+- Tendo City (https://www.tendocity.net)
+-- Forum: Tendo City: Metropolitan District (https://www.tendocity.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Tendo City (https://www.tendocity.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=42)
+--- Thread: Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) (/showthread.php?tid=4511)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 16th November 2008
Oh, I've played it. I didn't start from nothing here, I picked up my save file from whenever it was I last played the game, which was at the lake having to find the way into the Ice Palace. I'd played the rom a little bit years back, and bought LttP/FS for GBA back in like '04 or something as well. I then got the SNES version sometime last year, largely because it included the manual (which is a lot more interesting than the boring GBA version manual... backstory, art, and all... :)), given that I only barely thought that the GBA version had been worth the money. The SNES one was a lot cheaper, sure, but given that I kind of disliked the game, was it really worth owning? Oddly, I found the SNES version more fun (the better graphics and sound help, for one thing...), so that's why I've finished it while I still have no new progress in years in the GBA version, where I am still at the sixth dungeon, Misery Mire. It was too hard and I gave up... and that was after repeated FAQ use to find the stupid item you needed to get in (the Ether Medallion, that is). How in the WORLD was I supposed to know that some random cave on top of the mountain on the top of the map near an earlier dungeon had a critical item in it? That little icon on the ground? If you don't know what it means, that's no help... and as I said, they don't help you beyond that.
My opinion of it now is pretty much the same it was then... it's okay, but annoying, frustrating, and nowhere near as good as Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages, or any of the 3d Zelda games. And I still don't like the character sprite art.
Anyway, items that you need but the game doesn't really tell you what it's for, where to find it, or that you need it at all, except maybe for a nearly useless, extremely vague "clue":
-Bombos Medallion (I think, I can't quite remember)
-Book of Mudora
-Ether Medallion (as I said, this one had me stumped for a long, long time...)
-Quake Medallion (THIS one forced me to restart Turtle Rock all over... at the boss, couldn't figure out what to do, yet another point where without guides I'd have given up for sure... (there are many of those, in this game!)... guide tells me I need the Ice Rod, which is of course hidden in a random cave on the overworld. Great. So I have to do the whole thing over, now, after reaching the end? I hate you, Nintendo...
And no, the game gives you absolutely no hint that you need an Ice Rod to hurt that boss, much less that an Ice Rod even exists. You just have to hope you wander into the right cave before getting that far. HORRIBLE game design!
There was a Sarasrahla thing at the start of the dungeon... he merely says "have a blue potion, you'll need magic". Good advice, but not enough.)
-Silver Arrows -- Oh, you tell me how vitally important the arrows are only AFTER I get them, not before? That's helpful! And as far as finding them, before you do all you get is a "you need a strong bomb to break that wall" at some point. How am I supposed to know that at some random point a Super Bomb appears in the Bomb Shop and that I must use it on that one specific wall to get a vital item? I would never have thought of looking there without a guide, I'd say... "I've been there (the bomb shop) before, had nothing interesting..."...
I only knew to find the Silver Arrows before fighting Ganon because I knew Ganon needs Silver Arrows to fight, because I remembered it from the comic and other sources. I don't remember the game itself actually telling me that until AFTER I'd already gotten them.
The only things I can remember being remotely like this in LA were some of the Trading Game steps -- particularly the part where you need the monkey's help and the part at the end to get the magnifying glass. But the LA overworld is so much better designed and so much more fun to explore and the game gives you better clues (characters hinting at items they will want later on, for instance), so I don't think it's as stupid as this.
I will admit that the first time I played it back in the mid '90s LA did take me several months, so it was hard, for sure, and I absolutely did get stuck a lot... but still. LA took me a few months to finish the first time after I got it. I've owned or had access to one version or another of LttP for years, and only now did I finally manage to force myself to finish the game...
Oh, the ending was underwhelming, but for some reason a lot of Nintendo's first-party SNES games seem to be like that. The version of the story in the Nintendo Power comic is way more interesting than the version in the game, really. But of course, that comic actually has a decent story... the game doesn't. LA was the first Zelda game to actually attempt to tell an interesting story, really. For a first attempt, it's amazing how incredibly successful it was at it. I can also see the origins of stuff like the cast of NPCs and such in LttP (I know the NES games had a few, but not like how it ws done in LttP), but that montage at the end really highlighted how little most of them mattered for the most part. It was a first attempt, but the next two games (LA and OoT) had vast, vast improvements on the issue. The NPCs are there, with a bit more personality than before... but unlike LA, OoT, or beyond, they aren't very important. But at least it was an advance...
Quote:Granted, I have played the game so much now that I have lost all sense of objectivity
This is absolutely true for me with LA now, though. All the puzzles are so easy and obvious, how could someone miss them? :D
Oh yeah, and it's really annoying that the SNES version has such limited restore points when you load your game. It doesn't even save you at the start of a dungeon when you turn the system off, instead you have to walk back there from the center of the world in question? What were they thinking?
... I should say SOMETHING good, shouldn't I... :)
-Dungeons -- fun, when you don't get killed or turn your system off. The challenge level ramps up nicely. Bosses are oddly quite easy through most all of the game, but the dungeons are challenging, as that death total suggests. I got killed quite a bit... The very complicated dungeon designs are also interesting. Still, I prefer LA's dungeon designs... such as, for instance, its mid-boss warps. LttP forces you to replay more stuff when you die in a dungeon, most of the time; in a few dungeons they make up for it with doors to the outside that let you continue from those points, and those are great, but a few dungeons could have used that that don't have it... the Ice Palace, for example. :) But the game's huge dungeons are interesting to explore, and after the annoying and challenging Ice Palace and Misery Mire, things got a bit easier and more fun in the last couple of dungeons, which was good. And there were definitely some clever puzzles, too. The last couple of dungeons were definitely fun...
-Background art and music-- Often pretty beautiful and very well done... and with a great soundtrack of course.
-It's Zelda -- even if it's definitely not my favorite Zelda game, it's still a very good game..
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - Great Rumbler - 17th November 2008
Fallout 3 - 9.5/10 GOTY 2008
Mirror's Edge - 8/10
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - lazyfatbum - 18th November 2008
*gets popcorn*
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - DMiller - 18th November 2008
I don't know if this is because you're just playing it now ABF, but when I first played LttP the fun of the game was the exploration. I didn't always care about going from Dungeon 2 to Dungeon 3 to Dungeon 4. Usually I would wander around in search of heart pieces or whatever else I could find. That's probably how I ended up finding things like the Ether and Quake Medallions because I never remember having trouble getting into Misery Mire. I had already found Ether by then. Nowadays I tend to rush through games since I don't have as much time for them so that may be the problem you had. Also, the puzzles in the game were even better if you played the game when it first came out because LttP created many new puzzles that hadn't been seen before and are now staples of the Zelda games. Those puzzles were probably easy for you since you have a lot of Zelda experience, but they would have been challenging back in the day. One of my favorite parts of LttP was finally figuring out how to solve a difficult puzzle. The only fault I ever found in LttP was the fact that finding the heart piece in the digging game was random chance. I knew there was a heart piece there but it was never in the same place. Other than that there was little I didn't like about the game.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 18th November 2008
Oh, I forgot one more significant example of this stuff... getting into the Swamp of Sorrows where Misery Mire is located. The Swamp of Sorrows is, of course, inaccessible by land. You have to find another way in. So, what is that way? There's a vague, typically useless clue, but that won't be much help. You need to figure out that you need to warp in via a warp tile. Once you realize that, you search the Light World desert for a warp tile... and of course, you won't find one. It's not accessible there by land or by any of your normal items.
What you need to do is you need to get the warping ability for your "flute" (ocarina) and warp to the Desert location, which puts you on a hilltop with the warp tile on it. How are you supposed to realize this without using a guide? Who knows...
Perhaps the fact that you get that item, the Flute, but it has no function (it just plays a sound) should be a clue that somewhere there's something that will give it greater functionality, but even so... who, exactly, would have guessed that what you have to do is go up to the weathervane in Light World Kakariko Village and play the Flute there? Um... no. Without prior knowledge (and by this I mean a guide) there's no way you'd have guessed that.
Oh, and evidently they ran out of ideas for what to do with the overworld late in the game, because the farther you get the less you do there... you never do all that much in the overworld in LA compared to any Zelda game after it, but it gets even worse later, to the point where once you beat dungeon eight, you're about two screens of straight walking along a single path away from the final dungeon in Ganon's Tower. The overworld should matter too. LttP just does not believe that, and even when it does it's with horrible design ideas like the Medallions or the situation I just described above. LttP has almost certainly my least favorite overworld of any Zelda game I've played.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - DMiller - 18th November 2008
A Black Falcon Wrote:What you need to do is you need to get the warping ability for your "flute" (ocarina) and warp to the Desert location, which puts you on a hilltop with the warp tile on it. How are you supposed to realize this without using a guide? Who knows...This is what makes me think you rushed through the game. You'd know from talking to people in town that the flute boy has some connection to the old man in the bar. Once I found the flute I brought it to the bar and played it for the old man since he was asleep. He wakes up and specifically says "Play it before the windmill in town." I don't know how you could ask for a more obvious clue than that. Once I had the warp ability I tried it out to see where it took me and, of course, I found the way to enter Misery Mire.
Perhaps the fact that you get that item, the Flute, but it has no function (it just plays a sound) should be a clue that somewhere there's something that will give it greater functionality, but even so... who, exactly, would have guessed that what you have to do is go up to the weathervane in Light World Kakariko Village and play the Flute there? Um... no. Without prior knowledge (and by this I mean a guide) there's no way you'd have guessed that.
Most items in the game are hinted at somewhere, and maybe you forgot some of the clues since it was so long between your play sessions. Even unnecessary items such as the cane that creates a magical barrier can be found through exploration. In that case I found the cave with the cane but it was covered in spikes that I couldn't get past without dying. Once I found the invincibility cape I knew how to get through. It's almost like a Metroid game where you see an inaccessibile area that you can get through later after you find an item.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 18th November 2008
And can you also come up with excuses for someplace where they say where the Ice Rod is and when you'll need it, or where the Ether Medallion is, or where the Quake Medallion is? Really?
Quote:You'd know from talking to people in town that the flute boy has some connection to the old man in the bar. Once I found the flute I brought it to the bar and played it for the old man since he was asleep. He wakes up and specifically says "Play it before the windmill in town." I don't know how you could ask for a more obvious clue than that.
In that case perhaps you're right, I forget (as I said, I picked up the game from the Ice Temple after not playing it in some time...). I'd gotten the Flute a long time earlier. If the people in town had said something at some point I wouldn't have remembered, and I wouldn't go back and talk to them again, or think of showing the Ocarina in front of them... they don't, generally, exactly have anything new to say, and why would I think of using that item there? I wouldn't. Maybe this one would have been less of an issue if I'd played it all at once... though I really don't think that applies for any of the others.
On a related note, my cousin also has this game for GBA... he got stuck and quit either at one of the 'you need a Medallion' parts or the 'how do you get into the Swamp of Sorrows' part. I for get one of them, but it was one of those... and I agreed that that part was annoying, because I'd gotten stuck there for a long time too (on GBA, my first time playing most of the game), and had only gotten past it with a guide, I believe. It was probably the Ether Medallion part, but I'm not certain... but that one was pretty cruel. "Yeah, you need this random item from a place near a dungeon you were in a long time ago. Hope you searched around there and found it, because otherwise we aren't telling you much of anything useful!"
Quote:Most items in the game are hinted at somewhere, and maybe you forgot some of the clues since it was so long between your play sessions. Even unnecessary items such as the cane that creates a magical barrier can be found through exploration. In that case I found the cave with the cane but it was covered in spikes that I couldn't get past without dying. Once I found the invincibility cape I knew how to get through. It's almost like a Metroid game where you see an inaccessibile area that you can get through later after you find an item.
My main point was that starting with LA they dramatically improved how all this stuff works in a Zelda game. LttP is an improvement over the original game, sure, because that one often had no clues at all, but it's still far, far behind anything after it.
Puzzles are good, I like puzzles. But ridiculously vague 'clues' and "just go and wander around and find stuff" isn't exactly what I want from a Zelda game... sure, the newer ones go too far towards making everything blatantly obvious, but still. This isn't good either.
And anyway, as I have said many times before, the overworld is terribly designed. It's so easy to get where you need to go next that what point is there in exploring? Not much of one, usually... and then the game punishes you for not doing something that the overworld design encourages you to not do. Um... nice. The difference here between LttP and LA, OoA, OoS, and any 3d Zelda game is vast... they learned things about what not to do with overworld design with LttP's, I think. Don't make the overworld a set of squares, make them more interesting, varied, and often connected shapes... don't let the player travel to the whole overworld right from the beginning, make the player work to explore the overworld... put barriers in the way, to add actual challenges and purpose to the exploration... carefully design the areas so everything has a purpose... and put in much more meaningful, interesting NPCs. LttP started on some of these things compared to the first game, but there was still a long way to go.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - DMiller - 19th November 2008
I agree with you about LA perfecting the system, but from what I remember there are clues for every item. For the Quake Medallion I believe there is a sign that says "Do not throw things in the water." Now who wouldn't read that and then throw the sign in the water?
As for the Ice Rod I remember at least one townsperson (maybe even Sahasrahla) talking about a secret cave east of Lake Hylia.
As for Ether, I don't remember if there was a clue for that, but when you first enter the Dark World on the mountain there are only a few places you can go when reentering the Light World, and that grave is one of them. That was one of the cases where I remembered that spot after getting the Book of Mudora.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 20th November 2008
Those are exactly the kinds of things I'm complaining about, DMiller. Really, my long descriptions of those things weren't enough?
Quote:For the Quake Medallion I believe there is a sign that says "Do not throw things in the water." Now who wouldn't read that and then throw the sign in the water?
Next to the pond. The sign is next to the pond. Which is in the middle of nowhere in a corner you might never notice. That is only a "clue" if you're already there... it won't help you realize that that random out-of-the-way corner of the map has an absolutely vital item in it. They certainly never tell you THAT.
That's exactly the kind of thing I meant when I said "clues" that are nearly useless, pretty much.
Quote:As for the Ice Rod I remember at least one townsperson (maybe even Sahasrahla) talking about a secret cave east of Lake Hylia.
Oh yes, because there are NO other caves around Lake Hylia! I mean, there are only like five in the area... which one do they mean? I don't know! Is it important? Who knows! When did they tell me this, if they did? Was there any hint that this was actually relevant and not just another heart piece or chest of rupees something, like a lot of those caves have (some of which I think are hinted at by someone or other)?
Just because the game gives you a vague "clue" about something doesn't mean that it matters or is relevant, and they don't tell you which ones actually matter and which ones (like the thief... at one point you're told about a thief trying to describe himself as an "average middle-age man" and there is such a person, but you don't actually have to do anything with that guy, he has nothing vital. But how am I supposed to know that that guy doesn't while that stupid cave does? I can't, because they aren't THAT helpful with their clues!)
And that's assuming that you heard the clue to begin with... vitally important items should not be hinted at only by some rumor in a conversation in town, they should be given much more obvious clues. Leave the vague rumors for the things you don't actually need to get to finish the game... like OoT, with the Golden Skulltulla, Big Poe, etc, quests. That's how to do it.
Quote:As for Ether, I don't remember if there was a clue for that, but when you first enter the Dark World on the mountain there are only a few places you can go when reentering the Light World, and that grave is one of them. That was one of the cases where I remembered that spot after getting the Book of Mudora.
... And that's your weakest justification of all. So because there's a grave past a dungeon in an area of limited size, you're supposed to have explored every inch of the area, even the areas PAST the dungeon, before you go back and go in it?
Possibly, but not always. Why in the world should I assume that there's anything important in THAT screen as opposed to all of the others up there, none of them had much of note I believe? If it'd been an item you needed in THAT dungeon it'd have been one thing, at least that way you wouldn't have to go far to get it. But having it be something you need a lot later in the game... that's just cruel. Getting back up there is tedious, once you've used a guide to learn that you need an item you don't have and where the item you need is.
Look, I see your point, and I agree -- if you play the game the way you described, spending a lot of time methodically searching every corner of the map while you go trying to not miss anything, annoyances like missing those items well might not happen. But it's not just 'wanting to hurry through the game' that brings me to not play that way, it's just going by the way more modern games work. Most all RPGs used to do stuff far, FAR worse than anything in LttP... whole games that were giant mazes with no maps you'd have to map yourself on paper were common... but then game designers mostly decided that such things aren't nice, so they gave us things like ingame automaps and quest logs. I don't wish for the days back without those things. I do think that some (many?) games go too far in making everything completely linear and obvious, but thing like maps, quest logs, clear hints that you need some vital item before you go into a dungeon that requires it and hopefully where to start looking for that item... that kind of thing I like.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - DMiller - 20th November 2008
I definitely agree with you about the addition of maps and quest logs to games since I couldn't stand older RPGs without maps, but I still love to be challenged and forced to explore in a well-made game. I really do equate a lot of the exploration in LttP to Super Metroid. One thing I wish I could have turned off in the Prime games was the auto-hint feature. I understand that it can be pretty useful, but whenever I got a hint about where to go I felt compelled to go there as opposed to continuing to explore to find the next place to go. It's definitely just a different way of playing the game, but, as I said, there are hints for everything. I did look up the ice rod hint and it was more obvious than I remember. Sahasrahla said "A helpful item is hidden in the cave on the east side of Lake Hylia. Get it!" That's pretty obvious if you ask me.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 17th December 2008
Sega CD
--
Sonic CD
Yeah, finally finished the last three worlds. Awesome game, for sure... definitely one of the better games in the series. The time system (I got all the 'Good Futures' to get the good ending, because I knew I wouldn't get all the crystals... erm, "Time Stones"...) was unique, and made the gameplay very different from other Sonic games. Time Attack may add a bit of playtime, but with no time-era changing there, it's got very different gameplay... oh well, the main game was great fun. :)
Oh yeah, and I added
Dreamcast
--
Soul Calibur (beat all missions, unlocked everything)
Because I beat it back in September or so, but forgot to add it then... oh, and the burned European version too, because before I bought it I played that one, and had to play it over once I got it because the save files between regions aren't compatible. Oh well, it's a great game so it was plenty fun anyway. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 24th December 2008
Playstation
--
In The Hunt (Normal difficulty) -- I admit, I had to switch over to player two after P1 got game over at the level 5 boss (of six levels). And even so I barely finished, because the last level, and final boss in particular, is quite hard and I died many times there... awesome game though, with really, really cool levels, designs, and graphics. "Underwater Metal Slug" really does define it pretty well, and it's awesome.
... It's amazing that Sony actually allowed them to release this thing in the US back in 1995. How'd they manage to avoid the anti-2d policy? This game is a 100% 2d arcade port... however it happened though, it's great that it did. Very fun game. The Metal Slug team (they left Irem after In the Hunt, and Metal Slug 1 was their next game) is amazing...
EDIT
--
I actually beat this one at some point in November last year, or perhaps late October. Awesome shmup!
PS2: Taito Legends 2: G-Darius
Edit 2
--
This one was finished (in two player mode with my cousin) the weekend after Christmas.
Dreamcast (burned, played on actual system)
--
Dynamite Cop! (with two players)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 18th January 2009
Nintendo 64
--
Top Gear Overdrive
Great game! Exceptional graphics for the system, with high resolution support, fantastic, highly detailed textures, lots of filters, and more, an amazing sense of speed (you really do feel like you're going really fast in the later cars!), pretty good, interesting, and varied track designs, great arcade-style skiddy car control where you always feel like despite how you skid everywhere when controlled right you have perfect control over where the car goes, fun low-gravity physics with the cars' Rush-like ability to fly into the air with the slightest bump and tracks full of shortcuts (they are admittedly much tamer in design than Rush shortcuts, but still, finding and using the shortcuts is a lot of fun!), a nice variety of cars to unlock as you progress, only five main tracks but with a final semi-secret track and mirror modes for the first five tracks to mix things up as you go through, music with vocal audio (six tracks, all with full vocal audio)... great stuff! It even has EEPROM-based on-cart saving, which is awesome for a third-party N64 game! The other three N64 Top Gear games all require controller paks to save, but not this one... :)
Also, despite the very nice graphics, high resolution (expansion pak required, this was one of the first games to support it), and many layers of filters and graphical effects, the framerate is absolutely rock-solid. Indeed, for anyone who says that the N64 can't do racing games that both have great, fairly detailed graphics and a great framerate, this is a great game to show. I mean, the graphics aren't the equal of, say Rush 2049, if just because the detail, size, and scale of the environments is a lot smaller, but the framerate is high and absolutely stable at all times, and the environments more than nice enough looking to keep you interested. The game also has four player split-screen play... WITH COMPUTERS! Yes, this is one of the only racing games on the N64 which has more than four vehicles in the 3 or 4 player mode -- in fact, you have eight cars in 2, 3, or 4 player mode. The only thing lost in 3 or 4 player mode versus 2 is the minimap (there is none in 3/4 player mode), along with the loss of music in all multiplayer modes (as I say later). Single player does have 12 cars so it's not the same number as single player, but it's still great for the system, that's for sure. In comparison Wipeout 64 does have the full 16 cars in 2-player mode, but it goes down to 4 vehicles with removed track-side art for 3/4 player mode.
It's not one of the hardest games around, and indeed when I got back to playing it today I finished more than half of the game in one day, but I played it quite a bit to get that far and found the difficulty level to be, overall, just about right -- challenging enough to force me to keep trying to do better and improve myself, but not so hard as to really be frustrating. I'd say they balanced it perfectly; a Hard mode might be nice, but if there was only going to be one difficulty, they got it right. The game is a catch-up style racing game, where you are the only person who starts at the line while everyone else starts down the track from you (by the last season, the front few racers start at least halfway around the track... you can tell, every car is marked by a dot on the map. :)), but catching up and passing everyone is fun, so this isn't a problem, it's just a design decision. The game and track design encourages you to keep trying to race your best on each track and find the best path on the course, and it's a lot of fun.
Sure, the music is not-too-interesting-for-me rock, but still, the effort is notable on a system with very few games with music with songs with vocals. The only other significant issues are that the game doesn't save any best times, only best finish positions in the various races, there is no music in multiplayer mode (too bad, considering the effort put in to that element), that there is only the championship season and single-race modes and no other modes or options (no variety of game modes), and that the collision isn't perfect and sometimes you will fall through the border between a floor and wall or reset onto the main track from the middle of a shortcut you just entered (a really, really annoying thing that in later seasons often necessitates a you to restart the race for no fault of your own, if you want to win)... this is annoying, but not enough to ruin the game. Overall it's a very, very good arcade-style racing game with some very impressive graphics and gameplay that's just as good. Aside from these few problems, this game has very few issues, and a lot of good things going for it. Recommended!
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 1st February 2009
NES
--
Kirby's Adventure -- Wow, is that game great. Sure, it's easy for a NES game, what with the moderate difficulty level, saving (only NES platformer with battery save?), and that the worst thing that can happen, if you get game over, is restarting the level you're currently on... and dying merely sends you back to the last door, of which there are many in levels... but those things aren't bad. They're good, really -- it's a genuinely beatable NES platformer! Wow... :)
I wish more NES platformers had had saving, it really makes a difference... Mario 3 for instance badly needed it. But anyway, Kirby's Adventure is great, with great graphics, great gameplay, lots of cool powers (both normal and special ones), fun minigames, stuff to do after you finish (find the rest of the hidden exits; I'm at 89% now, having just finished)... just brilliant stuff. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 18th February 2009
TurboGrafx-16
--
Bonk's Adventure -- It's great, of course. Very traditional platforming without any major new ideas (beyond having to bonk with your head, not your feet), but it does the traditional platformer really well. It's got good graphics and music, nicely varied level designs, a good variety of enemies, bonus games, continues, it lets you continue from before the first boss of the boss rush instead of having to start the whole last world over... it's just a fun game. It's not too hard, but that's just fine. Play it! :) The only real possible negative is that it's a bit short along with being easy, but oh well... it's long enough, and what's wrong with having a game you will finish, when it's this fun? Nothing, that's what. It's a great game. :)
I've heard Bonk's Revenge is even better, maybe the best of the series... I want it now. :)
(Still, it isn't a match for Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario World. Those games were both more innovative and more original, as well as being longer and more challenging. Those two really are two of the all-time greats, and I don't think this one is quite on that level, particularly because of the the innovation and originality of Sonic and Mario World. Still, Bonk's Adventure is a pretty good platformer that does a fine job of showing off the platform and you'll have fun playing through, and that's pretty good. And I'd like to try the sequel...)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - lazyfatbum - 18th February 2009
ABF, have you touched Silent Hill?
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - Sacred Jellybean - 18th February 2009
Let's talk about Silent Hill.
The first game is still one of my favorites, though it's been years since I've played through. I'm still working through the 2nd game for the Maria ending, but I've been busy the past week so I still haven't finished the mental hospital yet. I'm waiting to finish that before I comment back on the topic in Reviews (put your 2 cents in if you have'em, lazy).
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 19th February 2009
Saturn
--
Cyber Speedway (Beginner and Advanced circuits) -- Just finished it! :) That didn't take me long, under a week after getting the system... but I am of course a futuristic racing game fan, and Cyber Speedway is a futuristic racing game, and a decently good one. It's got some pretty good art design and reasonably interesting tracks, as well as good controls, but it's short and easy, and the first-gen Saturn graphics hold it back. It's too bad there wasn't a sequel, the game is good and there was a lot of room here to improve on it.
There are only two circuits, one five races and the second six, and then you're done. The conversation scenes in between with the other racers and garage chief are entertaining and help move the game along. The Beginner courses are sometimes interesting, but simple; the Expert courses are definitely more challenging, and in Expert you need to win every race to proceed too, while in Beginner you only need to finish in the top three (out of five racers). So yeah, short and easy; despite having to win each race in Expert and having limited continues, it doesn't take all that long. There were some definite tense moments as several racers always seem to be on your tail (they must have some catchup... :)), and I used several continues, but in the end I edged out the always-tough red hovercar at the last turn... exciting, but fun! :)
So yeah, the graphics are rough and it won't take long to finish, but for a 1995 Saturn game, it's good.
lazyfatbum Wrote:ABF, have you touched Silent Hill?
I put the disc in once to see that it worked... but beyond that, no.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - lazyfatbum - 20th February 2009
ABF/ You're missing out
Beans/ I dont like SH2 but 1 spanks me everytime. Did you see the rumor that Homecoming is getting on Wii? that confuzzled me
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 29th March 2009
TurboGrafx-16
--
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones -- Decent game. Starts out well, but the repetition, lack of variety, and grinding elements do drag it down some... still, it's not as bad as many people say, really. Average is more like it. I admit, by the end I was kind of tired of it, so I used a cheap trick I saw on the net that makes the final boss not fight back... I just got really tired of having to restart the whole final level every time I died at the boss. That's not much fun, after five or eight tries... meh, I'll probably beat that boss legitimately sometime, but this is good enough for now. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 10th April 2009
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 20th April 2009
SNES
--
GunForce: Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island -- I've beaten the rom, but not the actual cart, because of the credit limit (you only get three continues). Well, now I have, and I didn't even need the last credit... :) It's a fairly short and easy game, with just five moderate length levels with not mostly easy bosses, but even so, I really like the game. It's just fun... I'm very happy to have beaten the SNES cart now. :)
NES
--
StarTropics -- Yes, I finally did it! Wow... awesome, AWESOME game! Very highly recommended! Great, long ending, too... this is very far from a "Congraturation" ending, that's for sure. This has got to be one of the best games I have for the NES...
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 7th May 2009
Saturn
--
Panzer Dragoon
Guild Wars has been taking up almost all of my gaming time of course these past few weeks, but I played this one some today, and actually beat it! I got one game over, then started again and... finished. I had no credits remaining and low health at the end of the final boss fight, but I won... :)
Exceptional game, of course. Now that I've beaten it though I do have a few complaints... first, the lack of saving (all the goodies are simply accessed by cheat codes, not unlocking them by play). That's annoying. Second, length. It's a somewhat short game, with really just six levels... the seventh is just a boss (and not even a multi-phase boss either!), and the sixth has no boss, so basically they just took the boss of level 6 and made it its own level. The levels aren't as hard as PD Orta levels, either... I only didn't beat it sooner because of the lack of saving and limited continues. And there's only one route through the game, so replay value is limited, gameplay-wise...
Also, the ending cutscene is short, just like all the others after the intro. I wasn't expecting something like the 8 or 10 minute long intro, but a bit more might have been nice... still, it ended the game well, and the credits were very nicely done. :)
But yeah... the art design is truly exceptional, among the best ever, and the music is some of gaming's all-time greatest... for a launch title on such challenging hardware, the game looks stunning. It's a really, really good game, only brought down by the somewhat short length. Oh well... there's always Zwei (also with seven levels), or ten-level Orta, which (at Normal difficulty) is a much longer and more challenging game than this... I might give PD a slight edge in art design and music, though, which is saying a lot with how amazing Orta looks. This game just gets it right. So yeah, amazing, amazing game, I want Zwei now. :)
Oh, despite what I said, the levels 3, 4, and 5 bosses were somewhat tough, probably harder than the last boss (given that I beat the last boss the first time I fought it, while all of those killed me several times before i figured them out...). I only just barely got past the level 5 boss, and even then it was thanks to the turbo switch on the Mission Stick... on the fastest speed, this thing shoots many times faster than any human could ever click the button. Very, very useful on a couple of bosses... I mostly didn't use it, but on the level 4 and 5 bosses, I did some. It makes a huge difference, they'd be even harder without it (particularly level 4's).
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 31st May 2009
Oh yeah... now that was awesome. I didn't think I'd actually finish, I thought I'd give up right near the end like I did last week with the first game... but no, I stuck with it, and made it through! (me > 8-bit hard... :))
NES
--
Ninja Gaiden II - Dark Sword of Chaos -- (spoilers of course!) Awesome game, as I just said. It's pretty hard too, of course... this is a NES game, and a Ninja Gaiden game, after all! Still, this one may be a bit easier than the first game, because it doesn't make you RESTART THE ENTIRE LEVEL if you lose a life at the boss in the last two levels or so, it lets you start from the beginning of the second stage instead... of course it does not restore your health between bosses when there are several (the last level) or during in-level cinema scenes like the first one did, but on the other hand once you beat the first of the last three bosses, you don't have to fight him again; next time you get that far you'll be right at the second form, like in NES Batman. Very nice. Didn't help me beat that one, the Joker's impossible, but with some work, I got this one... though really, the first of the final three bosses was definitely the hardest. Once I got past him, the latter two didn't take nearly as many tries... and the first time I got there with the upward-angle fire magic and nearly 100 special weapon power, they went down without too much of a problem. I beat the last form on my first try (the head took the remaining 50 power, then the sword made quick work of the blinking core).
Oh, the graphics and sound are pretty good. Very similar to the first game, but good. The story is also very similar to the first game, and just as poor... there are a lot of cutscenes here, and I know that these games were groundbreaking in their use of cinematic cutscenes, but still, the story itself is so cliche and bland... they're not BAD or something, they're just very generic. Beat evil monster trying to take over/destroy world, rescue kidnapped girl, defeat legions of demons all on your own even though the government seems to know of the threat, etc...
It really gives me a better sense of why Astyanax has such long cutscenes to tell an equally cliche and generic rescue-the-girl-and-country story... its inspiration (storyline-wise, the gameplay in that game is completely different and much more like Legendary Axe or perhaps the first Rastan) was like that too. Eh, oh well... there is some nice imagery going on there and it was enough to keep me going and make me want to finish it, but somehow (;)) I think that was mostly because of the amazing gameplay more than anything. And given that this is a game, that's the most important thing... and they're really good games that definitely deserve the praise they get.
... now I need the third one... well, and play the first one again, but beyond that. I actually saw a copy of the third one several months ago, but didn't get it then... perhaps one is around. I know it's really hard thanks to the 5 continue limit, but still, I do need it. (Oh, on that note, did you know that in the original Japanese version not only does Ninja Gaiden III have infinite continues, it actually has PASSWORD SAVE like all three games have in the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy SNES collection? They removed that from the US version of course, it'd make it too possible... :( the game itself isn't so bad, it's just the continue limit of the US version that makes it really hard.)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 7th June 2009
Game Boy
--
Ninja Gaiden Shadow -- Short, but really fun, game. I only got the game less than a week ago, but quickly got hooked and played through most of it several times, because the final boss is hard, and I kept leaving the SNES on overnight (playing it on Super Game Boy)... but it crashed several times, likely thanks to the touchy SGB connection, so I kept having to start over. Oh well... I quickly got pretty good at most of the game. There are only five levels, and it's only moderately difficult. There are infinite continues from the beginning of the level, and when you die you just restart the segment, or at the boss if you're there (aside from level 5, where you start at the beginning of the last segment if you die -- but the last segment isn't very hard, so that's not too bad), so it's forgiving. It was nice for the final boss to be a decent challenge, the second form was frustrating but I eventually beat it... it's just a really fun little game. Definitely try it if you can. Don't expect it to be very much like Ninja Gaiden, because it's not, but it is plenty fun, so that really doesn't matter much. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 11th June 2009
I really don't know if it was worth it, but for some reason I actually just played through and finished this stupid thing...
NES
--
Maxi 15 - Menace Beach ... Yes, aka Sunday Funday, the horribly hard platformer on a skateboard mentioned in the AVGN's Bible Games video for example. It's... frustrating. The controls are so, so slippery, and you die randomly so many ways... bounced back by spring blocks, hit by enemies or random shots while on a balloon, bumped into a pit, because THAT jump block secretly bounces you down into the pit instead of into the air, etc, etc. It's such an annoying game...
Still, it does some interesting things. You can pick up items, which is vital at some points (for carrying a bomb over to where you have to try to blow up a sumo guy with it, for example). Now blowing up sumo guys with bombs (the only way to kill them) is very hard and frustrating, as you need to toss it and then just hope that he's in its range when it goes off (likely he won't be and you need to go back and try again), but it's somewhat different at least...
Also, you have infinite continues from the beginning of the level, there are only 12 levels, and the first half of the game isn't that hard, apart from some frustration in level two. Level 9 is by far the hardest one; that one took a LOT of frustration to get past, that's for sure. From beginning to end, it's just so, so hard...
Once I finally managed to get past it, though, level 10 wasn't too bad, and 11 only had one tricky part (with a jump too long to jump and with no balloon; I eventually just figured to to the 'floating jump' you do when you repeatedly hit jump in the air (or turn on turbo and hold the jump button... :)), getting as far as possible before dying. This worked and there was a continue point on the next platform... kind of annoying, though, that you seem to have to die to get past that (unless there's something I missed, which quite possible). Oh well... at least the last level wasn't very long. The final boss was kind of tricky, those rocks kill you instantly, but it's short. The final boss is a bit of a pain, but once you figure out how to hit him (use the rocks...), I eventually beat him. It definitely took a lot of tries, though. This is one game that I'd never get anywhere near the end of without infinite continues, that's for sure!
Oh, in classic NES fashion, the ending wasn't particularly rewarding. Oh well, I wasn't exactly expecting much. At least there is an ending scene and not just "END" on the screen and that's it or something. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 14th June 2009
Nintendo DS
--
Children of Mana -- Ugh, finally got myself (forced myself, sort of) to finish this tedious game, several years after I got it. It's just repetitive, dull, and very average... hope you really like button mashing, you do a lot of it here. It's not that it's very hard (I died once in a while, but not very often), but it just got so dull that I wasn't able to keep going for long... finally picked it up yesterday and started the final dungeon. Finished it today. Yay, I'm done, it's over. Worth it... maybe... I guess...
Oh, why didn't it have touch controls? Why did you have to use the dpad and buttons ingame? Having the option is nice, but for a hack and slash game like this, it'd have been fun with the touchscreen, I think... not having that was definitely disappointing and hurts the game.
Also, the story was confusing. It wasn't deep or complex or anything though, it just didn't make sense. What the heck happened there? When was this set, before the other Mana games? I don't get it...
6/23
--
Blast Wind (Saturn, emulated) -- Normal difficulty, 5 lives/continues. Used all the continues, which I know isn't so great given that this game is somewhat easy, but oh well... with practice I'd get better for sure. Really fun game though, for sure... very flashy art, fast, and fun. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 26th June 2009
PC
--
Guild Wars: Eye of the North -- This one took a while... not sure why it took me so long, really. It was an awesome, awesome campaign, fitting end to one of the best games ever... it's kind of sad that that is the end of the story, but it has to end somewhere, I guess. Still, it was really, really fun, with some interesting new ideas and concepts and a decent plot. I didn't like all of the changes, but for the most part EotN was interesting and consistently fun. I particularly liked how it finally moved forward and sort of ended (not really ended, but put a least a bit of closure on) the Ascalon plot from the first game. It's very, very nice to not have that still hanging out there unfinished... but anyway, yeah, awesome game, one of the best ever, everyone here should have been playing it for years. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 28th June 2009
I've been working on this one a lot for the last three or four days...
NES
--
Super Mario Bros. 3
And yeah, it is great. Yeah, I'd never finished it before... only played like half of the worlds maybe, actually. Some of the levels, particularly in worlds 7 and 8, were really, really hard, pretty hardcore stuff (I didn't skip any worlds or use the warp whistles, but didn't always beat every single level when you had a choice). Oddly though, the bosses are all really easy, right to the end... the levels are the challenge.
Really though, that game's great, but way too long to not have saving. Why can't I just save and pick it up later... either you need a ridiculous play session, learn where the warp whistles are, or leave the system on for several days. For a later NES title, it really should have had saving...
Anyway though, it was a fantastic game, and I really liked it, definitely finally worth playing. I can finally understand why people think it's the best Mario game ever... I mean, I still don't agree, but I can understand it better now. The second half of the game is a big jump over the first half... before I'd usually quit in world 2 or something. Stupid desert... but anyway.
6/29/09
--
Arcade Emulation (Nebula Model 2)
--
Motor Raid (this was some time ago, but I forgot about it)
Dead or Alive
Emulation
--
Super Darius II (Turbo CD) (used savestates to get a few more continues for the final level)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 2nd July 2009
Game Boy
--
Battle Arena Toshinden (Normal) -- Really, REALLY easy game. On the default difficulty, I actually beat it, on my first try, without losing a match. I lost a few rounds, but never a second one in those matches... mash the buttons to victory! :D
In comparison, on Normal, I couldn't beat the first opponent in Samurai Shodown after several tries. I can do decently in the Genesis and arcade versions of the game, but this one's hard... shows that despite the very similar graphical styles, Takara did make these games different. Toshinden stays to its PSX/Saturn roots well, being an easy button-masher just like it is there. Samurai Shodown sticks to what it is well too, being a quite challenging, more technical 2d fighting game... both are good, though. I'd like to get more of Takara's GB fighting games; they had two other US releases, KOF '95 and World Heroes 2 Jet, and four Japan-only, SamSho 3, Fatal Fury 2, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, and KOF '96. Then SNK took their licenses back and started on their NGPC fighting games, which are better than any of Takara's for sure, or anything else in the genre on the GB or GBC... still, these are decent games, well worth a couple of bucks. Plus, the Super Game Boy features are very nice, and the 2-player mode on SNES with two controllers is very cool (all eight of Takara's GB fighting games have that :)).
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 4th July 2009
NES
--
Guerrilla War -- Infinite, at-point continues make it easy, even when you're dying every few seconds...
Game Gear
--
Sonic Spinball -- Wow, is this easier than the incredibly hard Genesis game! It was pretty fun, but with only four levels to go through, I got through it. Sure the graphics aren't as nice, but with how this one is actually possible, I think I might like it more than the Genesis one... that one's interesting, but just too hard and frustrating. This one even may be a bit too easy, but there's enough here to keep it fun for sure...
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 5th July 2009
Saturn
--
Nights into dreams... -- Claris' story only, so far. Elliot's is still pretty hard, my best on all three of is first three levels is just a D... with Claris I have a C for the first three levels, and B for the last. Very difficult game! Great, clearly one of the generation's best, but very difficult...
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 13th August 2009
Emulation
--
Abadox (NES) -- only used savestates at points where you continue anyway, and you have infinite continues so I just used them so that I didn't have to play it all in one sitting. Awesome game. Hard for sure, but memorizable and completely pattern-based, and it has really good, interesting graphics and art design and some good music as well. Great game, I'd love to own it on cart!
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 26th August 2009
Just remembered, I beat
GBA
--
Gunstar Super Heroes - Red, Normal
Hard game at the end, but quite fun... I got stuck on the final stage for a long time, but a few weeks ago I played it again and finally managed to beat the thing! Very good game... great action, nice graphics, plenty of challenge... :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 29th August 2009
SNES
--
Tin Star (Normal difficulty, got bad ending) -- Good, fun game!
Wrote enough that I made a thread (review) for it. See here: http://www.tcforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=120376
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 10th September 2009
Saturn
--
Baku Baku (Normal difficulty) -- Yeah, beat it once already. It's not as good as Puzzle Fighter, but it is pretty fun. :)
... Also, I should have added this months ago, when I beat it in arcade mode the first time...
Playstation 2
--
Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast -- AWESOME game! This has been one of my most-played games for the past few months, and it's just an amazing racing game. It's so fun, there are so many missions and things to do, the graphics are fantastic. It's just exceptional all around. The only negatives would be that it has no splitscreen multiplayer and some cars require a cheatcode or a PSP and the PSP version to unlock.
Oh, I haven't beaten everything in the game yet, but I have beaten it in arcade mode several times, beaten all three of the girlfriend modes in Coast 2 Coast, and beaten the first three of the four Flagman (racing) modes. I'm working on the last. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 12th September 2009
SNES
--
Super Bonk -- see the 'games I bought' thread for my impressions. Fantastic game!
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 18th September 2009
...Why was Virtua Fighter popular, again? I don't get it... I mean, beyond the 3d graphics that probably answer the question, of course. :) Playing it now though, this game wasn't very fun. Sorry... how much time do you have to spend in it before it becomes worth the time? So frustrating and cheap... and the lack of 3d movement is annoying too. Played it on Normal and it took like 48 minutes... such a waste of time. Oh well...
The graphics are nice though.
Saturn
--
Virtua Fighter 2
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 9th October 2009
... Oh, right, I didn't list Soul Calibur III (PS2) yet... well, I have now. I haven't beaten everything yet, for sure, but have beaten the 'arcade' mode a bunch of times now, so it can be listed. Good game, though Soul Calibur II is definitely better. The character creation mode is fun, but it's annoying how few modes you can use those characters in... and then there's the separate "strategy" mode that has almost no strategy and an entirely different set of createable characters that you can't use outside of that mode. Kind of annoying there. Game balance definitely isn't perfect either. Oh well... it's entertaining anyway. :)
Also, at what point do you say that you've "beaten" games like Daytona USA or Sega Rally on the Saturn? When you finish the main three tracks in Sega Rally in any place? I've done that. Just when you finish in first and unlock the hidden track? Haven't done that yet, I'm stuck with fifth being my best finish and haven't seen any improvement recently. When you beat that too? Supposedly it's really hard, so I doubt that'd be anytime soon...
Or for Daytona... just when you have finished a race in all three in Arcade mode or something? When you beat all three? Does the somewhat easier Saturn mode count too, or do you need to win in both? All I've done so far is beat track 1 in both modes, because the game is quite hard, so I can't say I've beaten it yet... but darnit, it'd have been really nice if there was some kind of clear series, or marks when you win, or anything, to make it clearer when you beat the game... 'just play to get better times and stuff' isn't enough, I want an actual game mode. Awesome game, but... oh well. (But on the other hand the Dreamcast version does have that stuff, but this one's probably more fun anyway because of better controls particularly with the Mission Stick, so I shouldn't complain... but still, it definitely makes it hard to decide when it belongs on a list like this! :)
Of course it's even harder for games that don't really have endings like most first or second generation games, of course... how do you beat Pac-Man, by getting to level 255 and having it freeze? Not many people are able to get that far, to say the least...
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 23rd October 2009
SNES
--
Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday -- As I'd always heard, it's short and easy. It's only got six levels, of only average length, and the bosses are pretty easy. So was it worth getting anyway? Sure, why not, the graphics are very nice and cartoony, and level designs pretty good... the fifth level particularly was pretty cool. :) There isn't enough content here, but what's there is fun. Plus, it's actually the one and only Porky Pig game... he shows up playable in some other Looney Tunes games starring a bunch of characters, but this is the only one with just him, oddly enough.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 26th October 2009
NES
--
Arkista's Ring -- I'd gotten to level 123 of the 125 level game (124 really, the final "level" has no enemies or anything), but level 123 is insanely hard, so I'd always drained all of my lives and continues there. Well, this time I got incredibly lucky. The level has lots of ninjas attacking you, and the exit is a randomly selected door from the many in the stage. Well, I decided to just run to the nearest one and hope that that was it... it'd been that one in the third loop (you play through all 31 stages four times before the game ends, and it gets a bit harder each time). It was. The ninjas are so hard that I actually died just as I touched the exit, already out of health... but it counted anyway, and I went to the next stage and then died and restarted there. So awesome...
Anyway, the boss is a lot easier than the enemies in the level before, so I then beat the game, having only used three continues, all in loop three. Pretty good work really. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 1st November 2009
Genesis
--
Crack Down (Easy difficulty) -- Yeah, I just got it a few days ago, but it wasn't too long and was quite fun. There are 16 stages, with four areas each made up of four stages. There aren't really any bosses except sort of at the end, so the main challenges are the 'cross pits with moving platforms' puzzles and 'try to get past the laser patterns' puzzles. There are only a couple of each of these in the game, but they're very hard, particularly the latter. They make them harder because when you die in one of these you respawn back before the puzzle, while the rest of the time you respawn where you died. Thanks, developers, that was nice. And indeed, that's why I only beat it on Easy. I'd played it on Normal every previous time before this one, and had gotten to stage 4-3, the second to last stage, but the end of that level has the game's nastiest dodge-the-lasers puzzle, and on Normal I had very little time left at the end of the stage, so I didn't have several minutes to carefully memorize the pattern or something and really don't want to have to play the game over fifty times or something until I got lucky. So I tried on Easy... and still couldn't get past the pattern without dying. Easy just gives you more lives and maybe a longer invincibility time after death. I say the latter part because after dying I tried to run through the lasers, something I'd tried a bunch at Normal but always died before getting all the way through (because the invincibility would end before I got through), but this time I made it. Hmm. Well, however it happened, I was quite appreciative, that part was just nasty. The last level wasn't too bad, took a few lives but I had plenty left. Cue ending. BOOM! :D
Overall, pretty good game. It is on the short side, but it makes up for it by being fun, and there are difficulty levels (Easy-Medium-Hard) and a credit selection (0 to 6 continues allowed), and I could try to get past that laser puzzle legitimately on Normal somehow... oh, and playing it in multiplayer's a must, it looks like it'd be great! The game is interesting, kind of like a top-down early 16-bit version of a cover-based stealth-ish shooter. You hide along walls to dodge bullets, jump out to get the guy to fire at you, go back, then go out again after he's shot and shoot him because they have quite a delay between shots, get the enemies to shoot eachother, and more. Fun stuff. :)
It does have somewhat limited replay value, it seems, because enemies are always in exactly the same places every time, regardless of difficulty level. There is no variation in their number or locations, so you can just memorize where they're going to be pretty much. And while 16 levels may sound like a good number, each one only takes a few minutes so they don't take too long. But still, it's a very fun game, and I quite liked it. I'm just complaining because it was fun and it's over now. :)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 4th November 2009
Emulation
--
Legend of Hero Tonma (TG16) (yes, I did use savestates. This game is very hard and frustrating. I tried to limit use of them though, mostly just for stuff like not having to restart levels when I die at the boss and stuff...)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 5th November 2009
The AVGN video finally inspired me to get back to Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, and I was near the end so I finished Cornell's mode. So awesome! See my post in the AVGN thread for thoughts on the game in general, but it's a great game that I quite liked. I'll definitely be playing it more in Henry's mode and beyond, though given the kind of mode it is (timed AND I have to find hidden items?) I think I'll just use an FAQ... anyway though, great game, definitely play it.
N64
--
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness (Cornell's Mode, Normal)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 18th November 2009
Saturn
--
Night Warriors: DarkStalkers' Revenge (with one character so far, difficulty 4 of 8)
Very fun game, absolutely worth getting. Despite having many fewer options and modes and fewer characters, this is at least as fun as Darkstalkers 3 for PSX for sure. I think the loadtimes might be a bit less, and the graphics and animation look great. Oh, and the Saturn controller (3D Controller is what I use, in dpad mode here) is absolutely amazing for fighting games, obviously. Just about the best gamepad ever for the genre, for sure.
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 19th November 2009
Game Boy
--
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan (see 'stuff I got thread for details)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 2nd January 2010
... And yup, it proved to be about as short as I thought. Too bad, it was kind of fun while it lasted, but it sure didn't last long... I'll need to get Sonic 2 GG, won't I, if I want some challenge. I've heard due to some jumps that go off the screen that one's much tougher than this one... and it's pretty easy to find too, it was a pack-in with the system for a while after all. (That's why I got this one instead, hadn't seen any copies of this, but that one's easy to find...)
I do need to play this again with Sonic though, evidently Sonic's mode is a little bit more difficult, and you have to play as Sonic to be able to get the Chaos Emeralds. I'd have gotten none in this playthrough had I been able to get them, I never finished a stage with over 100 rings...
Game Gear
--
Sonic Chaos (Tails)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 14th January 2010
PC
--
Street Fighter IV -- beaten with two characters, once on the easiest setting and once on the next up. I was playing the game for several hours yesterday on Medium, but the final boss is incredibly, incredibly hard (as I have heard) and I couldn't beat him and eventually gave up. I almost beat him a few times, but he always cheaped out a win... so this time I tried it on easier settings. On the easiest setting the game's actually pretty easy, including the final boss Seth. On the next one above that the rest of the game is easy, but Seth's pretty tough... I did manage to get past him that time, though, so maybe he was a little easier than on Medium.
Anyway, great game... and maybe, once I've actually got a decent gamepad again and aren't stuck on keyboard, I'll actually be able to beat it on Medium. Sure, this joystick I got last month is awesome, but now I need a USB gamepad too...
Oh, I also added this to the list, in the Saturn section. Kind of questionable inclusion, but eh, whatever. Close enough. :) (I can't justify listing Daytona too though... I've only finished first in the first race of the three. I have managed to complete all three in arcade mode though, so maybe I should, I'm not sure...)
Sega Rally Championship (haven't really beaten the game yet (that is finished in first overall), but I have managed to finish the first three tracks, so I'm listing it semi-provisionally because of that.)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 19th January 2010
Oh right, a week ago after getting Metal Slug Anthology we played through Metal Slugs 3, 4, and 6 in 2-player mode (me and my cousins). I've beaten the emulated versions of 3 and 4 before of course, but I'd never played 6... and it's great, just like every Metal Slug game. That's such an amazing collection!
Also looking at the PS2 section I noticed that I'd somehow failed to list KOF 2002 and 2003 after I got and played them last fall, so I added them. Those two are two of the best fighting games ever made, no question.
PS2
--
Metal Slug Anthology (Metal Slugs 3, 4, and 6, in default difficulty, with 2 players)
The King of Fighters 02/03 (beaten both KOF 2002 and KOF 2003 in high difficulties multiple times each with various characters)
Games I Have Finished (as far as I can remember) - A Black Falcon - 26th January 2010
Dreamcast (burned disc, because this game was never released)
--
Propeller Arena -- default difficulty. This game is actually quite good, I can see why Sega canned it (9/11 and level 3), but it's really too bad. This game would have done well I think. Sure, it's limited in content, but it's got that classic Sega feel, and it's got great gameplay. The multiplayer is clearly the focus here, and with both 4-player splitscreen and online play, it had good multiplayer options. The graphics are fantastic, absolute top-flight Dreamcast graphics. The music is cheesy rock, and the characters are ridiculous... as I said, classic Sega stuff. So yeah, good game, I'll have to play again... I did great in the first three levels, winning all three easily (10 points per win, less per each lower place), but at normal difficulty and only 3 continues I only barely finished the game -- it gets quite hard in the later stages! I got only 19 points in the remaining 6 levels, after getting 30 in the first three, used all three credits, and just barely finished with the last one. Still, I did win on my first time playing, so it's not THAT hard... it sure was a lot of fun, though! I should have burned this a long time ago... oh well. I did now. :)