25th March 2010, 6:37 AM
25th March 2010, 7:12 AM
Well that title sure solves the problem... er, yeah... :)
2nd April 2010, 4:14 PM
So yeah, other than Street Racer which I made a post about a few days ago, I just beat Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear. Quite a difficult little game, I hate that there are no rings in the boss levels... having to beat all the bosses without getting hit is brutal. That the last level before the boss has no rings either is even crueler. Overall the game is great fun, though! It's definitely a quite good game.
2nd April 2010, 4:23 PM
That's the first Sonic game I owned actually. I liked it, but just like Sonic 1, no 7th Chaos emerald.
2nd April 2010, 4:35 PM
I've never beaten Genesis Sonic 1 actually, too hard... I've gotten to Robotnik like once or twice, but couldn't beat him. So this is the first "Sonic 1" game I've actually beaten... it's a completely different game from that one of course, but still, something worth mentioning. :)
3rd April 2010, 7:54 AM
I only recently beat Sonic 1 on the Genesis with all six chaos emeralds. Yeah, I abused save states. /softcore
3rd April 2010, 8:13 AM
For whatever reason, I could never get into Sonic 1 like I did Sonic 2.
3rd April 2010, 11:01 AM
Sonic 1 is an amazing game, it really is... 2 is better, I agree, but the first one is amazing. I mean, it's the one that created the whole franchise, and it was a massive hit for a reason... and I like the pacing of the game and the level designs a lot. I miss the easy spin dash, though. And yeah, the final boss is hard and the bonus levels, while fun, are nowhere near as good as Sonic 2 or Sonic 3's bonus levels. But overall it's obviously an exceptional game.
(I wish that there was a way of doing lock-on with Sonic 1, playing as Knuckles, Tails, etc. in the first game would be cool, I think... I really liked Sonic 2 & Knuckles, actually. Very interesting remix of the game.)
(I wish that there was a way of doing lock-on with Sonic 1, playing as Knuckles, Tails, etc. in the first game would be cool, I think... I really liked Sonic 2 & Knuckles, actually. Very interesting remix of the game.)
7th May 2010, 12:19 AM
Monday
Game Gear
--
Donald Duck in the Lucky Dime Caper - Fun little platformer... the game has nice, colorful graphics, with simple, fun gameplay. It's got some challenge, which is why it took several weeks to finish, but it was pretty fun. The game has seven levels, of moderate length, and infinite continues (from the beginning of the stage; when you lose a life you start from the last door your entered, or the start if you haven't entered any). As Donald you run and jump and attack (hammer or throwing weapon, depending on which you have picked up). Defeat the enemies and get over the jumps... basic stuff. Basically the enemies kill you easily, but once you memorize what to do, the game gets somewhat easy (as long as you don't mess up). I died in the final level many times, but when I finally beat it I did so without dying. Still, with the nice graphics and fun level designs (the later stages get a bit more complex, with moving platforms, blocks flying at you, etc), it's pretty good while it lasts, if you like simple platformers. I liked the game at least.
Yesterday
Dreamcast
--
Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge -- Fun arcade platformer... the ending is underwhelming (you just finish the last level and then see the ending video, it's somewhat anticlimactic gameplay-wise), but it's a pretty fun, and challenging, game. The game is short, but the difficulty level is fairly high, so it took a decent amount of time to finish. Overall, very fun game. I was surprised by this one, wasn't expecting it to be as good, or fun, as it was.
Today
NES
--
Abadox -- First -- TURN ON YOUR AUTOFIRE! Seriously, it's pretty much necessary in this game. Otherwise you've got to mash the button, fast, for most of the time you're playing, and that's just not fun. Save yourself the hassle, and the potential finger-strain, and just use your NES Advantage and turn on autofire at max speed.
Such a great game... yeah, I just got it yesterday, but I had beaten it before in emulation (and loved it), so I wanted to play it again. The game only took a couple of hours to finish this time. It didn't take as long this time as the first time, I'm pretty sure. I'd expect that though, because this is a very, very memorization-heavy shmup and I still remembered some of what to do (there were times where, despite not really remembering the stages before seeing them again, I just instinctively went straight into the places I remembered were safe as I progressed...). The game's interesting, with a weird biological graphical theme that is very well done -- it's more consistent and cool than even Life Force I would say, in that. The creepy, very well done graphics really stand out and are a real part of why the game is such a great game. The music isn't quite as great as the graphics, but it's good enough, and somewhat catchy.
The game is extremely difficult, but isn't that long at only six levels (each with two parts, with a miniboss at the middle and a final boss at the end). The only "checkpoint" in each level is after the midboss, so in effect there are 12 stages. Three levels are top-down, and three side-scrolling. Though both are tough, I find the topdown levels harder. There seem to be more pop-up surprises with little warning there, while in the side-scrolling areas I seem to have a little better sense of what's coming at me -- and the more warning you have the better chance you have of getting through.
The game has powerups which you get from specific enemies. Powerups are not that common and drop specific powers, so it's not user-selectable like Gradius. You want to try to collect most powerups, because the game is made much, much easier with powerups, and like a Gradius game, if you die, you start from scratch again and it hurts a lot, and makes it much more likely that you'll die a lot more too. Try not to die if possible; if you do though, as you inevitably will, then just memorize everything, and learn how to get as many powerups as possible in the stage without hitting the bullets...
After dying in it, I think level 2-2 took me an hour to beat... it was one of the hardest stages in the game, in fact, going by how long it took. Levels 5 and 6 probably are harder overall, but by that point I was more used to the game again I think... but also, level 2-2 is very cruel -- there are NO weapon upgrades in the whole stage. There's just a shield, rotating guard thing, and speedup... no weapon upgrades at all. It makes the stage inordinately difficult; even one basic weapon upgrade would make a tremendous difference... but instead it's just really frustrating. Oh well, I got past it eventually and went on to beat the game. :)
One key factor makes things a lot easier than they otherwise would be: You have infinite continues. Really, this is why I was able to beat it so quickly (or at all perhaps). You don't have to restart the whole thing after a couple of deaths, you can just keep trying until you get it right. This really is a key to why I'd call the game not quite as hard as it sometimes seems to get a reputation for being -- yeah it's hard, but you have infinite continues! You don't need to replay level 2 (level 2-2 is very, very hard if you die in it and have to start from the beginning of 2-2 with just the peashooter) fifty times just because you keep dying in level 5 or 6. With a game with levels this hard, which will kill you so many times until you memorize exactly where you should be at every instant, that is a huge, huge thing.
Oh, the bosses are oddly easy compared to the levels. I don't think I died more than two or three times at most of them. A few are a bit harder, but most have multiple blind spots where you can just stay in one space and fire, and wait until the enemy dies; the others generally only require very simple back and forth movements to beat. Only a few are more complex. I'm not complaining though, because with levels as hard as this game's are, it's nice to have a bit of a break -- and with how when you die at a boss you go all the way back to the beginning of the area (either the beginning of the level or to right after the miniboss, depending on if you'd beaten the first part or not), I don't mind this, really. Having to replay the levels even more times would impact the fun factor, I think. Still, compared to how hard the levels are, it is a bit odd. Eh, whatever, it's fun. The bosses are often huge and pretty impressive, so they certainly do visually impress. They just go down easier than you might think. This is true all the way to the final boss, the last boss has only one form and it's not that much harder than any bosses before. At least the ending is decent, if simple. You rescued the princess and escaped, congratulations. :) (On that note, stage 7, the escape, is a fun one... not hard, but a great touch. These things became common later on, but in 1989 or 1990 when this game came out I don't think this kind of stage had yet reached that point...)
I don't know, I just really like this game... it reminds me of games like Gradius, which I absolutely love, but it's different enough to be its own thing. It's a very good shooter, for anyone who wants a challenge that will really reward you as you learn the game and what do do at each point. Fantastic shooter. Don't let what I say about the difficulty stop people from trying it, it's really worth playing, in my opinion. I think it's an incredibly fun game, and it's got to be one of my favorite NES shmups. Konami's shmups are my favorites on the NES, but this is one of the best of the rest.
Game Gear
--
Donald Duck in the Lucky Dime Caper - Fun little platformer... the game has nice, colorful graphics, with simple, fun gameplay. It's got some challenge, which is why it took several weeks to finish, but it was pretty fun. The game has seven levels, of moderate length, and infinite continues (from the beginning of the stage; when you lose a life you start from the last door your entered, or the start if you haven't entered any). As Donald you run and jump and attack (hammer or throwing weapon, depending on which you have picked up). Defeat the enemies and get over the jumps... basic stuff. Basically the enemies kill you easily, but once you memorize what to do, the game gets somewhat easy (as long as you don't mess up). I died in the final level many times, but when I finally beat it I did so without dying. Still, with the nice graphics and fun level designs (the later stages get a bit more complex, with moving platforms, blocks flying at you, etc), it's pretty good while it lasts, if you like simple platformers. I liked the game at least.
Yesterday
Dreamcast
--
Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge -- Fun arcade platformer... the ending is underwhelming (you just finish the last level and then see the ending video, it's somewhat anticlimactic gameplay-wise), but it's a pretty fun, and challenging, game. The game is short, but the difficulty level is fairly high, so it took a decent amount of time to finish. Overall, very fun game. I was surprised by this one, wasn't expecting it to be as good, or fun, as it was.
Today
NES
--
Abadox -- First -- TURN ON YOUR AUTOFIRE! Seriously, it's pretty much necessary in this game. Otherwise you've got to mash the button, fast, for most of the time you're playing, and that's just not fun. Save yourself the hassle, and the potential finger-strain, and just use your NES Advantage and turn on autofire at max speed.
Such a great game... yeah, I just got it yesterday, but I had beaten it before in emulation (and loved it), so I wanted to play it again. The game only took a couple of hours to finish this time. It didn't take as long this time as the first time, I'm pretty sure. I'd expect that though, because this is a very, very memorization-heavy shmup and I still remembered some of what to do (there were times where, despite not really remembering the stages before seeing them again, I just instinctively went straight into the places I remembered were safe as I progressed...). The game's interesting, with a weird biological graphical theme that is very well done -- it's more consistent and cool than even Life Force I would say, in that. The creepy, very well done graphics really stand out and are a real part of why the game is such a great game. The music isn't quite as great as the graphics, but it's good enough, and somewhat catchy.
The game is extremely difficult, but isn't that long at only six levels (each with two parts, with a miniboss at the middle and a final boss at the end). The only "checkpoint" in each level is after the midboss, so in effect there are 12 stages. Three levels are top-down, and three side-scrolling. Though both are tough, I find the topdown levels harder. There seem to be more pop-up surprises with little warning there, while in the side-scrolling areas I seem to have a little better sense of what's coming at me -- and the more warning you have the better chance you have of getting through.
The game has powerups which you get from specific enemies. Powerups are not that common and drop specific powers, so it's not user-selectable like Gradius. You want to try to collect most powerups, because the game is made much, much easier with powerups, and like a Gradius game, if you die, you start from scratch again and it hurts a lot, and makes it much more likely that you'll die a lot more too. Try not to die if possible; if you do though, as you inevitably will, then just memorize everything, and learn how to get as many powerups as possible in the stage without hitting the bullets...
After dying in it, I think level 2-2 took me an hour to beat... it was one of the hardest stages in the game, in fact, going by how long it took. Levels 5 and 6 probably are harder overall, but by that point I was more used to the game again I think... but also, level 2-2 is very cruel -- there are NO weapon upgrades in the whole stage. There's just a shield, rotating guard thing, and speedup... no weapon upgrades at all. It makes the stage inordinately difficult; even one basic weapon upgrade would make a tremendous difference... but instead it's just really frustrating. Oh well, I got past it eventually and went on to beat the game. :)
One key factor makes things a lot easier than they otherwise would be: You have infinite continues. Really, this is why I was able to beat it so quickly (or at all perhaps). You don't have to restart the whole thing after a couple of deaths, you can just keep trying until you get it right. This really is a key to why I'd call the game not quite as hard as it sometimes seems to get a reputation for being -- yeah it's hard, but you have infinite continues! You don't need to replay level 2 (level 2-2 is very, very hard if you die in it and have to start from the beginning of 2-2 with just the peashooter) fifty times just because you keep dying in level 5 or 6. With a game with levels this hard, which will kill you so many times until you memorize exactly where you should be at every instant, that is a huge, huge thing.
Oh, the bosses are oddly easy compared to the levels. I don't think I died more than two or three times at most of them. A few are a bit harder, but most have multiple blind spots where you can just stay in one space and fire, and wait until the enemy dies; the others generally only require very simple back and forth movements to beat. Only a few are more complex. I'm not complaining though, because with levels as hard as this game's are, it's nice to have a bit of a break -- and with how when you die at a boss you go all the way back to the beginning of the area (either the beginning of the level or to right after the miniboss, depending on if you'd beaten the first part or not), I don't mind this, really. Having to replay the levels even more times would impact the fun factor, I think. Still, compared to how hard the levels are, it is a bit odd. Eh, whatever, it's fun. The bosses are often huge and pretty impressive, so they certainly do visually impress. They just go down easier than you might think. This is true all the way to the final boss, the last boss has only one form and it's not that much harder than any bosses before. At least the ending is decent, if simple. You rescued the princess and escaped, congratulations. :) (On that note, stage 7, the escape, is a fun one... not hard, but a great touch. These things became common later on, but in 1989 or 1990 when this game came out I don't think this kind of stage had yet reached that point...)
I don't know, I just really like this game... it reminds me of games like Gradius, which I absolutely love, but it's different enough to be its own thing. It's a very good shooter, for anyone who wants a challenge that will really reward you as you learn the game and what do do at each point. Fantastic shooter. Don't let what I say about the difficulty stop people from trying it, it's really worth playing, in my opinion. I think it's an incredibly fun game, and it's got to be one of my favorite NES shmups. Konami's shmups are my favorites on the NES, but this is one of the best of the rest.
29th May 2010, 1:42 PM
Over the past week or so:
PS2
--
The King of Fighters 2006 - Just got it, and beat it with one character. It's a pretty good game actually, I like it... it plays like KOF crossed with a 3d fighting game, and I think it's actually done fairly well. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's definitely good.
Saturn
--
Puyo Puyo 2 - Beat in Beginner and Arcade (Normal difficulty) modes, or I'm guessing that's what they're called because the names are in Japanese... I beat it in the 4-level short easy game and the 10-stage main normal arcade modes, anyway. The 36-stage "campaign mode" or whatever that saves your progress (so that you don't need to play it all in one sitting) is the one mode that remains, aside from trying to get better... this really is a quite good game, but VERY difficult! The speed gets very high by the end, the final couple of stages are just insane... I don't remember Puyo Puyo Fever ever getting this fast. I guess they slowed things down in some of the newer ones. This way it's harder and more frantic. I wasn't sure if this would be worth getting, but it's pretty good stuff.
Genesis
--
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (w/max life/continue settings, Normal difficulty) -- A bland and disappointing game, easily the worst of the classic TMNT beat 'em ups. All of the stage areas rehashes from prior TMNT games, it has only five levels (sure they're long, but still there are only five of them and they're not THAT long), the fourth level is mostly a boss rush so it's not even a full-length stage, the game has very little of the variety and great touches that make the Arcade, NES and SNES beat 'em up so great, and it's not that hard either... so yeah, it has a lot of problems. Of course, it IS a classic TMNT beat 'em up, so it is fun, and was definitely enjoyable to play. Still, compared to the other classic TMNT beat 'em ups, this one doesn't come close. It's too simple, too lacking in the things that make TMNT games unique, has stages and backgrounds that are far too plain and simple (where are the angled areas like TMNT 3, or the great level designs like TMNT 3, or the throw-enemies-at-the-screen move of TMNT 4, or the sewer where you actually go into the water (and there is both a side platform and water in the sewer), instead of just walking on water for absolutely no apparent reason like you do in this game (seriously, they just ... walk on the water as if it was land. No special animation, nothing. Yet the Pizza Monster enemies jumping at you jump out of the water with a big splash. Um, STUPID!), etc, etc, etc... yeah, it's fun, but it really is a disappointing game, sadly.
PS2
--
The King of Fighters 2006 - Just got it, and beat it with one character. It's a pretty good game actually, I like it... it plays like KOF crossed with a 3d fighting game, and I think it's actually done fairly well. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's definitely good.
Saturn
--
Puyo Puyo 2 - Beat in Beginner and Arcade (Normal difficulty) modes, or I'm guessing that's what they're called because the names are in Japanese... I beat it in the 4-level short easy game and the 10-stage main normal arcade modes, anyway. The 36-stage "campaign mode" or whatever that saves your progress (so that you don't need to play it all in one sitting) is the one mode that remains, aside from trying to get better... this really is a quite good game, but VERY difficult! The speed gets very high by the end, the final couple of stages are just insane... I don't remember Puyo Puyo Fever ever getting this fast. I guess they slowed things down in some of the newer ones. This way it's harder and more frantic. I wasn't sure if this would be worth getting, but it's pretty good stuff.
Genesis
--
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (w/max life/continue settings, Normal difficulty) -- A bland and disappointing game, easily the worst of the classic TMNT beat 'em ups. All of the stage areas rehashes from prior TMNT games, it has only five levels (sure they're long, but still there are only five of them and they're not THAT long), the fourth level is mostly a boss rush so it's not even a full-length stage, the game has very little of the variety and great touches that make the Arcade, NES and SNES beat 'em up so great, and it's not that hard either... so yeah, it has a lot of problems. Of course, it IS a classic TMNT beat 'em up, so it is fun, and was definitely enjoyable to play. Still, compared to the other classic TMNT beat 'em ups, this one doesn't come close. It's too simple, too lacking in the things that make TMNT games unique, has stages and backgrounds that are far too plain and simple (where are the angled areas like TMNT 3, or the great level designs like TMNT 3, or the throw-enemies-at-the-screen move of TMNT 4, or the sewer where you actually go into the water (and there is both a side platform and water in the sewer), instead of just walking on water for absolutely no apparent reason like you do in this game (seriously, they just ... walk on the water as if it was land. No special animation, nothing. Yet the Pizza Monster enemies jumping at you jump out of the water with a big splash. Um, STUPID!), etc, etc, etc... yeah, it's fun, but it really is a disappointing game, sadly.
13th June 2010, 8:38 PM
Sega CD
--
Robo Aleste - Beat this yesterday actually, but forgot to post it. I've beaten the Japanese version before of course, but now that I have the US one I have to play it too, and I was interested to find that balance is slightly different -- playing both games on Normal, the levels are harder, with more enemies and faster (I think), slightly differently colored bullets (white-yellow blinking, instead of just yellow - I find them harder to see in the US version, which is bad). However, bosses seem to die in fewer hits, I think. Overall the game is harder though, because of all those additional enemies and the bullets... I don't know if it needed the changes. Oh, and one scene was censored -- the minimally detailed nude bath scene for the purple-haired woman has her closeup removed in the US version (though it's no more detailed than the nude scenes of Lucia in the Sega CD version of Lunar II, and those were not removed). Still a fantastic game, though, even with the changes. Compile were amazing shmup game makers, some of the best of their time.
Oh, I wish that they'd made more use of sprite scaling and parallax, and perhaps used rotation somehow too... the game really does not make much use of the Sega CD's hardware. Too bad. Also, I kind of hate the ending... the story in general isn't great, but the ending is just a terrible letdown. Basically you spend the whole game fighting people who actually aren't evil, and then when finally, after killing them all, you are convinced that actually your lord is the evil one (this should not be a spoiler to anyone, Nobunaga is almost always evil in anime)... you don't get to fight him. You just see a cutscene of your guy destroying Nobunaga's castle, the end. LAME! It's such a cop-out... there's no resolution either, not of what happens to your character (he did basically just kill all sides in the war for control of Japan, what happens now?), whether he feels sorry for killing so many not-evil people, what happens with the girl, etc... there's nothing. The game has a long introduction, but not much of an ending. Still, as with all Compile shooters, the actual gameplay is brilliant. It's such a great, great game, incredibly fun to play and well balanced difficulty-wise, though the balance is a little better in the original version than the US one (as mentioned above). The sprite art is great, the challenge high but fair (but watch out for those bullets!), and the levels varied. Badly done story aside, this is one of my favorite Aleste games.
Xbox
--
Samurai Shodown V - beat the game in difficulty 4 (default) with two characters. Wow, is this game tough... it's not one I'd actually beaten in Neo-Geo emulation, I didn't bother because other SS games are better and the story wasn't in English on the Neo-Geo. So yeah, tough game. There are some really cheap characters... and evidently I'm awful with Rimururu, because I played it as her first and it took 86 continues to beat the game (yeah, it took hours...), while the second time, with Nakoruru, took only 36 continues and a lot less time. Yet despite using so many continues and thus proving how bad I am at fighting games, and being so frustrated at the SNK-patented unfairness a lot of the time, I had a lot of fun... when I finally finished it the second time I noticed that my heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and there was nothing I'd rather have been doing... I love SNK fighting games. Evil, yes, but great.
Still though, it's not as good as SSIV. But it is a good game.
Oh -- Fantastic music, too! The CD audio really is quite impressive. Great classical Japanese style soundtrack, it made playing the game more fun. The graphics are outstanding as well, SSV is one of the last Neo-Geo games and it really shows. There is an incredible amount of detail, highly animated sprites, beautifully animated backgrounds, and more. For instance the blowing dirt and waving flags in one stage are pretty impressive, along with the way the characters' clothing move. This is a very good looking 2d game, a big step up from the older SS games graphically. It should be, of course, it came out seven years after SSIV, which had come out in 1996, before Neo-Geo graphics hit their peak (that happened in 1998, I would say), but still, it looks and plays great.
The stories are alright. Nothing special, but they'll do, for SS stories (which are never great). It's good that they are in English though, and as I've said this Xbox version is the only version of the game with English-language story text. This compliments Samurai Shodown Anthology or even the Neo-Geo originals.
It is too bad that Samurai Shodown V Special is Neo-Geo exclusive, that game (the last game released for the Neo-Geo) is an improvement over this one. It has fatalities, missing in SSV, several more characters (you can play as the bosses from all of the older games), a simpler arcade mode where you just fight people until you beat the boss, after which you see a few screens of text as an ending (SSV has a bit more text), balance fixes, and more; the story change is more just different than an improvement, but all the other things are improvements in that one. Evidently it's being kept as a Neo-Geo exclusive because they wanted something special for their Neo-Geo faithful, and that is the game... and indeed, it's not even in the Anthology. Ah well.
Anyway, this is a great game, and certainly is one I'll be playing some more of, whenever I want some fun extreme frustration.
--
Robo Aleste - Beat this yesterday actually, but forgot to post it. I've beaten the Japanese version before of course, but now that I have the US one I have to play it too, and I was interested to find that balance is slightly different -- playing both games on Normal, the levels are harder, with more enemies and faster (I think), slightly differently colored bullets (white-yellow blinking, instead of just yellow - I find them harder to see in the US version, which is bad). However, bosses seem to die in fewer hits, I think. Overall the game is harder though, because of all those additional enemies and the bullets... I don't know if it needed the changes. Oh, and one scene was censored -- the minimally detailed nude bath scene for the purple-haired woman has her closeup removed in the US version (though it's no more detailed than the nude scenes of Lucia in the Sega CD version of Lunar II, and those were not removed). Still a fantastic game, though, even with the changes. Compile were amazing shmup game makers, some of the best of their time.
Oh, I wish that they'd made more use of sprite scaling and parallax, and perhaps used rotation somehow too... the game really does not make much use of the Sega CD's hardware. Too bad. Also, I kind of hate the ending... the story in general isn't great, but the ending is just a terrible letdown. Basically you spend the whole game fighting people who actually aren't evil, and then when finally, after killing them all, you are convinced that actually your lord is the evil one (this should not be a spoiler to anyone, Nobunaga is almost always evil in anime)... you don't get to fight him. You just see a cutscene of your guy destroying Nobunaga's castle, the end. LAME! It's such a cop-out... there's no resolution either, not of what happens to your character (he did basically just kill all sides in the war for control of Japan, what happens now?), whether he feels sorry for killing so many not-evil people, what happens with the girl, etc... there's nothing. The game has a long introduction, but not much of an ending. Still, as with all Compile shooters, the actual gameplay is brilliant. It's such a great, great game, incredibly fun to play and well balanced difficulty-wise, though the balance is a little better in the original version than the US one (as mentioned above). The sprite art is great, the challenge high but fair (but watch out for those bullets!), and the levels varied. Badly done story aside, this is one of my favorite Aleste games.
Xbox
--
Samurai Shodown V - beat the game in difficulty 4 (default) with two characters. Wow, is this game tough... it's not one I'd actually beaten in Neo-Geo emulation, I didn't bother because other SS games are better and the story wasn't in English on the Neo-Geo. So yeah, tough game. There are some really cheap characters... and evidently I'm awful with Rimururu, because I played it as her first and it took 86 continues to beat the game (yeah, it took hours...), while the second time, with Nakoruru, took only 36 continues and a lot less time. Yet despite using so many continues and thus proving how bad I am at fighting games, and being so frustrated at the SNK-patented unfairness a lot of the time, I had a lot of fun... when I finally finished it the second time I noticed that my heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and there was nothing I'd rather have been doing... I love SNK fighting games. Evil, yes, but great.
Still though, it's not as good as SSIV. But it is a good game.
Oh -- Fantastic music, too! The CD audio really is quite impressive. Great classical Japanese style soundtrack, it made playing the game more fun. The graphics are outstanding as well, SSV is one of the last Neo-Geo games and it really shows. There is an incredible amount of detail, highly animated sprites, beautifully animated backgrounds, and more. For instance the blowing dirt and waving flags in one stage are pretty impressive, along with the way the characters' clothing move. This is a very good looking 2d game, a big step up from the older SS games graphically. It should be, of course, it came out seven years after SSIV, which had come out in 1996, before Neo-Geo graphics hit their peak (that happened in 1998, I would say), but still, it looks and plays great.
The stories are alright. Nothing special, but they'll do, for SS stories (which are never great). It's good that they are in English though, and as I've said this Xbox version is the only version of the game with English-language story text. This compliments Samurai Shodown Anthology or even the Neo-Geo originals.
It is too bad that Samurai Shodown V Special is Neo-Geo exclusive, that game (the last game released for the Neo-Geo) is an improvement over this one. It has fatalities, missing in SSV, several more characters (you can play as the bosses from all of the older games), a simpler arcade mode where you just fight people until you beat the boss, after which you see a few screens of text as an ending (SSV has a bit more text), balance fixes, and more; the story change is more just different than an improvement, but all the other things are improvements in that one. Evidently it's being kept as a Neo-Geo exclusive because they wanted something special for their Neo-Geo faithful, and that is the game... and indeed, it's not even in the Anthology. Ah well.
Anyway, this is a great game, and certainly is one I'll be playing some more of, whenever I want some fun extreme frustration.
11th August 2010, 8:51 PM
Genesis
--
Ghouls & Ghosts (Practice difficulty) -- Sure, I used dozens of continues, but this game surprised me with how relatively easy it was compared to Super Ghouls & Ghosts. This game's shorter, not quite as hard, and gives you infinite continues from the last checkpoint you reached. The last of those is vitally important, because it makes the game so much less frustrating than it otherwise would be... if this game had continues like SG&G I might never be beating the actual cart, like with that one. I really like the option of infinite continues, limited continues can be so cruel... sure, this way you beat the game quickly, but it's much less frustrating -- and if you want a challenge, Difficult mode is always there for a much steeper difficulty. So yeah, great game. Oh, I wish you got weapons more often, sometimes you're stuck with some weapon you don't want for a very long time because of how rare replacement weapons are... it can be annoying.
The game has nice, colorful graphics, and they look good. Some of the backgrounds are plainer than I would like, but it is a 1989 game, quite early, and overall does look good. It's got none of the usual grainy colors you see in Genesis games, they did a very good job dealing with the limited palette. The music's similarly good but not great. It's a solid version of the arcade soundtrack, but not fantastic. It's only got five levels, but of course you have to play them through twice to win, as with all G&G games. All five levels are interesting and very well designed. They aren't quite as over-the-top as the SNES game, but this is an older title so that's to be expected... and that's part of why the game is easier, so it's not all bad.
The final boss was oddly easy, beat him on my second try. That magic wave attack is really strong. Getting it definitely made the second run a lot easier than it would have been, which was nice.
Overall, quite a fun game. Surprised me with how good it was. I don't know if I'll ever try difficult mode though, Practice took me hours, and dozens of continues, to get through... it was fun, though. If difficult has infinite continues like Practice I'll consider it. Somehow I doubt it does, though...
--
Ghouls & Ghosts (Practice difficulty) -- Sure, I used dozens of continues, but this game surprised me with how relatively easy it was compared to Super Ghouls & Ghosts. This game's shorter, not quite as hard, and gives you infinite continues from the last checkpoint you reached. The last of those is vitally important, because it makes the game so much less frustrating than it otherwise would be... if this game had continues like SG&G I might never be beating the actual cart, like with that one. I really like the option of infinite continues, limited continues can be so cruel... sure, this way you beat the game quickly, but it's much less frustrating -- and if you want a challenge, Difficult mode is always there for a much steeper difficulty. So yeah, great game. Oh, I wish you got weapons more often, sometimes you're stuck with some weapon you don't want for a very long time because of how rare replacement weapons are... it can be annoying.
The game has nice, colorful graphics, and they look good. Some of the backgrounds are plainer than I would like, but it is a 1989 game, quite early, and overall does look good. It's got none of the usual grainy colors you see in Genesis games, they did a very good job dealing with the limited palette. The music's similarly good but not great. It's a solid version of the arcade soundtrack, but not fantastic. It's only got five levels, but of course you have to play them through twice to win, as with all G&G games. All five levels are interesting and very well designed. They aren't quite as over-the-top as the SNES game, but this is an older title so that's to be expected... and that's part of why the game is easier, so it's not all bad.
The final boss was oddly easy, beat him on my second try. That magic wave attack is really strong. Getting it definitely made the second run a lot easier than it would have been, which was nice.
Overall, quite a fun game. Surprised me with how good it was. I don't know if I'll ever try difficult mode though, Practice took me hours, and dozens of continues, to get through... it was fun, though. If difficult has infinite continues like Practice I'll consider it. Somehow I doubt it does, though...
1st September 2010, 12:53 AM
From last week
Wii - WiiWare
--
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth - Easy difficulty, 9 lives per continue. Played through this with my cousin, alternating between deaths/levels beaten. Pretty good game, though short as with all three ReBirth titles. Lots of fun 8/16 bit-style Castlevania gameplay and scenery, a great mixture of elements from numerous classic Castlevania games, and more... it was kind of easy, with 9 lives and Easy difficulty the game was not a tremendous challenge, only a moderate one, but it was fun, and I'm sure I'll replay it in a higher difficulty, no question.
I really wish there was a level select though, it's so stupid that you have to play the whole game from the beginning every time... even the very first Castlevania had saving, if you played the Japanese FDS version, and every console game in the series since then has had it! And you get infinite continues, so there is no excuse. The game isn't long enough that this is a huge huge problem, but it is annoying and stupid. Other than that (and the length) though, good game.
I mean, Gradius ReBirth had level select, from any checkpoint too and not just level beginnings... oh well.
From today
Genesis
--
Trouble Shooter (Easy difficulty) -- Trouble Shooter was one of the first Genesis games I got in 2006, and I've always really liked it, but I'd never managed to beat the game. Well, I decided to give up and just play it on Easy instead of Normal like usual... and beat it on my first try today. Not quite as satisfying as if I'd played on Normal, but still, I did have to use both continues and nearly died late in the last level, so it was needed. It's definitely a good game, decent but not great graphics and sound with good, interesting, and somewhat unique gameplay and a great sense of humor. It's too bad the sequel wasn't released in the US, though at least the translated ROM does now exist -- the two games do have stories, and wouldn't be quite the same without the entertaining text between levels.
So yeah, good game, definitely play it.
Wii - WiiWare
--
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth - Easy difficulty, 9 lives per continue. Played through this with my cousin, alternating between deaths/levels beaten. Pretty good game, though short as with all three ReBirth titles. Lots of fun 8/16 bit-style Castlevania gameplay and scenery, a great mixture of elements from numerous classic Castlevania games, and more... it was kind of easy, with 9 lives and Easy difficulty the game was not a tremendous challenge, only a moderate one, but it was fun, and I'm sure I'll replay it in a higher difficulty, no question.
I really wish there was a level select though, it's so stupid that you have to play the whole game from the beginning every time... even the very first Castlevania had saving, if you played the Japanese FDS version, and every console game in the series since then has had it! And you get infinite continues, so there is no excuse. The game isn't long enough that this is a huge huge problem, but it is annoying and stupid. Other than that (and the length) though, good game.
I mean, Gradius ReBirth had level select, from any checkpoint too and not just level beginnings... oh well.
From today
Genesis
--
Trouble Shooter (Easy difficulty) -- Trouble Shooter was one of the first Genesis games I got in 2006, and I've always really liked it, but I'd never managed to beat the game. Well, I decided to give up and just play it on Easy instead of Normal like usual... and beat it on my first try today. Not quite as satisfying as if I'd played on Normal, but still, I did have to use both continues and nearly died late in the last level, so it was needed. It's definitely a good game, decent but not great graphics and sound with good, interesting, and somewhat unique gameplay and a great sense of humor. It's too bad the sequel wasn't released in the US, though at least the translated ROM does now exist -- the two games do have stories, and wouldn't be quite the same without the entertaining text between levels.
So yeah, good game, definitely play it.
18th December 2010, 2:09 AM
Wii
--
Rock 'n' Roll Adventures - This is one of Data Design Interactive's infamously bad Wii (and PS2 and/or PC in Europe only) 3d platformers, along with Anubis II and Ninjabread Man. The games are extremely short, 4-level 3d platformers with some annoying motion controls. I got this game a while ago, wanting to try one of these DDI 3d platformers and having found this one cheaper than I've seen those other ones for, but hadn't actually put it in the system until today. Beat it an hour or so later, but I actually had fun along the way and there are some additional modes to play, so it was worth my $5. This game's not that bad, really, it's just incredibly short.
First, graphics and sound. The graphics are alright, not upgraded from the PS2 original but decent enough looking. They are simple and somewhat sparse -- "N64-like" has been used to describe these graphics, but the N64 couldn't quite do this, probably (well, maybe, it's close); gameplay-wise this is firmly in that generation of 3d platformers, though, for sure. Either way on that, though, good enough to do. The Wii can do far more than this, but oh well, it doesn't look bad, just quite low-end. As for the audio, it's not rock music like the title might lead you to believe, it's generic 3d platformer music. I at least consider this a good thing, because I don't like rock music, but I do like videogame music. The music's decent. Nothing special, but good enough. :)
The number one thing people seem to have complained about is the jumping controls. If you read the manual and the ingame control explanation, it tells you to jump by waggling the nunchuck. You attack by swinging the Wiimote (left, right, or down work, up doesn't). Move with the analog stick. Press B to go into aiming mode so you can shoot. Problems are, first the Wiimote swinging is extremely poorly done and fails to recognize my attacks a lot of the time (this causes you to take way too many avoidable hits), and second, the nunchuck-waggling for jumping is imprecise and hard to get right. At least the nunchuck is responsive in that when I shake it Elviz (your character, the Elvis clone) jumps, but he often double-jumps right off, which is a big problem because lots of jumps in the game require precise double-jumping, so if it's wasted at the start you will fall. Over and over and over.
At least when you fall you won't die -- there's no jumping over bottomless pits in this game, you fall to a lower platform and then try the segment again. Very nice.
The even nicer thing came when I pressed Z, though, and found that... Z jumps. They didn't bother to tell people this in the manual or controls screen, for some stupid reason, but it works. I wish the jump button was A instead of Z, but oh well, works fine, and you can jump accurately. Now if only there was a button for attack, too... but sadly no, for that you need the extremely unresponsive Wiimote swinging. :(
The first level is a tutorial. After that, there are three real levels of average length. To beat each level you need to collect the eight platinum CD items and then get to the exit. The levels are largely linear, but there are some simple puzzles, and lots of jumping, along the way. There are just three kinds of enemies, and all four levels have the same graphical theme. The drum and cymbal enemies are just a minor nuisance, but the tape recorder is ar pain, you can't jump on them (that's the easiest way to kill enemies, given the bad wiimote-swing recognition) and they shoot at you, too. The levels are reasonably well designed and are fun to play through, I enjoyed playing through the game.
I did have to restart a level once, in level 2, because I got stuck between two platforms and couldn't get out. That was annoying, but it did only happen that one time and there is a 'restart level' option from the pause menu (and it was just a couple minutes into the level too, so I didn't lose much progress). Other than that the game ran well, at least the game isn't horribly buggy even if it is seriously lacking in content.
There are no bosses in this game. Once you beat the four levels you're just sent back to the main menu, there's no ending or credits (you can watch the credits from the main menu whenever you want, they aren't shown at the end of the game). DDI's other platformers do this as well, I'm pretty sure. Pretty lame.
However, at least you do unlock something -- in each of the three main levels, you unlock several extra modes. First is an item-collection mode with lots of stuff to collect scattered around the level. You choose three difficulty settings, and that determines the percentage of the stuff you need to collect. It's funny, playing through the first time I didn't even notice that the game was missing collectibles other than the health-ups you get for killing enemies and the platinum CDs, must say something about that I was enjoying myself. The game is more fun with them though, a full game with these pickups there by default would be a better game than this. This mode also gives a purpose to the various nooks and crannies in the levels that are just empty in the main game, now they have stuff in them. :) Of course there's a downside, though -- there's not much point. The game doesn't save your score or best total or anything, so all you get for winning is the satisfaction of having finished it. Great.
The second mode is time attack, where you have to finish the level in a specified amount of time. There are three difficulties, each with a shorter timer. This mode's actually tricky, lots of cassette players shooting at you and a clock ticking away... again though your time, if you finish, isn't saved.
The last mode requires you to find 20 "hidden items" hidden in the levels. This is the hardest of the three unlockable modes, because the items are better hidden.
The manual claims that you need to beat each one of the three hidden modes to unlock the next, but in the actual game that's not the case -- beating each level in the normal game simply unlocks all three modes. I wonder why they removed that, between the time they wrote the manual and finished the game, it'd have been nice because it'd give you an actual reason to want to play the extra modes beyond just trying to challenge them.
So yeah, that's a DDI platformer. Decent mechanics, okay last-gen (verging on two generations ago) graphics, almost no content unless you like playing the extra modes which don't save your scores, and even then it won't take more than a few hours to get through all of them most likely. There are only three levels with the extra modes after all, each of those will take longer than getting through them the first time will but still it's only three levels (plus the short tutorial stage). I'm pretty sure Ninjabread Man and Anubis II are also 4-level, no-ending extravaganzas, maybe if they had combined all three of them into one game and then added a few more levels on top of that they'd have had an actual full game... it's kind of too bad because I do find what's here fun. It's got a decent level of challenge, with frustrating jumps, some tricky jumping puzzles, and more, but despite being annoyed at failing a jump for the 5th or 6th time in a row, because you aren't punished too much (no falling in pits under jumps remember), just sent back to restart the section, it works. Just use Z to jump most of the time, I actually find the waggle jumping entertaining and kind of fun, but it's not precise enough to use on the longer jumps, it'll just lead to lots of frustration trying to perfectly time your second jump, and most of the time having it do it too soon. Even with a button jumping some of the jumps are tricky. Quite a few jumps require you to jump right from the edge of the platform and use a near-perfect double jump in order to get across. But that's not really bad, if it was too easy it wouldn't be very fun...
But I like 3d platformers, and jumping between platforms is what they're supposed to be about, right? I prefer 3d platformers that are actually platformers to the so-called "3d platformers" that are actually 3d action games, such as Ratchet & Clank and the second and third Jax games. I don't mean this game is better than those, it's definitely not, but on a conceptual level I do prefer traditional 3d platformers to those kinds of games. There aren't enough true 3d platformers this generation.
Basically, my point is that only fans of the 3d platformer genre should consider playing these DDI games, but if you do like 3d platformers and can find the games for a couple of dollars, maybe think about picking them up, as long as you know about the drawbacks. It won't last long, but I at least had enough fun to think it was worth the time. I might go back to try to finish the other modes, I haven't beaten most of the extra modes yet. And I think I want to try the other US Wii DDI 3d platformers too, if I can find them cheap I'll probably pick them up as well.
As for a score, because of the severe lack of content I don't think I could give this game a score above a D, but I did like it while it lasted.
--
Rock 'n' Roll Adventures - This is one of Data Design Interactive's infamously bad Wii (and PS2 and/or PC in Europe only) 3d platformers, along with Anubis II and Ninjabread Man. The games are extremely short, 4-level 3d platformers with some annoying motion controls. I got this game a while ago, wanting to try one of these DDI 3d platformers and having found this one cheaper than I've seen those other ones for, but hadn't actually put it in the system until today. Beat it an hour or so later, but I actually had fun along the way and there are some additional modes to play, so it was worth my $5. This game's not that bad, really, it's just incredibly short.
First, graphics and sound. The graphics are alright, not upgraded from the PS2 original but decent enough looking. They are simple and somewhat sparse -- "N64-like" has been used to describe these graphics, but the N64 couldn't quite do this, probably (well, maybe, it's close); gameplay-wise this is firmly in that generation of 3d platformers, though, for sure. Either way on that, though, good enough to do. The Wii can do far more than this, but oh well, it doesn't look bad, just quite low-end. As for the audio, it's not rock music like the title might lead you to believe, it's generic 3d platformer music. I at least consider this a good thing, because I don't like rock music, but I do like videogame music. The music's decent. Nothing special, but good enough. :)
The number one thing people seem to have complained about is the jumping controls. If you read the manual and the ingame control explanation, it tells you to jump by waggling the nunchuck. You attack by swinging the Wiimote (left, right, or down work, up doesn't). Move with the analog stick. Press B to go into aiming mode so you can shoot. Problems are, first the Wiimote swinging is extremely poorly done and fails to recognize my attacks a lot of the time (this causes you to take way too many avoidable hits), and second, the nunchuck-waggling for jumping is imprecise and hard to get right. At least the nunchuck is responsive in that when I shake it Elviz (your character, the Elvis clone) jumps, but he often double-jumps right off, which is a big problem because lots of jumps in the game require precise double-jumping, so if it's wasted at the start you will fall. Over and over and over.
At least when you fall you won't die -- there's no jumping over bottomless pits in this game, you fall to a lower platform and then try the segment again. Very nice.
The even nicer thing came when I pressed Z, though, and found that... Z jumps. They didn't bother to tell people this in the manual or controls screen, for some stupid reason, but it works. I wish the jump button was A instead of Z, but oh well, works fine, and you can jump accurately. Now if only there was a button for attack, too... but sadly no, for that you need the extremely unresponsive Wiimote swinging. :(
The first level is a tutorial. After that, there are three real levels of average length. To beat each level you need to collect the eight platinum CD items and then get to the exit. The levels are largely linear, but there are some simple puzzles, and lots of jumping, along the way. There are just three kinds of enemies, and all four levels have the same graphical theme. The drum and cymbal enemies are just a minor nuisance, but the tape recorder is ar pain, you can't jump on them (that's the easiest way to kill enemies, given the bad wiimote-swing recognition) and they shoot at you, too. The levels are reasonably well designed and are fun to play through, I enjoyed playing through the game.
I did have to restart a level once, in level 2, because I got stuck between two platforms and couldn't get out. That was annoying, but it did only happen that one time and there is a 'restart level' option from the pause menu (and it was just a couple minutes into the level too, so I didn't lose much progress). Other than that the game ran well, at least the game isn't horribly buggy even if it is seriously lacking in content.
There are no bosses in this game. Once you beat the four levels you're just sent back to the main menu, there's no ending or credits (you can watch the credits from the main menu whenever you want, they aren't shown at the end of the game). DDI's other platformers do this as well, I'm pretty sure. Pretty lame.
However, at least you do unlock something -- in each of the three main levels, you unlock several extra modes. First is an item-collection mode with lots of stuff to collect scattered around the level. You choose three difficulty settings, and that determines the percentage of the stuff you need to collect. It's funny, playing through the first time I didn't even notice that the game was missing collectibles other than the health-ups you get for killing enemies and the platinum CDs, must say something about that I was enjoying myself. The game is more fun with them though, a full game with these pickups there by default would be a better game than this. This mode also gives a purpose to the various nooks and crannies in the levels that are just empty in the main game, now they have stuff in them. :) Of course there's a downside, though -- there's not much point. The game doesn't save your score or best total or anything, so all you get for winning is the satisfaction of having finished it. Great.
The second mode is time attack, where you have to finish the level in a specified amount of time. There are three difficulties, each with a shorter timer. This mode's actually tricky, lots of cassette players shooting at you and a clock ticking away... again though your time, if you finish, isn't saved.
The last mode requires you to find 20 "hidden items" hidden in the levels. This is the hardest of the three unlockable modes, because the items are better hidden.
The manual claims that you need to beat each one of the three hidden modes to unlock the next, but in the actual game that's not the case -- beating each level in the normal game simply unlocks all three modes. I wonder why they removed that, between the time they wrote the manual and finished the game, it'd have been nice because it'd give you an actual reason to want to play the extra modes beyond just trying to challenge them.
So yeah, that's a DDI platformer. Decent mechanics, okay last-gen (verging on two generations ago) graphics, almost no content unless you like playing the extra modes which don't save your scores, and even then it won't take more than a few hours to get through all of them most likely. There are only three levels with the extra modes after all, each of those will take longer than getting through them the first time will but still it's only three levels (plus the short tutorial stage). I'm pretty sure Ninjabread Man and Anubis II are also 4-level, no-ending extravaganzas, maybe if they had combined all three of them into one game and then added a few more levels on top of that they'd have had an actual full game... it's kind of too bad because I do find what's here fun. It's got a decent level of challenge, with frustrating jumps, some tricky jumping puzzles, and more, but despite being annoyed at failing a jump for the 5th or 6th time in a row, because you aren't punished too much (no falling in pits under jumps remember), just sent back to restart the section, it works. Just use Z to jump most of the time, I actually find the waggle jumping entertaining and kind of fun, but it's not precise enough to use on the longer jumps, it'll just lead to lots of frustration trying to perfectly time your second jump, and most of the time having it do it too soon. Even with a button jumping some of the jumps are tricky. Quite a few jumps require you to jump right from the edge of the platform and use a near-perfect double jump in order to get across. But that's not really bad, if it was too easy it wouldn't be very fun...
But I like 3d platformers, and jumping between platforms is what they're supposed to be about, right? I prefer 3d platformers that are actually platformers to the so-called "3d platformers" that are actually 3d action games, such as Ratchet & Clank and the second and third Jax games. I don't mean this game is better than those, it's definitely not, but on a conceptual level I do prefer traditional 3d platformers to those kinds of games. There aren't enough true 3d platformers this generation.
Basically, my point is that only fans of the 3d platformer genre should consider playing these DDI games, but if you do like 3d platformers and can find the games for a couple of dollars, maybe think about picking them up, as long as you know about the drawbacks. It won't last long, but I at least had enough fun to think it was worth the time. I might go back to try to finish the other modes, I haven't beaten most of the extra modes yet. And I think I want to try the other US Wii DDI 3d platformers too, if I can find them cheap I'll probably pick them up as well.
As for a score, because of the severe lack of content I don't think I could give this game a score above a D, but I did like it while it lasted.
13th February 2011, 12:50 AM
I've been playing a lot of handheld games for the past few weeks.
(This is from today)
Game Boy Color
--
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (non-linked game) - I beat this back in 2001 some time after buying both games that summer in a linked game (ie Ages first, Seasons second), but years ago I started a non-linked game, so that I could beat it in the other way as well. There were ... many delays ... thanks to various things, including cartridge damage -- the cart's plastic shell's bottom right corner is broken off, and while the game works in GBC systems fine, in GBA systems (GBA/SP/GB Player) it won't work without thick tape covering that edge, and it's tough to get a cart with duct tape on it to get into the cart slot... and then getting it out (to switch games) is even harder. So I decided sometime last year (I think) that I'd just leave Seasons in the GBA until I beat it... but I didn't do that anytime soon. That's one reason why I got that GBA-SP late last year, I wanted another GBA (other than the GC+GB Player) so I could play GB games without the frustration of dealing with removing that Seasons cart. :)
I quit for a particularly long time in Seasons' Lost Forest-like maze square, that was a complete pain and I couldn't figure it out without a guide, and I was always playing the game away from my computer and then not caring quite enough to just go look it up and get past that point.
But I finally did, and after probably a couple of years (or more, I really have no idea when I started this Seasons-first playthrough) of occasional play, playing it for a little while and then not again for months, I finally decided to try to finish it a week or two ago. The eighth dungeon was really, really hard, but I got through it, and then got to the boss... but he was even harder, so I realized that what I needed was the medicine that gave you a full health recharge. I couldn't buy it from the witch, so I looked it up in a guide, and it turned out that I'd never started the trading game after getting the first item. I used the guide to quickly get through the trades, got the potion (and L-2 shooting sword, though it's not that big of an upgrade really, just looks cooler because it can shoot), tried the final boss...
And got stuck for several days, until finally managing to beat him today with the help of a technique from the web (using pegasus seeds to try to jump back and forth between his hands, instead of just getting in one hit each time you get onto his hands). That was the key, and I just barely managed to beat him, after several tries, with 3/4ths of a heart left and having used the potion. Pretty awesome. :)
Now, I can finally play Ages again, in a linked game, and see if it's as good as I remember it being... in '01 I liked Ages more than Seasons. It is the more popular of the two, but I wonder what I'll think now. :)
(Older ones from after the last post)
Jan. 28
Game Gear
--
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - This licensed platformer from Sega was the last game released for the GG, and is its only 1997 release. It's got the name of the movie, but like the Genesis game has nothing to do with it in terms of story; you're just some nameless hunter at Site B.
Unfortunately, it's short (seven not very long levels) and not particularly difficult, most of the time. This game doesn't take long to finish. The graphics are okay, but not amazing. It looks just good enough to do without trying to really look the best. There's only one weapon, which has infinite ammo. The only pickups are health powerups that look like vests. Walk around, avoid or shoot the dinosaurs, and get through the short levels. Generic stuff, but it's executed okay, what little there is. I like the levels that are here, there just needed to be more of them, and the game needed more exciting things like other weapons, other pickups, and more. The game just doesn't have enough to it.
One of the six platform levels is a little bit of a change of pace, as you control a small dinosaur (ally of your nameless hunter character) instead of the guy. This guy dies in one hit, with no powerups available, so this level is by far the hardest level in the game, and does get a little frustrating, though not too bad. I wish there was at least one more dinosaur level, why go to all that trouble for just the one stage?
Oh, there's a boss at the end of each level. All six bossfights are well done, and are highlights of the game. They were fun, interesting (or as interesting as this game gets, anyway), and varied, though some were easier than others. You have only one life per continue, but do have infinite continues, so you can keep trying. You start a level over if you die, unless you were at the boss, in which case you start from the boss. Not exactly trying to make it too hard here, or trying very hard with this design...
Overall, that really is the game. I mean, almost no pickups, few, short levels, only scattered enemies a lot of the time... this game just feels lazy and incomplete. It's not a bad start at a game, if it were at least twice as long I'd think much more positively of it, but there's not enough there.
At least they did something different for the final stage, it's a driving level with the T-Rex chasing you, and you're looking backwards, driving towards the screen, trying to avoid its constant attacks. Kind of fun really, it'd have been good as a level in the middle of the game or something like The Lion King's stampede level. But in this case, you finish it and that's it, you win. What, did you expect a climactic boss fight? There sort of was one at the end of level 6, where you have to run away from the T-Rex, shooting it while the giant thing chases you, and that was kind of cool, and the car chase after that was fun too, but... then that's it, you win? Bah, poor design. I'm not surprised though, this game obviously wasn't exactly an A-class effort. It's another very short Game Gear game. Ah well, at least what little there is to the game is tolerably fun. Still, it's too short, lacking, and simplistic to be anything better than a C or D grade game, I think.
Feb. 1
Game Gear
--
Bust-A-Move - 1P Vs. CPU mode (Normal difficulty) - Slow but good port of the first Bust-A-Move game. Versus mode's framerate is particularly low, but it's great fun anyway, and looks pretty nice. Bust-A-Move is a fantastic series, and despite the slow play, in versus mode particularly, fewer options than a newer puzzle game would have (1p v. cpu, puzzle (with 99 or 100 puzzles and passwords to save your progress), infinite, or 2p vs. if you have two copies, two systems, and a link cable, with the only options being easy/normal/hard difficulty selection for the 1p vs. and infinite modes), and of course no battery to save your scores... still though, this is great fun, one of the best games I have for GG.
Feb. 3
Game Boy
--
Quarth - This is one I've been working on for several weeks. Great, great game! I'd never heard of it before picking up the cartridge, I don't believe, but I'm very glad I did, because it's a very original and fun game. Basically it's like a shmup crossed with Tetris. Blocks come down towards you, you fire up trying to make rectangles. When a rectangle is formed, the game pauses while those blocks are destroyed. If a block reaches the bottom of the screen you lose and will have to start the stage over. The game is made up of five levels, each with nine stages in it. There is a stage select, and you can start from any stage within the first three levels, but if you want to finish the game you'll have to play 3-9 and all of levels 4 and 5 without turning off the system. And starting from about 3-8, the game gets quite hard, and only gets harder from there... yeah, this was a serious challenge. It took me several days before I finally managed it, I had to leave my GBASP on and plugged in charging overnight while I kept trying to get through the game. After you beat each level you see a cinema scene that turns out to be part of the ending, but you'll only see most of it when you beat the whole thing. There are six ships to choose from, but it's just a cosmetic thing, functionally they are all identical.
Overall, it's an amazing game with addictive, fun, and original gameplay. Easily a B+ title, no question. Quarth is great, I highly recommend playing it!
(This is from today)
Game Boy Color
--
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (non-linked game) - I beat this back in 2001 some time after buying both games that summer in a linked game (ie Ages first, Seasons second), but years ago I started a non-linked game, so that I could beat it in the other way as well. There were ... many delays ... thanks to various things, including cartridge damage -- the cart's plastic shell's bottom right corner is broken off, and while the game works in GBC systems fine, in GBA systems (GBA/SP/GB Player) it won't work without thick tape covering that edge, and it's tough to get a cart with duct tape on it to get into the cart slot... and then getting it out (to switch games) is even harder. So I decided sometime last year (I think) that I'd just leave Seasons in the GBA until I beat it... but I didn't do that anytime soon. That's one reason why I got that GBA-SP late last year, I wanted another GBA (other than the GC+GB Player) so I could play GB games without the frustration of dealing with removing that Seasons cart. :)
I quit for a particularly long time in Seasons' Lost Forest-like maze square, that was a complete pain and I couldn't figure it out without a guide, and I was always playing the game away from my computer and then not caring quite enough to just go look it up and get past that point.
But I finally did, and after probably a couple of years (or more, I really have no idea when I started this Seasons-first playthrough) of occasional play, playing it for a little while and then not again for months, I finally decided to try to finish it a week or two ago. The eighth dungeon was really, really hard, but I got through it, and then got to the boss... but he was even harder, so I realized that what I needed was the medicine that gave you a full health recharge. I couldn't buy it from the witch, so I looked it up in a guide, and it turned out that I'd never started the trading game after getting the first item. I used the guide to quickly get through the trades, got the potion (and L-2 shooting sword, though it's not that big of an upgrade really, just looks cooler because it can shoot), tried the final boss...
And got stuck for several days, until finally managing to beat him today with the help of a technique from the web (using pegasus seeds to try to jump back and forth between his hands, instead of just getting in one hit each time you get onto his hands). That was the key, and I just barely managed to beat him, after several tries, with 3/4ths of a heart left and having used the potion. Pretty awesome. :)
Now, I can finally play Ages again, in a linked game, and see if it's as good as I remember it being... in '01 I liked Ages more than Seasons. It is the more popular of the two, but I wonder what I'll think now. :)
(Older ones from after the last post)
Jan. 28
Game Gear
--
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - This licensed platformer from Sega was the last game released for the GG, and is its only 1997 release. It's got the name of the movie, but like the Genesis game has nothing to do with it in terms of story; you're just some nameless hunter at Site B.
Unfortunately, it's short (seven not very long levels) and not particularly difficult, most of the time. This game doesn't take long to finish. The graphics are okay, but not amazing. It looks just good enough to do without trying to really look the best. There's only one weapon, which has infinite ammo. The only pickups are health powerups that look like vests. Walk around, avoid or shoot the dinosaurs, and get through the short levels. Generic stuff, but it's executed okay, what little there is. I like the levels that are here, there just needed to be more of them, and the game needed more exciting things like other weapons, other pickups, and more. The game just doesn't have enough to it.
One of the six platform levels is a little bit of a change of pace, as you control a small dinosaur (ally of your nameless hunter character) instead of the guy. This guy dies in one hit, with no powerups available, so this level is by far the hardest level in the game, and does get a little frustrating, though not too bad. I wish there was at least one more dinosaur level, why go to all that trouble for just the one stage?
Oh, there's a boss at the end of each level. All six bossfights are well done, and are highlights of the game. They were fun, interesting (or as interesting as this game gets, anyway), and varied, though some were easier than others. You have only one life per continue, but do have infinite continues, so you can keep trying. You start a level over if you die, unless you were at the boss, in which case you start from the boss. Not exactly trying to make it too hard here, or trying very hard with this design...
Overall, that really is the game. I mean, almost no pickups, few, short levels, only scattered enemies a lot of the time... this game just feels lazy and incomplete. It's not a bad start at a game, if it were at least twice as long I'd think much more positively of it, but there's not enough there.
At least they did something different for the final stage, it's a driving level with the T-Rex chasing you, and you're looking backwards, driving towards the screen, trying to avoid its constant attacks. Kind of fun really, it'd have been good as a level in the middle of the game or something like The Lion King's stampede level. But in this case, you finish it and that's it, you win. What, did you expect a climactic boss fight? There sort of was one at the end of level 6, where you have to run away from the T-Rex, shooting it while the giant thing chases you, and that was kind of cool, and the car chase after that was fun too, but... then that's it, you win? Bah, poor design. I'm not surprised though, this game obviously wasn't exactly an A-class effort. It's another very short Game Gear game. Ah well, at least what little there is to the game is tolerably fun. Still, it's too short, lacking, and simplistic to be anything better than a C or D grade game, I think.
Feb. 1
Game Gear
--
Bust-A-Move - 1P Vs. CPU mode (Normal difficulty) - Slow but good port of the first Bust-A-Move game. Versus mode's framerate is particularly low, but it's great fun anyway, and looks pretty nice. Bust-A-Move is a fantastic series, and despite the slow play, in versus mode particularly, fewer options than a newer puzzle game would have (1p v. cpu, puzzle (with 99 or 100 puzzles and passwords to save your progress), infinite, or 2p vs. if you have two copies, two systems, and a link cable, with the only options being easy/normal/hard difficulty selection for the 1p vs. and infinite modes), and of course no battery to save your scores... still though, this is great fun, one of the best games I have for GG.
Feb. 3
Game Boy
--
Quarth - This is one I've been working on for several weeks. Great, great game! I'd never heard of it before picking up the cartridge, I don't believe, but I'm very glad I did, because it's a very original and fun game. Basically it's like a shmup crossed with Tetris. Blocks come down towards you, you fire up trying to make rectangles. When a rectangle is formed, the game pauses while those blocks are destroyed. If a block reaches the bottom of the screen you lose and will have to start the stage over. The game is made up of five levels, each with nine stages in it. There is a stage select, and you can start from any stage within the first three levels, but if you want to finish the game you'll have to play 3-9 and all of levels 4 and 5 without turning off the system. And starting from about 3-8, the game gets quite hard, and only gets harder from there... yeah, this was a serious challenge. It took me several days before I finally managed it, I had to leave my GBASP on and plugged in charging overnight while I kept trying to get through the game. After you beat each level you see a cinema scene that turns out to be part of the ending, but you'll only see most of it when you beat the whole thing. There are six ships to choose from, but it's just a cosmetic thing, functionally they are all identical.
Overall, it's an amazing game with addictive, fun, and original gameplay. Easily a B+ title, no question. Quarth is great, I highly recommend playing it!
13th February 2011, 3:52 AM
ROMS ABOUT OB1... I've played them all... OB1 Roms! Roms Roms Roms!!! OB1!
Everybody chime in.. You know the words!
Everybody chime in.. You know the words!
14th February 2011, 1:52 PM
Game Boy Color
--
Donkey Kong Country -- Whew, this was a tough one. Alright, it didn't take years and years like OoS above, but it did take months. I started playing this game shortly after buying it several months ago, and it took quite a while to finish because DKC is a hard game. The GBC version of DKC really is quite impressive. Visually it looks a lot like the GB Donkey Kong Land games, except with color and perhaps some other visual improvements. There is slowdown, in areas with more than a few enemies, but overall I think the game looks and plays very, very well. It's better than I would have expected DKC to look on the GBC, this game impressed me visually. For the system, it looks about as good as it possibly could. Few GBC games look this good.
Similarly, the music is good. Obviously it's not SNES quality, but the music is good GB remakes of the classic SNES songs, and sounds pretty good for the system.
Level designs are great. They have to have been modified to fit the smaller screen, because there aren't the regular jumps where you can't see where you are going that would be expected (considering the aspect ratio change) if they hadn't adjusted the levels, but they did a great job of it and though it's got to be a little different. it feels just like the original. Brilliant job making the game still a very challenging and incredibly fun game, but not impossible thanks to constant blind jumps. Great work.
Similarly, the save system... I love it. Instead of the original game, where you'd have to beat three or four levels in a world before you'd be able to save in that world, depending on how far into the world the Funky's Flights or Save Hut were, either one would allow you to go and save but before you reach either, if you get a Game Over on SNES you had to start the whole world over. GBC DKC drops that in favor of auto-save that saves after you beat each level. This certainly makes the game easier, but difficulty thanks to cruel save systems isn't something I like, so I think it was a fantastic change that makes the game a lot more fun. It's still a quite challenging game, but it's not as crazy hard as the SNES version was thanks to this saving change, and I think that's a good thing. Having to repeatedly replay levels you've beaten before just because one of the later stages in a world is harder gets frustrating.
DKC for the GBC also has some additional content. There aren't new levels, but there are a bunch of fun little minigames to unlock, as you find stuff. This means that finding the bonus rooms and getting a higher completion percentage means more in this version than in the original DKC, which is good; later DKC games upped the amount of stuff to find, and upped the rewards, compared to the first game on the SNES. Even if they are just minigames, it's nice to have something in this version to make me want to come back and play the game more.
Overall, GBC DKC is a great game. When I got it I was worried that it'd be a waste of money because it's a downgraded port of a classic, and because there's also a GBA version of the game if I wanted to play a more accurate handheld port of DKC, but once I started playing, my concerns almost immediately vanished. GBC DKC is fantastic, and is well worth playing today, particularly for anyone who still appreciates the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Great game! It's easily and A or A- title.
The only real complaint I can think of about the game is that I kind of wish Rare had made a new game, instead of just a port, like how the GB's three DKL games all were not just ports (DKL2 is the closest to being a port, but even it isn't quite one; DKL1 and 3 are entirely different games based on similar concepts). The GBC and GBA saw many more ports than the original Game Boy had, I would say, and it is too bad; I think that these systems are best when developers are making original titles for them, not just ports of major console titles. Also, it'd have been awesome to see a new DKC/DKL style game. Still though, it's a great, impressive port, and I like it a lot.
--
Donkey Kong Country -- Whew, this was a tough one. Alright, it didn't take years and years like OoS above, but it did take months. I started playing this game shortly after buying it several months ago, and it took quite a while to finish because DKC is a hard game. The GBC version of DKC really is quite impressive. Visually it looks a lot like the GB Donkey Kong Land games, except with color and perhaps some other visual improvements. There is slowdown, in areas with more than a few enemies, but overall I think the game looks and plays very, very well. It's better than I would have expected DKC to look on the GBC, this game impressed me visually. For the system, it looks about as good as it possibly could. Few GBC games look this good.
Similarly, the music is good. Obviously it's not SNES quality, but the music is good GB remakes of the classic SNES songs, and sounds pretty good for the system.
Level designs are great. They have to have been modified to fit the smaller screen, because there aren't the regular jumps where you can't see where you are going that would be expected (considering the aspect ratio change) if they hadn't adjusted the levels, but they did a great job of it and though it's got to be a little different. it feels just like the original. Brilliant job making the game still a very challenging and incredibly fun game, but not impossible thanks to constant blind jumps. Great work.
Similarly, the save system... I love it. Instead of the original game, where you'd have to beat three or four levels in a world before you'd be able to save in that world, depending on how far into the world the Funky's Flights or Save Hut were, either one would allow you to go and save but before you reach either, if you get a Game Over on SNES you had to start the whole world over. GBC DKC drops that in favor of auto-save that saves after you beat each level. This certainly makes the game easier, but difficulty thanks to cruel save systems isn't something I like, so I think it was a fantastic change that makes the game a lot more fun. It's still a quite challenging game, but it's not as crazy hard as the SNES version was thanks to this saving change, and I think that's a good thing. Having to repeatedly replay levels you've beaten before just because one of the later stages in a world is harder gets frustrating.
DKC for the GBC also has some additional content. There aren't new levels, but there are a bunch of fun little minigames to unlock, as you find stuff. This means that finding the bonus rooms and getting a higher completion percentage means more in this version than in the original DKC, which is good; later DKC games upped the amount of stuff to find, and upped the rewards, compared to the first game on the SNES. Even if they are just minigames, it's nice to have something in this version to make me want to come back and play the game more.
Overall, GBC DKC is a great game. When I got it I was worried that it'd be a waste of money because it's a downgraded port of a classic, and because there's also a GBA version of the game if I wanted to play a more accurate handheld port of DKC, but once I started playing, my concerns almost immediately vanished. GBC DKC is fantastic, and is well worth playing today, particularly for anyone who still appreciates the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Great game! It's easily and A or A- title.
The only real complaint I can think of about the game is that I kind of wish Rare had made a new game, instead of just a port, like how the GB's three DKL games all were not just ports (DKL2 is the closest to being a port, but even it isn't quite one; DKL1 and 3 are entirely different games based on similar concepts). The GBC and GBA saw many more ports than the original Game Boy had, I would say, and it is too bad; I think that these systems are best when developers are making original titles for them, not just ports of major console titles. Also, it'd have been awesome to see a new DKC/DKL style game. Still though, it's a great, impressive port, and I like it a lot.
17th April 2011, 4:24 PM
Game Gear
--
Super Columns - Beat Flash mode. In this game Flash is a 10-stage game, with no saving so you need to play them all in one go. You do get infinite continues, though. There are no difficulty level or block height options like the original GG Columns game had in Flash mode (a mode where you win by destroying specific, flashing blocks in the field); instead, you just play through the ten stages in order, and it gets harder as it goes along. The first nine gradually get more difficult as you go along, but level 10 is significantly harder than any of the ones that came before it. I gave up in my first set of attempts at level 10, last week, before trying again from the start more recently... I managed to get to level 10 without too much trouble (found the first 9 much easier the second time than I had the first), and didn't get a game over until almost the end. However, level 10 was still really hard and I had to leave the system on for a day or two (plugged in via the power cord) until I could manage to finish it. I finally did that last night, and I've beaten it... awesome, that was hard. The final stages have walls of unbreakable blocks keeping you from directly accessing many of the flash blocks that you have to destroy, which means that your only option is to wait -- every 150 blocks you destroy a "destroy all of the color it hits" piece comes down, and you have to use those to clear the stages. This is hard when you have to survive for a long time in a very small amount of space, as most notably in stage 10. So yeah, it took some skill and some luck to beat, but I did it. :)
Super Columns is pretty cool. It's odd how a bunch of stuff Columns III had added isn't here (the powerups other than 'destroy all of this color', for instance, and the ability to attack the other player in versus mode as you build up blocks; instead in this one you just send unbreakables.), but other things are added, including the flash and endless modes (Columns III on Genesis is stripped down and has ONLY versus/vs. CPU modes, no solo), the ability to rotate the columns of blocks horizontally, instead of vertical only though they always start vertical (finally! Great feature...), and the aforementioned unbreakable blocks. Good game overall, nice version of Columns with some good new features (vs. CPU mode) as well as versions of the old modes.
--
Super Columns - Beat Flash mode. In this game Flash is a 10-stage game, with no saving so you need to play them all in one go. You do get infinite continues, though. There are no difficulty level or block height options like the original GG Columns game had in Flash mode (a mode where you win by destroying specific, flashing blocks in the field); instead, you just play through the ten stages in order, and it gets harder as it goes along. The first nine gradually get more difficult as you go along, but level 10 is significantly harder than any of the ones that came before it. I gave up in my first set of attempts at level 10, last week, before trying again from the start more recently... I managed to get to level 10 without too much trouble (found the first 9 much easier the second time than I had the first), and didn't get a game over until almost the end. However, level 10 was still really hard and I had to leave the system on for a day or two (plugged in via the power cord) until I could manage to finish it. I finally did that last night, and I've beaten it... awesome, that was hard. The final stages have walls of unbreakable blocks keeping you from directly accessing many of the flash blocks that you have to destroy, which means that your only option is to wait -- every 150 blocks you destroy a "destroy all of the color it hits" piece comes down, and you have to use those to clear the stages. This is hard when you have to survive for a long time in a very small amount of space, as most notably in stage 10. So yeah, it took some skill and some luck to beat, but I did it. :)
Super Columns is pretty cool. It's odd how a bunch of stuff Columns III had added isn't here (the powerups other than 'destroy all of this color', for instance, and the ability to attack the other player in versus mode as you build up blocks; instead in this one you just send unbreakables.), but other things are added, including the flash and endless modes (Columns III on Genesis is stripped down and has ONLY versus/vs. CPU modes, no solo), the ability to rotate the columns of blocks horizontally, instead of vertical only though they always start vertical (finally! Great feature...), and the aforementioned unbreakable blocks. Good game overall, nice version of Columns with some good new features (vs. CPU mode) as well as versions of the old modes.
30th May 2011, 11:21 PM
Sega Master System
--
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars - This is the second Alex Kidd game, and it's much less acclaimed than the first one. I can see why, honestly -- it's alright, but not great. THis is a pretty easy and short game. It's not exactly the best game, but it was fun anyway, in an easy and simplistic way. In this platformer, you walk to the right until you reach the end. Avoid the enemies and obstacles along the way, and don't run out of health/time. See, this game's unique feature is that you have a combo health/time bar, and when it runs out -- either from taking too long (this will not usually happen) or because you got hit/fell in pits too much, as you get docked time for each time these happen (and they will) -- you lose and get game over. The game is generous, though, and you have infinite continues from the beginning of the level you're on.
You have the standard jump and attack buttons, but you can only sometimes attack -- you can only attack when you have picked up a "S" powerup, which give you 15 shots per powerup. Also most enemies infinitely spawn, so getting past them without getting hit can be tricky. Fortunately you can take a good number of hits before running out of time.
As a result of those things, for a lot of this game you're just moving right, trying to avoid the enemies and make jumps. It's pretty basic stuff, this game is not deep. There are powerups -- the aforementioned one that gives you ammo, one that increases your time a bit, and one that increases your jumping -- but they don't add much. It's mostly just the simple but entertaining gameplay that holds this game at all. The problem there though is that once you beat it -- and it won't take too long -- there's not much left to do.
The graphics are good, though. This is a good looking mid-life SMS game, with nice, bright graphics and a good variety of settings. The enemies have nice variety as well. The music's simple but good enough.
Oh, there's one more problem -- the levels. While you play through 14 stages in the game, the second seven are simply the first seven again, but a bit harder -- the game makes you play two loops until you reach the end. There's very little payoff too, just a single screen of the balls doing whatever and then your average 8-bit "the end" screen at the end of the game. It actually shows that screen of the balls you collected at the end of stage 7 as well; the only difference I could see at the end is that "The End" screen afterwards. Maybe that's a spoiler, but when the ending is so lame I think it's a spoiler worth mentioning. So yeah, not that much level variety either.
Oh, and there are no bosses in this game. The final screen of each level is an obstacle you have to avoid before you can reach the end, and if you get hit on the final screen you'll respawn at the start instead of just taking damage as you do in the rest of each level, but these aren't really bosses and for the most part aren't very hard. Only a few challenged me at all, such as the stage 2/9 final screen and a few others on the second loop. Many you can just zip right past. And none involve fighting any real bosses, you just get past whatever it is and you're at the end.
Still though, the levels are fun enough to play through and look at. The game is lacking in many ways, but it is fun to play despite them and overall I'd say the game is okay, probably, while it lasts. It's seriously lacking in terms of depth, and has some questionable design issues, but at least while it lasts it entertained me in its simplistic way.
So, overall? Overall, Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is okay. It's far too short, is easy thanks to the easy to moderate difficulty and infinite continues, and has some other design flaws as well, but it is kind of fun to run through the levels, dodging enemies as you go and jumping over the obstacles. The level designs are decently done, and it has a good variety of obstacles and challenges to get past. Overall, I'd probably give it a C; maybe I could convinced to go a little higher, but the flaws are just too big to go much above that. It's probably a C-grade game. And for people who don't like the platforming in the game as much as I did, I'd find it easy to understand giving it a lower grade than that.
--
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars - This is the second Alex Kidd game, and it's much less acclaimed than the first one. I can see why, honestly -- it's alright, but not great. THis is a pretty easy and short game. It's not exactly the best game, but it was fun anyway, in an easy and simplistic way. In this platformer, you walk to the right until you reach the end. Avoid the enemies and obstacles along the way, and don't run out of health/time. See, this game's unique feature is that you have a combo health/time bar, and when it runs out -- either from taking too long (this will not usually happen) or because you got hit/fell in pits too much, as you get docked time for each time these happen (and they will) -- you lose and get game over. The game is generous, though, and you have infinite continues from the beginning of the level you're on.
You have the standard jump and attack buttons, but you can only sometimes attack -- you can only attack when you have picked up a "S" powerup, which give you 15 shots per powerup. Also most enemies infinitely spawn, so getting past them without getting hit can be tricky. Fortunately you can take a good number of hits before running out of time.
As a result of those things, for a lot of this game you're just moving right, trying to avoid the enemies and make jumps. It's pretty basic stuff, this game is not deep. There are powerups -- the aforementioned one that gives you ammo, one that increases your time a bit, and one that increases your jumping -- but they don't add much. It's mostly just the simple but entertaining gameplay that holds this game at all. The problem there though is that once you beat it -- and it won't take too long -- there's not much left to do.
The graphics are good, though. This is a good looking mid-life SMS game, with nice, bright graphics and a good variety of settings. The enemies have nice variety as well. The music's simple but good enough.
Oh, there's one more problem -- the levels. While you play through 14 stages in the game, the second seven are simply the first seven again, but a bit harder -- the game makes you play two loops until you reach the end. There's very little payoff too, just a single screen of the balls doing whatever and then your average 8-bit "the end" screen at the end of the game. It actually shows that screen of the balls you collected at the end of stage 7 as well; the only difference I could see at the end is that "The End" screen afterwards. Maybe that's a spoiler, but when the ending is so lame I think it's a spoiler worth mentioning. So yeah, not that much level variety either.
Oh, and there are no bosses in this game. The final screen of each level is an obstacle you have to avoid before you can reach the end, and if you get hit on the final screen you'll respawn at the start instead of just taking damage as you do in the rest of each level, but these aren't really bosses and for the most part aren't very hard. Only a few challenged me at all, such as the stage 2/9 final screen and a few others on the second loop. Many you can just zip right past. And none involve fighting any real bosses, you just get past whatever it is and you're at the end.
Still though, the levels are fun enough to play through and look at. The game is lacking in many ways, but it is fun to play despite them and overall I'd say the game is okay, probably, while it lasts. It's seriously lacking in terms of depth, and has some questionable design issues, but at least while it lasts it entertained me in its simplistic way.
So, overall? Overall, Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is okay. It's far too short, is easy thanks to the easy to moderate difficulty and infinite continues, and has some other design flaws as well, but it is kind of fun to run through the levels, dodging enemies as you go and jumping over the obstacles. The level designs are decently done, and it has a good variety of obstacles and challenges to get past. Overall, I'd probably give it a C; maybe I could convinced to go a little higher, but the flaws are just too big to go much above that. It's probably a C-grade game. And for people who don't like the platforming in the game as much as I did, I'd find it easy to understand giving it a lower grade than that.