Incline Revisiting Old Games (Again)

[Falksi]

Hexen 2 - PC

When I first played Hexen 2 it was 1997, and suddenly it felt as if a new, glorious era of immersive fantasy gaming was upon us. I finally got to really feel like I was the warrior, sorcerer, crusader etc. which I'd always dreamed of being. Sadly, to this day I'm still waiting for most games to be able to replicate that. For all the advances in tech & suchlike, very few games actually get the vibe & feeling of dark fantasy right, and most fail at nailing the key elements which make such a good gaming experience. I sank hours upon hours into this back in the day, but I've not touched it in around 15-20 years for some daft reason.

On return it hit me straight away how amazingly absorbing and immersive the world & vibe is still. It has that Morrowind essence to it, where everything feels like it has a purpose, and around every corner lurks a surprise. Level design is, for the most part brilliant. There are some devilishly crafted sections, which at it's best combine secrets, traps, puzzles and combat to a fantastic degree. It's incredibly rewarding and satisfying finding all those hidden areas & routes, esp when they're key to progressing the game.

In fact there's a superb balance of combat, puzzles, exploration and item acquisition throughout. Bar the odd time when you get lost, you're never doing one or the other for too long, such is it's superb pacing. There are a few puzzles & routes however which are just uber-obscure, and if anyone can get through this entire game without using a guide then big kudos to them. It doesn't spoil the game at all, but it can put a crimp in your flow. The Egyptian section is especially confusing at times, with some intertwining puzzles that are very easy to get lost amongst. Another kicker comes with some of the platforming sections too, as they often feel annoying & out of place. Fortunately, you don't get many. And it can also sometimes be hard to find a good point to save at, because so much of the game interlaces within itself in terms of puzzles & layouts, that if you go away from it for a few days it can be tricky to remember where you were at, and tough to get back into.

But even after all this time, for the most part it still really manages to capture the feeling of BEING a Necromancer/Paladin/Assassin/Crusader in a fantasy world. Each class has some real individuality with the weapons, and manages to encompass the essence of each one very nicely too. I think it's massively underrated how doing that is essential to good fantasy gaming, as this is one of the main reasons a lot of us play these games in the first place. That extends throughout most fantasy elements in the game, right down to the text - "You need the Bone Dust of Loric to complete the spell to create the Potion of Mithril Transmutation" - THAT's proper fantasy geek-speak. In one sentence it conjures up so much mental imagery. No "collect 10 Bear pelts bullshit here.

Everything feels fresh and a bit different too. There's no swordsmen, elves, dwarves etc. There's golems, tiger-men, devil-archers, flying imps - yes you've seen them all before, but all too rarely and never with this much individuality or personality. The bosses are also really fucking cool, and the last boss especially blew my socks off back in the day, and still carries that sense of epicness with him today still. And most importantly combat, whilst fairly simple, is really fun. Some of the weapons & items lack a bit, but for the most part it's frantic, tense, fast paced, exciting action which really satisfies & gets your buzz on. In fact I started playing this shortly after having a revisit to Skyrim, and without doubt this excited & captured the fantasy feel far, FAR more for me combat-wise than that piece of trash ever has.

The constant cycle of mana depletion & replenishing can get annoying mind, esp with particular characters. I'm old school, I'm from an era where shooters like Smash TV & Gauntlet allowed you to blast away. Now I'm not against ammo limits, I think it often adds a much needed dynamic and in this case it is understandable, but I do think the balance is off here with the none-fighters. After every fight or two you're on the hunt for mana again, and it just gets repetitive tbh. The Necromancer in particular burns through his green Mana stash quickly, and so is often forced into melee combat a bit too much for my liking too. Nothing game breaking, but every so often I used the IMPULSE 10 cheat to top my mana up, and keep it more fun. Mainly when playing as said Necromancer. Oh and make sure if you play it that you play with the mouse-look enabled.

I think Hexen 2 is bumpy and often aggravating, but gets the key elements SO right that it remains a very rare classic which still does something that few other games have managed to do in the 20 years since. And that's satisfy the very basic desire of making you feel like a fantasy warrior on a dangerous mission in lands full of absorbing mysteries & secrets. All whilst making that experience rewarding, exciting and epic too. Action, tone, puzzles, secrets, themes etc, - it offers a fuckload, and for the most part offers it excellently.

Still a classic. One you have to work at a bit, but well worth it. Even in the rare moments when I hated it, I loved it and absolutely cannot get enough of it.

 

[Pentium]

I played Hexen 2 like 3 years back again and...it was not as good as I had remembered it. But you can totally see the typical Raven formula - take the technology available at the time, enahnce it and and try to uplift the game with a more refined approach.

Speaking of classes, the variability of weapons is nice at first glance but it doesn't quite offer enough of a replayability value as the game is not remotely as combat oriented as it's predecessor (which is pretty weak in these terms anyway) and the intended "RPG elements" are a joke at best. Of course, the levels and the whole game are just way too limited to offer enough opportunities to make a full use of the class specifics. That said, I like the cheesy weapon design and I've always thought that those of Necro were particularly funny, holding the book in one hand and casting the speels with the other and turning pages in the book to switch between them. I'm always happy to see such a sense of detail.

The enemy models are also something I'd point out - spiders' legs nicely thin, archers are believable when stretching the bowstrings etc. Some of them are even capable of fancy rolls which is quite impressive considering it's basically Q1 engine.

As for puzzles, well they're quite what the engine is capable of again. That means you basically need to figure out where to bring the stuff randomly found (A spade stashed in a secret room? WTF) in order to advance which is pefectely logical at times but a lot of puzzles simply revolve around secret rooms/buttons you're hardly to find unlesss you lick all the walls which is utterly annoying. Some are fair bitches (hidden passage in destroyed Temple of Nefertum) and some are completely fucked up like the legendary Wheel of Ages whose actual solution is completely different from the hints you're given.

 

[JDR13]

Final Fantasy 5 - SNES

What platform did you play it on?

 

[Falksi]

Final Fantasy 5 - SNES

What platform did you play it on?

ZSNES. Tried GBA, but SNES version had more charm, and was what I originally played it on.

 

[Falksi]

I played Hexen 2 like 3 years back again and...it was not as good as I had remembered it. But you can totally see the typical Raven formula - take the technology available at the time, enahnce it and and try to uplift the game with a more refined approach.

Speaking of classes, the variability of weapons is nice at first glance but it doesn't quite offer enough of a replayability value as the game is not remotely as combat oriented as it's predecessor (which is pretty weak in these terms anyway) and the intended "RPG elements" are a joke at best. Of course, the levels and the whole game are just way too limited to offer enough opportunities to make a full use of the class specifics. That said, I like the cheesy weapon design and I've always thought that those of Necro were particularly funny, holding the book in one hand and casting the speels with the other and turning pages in the book to switch between them. I'm always happy to see such a sense of detail.

The enemy models are also something I'd point out - spiders' legs nicely thin, archers are believable when stretching the bowstrings etc. Some of them are even capable of fancy rolls which is quite impressive considering it's basically Q1 engine.

As for puzzles, well they're quite what the engine is capable of again. That means you basically need to figure out where to bring the stuff randomly found (A spade stashed in a secret room? WTF) in order to advance which is pefectely logical at times but a lot of puzzles simply revolve around secret rooms/buttons you're hardly to find unlesss you lick all the walls which is utterly annoying. Some are fair bitches (hidden passage in destroyed Temple of Nefertum) and some are completely fucked up like the legendary Wheel of Ages whose actual solution is completely different from the hints you're given.

I'd definitely disagree about weapons. Discounting melee, I thought almost every ranged weapon had enough variety between fire rate, charge time, power, mana consumption, shot spread etc.to be different.

The class elements are a tad limp, but I the feel of the character is still there overall, so I've no issue with that. The Paladin feels like a mighty, attack based warrior. The Necromancer feels like a glass cannon. The Assassin feels like an alternate rogue option. And the Crusader feels like a defensive "safe" option. Think they capture all that relatively well.

I think your points about puzzles is balanced, but that in the greater context of the game they're really good overall. It's only the odd few in that Egypt hub which take it too far IMO.

Seriously, I think Hexen 2 is one of the best Dark Fantasy games out there, and I'm pretty gobsmacked it's not on the top 101 list considering some of the shite on there.

 

[Zeriel]

Have you played seiken densetsu 3(Trials of Mana) or Terranigma before?. If you're looking forward to get into another top-down ARPG later, you can check one of those. Terranigma has a kinda ludicrous but tragic story, and the "spearplay" is quite straightforward. Seiken Densetsu is party based, and can be even played coo-op.

BTW I'm currently playing the Nes port of Wizardry 1 patched with a romhack that fixed the buggy AC. Do you mind If I share some thoughts about it after I finished it?.

Yes mate both. SD 3 I thought was really neat, but also very poorly paced, and very boring too. I think I got around 10 or so hours in, then jacked it in. I will give it another go at some point, and pop my thoughts up on here though. FF5 is taking the JRPG slot at the mo, and I'm ony about half way through that (if that), so be a month or two yet at the very least.

Terranigma I've dabbled in over the years, but never sat down to go through it. Initial impressions were great tho and was actually gonna play it next, so might still do.

Fill your boots with Wizardary 1 mate, thread's here for anyone to pitch in as they wish. Look forward to reading your take on it

IMO SD3 starts really slow but becomes incredible. It's one of the top SNES JRPGs of all time in my book. If you didn't get to high levels, one of the coolest thing about the game is that class system where you get to choose from an array of subclasses and promotions that change your skillset, all in a dynamic, more action-y combat than most JRPGs. Sounds pretty standard now but at the time it was unheard of.

Regarding Hexen 2--I always liked Hexen 1 more, almost entirely because of the art style. Early 3D was a really rough period in terms of aesthetics, and I think Hexen 2 does the best it can with the limitations of the time but it really lacks that juicy, gorey beauty of Hexen 1. Compare almost any weapon sprite in Hexen 1 to its 3D counterpart in Hexen 2 and its a straight downgrade.

I totally agree about the dark fantasy feeling though, and that art style of 90s horror gore fantasy seems to have totally been lost to time. Just compare Diablo 1 to Diablo 2 for another example of that evolution where that style disappeared.

 

[Zerth]

Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord - NES (Armor Class fix ROMHACK)

It's funny, the first impression I had from Wizardry 1 was misleading to say the least. Despite of being the founding father of blobbers, is not quite as simple and straightforward as DQ,Megami Tensei ,etc.

I picked the stock characters from Gilgamesh's tavern and delved into the 1st floor fully expecting the same "early game" drill like on any DQ or SMT,you know, spam ATTACK command on some slimes or feeble critters for a couple of levels. OH BOY, I was so wrong.

If Rogue is the baptism on fire of non-determinism, then Wizardry is definitely the Lord's Supper. I was merrily strolling across the beginning's maze hallway, fought some slimes and struggled a bit against 2 kobolds, until I naively kicked open my first door. A gang of rogue bushwhackers ambushed my party, they took the chance of enjoy some "reverse-popamole" on my front-liners. And by that I mean it happened just like the enactment of a popamole, but with the bushwhackers doing seemingly awesome shit whilst my fighters were wielding their blades as a bunch of wankers and missing every hit. One rogue did a double hit, followed by another performing a jump attack, and then another one sliced one of my fighters's head off clean.

I managed to run away with my remaining party and returned to castle, then I rolled a more decent trio of figthers fitting for survival. Later on, one of them got beheaded by a mere kobold, wtf.

I learned now onward that exploring the maze was a dreadful and treacherous deed for certain. I believe the devs took advantage of hardware limitations in order to convey a maze where is extremely easy to lose your sense of direction. Without MILWA spells, you can't see shit beyond two tiles.​

It was designed to hold your cartography close to your heart.
​

You practically can't explore further without getting lost until you have someone with the DUMAPIC spell learned, a pretty useful magic that gives your current location taking the maze's entrance as reference. Since all the 10 floors are 20x20 grids, your first task no sooner you go down the stairs to an unexplored floor, is to mark current floor's entrance location. Otherwise, you're gonna get lost, and lose your head, both figuratively and literally. Past lvl 13, your mages can learn MALOR and teleport anywhere, even accidentally into rock walls, which means instant death.

As such, half the experience of Wiz 1 is pretty much cartography. The only floors I failed to explore and map well were 7 and 8. These are pretty daunting to map for anybody but the more keen cartographers out there, and skipped them for sanity's sake.

Another jarring contrast with the above-mentioned neutered japanese blobbers, the difficulty ramp isn't steep just because monsters on lower floors have higher stats, but how often they usually gang up to teach you the disruptive potential of status effects overall and how much werdna hates your guts.Nothing gave me more cancer than a gang of ninjas ambushing my party. Poison an beheading galore! And try you best to avoid a group of dragons spam breath over your party, or let high level spellcasters a chance to cast multi target offensive magic, or thirsty undead get into a level-draining spree, or even not running immediately after stumble across a few maelefics and greater demons encounters, which are worse than Werdna himself sometimes...

Have another taste of non-determinism,bitch!​

While in DQ or FF you often feel like a hero progressively bulldozing the entire game's bestiary, in Wyzardry you have to leverage a party of fools against the odds of becoming a tasty morsel for all the hungry creatures that Werdna populated the maze with. Although there are some monster's parties that were unwillingly dragged to the maze and don't attack adventurers unless provoked.

This mage successfully ambushes a full party of do-gooders. But since is starving and have no chance of winning He might as well use his
free turn to attempt in taking a bite off someone and die chewing a chunk of meat.

Disarming a trap and looting is like playing russian roulette. Sometimes you get pretty nasty cursed items, like a ring that is prohibitively expensive to un-curse(250000gold).
​

After a great deal of grinding and maze dwelling, you can make something good out of that early ineptitude and attain a respectable party that can actually keep their heads on shoulders and basically do rng without backfiring awfully often. Which is quite vital, because nothing is sadder than your cleric failing at resurrecting a dead character and turning them into ashes instead.

You don't need cremation equipment when you're rng screwed.

hours of flailing your arms aimlessly towards a ghost and hope any hit connects seems to be a valuable early training experience.​

​

In regards of class system dynamics, It's quite a chore, a bit inflexible and only rewarding if you're up for the grind. Changing class not only brings you back to lvl 1, but also reduces your stats to race's initial numbers (you lose all the bonus points roll during character creation), only HP and learned spells are retained. When it comes of shifting your class into one that doesn't naturally learn your prior class spells,the amount of spells use will remain in proportion of how much spells you learned in that rank (i.e learned 3 rank 5 spells can only cast three times).As result, a thief or a cleric with mage spells will have a pretty shallow pool of spells for example. Hence, changing classes for the sake of teaching spells to anybody but a Lord,Samurai, a Wizard(or a thief in order to not be entirely useless in combat when placed in the back row) is a laborious task that reaps little benefit, unless you are mad enough to grind extensively and have everyone able to cast TILTOWAIT,MABADI or MALIKTO at least once.

The other way around, in contrast, is useful for quick gains. Grind a fighter fairly quickly to lvl 10 and then change them into a mage or cleric in order to have them at lvl 1 with a decent amount or HP. The soft cap is 100 HP, which is easily attainable as a fighter. A healthy amount of HP is crucial to survive multitarget spells and at least one TILTOWAIT(a spell that will screw you over more than you think). Anyway, generally just better to invest into a back row loaded with magic than having bunch of dudes with a meager pool of spells.

In regards of the hybrid classes: Lord,Samurai and Wizard. They don't learn spells at the same pace as mages or clerics, and even by rolling every lvl up with a learned spell (therefore is not really optimal to start a character as a wizard, even if they meet the stat requirements). With lots of grinding, hybrids can potentially leverage a vast spell pool , but their main appeal is access to unique equipment, which are really hard to get. Wizard can also identify stuff, but only if these items are in their bags.

I haven't tried ninja, since they're evil alignment only and conflict with my party's lords, which are only good alingment.

a big WIN!
​

The NES port is known for its AC bug, this ROMHACK fixes the calculation to actually include AC values during melee attacks. My only gripe is to endure the controller-based menu navigation, yet It can't be helped for a game without a port with Keyboard n' mouse support I guess.

Playing wizardry I is a 'must' milestone towards eventually take on Grimoire!, 5 out of 5 severed adventurer's heads.

​

​

 

[Great Deceiver]

Been playing Sorcer Striker (slightly easier western version of Mahou Daisakusen) trying for a 1CC clear. It's one of my favourite shmups ever - I think it's one of Raizing's very best.

This came out in 1993, and it straddles the line between classic and manic shmups: there's still a need to navigate scenery and terrain (for example, the tripwires in level 2 triggering crushing walls of death). Stages are not just static backdrops against rains of bullets. Bullets are fast (not as fast as something like Raiden, but on the level of Psikyo bullets I'd say), and patterns are pretty unforgiving. The player's hitbox is reasonably large. This is personally my favourite era of shmups: the subsequent Cave/danmaku era took things too far, with mostly boring levels, one-dimensional gameplay with autistic, byzantine scoring systems that don't really appeal to me.

The music is kickass, with memorable tunes that really complement the action very well. Visually, it's a very upbeat game with a cool and colourful tech/fantasy aesthetic, with awesome sprites, lots of details in the stages and great enemy design. Raizing used the Mahou characters in most of their subsequent games in some form or another (most often as secret ships/characters), which I think is pretty cool. People usually remember Raizing for Battle Garegga, but Mahou has a really special place in my heart.

The direct sequel (Dai Mahou Daisakusen - Dimahoo) is also pretty cool. I own the actual arcade board and play it on my vert cabinet from time to time. But the original game is better IMO.

Some screenshots:

 

[Falksi]

Been playing Sorcer Striker (slightly easier western version of Mahou Daisakusen) trying for a 1CC clear. It's one of my favourite shmups ever - I think it's one of Raizing's very best.

This came out in 1993, and it straddles the line between classic and manic shmups: there's still a need to navigate scenery and terrain (for example, the tripwires in level 2 triggering crushing walls of death). Stages are not just static backdrops against rains of bullets. Bullets are fast (not as fast as something like Raiden, but on the level of Psikyo bullets I'd say), and patterns are pretty unforgiving. The player's hitbox is reasonably large. This is personally my favourite era of shmups: the subsequent Cave/danmaku era took things too far, with mostly boring levels, one-dimensional gameplay with autistic, byzantine scoring systems that don't really appeal to me.

The music is kickass, with memorable tunes that really complement the action very well. Visually, it's a very upbeat game with a cool and colourful tech/fantasy aesthetic, with awesome sprites, lots of details in the stages and great enemy design. Raizing used the Mahou characters in most of their subsequent games in some form or another (most often as secret ships/characters), which I think is pretty cool. People usually remember Raizing for Battle Garegga, but Mahou has a really special place in my heart.

The direct sequel (Dai Mahou Daisakusen - Dimahoo) is also pretty cool. I own the actual arcade board and play it on my vert cabinet from time to time. But the original game is better IMO.

Some screenshots:

Game looks great. I've never even heard of this, so gonna see if I can find it on my Pandoras Box Arcade stick later this week. Nice one.

 

[Falksi]

Final Fight 3 - SNES

Between Final Fight & Final Fantasy there's over 20 core games, never mind the spin offs. So much for "Final" eh? Anyway, by the time this had landed in 1995, I was well on board indulging in the holy trinity of Piss-ups, Pussy & PC's, so this went well under the radar. I did play it on emulation a few years later, but as I was heavily indulging in the three P's at the time, I can't really remember much about it. Let's see if it's fit to wear the name "Final Fight"......

Yeah, it is actually. It introduces new elements such as new moves based on Street Fighter 2 style special move inputs & combos, and it ups the tempo overall too. Which, alongside a cracking opening + stage 1 tune, initially grabs you by the balls and promises to rock your socks off. When it's all in unison as such it works great, and feels really slick & fun, but sadly that unison isn't found as often as it should be. Some of the moves are also a bit awkward & un-intuative, and if you play on normal difficulty then, as the game progresses, your initial hard-on starts to wane like a drunkard with brewer's droop, and by the end of it you come out having had a fix, but still feel a bit unsatisfied.

However, when you crank up the difficulty level to hard or expert the necessary challenge returns, and it becomes a much more enjoyable blast. See when you play the original Final Fight you've constantly got numerous enemies sniping in & out at you, with often the odd hit from even low end characters causing you trouble in some way (even if to only open you up for a bigger attack from another, more powerful enemy). And when they all gang up on you, you've plenty to deal with. But on Normal difficulty here that rarely happens, and it's way more attritional than exciting at times. But with the 2 higher difficulty levels a lot of that remains, thus upping the intensity & excitement too. That said, you still waltz through certain sections in autopilot, and it's not always as engaging as it should be.

In terms of personality, the enemies are serviceable, but they do definitely lack the big WWF-esq style personalities which the original game's enemies had. Music is a real mixed bag too. From thumping, upbeat tunes which stay faithful to the vibe of the original, to bizarre jazz-type ensembles which have no place in a game of this ilk at all. When it's good it's great, but when it's shit it's dire. Tunes often repeat themselves quite often too, which is a bit pants.

FF3 also includes the option of having a computer controlled 2nd character accompany you throughout the game. And, whilst nice in theory, it's really shit in practice. The AI is fucking awful, and I constantly found myself getting hit by the 2nd character, or having to avoid them. It does actually make things easier as enemies obviously have now 2 players to target, but it definitely impedes the enjoyment of the game. Either play with a real life friend, or play solo.

I'd say that Final Fight 3 is like a good TV spin off of a cult classic film. It contains a lot of what made the original great, even betters it in the odd way, but it also feels a bit lacklustre & weak compared to the original in several core components.

Fun, good, and worth playing, but misses enough beats to end up being not all that spectacular either. It lacks the meatyness & weightyness of the original, but it does move at a brisker & snappier pace. So I guess it's really about which you prefer.

 

[whydoibother]

This was the fist custom campaign I played waaay back when, and I replayed it recently.
You start as Illidan's crew after his faction loses in the official Frozen Throne campaign, then pivot to just the Blood Elves and their short lived alliances with a lot of the other factions. Its trying pretty hard narratively, and (up until Burning Crusade, excluding WoW stuff released later) is pretty faithful to the lore and in expanding it. It adds custom units and techs, changes the UI to fit the faction too. Missions are numerous, varied, narratively connected, and feature perspective changes so you see different sides of the plot. Difficulty is just hard enough so that you will not get stuck, but will feel great when you win.
Overall its very polished, and reminds of those custom campaigns for Neverwinter Nights that Bioware ended up publishing as official. I think Blizzard should've done the same with this one. Very good job.

Spoiler

Exclusive to pirates, since the custom campaign mode was removed from the reforged edition, the only one you can legally buy.

 

[Falksi]

Here's where I am with the overall list so far........



X-COM: UFO Defence (1994) - PC
Golden Axe - Megadrive
Shining Force 2 - Megadrive
Actraiser - SNES
The Revenge of Shinobi - Megadrive
Hexen 2 - PC
X-Com Apocalypse - PC
Thunderforce 3 - Megadrive
Batman - Megadrive
Streets Of Rage - Megadrive
Sunset Riders - SNES/ARCADE
F-Zero - SNES
The Combat Tribes - SNES
Dr Robotniks Mean Bean Machine/Puyo Puyo - Megadrive/SNES
Star Control - PC/Megadrive
Wonderboy 3:The Dragon's Trap - Master System
Aliens Vs Predetor - Arcade
17



The Secret Of Monkey Island - PC
Street Fighter 2 Turbo - SNES
Golden Axe - Arcade
Castlevania 4 - SNES
Contra 3 - SNES
UN Squadron/Area 88 - SNES
Biometal - SNES
Final Fantasy 5
John Madden's 92 - Megadrive
Final Fight - SNES
Final Fantasy 4 (2) - SNES
Hellfire - Megadrive
Space Harrier - SEGA 32X
Final Fight 3 - SNES
Cutie Suzuki no Ringside Angel - Megadrive
Double Dragon - Master System
Cybernator/ASV - SNES
Ghostbusters - Master System
The Chaos Engine - PC/Amiga/SNES
Altered Beast - Megadrive
Golden Axe 3 - Megadrive
Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinstrels - SNES
Barts Nightmare - SNES
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs - Arcade
Turtles in Time - SNES
Metal Slug X - Arcade
26



Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday - Megadrive
Chrono Trigger - SNES
Shining Force - Megadrive
Hellfire - Arcade
Blackthorne - PC/Megadrive/SNES
UN Squadron/Area 88 - Arcade
Phantasy Star 4 - Megadrive
Another World - PC
Golden Axe 2 - Megadrive
Aero Fighters 2/Sonic Wings 2 - Arcade/NEO GEO
Batman Returns - SNES
Moonwalker - Megadrive
Space Harrier - Arcade
Alien Storm - Megadrive
Monkey Island 2: LeCuck's Revenge- PC
Alien 3 - Megadrive
California Games - Master System
Thunderforce 4 - Megadrive
Alex Kidd in Miracle World - Master System
Sorcer Striker - Arcade
Secret of Mana - SNES
Aliens - Arcade
Dahna: megami tanjou - Megadrive
Knights of the Round - Arcade/SNES
Front Mission - SNES
Metal Slug - Arcade
Seige - PC
E-Swat - Megadrive
Scooby Doo - Megadrive
Crusader of Centy (a.k.a. Soleil)
Kenseiden - Master System
Brain Lord - SNES
Chase HQ 2 - SNES
Megaman X2 - SNES
Super Baseball 2020 - Arcade/NEO GEO/SNES
Coach K Basketball - SNES
34



Toe Jam and Earl - Megadrive
Contra Hard Corps - Megadrive
Alisa Dragoon - Megadrive
Final Fight 2 - SNES
Alien 3 - SNES
Crackdown - Megadrive
Wonderboy in Monster Land - Megadrive
Thunderforce 2 - Megadrive
Street Fighter - Arcade
Psycho's Dream - SNES
Double Dragon - Megadrive
ACTRAISER 2 - SNES
Blades of Vengence - Megadrive
Choplifter 3 - SNES
Breath of Fire - SNES
Burning Force
Alchest
Cadash - Megadrive
Golden Sun - GBA
Final Fantasy 6
Captain Commando - SNES
Brawl Brother (Rival Turf 2)
21



Full Throttle
Knights of Valour 2 - Arcade
Alien Soldier
Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle - Megadrive
John Madden '98 - Megadrive
Lagoon - SNES
Megaman X - SNES
Sword of Sodan - Amiga/Megadrive
Battletoads Vs Double Dragon - Megadrive/SNES
9


Sonic The Hedgehog - Megadrive

 

[Falksi]

Secret of Mana - SNES

This game gets noshed off a ridiculous amount. Even as a kid I didn't get the abundance of love for it. I had it, I played it through to completion several times, and I remember kinda enjoying it, but I've never have it anywhere near my list of favourite games. I've been looking forward to replaying this with adult eyes to see what the big fuss is all about.

And, despite it's positives, the spunkage for it still seems over the top to me. Let's start with those positives though, because there are definitely plenty, and so I can see why some people would take to it in a lot of ways. Firstly it's a really easy game to play at a very leisurely pace. The type of game you can play swagging a few beers in front of a roaring fire, with you're feet up and between scratching your bollocks. The pleasant vibe and soothing tunes which play throughout draw you in and settle you down, and the whole game has a certain warmth about it.

In fact the aesthetics on the whole are pretty great, and the combat is quite interesting too. It's action based, but your attacks take time to recharge and you can also "pre-hit" opponents when they are down, so it has quite a nice rhythm to it all which feels a bit fresh too. Combine that with the more old-school, turn based style magic use, and said freshness sticks even more. Which is good really considering combat counts for a large part of the game.

A good chunk of the game's fun also comes from the variety of weapons which you can use. Each one feels different enough from the next to be worth playing around with, and there's something for everyone too as each one puts a slight twist on combat, and encourages a slightly different approach to playing. It only a small gradient in shifts, but it definitely helps keep things varied and interesting. Pacing is something I talk about a fair bit, and SOM introduces each combat element & upgrade at a superb pace, which constantly gives you something new to try out, but never feels overwhelming either.

So it gets some very key elements very right, but for all of that & for the freshness which they add, it also contains some old school elements which really drag it down unfortunately. It's easy to see why you could live with these back in the day as they were a lot more commonplace, but some of this stuff you just can't ignore anymore sadly.

First off there's a significant amount of backtracking even early game which sent me dizzy at times and gets very old, very quick. That annoyance is emphasized further due to the fact enemies respawn the second you're off screen, and most take a decent amount of time to kill off on your first 2 or 3 runs through an area. It's especially aggravating when you leave an area to enter a small room with nothing in it but more enemies, only to return and fight the exact same enemies you fought just a few moments ago. If you found a reward such as a treasure in that room, then that'd be fine. But nah, most the time it's just a pointless detour, which means you have to kill all the things which you've just killed a minute or so ago again. It discourages exploration, which is never good in an RPG.

To further magnify that, some areas require you to equip specific weapons to progress at certain points throughout. So not only are you often backtracking, and re-killing all the same enemies, but you're also constantly switching back and forth to different weapons just to get through those areas. It's not game breaking by any mean, but all those little gripes & annoyances add up, and combined they can wear you down. It ended up getting right on my tits.

This also wouldn't be so bad if there was a plethora of secrets & RPG aspects to indulge in to take the focus away from travelling/"exploration", but there's not. Exploration rarely rewards you with anything of note in either the towns, overworld or dungeons, and the game feels really barren with very few hidden secrets. In fact the overall it feels really lacking on RPG depth in general. Which leads us to the story. Or at least the very sparse smattering of one.

The story is very thin on the ground indeed and spread just as thin throughout, with only the latter sections of the game starting to up the stakes & intensity at all, and most of the surprises it holds are the usual cliched ones. Some will say "it's of it's time", but you only have to play Link To The Past to see more story interaction in the first 15 min. Oh and let's not forget the bosses. What a laugh some of those are. Often little more than spam as many spells & items as you can before the bosses can at you. Stuck? Grinding & leveling up solves most things, and spell-locking the enemies is always there to fall back on too.

To me SOM is just a decent action based game with a few casual RPG elements thrown in, packaged nicely & bundled all together to make a gooey, mainstream "classic". But once you're past the charm & novelty of the weapons & rhythmic combat, the shallow linearity of it all & barebones RPG elements start to seep through the cracks, and you realize that overall it's pretty average, often dull & annoying experience. It's very much a kids game IMO, and probably one which a pre-teen would enjoy as their first venture into RPG games. But if you've played this recently and still think it's a classics you're high on nostalgia juice. It's OK, but not a patch on the true classics of that era.

If you wanna game to charm you, it might be for you. If you want a game to engage you, not so much.

 

[Falksi]

Psycho's Dream - SNES

Zoiks! What is this?!? samuraigaiden recommended it and I'd never even heard of it before, and it certainly looks one of the strangest games which I've seen on any 2-D system. Time to dive in.

It's all over the shop this one. A strange assault on the senses, which bombards you with all kinds of weird & wonderful crazy elements, but forgets to include two key ingredients unfortunately - balance & fun. You control one of two characters who play very similarly, and engage in the usual action-platformer affair. However not only does PD go for an off-center approach to it's vibe, but it extends that approach to it's gameplay & levels.

See, when all said and done there's just not much to it's gameplay core. Everything is very basic all round. There's no inventive enemy attack patterns to figure out, there's no intricate platforming sections to maneuver, you walk you attack, you walk you attack, and then you walk and you attack. Yes the odd environmental hazard appears, but most are really basic, and nothing changes things up much. All games are designed to prompt the player to employ a strategy in their gameplay, and the good games prompt the player to continue evolving that throughout the game. However you can play through PD employing pretty much the same strategies on the latter levels as you did on the first ones, especially if you play as a powered up Maria.

In fact throughout the game you're either underpowered and have to tread uber-carefully, or vastly overpowered and waltzing through levels like a total breeze whoever you play as. The difference in either is one level's worth of power ups, and it again just feels off. To that end level design doesn't marry up with the player powers either, and the whole thing feels a bit of a mess.

That said it is an imaginative mess, with some cool outlandish bosses & backdrop graphics. Thematically there can be no denying it's got an appeal & takes an approach which few other games do, so - even though it's not particularly fun - I'd still say it may be worth a blast or two to experience it's bizarreness. I like the ideas, but not the implementation, and the most enjoyment which I got out of it was by constantly holding the run button down, and sprinting through levels as fast as possible (treating it a bit like Atomic Runner)

 

[Gastrick]

Sonic The Hedgehog - Megadrive

Sonic 1's amazing, just reading you mention it gives me an urge to replay it. I found your review on page 8, it seems like you just suck at the harder zones and think they're too slow. Sonic isn't about going fast, it's about platforming. The only exception to this in the 2D series is one of the DS games. The last two worlds are really fun to play and none of them are bad if you know what you're doing. You also have multiple ways of playing levels and the music is pretty good. 0/5 is a stupid rating to give it.

 

[Falksi]

Sonic The Hedgehog - Megadrive

Sonic 1's amazing, just reading you mention it gives me an urge to replay it. I found your review on page 8, it seems like you just suck at the harder zones and think they're too slow. Sonic isn't about going fast, it's about platforming. The only exception to this in the 2D series is one of the DS games. The last two worlds are really fun to play and none of them are bad if you know what you're doing. You also have multiple ways of playing levels and the music is pretty good. 0/5 is a stupid rating to give it.

I fucking detest the game and explained why. Like I said in the comments, it's an emotional rating as opposed to an objective one. Objectively I'd still say it's only a 2 or 3 out of 5, but I haven't got the respect for it to rate it objectively.

As for difficulty, I think it's a piece of piss to breeze through, it's just a fucking dull, ponderous slog doing it.

 

[samuraigaiden]

Only people who grew up with Sonic think those physics are acceptable for the slower paced platforming focused levels. The good Sonic levels are the ones where you move fast and forward.

 

[Falksi]

Only people who grew up with Sonic think those physics are acceptable for the slower paced platforming focused levels. The good Sonic levels are the ones where you move fast and forward.

Yup.

For me though the hype really added to that as well. Here's just one add from that period.......

"Think fast"
"C'mon faster"
"He's the fastest critter the world has ever seen"
"He blazes his way through...."
"Tricks, gadgets and speed"
"Don't blink, or you might just miss him"

Oh look. I'm slowly plodding through an underwater stage, and waiting around for a big bubble to appear.

 

[Zerth]

In the latter classic sonic games (2 & onward) you can opt either dash through the whole speed sections if you can keep up the pace, or fall back to the easier slower paced sections.

What do you think of the modern sanic games? Since these are even more focused on dashing due to the boost mechanics.

 

[Falksi]

In the latter classic sonic games (2 & onward) you can opt either dash through the whole speed sections if you can keep up the pace, or fall back to the easier slower paced sections.

What do you think of the modern sanic games? Since these are even more focused on dashing due to the boost mechanics.

Yeah, I remember enjoying the latter Sonic games way more. I'll be replaying them soon enough too.

I've not played any of the more modern ones though. When it all tried to go 3-D I lost interest

 

[Zerth]

You didn't miss much from 3D sanic anyways. Pretty much hit n' miss game design + annoying cutscenes with cheesy writing (which only reedeming quality is the voice acting).

Also booster mechanics trivialize the excitement of going fast, and the games became a brain dead version of fzero.

Mario won the 3D race no sooner 64 was released in the market.

 

[Falksi]

Sorcer Striker - Arcade

Spent some time with Sorcer Striker last night at the recommendation of The Great Deceiver, and what a curiously refreshing little beast this is. Combining usual vertical SHMUP style tropes & elements with fantasy roleplay ones, it's certainly one of the most unique shooters I've ever played. Right off the bat I was drawn in by all the bizarre fantasy mish-mashed enemies such as dragon ships & missile carrying harpies. The variety in selectable character ships offered enough to be worth playing as each one too, which is always a plus.

Outlandish enemies and interesting level design are it's main strengths. As GD has pointed out, backdrops usually get involved in the gameplay in some way or form. I particularly like how it has a load of little touches, such as the crowd throwing trinkets in the last level or certain sections having "tripwires", combine with the gameplay.

The first level I found an absolute cakewalk, but the second level ramped up that difficulty and the game's real challenge came into play. It is an an odd beast though because when it's on form it really works well, but that said I found various portions of the game to feel quite cramped, and maneuvering/surviving more successful if I just stood still or shifted from side to side, rather than all around the screen.

Also, I don't know if I'm just getting old, but the conflict of so many colours on screen at various points meant that I genuinely couldn't see what was occurring now & then, and a fair few deaths were proper "WTF hit me?" moments. The bosses were pretty easy too, in fact it felt odd in the way that when I got to a boss fight, it actually felt like a bit of a breather from the main levels. So all in all the challenge fluctuates from next to nothing, to totally unfair at points. This kinda put a downer on it for me.

There weren't any hugely satisfying moments for me either. No one boss or level section which had me fist pumping the air when I'd beat them. The challenge is definitely there, but I just didn't get that sense of satisfaction which I have with other shooters.

Didn't grab me enough to become a fave, but definitely worth a blast.

 

[Falksi]

Axelay - SNES

The screenshots of this game got my nob well hard back in the day, one similar to that featured above in particular, and I was really excited for it's release. It looked really fucking cool, and I grabbed it the second it was out. However, I remember very little about it after that, barely a sliver, other than folk in our gaming circles talking it up and me hardly ever playing it. Soon after it was gone from my collection to never be seen again. Let's see why.

Well if ever the term "mixed bag" defined a game, this is it. For every plus, the game seems to carry a negative. This is immediately apparent with it's alternative "top down" style in the first stage, which relies hugely on MODE 7 style graphics. Presentation in general is excellent.....IF you can get past the weird as fuck stretchyness which comes with said graphics. For every awesomely drawn section and sprite, things also look flat, deformed, and out of place, and whilst half of you is thinking "wow", the other half is thinking "ugggh, that looks weird".

And this extends to the game in general. See it relies heavily on selecting the right weapon for the right job, and that has both it's pros and cons. On one hand it makes it a tad more "strategic" and adds a bit of depth & replay value, but on the other it also adds a level of trial and error which doesn't really sit great in a SHMUP, as there's already enough on with learning enemy & level patterns etc. For example, a big part of the fun I had with the early game was down to it's multi-directional "bendy" laser. It's quite a vital weapon to getting through certain sections, and the way they implement this to move with the length of the button press was quite novel, useful and fun all round. But then when I take a hit and I have to drop back on to a set of missile's, things become awkward and annoying at the drop of a hat. Normal shooters have the promise pf powers ups arriving to give you hope you can survive to pull yourself out the slump, but not Axelay. The only way you get that weapon back here it to die. From fun to frustrating in seconds. And, as there are no powers ups, speed ups, shields or extra lives throughout the stages too, it fails to satisfy on that front as well, as there's very rarely any feeling of reward for surviving a section either.

But the most annoying thing for me is that rarely do you feel like a bad motherfucker. I'm all about the kill, yet this is geared up to make you feel good in other ways. Instead of being satisfied that you've annihilated a wave of enemies, you feel glad that picked the right weapons & employed the right strategy so that you got through. That might be nice for some people who like to bake cookies, and spend time in church, but I largely play video games as an outlet for my murderous intentions.

The main weapon is also weedy as hell, and most other weapons feel like that anyway for that matter, even if they're suited to the situation. Quite often I'd attack an enemy from the second it entered the screen to the second it left, and if that was with the standard weapon it wouldn't touch them. Very unsatisfying, and a big part of how much you enjoy this game will stem from how much survival as opposed to destruction floats your boat you. Personally I want to kill & destroy, and left most sessions with my kill-instinct still hungry.

And between different level types, new weapon types each level, different enemy types, different level hazards etc. the game probably throws too much at you at once, and personally I struggled to get into much of a rhythm with it too. The more you play, the less this becomes an issue obviously because you learn what works, but I just found myself thinking "I'm learning the game, it's getting easier, but where's that feeling of payoff, and where's my buzz?"

Axelay's a clever shooter with a lot of unique elements and more of a thinking man's SHMUP than for rush junkies like me. Some elements are really welcome & fresh, others drag the whole thing down. As a whole package it left me feeling as puzzled and unsatisfied as it did refreshed. If you're the type of person who likes to work towards a grade A in an exam, and gets a buzz out of that then this may be for you. If, like me, however you want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women you're gonna be disappointed here.

Novel, interesting, but unsatisfying.

 

[Gastrick]

That's false advertising then, the game wasn't developed in America regardless.

Only people who grew up with Sonic think those physics are acceptable for the slower paced platforming focused levels. The good Sonic levels are the ones where you move fast and forward.

Sonic 1 has more interesting level design and obstacles. Running forward and doing nothing is boring, that's why Sonic 2 is an acquired taste. It's kind of like whether good mechanics or having an awesome button are better. Also, less levels per world and one in chemical plant where there's only 10 seconds of gameplay and the rest is just running. It's natural for console games made in Japan to be better. The levels in Sonic 3&K are way too big, but I do love hyper sonic and the ending. That fucking desert level though.

Oh look. I'm slowly plodding through an underwater stage, and waiting around for a big bubble to appear.

This is why you suck at the harder levels. This is how you're supposed to play them.

Notice how he never stops for bubbles. For me, I pass the bubble spots fast enough where there is usually an already-formed bubble waiting and then I can reach the air. Nothing to be annoying.

 

[Falksi]

That's false advertising then, the game wasn't developed in America regardless.

Only people who grew up with Sonic think those physics are acceptable for the slower paced platforming focused levels. The good Sonic levels are the ones where you move fast and forward.

Sonic 1 has more interesting level design and obstacles. Running forward and doing nothing is boring, that's why Sonic 2 is an acquired taste. It's kind of like whether good mechanics or having an awesome button are better. Also, less levels per world and one in chemical plant where there's only 10 seconds of gameplay and the rest is just running. It's natural for console games made in Japan to be better. The levels in Sonic 3&K are way too big, but I do love hyper sonic and the ending. That fucking desert level though.

Oh look. I'm slowly plodding through an underwater stage, and waiting around for a big bubble to appear.

This is why you suck at the harder levels. This is how you're supposed to play them.

Notice how he never stops for bubbles. For me, I pass the bubble spots fast enough where there is usually an already-formed bubble waiting and then I can reach the air. Nothing to be annoying.

Still slow as fuck, and he doesn't get the chaos emeralds either.

The only reason he moves at any pace throughout is because he's content at losing all his rings constantly. Which is not the objective of the game.

I don't think you could have posted a better video which proves my point more. To get any remote speed out of the game as was hyped, you have to ignore the main objective & the levels on the whole. It's bad game design.

Emeralds, secrets and rewards should come BECAUSE you push Sonic to the max, you shouldn't miss out because of that. But move at any remotely high speed for any decent length of time, and you will lose rings guaranteed. Even if you know the game like an expert, like this chap.