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+--- Thread: The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment (/showthread.php?tid=4831)
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 11th July 2011
PC - Digital Download (some last stuff from the Steam sale a couple of days ago, and one from another store's sale from yesterday)
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Assassin's Creed 2 Digital Deluxe - $5 on GamersGate (sale today only) - Eh, I'd like to try the series.
Toki Tori - $1.25, Steam summer sale
Bullet Candy - $1.24, Steam summer sale
VVVVVV - $2.50 - Steam summer sale
Space Giraffe + Gridrunner, $3.75, Steam summer sale
Worms Reloaded, $5, Steam summer sale
Empire + Napoleon - $10, steam summer sale. Shouldn't have gotten this, too late now.
Stuff from today below.
PC (actual discs, all got used at goodwill)
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Complete games
West Front: Elite Edition - complete (with large box and manual), $1.50 Talonsoft wargame. It's complex as expected and I've only been an occasional wargame player, but a complete, quality wargame for $1.50, with its full thick manual? Yeah, sure. The box isn't in great shape, but oh well.
Gangsters: Organized Crime - complete (with large box and manual), $1.50. Another very cheap strategy game... I wasn't sure if I had this one, but then I realized that the one I have is Mob Rule, not this. Not sure if I'll like it or not, but for that price it's worth trying. The box is in bad shape for this game as well, and the manual is a bit warped. Oh, the manual is pretty sizable. I love large box PC games. :)
Empire: Total War - $2, complete (with dvd-style case, map, and manual) - Why, even though I got it on Steam? Well, it's nice to have the physical thing, I'll be able to install it without having to free up 15GB on drive C first (before I can move the files to another drive), and it comes with a nice techtree poster... tiny little manual though.
Jewelcase only titles
Ring - $3.99. A 1999 adventure game based off of Wagner's Ring Cycle opera. Got mixed reviews, but I want to try it anyway. Dual jewel, four discs with manual.
Pac-Man: Adventures in Time - $1. One of the first 3d Pac-Man titles. Probably mediocre? We'll see.
Quake II - $2 (manual was separate)
Strife - $2 - 1996 FPS running in an id engine.
Virtual Springfield - $1 (no manual)
Monarch: The Butterfly King - $1 (no manual) - simple little puzzle game.
Dreamcast
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Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition - $1, complete - Normally I wouldn't have bought something like this (so clearly better on PC), but for $1, I'll try it... interesting to have anyway.
SNES
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Pinocchio - $4, cart only - 1996 platformer with great animation.
PSX
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Wreckin Crew - $3, complete - It's a low budget Mario Kart clone. Looked maybe amusing and it was cheap.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 12th July 2011
PS2
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Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 - $3, complete
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 12th July 2011
So I got a new Genesis, one of those later model Model 2s, and the sound is a massive step up. The bass is great, so I don't see an issue with that myself. The hunt for it took some time, going to 4 different Vintage Stocks and talking clerks at each one into opening up all their Genesis systems so I could take a look (carrying around images of what I was looking for helped).
I also picked up Ristar, an amazingly fun game I'd put up there with Rocket Knight.
Aside from that, I've got Clash at Demon Head for NES, Karnov for NES, and for some reason, Robocop vs Terminator for SNES. That last one not even I'm sure why I picked it up, but it was $2 so I decided "why not?". It plays like Contra in a lot of ways, but Robocop moves clunkier. The game so far is actually pretty fun, to my surprise. The story is interesting too, also to my surprise. It's not as good as Contra, but it isn't bad by any means, at least not yet. The biggest flaw is simply how easy it is so far. Fighting the 2009 two stages in is probably the hardest it's been so far.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 13th July 2011
The Genesis and SNES Robocop vs. Terminator games are completely different. I don't have either one, but the Genesis one got, and gets, more press because it's a fairly gory game -- lots of blood in that one, for a game from the time. The SNES one doesn't have gore at all I believe.
As for Ristar, I do have that one (though not the others you list). It's good, but I do like Sonic (Genesis Sonic) more... and I wish it had passwords too, it's cruel that there's a password screen but it's just for cheat codes that you get after beating the game in one sitting. Bah! Ristar is from 1995... Nice (Sonic-ey) graphics though, and the gameplay differentiates itself enough from Sonic for it to clearly be something different.
Quote:So I got a new Genesis, one of those later model Model 2s, and the sound is a massive step up. The bass is great, so I don't see an issue with that myself. The hunt for it took some time, going to 4 different Vintage Stocks and talking clerks at each one into opening up all their Genesis systems so I could take a look (carrying around images of what I was looking for helped).Hmm, I should look for one of those myself... I'd like to have better sound quality, without the hassle and limitations of the Genesis 1.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 13th July 2011
So I finally cleaned up Karnov enough to get it working, but Clash at Demon Head refuses to cooperate. It'll occasionally start up, but most of the time it fails completely. I've done all I can with the contacts on it, so I have to figure they're just too corroded at this point. I'll probably return it tomorrow. Too bad, it's a good game.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 13th July 2011
That's too bad... I haven't had that problem with a NES game, but I do have several Genesis carts and a Game Gear cart that don't work, and one Game Boy cart that's only worked a couple of times too. It is quite frustrating for sure. Usually cleaning them will fix things, but yeah, once in a while that doesn't help...
There also were some cases where the carts were really, really dirty and required a LOT of cleaning, but in those few cases of broken games, that didn't help.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 13th July 2011
It "works" but the contacts are really bad. I got it working without little lines all over the place only once. MAYBE if I had kept up at it for a while, I might have got it working, but as it is, the game already had a strike against it with the top heavily sun damaged. I just returned it.
Anyway, after seeing Earthworm Jim GBA in action recently, I have to say I'm rather disappointed with how many GBA ports look worse than their Genesis/SNES counterparts. There's the new HD version which looks amazing and has a new co-op mode (the final boss is Keyboard Cat), but the new voices they inexplicably replaced for Jim are pretty bad, and the Sega CD Bonus Level wasn't added. That's actually one issue I have with a lot of modern remakes. They remake the original version of the game, but bonus content from other special editions gets ignored in favor of different bonus content. That's one thing to say about Ocarina of Time on 3DS, they put in Master Quest.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 18th July 2011
Quote:Anyway, after seeing Earthworm Jim GBA in action recently, I have to say I'm rather disappointed with how many GBA ports look worse than their Genesis/SNES counterparts. There's the new HD version which looks amazing and has a new co-op mode (the final boss is Keyboard Cat), but the new voices they inexplicably replaced for Jim are pretty bad, and the Sega CD Bonus Level wasn't added. That's actually one issue I have with a lot of modern remakes. They remake the original version of the game, but bonus content from other special editions gets ignored in favor of different bonus content. That's one thing to say about Ocarina of Time on 3DS, they put in Master Quest.
Good point indeed, I agree. It's quite annoying how often remakes aren't based off of the best versions of games and don't include bonus content that older versions had, and some of the Earthworm Jim releases are fine examples of that (GBA for sure). And I agree, it's great that OoT 3D does include the Master Quest.
Gotten today...
Wii
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Penny Racers Party: Turbo Q Speedway - $6, complete
GBA - these three games are all Japanese import games I found in a local store. $5 each, carts only. They had some more GBA import titles, but nothing else good...
--
Elevator Action Old & New - Not bad, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this but it's okay. Better than Elevator Action Returns maybe?
Super Mario Advance - SMB USA, with those enhancements like some big sprites, etc.
Wai Wai Racing (Konami Krazy Racers) - Konami kart racing game, and GBA launch title. It's good.
NES
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Time Lord - $1.50, with plastic rental-style case
Sega CD
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Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective + Sega Classics 4-in-1 -- This was part of the original Sega CD packin package, along with Sol-Feace (which I also have), a music CD and a CD+G disc. This came with the Sherlock Holmes manual as well as the two discs in the dual cardboard case (each game has a cover on one side). I know that in the 4-in-1, which includes Revenge of Shinobi, Columns, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage, Golden Axe has no multiplayer but may have added CD audio... I'll have to check it out. I think this was a pretty cool find that I'm happy to have.
Genesis
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Batman: Revenge of the Joker - $5, complete - Sunsoft game.
PC - all jewelcase only.
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3D Ms. Maze's Tropical Adventures - $1 - 3d Pac-Man clone, quite obviously. Super budget stuff, not listed at IGN (shocking..
)FX Fighter - $1 - DOS fighting game port of the cancelled Super FX game. Got bad reviews.
Take-A-Break Pinball (from Sierra) - $2 - Win 3.1 pinball game from Sierra, from before their 3D Ultra line. Hopefully it's decent. :)
Boarder Zone - $2 - Snowboarding game.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 19th July 2011
Two pretty cool finds...
GB
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Daffy Duck - $2, cart only - The GB conversion of Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions from the SNES. This was one of the few Sunsoft Disney GB/GBC games I didn't have, so it was great to find a copy. :)
PS2
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Samurai Shodown Anthology - $7, complete - Awesome find! I'd been wanting this, either for PS2 or Wii, but the PS2 version is rare and I've almost never seen it (it was a great deal finding it for cheap like this...), and the Wii version, while more common, also costs about twice as much as I paid for this, and requires classic controllers for non-wiimote play too, which is annoying; I wish it supported GC controllers, if it did I'd probably have bought it some time ago. But anyway, I now have it for PS2. Pretty cool -- this collection is great not just because it includes the five Neo-Geo games, but particularly because it also has the only US release of the Atomiswave Samurai Shodown 6 on the disc. I wanted it for that, more than for the Neo-Geo ports.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 22nd July 2011
DS
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Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - card only, $13. I haven't actually played any of the portable Mario RPGs (that is, the Mario & Luigi series) yet... well, I played a few minutes of the first one on GBA and wasn't impressed, but beyond that I haven't played them. The price was right though so I got this one, I think it's the most recent one.
Game Boy Color
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The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX - $2, complete. Yes, I got a cart only copy of this not too long ago, but... COMPLETE LADX, for $2? Yes, I'm getting that! And I do mean complete, it's got the plastic case, the warning booklet, ad booklet, manual...
Lufia: The Legend Returns - $2, complete. Not as interested in this one as LA, of course, but hopefully it's at least moderately entertaining... we'll see. I think it's basically a dungeon crawler RPG. 200 floors, the back of the box says. And like the above title, this comes with all paperwork (though it doesn't come with the plastic bag the cart would have come in, but I don't care about that).
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 24th July 2011
Both cart only.
Game Boy
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Metal Masters - $4 - Simple giant robot beat 'em up/fighting game. It's 1 on 1, but it's slightly isometric and the controls are really simple. It's not that good, but it is kind of amusing at least. The game's mostly a button masher with overly long matches, but you can target the enemy's head, legs, or limbs (A attacks with one arm, B the other).
Virtual Boy
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Mario's Tennis - $5 - Yeah, a VB game! Somewhat uncommon find, even if this is the system's most common game. I'm happy to have it though, it's always great to have more VB games. I was just playing the game for almost an hour, and it's pretty fun. I don't know how much replay value it has, but it is fun to play at least. The 3d effect is nice and works well in the game.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 27th July 2011
PSX
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Starwinder: The Great Space Race - $1.50, no manual
PC
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Drop 2 - $1 - Budget PC Puzzle League knockoff.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 29th July 2011
PC (digital download)
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Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines - It's $5 on Steam this weekend, so I finally got the game.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 4th August 2011
PSX
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Off-World Interceptor Extreme - $5, complete longbox title. This game (also on Saturn) is a slightly modified port of Off-World Interceptor for the 3DO. It uses the same engine as Total Eclipse and Solar Eclipse, except with land vehicles instead of aircraft. You drive forward through 3d environments, shoot stuff, and watch silly live-action-video cutscenes between levels. At least they knew the videos were bad, though, because there are MST3k-style characters in front making fun of the videos while they're playing... nice touch. :) The game's just okay, but I do find the MST3k aspect kind of amusing.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 11th August 2011
Some interesting stuff...
Genesis (cart only, $4 each)
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Cosmic Spacehead - one of Codemasters' few US releases, this game comes in their oddly shaped cartridge but is licensed, apparently. It's actually a graphic adventure game, interestingly enough! Not many of those on the Genesis...
Tyrants: Fight through Time - I got it hoping it was going to be good but not remembering what it was, but it's actually a strategy game, a port of the European computer game Mega-Lo-Mania. It's an RTS of sorts, with the usual overly complex interface common to '80s and early '90s European strategy games. Might be decent though once I can figure it out.
Whac-A-Critter - unlicensed game from Realtec. It's Whac-A-Mole. There's a quite rare wackamole pad addon for this game, but this didn't come with it. It's insanely hard, and doesn't work with the 32X either. Decent graphics though.
Game Gear (cart only, $2)
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Aladdin - This game isn't a SNES or Genesis port; instead, the SMS and GG version is its own thing. It's a decent game, and is more faithful to the story than other versions, but it is on the short side I think. Oh well. It's a fun platformer where you do more running and dodging than attacking.
Sega CD
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Brutal: Paws of Fury - complete, $3. Sega CD version of the SNES/Genesis (and 32X too) fighting game. Mediocre title if I remember right, but eh, it's a non-FMV Sega CD game, and I don't actually own any of the other versions...
SNES
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Faceball 2000 - SNES version of the GB classic FPS. It does have 2-player splitscreen, but on GB with enough adapters and cables you can play with up to 16 people.
PSX
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Gubble - $3, complete - late-cycle puzzle-action game. I'd never heard of it before. It's sort of like Pac-Man, except isometric, and is a PC port. The Japanese PSX version (from 1998) seems to have saving, but the US and EU versions (from 2002) don't. Thanks.
PS2
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Super Bust-A-Move - $3 - This game is also on GC, but eh, I do want it... I like the series after all. This is one of Acclaim's last BAM releases, and as with some of their other ones it's got a pretty awesomely stupid cover...
PC
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Stronghold - disc in generic case, $2. Great game that started a great series! I have the sequel, Stronghold Crusader, but not the first one...
The SimCity Box - SimCity 4 (I have this already), SimCity 4: Rush Hour, SimCity Societies, SimCity Societies: Destinations expansion, and The Sims Carnival: SnapCity. This was used at Goodwill for $1... yes, really. Apparently the only paper manual included in this collection is SimCity Societies Destinations, the others are just PDFs (the card with the cd keys lists where to look to find the other ones).
VR Powerboat Racing / Whiplash Dual Jewel - two Interplay racing games in one 2-cd jewelcase, for $2. I already have Whiplash, and have for a long time, but I never got Powerboat Racing... mostly because I thought the demo was terrible, back then. But now I couldn't resist this.
Clandestiny - 2-cd cartoon style adventure game from Trilobyte. $2, jewelcase only.
Also, at Goodwill there was a whole pile of PC Gamer demo discs. No magazines, unfotunately (I'd probably have bought them), but I sifted through all the discs looking for any I don't have. I do have the vast majority of the ones they had, but I found a few I don't. They were $2 each though, so I didn't get the ones I don't have that have nothing interesting on them (some 2002 ones, mostly). I did get these four: January 1997 (disc 2.12), April 1997 (disc 3.1), December 2001 (disc 7.9), and February 2002 (disc 7.12). Feb. '02 has the complete version of Wolfenstein 3D on the disc, as well as a couple of other demos I've played before (Ballistics, RtCW). I don't actually own Wolf 3D... yeah, it's true. As for the others, the 1997 discs I had to get because those discs are just full of demos, and PCG's versions 2 and 3 of the interface (that's what the first number on the disc number refers to) were pretty cool... it's too bad no disc interface ver. 1 discs were there, because I'd LOVE to have more discs with the PC Gamer Underground on them, but... oh well. I think ver.2 has Coconut Monkey's Tropical Island, which was kind of fun too. :) As for demos, both have lots on the disc of course. I have SOME Jan. 1997 demodisc, but not PCG's... some of those demos looked familiar, but not others. I know that you can just look up and download demos online, but these discs are fun to have... and they do have some extra stuff too such as those interfaces. (That's another reason why I have less interest in the 2002 ones, the later interfaces are quite plain and generic, with none of the uniqueness, content, and fun of the older ones). Oh, and Dec. 2001 has some free games on the disc too, and a little minigame as well. I'll see what's there. :)
Game Boy - $3 each, cart only
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Lazlo's Leap - Don't know this one but the cover art looked maybe interesting. It's actually Solitaire (the game with the tiles, not the cardgame). Huh. Why not though, that's a good game.
Sneaky Snake - Don't know this one either. Will it be Snake? ... Nope, it's a platformer crossed with Snake -- it's a sidescroller, but you do eat things as you go that makes your snake longer. The game's actually by Rare, but this isn't isometric like their NES snake game.
Star Wars - Port of the classic... I have the (arguably better) Game Gear version, but I couldn't resist this.
Game Boy Color - also $2 each, cart only.
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The Flintstones: Burgertime at Bedrock - Yes, it's a Flintstones Burgertime game on the GBC... :) It's Burgertime, with Fred Flintstone.
Commander Keen - The infamously bad David Palmer Productions GBC ruination of one of the great PC game franchises of the early '90s. But as a Commander Keen fan, I had to get this game sometime...
Game Boy Advance - these are both Japanese import games that I found locally (as with those other few from a while ago). $5 each, cart only.
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Klonoa (Empire of Dreams)
Klonoa G2 (Dream Champ Tournament) - These are the two sidescroller Klonoa games for the GBA. Both did get later US releases, but as Klonoa platformers they don't have too much text... it's kind of too bad though that the third Klonoa game, the one that didn't get a US release (it's a topdown action-RPG) wasn't there too.
PS2
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.hack//Outbreak (Part 3) - complete., $15 (yeah, not a great price, but that's what I'd have to pay to get it locally) - Honestly, I probably got this as much for the anime DVD as for the game... Liminality is great.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 12th August 2011
Um, in between the last two posts I got a couple of things I forgot to mention.
GB
--
Operation C - $6.50, cart only
Sega Master System
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Monopoly - complete, $3 - with battery save for a game in progress!
N64
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Tony Hawk 3 - cart only, $1 - the only N64 game released in 2002 and the system's last release.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 15th August 2011
These next three games were $22 total; the first two would have been $7 and the third $15, but it was buy two get one free.
Sega Master System
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Choplifter (cart and case, no manual) - Sega's great, significantly enhanced version of the great '80s classic. This is one of the best Choplifter titles.
SNES
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The Legend of the Mystical Ninja - :) I love this series, and I'm really happy to have this game... it's just sad that its three sequels on the SNES (improved in many ways over this one) all were Japan-only releases.
Knights of the Round (this was the $15 one) - Capcom beat 'em up. Good stuff.
PC
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Diablo - $5, complete - I have this disc only, but complete for $5 (with the box, manual, Blizzard notepad, etc)? Yes, sure!
Return to Zork - $2 - the remaining ones are jewelcase only.
Dune 2000 - $2
Dragon's Lair Deluxe Pack - Dragon's Lair, Space Ace, and Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, on two CDs. $5.
Rama - $5, three disc late '90s Sierra adventure game. It's based on the sci-fi book classic from Arthur C. Clarke, and is one of those "first person with lots of puzzles" adventure games spawned by Myst. I've heard that it's really hard, but have always wanted to have it because I liked the book... cool find!
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 19th August 2011
PSX
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Putter Golf - $3, complete - Cheap little budget minigolf game.
PC
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Alien Legacy - $2.50, complete in box - This is the floppy disk edition. Eight floppies. :) Oh, this is a Sierra game. DOS.
Desperados: Wanted dead or alive - $2, complete in box - Basically this is Commandos but with a Wild West theme. Win9x.
Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game - $5, complete in box (small box, not large like the other two) - The Incredible Machine knockoff. WinXP.
Daryl F. Gates Police Quest IV: Open Season - $2, jewelcase only. DOS/Win3.1.
Mad Dog McCree - $2.50 - the "classic" arcade lightgun game... DOS.
Syndicate Plus - $0.50 - disc in case only - I don't actually own a Syndicate game, oddly enough... DOS.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 19th August 2011
I really want to know if the current Diablo box set comes with the Diablo manuals (story, artwork and all, even if in a smaller form factor), or if it's just the player's guides.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 20th August 2011
I don't know, but my first guess would be against the full size manuals. I mean, would that box even be big enough to hold them, in their original size?
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 21st August 2011
PS2 - $1 each, discs only.
--
Shadow Hearts - an RPG, semi-sequel of sorts to the PS1 game Koudelka (which I have). This is a traditional RPG though, not a survival horror/RPG like that game.
Dino Stalker - Dino Crisis spinoff game which has lightgun support. This is odd for a lightgun game, though, because it's not auto-scrolling -- you actually have to move around with the dpad on the gun, while you fire. The A and B buttons (on the gun) strafe, as well. The controls definitely take some getting used to and aren't too comfortable, having to use both the dpad and gun aiming at the same time is kind of odd. The game's stupidly difficult, too -- if you die, or run out of time, in a level, you start the whole thing over -- even if you're at the final boss of the level. And levels are not short. Bah, that's not fun. Interesting concept though, and it is nice to have another game to use with the Guncon2.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 21st August 2011
It seems like it would have been better to give you a "d-pad" one handed controller, nun-chuck style, so your free hand could control movement instead of your gun arm.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 21st August 2011
Yeah, that'd be great... a Wii version of this game, with motion+ and Nunchuck instead of the Wii Zapper, would be perfect I think, control-wise. On PS2, though... moving with a dpad on the back of the gun, while also firing? Strafing with buttons on the sides of the gun? (Oh, and switch weapon is on C, on the bottom of the stock). Um... yeah. Not so great.
Oh, and if you haven't used one (I don't know if you have), the Guncon is kind of odd. I don't know how it works actually, it doesn't seem to be the "flashes" system of, say, the NES or SMS guns, but it's tied to CRT timing somehow... and also, it has a separate cord that connects to your composite video cable going to the TV, so the gun itself has to output video too or something, which then gets mixed with the system's video.
Anyway, if I asked for one thing in Dino Stalker, though, it wouldn't be a better controller, it'd be checkpoints... oh well. They were trying something different, as far as lightgun games go, but I think the game might show how different isn't always better. My other PS2 lightgun game, Sega's Vampire Night, is a better game for sure. Of course though, that game's from Sega, with good gameplay and terrible voice acting in the classic House of the Dead tradition, so I don't know if it's a fair comparison... :)
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 23rd August 2011
Dreamcast - $9 each, all complete
--
Project Justice - sequel to the PS1 2.5d fighting game Rival Schools. Sells for like $30 online.
Dynamite Cop! - I've played this one, but didn't actually own it... fun stuff. It's a silly, entertaining beat 'em up. :)
The King of Fighters Evolution - This is actually KOF '99 (unlike KOF '99 Dream Match on the DC, which is actually KOF 98). I like the KOF series a lot, and while I have the PS1 version of KOF99, its long load times make it not much fun to play... I'm sure they'll be much better on DC. Plus, it has some extra, exclusive features too.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 24th August 2011
Dreamcast - two more complete, $9 games.
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Capcom vs SNK - as this is a 2d Capcom fighter, I guessed that it'd be worth well more than I paid... I seem to be right. CvS2 is a much better game -- and indeed is one of my favorite fighting games ever -- but the first game is okay too... cool to have it.
Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram - 3d mech action/fighting game from Sega. The controls are really confusing and aren't very good at all, I hate how the enemy can so easily get out of your view... I want lockon or something. :) So yeah, first impressions aren't great. The graphics are decently good, but the gameplay? Yeah... also, there's a serious lack of modes here. There's really nothing here apart from Arcade, Training, and Versus, and it saves no stats at all, nothing. There are no unlockables either. All it saves are your option screen settings. (Oh, you can save replays too, but that takes up a lot of memory card space...) That's disappointing.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 31st August 2011
NES
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Adventure Island II - $5, game with manual in clear plastic (rental-style) case. Nice find, I think. :)
Game Boy
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Brain Drain - $3, cart only - It's a rotate-the-blocks-to-match-up-the-blocks-into-squares (as matching the goal layout for the stage) puzzle game. Simple and reasonably fun.
Game Boy Advance - $5 each, cart only
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Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
DS
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Nanostray 2 - card only, $5 - I'd been hoping to find this one for a while, it's pretty awesome that I finally have. Apparently it's even better than the first game. :)
Dreamcast - $2 each
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Sonic Shuffle - the apparently mediocre Mario Party knockoff. No manual.
Sonic Adventure 2 - I have this for GC of course (have since 2002) and have passed on the DC version before, but eh... there are some kart racing tracks that you can only play on the DC version, so why not.
D2 - Yeah, this was a surprise to see in Goodwill for so cheap... and yes, it does have the manual and all four discs. :)
PS2 - Gamestop now is selling PS2 games buy 2 get 2 free... not sure if it's a permanent or temporary promotion, but I got some either way. All four were $6 each, so it cost a total of a bit under $12.
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Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing (complete) - the PS2-exclusive kart racing game. I have low expectations.
Falling Stars (disc in case, no manual) - RPG for girls that got horrible, horrible reviews. I'd never heard of it, but just by looking at the case I could tell it was going to be awful, and couldn't resist... :p
Ys 6: The Arc of Napishtim (disc in generic case) - This was the first new Ys game since the SNES... the series recently made a comeback in the US on the PSP, but this one was the first US Ys game since Ys III back in '93 or so (4 SNES, 4 PCECD (they are different games), and 5 SNES didn't release outside of Japan.)
Time Crisis 3 (complete) - another Guncon game. There are three Time Crisis games on PS2... it's not my favorite lightgun series (I like Sega ones like Virtua Cop, House of the Dead 2, and Vampire Night better), but it's fun enough to get given that I have the gun and it's only $3, I think.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 4th September 2011
Dreamcast
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Grandia 2 - complete, $21 - this one had been at a store around here for some time, but at that price I wasn't sure if it was worth it... I mean, the game sells for around that online, but that's a lot for one older game. I finally caved, though, partially inspired by how many DC games I've bought in the last few weeks (seriously, it's got to be like nine or ten now). It was probably a good purchase, it is a great game and this copy is in great shape and is complete with the soundtrack CD as well as the disc, case, and manual.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 7th September 2011
Wii
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Arthur Maclean's Speedzone - $10, used (complete). This is a Wii futuristic racing game. I had to get it basically because of its genre. :)
We Ski - $5, used and complete - Heard this was okay, I think. It was cheap enough to try.
The next three were buy two get one free, so one of the two $5 titles is effectively free.
DS
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Pac 'n Roll - $5, card only - early DS 3d Pacman game...
Genesis
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The Lost Vikings - $7, complete. I of course have had the PC version since 1993, it was a favorite of mine as a kid... I wouldn't get it just because it was on consoles too, but the Genesis version has several Genesis-exclusive levels and three player simultaneous mode that the PC and SNES versions don't, even if the graphics are a bit worse I think the added features make up for it.
SNES
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The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie - this is the sequel to Mickey's Magical Quest, the Capcom/Disney platformer. It's about as the first game, I think.
Game Gear
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Ms. Pac-Man - $2, cart only - this is the first standalone Ms. Pac-Man version that I own, actually. There are two modes, Arcade or Hard. The game does scroll up and down, but not left and right -- it's the width oft he screen. I don't see a "smaller but fullscreen visuals" option, unlike GG/GB/NGPC Pac-Man, but it mostly works I think.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 7th September 2011
Got me an NES Advantage. I forgot that this thing could fight crime.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 8th September 2011
Yeah, the NES Advantage is pretty awesome. I use mine most of the time that I play the NES.
Oh, and in between my last two posts I also got this.
DS
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Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - $13, card only - This game's still on the pricier side, so I think this was a reasonable price... I like the DS Castlevania games, Portrait of Ruin was one of my first DS games and I played a huge amount of that game. I'd been interested in this game, but didn't get it when it came out. I'm liking it now though.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 8th September 2011
PS2 - more stuff from Gamestop's new "buy 2 get 2 free" PS2 inventory reduction strategy.
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Shadow of Rome - $7.20, complete - Capcom action/adventure game that apparently sold badly. Who knows if I'll like this or not, whenever I get around to trying it.
Burnout Dominator - $6.30, complete (this is the PS2/PSP only Burnout game)
Capcom Classics Collection 2 - would be $6, free - no manual. If I find them cheap I might get the Xbox versions of these collections too, but it's nice to have them on PS2 anyway.
Clock Tower 3 - would be $6, free, complete. Clock Tower 1 for PS1 was a graphic adventure, but this one's more horror action/adventure. It's supposedly not as good as the first one, but I wanted to try it anyway. Good price.
Wii
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Line Rider 2 - $3 - no manual. Yeah, pretty cheap! Even cheaper than the DS version is, oddly enough.
DS (card only)
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Orcs & Elves - $3. id's enhanced cellphone port first person action/RPG thing. I'll see if it's any good.
Devilish - $4. This is a remake/sequel of a somewhat obscure Genesis and Game Gear Breakout clone. I have the Genesis version, it's a pretty cool game with some interesting visuals and design, but it's really hard... I'd been wanting the DS version for years, but had never seen it for cheap until now. I'm happy to have it, even if it is mediocre (we'll see).
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 9th September 2011
PINBALL QUEST!
I have a it.
Pinball Quest is an old NES game by, wait for it, Jaleco. I remember playing it when I was younger, and wanting to find it since then. It's probably the only good game Jaleco ever made. For example, the title bar on the top has the name of the game instead of Jaleco on it, a rarity!
This is probably the very first "adventure" styled Pinball game (the game box itself claims this title), the beginning of a long line leading to Kirby's Pinball Land, Mario Pinball, and Metroid Prime Pinball, among others. There's 3 regular Pinball boards, and the "RPG Mode". You, as a brave... pinball warrior... have to save the princess... pinball... So, bash your metal buddy into skeletons and wizards in advancing "boards" of neat design. Between stages there's a store run by some sort of demon selling spells that "stop" different parts of the board and upgraded flippers. Further, killing enemies levels up your power so you do more damage as you go along. It's about 6 stages long. Instead of having limited lives, instead losing a board just sends you back to the last one. So, you'll never "game over", but if you lose over and over you can easily send yourself right back to the start. Not too long, but still very fun.
About the biggest downside has to be the physics and the occasional feeling of "how could I have avoided that?". The physics are a bit iffy sometimes. Part of the controls are "tilting" the boards, so you can occasionally "nudge" yourself to safety, but it is an occasional issue. The design of the boards also leaves occasional moments where you feel like you have no control over what's going on. You'll occasionally have your ball bounce in such a random way off score bumpers that it just drops completely through an open gap with no chance of saving it. That's pinball anyway, but it's still one of the more annoying parts of the game. As a result, you may find yourself getting sent back multiple stages for reasons beyond your control.
All in all, the best game to compare it to would be Nintendo's own "Pinball", one of the earliest releases for the NES (which I played years earlier when my family first got the NES). I'd say this one completely outclasses it and deserves credit for inventing a new sub-genre of pinball game. Even the 3 "normal" boards are pretty inspired, with little mini-games of their own. It's a shame this game is so unknown.
Oh, I also (re)obtained the original version of Link's Awakening. It was silly cheap, so I snagged it for less than a $ with the thought "Why not? This change is annoying anyway". It's almost a duplicate since I still have the DX copy, which I think is superior, but still there are a few little details I prefer over the DX version (mainly things like the more cryptic hints).
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 11th September 2011
Earthworm Jim Special Edition on Sega CD
So this was a tough one, deciding which version of this game to get. I had played the SNES version as a kid and just assumed it was the superior version. Doing some research, I found that while the SNES version had much better sound and a higher color count (and some completely different art in parts), it had a lot of sound effects and a level removed. I assume they cheaped out on getting a larger cartridge size from Nintendo, because that stuff should have fit in, say, a 32Mb cart. However, I also found out there was a Sega CD edition that added in a new level, a new weapon, and extended parts to a number of levels. Also, it had even better music than the SNES version. I also checked out the XBox Live Arcade version. That version looks amazing and sounds amazing, except they replaced the voice actors for some reason and the new voices sound... wrong. Also, they didn't put in any of the bonus content from the Sega CD version for some reason, like they forgot about it.
I recently found it and I have to say it's very nice. The color palette may be lower, but it's hard to tell because they used a lot of nice tricks in the Genesis game to sneak more colors out of it. As a result, it looks a lot better on standard A/V than with any s-video mod, since it depends on the blurring to create more colors and transparencies. The game still looks very richly colored and the graphics are still amazing. The background art they changed on the SNES version actually seems to fit the levels better on the Genesis version, especially in Heck.
The music is simply amazing. Nicely enough, like many Sega CD games, the music is in the form of standard CD tracks so I could easily rip the whole sound track. The sound effects are nice quality as well. The new content past where the old levels would normally end is pretty creative, like wandering around as Jim without his suit on ramps and so on. There are load times, but as with most Sega CD games of this kind, they're almost beyond noticing. The loading times occur during the little cutaway title cards between levels, finishing the loading just as the 5 second little ditty ends. The worst that can be said is the music tracks don't "loop" cleanly, a normal issue on the Sega CD, but it's a small price to pay for such high quality music which otherwise is as smooth as silk worms. If you can find it, I'd recommend this version as probably the best you can find. The PC version is based on this version PLUS SNES level high color palettes and a higher resolution, but that one's even harder to find and is a real pain to get working on a modern PC. If they'd add in the Sega CD content and the original voice samples to the XBox Arcade version, I'd recommend that one in a flash though.
I also picked up Sylpheed for $4, and that's one impressive little top down shooter for Sega CD. I wasn't aware the Sega CD added Super FX level 3D capabilities to the Genesis (or maybe that was done with creative programming), but it looks nice. The opening is incredible looking, using some clever positioning to make the ships look really nice even though they're at Star Fox level graphics, and it's so much smoother. However, that opening MAY be a misleading FMV for all I know, since the gameplay itself is entirely overhead, unlike Star Fox.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 11th September 2011
Pinball Quest -- Yeah, I have that game too, got it some point within the last year. I'd heard of it before and wanted to play it on the NES too, but the game's ridiculously frustrating. I mean, it's hard. Way too hard. That ball seems to aim straight for the drains every time, particularly in the Quest mode... it's so frustrating. And as you say, the game's design pushes you back as you fail, until I inevitably end up back on the first screen again. Bah. So yeah, I wanted to like it, but wasn't having much fun thanks to the difficulty level and haven't played it in a while...
EWJ CD - I don't have the Sega CD version, or any of the console versions of EWJ for that matter (though I have played some of the Genesis version before), but I do have both PC versions, the EWJ 1&2 collection they sell on GOG (Interplay's DOS version, originally sold in a box with both games together), and Earthworm Jim for Windows 95, Activision's Win95 version that is an enhanced port of the Sega CD version. The two are actually different -- the DOS version has some cut animation versus the Win95 version, password save, and I forget if it has the full CD audio too (though it was originally on CD). It doesn't have the new level from the Sega CD version. At least it adds the passwords, versus the original SNES/Genesis releases... and also, it's the only PC version of the second game (the best version of EWJ2, on that note, is quite possibly the Saturn version, but I haven't played anything other than this PC version myself; maybe the PC version's about as good as that? I forget the differences, and don't want to go look them up right now.).
So, the Win95 version is better, right? Well, yes, but as is common for early Win9x games, it's got big problems running on a modern computer, and indeed I can't get it to work at all on my Vista machine. The game is a quite good port though, with all the content from EWJ for Sega CD (CD audio, the additional level), plus 256 color graphics and, instead of passwords, a level-select system where you can start from any level via one of the menus, as long as you've unlocked it by reaching that level before. Nice. This was the first version of EWJ I played, which I got when it came with a computer we got in mid '97, along with a few more games, namely MechWarrior 2 for Win95, Pod (my favorite of the batch, a futuristic racing game), and Eraser, an awful (from what little I remember, it won't run on Vista and didn't even work on my old computer, I think, last time I tried) FMV/gun-style game based on the movie of the same name (on two CDs!).
However, one problem -- I never loved EWJ. I mean, yeah, the animation's nice, but as far as gameplay goes I've just never loved the thing. I never finished EWJ for the PC, I gave up somewhere in the middle because the difficulty level was annoying and I wasn't liking the game as much as the hype suggested... and trying both games again after getting them on GOG, really my opinion hasn't changed much. I don't know, in some ways they're pretty good games, but... somehow I just don't quite like it or something. The controls can be frustrating and loose or something, it's easy to take unfair hits, you do need to make 'leaps of faith' sometimes, etc...
Quote:I also picked up Sylpheed for $4, and that's one impressive little top down shooter for Sega CD. I wasn't aware the Sega CD added Super FX level 3D capabilities to the Genesis (or maybe that was done with creative programming), but it looks nice. The opening is incredible looking, using some clever positioning to make the ships look really nice even though they're at Star Fox level graphics, and it's so much smoother. However, that opening MAY be a misleading FMV for all I know, since the gameplay itself is entirely overhead, unlike Star Fox.
Now Silpheed, THAT game I love. I'm sure I've talked about it before -- it's been one of my two or three favorite Sega CD games for years -- but yeah, it's outstanding, and one of the Sega CD's top visual accomplishments in some ways. The backgrounds are just outstanding looking. Of course, as you suspect, those backgrounds are entirely FMV -- it's not rendering those polygons, that's just a video (only the ships are actually being drawn by the system) -- but still, it looks great, and plays really well too. The game's not easy either, with twelve challenging levels to get through... took me quite a while to beat. I love the little details too, like how after your shield is gone the next two hits take out one of your weapon systems and some of your engine power (speed), before finally you die; they removed this system from the quite disappointing PS2 sequel to this game, which was one of many problems with that game.
But as for the graphics, I mean, there's no way in the world the Sega CD could render all those polygons. Get to level 4 or 5, the fast stage through hexagonal canyons... yeah, as if the poor little Sega CD processors could do that. No. :) But it looks impressive, and they do a better job than most games of making the video look like it's live and not video... it is impressive work. And the gameplay and level design are about as good.
Another example of a game with prerendered polygonal backgrounds is Starblade. It's a lightgun-style shooter, except without gun support. That one looks pretty nice too, except instead of sprite-based or polygonal ships on top of the prerendered CG backdrops, it uses wireframe 3d models. It actually works decently well. Now that two or three credit limit... that's a problem, makes it way too hard. Oh well. :)
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 11th September 2011
I sucked at Earthworm Jim as a kid, but I'm a lot better at it now. The levels are pretty innovative. The Win 95 seems like the absolute best version from what you describe, but the real question is if it supports controllers. If it's keyboard controlled, I'll stick with the Sega CD version. Saving unlocked levels is great. The best I can do with the console versions is push button codes to go to whatever level I want. Same effect, but it involves obscure codes so it's certainly not as user friendly. One thing I'll say. When compared to the SNES version, it's a lot easier to tell what objects are places I can walk. The SNES version has higher color detail, but sometimes the result is making whole environments look confusing.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 11th September 2011
The Genesis version is the original, that's probably part of why the Genesis/Sega CD version looks better even though that system has weaker graphics hardware. The SNES version is a port.
Quote:The best I can do with the console versions is push button codes to go to whatever level I want.
No, EWJ for Sega CD has password save. Did you not notice it? I thought I mentioned that, somewhere in my last post, that in addition to one new level it also added saving... because yes, the SNES and Genesis versions would be completely impossible, in my opinion. If I could never get past halfway in a PC version with saving, no way would I have finished a version where you have to start the whole game over each time...
Quote:The Win 95 seems like the absolute best version from what you describe, but the real question is if it supports controllers. If it's keyboard controlled, I'll stick with the Sega CD version.I can't say for sure because as I said it doesn't work on this computer, but the manual mentions "Recommended: Gamepad", so they are probably supported in some fashion. I just looked on the disc, the manual mentions the game not supporting joysticks in Windows NT, but it doesn't work in XP/Vista anyway. Obviously in 9x it should. How would you run it, an old Win9x machine, or virtual machine or something?
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 11th September 2011
Yeah I'm aware of the password feature. I'm saying the push button code works a little better because you can start at halfway points and so have a little finer control of where you pop up. The passwords are also a little harder to write down since they use funky symbols instead of letters or something.
The SNES version is a port, but they put a lot of work into that port. I agree though, the Genesis version looks a little better there.
The Sega CD is actually a fine little device with a lot of very well made games for it, even if a number of them are enhanced rereleases of Genesis games. Echo the Dolphin sounds incredible on the Sega CD. It gets so much flak because of all those terrible "interactive movies" on the thing, but look past those and there's a LOT of really good games on it.
I'll say this. It's pathetic that so many of those games don't support save files. Both EWJ and Echo should have allowed saving since there's no additional cost to support that feature on a CD.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 12th September 2011
Quote:The Sega CD is actually a fine little device with a lot of very well made games for it, even if a number of them are enhanced rereleases of Genesis games. Echo the Dolphin sounds incredible on the Sega CD. It gets so much flak because of all those terrible "interactive movies" on the thing, but look past those and there's a LOT of really good games on it.I agree, I like the Sega CD too. It's got a pretty good library, really. Most of the FMV games aren't very good, but it's got enough other stuff to make up for that. And while I don't enjoy many FMV games, there are a few which are entertainingly bad at least... :) I think that the Sega CD is an under-rated system. The six shmups are all quite good, there are some good platformers, the RPGs and strategy games have some classics among them, some of the scaler-style games are pretty good (few, but good), etc.
However, apart from the saving issue below, I have one major complaint about the Sega CD -- Sega of Japan's game support for the Sega CD was just awful. Seriously, it was completely pathetic, to the degree where I think I could make a case that Sega of Japan's 32X support might have been better than its Sega CD support! It really was that bad... and it didn't help that some games originally meant for Sega CD, like Outrun 2019 and Phantasy Star IV, ended up on cart instead. It's fortunate that third parties, and Sega of America, stepped in to release some stuff for the system, because Japan really dropped the ball. Sure, they had some good ones, but precious few, considering that the system had a 3 to 4 year life (Dec. 1991-Jan. 1996 in Japan, Fall 1992-Dec. 1995 in the US). LIke, why were there zero scaler-style games from Sega of Japan on the Sega CD? They put hardware scaling and rotation chips into the system, and then didn't use them at all! It's hard to understand. The closest things to them are Sonic CD's bonus stages, which are just bonus levels, and After Burner III, which is a mediocre outsourced port of the arcade game Strike Fighter. Compare that to the 32X, which in just its first few months got great ports of After Burner and Space Harrier... And it's similar with platformers -- Sega of Japan's only platformer on the Sega CD was Sonic CD, released in 1993, several years into the system's life. However, in just six to eight months, they released two platformers on 32X (Tempo, Knuckles Chaotix). Sega of Japan did do some good stuff (Sonic CD, Dark Wizard, Shining Force CD, etc.), but not enough... there weren't even all that many titles not released here, either. There were some, mostly anime games and such, but not too much.
Quote:I'll say this. It's pathetic that so many of those games don't support save files. Both EWJ and Echo should have allowed saving since there's no additional cost to support that feature on a CD.Yeah, Sega CD developers have a serious lack of vision as far as saving goes. Sure, RPGs, strategy games, racing games, some FMV games, and a few platformers save, but do shmups, rail shooters, or any of those kinds of games? No, they never do. And nor do most Genesis-port platformers, it's usually just the exclusives like Sonic CD and Wild Woody that have save systems; Genesis ports, no matter how enhanced (see the Ecco games, Ecco 2 particularly has some great additions), almost never do.
And yes, I completely agree that it's really annoying. The Sega CD is a good system, and it does have a good game library, but the missing save feature in so many games is frustrating. I don't think one single rail shooter, lightgun-style shooter, or shmup on the Sega CD saves, for instance... that is, unless you count FMV ones, in which case a couple of them, such as Ground Zero Texas, do. But apart from that, do any use saving for a highscore backup? No. I have no idea why they don't, implementing a highscore save feature to the backup memory would seem to be pretty simple, but they don't. :(
At least on Turbografx/PC Engine CD, a few of the shmups actually save something... sure, most don't, but a few do for things like high scores in the timed modes.
Quote:Yeah I'm aware of the password feature. I'm saying the push button code works a little better because you can start at halfway points and so have a little finer control of where you pop up. The passwords are also a little harder to write down since they use funky symbols instead of letters or something.Huh. Yeah, it's always kind of annoying when games use symbols instead of letters and numbers, I agree. I also never used the cheatcodes, so I didn't remember that you could actually warp to any checkpoint... interesting, that is a nice feature. Still, adding passwords is a very nice addition, I think.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 12th September 2011
Yeah I have an official Sega CD memory cart, but half the time I don't even bother plugging it in since the games don't save anyway.
I think I'll get the Saturn version of Earthworm Jim, but it's really pathetic that the Saturn doesn't support transparencies, something the SNES was fully capable of and used in that version of EWJ2.
The Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast is pretty nice though. It's missing the little story line exposition cut scene at the start, but is otherwise better looking and sounding. Apparently this was the original version of the game, and the only one released in Japan. They back-ported it to the Genesis later on.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 15th September 2011
Gamecube
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Luigi's Mansion - $3, complete - Finally, I managed to find a cheap copy of this game... it's one that I've had an interest in playing, but I've never wanted to pay the $15-plus prices it seems to bring everywhere. Now that I finally managed to find it for cheap, I'll definitely have to try it.
Quote:Yeah I have an official Sega CD memory cart, but half the time I don't even bother plugging it in since the games don't save anyway.
There are a fair number of Sega CD games that do support the cart, but as I said it's things like strategy games, RPGs, some sims, racing games, first party platformers, some of the FMV games, adventure games, etc... not the third-party platformers, Genesis ports, or shmups. I have enough saves that the cart is necessary -- I have more saved than could be stored in the internal memory, for sure -- but yes, it is true that not enough games made use of it, certainly. The card holds a lot, it might be tough to actually fill it up...
Quote:I think I'll get the Saturn version of Earthworm Jim, but it's really pathetic that the Saturn doesn't support transparencies, something the SNES was fully capable of and used in that version of EWJ2.I think there are some techniques that can pull off transparencies on the Saturn, but it's not easy to do and few games managed it. And yeah, it is kind of odd that they'd forget that, but the Saturn wasn't exactly the best thought through hardware design, so it isn't exactly surprising that it has problems.
Quote:The Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast is pretty nice though. It's missing the little story line exposition cut scene at the start, but is otherwise better looking and sounding. Apparently this was the original version of the game, and the only one released in Japan. They back-ported it to the Genesis later on.No, I'm pretty sure that it's the other way around, and the Genesis version came first. Sega was originally going to release Sonic X-Treme as its Saturn Sonic game for late 1996, remember. (X-Treme had originally started out as a 32X project, but after not too long moved over to Saturn.) However, after illnesses on the team and idiotic decisions by Sega management derailed the game's chances of releasing in 1996, they decided to cancel it instead of delaying it, and added their backup plan in instead, which was a Saturn version of Sonic 3D Blast. Apparently the Saturn version of the game is definitely the best one, but I only have it for PC and Genesis. I do actually like the game though, mostly (beat it on Genesis), so I am interested in trying the Saturn version... it's no replacement for X-Treme though, for sure. That game looks like it'd have been so cool, kind of like Bug! but with Sonic, and faster. That's an awesome concept. (On that note, and I'm sure I've said this before too, but the Bug! games are pretty good.)
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 17th September 2011
Genesis
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OutRunners - $3, cart only. This is the other Genesis Outrun game released in the US. It's forced splitscreen, like Top Gear, Mario Kart, or Final Lap Twin, for other examples. This means you play in a small window, but eh, it works... the bigger problem is the usual Sega Genesis poor framerate and scaling. The tracks aren't too complex in this game, visually -- they mostly just turn left and right, with stuff on the sides -- but eh, it works. I like the seven or eight cars you can drive as, each with a different driver and passenger, adds some nice variety to the series not present in the other titles; even Outrun 2/2006 only has one driver. Still though, this is a somewhat mixed quality title for sure, with the iffy scaling, small window, etc. As for the gameplay, it's okay. It's fun enough to play more of, but this is no Top Gear for sure, or Outrun 2019.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 20th September 2011
PS1
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Lucky Luke - $5. 3d platform/shooting game, one of the few in this franchise released here (it's European). The other one is the GBC game, which I also have. No analog controls? Bah, too bad.
Game Boy Color
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - $3, cart only. As far as I can tell, this is, oddly enough, the only game based on the Disney movie. There are other Snow White games on other platforms, but they're all knockoffs, not from Disney. It's part platformer, part challenge game (minigame-ish stuff). It has password save, and there are cutscenes between levels telling the story from the movie, with stills from the film done reasonably well for the GBC, though probably not quite up to Bionic Commando Elite Forces' level. In half of the stages, you run around levels collecting items. There's no way to lose here -- there's no timer or enemies, you just go around until you find all ten things you need to find. Despite the lack of challenge, the graphics are nice and it's fun enough to play. Snow White is well animated. In the first one of these levels you have to find roses (in town), in the second butterflies (in the forest), in the third bunnies (in the Dwarves' house)...
After each of these levels, you play a challenge stage. Each of these is a completely different game, and these do have ways to fail, though you have infinite lives so all that'll happen is you have to start over if you do. The first one of these is a sliding tile puzzle, with a timer, which as always I found tough but did manage to do. It's just 3x3, but I'm not good at these. The second one is a maze with a topdown view. You have four hitpoints in this, and two mazes to get through. There are enemies here to avoid, you can't fight back. Decently fun. And that's as far as I got so far, a quarter of the way I think. Yeah, this won't take long, not much challenge here... might be worth the $3 though.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 24th September 2011
N64
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Automobili Lamborghini - $2, cart only - Titus racing game. I'm not sure if I'll like it or not, it's from Titus... but Roadsters for the n64, which is kind of this game's sequel, is fun, so maybe it'll be okay. The price was cheap enough to make it worth trying anyway.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 24th September 2011
I picked up Shadowman for the Dreamcast. It looks just like an N64 game, so the only real improvement over that version is frame rates.
I also picked up Comix Zone, the original "Viewtiful Joe", for Genesis. That game still looks amazing. It's also nice to have another game that actually makes use of the 6 button controller.
I got a more modern game to go with those, Lunar Silver Star Harmony for PSP. They already remade this game with better graphics on the PS1 some time ago. This time they outdid themselves. The artwork is incredible and much higher resolution, and there's all sorts of pretty long additional chapters added to the gameplay, like a prolonged opening consisting of the entire "ending fight" of Dyne and company that's talked about throughout the original. It reveals details of exactly who they were fighting as well. Like most PSP remakes, it's amazing but I don't expect them to follow it up with Eternal Blue Rapsody any time soon since these remakes haven't been selling too well.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 26th September 2011
SNES
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Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage - $4. Sunsoft SNES Looney Tunes platformer. I think this was the last one of them I didn't have... :)
Also, even though I own it already, I randomly found a copy of Virtual Boy Wario Land for $2, so I got it because it's worth a good bit more than that. Maybe I'll sell it sometime.
Quote:I also picked up Comix Zone, the original "Viewtiful Joe", for Genesis. That game still looks amazing. It's also nice to have another game that actually makes use of the 6 button controller.
There are a decent number of games that use the 6-button controller, really... most of the fighting games, a bunch of 32X games, and some on the base Genesis. Yeah, if you don't have a 32X, it would be mostly fighting games, but there are some non-fighting Genesis games that use the 6-button controller other than Comix Zone -- The Lost Vikings would be another recent example for me. Don't even try to play that on a 3-button controller...
Quote:I got a more modern game to go with those, Lunar Silver Star Harmony for PSP. They already remade this game with better graphics on the PS1 some time ago. This time they outdid themselves. The artwork is incredible and much higher resolution, and there's all sorts of pretty long additional chapters added to the gameplay, like a prolonged opening consisting of the entire "ending fight" of Dyne and company that's talked about throughout the original. It reveals details of exactly who they were fighting as well. Like most PSP remakes, it's amazing but I don't expect them to follow it up with Eternal Blue Rapsody any time soon since these remakes haven't been selling too well.I love the Lunar series, I'd like to try this sometime. The additional chapter sounds interesting, even if in some ways I'm not sure if it's actually an improvement over the PSX/Saturn remake.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - Dark Jaguar - 26th September 2011
The opening doesn't spoil any of the plot twists if that's your concern, though it does do a little foreshadowing with a small bit of dialog.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 3rd October 2011
How is the gameplay in comparison to the other versions, though?
Wii (WiiWare)
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FAST Racing League - 1000 points. Futuristic racing game from Shin'en, clearly Wipeout inspired. They do a pretty good job on the graphics here, considering that they're working with a 40MB size limit, but the space limitation does show, and this doesn't look as good as most any Wii or Gamecube futuristic racing game. Oh well, even so it has a solid look and reasonably good (if generic for the genre) art design, so it works. As for the gameplay, it's nothing amazing, but it's good. This game isn't as technical as Wipeout, but it does have some challenge to it. Good game so far.
Kyotokei - 500 points. This game is a Western-made, sidescrolling classic-style shmup. It's got an Ikaruga-style color switching and chain mechanic, but is side scrolling instead of topdown and looks pretty 16-bit visually. Your whole character is vulnerable too, quite unlike Ikaruga's tiny hitbox. This game is quite mediocre both visually and in gameplay, but I like shmups so I bought it anyway.
I also got some DLC for My Life as a Darklord, the tower defense game. The base game's 1000 points, but it's got like $50 worth of DLC... thanks, Squeenix. I've only bought a little bit of it (not any of the room, monster, or item packs), but new missions does seem worth it because it's a pretty good game, so I got one of the two mission packs. I'm sure I'll eventually get the other one too.
DS
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Heroes of Mana - $10, card only - Mana RTS. I'm expecting it to be okay but flawed, maybe worse, maybe a little better, we'll have to see.
Xbox - $1 each
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - disc in generic case. This is the first of the '00s Konami TMNT games.
Marc Ecko's Getting Up - disc only
MX vs ATV Unleashed - disc and manual only. Racing game.
Star Wars Jedi Starfighter - disc and manual in generic case. I don't have the first Star Wars Starfighter, but $1 for the sequel? Why not. I'll get the first one once I find a quite cheap copy of the Xbox or PC versions.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 12th October 2011
These first three were buy two get one free, so they were $33 for the three of them.
Wii
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Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles - $18*
NES
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The Magic of Scheherazade - $15*, complete (box, manual, and slipcover included, in good condition) - When I saw this I knew I'd be getting some stuff, sure the price isn't cheap, but it's pretty great to find a game like that complete... it's an action-RPG. Standard NES story ("rescue the princess"), and very long passwords, but the game sounds good.
N64
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Top Gear Hyper-Bike - $15* - cart only. Probably not worth $15, but well, it didn't really cost me $15, so that's okay I think. This is a motorcycle racing game from the developer of Top Gear Overdrive; it's rushed and not as good as that one (two player only instead of four, memory card save instead of oncart, etc.), but it's still decent.
Polaris SnoCross - $7, cart only. I haven't seen a copy of this one in quite a while... it's the only N64 snowmobile racing game, released in late December 2000. This might be the N64's last racing game, because there weren't any released in 2001, oddly enough (given the huge numbers released between 1996 and 2000). It's a mediocre PS1 port though. Oh well, worth having anyway, for me anyway if not for most people. :)
Genesis
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Spiderman and Venom in Maximum Carnage - $4, cart only. I have the sequel, Spiderman and Venom in Separation Anxiety. but not this first game and its bright red cartridge... this one is one player only (the sequel is two player), but apparently other than that it's a decent game.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 13th October 2011
PC - Digital Download
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Duke Nukem Forever - $10, on sale on Steam. Yeah, couldn't resist.
PC (discs) - these two were $5 total.
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Alpha Centauri - jewelcase only
Restricted Area - discs in generic cases only
NES
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Bump 'n Jump - $5, cart only - arcade classic...
Game Boy
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Looney Tunes: Twouble! - $3, cart only. Sylvester and Tweety game from Infogrammes. Sunsoft made the best Looney Tunes games, but this one might be okay. It has some variety, the first level is an autoscrolling sidescrolling thing, but the second is isometric, like Solstice or something.
SNES
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Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures - $5, cart only. This is the Pac-Man graphic adventure game. I haven't actually played it.
The New "Games I Bought" Thread -- Copied For Your Enjoyment - A Black Falcon - 15th October 2011
PC (digital download)
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Tomb Raider Anniversary - $3.30 - Some of the Tomb Raider games are on sale on Steam. This was the cheapest of the three and I don't have it, so I got it. Legend was the middle price, but I have that for Xbox already so I don't need another copy. Underworld was like $8, I'd rather not pay that much for it. (The sale goes through tomorrow I think)