Beat every Game Boy game - 2022 - 160/566

[koifish | 553]

@RHaand others, are you playing FF Legend 2? I started working on it the other day but don't want to step on anyone's toes.

Also curious if anyone was gonna do Link's Awakening, but on second thought I want to revisit it next year. I've done too much of it in 21 to want to redo it in 22

 

[RH | 4,881]

1 hour ago, koifish said:

@RHaand others, are you playing FF Legend 2? I started working on it the other day but don't want to step on anyone's toes.

Also curious if anyone was gonna do Link's Awakening, but on second thought I want to revisit it next year. I've done too much of it in 21 to want to redo it in 22

 

I was going to do that one AFTER FFL but since I didn't call it, be my guest to take it.  I'm also not going to claim FFL3 but if not one else is working on it after I finish FFL, I will likely pick it up next.

So far I'm not really a fan of FFL.  It's too bland.  I know that might be an ironic statement for GB game but it's quite obvious that this was an early release for the system. I applaud how big it is, all things considered, but it's just not that engaging, even compared against the original Final Fantasy.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

2 is my favorite number, so in celebration of Tuesday, 2/22/2022, I beat a childhood favorite, Donkey Kong.

Love it. Still love it. I found it easier than I did as a kid, but it's just as fun as I remember.

[Floating Platforms | 712]

On 2/20/2022 at 11:49 PM, Philosoraptor said:

Each "fight" has two rounds. The first is a 30-second preliminary round, where you draw a track with your spaceship, adding twists and curves to the line while the opponent does the same. Your spaceship must stay on this line. If you die in this round, you are not penalized, but whatever portion of the line you didn't draw is filled in with a straight line to the other end of the screen. The second is a deathmatch, and you switch lines. So if you were able to draw a bullcrap line, the computer gets stuck with it (and vise versa)

Wow. That sounds like a really interesting concept and I'm surprised that kind of thing hasn't popped up in any recent indie games or even on a DS-type thing with a touch screen.  If I ever decide to jump into imports I'll have to keep this one in mind.

[Floating Platforms | 712]

Bomberman GB should have been done tonight, but that final boss is a pure SOB. Not looking for hints or advice at this time, but I feel like I know exactly how to do the first 2 phases of it but RNG on the first phase is sucking my enthusiasm. The 3rd phase will take several tries to figure out the right strategy, but it's taking too long to get back there to try again.  Sadly, it will have to wait until Monday at the earliest before I can put more time into trying.  I have SolarStriker waiting for me after that, so at least that should be a quick clear to cleanse my system.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Operation C is done to make it 2 games on 2/22/2022.

What's with Konami and elevators? Thanks, Konami, I hate them.

This game is just as impressive as Kid Dracula. When Konami gets it right, they really made some of the best games on the console.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Philosoraptor

[Philosoraptor | 468]

11 hours ago, RH said:

So far I'm not really a fan of FFL.  It's too bland.  I know that might be an ironic statement for GB game but it's quite obvious that this was an early release for the system. I applaud how big it is, all things considered, but it's just not that engaging, even compared against the original Final Fantasy.

I was worried about that. All three FFL games are actually SaGa games in disguise. I'll hope that II and III will be better for you or Koifish.

49 minutes ago, Floating Platforms said:

I have SolarStriker waiting for me after that, so at least that should be a quick clear to cleanse my system.

I've been meaning to buy SolarStriker for years and just never got to it. It seems like a pretty good game.

[koifish | 553]

12 hours ago, RH said:

I was going to do that one AFTER FFL but since I didn't call it, be my guest to take it.  I'm also not going to claim FFL3 but if not one else is working on it after I finish FFL, I will likely pick it up next.

So far I'm not really a fan of FFL.  It's too bland.  I know that might be an ironic statement for GB game but it's quite obvious that this was an early release for the system. I applaud how big it is, all things considered, but it's just not that engaging, even compared against the original Final Fantasy.

I found the most fun way of playing to be first powering through with four espers/mutants, and then once you get some money you can swap out for a human and buy the upgrades to make them really strong. I also understand there are some things you can do with monsters that trash the game, but I don't know the exploits. It's nothing intentionally designed of course, all exploitation of a glitch you can do with the right monster food.

I suppose the game's greatest flaw is that there isn't that much interesting about it, other than the legacy that it ended up creating.

[RH | 4,881]

7 hours ago, Philosoraptor said:

I was worried about that. All three FFL games are actually SaGa games in disguise. I'll hope that II and III will be better for you or Koifish.

I've been meaning to buy SolarStriker for years and just never got to it. It seems like a pretty good game.

I think the games subsequently get better.  I remember enjoying SaGa Frontier on the PS1 and my main reason for picking it up was that I was aware that these games were the genesis of the SaGa series, just as Final Fantasy Adventure was the genesis of the Mana series.

I remember playing FFL as a teenager.  I recall that the game seemed just "ok", but I never got past getting the first sphere and opening the tower.  The was the first title to introduce me to limited weapon use, and though that never stopped me from trying games that used that mechanic, I've never ever been a fan of it.  Breath of the Wild comes the closest to being "acceptable" but the first time I saw a weapon break, I just gave a deep sigh, told myself "here we go..." and just learned to ignore the nuisance of the mechanic.

6 hours ago, koifish said:

I found the most fun way of playing to be first powering through with four espers/mutants, and then once you get some money you can swap out for a human and buy the upgrades to make them really strong. I also understand there are some things you can do with monsters that trash the game, but I don't know the exploits. It's nothing intentionally designed of course, all exploitation of a glitch you can do with the right monster food.

I suppose the game's greatest flaw is that there isn't that much interesting about it, other than the legacy that it ended up creating.

I tried to read up on some speed run strategies and such and I heard about that bug and read up on it.  To me, it's too broken to feel fair.  I'm not opposed to a minor glitch here or there but with that glitch, you can beat the game in something like 20 minutes.  The short version of the glitch is if you select a character that's a monster, swap them around in your character list, let them go, save and restart, it does some weird memory overflows that affects your other characters.  I think you can then swap them around and do it one more time.

From there, there's a tile warp glitch that shoots you into the tower.  Once in the tower, you're golden.  You can get a saw, or something and you're basically unstoppable.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Ninja Gaiden Shadow is done.

This is the first Ninja Gaiden game I've ever beaten. I feel like the movement could be a bit smoother and the bosses could have a couple more patterns, but it's a really good game. Also, another game with another damn elevator. I might avoid platformers to ENSURE I don't see another one for a few days.

...Just looked it up. Natsume developed this game. Apparently this was originally planned to be a GB adaptation of Shadow of the Ninja. I was wondering where all the Nintendo hard enemy placements and bosses were, and I guess that explains why it isn't here.

Edit: I've also attempted to beat Kirby's Pinball Land several times over the past month, but I think I'm going to shelve it for the rest of this year. I really don't like it. I've beaten four pinball games this year between the NES and GB threads and played most of the other NES ones, and I think this is my least favorite one. Maybe it's the simple, scrunched play fields with cheap enemy and obstacle placement or that it feels like they couldn't figure out the right ratio between Kirby elements and pinball elements, but it frustrates me to no end. What's worse is HAL knows how to make good pinball games. Revenge of the 'Gator is an absolutely fantastic pinball game. Am disappoint.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Philosoraptor

[Floating Platforms | 712]

18 hours ago, Philosoraptor said:

I've also attempted to beat Kirby's Pinball Land several times over the past month, but I think I'm going to shelve it for the rest of this year. I really don't like it.

I don't blame you at all.  Kirby's Pinball is one of those games that scare me. If there was a save or password system then it wouldn't be so bad.  I have it logged that 2 other GB challengers spent about 20 hours on it...which is a lot for a pinball game and annoying for what should be a light/fluffy Kirby game.

[koifish | 553]

Not to mention, but um...well, there's a pretty bizarre NSFW story on the internet about one kid's unfortunate experience while playing Kirby's Pinball Land, and while I won't find or post it here, it is certainly a thing to behold, and it has changed the way I look at that game... XD But seriously, I too find it a bit boring. Gator and PokePin are so much better, that it's hard for me to care about Kirby's Pinball.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

The Japanese exclusive, Painter Momopie (DMG-PEJ), is done. All of the text in this game is in English.

I'm going to start this by saying this is a very, very pricey game. Way too pricey. I usually don't mention price, but since this is both an import game and a "hidden gem" according to some people, I feel like that's something that has to be mentioned.

So, to start, I like this game. It's unique. Gameplay is a mixture of Pac-Man and the Wedding Peach game I just played; just like Wedding Peach, the goal is to step on/clean every tile on each floor while avoiding or being chased by enemies Pac-Man style.

The major differentiator between Painter Momopie and those other games is that the main character has magic that can speed her up, defeat most enemies, or even allow her to walk through walls, among other things. You have a certain amount of MP each stage and spells also cost certain amounts of MP to cast. You get more spells as you clear more stages. Standard stuff.

There are 33 stages in total, but the real number of unique mazes is far less. Most mazes are reused to get a higher stage count. Stages are large for a maze game at around 2x2 GB screens each. A playthrough takes an hour or less, depending on how many continues you need (you're given five), and the game can be difficult if you don't use your magic wisely.

There isn't much to complain about in Painter Momopie. I guess not being able to cast spells while moving can be bothersome, and it's not quite as polished as Pac-Man, but it's well executed and controls are responsive. My biggest gripe is the stage repetition, mostly because the game seems stuck between two genres. It's not a pure score attack game like Pac-Man, as there is an ending and the score isn't displayed on the HUD. You have to pause to see the score, and, upon completion or game over, there is no high-score "leaderboard." Additionally, each floor is not unique, unlike Mole Mania or even Wedding Peach, and the whole game is rather short, making it not really a puzzle game either.

Edit: I slept on it, and I'd also like to mention that enemy AI and difficulty also doesn't increase as you get further in the game. They don't get new tactics and they don't get faster, they might just spawn a little quicker. So, once you get to stage 15, there aren't really any surprises until the final level.

Overall, it's absolutely a good game, but I don't think the experience matches the price it demands. It's not amazing. It's not life changing. But it's certainly better than average and an interesting take on the maze genre.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Philosoraptor

[scaryice | 577]

Beat Sneaky Snakes last night. It was my second serious attempt, after my first ended at the final boss (ugh). It's somewhat fun, but not as good as the NES game.

I also beat Alleyway, which was pretty generic, but I see that's already taken.

Edited February 26, 2022 by scaryice

[Floating Platforms | 712]

4 hours ago, scaryice said:

Beat Sneaky Snakes last night. It was my second serious attempt, after my first ended at the final boss (ugh). It's somewhat fun, but not as good as the NES game.

That last boss was a huge hassle for me. I think he regenerates health. I tried playing it safe for a long time but couldn't win.  After I beat it last year and looked up other people's runs, it seems like you really have to get a lot of button mashing in without letting much time pass. I enjoyed the creativeness of the game, but a few levels were pretty obnoxious with those floaty controls.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

I beat the Japanese version of Nintendo World Cup, Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen (DMG-NCJ). All the text in this game is in Japanese.

There appear to be some differences between the two versions. The biggest difference is that Nintendo World Cup allows you to choose your team, making the game possibly a little harder if you choose the worst team (Cameroon) and significantly easier if you choose a better team. In Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen, you can only play as Japan, which is one of the worst teams. The amount of time in each match is also different, with four minute halves in Nintendo World Cup but only two-and-a-half minute halves in Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen, making a playthrough a bit over an hour without any losses. Gameplay-wise, it seems like there aren't any noticeable differences.

Since you're stuck with Japan in Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen, Argentina and Germany, the two best teams and the last two opponents, are brutal. Everyone on those teams are twice as fast as your players, even usually overpowered Kunio, and no amount of knocking them down will get them to stay down. They are relentless in chasing you and the ball down, and they will fire super shots at your goal if they get enough time and close enough. The shorter match length also plays a decent factor here, as ties give you the game over screen in both versions and overcoming deficits against such a punishing AI is difficult. I had to resort to stalling using headers after scoring a goal to beat both of them 1-0.

Overall, if you like Nintendo World Cup, this version is just as good.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Philosoraptor

[koifish | 553]

I finished Serpent. Was surprised to see it was by NaxatSoft. I know it might seem strange, but ever since playing some of their other games, I feel like they are something of an overlooked small developer, similar to T&E Soft. Either way, Serpent was novel. I like how the harder modes make it more difficult, and how the game shakes it up each round as to which power-ups will do what effect. I would like to try it in Vs. mode, but I suspect that it might be more frustrating, as one of the ways that you overcome bad luck against the AI is to outwit them, which frankly isn't very difficult. The same is likely not true of a human opponent, so I'm not sure if it would be as enjoyable. Anyhow, a pretty good and simple game.

 

As for other games, Final Fantasy Legend 2 is going smoothly. I do have to say that while this game feels much kinder than the first, it also takes away some of the intensity. Most notably, there's almost no consequence to player death, because you can just run away mid-fight and your guys are back to 1HP, so you can just heal (in my case with an esper that knows TWO cure spells), so there's little tension when compared to the wizardry-esque character death in the first game. Also, I am still surprised by how overpowered espers are compared to the rest of the classes. I almost wonder if I am not playing the game correctly, because my human "fighter" (you know, there aren't really any classes, so I'm just molding them that way) is incredibly weak, and as such spends more time drawing enemy attacks while shielding than actually dealing damage, so that my esper can blow them away with multi-target spells. The robot and monster are basically there for looks at this point XD It does make me wonder if I'm not failing to complete some esoteric requirement, or just missing a core element of the game, that I'm not seeing more effective fighting from my party members. Maybe I just need to blow all my money on good weapons for the human, or maybe I'm just getting the Authentic Kawazu Experience

Edited February 27, 2022 by koifish
butts

[Splain | 2,560]

7 hours ago, Philosoraptor said:

I beat the Japanese version of Nintendo World Cup, Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen (DMG-NCJ). All the text in this game is in Japanese.

Would you say the differences are enough to list them as different games? It feels silly to mark one beaten and the other not, if the actual gameplay is the same. But if they're not identical...

2 hours ago, koifish said:

I finished Serpent.

Great game. I hated the controls for a long time, but when I finally got used to them, it became a legit hidden gem for me.

2 hours ago, koifish said:

As for other games, Final Fantasy Legend 2 is going smoothly.

I started a game of FFL2 a couple years back, and I had heard from somewhere that the real game-within-a-game was evolving the monsters by eating various meats from battles. So I spent way too much time messing with that, and since I had also heard that it was a really hard game, I got too caught up in creating perfect monsters, and it stopped being fun.

[Splain | 2,560]

Also, ahem @Philosoraptor:

[Philosoraptor | 468]

11 hours ago, Splain said:

Also, ahem @Philosoraptor:

It actually says "つんタ モのよ," but it's highly stylized. Rookie mistake. 

12 hours ago, Splain said:

Would you say the differences are enough to list them as different games? It feels silly to mark one beaten and the other not, if the actual gameplay is the same. But if they're not identical...

Hmm. I think the biggest difference is the difficulty. However, other games on the list must be beat at certain difficulties or higher, and we could easily apply the same criteria here to make the experience of Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen and Nintendo World Cup similar. 

Luckily, I also own Nintendo World Cup. I played a chunk of a match with each team, and here is what I found:

Teams that are better, significantly better, or OP, and make the game easier than Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen:

• Germany
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Italy
• Spain
• Mexico
• USSR
• Holland

Teams that are comparable to the team you have to use in Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen:

• England
• USA

Teams that are worse and make the game harder than Nekketsu Koukou Soccer-Bu: World Cup Hen:

• Japan
• Cameroon
• France

So, in the future, I'd recommend requiring that the game be beaten with England, USA, Japan, France, or, for masochists, Cameroon. 

Since @Bucket beat Nintendo World Cup earlier this year, I'm happy to take the number of points awarded for a second completion.

[koifish | 553]

13 hours ago, Splain said:

I started a game of FFL2 a couple years back, and I had heard from somewhere that the real game-within-a-game was evolving the monsters by eating various meats from battles. So I spent way too much time messing with that, and since I had also heard that it was a really hard game, I got too caught up in creating perfect monsters, and it stopped being fun.

I find that monsters are a trap for me too, but more in that once I finally get a monster that I like, I don't want to get rid of it and proceed to never experiment again. My understanding is that the first game uses a table for monsters that is like "Monster X eats Meat Y becomes Monster Z" which also includes "levels" of monster, that is there are a dozen or so categories of monster, where say "Giant" is the same as "Titan" except one is higher stats. The setup is thus that if you are "level 1" and eat "level 2" then you can become "level 2" monster, and likewise if you eat a lower-level monster then you can go down in monster level, that kind of idea.

I think in FFL2 however, there isn't as much of a cut-and-dry rule, because I'm finding that numerous different meats turn me into the same really terrible early-game monsters, no matter which monster I am at the time. I'm thinking it must be a new setup and I just haven't figured it out yet. Not sure if I will bother, will probably just pray to get a good monster and keep it until it's getting obliterated by enemies.

[Seppatoni | 59]

Bart Simpsons Escape from Camp Deadly done.

The game is much shorter and more boring than I remembered.

[Floating Platforms | 712]

Bomberman GB is finally done - thank merciful RNGeezus

This was not fun.  Correction, it was fun for about the first 4-5 hours where the actual Bomberman gameplay is in effect. The last 10 hours trying to beat the last boss was ridiculous and unnecessary. Level 8 is a boss rush where you have max powered bombs. Easy enough until you get to the end where you have a boss with three phases. The first phase has a lot of random elements in their projectile attacks that cause a ton of cheap hits. The second phase requires a good bit of learning, but at least it's a steady pattern so when you learn how to be safe and hit with a good amount of speed, it's fine. The third phase is garbage dumpster fire cheap BS and hit detection seemed to go out the flippin' window. You need 10 hits on that last phase. You have 5 minutes total to do all 3 phases, so even if you don't die super quick, you might run out of time. The powerups you earn throughout the game become a detriment as you'll jump over things in your car when you don't want to, or you'll toss a whole line of bombs instead of just one because the input thinks you hit A slightly differently, thus trapping you at a crucial moment and ruining that run.  The boss stuff doesn't feel like Bomberman, it feels like artificial padding in a game that simply does not need it.  Everything up to that point is cool. 7 unique levels and you get to pick your objective. Power-ups that are largely useful and build off of the levels. Great graphics and sound. All ruined by a dark souls boss that got transported into a Game Boy game.

Anyway, next up is SolarStriker. I'm hoping this will be an easier, happier time.

[Foochie776 | 1,051]

My picture is upside down but alas 

I finished Pokémon red! First ever play through and gee was it fun!!!

[Foochie776 | 1,051]

Crazy Castle 2 is on my personal backlog, so I’ll likely take that down sooner rather than later!