Gaia Gensouki

Man, I was at the last level of Rad Racer II and wanted to continue after a game over, but I accidentally pressed start instead of start + A, so I have to restart from level 1 again. This sucks. I'll continue tomorrow unless someone beats it in the meantime.

Hydlide is done.

Pinball Quest is done.

I'm sorry. I forgot about that. Here's a bigger picture.

Twin Cobra is done.

Totally Rad is done.

Flintstones is done. Playing both games back to back I have to say that Dinosaur Peak was overall a bit more enjoyable.

Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak is done.

Toki is done. I played the Switch remake the other day and was surprised by how much more difficult the Switch version actually is. SO I had tzo go back to the NES version and see if my memory was playing a trick on me. But it turns out, that the NES version is indeed much easier, or dare I say, it offers a more reasonable challenge, imho. So while the Switch version obviously looks and sounds far, far, far superior to the NES version, it's a bit more frustrating to play.

I think a big part is figuring out where to go and which switches to activate and in which order. For example you have to deactivate the electric floor before you can turn off the switch protected by it. You also don't have to clear every single path and enemy. You can make many parts easier by properly using the different characters and their abilities. The guy with the gun can pick off enemies from a safe distance or place bombs to dispose of them. For example, when you get caught and these four dudes come running at you, you can just lure them into your bombs to kill them without taking a single hit. Then there's also these enemies with shields that push you into the water or a pit. These can also easily be killed with a bomb. Then there's the black guy who can run and attack really fast. With him you can sneak around corners and hit enemies before they even have a chance to fight back. He can also throw some kind of explosive that stuns enemies, which is very practical for when some enemies are blocking your path, like the big and bulky guys throwing molotov cocktails. Another way to get rid of them is the nerdy guy with glasses. He can dress up as an enemy, which will stop them from attacking you for a few seconds. This way the molotov guys will stop attacking you, so you can can get rid of them. Another good use of him is to throw his boomerangs around a corner to hit enemies in hiding. With these methods you can avoid getting hit, if you're careful. Moreover, every character has an individual HP bar, so you can switch someone out, if they're in danger, and switch them back in, when you find a health kit. In later levels it's important to find out where the health kits are hidden and to ration them well. And finally, if you want to get through this level, you have to find the switches that turn off the flood and the robot. These two obstacles will insta-kill you. I've made a short video of me going through the sewers. Not sure if it's any help. Some of it was a little bit sloppy since I've played this so often that I don't care about getting hit at certain points. During the later levels I'm obviously more careful. (the video is unlisted and my account is not monetized. So I'm only doing this for sharing, not for personal gain)

I'm really sorry about that. I though that if I played these less popular or crappy games that I wouldn't take away the games that others wanted to play. Do you maybe have a list of games that you want to play? I just took a look at your 2024 backlog and I'm sorry about that. Maybe we could introduce something like a "claim sheet" in the future like they did in the N64 challenge? Which part of the first level gives you trouble? The beginning where you're on the streets or afterwards?

Mission: Impossible is done.

I'm probably the wrong person to say this, but this is a long list of JRPGs, including many really long ones. Also, gotta love how you've basically planned years ahead when you will be playing what. That's hard for me to imagine since I usually decide on a whim which game(s) to play. But at least some of these games are a little bit shorter, like Star Ocean, Grandis 2, Phantasy Star III and IV. The two Digital Devil Saga games are also a bit shorter than the average modern JRPG. I still remember the days when the average gamer didn't know anything about the SMT franchise and would look at you like you're an alien or something. Back in the day I asked a Gamestop employee as to whether they had DDS I, but even he didn't know this game. I had to spell it out to him, so that he could look it up in the computer. They only had it in storage in the back room.

Monster Truck Rally is done.

Town & Country II: Thrilla's Surfari is done.

Wizardry is definitely one of the game series that I would like to get into some day. But I tried the first game one or two years ago for the challenge and was a bit put off by the challenge. Even on the first floor they gave you endlessly scrolling floors and dark rooms that were tough to map out. Maybe I'll get to it someday. Anyway, Sword Master is done. I did it on my first attempt even if I got down to my last continue. Most of my lives were lost by trying to figure the game out again. But once you do it's actually quite decent.

Castle of Dragon is done.

I can see where you're coming from, but no. That's not it.

Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu is done. I needed something fun for a change.

Finally done with Dragon's Lair. Curse this game! And especially that "power-up" at the end of the final level. Once you collect that D sign you get the dagger, which is the weakest weapon in the game. With this it's virtually impossible to beat the final boss. At this point there is, to my knowledge, no other weapon that you can find and you keep your weapon even after dead. So if you accidentally get this, you basically have to restart the whole game.

Sorry, but that's not it.

Then here's my first submission for this thread.

Is it allowed to use the Japanese characters as help? If so, I found out which game it is via that. If it's not allowed, ignore this and the spoilers.

Zanac is too long and way too difficult for it to be the best shooter on the system, imho. It also has the Gradius effect where it's almost impossible to make a comeback once you've died. To add insult to injury, the game spawns even less power-ups once you've died. So despite unlimited continues and passwords, iirc, I could never make it far. Personally, I think that Over Horizon wipes the floor with Zanac. But it unfortunately only released in PAL regions and Japan. Anyway, Blues Brothers is done and I should be at over 200 points.

Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is done. Another game that is much more difficult and frustrating than I remembered it to be.