by pierrot Mon May 29, 2017 11:56 pm
1. Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (PCE-CD)
2. Mega Bomberman (GEN)
3. Lost in Shadow (Wii)
4. Kirby's Dream Land (via Wii Dream Collection) (GB)
5. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (via Wii Dream Collection) (GB)
6. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (via Wii Dream Collection) (SNES)
7. Saturn Bomberman (SAT)
8. Rent a Hero (GEN)
9. Tricolore Crise (DC)
10. Super Mario: Yoshi Island (SFC)
11. Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchou no Daibouken (Joukan) (SAT)
12. Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 (SFC)
13. Kishin Douji Zenki: Battle Raiden (SFC)
14. Super Donkey Kong (SFC)
15. Super Donkey Kong 2: Dixie & Diddy (SFC)
16. Anearth Fantasy Stories: First Volume (SAT)
17. Panzer Dragoon (SAT)
18. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (SAT)
19. Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBOX)
20. Cross Tantei Monogatari (SAT)
21. Dragon Quest V (PS2)
22. Ryu ga Gotoku (PS2)
23. Dragon Slayer: Eiyuu Densetsu II (GEN)
24. Rokudenashi Blues: Taiketsu! Tokyo Shitennou (SFC)
25. Ranma 1/2: Bakuretsu Rantou Hen (SFC)
26. Contra Spirits (SFC)
27. Dennou Senki: Virtual On (SAT)
28. Dead or Alive (SAT)
29. Fighting Vipers (SAT)
30. Last Bronx (SAT)
31. Steeldom (SAT)
32. Street Fighter Zero (SAT)
33. NinPen Manmaru (SAT)
Virtual On is a great game, but probably not as good, in general, as Oratorio Tangram. I wish I could use the twin sticks for more than just the Virtual On games, but I feel like they're required in order to get the most out of VO. The Saturn version runs pretty well, but it does have some hiccups in the frame rate, at times. It's really tough to get used to not having super versions of all the standard attacks, and it's especially obnoxious when fighting the final boss. It's only really vulnerable for two, roughly five second, periods during the minute long fight, and it's really tough to do enough damage to kill it in that time. Not to mention, just staying alive is pretty difficult. I would recommend VO:OT over the original, but they're both good.
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Amazingly, Dead or Alive is more than just some hilarious bouncing boob physics. It actually holds up pretty well. DoA2 is superior in every imaginable way, but there's still some value in playing the original. The danger zones, in particular, can add some nice tension to the battles. I was doing a little bit of reading on this game, and it apparently was a real showcase game for the Saturn, in its later life. Itagaki was a little unsatisfied with the arcade version of the game, and the team poured a lot of work, and effort into trying to make a game that surpassed VF2 (and everything else) on the Saturn. Some seem to believe they were successful in their endeavor, and it seems DoA actually plays more smoothly on the Saturn than in the arcade.
They played around with the AI a bit as well, and my personal feeling is that the AI ended up pretty shitty. By that, I mean 'shitty good.' Playing against Tina is maddening, in this game. You had better be ready to get your parries in line, or the CPU is going to eat you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The final boss, Raidou, was kind of tough, but not bad. The match I won against him ended with a round that I perfected him on, after a series of the greatest parries in my, fairly limited, DoA playing career. It was a really good way to finish up.
Anyway, the game does still look really great, and plays well. There were a couple times that I did notice the framerate drop, briefly, but nothing that hampered the experience. Seems the PS1 version has a couple more characters, and I would guess that they added at least a couple extra costumes to it also, but there doesn't seem to be much of a breakdown of the differences in performance between the two versions, which leads me to believe that they're pretty similar in that regard. Doesn't really matter, since the XBOX version exists, though.
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Ugh, man, Fighting Vipers is not what I remember it being. Perhaps the biggest problem, for me, is that the frame rate is wildly inconsistent. Generally it doesn't negatively impact the game-play too much, but it's pretty noticeable. I'm guessing that it's part of the reason the game is usually sold for about $1. Otherwise, I guess it plays well enough, but the combat is really simple. I guess it would be pretty cathartic if it weren't for the systems (grabs, and counters, for instance) being so loosey goosey. There are some cool extras, light Pepsiman challenging you in the Arcade mode, and becoming a playable character, if beaten. Also, being able to unlock Kumachan, the bear statue, is cool. My main problem, is that Fighting Vipers 2 is just so much better in terms of balancing fun with functional systems, that I really can't give the original FV any slack in where it falls short, these days.
Conclusion: Pepsiman is cool, and all, but Fighting Vipers 2 is the FV to play. No one should play the original over the sequel, and it pains me to say that, because of the memories, from my childhood, that I have of the original.
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While I've heard some pretty good things about Last Bronx, the Saturn version seems to be viewed a bit negatively in Japan, for some reason. So, I wasn't necessarily expecting a whole lot from it, but I kind of like it. The backgrounds have a lot more visual range of depth than a lot of 3D fighters (on console) from the era, which is cool to see. It runs really well, although the camera angles during win poses cause a lot of the 3D models/textures to disappear, and/or flicker. That seems like it could have been avoided.
There's a message in the manual, from the designer of the game, which says that he hoped to make a fighting game that wasn't quite as daunting to get into for newcomers--apparently the reason for the Special Disk. In that sense, I think the game succeeds. It's fairly simple, but there is some good depth. It plays well, with some flash, and doesn't appear to get bogged down in frame analysis. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Rival Schools, in terms of the characters. A bit more apocalyptic, but I get a similar vibe from it. Yeah, I don't have a whole lot to say about it. It's the most complete package out of the 3D Sega fighters I played through recently. It might be a little overly simplistic in some ways, but not nearly in the same way as Fighting Vipers.
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Steeldom is, supposedly, the 'not bad' follow-up to TechnoSoft's Hyper Reversion. I read through the developers' notes, left on the disc, and they apparently wanted to make a game that wouldn't just be compared to Virtual On, and that filled a niche similar to what the Senkou no Ronde games were able to do: Make a competitive, fighting game, with some spaceship shooter trappings. I don't feel they did a great job. For starters, the game doesn't even have a great soundtrack, and--I mean--this is from TechnoSoft, dammit! The story picks up right after Hyper Reversion's, I guess, with the basic premise being a standard tournament. I think the greatest error in the design of this game was including ring outs. The mechanics aren't great to begin with, but I have not raged at being knocked out of the ring like I did in this game. So, all the 'Ryouga' (spiritual armor suit dudes, donned by the main characters) handle like complete crap. The controls are just a mess, in part because playing with twin sticks isn't an option. I'm not even going to go over all the ways this game does a poor job of mapping out maneuvers. Instead I'm just going to lay out the recipe for winning:
Pick Gouran (the wolf beast dude); strafe in your preferred direction with the L or R button (I liked to move clockwise around the ring); use the down diagonal button that corresponds with the shoulder button you're using, between strafes, to keep the enemy in your view (eg. if strafing left, tap or hold down-left); if a good distance away from the enemy, and no attacks that need to be avoided, input left, right, A; if slightly closer range, and feeling saucy, input down, up, up, A; if enemy was caught in last attack, hold A while in the air, and release about a half second after landing; rinse and repeat.
Also, the game is incredibly imbalanced: I think it's probably impossible to win with any of the female characters. Special mention goes to the god awful character voices, as well. The final boss' voice actor is so bad that I am 100% certain the person responsible for it was embarrassed while recording the lines.
The game isn't an abject disaster as a whole, I suppose. I just didn't really care much for it, and it felt like I had to be incredibly cheap to make it playable.
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I don't really care about anything post Third Strike, but while this may be a bit unpopular, I think the Street Fighter series improved with each installment in the series (Alpha 3, not withstanding, and up to 4), because I don't really care all that much about SF II, and its iterations. It was nice to actually play Street Fighter Zero, because I haven't really played it much (mostly just 2, 2', and 3). The systems are a little bit more simple than the later iterations, but I really like the foundation laid out in this one; I really like Zero Counters, and Zero Combos. It's all a little rudimentary at this stage, and the presentation, of course, is a little lackluster in comparison. That said, it feels a lot more welcoming than SF II (where a lot of that game's systems seem to have been born out of unintended exploitation of the code).
I played as Guy, and got tripped up on the shoto twins (those assholes). I had a real bitch of a time with Vega, too. There was this one round against Vega where I bodied the crap out of him, and Alpha Countered just about everything he tried to do, but I couldn't get any more Alpha Counters out after that, for some reason. I ended up beating him by mainly avoiding down+HK when he had meter for Psycho Crusher. Guy has some nice buttons, but his QSF+MK/HK, K seems to be unsafe, for some reason, and the Izuna Drop has a really weird window. At least QSB+K worked pretty well.
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I hesitate to say NinPen Manmaru is a fantastic game, but I like it quite a bit. Partly, it's a nice showcase game for the console/era. The art direction is tremendous, and it's quite a visually appealing 3D game, for the era.
So, Manmaru is a Penguin, and also, a Ninja. Imagine that. He's also friggin adorable, and that is aided in large part by his voice actress. Manmaru is the disciple of Genma in the way of the Nenga style of ninjutsu. Manmaru is also a bit of a dumb-ass, and Genma feels like giving him a kick in the rear, because he feels Manmaru has potential as a Nenga ninja. So, he hands Manmaru a trial, with the promise of a gold sheet of his favorite origami at the end--there's usually only a single sheet of gold paper in packs of origami, to make it extra special. The unlikely hero sets off, and along the way, is challenged by a bunch of his friends: Tanu-tarou (the Tanuki), Kitsu-jirou (the Kitsune), Ranko (the rabbit Henoichi--I mean Kunoichi), along with a few others. This is actually a licensed game, which means there's potentially more to the characters and story that's established in the comics/anime, but for the purposes of the game, the story is told through some voice acted stills, which are very pleasant.
For the most part, Manmaru controls well, but it can take a little getting used to, and there are a few quirks that I would have preferred were not handled the way they were. Part of that has to do with the camera, which is also respectable, but has its issues. By the third level, the challenge in the game ramps up significantly, with the sixth level being an unholy, merciless, gauntlet of pain, sweat, and tears. Fortunately there are unlimited continues, as long as you can beat Borotto (the Robot) in a mini-game to collect the most coins. Levels play out in a series of four platforming stages, and a "boss" stage, where Manmaru has to compete against one of his friends in some minigame: tag, collect coins, a maze. It's all pretty inoffensive, and fun. Level six is a real ball buster, but it's a good game, in general. While I haven't played Jumping Flash, from what I've seen of it, it seems like NinPen Manmaru probably looks/plays very similarly, but without the first person view.