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marurun
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by marurun Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:50 pm

Made it halfway through level 3 in Mini-land Mayhem. By level 8 this game is going to be quite a challenge.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by marurun Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:19 pm

Finished world 3 in mini-land mayhem. Halfway through 4, now. The DK boss encounters are starting to get a bit more complex. So glad the designers had restraint. They could kick my ass if they wanted to.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by prfsnl_gmr Tue Mar 19, 2019 7:20 am

I’m also rocking the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games. I’m about 3/4 of the way through Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2, and I started up Mario vs. Donkey Kong Minis March Again to see what it’s like. It’s actually very different from a gameplay perspective. In Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2, the minis perform some actions automatically, but you have a lot of direct control over them. This is not the case in Mario vs. Donkey Kong Minis March Again. In that game, you activate them and manipulate their environment to get them to the goal. They move much more automatically. I can’t say I prefer one mode of play to the other; they are just more different than I expected initially.

The music absolutely rules in each game, and the subtle ways it changes when you set things in motion is pretty great.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by marurun Tue Mar 19, 2019 11:16 am

Mini-land Mayhem is the same way as Minis March Again, I assume. You can activate them, but then they largely go on their own and interact with the environment in automatic ways. The way you manipulate them through the game is by manipulating the environment. You "draw" girders and conveyors between connection points; you move pipes and springboards; not sure what else you can do, but I'm currently working with pipes. And DK is always the boss of each level.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by Ack Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:31 pm

Since I beat it over the weekend, I figured I'd point out that Castle Crashers has a monkey animal companion that is highly useful. He ostensibly increases the frequency of item drops, which translates to more health items. I used him as soon as I got him and kept him through the rest of the game. If you guys go back to or try Castle Crashers for the first time, try the monkey. He will be your best friend.
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marurun
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by marurun Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:46 pm

I always wanted a monkey for a best friend.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by prfsnl_gmr Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:55 pm

marurun wrote:Mini-land Mayhem is the same way as Minis March Again, I assume. You can activate them, but then they largely go on their own and interact with the environment in automatic ways. The way you manipulate them through the game is by manipulating the environment. You "draw" girders and conveyors between connection points; you move pipes and springboards; not sure what else you can do, but I'm currently working with pipes. And DK is always the boss of each level.


That sounds right. Minis March Again is, I think, a DSiWare prototype of Mini-Land Mayhem, which received a full retail release a year after Minis March Again’s release as a downloadable title. Minis March Again only has four floors, and the ways the environment can be manipulated are much more limited than in Mini-Land Mayhem. The basic gameplay is the same, though, I think.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by marurun Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:16 pm

I guess when describing Mini-Land Mayhem I should describe it more as reverse-Lemmings, then. I wonder what other games operate on a similar model, or if this was relatively unique at the time.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by prfsnl_gmr Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:28 pm

Ivy the Kiwi?, which was released about the same time, is pretty similar. Taking it way back, I think a few NES light gun games, namely Baby Boomer, employed analogous mechanics.
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Re: March Together Retro: Arthur, Monkeys!

by BoneSnapDeez Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:59 pm

Got three Famicom monkey games today. No, not specifically for the coming week and a half; they were on my wishlist anyway and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to pounce.

I'd like to beat Konami's King Kong 2 before the month is up. Played a bit this afternoon and it seems pretty competent. Also, I've already finished the original King Kong on the 2600. No one needs to play that.

As far as Saiyuuki World goes, I didn't know (or forgot) that it was a modified version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, so I'd really like to hit up the original first.

Now, Crazy Climber... I now own three versions of this game. I don't think I've made it past the first level in any variant. I hate the controls. Despise them. In the game you play as a seemingly naked man, scaling a building, with a big ape on top. The arcade original dates all the back to 1980 before "normal" and "good" controls were codified. It used two joysticks, one for each of the man's arms. It's not as simple as it sounds. You couldn't simply hold up on both sticks to make him continuously climb upwards. Instead, you have to alternate moving the sticks in an up & down manner, to have the man reach for a window sill, then pull himself up. Horizontal movement is even more awkward. All the while, there are enemies to dodge and they have no issue moving freely and fluidly around the screen.

With the console versions, attempts were made to emulate this control scheme. For instance, on the Super Famicom the d-pad controls one arm while the ABXY cluster controls the other. On the Famicom... Just look...
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What the shit is that?! Let me tell you. To play the game you hold two controllers, oriented vertically, with these weird nipple sticks attached over the d-pads.

I got my game cart-only, so I'm sans nipples, but the song remains the same. Two controllers, two d-pads. It barely works. And good lord does it suck.

Anyone ever play this on the Atari 2600? That one looks somewhat functional. This may be a situation similar to Ikari Warriors where I despise every version of the game except for the one on the 2600. Lulz.
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