for simple traditional action platforming that looked gorgeous, and Blazing Chrome hit all those notes for me. I'll keep plucking away at it with the other characters and see if I can finish Hardcore mod eventually. Highly recommended if you're a fan of this genre.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
Finished the new DLC for Borderlands 2 for PS4 on Vault Hunter Mode as Axton. Still have a few optional missions to finish off.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
@Xeo: I tested for invincibilty on the roll and it does not appear it exists, it still is a great move for evasive maneauvers. I'm currently waiting on the patch before I replay it, right now I beat the game but my characters did not unlock, the developer said this can be fixed by enabling steam overlay but is also working on a patch for it.
Games Beaten:
100. Punch out (arcade)
For my hundreth game this year I decided to do something special and finally beat arcade punch out. As a kid I loved this game but I dont think I ever made it further than bald bull, not even sure if I beat piston hurricane. I loved this game in the arcades but then the home version came out and I fell in love with that, by then new games were in the arcades and I never got to really try and beat the arcade original.
When I discovered emulators later in life I revisited the arcade game through MAME but found it too clunky to really be enjoyable. I still think this is true, there is something off about the arcade version, the dodge is a little slow, the enemies are a little too quick to recover and there is very little vunerability after you successfully dodge an enemy punch.
I watched some speedruns of the game by zallard1 and that gave me more of an idea of how to play this game, using the block is much more important here than its console counterpart and picking your spots is not as always easy as dodge/counterpunch, the enemies also seem a little stupid when it comes to dodging your hook so if you can fill your power meter you can do pretty good damage with random hooks.
The cast is mostly familiar but not all of them are series staples. You get glass joe, who is much more aggressive than his nes counterpart but still goes down pretty easy, piston hurricane who is a bit harder but I was able to randomnly knock him out with one punch, I'm not sure how. Bald Bull is here as well, he is tough and you can knock him down when he bull rushes, but unlike the nes game you can just dodge it and he wont do another one making this fight much easier. Two opponents are in this game that never appeared in another game are present as well, kid quick and pizza pasta. Kid quick is a pretty generic character who, as his name implies, is very quick to block but is incredibly weak to the hook so filling your power meter makes quick work of him. Pizza pasta signature move is he grabs you then uppercuts, similar to masked muscle in super punch out. THe game ends with Mr. Sandman and after capturing the title you then loop title defense matches but I didnt bother with that.
I had fun with the game, it definitely plays differently than the other games in the series, it is not nearly as quick, dynamic, or strategic as the home ports but it was a nice stroll down memory lane and felt good to finally beat a game that has been on my bucket list for over 30 years.
Games Beaten:
100. Punch out (arcade)
For my hundreth game this year I decided to do something special and finally beat arcade punch out. As a kid I loved this game but I dont think I ever made it further than bald bull, not even sure if I beat piston hurricane. I loved this game in the arcades but then the home version came out and I fell in love with that, by then new games were in the arcades and I never got to really try and beat the arcade original.
When I discovered emulators later in life I revisited the arcade game through MAME but found it too clunky to really be enjoyable. I still think this is true, there is something off about the arcade version, the dodge is a little slow, the enemies are a little too quick to recover and there is very little vunerability after you successfully dodge an enemy punch.
I watched some speedruns of the game by zallard1 and that gave me more of an idea of how to play this game, using the block is much more important here than its console counterpart and picking your spots is not as always easy as dodge/counterpunch, the enemies also seem a little stupid when it comes to dodging your hook so if you can fill your power meter you can do pretty good damage with random hooks.
The cast is mostly familiar but not all of them are series staples. You get glass joe, who is much more aggressive than his nes counterpart but still goes down pretty easy, piston hurricane who is a bit harder but I was able to randomnly knock him out with one punch, I'm not sure how. Bald Bull is here as well, he is tough and you can knock him down when he bull rushes, but unlike the nes game you can just dodge it and he wont do another one making this fight much easier. Two opponents are in this game that never appeared in another game are present as well, kid quick and pizza pasta. Kid quick is a pretty generic character who, as his name implies, is very quick to block but is incredibly weak to the hook so filling your power meter makes quick work of him. Pizza pasta signature move is he grabs you then uppercuts, similar to masked muscle in super punch out. THe game ends with Mr. Sandman and after capturing the title you then loop title defense matches but I didnt bother with that.
I had fun with the game, it definitely plays differently than the other games in the series, it is not nearly as quick, dynamic, or strategic as the home ports but it was a nice stroll down memory lane and felt good to finally beat a game that has been on my bucket list for over 30 years.
Re: Games Beaten 2019
pook99 wrote:@Xeo: I tested for invincibilty on the roll and it does not appear it exists, it still is a great move for evasive maneauvers. I'm currently waiting on the patch before I replay it, right now I beat the game but my characters did not unlock, the developer said this can be fixed by enabling steam overlay but is also working on a patch for it.
That sucks. I will say though, both extra characters seem to play exactly the same. They're a bit Ryu/Strider-esque with a melee blade attack that can charge up for a big shot. Then they've got a MMX styled air dash. Other than that... that's it, no other weapon power ups for them. I just beat it on easy with one of them, it was fun. But I had more fun attempting Hardcore with the main female character, got all the way to level 5 on my first attempt with those 3 continues, so that seems doable. Wonder if there's an extra level or ending on Hardcore...