What Game/s are You Playing? Daily / Whenever Check :) (GAMEPLAY)

[gbpxl]

Slowly going for 100% in DK Country 2. Not using any FAQs or guides or anything so its a slow process

[Aussie2B]

I got enough free time to go through the rest of my recent Vita acquisitions, though some of them got very brief tests. I played Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, The King of Fighters '97: Global Match, Alone With You, Chronus Arc, Dragon Fantasy, Fernz Gate, Forma.8, NeuroVoider, Proteus, Retro City Rampage DX, and Shakedown: Hawaii. A lot of interesting stuff that seems fun, but they'll have to wait for another day to get some serious play time.

[pichuscute]

I got a Famicom last year and have been slowly importing and collecting games for it. Currently working on beating the original Dragon Quest. Haven't been a fan of the recent entries I've tried (DQIX or DQXI, although I do quite like DQBuilders), probably because they haven't really been modernized like other series, while still receiving the baggage that 3D brings to turn-based games (slowing them to a crawl). Thankfully, being on the Famicom, DQ1 doesn't at all have these problems, so I've been enjoying it quite a bit. It definitely helps that it's a far shorter game, too, though.

I am a bit surprised at how much I'm enjoying it, though. I recently watch a j-drama called The Hero Yoshihiko, which may be going a long way in helping me to enjoy the series more, lol.

[Aussie2B]

I switched from Vita to my Game Boy Advance SP to try out some more recent acquisitions. For Game Boy Color, I played a tiny bit of Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 2, and Donkey Kong Country, and for GBA, I played through a day in Bokujou Monogatari: Mineral Town no Nakamatachi - For Girl. Donkey Kong Country definitely threw me for a loop. I'm so used to the SNES version that, even graphics aside, just the differences in controls and timing are messing with me. I'll have to rewire my brain a little to adjust to this version.

[Aussie2B]

I've been trying to get back into a couple games I haven't touched in a while. I'd gone about a month since I last played Tokyo Tattoo Girls on Vita, so I picked that back up and finished off Kayako Musashino's game on Normal difficulty.

I opened up Steam for the first time in forever and started playing Nightshade again for the first time in several months. I didn't leave off in the most ideal spot. Ideally, I like to take a break from a visual novel when I've totally finished off a character so I can start fresh with another the next time. In lieu of that, as counterintuitive as it sounds, I don't especially mind leaving off mid-route. But the worst spot to stop is when I've finished a route but haven't yet run through it again to pick the other dialogue options and get any alternate endings. That's what I did here with Choujirou's route. I'm gonna skip anything I've already read, of course, but my memory of the route is foggy, so the impact of seeing alternate takes on various scenes is a little lost on me at this point. And a depressing bad ending isn't exactly the first thing you want to see when resuming a game, haha. But I finished off those bits and pieces of Choujirou's route, and now I'm picking alternate choices in the early part of the game, before you get locked into a route. I'm not aiming to get on anybody's route in particular (same when I got on Choujirou's route), so I guess I'll see whose route I end up on this time.

[Aussie2B]

I've played some more Nightshade on PC and ended up on Hanzo's route. I probably would've preferred a character with a personality more unlike Choujirou's, considering Hanzo is stoic as well, but it's not really an issue when I can hardly claim to have played these routes back-to-back. Plus, Hanzo is very different from Choujirou in other ways, like how he's affiliated with an entirely different group of shinobi. What was interesting was that, even before I got on Hanzo's route, the common route branched off in a totally different direction as a result of my choices, which resulted in a lot more interactions with Kuroyuki, Goemon, and Hanzo. I guess the other path of the common route plays out when you've got higher affection with Gekkamaru and Choujirou.

I've been playing Toy Story 2 on my Game Boy Advance SP too, and really, I'm just eager to be done with it. It's not so broken as to be unplayable, but it's definitely poor enough to not be enjoyable either. The control scheme alone is mind-bogglingly stupid. So far, I've gotten up to the eighth stage, which I think is about two-thirds into the game.

[Aussie2B]

I'm up to Chapter 7 in Hanzou's route in Nightshade on PC. Some of the scenes have been about the same as in Choujirou's route, but it's interesting to see how it differs. When playing through my first route in a visual novel, I always wonder what's unique to that specific route and what plot points will be common to them all.

As for handheld gaming, I finished off Toy Story 2 on Game Boy Color, which I already posted about in the Beaten in 2019 topic. I ran through Easy difficulty with Mai Tachikawa in Tokyo Tattoo Girls on Vita real quick to get the reward for that and to unlock a trophy I had missed.

[gbpxl]

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. Im about 1/3 done

[Aussie2B]

I got to Chapter in 8 in Hanzou's route in Nightshade on PC what felt surprisingly fast. Maybe it just wasn't very long, or maybe I was really engrossed. Or maybe Hanzou's so brusque that I zip through the lines faster than normal.

I played a little of London Detective Mysteria on Vita for the first time in months too, but I wasn't really feeling it. I enjoy the game tons, but I can't really be invested in two visual novels at the same time. My mind is too focused on Nightshade right now. I ran through the Easy difficulty with two other girls in Tokyo Tattoo Girls also.

[Aussie2B]

I'm up to Chapter 9 in Hanzou's route in Nightshade on PC now. It still feels like it's moving along briskly. Things could change, but I think I'll end up preferring Choujirou's route. This is still good, but it seems it's following the motions of all otome routes involving a cold, brusque love interest.

I also started playing the Game Boy Color version of Monsters, Inc. on my Game Boy Advance SP. It's not particularly good, yet still significantly better than Toy Story 2. I'm already pretty far into it, I think. I'm up to the sledding stage, which is a nice change of pace compared to the, well, I wouldn't call it "running and jumping", more like "plodding along and jumping". I definitely prefer playing as Mike over Sulley.

[Montrealer]

These days I'm hard into Theatrythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call, and I also play Ace Attorney Justice For All (I'm starting the 4th chapter)

[Aussie2B]

I've barely touched any games since my last post in this thread. I've had so much going on that I never even finished with the games I last posted about. But I have been playing some Atari Flashback Classics on my Vita ever since I received my physical copy from Limited Run Games. I'm very disappointed in the Classic Edition I bought, which was a total bait and switch from what they had pictured and not remotely worth an extra 15 bucks, but the game itself is a really nice collection. I've mostly been playing my favorite pre-crash game, Centipede, but I've dabbled in some others to pick up trophies for a change of pace. There's a ton of games on here, and I'd like to dig into it more sometime, considering I'm not especially experienced with the libraries of Atari consoles. But for now, it's nice to just play a little Centipede when I can squeeze in a few minutes of gaming.

[Aussie2B]

I'm working on updating my game list before I sent a PM for Secret Santa, so I'm testing out a whole bunch of stuff. It's good to have something to light a fire under my butt since I've had these games just sitting around in stacks for months. I'm finally getting them cleaned and properly put away. First I tried out Deadbolt on Vita, which I didn't have to clean since it was brand new. Then I tried Phantasy Star III on Genesis. After that, I pulled out my PlayStation. While going through other games, I came across the receipt from when I bought my PlayStation in October 1999 (along with an RF adapter, third-party memory card, Final Fantasy VII, and Star Ocean 2, all for just over $200 after tax), which I didn't even know I saved. The ink has faded to the point of being barely readable, but it's still neat. I tucked it inside the PlayStation's box, so even if it becomes totally unreadable, I'll still know what it is. Anyway, I have a whole bunch of PlayStation games to try out. I've only tested about half so far: Wheel of Fortune, Centipede, Space Invaders, Spider: The Video Game, Driver 2, Austin Powers Pinball, Gran Turismo, and Pac-Man World. I was looking forward to trying Centipede, but it was pretty disappointing. I've got zero interest in playing the arcade original on the disc when I've got a much better version on my Vita, and the modern take (well, modern for back then) is disorienting with the spinning in circles. They should've just approached it like Space Invaders, where it's like the original but in 3D. The only problem for me there is that I've never especially liked any version of Space Invaders I've played.

[Aussie2B]

I finished trying out the other PS1 games I had stacked up: Mega Man 8, Mobile Light Force (yes, the one with THAT cover art), Cool Boarders 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Syphon Filter 2, Dynasty Warriors, Top Gun: Fire at Will!, Barbie Super Sports, Contender, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, and Power Play Sports Trivia. Some real stinkers in there, but some good ones too. I already have a SNES hooked up because I recently started a cooperative file of Donkey Kong Country 3 with my husband (yeah, I beat the game on GBA just earlier this year, but my husband has never played much of the third game before), but I pulled out another, one that's modded, to try out Daikaijuu Monogatari. The character sprites are tiny but real cute. I kinda feel like the whole premise of this game was centered around using the wordplay Shell Dorado, haha. I played more Centipede via Atari Flashback Classics on Vita very briefly last night until I started playing Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020 with my husband and brother-in-law on my bro-in-law's Switch. Monkey Ball was a letdown for us, but Mario & Sonic was fun. The Tokyo 1964 games are a real hoot.

[Aussie2B]

Well, that was quite annoying. I seem to have come down with a cold (bad timing right before Thanksgiving, but what can you do), so I figured I'd pull out my Game Boy Advance SP and lounge around with that. But before starting something new, I thought I'd tie up loose ends by trying to finish off Monsters, Inc. for Game Boy Color, which I had gotten close to beating but haven't touched since, like, June. I was up to the second to last stage, so it's moderately difficult, at least with the mediocre controls. But I got used the controls quickly enough that I cleared the stage itself and got to the boss battle at the end of it. A little practice there and I beat the boss, but right as I got the final hit, the damn game crashed for no apparent reason. The music kept playing and the enemies kept looping their defeat animations, but a static noise also started playing, and the game wouldn't accept any input besides Start + Select + A + B to reset the game. :/ Literally all I needed to do was walk over to the cage to trigger a cutscene and the start of the last stage, where I could get the next password. But screw it, I watched a longplay to confirm I had beaten the boss, and I got the password for the last stage online. I'm not gonna replay that entire stage and boss fight just because the game cheated me out of continuing as I should've.

[gbpxl]

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 PS2. I had gotten like 95% of the way through on a previous save file but I couldnt find the memory card with that save file on it so had to start over. sucks as I had dumped dozens of hours into it, had most of the cars, all my records, gone now. oh well

[Aussie2B]

As I posted in the Beaten in 2019 topic, I finished off Monsters, Inc. on my Game Boy Advance SP, though it took a ton of attempts at the final stage, which got rather infuriating itself. It's a vertically-scrolling, auto-scrolling stage, where all the platforms are tiny, and you have to control Sully, who is a slow clunky piece of crap with no height to his jumps, so you often have to catch the edge of platforms and hoist yourself up. You're getting chased the entire time by the enemy you defeat in the prior boss battle, and the enemy hops from platform to platform, at an inconsistent rate. If the enemy touches Sully in any way, even if he nicks his feet, it's instant death and back to the very beginning of the stage, since there are no checkpoints. Same with the auto-scrolling. If even your feet disappear below the bottom of the screen, it's instant death. Yet you're free to have Sully completely off the screen at the top, and you basically have to do just that to stay ahead of the scrolling and enemy. I found myself having to memorize where the platforms are and jumping to them before I could even see them, since you're given such a limited view of the stage. Just really dumb design all around, and I always wonder why developers often make games designed primarily for little kids so challenging. If it takes an adult dozens of attempts, I can only imagine what it'd be like for a kid under 10.

Anyway, I started a file in Final Fantasy Legend III, only playing through the opening cutscenes and saving as soon as I was in control, but I'm not sure I'm feeling it now. Sometimes when I'm sick, a game that isn't demanding on reflexes is exactly what I'm in the mood for, but sometimes I don't have the patience when sick for a slow-paced game. I think I'm leaning more toward the latter right now. So I also started the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country. It's a little overkill to play this when I'm already in the middle of playing Donkey Kong Country 3 with my husband, but we're only playing that sporadically, so hopefully I won't feel like I'm overdosing on the series.

[Aussie2B]

Donkey Kong Country on my Game Boy Advance SP isn't going quite as swiftly as I expected. I got the Game Boy Color version to experience a familiar game in a slightly different way, but I wasn't hoping that would include more lag and slowdown, worse hit detection, and less room to maneuver. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by any of that, given that, in a lot of ways, this is like if they had made an NES port of Donkey Kong Country, and for a game that was late-ish for the SNES and a technological leap for the system, it's only natural that much weaker hardware would cause a downgrade to more than just the audio and visuals. So all the ways in which it controls and plays differently is making it harder for me. I can whiz through the SNES version at this point, but I've actually seen the Game Over screen quite a few times in this version, even as early as the second area. Thank goodness this version saves automatically after each stage because I think I'd really be struggling if I had to make it to Candy (or Funky) just to save. I'm up to the last stage of the fourth area, which I've already attempted a bunch of times. Any stage with a ton of tires is annoying because the timing to get a big bounce isn't the same as the SNES version, nor is the hit detection for staying on the tire versus slipping off.

[Aussie2B]

I'm still chipping away at the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country on my Game Boy Advance SP since beating it. I think I have only two stages left where I haven't entered all the bonus rooms? I've cleared all of Candy's challenges, but I've still barely collected any stickers. I've also barely touched the bonus mini-games so far. I'm not sure if those count toward my percentage. If this were the SNES version, I'd probably be nearly at 101%, but I think I'm only around 80% right now. I've heard talk of a Lost World in this game, but I don't know how it unlocks. So far, Necky Nutmare midway through the final area is the only new stage I've seen.

[gbpxl]

I tried 100% the SNES version and I think I couldnt find a bonus roon on the first industrial stage. and its one of those games where I refuse to look at a FAQ for it.

another one I got hung up on is Donkey Kong Land. missed a bonus area on a couple stages. very difficult to find everything on those games

[Aussie2B]

You probably permanently missed a bonus room in Oil Drum Alley. There's a bonus room within a bonus room in that stage, the only one like it in the whole game, and you only get one shot to do it. You can reset the system, of course, but if you save after getting into the first of those two bonus rooms, without getting into the second, then you're screwed. I'm not sure if the later ports let you reattempt. I made sure to do it right on the first attempt in the GBC version.

[gbpxl]

damn.

[Aussie2B]

I missed that one my first time playing the game too.

Anyway, I'm not liking how the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country handles the added stickers. They lowered what the stages and bonus rooms are worth toward the percentage to shoehorn them in, and you have to beat the game to unlock the options to turn off DK barrels and checkpoint star barrels to access them all. So there are only 6 stickers in each mode (all barrels on, DK barrels off, and star barrels off; one sticker in each area), which makes it like finding a needle in a haystack to begin with. But the real kicker is what I learned when I tried turning off barrels. I figured, since you've beaten the game to unlock those options, you can jump into any stage with whichever barrels turned off, and if you have an FAQ to tell you which stages have stickers, you could gather the remaining stickers relatively quickly. But apparently, each mode is like a separate game, so they expect you to play through the whole game three times over to get 101%, which you could get playing through the SNES original just once. :/ Actually, I don't know if you can turn off both DK barrels and star barrels simultaneously and access 12 stickers in one playthrough, but then you're making the game significantly more difficult, which might take more time to play through than just playing through twice with only one type of barrel turned off per game. Either way, it's a ton of tedious busywork replaying a ton of stages that have nothing new in them just to access the rare few stages that have stickers added. It really highlights the difference between a reasonable amount of collecting/completion like in the SNES original versus how Rare went totally overboard by the time they got to this version in 2000. I mean, this was around when they were putting out stuff like Donkey Kong 64 and Jet Force Gemini, where the collecting was taken to stupid extremes.

[Aussie2B]

I'm not putting in a lot of time at this point, but I'm still playing Donkey Kong Country on my Game Boy Advance SP. I'm up to Gorilla Glacier in my run with no DK barrels. It's harder than with the barrels, but it's not too bad since you always start every stage (whether from the beginning or at the checkpoint) with both Kongs. So you can still take one hit as you clear each half of a stage (or two if you find an animal buddy). I'm up to Gorilla Glacier. The worst is when I find a sticker and then have an entire area's worth of stages to clear before the next opportunity to find a sticker. In my no continue barrel run, I'm up to the first mine cart stage. I find that mode more annoying, since I think I get more deaths from falling down pits than enemies, and then every instant death sends me back to the beginning of the stage.

[YoshiM]

Not much lately. My youngest loves Bubble Bobble arcade, which we play on Coin Ops on the X-box. He can't get enough but *I* sure can.

[Aussie2B]

I got all six stickers in the no DK barrel mode of the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country, so I guess I'm done with that mode, unless beating the game under that mode counts toward the percentage. I just grabbed the last sticker in Misty Mine and left it at that. I'm up to the third area in the no continue barrel mode, but I still have four more stickers to collect in that mode. I still haven't bothered to get all the bonus rooms in a couple stages, so I don't know how much those will contribute toward the percentage. I believe I'm up to 93%, and I think each sticker only adds 1%. So even with all the stickers, that would only bring me to 97%.

[jammajup]

Metal Slug 1,2 & 3
Cadaver (Atari St)

[Aussie2B]

Well, the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country has me a little stumped now. I've found every bonus room, cleared every Candy's Challenge, and collected every sticker, and yet I'm still only at 99%. I thought maybe the last two percentage points came from the bonus mini-game Crosshair Cranky, since I had two levels of that left to clear, but then I cleared another one of them, with no change to my percentage. I thought I could get away with merely getting the stickers I needed in Chimp Caverns and stopping there in my no DK/continue barrels runs, but the only other idea I have for getting 101% is beating K. Rool in those runs too. But if I go to the trouble of doing so and that's not it, I'll be pretty peeved. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of info out there on this specific version of the game. There is an incomplete FAQ on the game that has a checklist for earning 101%, but I don't know how accurate it is. It makes some mention of finishing the "Lost World", but I've seen no mention of a Lost World anywhere else, not within the same FAQ nor elsewhere. Maybe the author is referring to the areas you go to for Candy's Challenges? Or the weird extra islands that you go to in Crosshair Cranky? But I've already established Crosshair Cranky doesn't add to the percentage. I mean, I'll still try to beat the last level of Crosshair Cranky regardless, but I doubt that'll give me the 2% I need for full completion.

[YoshiM]

I tried out an Atari Flashback 9 as it was on clearance and having a small device is pretty appealing. The power button was defective- the unit always stays on. I was able to play some games before the kids mushroomed around me to play. After a round of Keystone Kapers I found the controllers really sloppy/loose. So it goes back to Meijer.

After that I played a level of Kid Icarus, a game I got when I was in middle school for Christmas.

My son was at the in-laws last night, so a reprieve from Bubble Bobble.

[Tron 2.0]

Not much lately. My youngest loves Bubble Bobble arcade, which we play on Coin Ops on the X-box. He can't get enough but *I* sure can.
Bubble Bobble is timeless though as a series it sure can be confusing how each one fits.I don't suppose you're looking forward to bubble bobble 4 and yes it's been awhile for taito.

[gbpxl]

what I dont get is how there is "Rainbow Islands: The story of Bubble Bobble Part 2" and "Bubble Bobble 2" . but then again I could just be an idiot.

[Aussie2B]

It turns out there was one more stage of Crosshair Cranky in the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country than I thought, but I cleared them all. It unlocked another print mode, which is lost on me since I don't own a Game Boy printer, but it did nothing otherwise. I then beat K. Rool on my no DK barrels run and my no star barrels run, and sure enough, each gave me another 1%. So now I'm totally done with the game. The ending barely changed, but I wasn't expecting much in that regard. Anyway, time to move on to something else.

[Aussie2B]

I finally got around to starting up Super Metroid on Super Nintendo, a game I've been meaning to play through for a long time. It's a game I've watched my family play through countless times, so I feel I know it inside out just from that alone, and it's also one I've gotten a good ways in just by playing casually in single sittings (considering it's pretty dang easy). But I've never personally played it all the way to completion, so now I want to take my time with it and do so. But so far, I only have about 10 minutes on the clock because I'm trying to sort out the issues I've been having with some of my controllers. On one of them, the select button wasn't working, and on the other, it's both start and select. So I cleaned both, and I haven't reassembled the latter one yet, but the cleaning resolved the problem with the select button for the former, but left on the d-pad is a little iffy on that one. I noticed there's a tear in the rubber pad below that spot, so I assume there's nothing I can do about that short of replacing that part. I do have other SNES controllers, so it's not a big priority to fix that one specifically, but hopefully the other one will work well after its cleaning.

[Tron 2.0]

what I dont get is how there is "Rainbow Islands: The story of Bubble Bobble Part 2" and "Bubble Bobble 2" . but then again I could just be an idiot.
Don't forget parasol stars which counts as the part three in the series which leads to being chronically confused.

[Aussie2B]

The second SNES controller I cleaned is working fine now (maybe not like new, but these are around 25 years old and have seen plenty of use), so I've got a couple or so hours on the clock in Super Metroid now. It's an interesting experience, half discovering things on my own, half going off of memory of what I've seen. It's also interesting just getting invested in a home console game at all. The last few years have been so dominated by handheld gaming (and visual novels on PC) for me that home console gaming feels kind of foreign now. But that's something I'd like to change. There are a handful of other SNES games I'd like to get to in the semi-near future, and I want to do more PS4 gaming too (I mean, I haven't even played Star Ocean 5 yet, which was why I wanted a PS4 to begin with).

[gbpxl]

just been playing Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2. one reason I like racing games is because I can mute them and put a Youtube video in the background and listen to that and usually still do well. this is one of my favorite console games of all time and Ive been playing it since it came out 17 years ago (God I cant believe its been that long)

[Aussie2B]

I just got the Gravity Suit in Super Metroid on Super Nintendo, so I'm starting to explore Maridia. I'm enjoying my time with the game, but it'd be great if I could knock this out before 2020. I haven't hit 15 games beaten in one year in several years.

[gbpxl]

I remember I got stuck in Maridia the first time I played it. I dont remember how I got stuck but I just remember that was the most confusing part of the game for me

[YoshiM]

Bubble Bobble is timeless though as a series it sure can be confusing how each one fits.I don't suppose you're looking forward to bubble bobble 4 and yes it's been awhile for taito.

There's a 4 coming out?

I like Bubble Bobble but like anything, too much of one thing can be a bit tiring.

On Christmas I broke out the 2600 for my wife and I to play. She really got into the paddle games. When we switched to joystick games, I discovered a bunch of my carts were not working (dirty) and then the right direction died on my stick. I hopefully fixed it but haven't had a chance to test it. I also cleaned some carts but got redirected into assembling a Playmobile ginger bread house my youngest three received as a gift.

After that, no real chances to play. I dabbled on Yo Kai Watch as one of my step daughters said it wasn't working. Found out the SD card in the 2DS I got for the kids wasn't compatible. I swapped out the card and all was well. Today I played a little Minecraft and Yoshi's Wooly World on Wii U.

The only other retro thing I did was find the power supply to my NES.

[Tron 2.0]

There's a 4 coming out?

I like Bubble Bobble but like anything, too much of one thing can be a bit tiring.

On Christmas I broke out the 2600 for my wife and I to play. She really got into the paddle games. When we switched to joystick games, I discovered a bunch of my carts were not working (dirty) and then the right direction died on my stick. I hopefully fixed it but haven't had a chance to test it. I also cleaned some carts but got redirected into assembling a Playmobile ginger bread house my youngest three received as a gift.

After that, no real chances to play. I dabbled on Yo Kai Watch as one of my step daughters said it wasn't working. Found out the SD card in the 2DS I got for the kids wasn't compatible. I swapped out the card and all was well. Today I played a little Minecraft and Yoshi's Wooly World on Wii U.

The only other retro thing I did was find the power supply to my NES.
Oddly enough i pickup a atari 2600 recently.First console i ever had as a kid so i got one again since i miss it.I haven't mess cleaning the cartridges to much only for a few games etc.Yeah there is a bubble bobble 4 coming to the nintendo switch,wasn't sure but i thought it was out in the uk all ready with a u.s release later on.I've all ready preorder it's physical release from strictlylimitedgames.com.

The trailer for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzum8sMs98M

[Aussie2B]

Late last night, I finished off collecting everything in Super Metroid on Super Nintendo. Between my memory of family playing and my own exploring and searching, I found most things. I was just missing one Reserve Tank, a couple Super Missile Tanks, and around six or so regular Missile Tanks. I used a map online to pick off the few entire rooms I had missed, which got me down to just a couple Missile Tanks left. Looking up commonly missed Missile Tanks, I pretty quickly concluded I missed the one in the turtle room, but I had to search all over for the remaining one. It ended up being the one leading up to Kraid. My husband wanted to play, so I let him take the controller and confirm a bunch of them, while I marked them off on a map I printed, so that spared me some of the tedious trial and error of checking, haha. It's not the game's fault, but I gotta say, the worst part of the experience of playing this game was looking these things up online. Not because I feel bad about "cheating" or whatever some may want to call it (I always play games of this style in this way, where I do it on my own until the end and then use outside help to get whatever I missed to get a 100% file), but because the Super Metroid fan community has to be one of the most condescending, elitist fandoms for a retro game I've ever seen. I can understand getting a chuckle out of "y can't metroid crawl?" but a lot of these diehard players talk as if first-time players are idiots if they don't play the game just as well as the speedrunners. Just finding basic info on the game is a challenge because practically everything these days is devoted to speedrunning, sequence breaking, advanced techniques, etc. So I had to wade through a lot of sickening behavior just to find the info I wanted. Anyway, I'm all set to beat the game now, so I should be able to pull it off before the ball drops tonight.

[Detonator]

From the classic games I've been playing these lately. Never get tired of 'em.

https://i.imgur.com/sSMhNsj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tyfMzKh.jpg

[Aussie2B]

I finished off Super Metroid for Super Nintendo just before 2020 started, as I posted in the Beaten in 2019 topic, but rather than start up the next game I'd like to play to completion, I tried out a few of the games I've received recently. My Vita CE of Metal Slug 3 finally showed up right before Christmas, after ordering it way back in August. I played that until I lost a continue, which didn't take very long, since I've never been especially good at any Metal Slug, though I do enjoy them a lot. Then I pulled out my WonderSwan Crystal to try Gunpey. I have the PSP version, but I've always wanted to have the original. I like the cutesy Wild West theme, as opposed to the PSP game which doesn't really have any kind of cohesive style from what I remember. This reminds me, though, that I still need to buy some color games. The first WonderSwan I got is black and white, but I've had this Crystal model for a while yet still nothing in color to try on it. After that, I fished out my Game Gear and played some Baku Baku and Fred Couples Golf, but it was a gimped experience to say the least. Time has not been kind to my Game Gear since I last played it in 2015. I'm getting no sound, and I can't see anything unless I turn the brightness all the way in one direction and then look at the screen from, like, a 45 degree angle. Even then, there are vertical bands of light where graphics show up. So I guess the capacitors have gone bad. My husband likes to fix stuff like that, so I'll leave it to him to try to repair. It's funny, back in the 00s, when I first acquired many of my retro systems, I felt like everything would hold up well for me as long as I took good care of them, but over the last decade, little issues have popped up left and right, even when I've done nothing with a system but had it stored away. There's no system from the 90s that isn't at least 20 years old now, so things are bound to be different from when I first joined this forum in 2004.

[gbpxl]

is that version of Metal Slug 3 any different from the Xbox version? thats one of my favorite games on the Xbox

[Aussie2B]

I don't have it on Xbox, so I don't know. I do have the original arcade MVS cart, and the Vita version appears to be a pretty straight port of that, albeit with a bunch more menu options before you get started and trophies and such.

[Nz17]

The Next Tetris: On-line Edition for Dreamcast

[Aussie2B]

I started up my Virtual Boy for the first time in probably about a decade. I was worried that it could've developed problems like my Game Gear (which my husband confirmed has leaking capacitors, but he hasn't replaced them yet), but I was relieved to see it's, for the time being at least, still working just fine. I started with Mario's Tennis just to confirm the system's functionality. It's a little lacking in depth, but it's always fun to sink some time into. I also popped Wario Land in, just to revisit a favorite for a minute. My 100% completed file appears to have disappeared. It's no big deal, since I was long done with it and don't care about preserving most of my game saves, but hopefully it's just a little hiccup and not a reflection of the battery being dead. Then I played some Vertical Force, which I received for Christmas. It's a pretty cool little vertical space shooter. It's got two fields of depth you can switch between, and it gets chaotic will all the enemies, bullets, and terrain obstacles of both.

I also played some various games via emulation while hanging out with my husband. I can't recall everything, but I played the NES version of Cabal for the first time in many years. I know I beat the game sometime past the year 2000, but it must've been before I started thoroughly keeping track of what I was beating back in 2005, since it's not anywhere on what I have saved. For not playing the game since whenever it was that I beat it, I got decently far in the game. I've always liked these shooting gallery games where you use a controller rather than a lightgun and move a character around the bottom. It's too bad there are so few of them.

[YoshiM]

Haven't had a chance to play much. I found another 2600 joystick in my wire box in the basement, so I set up a TV to test. It worked great except when I pushed right, the character wouldn't move. The humanoid in Berserk just stood and did a moonwalk. I swapped boards with another stick I was having issues with but had the same problem I determined it was the cable that was bad, so I put the board from the "moonwalker" in my other stick and I came away with a working, solid controller.

Then I played some Berserk. I forgot ypu could only shoot one blast at a time until it hit something.

[gbpxl]

Ive been playing Animal Crossing. i just looked at a FAQ. and good God is this game deep. on the surface it doesnt seem like there is much to it but it almost becomes a science trying to obtain Perfect Town status, collecting all the items, keeping your neighbors happy. ive been playing it for like ten minutes a day. I caught a stringfish and apparently its the rarest fish in the game. got lucky on that one because I wasnt even looking for it. just saw a massive silhouette in the water and knew something rare was in there

its cool playing a game that changes along with real life. some of the dialogue feels punishingly slow but besides that its a landmark achievement of a game that really takes on a life of its own.

[Tron 2.0]

(Switch)
Grandia HD collection it was on sale at the e-shop so i bought it asap.Still one of my favorite rpgs by gamearts.

[jammajup]

Playing Streets Of Rage 2 ,trying to complete it with all characters starting with Alex which I accomplished yesterday.

[Aussie2B]

I haven't played much since early January. I started up Illusion of Gaia on Super Nintendo, but then I started feeling sick and haven't yet returned to it. I then started up Mystic Chronicles, a digital-only PSP game, but since I only use my PSP for UMDs, I'm playing it on my Vita. I have over four hours invested into it so far, and I'm surprised that it took about that long to get my second party member, especially when these Kemco RPGs tend to be fairly short and move briskly. Granted, this game gives you loads of optional quests, and I've been completing all of them so far. Also, every party member can be paired up with a guardian beast, so I went from just the protagonist, to the protagonist with a guardian beast, to having a second character who comes with another guardian beast, so that's probably why they didn't rush to throw another character at me. I know these Kemco RPGs are often dumped on, but I've enjoyed it so far, just as I liked End of Serenity as well (the other Kemco RPG released on PSP). The graphics are nice enough, as is the music, and it's simple and straightforward, but offers some more depth if you feel like digging into it (what with how you collect materials to create or improve weapons and armor).

[YoshiM]

Got some time in playing Super Mario 64. Still a classic! At work I'm playing Legend of Zelda on 3DS and am on my way to Death Mountain in the First Quest.

[Aussie2B]

Still not playing much, but I've got over nine hours on the clock in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita. I recruited my third party member, Tina, a while ago, which I have to admit was a little extra incentive to start this game. As shallow as it is to care, it's not often I get to play a game that has a player-controlled character who shares my nickname (in canon, that is. Obviously there are tons of games where you can name the characters anything you please.) I can't think of any game where a controllable character shares my full first name, so my nickname is as close as I'll get. Anyway, now I'm on a new section of map. I was wondering how that was going to work because the first map screen wasn't scrolling or anything, but I didn't think the whole game would take place in that small area. I could be totally off the mark, but I think I'm probably approaching the halfway point. It doesn't look like there's any more than six party members max, and I'm starting to get quests ranked three out of five stars in difficulty. These Kemco RPGs often aren't especially long, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's beatable in under twenty hours.

[Aussie2B]

I have around 12 hours in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita now. I recruited Ray, so now I have more characters than can be in the battle party. I know a lot of people like when all characters gain experience from battles, whether they participated in the battles or not, but I hate that myself. I've never been one to just find a grouping I like and stick with it. I like cycling through everybody, and trying to keep all the levels even is one way to ensure everybody gets a roughly equal amount of battle time. But here, everybody will stay around the same level even if I were to stick to the same party. Actually, I think characters don't get experience if they get knocked out in battle, so those outside of the active battle party seem to have an advantage in terms of always getting EXP. Anyway, Lux is starting to build himself a real harem, haha, but I believe at least one of the remaining recruitable characters is male. I mentioned how this game has a playable character who shares my nickname, but it's also a funny coincidence that, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, I happen to be playing a game that has a party member named Corona. I just cleared the Road to Valencia, and I'm guessing there's not much left to do on this map screen. I also have access to the Omega Colosseum, which I assume is an optional thing, and I'll have to figure out how exactly that works.

[kupomogli]

I've finally been playing The Legend of heroes Trails of Cold Steel, around 30 hours in, and one thing I want to say, is Atlus should really take notes. So if you look at images of the game, you'll see a calendar system, but don't let that put you off from the game, because unlike Persona 5, the pacing isn't absolute garbage and the calendar system is more superficial than anything.

While you spend time with other characters, you only spend time with characters once a month and every single event per month is completely unique, so something that happens in one month won't happen throughout the rest of the game. Sometimes it gives you a bit of insight on the feelings of the characters, other times you learn about the characters past that isn't in the storyline.

The dialogue in this game is some of the best we've had in a JRPG in a long time, and not just the main story or the event scenes, but each and every event change, whether it's a different date or after an event happens during the day in the storyline, the dialogue for every single character and NPC in the game will be different. It'd be one thing if it wasn't written well or wasn't interesting, but the dialogue for the NPCs is actually really good.

The game world is good and while you have your main location, which is Thor's Military Academy, as you progress you go to multiple different cities, areas, and dungeons.

The combat is the one thing that I like, but at the same time, it's a bit underwhelming. Now it's still good, but imo it can be abused and it's not really as good as it could be. That being said, this is one of the few games where combat is the least represented part of the games gameplay where many RPGs are more combat or exploration focused. So the combat is a turn based RPG with a strategic element to it. Enemies and characters have movement and attack ranges and then delays are added to all of your attacks, skills, and spells. Using spells though have additional delay which is actually really good to disrupt turn order and push turn bonuses to different characters or enemies by inserting an extra turn into the battle. The problem with this though is that using a skill to buff party attack and then use attack skills is 99% more effective than using magic and it's so easy to maximize CP on your party. So while the combat is good, sure, to me if feels too abusable at times and is really only standout on harder boss battles.

Now one thing I'd recommend is if you do play the game, the game offers a hard difficulty. I feel that this difficulty is the best way to experience the game. I haven't played any other difficulty, but with how this one feels, I think that the normal difficulty would be too stupidly easy to be any good, but again, this is just an assumption as I've never played the game on normal.

[Aussie2B]

I have roughly 20 hours in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita now, which is kind of surprising considering I think I already had End of Serenity beaten in about 15. But there wasn't much to do in that game but keep progressing the story. Mystic Chronicles has a fair amount of optional, sometimes grindy content. I recruited Alberto and made it to Aldo, so now there's just one character slot left to fill. I got a whole bunch of new weapon/armor-forging books, so now I can make a ton of new gear, and I got a whole new batch of quests. The difficulty ratings in this kind of faked me out. They used to always show five stars, and between one and and all five would be filled in. So I assumed they couldn't get any harder than a five-star rating. But some of my new quests exceed five stars, going up to like seven or eight.

[gbpxl]

I havent played much of anything in a long time. just cant get myself to play anything. too much stuff going on and i dont have the energy to play a lot of those games when i come home

[Aussie2B]

Up to around 25 hours in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita and still no ending in sight, not even the last recruitable character. This has a lot of content for a Kemco RPG. On top of the quests in the Miktoran region, the other two regions got new quests too, generally involving new boss monsters showing up. So most of my time has been spent hunting down those and then using the reward money to upgrade my equipment as much as possible, though I'm starting to get to a point where I'm more limited by not having certain rare materials than by not having the funds. Some of these new monsters hit really hard. There's a bird that appeared along the Road to Valencia that creams me with multiple uses of powerful magic each turn. My characters are around level 50, so I wonder how high they'll get by the end of the game (and beyond; I know there's post-game content too). I've cleared about all the quests I can manage at the moment, so I'm ready to progress the story more. I went into the Ruins of Sin, but there wasn't much I could do on the first visit. I have to return to Aldo and see where it goes from there.

[Aussie2B]

I quickly got what I needed to advance farther into the Ruins of Sin in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita, and then I traveled through Irkalla and got my final party member. It makes sense that the character who has been tagging along for most of the game but not an active member of the party would finally join proper. It's weird to have a character join without a guardian beast, though. I must be nearly at the end now. Story-wise, it seems like they're setting up the final battle, but I've also found almost every (or maybe literally every, didn't check the last time before turning it off) Training Book, so there's basically no equipment that's still inaccessible to me, outside of just not having the materials. I don't know if any new quests will open up at any point, but I've got most of those cleared too, so I don't have much I can do to make money in a timely manner. The game does have optional micro-transactions, so I'm sure some things are intentionally grindy, to encourage you to spend real money in order to get in-game money and materials faster. I definitely don't plan to spend any more on this game than what I paid to buy it (though that wasn't much; it was on sale at the time for somewhere around 5 bucks), so I'll see just how much grinding for materials and money I'll want to do. I'll definitely check out the post-game content when the time comes, but if I get to a point where there's nothing left to do but grind in order to fill out my weapon and armor lists, I might just say screw it.

[Aussie2B]

I've surpassed 30 hours in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita. Definitely meaty for a Kemco RPG. I'm pretty sure I'm in the final dungeon now (outside whatever post-game dungeons there may be). I've completed every quest currently available, but I could do more stuff in the coliseum. I hear some people grind a lot for the final boss, so if I hit a roadblock, I guess I'll do that (though I can't remember if coliseum battles give EXP). But I don't often run from battles, so maybe I'm good. My party members are around level 60, and they're gaining levels like crazy on the enemies I'm currently facing. This seems like the most labyrinthine dungeon yet. I hope I don't miss any treasure, since I am actually still lacking a few Training Books (but for all I know, they could be in the post-game).

[Aussie2B]

There's an option in Mystic Chronicles for PSP to leave any dungeon immediately, without having to work your way to an exit, and while I didn't feel any need to use it before, I finally did so in the final dungeon. It's big and convoluted enough that I actually ran out of SP (which is just MP, really) for all my party members with healing spells. I have items that recover SP (not to mention plenty that heal HP), but I figured I'd start the dungeon from scratch anyway just to get a better grasp of its layout and explore the parts I had missed. Plus, I wanted to put all my new cash and materials to use in weapon/armor tempering. The final dungeon doesn't seem to have a logical flow to its layout, such that you could map it out as one continuous area. You could, say, enter way off to the left and end up in a room that you previously accessed way off to the right, without there being any kind of path that would loop you around. But I think I've combed it over pretty well at this point. I reached the room where I assume the final battle takes place, but there's just one more branch in the dungeon I haven't explored. So I'll go back and do that and then tackle Eveck.

[Aussie2B]

I've been kinda stuck in Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita. I've lost to the final boss a couple times now (the second battle, at least, assuming there isn't a third), and there's not much I can do but grind, if not for EXP than for cash and materials to improve equipment. I've been doing tons of tempering, expanding the variety of weapons and armor in my inventory, but it rarely results in anything better than what I already have equipped, and I'm rarely able to improve what's equipped, since the next step up requires rare materials, which I don't even know where to find in many cases. Coliseum battles don't provide EXP after all, so there's not much to gain from those besides a tiny bit of cash and the reward items. I've only gotten up to the intermediate battles there, and the rewards aren't that impressive thus far. Maybe they get worthwhile at the higher levels. I'm low on elemental crystals most of the time, despite the hamsters bringing some in. So I guess if I get desperate I could manually hunt down and grind on the enemies that drop crystals. But I have a feeling that I've been getting very close to defeating the final boss, so it might be as easy as gaining a couple more levels, which doesn't take that long.

[Aussie2B]

I've been pretty swamped, so I haven't been playing anything much the last couple weeks. But I did beat Mystic Chronicles for PSP via my Vita, as I already posted in the other topic, and I'm chipping away at the post-game content. I beat the quests that opened up in the Holos and Nord regions (more hunting down mini bosses), and I discovered a section in Valencia Cathedral I never went to before (plus, they put some treasure where the "final" boss had been). Now I'm exploring the sections of Irkalla that had previously been blocked off. The enemies in there are definitely strong, but I can't complain because I'll probably need to grind even more to defeat the bigger, badder boss that's coming. I'm now approaching level 80 for most of my party. I'm assuming the levels stop at 99, so kudos to the game for actually making use of most or all of the levels. It's a nitpicky thing, but it kinda bugs me when an RPG has a max level of 99 yet you'll easily clear everything the game has to offer at, like, 50, and it would take an inordinate amount of time to pointlessly max out your level.

[SpaceHarrier]

I don't know how many times over the decades I have started Final Fantasy III/VI and not finished it, but I am starting again today on the SNES Classic, and this time I am going to finish it.

Maybe...

[gbpxl]

Ive been playing through Super Mario All Stars on SNES on a JC Penney TV from 1987. Im halfway through SMB2. Not a huge fan of this game. 3 was the best out of these but Im beating them in order from 1-3 then the Lost Levels

[Aussie2B]

I'm still really swamped with work and other things (which is rough, but at least I still have work, unlike so many others right now), so I've been barely touching any games. On top of that, I've grown a little bored with Mystic Chronicles for PSP on my Vita. I completed the quests that opened up post-game, so now all that's really left to do is fight the next boss. I gave it a try but got creamed pretty bad. So it looks like it's gonna take more grinding, but having already done a few rounds of grinding before the "final" boss, I'm not really in the mood to do even more right now.

My husband downloaded the 4K, widescreen Super Mario 64 that's out there. It's effectively a PC port of the game. It's really cool to see the game running like that. We took turns getting stars. The camera was driving him nuts because he's so used to the standardized functionality and control of cameras in modern games, but since I don't really touch AAA modern games, I still have no problem with the Super Mario 64 camera.

[Tron 2.0]

TG16 mini
Ys book 1&2

I was playing streets of rage four on the PS4 but i've completed,enough times all ready.So i was in the mood to play the TG16 version of ys 1&2 again.I've lost track how many times i've beaten ys 1&2 but i still enjoy the game.

[jammajup]

DonPachi & Batsugun(Arcade)
Streets Of Rage 3 (MD)

[YoshiM]

I picked up a GBA SP "101" model for a good price and have been playing "Super Mario Land" on it. I never really played it before and when I got the game last year, I couldn't SEE it that well on my (then) non-lit GBA. It's a fun little title though I swear some of a level repeats (placing of platforms, enemies, etc.).

And I got back into Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I FINALLY paid off the Dream Suite. Now on to the Mueseum Expansion.

[dado.marinette]

Currently I'm playing super smash bros 64 with friends.

So many good memories of this game, a pleasure to come back to it after all these years

[Tron 2.0]

PS4
Contra Anniversary Collection

Finished the TG16 version of Ys 1&2 awhile ago.The contra collection was on sale and i was in the mood to play a run'n'gun again.

[YoshiM]

Just beat the first quest in Legend of Zelda. I think now I'll focus on SMB 3 as I've never beaten it in the 30 years since I first played it.

[dado.marinette]

Currently I'm playing Spyro 2 Ripto's Rage on ps1, I'm learning to speedrun.

[YoshiM]

I discovered my game of Zelda 2: Adventure of Link on my 3DS had a save on it, so I decided to polish that one off.

Oh my gawd, I forgot how cheap the enemy hits are! After dying for the last time on the lava on the way to the Golden Palace, the trek back there is super annoying with the dead-eye lizard folk that have no problem pelting you with rocks...from a distance....when they are off the screen! If the followers of Ganon employed these guys for all defenses, Link wouldn't thrown in the towel several palaces ago. I will gladly admit that after I got to the river of lava again, I used the Virtual Console save state feature liberally. Got the red magic jar on the far right of the lava pool and filled my meters-save. Get to the beginning of the first lava sequence. Save. Beat those floating ghosty eyes by being patient and letting them come to me before I progress past the first half of that stage...save. Miscalculated a couple of those floaty ghost eyes, got Simon Belmonted twice in mid air and fell to my death in a bath of lava....reload.

One thing I don't have now that I had in plenty the first time I beat this game (about thirty years ago) is time. I play this on my lunch breaks, which I have been able to thankfully take these recent days, so my window of play is variably narrow. I don't have time to start from the beginning after a death and slog through the annoying bits to get back to where I was and beyond. So I thank Nintendo for the save state feature.

Did anyone else who has played this game to the end get the feeling that the developers just wanted to get the game done after the Ocean Palace? It's like in short succession you get all your remaining spells and items with not a lot of work and they really don't DO much in terms of game play. The Flute makes the Hidden Palace appear, the entrance to where the Magic Key is appear and gets rid of the river monster. After that, you don't need it. The cross allows you to see hidden floaty ghosty eyes. The magic key opens all remaining doors....but the only place left that has doors to unlock before you get to the end is the Hidden Palace. How often does one use the spell....um...Spell? It's not like there's lots of places to fill up your magic when you use it-the abandoned town doesn't have an old woman to refill your magic. The boots allow you to walk on lava and water on the map but you don't get to go to a lot of places as hidden walls block your path.

That's just the magic side-the journey also seems to look like the developers had it. The lava road is basically a somewhat narrow path where it's easy to run into a random encounter where you get marauded by a bunch of ghosty floaty eyes with lava pits everywhere that those precious boots doesn't protect you from. The boots from "Wizards and Warriors" were more effective. Then there are the action parts, then the caves. Just to survive the lava walk needs a lot of luck to get through without hitting encounters and thus saving magic.

I got to the Golden Palace with I think 2 lives to spare. Now I remember why I like the original Zelda better-at least for many of the situations there if you get blasted, it's more your fault than the game being cheap.