Re: Games Beaten 2018
Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:24 pm
1. Jungle Book (SNES)(Platformer)
2. Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (SNES)(Light Gun Shooter)
Yes, I took some time off of my busy schedule of playing RPGs, FPS, and complaining about platformers to sit down with a game for the Super Scope on the Super Nintendo. I had a good time. Do you know why? Because Metal Combat is a lot of fun, that's why! You serve as the gunner in a mech which has to take part in one on one giant robot fights, in a meandering story that takes you from battlefields around the Earth and across the solar system into the mothership of an invading alien species. And with each fight, you gain more weapons and defensive items you can swap between, so long as you don't use them all up.
The visuals on Metal Combat are on point, thanks in part to its mid-90s anime aesthetic. More important though is that you can see everything you need to: incoming enemy projectiles are big and bright, enemy mechs always feature a nice contrast from the background so you know what you're looking at, certain attacks will reveal weakpoints on your opponents that you must abuse, and most importantly, battle damage is a big deal! It's usually satisfying to blow off an enemy's arm or leg, though sometimes doing this can reveal new tricks and attacks from your opponent, so it's not always a good idea...just mostly a good idea.
You're limited in your offensive and defensive capabilities, but the additional gear you can pick up between fights is a real boon. However, you can end up with more than you can carry, which means you'll have to select what you want to bring into a fight with you each time. This gives a strategic element, and sometimes the choice is absolutely key to victory; I wiped out half a battle by properly using one item and dropped a difficult opponent down to a manageable battle, because I made the right call. Make the wrong one, and you may well end up at the Game Over screen.
There is also some variation in the game's storyline, depending on when you lose a fight. I learned that during the final battle, you can lose at the final form only to have your pilot sacrifice himself to keep you going. Conversely, you can also beat the final battle without him dying at all. Unfortunately there isn't much of an ending, so this doesn't play out, but it could have made for a nice touch that I was genuinely surprised about when it happened.
If I have any complaints, it's that a couple of enemies are really tough to figure out. I appreciate that some can get easier or harder, depending on what you destroy on them, but one fight in particular took forever because I couldn't figure out how to hit my opponent. It ended up a long defensive match of me shooting down enemy projectiles and then returning fire in different places and hoping, until I finally figured out how to make some headway. This was a rare occurrence though, and even during this particular fight, I found myself having fun.
I've only ever gotten around to beating a few of the Super Scope games, but I believe I enjoyed this one the most, even moreso than Yoshi's Safari, which was my previous favorite. Metal Combat is worth checking out. I really need to go back and play its predecessor, Battle Clash.
2. Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (SNES)(Light Gun Shooter)
Yes, I took some time off of my busy schedule of playing RPGs, FPS, and complaining about platformers to sit down with a game for the Super Scope on the Super Nintendo. I had a good time. Do you know why? Because Metal Combat is a lot of fun, that's why! You serve as the gunner in a mech which has to take part in one on one giant robot fights, in a meandering story that takes you from battlefields around the Earth and across the solar system into the mothership of an invading alien species. And with each fight, you gain more weapons and defensive items you can swap between, so long as you don't use them all up.
The visuals on Metal Combat are on point, thanks in part to its mid-90s anime aesthetic. More important though is that you can see everything you need to: incoming enemy projectiles are big and bright, enemy mechs always feature a nice contrast from the background so you know what you're looking at, certain attacks will reveal weakpoints on your opponents that you must abuse, and most importantly, battle damage is a big deal! It's usually satisfying to blow off an enemy's arm or leg, though sometimes doing this can reveal new tricks and attacks from your opponent, so it's not always a good idea...just mostly a good idea.
You're limited in your offensive and defensive capabilities, but the additional gear you can pick up between fights is a real boon. However, you can end up with more than you can carry, which means you'll have to select what you want to bring into a fight with you each time. This gives a strategic element, and sometimes the choice is absolutely key to victory; I wiped out half a battle by properly using one item and dropped a difficult opponent down to a manageable battle, because I made the right call. Make the wrong one, and you may well end up at the Game Over screen.
There is also some variation in the game's storyline, depending on when you lose a fight. I learned that during the final battle, you can lose at the final form only to have your pilot sacrifice himself to keep you going. Conversely, you can also beat the final battle without him dying at all. Unfortunately there isn't much of an ending, so this doesn't play out, but it could have made for a nice touch that I was genuinely surprised about when it happened.
If I have any complaints, it's that a couple of enemies are really tough to figure out. I appreciate that some can get easier or harder, depending on what you destroy on them, but one fight in particular took forever because I couldn't figure out how to hit my opponent. It ended up a long defensive match of me shooting down enemy projectiles and then returning fire in different places and hoping, until I finally figured out how to make some headway. This was a rare occurrence though, and even during this particular fight, I found myself having fun.
I've only ever gotten around to beating a few of the Super Scope games, but I believe I enjoyed this one the most, even moreso than Yoshi's Safari, which was my previous favorite. Metal Combat is worth checking out. I really need to go back and play its predecessor, Battle Clash.