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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by BoneSnapDeez Sat Nov 30, 2019 8:09 pm

Eternal Ring and Evergrace are actually my two favorite From Software games (I have yet to play Forever Kingdom). I like the "PS1 on PS2" vibe.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by prfsnl_gmr Sat Nov 30, 2019 8:45 pm

The textures are definitely PS1 on PS2! Eternal Ring was fine. It just wasn’t as good as King’s Field IV, which is a masterpiece, or Shadow Tower, which is not a masterpiece.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Sun Dec 01, 2019 1:24 pm

First 50:
1. Octopath Traveler - Switch
2. Dusk - PC
3. Forsaken Remastered - PC
4. Tales of Eternia - PS1
5. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - PC
6. Pokémon Trading Card Game - GBC
7. Metro Exodus - PC
8. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - PC
9. Project Warlock - PC
10. Magic: The Gathering - PC
11. Ghost 1.0 - PC
12. Call of Duty 2 - PC
13. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4
14. Revelations: The Demon Slayer - GBC
15. Mechstermination Force - Switch
16. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux - PC
17. Lost Sphear - Switch
18. Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal - PC
19. Dragon Quest III - NES
20. Rage 2 - PC
21. Blood - PC
22. Harvest Moon 64 - N64
23. Battlefield V - PC
24. Sigil - PC
25. Shining Force III: Scenario 2 - Saturn
26. Shining Force III: Scenario 3 - Saturn
27. Borderlands 2: Commander Lillith and the Fight for Sanctuary - PC
28. Gato Roboto - Switch
29. Timespinner - Switch
30. Amid Evil - PC
31. Pillars of Eternity II: Beast of Winter - PC
32. Pillars of Eternity II: Seeker, Slayer, Survivor - PC
33. Pillars of Eternity II: The Forgotten Sanctum - PC
34. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Switch
35. Orphan - PC
36. Project Nimbus - PC
37. Hardcore Mecha - PC
38. Grey Goo - PC
39. Giants: Citizen Kabuto - PC
40. Wolfenstein: Youngblood - PC
41. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Switch
42. Metal Wolf Chaos XD - PC
43. Ion Fury - PC
44. Final Fantasy Adventure - GB
45. Astral Chain - Switch
46. Rebel Galaxy Outlaw - PC
47. Blasphemous - Switch
48. Daemon x Machina - Switch
49. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Switch
50. Borderlands 3 - PC

51. Valfaris - Switch
52. Unreal: Return to Na Pali - PC
53. The Outer Worlds - PC
54. MechWarrior 4: Black Knight - PC
55. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - PC
56. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: System Rift - PC
57. MDK - PC
58. Pokémon Sword - Switch
59. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - PC
60. Blazing Chrome - Switch

Blazing Chrome is from the same devs who gave us Odallus and Oniken, both throwbacks to Casltevania and Ninja Gaiden respectively, though with their own tweaks. Naturally, Blazing Chrome is also a throwback; in this case to Contra. And they could not have timed its launch better, given as it came out around the same time as Konami put out a piss poor Contra game. Blazing Chrome is hard and requires memorization to get through on a single life, but continues are unlimited and checkpoints are reasonably generous, so it's not too bad to get through.

As I understand it, the weapon system is inspired by Hard Corps, where there are three weapons besides the basic machine gun that you can flip between if you've collected them, though your active weapon is lost on death. One is an energy flamethrower, one is a grenade launcher which detonates when you release the fire button, and one is a piercing laser that can either be rapid fired or charged for a big blast. When enemies get close you can hit them with a melee attack by hitting the fire button once (so it won't suddenly change if you're just holding it down for your weapons); this attack has a pretty good swing to it, so it ends up being better than the knife from Metal Slug. The game also has three supplementary power ups; a damage shield, an attack bot, and a speed booster. Unfortunately, the latter two aren't nearly as good as the shield, as it eats two hits before being lost. And given this game is one hit deaths that's awesome. The game also occasionally gives you a mech to pilot, which does great damage but moves slowly and you'll lose after several hits that are hard to avoid.

The game gives you four missions to begin with that you can do in any order. The game nicely lets you know the approximate difficulty of each, and it's not just 1 is easier than 2 is easier than 3 is easier than 4. After that you unlock the fifth level, and upon beating that you immediately go into the sixth level, which is just a mini boss followed by the final boss (sort of like Death Egg in Sonic 2). The level structure consists of several sections that are capped off by a miniboss; defeating that miniboss takes you to the next section, and each section serves as a checkpoint. When you game over you can continue from the last checkpoint. This includes that final mini level; beating the miniboss means you'll continue right before the final boss. This helps smooth out the difficulty, as the game is quite punishing.

The biggest thing about the game is that most enemies take several hits to take out, with man requiring even multiple melee hits (though it fortunately has a knockback to non-bosses). Since the game likes to spawn enemies behind you to force you to keep moving you can frequently get into bad spots where if you don't approach the enemies in a particular way they will get to you before you have enough damage on them to take them out. This was my biggest complaint, as I am used to the non-stationary enemies in Contras going down in one hit or so.

Upon beating the game you unlock a boss rush as well as access to the melee characters; they replace getting weapon powerups with having a rapid fire melee attack that has a shockwave component to it. So you need to be more aggressive, but that aggression is paid off with big damage. The only problem is the melee requires you to mash, which will quickly get tiring.

If you're a Contra fan this is the game for you. It even has poorly recorded voice audio like an arcade game for ambiance.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by MrPopo Sun Dec 01, 2019 9:53 pm

First 50:
1. Octopath Traveler - Switch
2. Dusk - PC
3. Forsaken Remastered - PC
4. Tales of Eternia - PS1
5. Resident Evil 2 (2019) - PC
6. Pokémon Trading Card Game - GBC
7. Metro Exodus - PC
8. Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - PC
9. Project Warlock - PC
10. Magic: The Gathering - PC
11. Ghost 1.0 - PC
12. Call of Duty 2 - PC
13. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4
14. Revelations: The Demon Slayer - GBC
15. Mechstermination Force - Switch
16. Shadow Warrior Classic Redux - PC
17. Lost Sphear - Switch
18. Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal - PC
19. Dragon Quest III - NES
20. Rage 2 - PC
21. Blood - PC
22. Harvest Moon 64 - N64
23. Battlefield V - PC
24. Sigil - PC
25. Shining Force III: Scenario 2 - Saturn
26. Shining Force III: Scenario 3 - Saturn
27. Borderlands 2: Commander Lillith and the Fight for Sanctuary - PC
28. Gato Roboto - Switch
29. Timespinner - Switch
30. Amid Evil - PC
31. Pillars of Eternity II: Beast of Winter - PC
32. Pillars of Eternity II: Seeker, Slayer, Survivor - PC
33. Pillars of Eternity II: The Forgotten Sanctum - PC
34. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Switch
35. Orphan - PC
36. Project Nimbus - PC
37. Hardcore Mecha - PC
38. Grey Goo - PC
39. Giants: Citizen Kabuto - PC
40. Wolfenstein: Youngblood - PC
41. Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Switch
42. Metal Wolf Chaos XD - PC
43. Ion Fury - PC
44. Final Fantasy Adventure - GB
45. Astral Chain - Switch
46. Rebel Galaxy Outlaw - PC
47. Blasphemous - Switch
48. Daemon x Machina - Switch
49. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Switch
50. Borderlands 3 - PC

51. Valfaris - Switch
52. Unreal: Return to Na Pali - PC
53. The Outer Worlds - PC
54. MechWarrior 4: Black Knight - PC
55. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - PC
56. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: System Rift - PC
57. MDK - PC
58. Pokémon Sword - Switch
59. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - PC
60. Blazing Chrome - Switch
61. MDK 2 - PC

Hot off the success of Baldur's Gate, Bioware was commissioned by Interplay to make a sequel to MDK. Bioware had yet to be pigeonholed as an RPG company (they were 50/50, as their first game was Shattered Steel, a mech game you should play this month's Together Retro). MDK 2 manages to be both a step forward and a step back compared to the first.

The game actually makes an effort at having a plot, though it is still quite thin. The aliens that invaded in the first game had one more crawler that you go to take out, but then a big guy shows up and fucks shit up, and now the whole team gets involved in fighting off the aliens. Kurt is back in his sniper suit, but now you can control both Max and Professor Hawkins. The game is nine levels plus a final boss level, with the game having you go between each protagonist in turn.

Kurt is just like before, but with some quality of life improvements. He can now strafe while sniping, and has a powerup that makes you invincible while sniping until you take too much damage. This takes a lot of frustration out of the sniping, which is good because they use it more. You'll need to snipe these blue spheres to unlock paths to further points in the level, and certain enemies can only be killed with the sniper rifle. Max is the firepower type; he can equip up to four weapons and will be constantly switching up new ones as you progress through the level (as they all have limited ammo and are discarded when empty). He also has access to a jetpack for traversing certain parts of the level, and dealing with its fuel supply is important. Finally, Dr. Hawkins is the "do weird things" character; you equip an item in each hand and then can use them individually (such as with a healing item or the ladder) or combine them (such as combining bread with the atomic toaster to shoot at your enemies). This leads to three different feeling types of levels, which keeps things from getting quite as samey as the first game.

As you might have picked up from the character descriptions, this game definitely leans more towards the puzzle platformer end of things. Kurt frequently has to figure out the right order to activate sniper orbs, while Max's jetpack segments require you to manage the fuel to get through. And Dr. Hawkins's levels are focused on figuring out how to open a door or defuse a bomb, rather than combat. Unfortunately, the game has some lousy signposting at times. Sometimes the lighting causes you to miss a path to the next segment, while other times it is not obvious what the puzzle is until you start randomly firing and discover a health bar of something destructible.

Some of the platforming is also quite annoying, especially Max's jetpack levels. The physics of it are such that once you start falling you can't really arrest it without burning all your fuel. This makes some segments merely tedious (you need to repeat the same thing too many times) and others punishing without save scumming (oh, you fell, time to repeat ALL that traversal). In fact, the biggest thing I noticed is the game stretches many things out a bit too long. Kurt has a combat arena that is two encounters too many and Dr. Hawkins has a puzzle where once you solve it you have to solve the exact same puzzle twice more. Not variations, just do the exact thing you did before.

I think overall MDK 2 is a more fun game than the first, but it definitely has its share of warts. And the main gimmicks of Kurt are not nearly as interesting as they were back in the day, so that can make things seem a lot more ho-hum to a modern player.
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pierrot
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by pierrot Mon Dec 02, 2019 4:35 pm

MrPopo wrote:The biggest thing about the game is that most enemies take several hits to take out, with man requiring even multiple melee hits (though it fortunately has a knockback to non-bosses). Since the game likes to spawn enemies behind you to force you to keep moving you can frequently get into bad spots where if you don't approach the enemies in a particular way they will get to you before you have enough damage on them to take them out. This was my biggest complaint, as I am used to the non-stationary enemies in Contras going down in one hit or so.

This was my main criticism of Blazing Chrome, also. I didn't really like the game, overall, because it was kind of too close to a game I love (Hard Corps) while still being too far away. Visually, they had it in the bag, but the way it played; the way levels were laid out; enemy placements and designs; the crappy weapons; that stuff just didn't work for me.

I actually thought it kind of played better as a hack 'n slash than a run 'n gun--.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by dsheinem Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:22 pm

Games Beaten 2019

Kentucky Route Zero Act 1 - PC
All Our Asias - PC
Shape of the World - Switch
Hidden Folks - PC
Hyrule Warriors - Wii U
Onrush - PS4
Assassin's Creed Origins - X1
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown -360
Metro Exodus - PS4
Split/Second - 360
Far Cry: New Dawn - PS4
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - X1
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite - PS4
Rage - PC
Red Faction: Armageddon - 360
Momonga Pinball Adventure - Switch
Psycho Soldier - Vita (Arcade)
Super Mutant Alien Assault - Vita
Burly Men at Sea - Vita
Sigil - PC
Fat Princess - PS3
Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary - PC
Monster World IV - Genesis (PS3)
Marvel's Spider-Man - PS4
Mega Man X4 - Switch
Armored Warriors - Switch (Arcade)
Battle Circuit - Switch (Arcade)
Borderlands 3 - PS4
Hyper Dyne Side Arms - PS3(Arcade)
Legendary Wings - PS3 (Arcade)
The Outer Worlds - X1
Akai Katana - 360 *new*
RayStorm - PS2 (Arcade)
Operation C - PS4 (Game Boy)
Kid Dracula - Switch (Famicom)
Castlevania: The Adventure - Switch (Game Boy) *new*

Total: 36


Previously: 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

I forgot to list Akai Katana in my last update, but I finally played through this Cave title, one of the very few I hadn't spent time with. It is fine for what it is, but I wouldn't rank it amongst my fave Cave horis or fave Cave titles for the 360. Worth a play for genre fans and it certainly has enough to dig into for folks looking to 1cc it and try various modes, etc...but the basic design ideas didn't really do it for me.

Likewise, Castlevania: The Adventure is a bit of a letdown for the series and for Konami's otherwise amazing run of games around this time period. The game is sluggish, level design is uninspired, jumps are often difficult to land and border on unfair, and completing the four levels doesn't take a very long time (good for your batteries, I guess?). In the end, it comes across as sort of a poster child for "bad portable port of a major console franchise".
Last edited by dsheinem on Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by prfsnl_gmr Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:45 pm

I didn’t much care for CV: The Adventure either, but I thought the third level (the one where you are constantly flogging away from spikes) was pretty rad. The sequel, Belmont’s Revenge, is much, much better.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by BoneSnapDeez Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:49 pm

1. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
2. Dragon Scroll: Yomigaerishi Maryuu (Famicom)
3. Ninja-kun: Majou no Bouken (Famicom)
4. Hello Kitty World (Famicom)
5. Galaxian (Famicom)
6. Esper Dream 2: Aratanaru Tatakai (Famicom)
7. Ninja Jajamaru-kun (Famicom)
8. Jajamaru no Daibouken (Famicom)
9. Front Line (Famicom)
10. Field Combat (Famicom)
11. Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
12. Mississippi Satsujin Jiken: Murder on the Mississippi (Famicom)
13. Space Harrier (Famicom)
14. Geimos (Famicom)
15. Attack Animal Gakuen (Famicom)
16. Sky Destroyer (Famicom)
17. Ripple Island (Famicom)
18. Oishinbo: Kyukyoku no Menu 3bon Syoubu (Famicom)
19. Bird Week (Famicom)
20. Baltron (Famicom)
21. Yie Ar Kung-Fu (Famicom)
22. Challenger (Famicom)
23. Ikki (Famicom)
24. Dough Boy (Famicom)
25. Atlantis no Nazo (Famicom)
26. Bio Senshi Dan: Increaser tono Tatakai (Famicom)
27. Yume Penguin Monogatari (Famicom)
28. King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch (Famicom)
29. Congo Bongo (Atari 2600)
30. Coconuts (Atari 2600)
31. Arcade Archives: Donkey Kong (Switch eShop)
32. Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome (Super Famicom)
33. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Super Burger Time (Switch eShop)
34. Fire Fly (Atari 2600)
35. Fire Fighter (Atari 2600)
36. Space Jockey (Atari 2600)
37. Airlock (Atari 2600)
38. Makai Hakkenden Shada (PC Engine)
39. Squeeze Box (Atari 2600)
40. Lagoon (SNES)
41. Atlantis (Atari 2600)
42. Xak III: The Eternal Recurrence (PC Engine CD)
43. Blue Blink (PC Engine)
44. Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (PC Engine CD)
45. Cally's Caves 3 (Steam)
46. Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet (Steam)
47. Contra (NES)
48. Arcade Archives: Vs. Super Mario Bros. (Switch eShop)
49. Arcade Archives: Moon Cresta (Switch eShop)
50. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Joe and Mac Caveman Ninja (Switch eShop)
51. Ice Hockey (Atari 2600)
52. Indy 500 (Atari 2600)
53. Video Olympics (Atari 2600)
54. Fast Eddie (Atari 2600)
55. Muv-Luv (Steam)
56. Air-Sea Battle (Atari 2600)
57. Combat (Atari 2600)
58. Street Racer (Atari 2600)
59. Food Fight (Atari 7800)
60. Galaga (Atari 7800)
61. Donkey Kong (ColecoVision)
62. Cosmic Avenger (ColecoVision)
63. Mouse Trap (ColecoVision)
64. Zaxxon (ColecoVision)
65. Armor Battle (Intellivision)
66. Armor Ambush (Atari 2600)
67. Basic Math (Atari 2600)
68. Astrosmash (Intellivision)
69. Astroblast (Atari 2600)
70. Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
71. Beauty & the Beast (Intellivision)
72. Surround (Atari 2600)
73. Borderline (SG-1000)
74. Omega Race (VIC-20)
75. Star Battle (VIC-20)
76. Mahou Kishi Rayearth (Game Gear)
77. Muv-Luv Alternative (Vita)
78. Joe & Mac (SNES)
79. Muv-Luv photonflowers* (Steam)
80. Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)
81. Cadash (Genesis)
82. Circus Charlie (Famicom)
83. Ankoku Shinwa: Yamato Takeru Densetsu (Famicom)

84. Gyromite (NES)
85. Suishou no Dragon (Famicom Disk System)


Gyromite
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Gyromite is a 1985 NES launch title, which also saw a release on the Japanese Famicom two months prior. The North American version is notable for being rushed onto shelves. The initial run of Gyromite carts contain the Japanese Famicom PCB hooked up to a pin converter to boot the game on the 72-pin North American NES console. As such, the title screen of Gyromite still displays the words Robot Gyro, which is what the game was known as in its native land. For some time Gyromite was a favorite among retro game collectors, as said converter could be removed and utilized to run additional Famicom games on an NES; of course today there are much easier workarounds. And we've just scratched the surface of the game's idiosyncrasies.

At first glance, Gyromite appears to be a traditional old Nintendo platformer. Stages span a couple of screens horizontally, and are comprised of a series of girders and ropes. The player takes control of a professor named Hector. He's trying to rid his laboratory (40 consecutive stages) of dynamite before the timer hits zero. Said dynamite is defused simply by touching it. Hector's enemies are these cutesy alien-dinosaur things called "smicks." As Hector wields no weapon and is too tubby to jump, the smicks must be dealt with by more creative means. They're attracted to the radishes scattered throughout each stage. These can be picked up and moved by Hector; when a smick is busy munching they can't deal any damage. The player can also operate a series of blue and red pillars. Pillars can be raised or lowered to create (or block) pathways, and even crush an unsuspecting smick or two. But watch out, as Hector can be squashed into oblivion as well.

The audiovisual presentation is utilitarian, but pleasingly retro. Like most "black label" titles, the game boasts a perpetually black background, with the stage designs themselves resembling those of Donkey King Junior, albeit more cluttered. The sprites are charming, and the animation is rather amusing, especially when Hector takes damage. The soundtrack is endearing, but expect to hear the same simple ditty over and over.

As for the controls, that's where things get weird. See, Gyromite is one of the games to employ the use of the cutest NES accessory: R.O.B. the Robot. And by "one of the games" I mean one of two. The other, Stack-Up, is very rare, and quite terrible. R.O.B. is used to manipulate the aforementioned blue and red pillars. Basically, when the player presses the start button the screen begins to flash lights in quick succession: this switches to "R.O.B. mode" where the robot can be instructed. R.O.B. was originally packaged with a series of "gyros" (spinning tops), levers, and other assorted plastic junk. Through some very tedious choreography R.O.B. shuffles some things around and eventually raises or lowers an in-game pillar. It's all just a complex method to get R.O.B. to press A or B on the second controller. Which begs the question, can Gyromite be played sans R.O.B.? Yes, yes indeed. Which is incredibly useful: while Gyromite is cheap and easy to obtain, a complete R.O.B. is the exact opposite. So, with R.O.B. abandoned we're left with three control options: 1) a single human player uses both NES controllers to play the game, 2) one human player controls Hector while another human player controls the pillars (great way to play with a young kid), and 3) ditch the traditional NES altogether and use an emulator to totally reconfigure controls to a single controller.
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This all sounds dreary and terrible and rather difficult. But here's the thing: the game is designed to match the incredible slowness of R.O.B. the Robot. Hector waddles around leisurely. The smicks are out for a stroll. Pillars bob up and down lazily. Players are allowed eight minutes to complete each tiny stage. Thus, even when juggling two controllers, any moderately competent player is going to simply dominate Gyromite. The game's only real "challenge" was predicated on forcing the player into a relationship with R.O.B., who can be ditched at a moment's notice. Not to say the game is a complete cakewalk. There are some scattered tricky moments, and some stages can become unwinnable if dynamite isn't defused in a specific order. Though, generally speaking, a R.O.B.-less playthrough lacks challenge, and the difficulty itself levels off pretty quickly (stage 40 isn't really any harder than stage 20, for instance).

There's also a mode B. Most of these old NES games feature such a mode, which is usually just a slight tweak to difficulty. But in Gyromite mode B presents a completely different challenge. Here, both radishes and dynamite have been scrapped. The goal is to steer a sleepwalking professor from stage entrance to exit: he lumbers along mindlessly like the protagonists of Lemmings. This mode is entirely R.O.B. reliant (controller two reliant) as the only way to change the professor's course is to manipulate the pillars he encounters. Should the pathway be insufficient, the dear professor encounters a smick and loses one life. All told, mode B provides a creative spin to the core gameplay, not to mention 25 new stages (bringing the grand total to a whopping 65). There's only one issue: while mode A is slow, mode B is downright glacial. There's no way to speed up the professor's walk cycle, and the bulk of playtime consists of waiting for him to move from one set of pillars to the next.

Gyromite is a bit of a small tragedy. The core design is rather creative and quite good, but its (supposed) reliance on a gimmicky accessory really takes the experience down several notches. Given its unorthodox play method, I would hesitate to recommend buying a copy. That said, if you have a cartridge collecting dust because you lack a R.O.B. don't despair. Plug in two controllers and pop that bad boy in. It's quite a trip.


Suishou no Dragon
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While Final Fantasy was likely the average American gamer's first exposure to Square, the developer had been cranking out Japanese exclusives for years prior. A supporter of both obscure Japanese computers and the Nintendo Famicom, in 1986 Square also began releasing games for Nintendo's fledgling Disk System. Their disk library included such "classics" as Tobidase Daisakusen (3-D WorldRunner) and Hao-Kun no Fushigi na Tabi (Mystery Quest), as well as oddballs like the initial duo of Deep Dungeon dungeon crawlers, the Egyptian-themed RPG Cleopatra no Mahou, and the Ys-like bumper Kalin no Tsurugi. But Square's first Disk System title was of a different breed altogether. Known as Suishou no Dragon, it's a Japanese style adventure game, not unlike Enix's own Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken. Nowadays, we'd call it a visual novel. The game received a (very good) fan translation in 2003.

The plot involves a teenager named Hugh who, while flying in deep space, encounters a peculiar "suishou" (crystal) dragon. He soon wakes up dazed, to find his ship damaged and friends missing. Under the guidance of a mysterious woman named Jean, it's up to Hugh to recover his missing shipmates. What's immediately apparent about Suishou no Dragon is how gorgeous the character designs are. Artwork is presented courtesy of Nippon Sunrise, and the game boasts that classic 80s anime science fantasy look. Most NPCs are female and rather pretty (how shocking), complete with eye-blinking and mouth-speaking animations. Sounds fairly basic, and yet there are plenty of visual novels today that present only pure static images. In comparison to the ladies, the scenery is a bit bland: gray hallways, desert expanses, and the black vastness of space.

Actions are chosen from a menu, and a cursor is used to select onscreen objects for examination and manipulation. The game ditches the traditional text-based menu system in favor of a horizontal strip of images. The player has the option to move, examine an item, take an item, talk to NPCs, use an item, open doors, operate computer terminals, and abandon (or sell) their goods. There's even a save function, though anyone familiar with "the route" can roll through this game in twenty minutes. Success is predicated on experimentation, and Suishou no Dragon can be completed by anyone who has the patience for trial and error gameplay. In Portopia, it was impossible to "die." Poor decisions led to a reprimand delivered by the chief of police. Similarly, an error made in Suishou no Dragon simply sends the player back a few "steps" accompanied by a brief "try again!" pep talk.
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While the game exudes a compelling atmosphere, there are some odd issues to contend with. Control is strangely clunky. Here's but one example. To choose to "move" once must hold down the B button and scroll through the action options until the move icon is selected. This then transforms the standard arrow cursor into a different arrow, indicating direction of travel. Picking a direction isn't done via the obvious method (with the d-pad) but by tapping B until the arrow rotates and points the appropriate way. Then A is pressed to confirm, though this movement action can be cancelled at any time... by pressing the start button. Speaking of directions, there's some inconsistency here. For instance, a "down" arrow can refer to southward movement or a drop "down into" a vertical shaft, depending on the scenario. And the game's oddly quiet. There are some great title, opening, and ending themes (by Nobuo Uematsu) but the experience is virtually silent otherwise. Sound effects are incredibly sparse, unless you count the continuous whirring and humming of the Famicom Disk System.

Suishou no Dragon was originally packaged with a full-color manga detailing the game's backstory. It's just as entertaining as the game itself, if not more so. The game was also the subject of a ridiculous (though not wholly implausible) hoax. It was said that a cheat code could be used to disrobe the Cynthia character. Apparently this statement was conjured up by a Japanese video game magazine to test whether or not other publications were blindly copying their articles. Surfing around the internet for additional information led me to a fan-made flash animation where Cynthia indeed gets undressed. I wish I could say I'm surprised this exists.

This is a strange one. What's here is good, but there's simply not enough here. I'm left wishing the game was longer..... and better. It's amazing how many developers threw together a rudimentary visual novel during the Famicom era. Despite its shortcomings, the fantastic artwork and Square connections make Suishou no Dragon one of the more intriguing examples.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by Ack Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:52 pm

The First 50:
1. Dusk (PC)(FPS)
2. Project: Snowblind (PC)(FPS)
3. Soldier of Fortune: Platinum Edition (PC)(FPS)
4. Ziggurat (PC)(FPS)
5. Wolfenstein 3D: Ultimate Challenge (PC)(FPS)
6. Destiny 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
7. Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris (PC)(FPS/RPG)
8. Destiny 2: Warmind (PC)(FPS/RPG)

9. Destiny 2: Forsaken (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Star Wars: Rebel Assault (PC)(Rail Shooter)

11. Castle Werewolf (PC)(FPS)
12. Project Warlock (PC)(FPS)
13. Castle Crashers (PC)(Hack and Slash)
14. This Strange Realm of Mine (PC)(FPS)
15. BioShock Remastered (PC)(FPS)
16. BioShock 2 (PC)(FPS)
17. BioShock 2: Minerva's Den (PC)(FPS)

18. Blood (PC)(FPS)
19. Blood: Cryptic Passage (PC)(FPS)
20. Blood: Post Mortem (PC)(FPS)

21. Shadow Warrior (PC)(FPS)
22. Shadow Warrior: Twin Dragon (PC)(FPS)
23. Shadow Warrior: Wanton Destruction (PC)(FPS)

24. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (PC)(FPS)
25. F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn (PC)(FPS)

26. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC)(RPG)
27. Men of Valor (PC)(FPS)
28. Ultima III: Exodus (PC)(RPG)
29. Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space (PC)(Point and Click)

30. Midnight Ultra (PC)(FPS)
31. Amid Evil (PC)(FPS)
32. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC)(RPG)
33. Betrayer (PC)(Horror)

34. Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith & the Fight for Sanctuary (PC)(FPS/RPG)
35. Far Cry 2 (PC)(FPS)
36. Apocryph (PC)(FPS)
37. Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor (PC)(RPG)

38. Menzoberranzan (PC)(RPG)
39. TimeShift (PC)(FPS)
40. Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition (PC)(RPG)
41. Shadowgate (PC)(Point and Click)

42. Might & Magic Book One (PC)(RPG)
43. Miasmata (PC)(Adventure)
44. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (PC)(FPS)
45. Legendary (PC)(FPS)
46. Hedon (PC)(FPS)
47. Last Rites (PC)(FPS)
48. Half-Dead 2 (PC)(Adventure)
49. Dishonored (PC)(Stealth Adventure)
50. Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (PC)(RPG)

51. Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall (PC)(Stealth Adventure)
52. Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches (PC)(Stealth Adventure)


What? DLC? On MY Games Beaten thread?

Yeah, yeah, get over yourself. These two Dishonored DLCs pair together into a full length campaign with nearly as much content as the base game, and I played through them both twice in very different ways, so I'd say I've put in enough time to call them both out separately. In fact, I've gone through at this point and earned every achievement they offer, tried out all the new gear, explored every new level, and found every piece of gold and magical trinket. I even went back on a few levels to figure out how to murder literally everyone, so yeah, I'm calling it.

The Dishonored DLCs have you take on the role of Daud, the assassin who murdered the empress and set events in motion in the base game. While you have the ultimate decision over whether he lives or dies in that, these two cover what Daud is doing in the meantime, and you know what he's doing? He's saving the daughter of the same empress he murdered in front of Corvo from a powerful witch. Why? Because the great and powerful Outsider apparently finds it interesting to pit his children against one another.

Yeah, the expansions fill out more about the repercussions of Corvo's escape and the city-state's decline but also give further backstory into the Outsider's chosen few. There are only a handful, and while in some cases their gifts are somewhat different (Daud's powers are similar to Corvos but not quite the same) to the radically off (the big enemy, Delilah, use earthen witchcraft and powers around painting and capturing the soul). To kick all this off, the Outsider simply gives Daud the name Delilah, and that's it; from there, it's investigation, betrayal, assassination, and murder. Simply knowing the others exist pits these characters against each other.

Of course, not only does Daud receive some modified powers, such as stopping time while choosing a teleport location or seeing runes and bone charms while using his vision power, he also can summon his assassins and gets the pull ability, which is hugely beneficial when getting through the game silently. His gear is also different, incorporating new mines that can knock guards out and gas canisters that stun them long enough to sneak up and finish the job. And while his gear gets similar upgrades and the most important pieces are there (namely silent boots), it's not entirely a 1 to 1 parity. The most interesting change is that Daud has connections, so he can spend money for favors between missions, some of which give additional info, some of which grant extra items or more cash. In fact, some of your decisions in previous DLC missions can actually impact which favors are available later across DLCs.

The new DLCs also offer a little more variety in enemy types, with armored butchers with saws appearing in the first, while the second has the witches and their skeletal dogs. The new levels offer a variety of means to go about your missions, and one involving warring gangs in the Garment District is particularly involved, with the player going back and forth between several locations. Between the two DLC sets, I preferred the levels of the Knife of Dunwall slightly, though both offer some good design and interesting challenges.

While not everyone is into achievements, the ones here do encourage alternate playthroughs, greater challenge, and some creative thinking. I particularly liked the idea of sticking an arc mine on a rat, as it isn't something I would ordinarily have thought to do. The base game generally used achievements well, and the DLCs continue that trend.

I still have one more run of the original game to do, and there are still the Trials of Dunwall, a challenge-based DLC which offers up interesting ways to explore the game's mechanics and pushes you to push your knowledge and skill. Some of them are quite difficult, so I may pick at them for a while instead of giving them a dedicated push. I'm feeling a little burned out on the game right now, so we'll see how I choose to approach it going forward.
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Re: Games Beaten 2019

by prfsnl_gmr Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:19 am

First 50
1. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary (NDS)
2. Reigns (iOS)
3. Castlevania: The Adventure (GB)
4. Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge (GB)
5. Castlevania Legends (GB)
6. Yankai’s Triangle (iOS)
7. Mega Man III (GB)
8. Mega Man IV (GB)
9. Mega Man V (GB)
10. Sin & Punishment (N64)
11. Love You to Bits (iOS)
12. Mega Man Powered Up - Old Style (PSP)
13. Mega Man Powered Up - New Style (PSP)
14. Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA)
15. Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (NDS)
16. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! (NDS)
17. Detective Pikachu (3DS)
18. Super Fantasy Zone (Genesis)
19. Fantasy Zone Gear (GG)
20. Fantasy Zone - The Maze (SMS)
21. Fantasy Zone (Famicom)
22. Fantasy Zone (NES)
23. Kung Fu Master (2600)
24. Kid Dracula (Famicom)
25. Kid Dracula (GB)
26. Fantasy Zone (TG16)
27. Double Dragon V (SNES)
28. Fantasy Zone II (Famicom)
29. Street Fighter: The Movie (PS1)
30. Fire Fly (2600)
31. Pac Man (2600)
32. Extreme Sports with the Berenstain Bears (GBC)
33. Fantasy Zone (PS2)
34. Space Fantasy Zone (TG16)
35. Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf Fantasy Zone (Genesis)
36. Mega Man (GG)
37. Konami Pixel Puzzle (iOS)
38. Qix (Arcade/NES)
39. Congo Bongo (Arcade)
40. Phantasy Star Gaiden (GG)
41. Phantasy Star Adventure (GG)
42. Panzer Dragoon Mini (GG)
43. Spartan X-2 (Famicom)
44. BS The Legend of Zelda: The Ancient Stone Tablets (Super Famicom)
45. BS The Legend of Zelda (Super Famicom)
46. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! (NDS)
47. Double Dribble (NES)
48. Super Pro Football (INTV)
49. Indy 500 (2600)
50. Tecmo Bowl (NES)

51. Ninja Gaiden (GG)
52. SonSon (Arcade)
53. Wonder Girl: The Dragon’s Trap (iOS)
54. Minit (iOS)
55. Ninja Gaiden (SMS)
56. Surround (2600)
57. Pocket Bomberman (GBC)
58. Shadowgate (iOS)
59. Kuru Kuru Kururin (GBA)
60. Metroid Prime Hunters - First Hunt (NDS)
61. Mekorama (iOS)
62. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
63. Akamajou Dracula Peke (TG16)
64. Darius Burst (iOS)
65. DoDonPachi Resurrection HD (iOS)
66. Vigilante (TG16)
67. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
68. Oxenfree (iOS)
69. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (NES)
70. Tormentum: Dark Sorrow (iOS)
71. Hidden Folks (iOS)
72. 3D Classics Urban Champion (3DS)
73. Ufouria (NES)
74. Eternal Ring (PS2)
75. Super Phantom Cat (iOS)
76. Vectorman (Genesis)
77. The Room: Old Sins (iOS)


Super Phantom Cat is a mobile platformer. It has twee graphics and music, and it received good reviews. Apparently, those reviewers haven’t played a platformer, however, and I found the level design and mechanics to be really dull.

Vectorman is a Genesis game with great graphics and some baffling design decisions. I wrote about it in this month’s TR thread.

The Room: Old Sins is the fourth game in the Room series. It serves as a prequel to the other games, and it’s just as good as it’s predecessors. It looks great, and the puzzles are clever. After four games, however, the formula’s getting a bit stale, and while I will certainly play more games in the series, I wouldn’t mind seeing the developer try something else.
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