koifish

seems like it could be fun, I just didn't get into it the one time I tried it.

Maybe that's what inspired me to drop 2 and 3. Though maybe i also dodged a bullet; I have heard a lot of terrible things about a case in 2 involving a clown, people say it's halfway through and that it is the worst part of the whole series. Or so I heard 10+ years ago. Maybe things have changed.

I wish I could see a new contra game that didn't have tons of references to the NES game. It was novel in Contra 4 since there hadn't been a "throwback" game yet, but that game is almost 20 years old and they're STILL acting like we've not seen the standard contra levels since 1986. I hope they work to make more new stuff and don't just keep on nostalgia begging.

The first game was fun for me. I will say that the "bonus" case added for the DS re-release was not bad, but felt a bit like padding at times (to those unaware, these games first appeared on the GBA in Japan, and for the DS remakes they added a 5th case to make it worth it for people who already bought them once). I suppose that's the hardest part of this game and perhaps the series; The cases are up and down in quality. Some are very interesting while others will be boring and drag on forever. I only played the first one to completion; I just found that it wasn't enjoyable once the novelty had worn off. I only played it once and i wouldn't say it's worth playing twice, personally. I tried 2 and 3, but couldn't get into them. Kind of a shame as I understand 3 to be the best overall, or at least, when there were only 4 games, that is what people said. I don't think you would appreciate 3 without having played 1 and 2 though, at least not as much, so I don't worry much about it.

I'll give it a 7, it's a fun game and if you like it then there are more to enjoy. Just wouldn't recommend them for more than one play myself.

On 10/11/2023 at 9:32 PM, scaryice said:

New result:

Question #13 (10/5-10/11) - When it comes to a good protagonist, what game comes to mind?

1	Super Mario Bros.	6.8
2	Dragon Quest III	6.2
3	Metroid	5.1
4	Dragon Quest IV	5.1
5	Legend of Zelda	4.3
6	Kirby's Adventure	3.4
7	Spelunker	2.9
8	Mother	2.8
9	Fire Emblem	2.6
10	Ninja Gaiden	2.5
11	Valkyrie no Bouken	2.4
12	Famicom Detective Club (part 1)	1.6
13	Shin Onigashima	1.6
14	Mega Man	1.6
15	Shadowgate	1.5
16	Ganbare Goemon	1.5
16	Super Mario Bros. 3	1.4
18	Castlevania	1.2
19	Final Fantasy II	1.1
20	River City Ransom	1.1
20	Adventure Island	1.1

 

Interesting to see Metroid so high in a Japanese poll. Spelunker's hero is kind of famous for being so weak. I'm guessing Shadowgate is there for a similar reason, as I wouldn't have guessed that making it. I wouldn't have predicted Valkyrie either, but I guess the arcade sequel was quite popular. If this was a western poll, I think the Legend of Zelda would've won just because of Link's popularity (he always won the Gamefaqs character battles).

This week's question is, When it comes to passwords, what game comes to mind? Spoiler: it'll probably be Dragon Quest. I'm sure Metroid would win an similar poll for the NES.

Absolutely, Song of Regeneration is super famous. I wonder what other famous games would come up? With several major password games having been disk system games there, I don't know what you'd name otherwise. Lode Runner maybe?

On 10/12/2023 at 7:17 AM, cj_robot said:

They're not asking, "what's your favorite..."

The question is, "what game comes to mind..."

oh yeah that's true. it's more like The Price Is Right than 20 Questions.

at this rate it might as well be a VR game!

On 10/4/2023 at 9:36 PM, Tanooki said:

@Link  that top one is a notoriously broken game that should never been released with all the problems it has, most people can't finish the first area/stage of the game it's that bad.

I'm pretty sure they purposely made it wrong as a joke. Takeshi's Castle (the show rather than the game) was similar in that it made suffering a goal. IIRC Beat Takeshi hated games and wanted people to have a bad time, but he was also an entertainer comedian, so it was probably part of a bit as well.

I haven't played all of these, but I've seen a lot about them though game center CX and through some reading of JP sources. They give me a good case of secondhand nostalgia. Plus it's fun to see how much people like games that would never make the list in America. Mario Bros being so high up is testament to that, I would even be so bold as to argue that more people in the US remember the Atari ports of Mario Bros than they do the NES release, on account of how long it took to get to the states. A lot happened in the two year gap between famicom and NES, and a lot of people started on nes even later than 85.

My one irritation in the list presentation is that all games with US releases get renamed with the US version, even if they would probably be more famous in their first name. Sure, nobody in the US in the 80s (mostly) knew the source for Dragon Power, but nowadays it's easier, I think, to call it by it's original name, since Dragonball is now a globally known property. But this is probably more part of my slowly growing disdain for game references that bend over backward to use localized game names for something of foreign origin.

I for one cannot wait for Metroid 2026

On 10/9/2023 at 2:06 AM, Sumez said:

The PS2 and N64 approaches to 3D Castlevania are completely different. On paper I much prefer what they went for on N64, but the execution is rough at best. I'd have loved to see this idea taken further, honestly.

I'm going to agree with this. When I first played 64, I thought "wow this is garbage!" and tossed it. Then I came back to it again, and I said that this game is like when you like a game, except for "that part" which you dread on every replay...excpet here the entire game is "that part". Like there was a cool game here but every single part makes you angry for different reasons. So I left it again.

Third attempt, I recognize how cool parts of it are. The enemies and bosses are cool, and Reinhardt weapons and attacks feel like what you'd want a Belmont to play like in 3D. Even the subweapons feel like what you want them to (for the most part, I'll comment on this later). In the combat things feel so right sometimes that it's hard to then come back and face how awful the camera and platforming are. You were dead on when you pointed out that the game aggressively prevents you from accurately perceiving jump distance. It's even worse because of how many jumps are over bottomless pits or are otherwise instant game overs. Even on the first level you will never make a jump that isn't a bottomless pit. Castlevania games of old knew that you have to let people walk before they run, and the majority of serious bottomless pits come up starting in 2nd level and beyond. This one has a ton of them in the first level, and the jumping control AND the camera AND the depth perception all suck eggs. It's shocking how bad it is and it really ruins the game right from the get go. But don't worry, you'll find plenty of things to make you angry as you continue onward, and it won't often get better.

I haven't played a lot of LoD. I have it, and I have a controller pak save for it from I don't know when, but I remember nothing. I won't speak on it until I revisit it.

I strongly agree; Forget people remaking games that are already good or doing stupid meme ports of bad games to switch. Some brave soul PLEASE fix this game! And fix the depth problem by making it on 3DS

Some major changes I'd make:

-make subweapons visually impactful, they are too small and hard to appreciate (aside from the 3D version of the cross being badass)

-add more music and less ambient tracks. this is castlevania, not a movie!

-dunno how you fix the camera to be honest, just start with "not this"

For the record, Cadillac 2 is called "Square Deal" in western release. Pretty sure there's a cadillac 1 on Famicom but I cannot remember.

2 hours ago, BlackVega said:

On what sort a fucking planet is Atari 2600 supposed to be better than N64??

on the planet of the apes angry nintendo nerds

On 9/10/2023 at 5:04 PM, Bearcat-Doug said:

I have heard this many times. This one rock star autobiography I heard a coworker talk about once (forget who was the subject) said that champagne and cocaine were a hell of a pairing.

Folks have been murmuring in my ear recently that something has been going on at AtariAge that is driving off users. I heard it may be that Atari (or whomever owns their corpse these days) was buying/has bought the website. Does anybody know more that can fill me in? Am I just hearing baseless rumors? What's the deal, if any?

On 9/2/2023 at 8:23 PM, VmprHntrD said:

The diameter of the ball is around 2 1/4 inches and as long as (with any non arcade ball) you keep the sensors clean inside it seemingly works excellent for games that would want a ball or I would think even a spinner too which has a similar function.

Indeed! I got a USB expert mouse (it must be old cuz it's in that off-white color that all computing hardware used to be) but it works like a charm. The only game that fails is segasonic the hedgehog. The game seems to not care for the ball; often it gives what seems to be wrong input responses, among other problems. Other stuff seems ok however. Pretty happy with it overall!

21 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

X-Arcade Tankstick, it's also compatible with some consoles.

 

16 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

I have an ancient X-Arcade trackball (smaller than the tankstick, PS/2 interface!) and it actually feels good. Pretty nice design for the whole thing too. I had a MAME cabinet with a U-Track that felt worse.

wow, surprised to hear that. I used to have a u-trac and thought it was really good. May be more than I can afford to buy/store ATM but I'll keep it in mind for future purchases.

14 hours ago, VmprHntrD said:

How about an oversized (arcade sized) center set PC usb trackball?  Kensington makes one, their Expert Mouse Wireless Trackball.  Big red ball, ring around that is a mouse wheel and around that yet are 4 buttons for mouse control.  It's very easy to use for arcade trackball games and then use your other hand on whatever button is best to shoot.

Knew of trackball mice but had problems with one I tried before. MAME seemed to not read it properly; My guess is the mouse wasn't made for that kind of use. That Kensington looks awesome though! Huge ball, could definitely work and they're cheap on eBay too, my favorite. I'll try picking one up and see if it is what I'm looking for.

never realized SNES Doom required you to do the episodes front to back. That's killer, would be so much easier if you could do episodes individually.

"welcome to the Salty Sage, how hardcore are ya?"

"I beat aidyn chronicles on n64"

"yeah, so?"

"and I enjoyed it"

"u-uh, right this way sir"

1 hour ago, T-Pac said:

I haven't played Little Samson in years, but I remember having an absolute blast with it when I did. It's easily one of my favorite platformers on the NES, above a lot of heavy-hitters like Mega Man 2, Castlevania, etc. But I tend to like Taito games more than most people anyway.

Unfortunately, I think its value heavily skews people's judgement of it as a video game. We either subconsciously diminish or exaggerate its gameplay merit by thinking in terms of "fun factor vs price tag".

[T-Pac]

Indeed. If only there were this magical thing that let you play old games without having to own their original cartridges or hardware  

1 hour ago, RH said:

I think that complaint about the pocket is people complaining just to complain.  I use my exclusively for GB games.  I've never had an issue after logging several hours.

Also, I know this isn't about the Game Gear but my adapter finally arrived after about 18 months since purchase.  Yeah, IMHO, this is the only way to play Game Gear games too.  I like both original filters too.  There's the one that's similar to the original but with a tweaked contrast and then there's a more accurate portrayal that makes the pixels looks super-bright and washed out like the original.

I can't recommend this device enough if you have the money for it.  It's worth the wait if you purchase one now.

I see, perhaps I'll check into it. The game gear would be a nice system to move off; As much as I'm a stickler for original hardware, I have little issue replacing the blurry mess that was the GG screen.

1 hour ago, Brickman said:

Agreed. Played heaps of GBA games and a few GB games and never had an issue. My carts sit in super tight and never move.

I get that Analogue charge a bit for their products and the shipping sucks but the Pocket is worth it if you’re big into handhelds. I think some people just like to complain.

If you’re into handheld gaming I’d go as far to say that the Pocket really is the best way to play handheld games. The GBA SP is also a great alternative but the size hurts my hands when I’m playing for long periods. And for GG, well yeah there’s no way I’d play on an original GG over the pocket 

I recall now that I did try one from a guy at a con last year. It felt okay, I'm not sure I would leave my handhelds though. I'll consider it perhaps moving forward though.

totally missed this thread and too bad cuz I would have absolutely taken all the good bits given away the extra stuff I don't really need. Hope I can get in on the next one!

On 2/6/2021 at 2:24 PM, Tanooki said:

I don't have it anymore as I sold it, but in Japan and Europe(UK english) there was the only Pokemon game the US never got.  Learn with Pokemon Typing Adventure for the DS.

The point, it came with 2 unique peripherals.  One was a stand in black, similar to the one the 3DS Kid Icarus received. The other is the worthy of mention, a full blown bluetooth keyboard.  Very well made, long battery life, comfortable to use, and happily syncs up with any device that'll see bluetooth.  I could connect that to an iPhone, Android device, and Windows PC.  Nintendo and Sony consoles saw it too.

The game really is like a typing of the dead style adventure learning to type using pokemon names and you'd adventure and capture data kind of like pokemon snap did.  It's really not worth it, but the keyboard definitely is if you can find one loose on its own.

didn't know it was a standard Bluetooth keyboard. Now I want one for the novelty of it...and for typing out ピカチュウ at high speed of course.

On 8/3/2023 at 4:24 PM, MrWunderful said:

Analogue Pocket, exclusively. There is nothing better.

isn't that the one I've seen where the cart wiggles with minimal force and can freeze your game? that's the gif I've seen lately.

anyway, I play gb on everything. i play on every OEM system, from dmg to micro and every step in between, plus emulators and super game boy. About the only ways i don't play are on game boy player (sold my GameCube), modern mod screens (they look bad), and new emulation handheld systems that come out of China every week (had I've one once and they are too poorly built and not adequately supported).

One of the cooler ways to play game boy is on retroarch running on an oculus quest. You can blow the game up onto a giant virtual screen and play anywhere. Very cool stuff.

On 8/8/2023 at 11:27 PM, DefaultGen said:

I don’t think I remember it enough to rate it.  I got it from the bargain bin and thought it was fun. I remember a level with a dump truck having to powerslide across train tracks that was very hard for me. I’d probably appreciate how unique it is and think kid me sucked at games if I played it today.

 

that dump truck was hard to use. Made some levels very challenging.

In fact, barring perhaps trash titles like superman 64, I might dare to suggest that blast corps is one of the hardest N64 games, especially if you want 100%. Maybe I haven't played enough RC pro am, but I found the race maps especially difficult.

On 8/9/2023 at 1:47 AM, fox said:

Fun because all of the different vehicles you can pilot and destruction you can cause.  But it is still just Escort Mission: The Game.

the escort part makes it really funny. You have to go and blow up all the buildings, because if you don't, the nuke will explode...blowing up all the buildings. It's possibly the best plot in a video game, because it makes absolutely zero sense and never once tries to. Hilariously nonsensical, I use this game constantly as an example of why I don't think games need stories. It's fun as hell and they gave it an absurd premise to boot.

Can't decide my rating. I like this game a lot but it's hard as hell, last I tried anyway. If you're a completionist you'll suffer and strain to get that 100%. Yet this game is just freaky fun. Also the music is aces. Anyone who can't boogie to Beeton Trax doesn't belong in my dance club.

8 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

This one has an overworld and traditional progression to make it more Zelda-y

interesting. I don't know if it would change my opinion, but that does sound zelda-y, so it ought to be a plus