Racketboy forums’ Summer Games Challenge 2019

[pook99]

Just kicked off the summer challenge by beating Super Mario RPG for SNES. This is a game I have wanted to play forever and I'm so glad I finally did. I'll try and write a full review later but it was just such a charming game and it lived up to my expectations of it, which were very high.

Next up on my list is luigis mansion for gamecube, another game that I have had sitting around since its release but never actually played.

[pierrot]

Nice, I was surprised by how much I liked Mario RPG when I played it at the beginning of the year. Bookie/Booster was a really entertaining character. Very fun game. Luigi's Mansion is also pretty great. I feel like it loses a little bit of steam toward the end of the mansion, but it was still pretty fun. Looking forward to your thoughts on that one.

[MrPopo]

There's one boss in Luigi's Mansion that's overly hard (IMO) and it really makes the game slog if you can't get him down in an attempt or two. But otherwise I think it's well done.

[Key-Glyph]

prfsnl_gmr: RANGER X, SON!

Nah though, I don't know if Ranger X is really a captial-c Classic -- but Tecmo Bowl definitely is, and is such a fun summery time, so that's the pick I'd endorse for you.

I'm also following the Phantasy Star III talk with interest, because 1) it was my first Phantasy Star and I loved it, 2) I started Phantasy Star IV and my interest fell off precipitously, and 3) I'm using the Challenge as motivation to pick IV up again.

I don't have a very well thought-out list this year, but here are the games that absolutely have to get done:

Lemmings (GEN): This game has been on my Summer Challenge list for the past three years, folks. Three. Years. No ifs, ands, or buts this time -- we are starting with Lemmings. I am literally going to grab the cart after I post this and put it in the Genesis. This childhood holy grail shall finally be completed.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES): I started streaming this one as a lark the other week and I just had a ball. I'm going to continue with it, so I might as well count it towards the challenge!

Phantasy Star IV (GEN): Everyone has told me this is the greatest installment in the series, and although there was a lot I liked about it during the first few missions -- characters in your party talking with one another, for example -- I lost the spark and put it aside. This is a great motivator to start it up again and give it a fair shake.

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (AppleII): Yes. It's time to go back to Britannia. I'm excited to import my save from Ultima IV, break out the 30+ pages of notes and maps I took during Quest of the Avatar, and see what's happened to the realm since.

On top of this I traditionally purchase one new retro game to enjoy, and it's going to be whatever version of The Journeyman Project: Turbo! I can get my hands on. I doubt that game is considered a classic, but I don't care. It loomed large in my child brain as a terrifying and fascinating enigma, and the time to experience it in full is now.

[pierrot]

prfsnl_gmr: RANGER X, SON!

Totally agree, for any list that doesn't contain it, but could, if I were able to declare it a classic with bona fides.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES): I started streaming this one as a lark the other week and I just had a ball. I'm going to continue with it, so I might as well count it towards the challenge!

I'm hopefully going to be playing through this as well. Whenever I've tried in the past, I've always gotten stuck early on, and stopped caring. I resolved some time ago to not let that happen again, the next time I tried to play it.

Phantasy Star IV (GEN): Everyone has told me this is the greatest installment in the series, and although there was a lot I liked about it during the first few missions -- characters in your party talking with one another, for example -- I lost the spark and put it aside.

I didn't dislike Phantasy Star IV, but you wouldn't be alone in not necessarily thinking it's the best game in the series. There's certainly a lot to like about it, so I kind of get why so many seem to feel that way about it, but there are a lot of RPGs on the Genesis/Mega Drive that I like a lot more, and in a lot of ways I think Phantasy Star II is better, even if it's a lot less inviting. The first game is probably the best in the series, regardless, though. (Not including Phantasy Star Online.)

It's sort of interesting to me that, not just on Racketboy, but in other parts too, PS IV is sort of talked about as an analog to Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, or Secret of Mana, but on the Genesis, because I don't enjoy any of those games tremendously. (I really hate Secret of Mana--.)

The Journeyman Project: Turbo!

I've never heard of this series before. Not trying to suggest that you shouldn't play it, but-- I've never heard of these before. Are any of them available on any digital platforms?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Phantasy Star IV feels like an SNES JRPG, as if Sega was trying to piggyback on the success of Final Fantasy IV and whatnot. Meanwhile, the games that precede it have that more unique "Sega vibe" to them. If that makes sense. Now, I'm a huge fan of the SNES titans, so it's no surprise I dig PSIV as well. It may have the least interesting soundtrack of the classic quartet though.

@Key
lol I thought you finished Lemmings. I suppose you have been talking about it for awhile!

[Key-Glyph]

@Key
lol I thought you finished Lemmings. I suppose you have been talking about it for awhile!

Those are some really interesting observations about PS IV, folks. I do think the manga-style interludes are a really clever take on cutscenes, and sometimes I wonder if that aspect feeds a large part of the acclaim. The Sega CD and Saturn are a huge blindspot in my gaming knowledge, but from afar I always got in the impression that you really only saw anime-quality artwork on those systems. Maybe those cutscenes in PS IV read as particularly impressive on a vanilla Genesis back then, with that context?

And about the Journeyman Project: my family's first PC came with a disc of the game, and I'd never seen anything like it at the time. I think about it often, even to this day, and have always wanted to go back and get an understanding of it. The first game (which is the one I'm speaking of specifically) has been remastered and is up on Steam; I think you can buy it stand-alone retitled as "The Journeyman Project 1: Pegasus Prime" as well as in a bundle with the rest of the trilogy. I don't know anything about the further games, so I can only speak to the original.

I really wish I hadn't gotten rid of my own disc of this, because I'd rather play the game I fell in love with than the remaster -- as cool as the remaster looks. Also, I'm weirded out that the Steam trailer for Pegasus Prime dumps a ton of knowledge that was not apparent at the outset of the original, but it certainly does make for a more concrete and gripping investment for those who crave upfront plot, so I'll allow it.

[pierrot]

Cool. I'm sort of intrigued by the time traveling aspects, so I hope to hear more about them this summer.

What's been exciting you about Zelda II, Key? Inquiring minds want to know.

[prfsnl_gmr]

First, Zelda II is AWESOME. Play it, Key.

....

I’ve modified my list, since I don’t think I’m going to get to Bahamian Lagoon this month. I also have no interest in Medal of Honor. I’m thinking of making this a “Summer of Sega” by playing:

1. TBD (July TR)
2. TBD (August TR)
3. Ranger X (Genesis)
4. Herzog Zwei (Genesis)
5. Phantasy Star III (Genesis)
6. Phantasy Star IV (Genesis)
7. Zaxxon (Arcade)
8. Shinobi (Arcade)
9. Super Baseball 2020 (Genesis)
10. Ninja Gaiden (Sega Master System)

It’s not technically summer, yet; so, I can still do that, right?!

[pook99]

First, Zelda II is AWESOME. Play it, Key.

....

I’ve modified my list, since I don’t think I’m going to get to Bahamian Lagoon this month. I also have no interest in Medal of Honor. I’m thinking of making this a “Summer of Sega” by playing:

1. TBD (July TR)
2. TBD (August TR)
3. Ranger X (Genesis)
4. Herzog Zwei (Genesis)
5. Phantasy Star III (Genesis)
6. Phantasy Star IV (Genesis)
7. Zaxxon (Arcade)
8. Shinobi (Arcade)
9. Super Baseball 2020 (Genesis)
10. Ninja Gaiden (Sega Master System)

It’s not technically summer, yet; so, I can still do that, right?!

I'm excited to hear your thoughts on Ninja Gaiden for Master System. I think it is a great game and one of the few master system games that I actually enjoyed, but I still prefer the NES version. How fond of you of the NES game?