2017 Game Completion Challenge

[Cornelius]

Just noticed I missed getting credit for DuckTales. I buried the part that says I finished it. My bad.


I had picked up the retail version of DuckTales Remastered for the PS3 way back, but it is the code version and I never redeemed it. Expired now. waah waaa (trombone sound).

Been waiting for the new basement to be finished, but this got me to set up my NES again and I played it that way. Stoopid key to the mines threw me off, but game is now completed.

[Cornelius]

For the Player's Choice challenge I just completed* D on the Sega Saturn. *But the sonofabitch skipped when I completed the 'gear' puzzle. Seemed pretty far into it, so I watched a video and sure enough, there is only one 'action' after that, and I'm not even sure you have a choice on that action. And previously I had to restart once because of real life (you can't pause the game at all, and it has a 2 hour limit).

I guess it serves me right. I kinda chose the game thinking I was clever both because of the name just being one letter, and because it is 'short' and I could knock it down pretty quick. Well, had to restart, so it wasn't that short, then the really damn frustrating skipping at the end. And now I don't even know if a little bit of 'spit polish' fixed the skipping problem since it restarted with disc 1 after putting disc 2 back in. And while the game is impressive in its way, there's no chance I'm sitting through all that again to find out if it works.

[celerystalker]

For the Player's Choice challenge I just completed* D on the Sega Saturn. *But the sonofabitch skipped when I completed the 'gear' puzzle. Seemed pretty far into it, so I watched a video and sure enough, there is only one 'action' after that, and I'm not even sure you have a choice on that action. And previously I had to restart once because of real life (you can't pause the game at all, and it has a 2 hour limit).

I guess it serves me right. I kinda chose the game thinking I was clever both because of the name just being one letter, and because it is 'short' and I could knock it down pretty quick. Well, had to restart, so it wasn't that short, then the really damn frustrating skipping at the end. And now I don't even know if a little bit of 'spit polish' fixed the skipping problem since it restarted with disc 1 after putting disc 2 back in. And while the game is impressive in its way, there's no chance I'm sitting through all that again to find out if it works.

Your Duck Tales completion has been added to last week's scores, and your D will go on the new week! There is actually a choice in your final action in D, which results in multiple endings. I'm rather a fan of that game.

Also, congratulations on eating that sweet, selfless piggy... I hope he was delicious... I mean, "ham" is literally in his name.

[FieryReign]

Felt like being weird and beating the Game Gear port of Rastan.

[Cornelius]

Your Duck Tales completion has been added to last week's scores, and your D will go on the new week! There is actually a choice in your final action in D, which results in multiple endings. I'm rather a fan of that game.


Dang it. I may just go back through it, then.

[celerystalker]

Felt like being weird and beating the Game Gear port of Rastan.

Ha, nice! I forgot about that port.

[jperryss]

Finished Mega Man X last night, sorry for the crappy photo.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/mmx.jpg

[celerystalker]

Another week down, a couple of pigs eaten, and a couple of Mega Man X wins. So, for the new week:

-Assault Suits series: pick one. These include Target Earth/Assault Suits Leynos (Gen), Cybernator/Assault Suits Valken (SNES, PS2), Assault Suits Valken 2 (PS1 SRPG), and Assault Suits Leynos 2 (Saturn).

-Legend (SNES)

-Player's choice: pick a game with a weather-related title. Examples might include Heavy Rain, Lightening Force (it's mis-spelled on the cart, don't blame me), Thunder Spirits, Blast Wind, Super Mario Sunshine, etc.

-RP2A03 and Cornelius are busting through The Illusion of Gaia. Anyone else chasing a Quintet Heaven and Earth game for the RPG points?

[Cornelius]

Illusion of Gaia completed! Favorite quote, "I want to burn you"

Great game with tight controls, fun levels and power-ups/forms. Story... Eh, it is alright, but pretty disjointed in a lot of places. I did like that the levels weren't overly repetitive, and you didn't just fight a boss every time in the usual formula.

Oh, I had to come back and bitch about how having 9 extra 'lives' at the last boss is actually a disadvantage. I died enough to find out :/ that when you have extra lives you start over with the last boss with half health. When you run out of extra lives, you start over with the last boss at full health!

Also, I finished with 49 red jewels. I was using a guide to find them, but still missed one. I also think I missed a HP upgrade, as I was half a pip short of two full rows.

10182

[RP2A03]

Why yes, Kara, we should definitely rest here. What a splendid idea!


http://i.imgur.com/qLwmQxZ.png








Story... Eh, it is alright, but pretty disjointed in a lot of places.

The translation certainly doesn't help matters any. Look here if your curious: https://www.terraearth.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1926

[Emperor Megas]

I completed Insector X for my player's choice game, but it was about 20 minutes after midnight Central time, so I think I missed the cut off.

I had to use several continues to complete it. I used to be able to fly through this game with a single credit, no problem, sometimes on a single life, but I'm EXTREMELY rusty now. I forgot how large the hit box on your character is. Jesus. I don't know how I used to be so good at this shitty game.

This was the only game I managed to play this week. I was out of town for a few days and when I got back home I had to get one of my cats fixed, and the wife has a dentist appointment, then I had to play catch up at work. Urgh!

One good thing is that the dentist is in a town I only go to a few times a year, and I had some decent pawn shop finds. I actually got a loose replacement battery for my PSP-3000 that I took a chance on for $5. Got home and tested it out and it works great so far (knock on wood). That alone was worth the trip.

I also hit up a pawn shop with a cool ass older dude who runs it. He always throws in a game or two for free when totally up my lot. It's awesome because we don't have a rapport or anything (I'm not there enough for him to remember me I don't think), but he ALWAYS hooks me up when I buy a lot of games, which is just great. I LOVE people who do cool stuff like that just because.

[Niku-Sama]

Yay i have some of those games!

[Az]

I played through a bit of SMS Rastan this week but never finished it, still playing on my original cart I had from '88 or '89. Great SMS game, looks a bit flat but plays good. The arcade cabinet was one that I always would plop a coin or two in no matter where I saw it at. The main tune is straight-up epic and would make Basil proud. As far as I can remember it was the first game I ever saw that had a heart as the meter, heart as in an actual anatomically correct organ.

Sat down tonight and played through Arcade Mode on the US PSX release of Psychic Force. I hadn't touched this game in years, probably since it first came out, and didn't spend that much time with it even then. It plays alright enough for one of the first entries in that type of fighter (3D floaty free flying) so rough edges should be expected. What I didn't care for was some of the damage scaling. There are bread & butter 3 or 4 hit combos that take off waaayyy more damage than they should.

I'm assuming that since I used continues I didn't fight the real big bad, but the final boss I did encounter was the usual overpowered controller-throwing nonsense. Unblockable or giant chip damage attacks, techniques unavailable in normal play, the whole shebang. He ended up getting the Mortal Kombat treatment where rather than using the normal flow of your skills you instead find one AI hiccup and cheese it to death.

[Emperor Megas]

I knocked this one out right away. Target Earth is EASILY one of my favorite 16-bit titles, and honestly one of my all time favorite video games. What a trip playing through this game again after so many years! The nostalgia was just washing over me like a wave of awesomeness. This game was so ahead of it's time for an early 16-bit entry. Dynamic NPC allies fighting along side you, dialog windows with cheesy Anime banter, offensive and defensive mission objectives, floaty zero-G battles. I remember the first time I ever played it. It was like playing an actual Macross game before importing was a thing.

Excellent picks for week 7!

[jperryss]

-RP2A03 and Cornelius are busting through The Illusion of Gaia. Anyone else chasing a Quintet Heaven and Earth game for the RPG points?

Just started on Soulblazer yesterday. Forgot how great the music is on this one, definitely my favorite of the series and some of my favorites tunes on the SNES.

Hoping to do some damage with this week's titles. :)

[RP2A03]

I wrapped up Illusion of Gaia myself.


http://i.imgur.com/OEMMz6R.png





Also, I finished with 49 red jewels. I was using a guide to find them, but still missed one.

If it makes you feel any better, collecting all of the jewels would have gotten you a kinda cool dungeon, a difficult boss fight, and... what else was it?

Hold on.

Let's see...

Ah, yes, that's it!

You get nothing else.

[celerystalker]

I wrapped up Illusion of Gaia myself.


http://i.imgur.com/OEMMz6R.png






If it makes you feel any better, collecting all of the jewels would have gotten you a kinda cool dungeon, a difficult boss fight, and... what else was it?

Hold on.

Let's see...

Ah, yes, that's it!

You get nothing else.

True, but it is one of many direct ties to SoulBlazer story-wise...

Emperor Megas-glad you enjoy Target Earth so much! It's so unique on the Genesis. I always felt like it and Leynos 2 on Saturn were sorely underrated. Also, you do get the completion point for Insector X. I've been allowing up until about noon on Sundays central time.

Az-yeah, the original Psychic force is a bit unbalanced. 2012 is probably the best of the series as far as that goes, though 2012EX included in the PS2 Psychic Force Complete adds back ina few characters. It's a series that us definitely at its best in multi-player. Glad you did Rastan on SMS! I feel like it was a pretty great home port for its time.

Congrats RP2A03 and Cornelius on the RPG points! I was surprised at how many references there are to SoulBlazer in the Illusion of Gaia once I played them back to back, and the fact that Jeweler Gem was a direct tie to SoulBlazer was neat, kind of like the ending to Drakengard that ties to Nier... good luck to jperryss with SoulBlazer!

[Emperor Megas]

kind of like the ending to Drakengard that ties to Nier...Drakengard was one of the games I purchased from the pawn shop the other day (for $5). I bought it because I'd learned (from you, I think) that it had ties to Nier. It's been on my radar ever since I read that, because I freaking LOVED Nier.

I got Drakengard 3 as well from the other pawn shop that I found the PSP battery at. I already owned Drakengard 2, so I figured I might as well get it, too.

Great to hear that my Insector X point gets counted, BTW. Sunday night is one of my peak gaming hours.

[Cornelius]

God damn it! I now have a Saturn, NES, SNES, and CDX, (plus modern systems) in my living room, and I'm thinking of setting up the Jaguar. This is bad, but also good. I'm just not currently set up for all these, and the basement project (DIY) can't come along fast enough, but at least I'm playing for a change.

Anyway, I kind of suck at classic action games. Took me an embarrassing number of tries to beat the first level of Target Earth. Made it to the third but blew my continues there. I doubt I'll be able to complete the game, but I do like it a lot. It is kind of hard getting back into the mindset to play this sort of game (i.e. die, start over, gradually improve, repeat). And reading about Emperor knocking it out the first night didn't help. I was thinking, "how hard can it be?". Kicking my ass.



Great to hear that my Insector X point gets counted, BTW. Sunday night is one of my peak gaming hours.

I'd advocate for having the week start on Monday so the weekend can be a solid chunk devoted to a game if needed. Or maybe give each 'week' 8 days and just let Sunday overlap all the way. Totally not a big deal, whatever works for celerystalker is fine with me, I'm just happy for the community incentive to play.

[celerystalker]

God damn it! I now have a Saturn, NES, SNES, and CDX, (plus modern systems) in my living room, and I'm thinking of setting up the Jaguar. This is bad, but also good. I'm just not currently set up for all these, and the basement project (DIY) can't come along fast enough, but at least I'm playing for a change.

Anyway, I kind of suck at classic action games. Took me an embarrassing number of tries to beat the first level of Target Earth. Made it to the third but blew my continues there. I doubt I'll be able to complete the game, but I do like it a lot. It is kind of hard getting back into the mindset to play this sort of game (i.e. die, start over, gradually improve, repeat). And reading about Emperor knocking it out the first night didn't help. I was thinking, "how hard can it be?". Kicking my ass.



I'd advocate for having the week start on Monday so the weekend can be a solid chunk devoted to a game if needed. Or maybe give each 'week' 8 days and just let Sunday overlap all the way. Totally not a big deal, whatever works for celerystalker is fine with me, I'm just happy for the community incentive to play.

I'm generally pretty flexible on it so long as nobody's getting upset about it. A Sunday overlap is fine by me, especially since some weeks I don't get the new games posted until after midnight Saturday/Sunday.

Target Earth is likely the hardest of the Assault Suits games. If it's hitting too hard, Cybernator/Valken is a lot more accessible. Leynos 2 is as well, but it's quite a bit longer, and Valken 2 is a strategy RPG in the vein of Front Mission, making it the longest by a mile.

Glad you're having fun! That's what's most important. I'll be sending a prize to the winner and second place at the end of the year, but it's really about playing games and having a good time. :)

[Emperor Megas]

Target Earth is a lot easier if you stock up on choice weapons in the first stage.

I'm not sure if you know about this or not, but in the first stage if you ONLY destroy the enemy attack ship and NOTHING ELSE AT ALL, you'll be rewarded with one of almost every weapon type in your stock. You won't see them displayed at the end of the stage where they normally show the weapons you've acquired, but you'll see them all there when the second stage starts.

The thing is, it's actually REALLY TOUGH to do it this trick, because enemies destroyed by your allies (it happens), and any enemies who get caught up in the aftermath of the attack ship falling to the ground when it's destroyed count as enemy kills. You have to spend a lot of time corralling enemies and keeping them alive and 'safe', and it's especially tough to keep them away from the attack ship wreckage at the end of the stage. You'll know if you've done it right if your score is 2800 points (the value of JUST the attack ship) when the stage ends. I pretty much always play it this way, so that's probably why I breeze through the game. It's not too tough to play it without the full weapon spread, but you have to play it really, REALLY conservatively.

The Jetpack and Missle Pod make the game SO MUCH more fun, and carrying the shield just looks bad ass. I usually just stock up on defensive armaments each stage and just equip the HG Gun (the more power version of the standard Gatling gun) and a Missle Pod (which makes short work of Rance encounters) and just have a blast.

[jperryss]

Took a break from Soulblazer for the player's choice challenge: Lords of Thunder completed (with the volume at 11, the way god intended).

This game is in my top 3 of all-time and if you enjoy shmups even a little and have never played this, I highly recommend checking it out.

Someday I'll learn how to take decent CRT pics...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/lot.jpg

[celerystalker]

Took a break from Soulblazer for the player's choice challenge: Lords of Thunder completed (with the volume at 11, the way god intended).

This game is in my top 3 of all-time and if you enjoy shmups even a little and have never played this, I highly recommend checking it out.

Someday I'll learn how to take decent CRT pics...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/lot.jpg

Awesome game! Did you do it on Turbo or Sega CD? I'm slightly partial to Gate of Thunder, but both are tremendous.

[jperryss]

Awesome game! Did you do it on Turbo or Sega CD? I'm slightly partial to Gate of Thunder, but both are tremendous.

Oops! This was on the TG16. I have GoT also (on the 4-in-1 Duo disc) but have only finished it once and don't revisit it too often. I do listen to both soundtracks quite a bit.

[FieryReign]

Target Earth is pretty awful, what am I missing here? Never played it before, is it a nostalgic thing?

[celerystalker]

Target Earth is pretty awful, what am I missing here? Never played it before, is it a nostalgic thing?

Nostalgia plays a role, but its unique approach makes it a different animal from the usual run 'n gun, and playing it like you would a Contra just gets you dead. It's an odd duck to be sure, and not a lot of folks really dig it. I'd recommend giving Cubernator a shot instead. It has a much more arcade presentation and feel, and gets played more like an action game... I think most people prefer it.

[celerystalker]

As of this morning, here are the current standings:

RP2A03-12

Snow Bros
Bucky O'Hare
Guerrilla War
Magic Sword
Tiny Toon Adventures
Mega Man X
The Illusion of Gaia (RPG pts)

Cornelius-8

Space Invaders Extreme
Duck Tales
D
The Illusion of Gaia (RPG pts)

Scissors-6

Super Smash Bros
Road Runner
Strider
Trap Gunner
Bucky O'Hare

FieryReign-6

Super Fantasy Zone
Street Fighter II
Strider
Pit Fighter
Quackshot
Rastan

jperryss-6

Breakthru
Grind Stormer
Duck Tales 2
Guerrilla War
Mega Man X
Lords of Thunder

Az-6

Street Fighter II
Pit Fighter
TMNT Tournament Fighters
Magic Sword
Guerrilla War
Psychic Force

Emperor Megas-5

Pocket Fighter
Puyo Puyo Fever
Aladdin
Insector X
Target Earth

Those RPG points for this month are shaking things up!

[Emperor Megas]

I just ended Thunder Force II for the first time in decades. I haven't touched it for probably 20 years, so I had to use about 3 or 4 continues. In the end I had 1 left in the reserve. 75% of the difficulty of this game stems from the speed that your ship moves. It's INSANELY fast if you're not used to playing it, and I think I may have used a joystick back in the day. I used to have the absolute quickest routes for every overhead stage, and could complete all of them in like a minute and a half or something, tops, but I was completely lost and getting horrible times of like 5 minutes+ or worse today.



Target Earth is pretty awful, what am I missing here? Never played it before, is it a nostalgic thing?It was a nostalgic thing even when it was new. Growing up loving Robotech and giant robot Anime, this game was as close as you got to a playable Macross type game. There were a lot of things going on that weren't common place when it was released. There was diversity in the stage's objectives, full on space battles with NPCs that you could assist and defend (If you wanted to), lots of cheese, Anime camp, and cliches galore, wacky music that only makes since if a Japanese game, you could outfit your mecha, customizing it for each stage, which was awesome. Trust me, this game was the shit if you were an otaku in the late 80's, early 90's.

[Cornelius]

Thanks for the recommendation jperryss! I just completed Lords of Thunder!!

I decided to give it a try and for this one I had to install an emulator. I haven't run one in a good 10 years it seems like. I setup RetroArch and this is like a dream compared to what I remember. So I loaded up the SegaCD version of Lords of Thunder and gave it a whirl. Got beat up pretty bad and didn't think I'd likely pursue it enough to finish, but then I just started squeaking through levels and realized the bosses were a lot easier than I expected / thought at first. Then today I've got a cold and my drill broke so construction is on hold so I had time. Did pretty well through most of the game but blew it all and couldn't get past the big laser mini-boss thing. Finally, the Elixir got me past the balls'n'chains with enough health/elemental thingies to get past the laser. Then, again, the bosses weren't that bad*, though I only had one tick of health left. I was actually shocked to finish it because I took a beating on that last guy.

*Have I mentioned I suck at action games? So I kinda cheated and watched some videos for strategies. Plus, I read about the different suits because I really wasn't noticing much difference besides the blatantly obvious. The manual would have been nice to read.

I took a picture of the same scene as jperryss because it is awesome.
http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww75/evanwink42/Finds/IMG_20170215_152522.jpg (http://s707.photobucket.com/user/evanwink42/media/Finds/IMG_20170215_152522.jpg.html)

The emulator is so easy I gave Legend a brief try, too. We'll see how that goes.

[jperryss]

Thanks for the recommendation jperryss! I just completed Lords of Thunder!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Earth Armor all the way! Your pic isn't working BTW.

That final stage can be tough and you don't have much time or space to dodge many of the obstacles. The reverse and vertical scrolling later in the stage is also a trip.

If you buy the max shield for the final boss stage and don't take too much of a beating on the first two bosses, for the final boss you can just about sit in his mouth and drop a couple bombs while swinging at him to finish him off.

This was one of the first games I ever played with rockin' CD audio and I still remember being absolutely blown away. I'm not very good at shooters but found this one to be approachable at Normal difficulty. Hard is pretty tough and I've only cleared it once. On Super, every enemy shoots bullets at you when they die.

[Emperor Megas]

Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm for the SEGA CD has sort of a rocking soundtrack as well, IIRC. It's no Lords of Thunder though.

[jperryss]

Completed Soul Blazer (and spelled it right this time!)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/soulblazer.jpg

I rented this game two separate times as a kid but couldn't manage to finish it either time. When I started collecting SNES games again about 10 years ago, this was one of the first titles I picked up and almost immediately sat down with it to give it a full playthrough. I've revisited it twice since then and in my head I still feel the pressure of trying to rip through it in a couple days' time, as if it's a rental. Weird how that works. Anyway, random thoughts time:

-All three of the games in this series have some memorable music. For this game, the main "town" music (https://youtu.be/tNGcTTPle0E?t=384) that changes to a brighter tune (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNGcTTPle0E&feature=youtu.be&t=975) after you defeat each boss is probably my favorite. The music that plays when you're inside the painting or the model (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNGcTTPle0E&feature=youtu.be&t=836) also creates a very surreal atmosphere. Illusion of Gaia has this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaIad-eFheU&feature=youtu.be&t=1312), and Terranigma has Top of Saint Mountain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3vk5N8TyYU&feature=youtu.be&t=2145). Did I mention how much I love the music in this series?

-I'd swear that the title screen opening drum beat lags a bit, almost sounds like system is getting bogged down for just a moment. The music is still awesome.

-I love the little tips that the NPCs give to help you trigger a sequence, like "Please sit directly across from me and then talk to me" or "Can you please move so that I can let you pass?"

-The soldier that gets killed on the airship dock is named Dok. Dok!

-The developers got a bit lazy with the names of each area, which you never actually see unless you press start. "A ghost ship", "a torture chamber", etc. Lots of incorrect capitalization that I bet they intended to clean up later.

-It's very easy to level up for the final boss. Equip the Phoenix magic and head to the last room before the final boss. Two flipping mirror things will be on either side of you and a 3rd one above. Enter the room, wait 1/2 second, then swing your sword while facing north. Your sword will hit the two on the sides and the Phoenix will hit the one above, all for a ton of EXP. Leave the room and repeat.

-I've played through all three titles in this series but playing this game actually makes me want to revisit the two Actraiser titles more than anything.

-The hero's sword sounds like Maggie Simpson.

-Those purple LEDs at the bottom of the pic are my Wii sensor bar. It's USB-powered using a standard cellphone wall charger, so it's on whenever I switch on power to my gaming setup. I never noticed that they show up in pictures like that until just now!

[Emperor Megas]

Sweet monitor, jperryss

[jperryss]

Sweet monitor, jperryss

Thanks! The image on this one has a bit of waviness on the left edge that I can't quite straighten out, but I managed to get it close enough that I hardly notice it anymore. I have it hooked up to a stereo shelf system that I bought used/open box and my systems are in a cabinet underneath the monitor.

Here's a pic in all its wood-paneling surrounded glory: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/433791/pvm.jpg

[Emperor Megas]

Yeah, that's pretty nice find. I was keeping an eye out for one like it a few years back.

On another note, I don't know why but I forgot that RPGs are worth 5 points. I was scratching my head for a minute when I looked at the totals.

BTW, celery', I sort of assumed that it was capped at just one point/game per week for the player's choice option, but can we earn additional points if we beat more than one game that meets that weeks criteria? Like, if I end Snow Bros. or something in the next few days, do I get another point? Again, I'm assuming no, but I figured it's worth confirming. ^^;

[celerystalker]

Yeah, that's pretty nice find. I was keeping an eye out for one like it a few years back.

On another note, I don't know why but I forgot that RPGs are worth 5 points. I was scratching my head for a minute when I looked at the totals.

BTW, celery', I sort of assumed that it was capped at just one point/game per week for the player's choice option, but can we earn additional points if we beat more than one game that meets that weeks criteria? Like, if I end Snow Bros. or something in the next few days, do I get another point? Again, I'm assuming no, but I figured it's worth confirming. ^^;

Worth a shot, but no, only one player's choice per week.

[Emperor Megas]

Heh, had to try. :wink 2:

[Cornelius]

BTW, celery', I sort of assumed that it was capped at just one point/game per week for the player's choice option, but can we earn additional points if we beat more than one game that meets that weeks criteria? Like, if I end Snow Bros. or something in the next few days, do I get another point? Again, I'm assuming no, but I figured it's worth confirming. ^^;


Worth a shot, but no, only one player's choice per week.


Heh, had to try. :wink 2:

Haha! I was wondering something similar. 2 points for Thunder & Lightning (NES)?

[Cornelius]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Earth Armor all the way! Your pic isn't working BTW.

That final stage can be tough and you don't have much time or space to dodge many of the obstacles. The reverse and vertical scrolling later in the stage is also a trip.

If you buy the max shield for the final boss stage and don't take too much of a beating on the first two bosses, for the final boss you can just about sit in his mouth and drop a couple bombs while swinging at him to finish him off.

This was one of the first games I ever played with rockin' CD audio and I still remember being absolutely blown away. I'm not very good at shooters but found this one to be approachable at Normal difficulty. Hard is pretty tough and I've only cleared it once. On Super, every enemy shoots bullets at you when they die.

I used a mix of the armors based on internet advice, and I thought it was pretty fun and worked fine. Wind was particularly good on the level where so many enemies come from behind. Earth armor on the last.

So many things on point for the time period in this game: Soundtrack is awesome guitar thrashing, the sexy shopkeeper clearly wants my body, and the glorious hair at the end!

Picture should be working now. Was trying to share from Google Photos, since I'm taking these with my phone anyway, but it just doesn't seem to want to let me embed a picture like that. Back to photobucked, which I haven't logged into in a few years.

[jperryss]

So many things on point for the time period in this game: Soundtrack is awesome guitar thrashing, the sexy shopkeeper clearly wants my body, and the glorious hair at the end!

My Japanese is a bit rusty but I think she says that in the PCE version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVqkODdAI4o&feature=youtu.be&t=197).

(Just kidding, I have no idea what she's saying.)

[Az]

The emulator is so easy I gave Legend a brief try, too. We'll see how that goes.

I've given Legend (and its sequels) several chances in the past and tried again earlier this week to get into it. Maybe it's just my tastes, but the art style is a turn off and the engine itself plays too slow and clunky. No doubt my opinion is biased because the whole time I'm hoping it would magically transform into a Golden Axe sequel.

[jperryss]

I've given Legend (and its sequels) several chances in the past and tried again earlier this week to get into it. Maybe it's just my tastes, but the art style is a turn off and the engine itself plays too slow and clunky. No doubt my opinion is biased because the whole time I'm hoping it would magically transform into a Golden Axe sequel.

I played the SNES one for the first time yesterday and pretty much agree with you. If the main character moved a bit faster it could've been a different game.

[Cornelius]

I played the SNES one for the first time yesterday and pretty much agree with you. If the main character moved a bit faster it could've been a different game.

I don't know how long I played before noticing you can block with a shield. And then I tried to use it and it is almost completely worthless. That could have made a big difference, too.

[celerystalker]

Legend works a whole lot better in co-op. I probably should've thought of that and gone with something more brisk like King of Dragons...

[Cornelius]

Legend works a whole lot better in co-op. I probably should've thought of that and gone with something more brisk like King of Dragons...

I wouldn't worry about it. Much of the fun in this is giving something a fair shake that I probably wouldn't otherwise.

[Emperor Megas]

Damn it! I didn't know that I owned The Illusion of Gaia until just now. I just decided to look through my SNES game (I only have a few) and there it was, plain as day. I could have started this weeks ago! How many hours is this game about?

[celerystalker]

Damn it! I didn't know that I owned The Illusion of Gaia until just now. I just decided to look through my SNES game (I only have a few) and there it was, plain as day. I could have started this weeks ago! How many hours is this game about?

It's an action RPG, so significantly shorter than a traditional RPG. I'd say less than ten hours without a walkthrough, though it could probably be sped through pretty quickly with an FAQ and maps. Big thing is that health upgrades come not by collecting hearts, but by clearing all enemies from an area, which is rewarding, but takes a little time.

For the record, though, I'd dare to say it's one of the best games of its kind.

[Emperor Megas]

I'll have at it then. For me the Completion Challenge acts as a motivation to play. The points are just icing. It'll be good to tackle a game I haven't tried before rather than just scoring easy points playing through games I've completely (literally) a hundred times over.

[Emperor Megas]

So, in Illusion of Gaia, when you save your game and chose not to continue to play more, is it suppose to just hang on this scene in the Dark World, or what? Is this normal? Like, do you have to reset the game or something?

[FieryReign]

Played through Alex Rider- Stormbreaker on the GBA. Some poop based on a license of some sort. One of those Disney straight-to-video things about a teen spy, I think. It's pretty wack. Tries to be some stealth kinda game but lacks A.I.

I tried Ace Lightning first but that thing was unplayable.

[jperryss]

So, in Illusion of Gaia, when you save your game and chose not to continue to play more, is it suppose to just hang on this scene in the Dark World, or what? Is this normal? Like, do you have to reset the game or something?

That's normal, Soul Blazer does the same thing. The game is saved and it's safe to power off or reset.

[Niku-Sama]

I can't get past the second level in cybernator
Been trying all week

[Emperor Megas]

That's normal, Soul Blazer does the same thing. The game is saved and it's safe to power off or reset.That's...so weird. Why wouldn't it reset to the title screen. Such a bizarre decision. :-/

[RP2A03]

So, in Illusion of Gaia, when you save your game and chose not to continue to play more, is it suppose to just hang on this scene in the Dark World, or what? Is this normal? Like, do you have to reset the game or something?

Yes.
.

[celerystalker]

Still a day or so to go in week 7, but I'll post week 8 a few hours early while I'm still conscious.

-Kabuki Quantum Fighter (NES)

-Knife Edge: Nose Gunner (N64)

-Player's choice: Pick a game with a color in its title. Examples might include Red Faction, Black, The Hunt for Red October, Pokémon Blue, Everblue, Gold Medal Challenge '92, Captain Silver, etc.

With jperryss finishing SoulBlazer, three people have completed the monthly RPG challenge. Emperor Megas is in hot pursuit, and Scissors may or may not be staring down a copy of Granstream Saga. with ten days left to go, will anyone else sneak in a win?

[FieryReign]

Damn, that Legend game is a slog. The levels drag on FOREVER. God, I thought level 2 was never going to end. Weak moveset. Hack, hack, hack, jumpkick. No grabs or dashing. The character walks like he's stuck in mud. Probably won't finish this one.

I suck at them Cybernator type games. Tried chipping away at Gaia but I doubt it'll be finished by the deadline.

[Az]

For player's choice this week I decided to play through Alien Storm. My only past experience with it was many years ago on the Genesis port, which I never did finish. Played a few levels on it and thought I'd try out the SMS port, a cart I owned for years but never tried.

Gee whiz that thing is horrible. It's got that same herky-jerky framerate issue the SMS Golden Axe port does but only worse. Visuals are flat and extremely boring with no detail in anything. The collision detection isn't too hot, which doesn't to any favors to the gameplay being that the fighting engine is a bit unorthodox to begin with. I ended up getting frustrated and turning it off. That's one port to avoid.

I ended up playing through the original coin-op version. I'd never played this before and had no idea how stripped down the home port was in comparison. It has a ton of humor and little details I was unaware of and they're completely lost on the Genesis version. I always assumed it was fairly accurate to the source material like the Golden Axe port, but boy was I wrong.

Overall the coin-op was an enjoyable game that's worth a playthrough but not one I'd prefer over either of the arcade Golden Axe game. If you're a big Sega fan the coin-op is worth a playthrough just to see the ending. It's a classic, off the wall Team Shinobi ending with references to their past 3 arcade games.

[jperryss]

That's...so weird. Why wouldn't it reset to the title screen. Such a bizarre decision. :-/

Probably to encourage kids to put the controller down and go outside. :)

[Scissors]

I played through Metal Storm for player's choice this week. I also started Granstream Saga, but I have a feeling I won't finish this one in time either.

I'm definitely going to give Kabuki Quantum Fighter a try next week. I've had it for years, but never really played it.

[Emperor Megas]

I ran through Black Tiger on the PSP CAPCOM Collection for a super easy point. If I had to make a top 10 favorite arcade games, Black Tiger would definitely make the cut. This game needs a modern, God of War'esque remake like no other.

Now, to finally try out Kabuki Quantum Fighter...

[celerystalker]

I ran through Black Tiger on the PSP CAPCOM Collection for a super easy point. If I had to make a top 10 favorite arcade games, Black Tiger would definitely make the cut. This game needs a modern, God of War'esque remake like no other.

Now, to finally try out Kabuki Quantum Fighter...

Black Tiger is so near and dear to my heart. It and Time Soldiers go back and forth as my favorite arcade games of all time. I turned off continues on my pcb in the dip switches, 'cause I haven't needed them in years. This pisses my friends that play it off, but they just need to practice more on their Capcom Classics 2 discs that I bought for pretty much all of them when it came out. I bet I gave that thing to at least 4 people that year.

Glad to see Kabuki Quantum Fighter is new to a few folks! I think it's pretty underrated.

Scissors-Metal Storm rules. Up until a few yeas ago, that was one of the best under the radar games out there... now it costs a lot... Good luck clearing Granstream! I've never dug it like I do the SNES trilogy, but I hope you have fun with it!

Az- I really dig Alien Storm. That pcb is on my list to get. I mean, the Genesis version is cool, and I really like it, but you're right about the devil being in the details!

[celerystalker]

Just a question for the future... how do you all feel about the inclusion of an english-friendly import here or there? I'm mainly trying to choose stuff that's fairly common and accessible so far, so as to make it possible for the maximum number of participants. Thoughts?

[Emperor Megas]

Just a question for the future... how do you all feel about the inclusion of an english-friendly import here or there? I'm mainly trying to choose stuff that's fairly common and accessible so far, so as to make it possible for the maximum number of participants. Thoughts?I don't emulate at the moment, and can only play games I actually own (for now). I only have a few Megadrive imports, a handful of various handheld imports, a decent amount of Saturn imports, and a LOT of PC Engine imports (way more than TG-16 games, weirdly enough). With that said, I don't mind the inclusion of an import or two here and there. since there's always going to be something I don't have that others have access to anyway in the weekly picks.

You may want to consider keeping some of the import picks broad though if you decide to incorporate them. Like instead of always using individual titles, you could sometimes just have a broader criteria, like 'an import vertical shooter', or 'any import game based on an Anime license that wasn't released outside of Japan', or 'an import installment that we didn't get here for a series that we did get, etc..

[Emperor Megas]

Black Tiger is so near and dear to my heart. It and Time Soldiers go back and forth as my favorite arcade games of all time. I turned off continues on my pcb in the dip switches, 'cause I haven't needed them in years.!I don't need or use them either, but if others played it I probably would leave continues on just because I like the continue countdown music.

Actually, nah, screw 'em. I'd just tell 'em to 'get good'. ;)

[celerystalker]

I don't emulate at the moment, and can only play games I actually own (for now). I only have a few Megadrive imports, a handful of various handheld imports, a decent amount of Saturn imports, and a LOT of PC Engine imports (way more than TG-16 games, weirdly enough). With that said, I don't mind the inclusion of an import or two here and there. since there's always going to be something I don't have that others have access to anyway in the weekly picks.

You may want to consider keeping some of the import picks broad though if you decide to incorporate them. Like instead of always using individual titles, you could sometimes just have a broader criteria, like 'an import vertical shooter', or 'any import game based on an Anime license that wasn't released outside of Japan', or 'an import installment that we didn't get here for a series that we did get, etc..

Yeah, I don't emulate myself, so I'm trying to be conscientous about availability. There are some really obscure games I'd like to try to get folks to play, but I think I'll just incorporate them as options much like you're suggesting.

[Emperor Megas]

Yeah, I don't emulate myself, so I'm trying to be conscientous about availability. There are some really obscure games I'd like to try to get folks to play, but I think I'll just incorporate them as options much like you're suggesting.If you'd really like to promote specific import titles you could just offer a Player's Choice A -OR- B (B being a specific import option) each week.

People will always have access to Player's Choice A (your normal picks), since you always make the criteria broad. People who have access to the import titles you'd like to offer up can opt to play it instead of the A option that week to earn their Player's Choice point, if they want. This way no one gets left out, the total possible points remain the same, and you can offer up a different import option a week through out the year, which sounds pretty cool.

Mind you, I'm just throwing out random ideas here. ^^;

[jperryss]

If you'd really like to promote specific import titles you could just offer a Player's Choice A -OR- B (B being a specific import option) each week.

People will always have access to Player's Choice A (your normal picks), since you always make the criteria broad. People who have access to the import titles you'd like to offer up can opt to play it instead of the A option that week to earn their Player's Choice point, if they want. This way no one gets left out, the total possible points remain the same, and you can offer up a different import option a week through out the year, which sounds pretty cool.

Mind you, I'm just throwing out random ideas here. ^^;

I like this idea!

[RP2A03]

For this week's player's choice I was a little bit cheeky and played Wheel of Fortune: Starring Vanna White.


http://i.imgur.com/MdrDY7K.png



http://i.imgur.com/Ux7ZGrY.png

No expense was spared on Vanna's sprites.



http://i.imgur.com/XGr9ztX.png

Awesome character design.



http://i.imgur.com/3AeMrnv.png

I won a cruise!








If you'd really like to promote specific import titles you could just offer a Player's Choice A -OR- B (B being a specific import option) each week.

People will always have access to Player's Choice A (your normal picks), since you always make the criteria broad. People who have access to the import titles you'd like to offer up can opt to play it instead of the A option that week to earn their Player's Choice point, if they want. This way no one gets left out, the total possible points remain the same, and you can offer up a different import option a week through out the year, which sounds pretty cool.

I like this idea as well. One thing to keep in mind is that most of us will probably be relying on emulation for the imports, so at the very least the game (if not the hardware) needs to be emulated well.

[Emperor Megas]

Those Wheel of Fortune character designs though! LOL

[FieryReign]

Think I'm making some progress in Gaia. Up to the pyramid with 4 or 5 of the statues. This the only game in the trilogy I never beat for whatever reason.

[Emperor Megas]

I've only got 1 of the statues so far, but I haven't put that much time into it yet. I'm enjoying it so far, but this game has one really annoying thing about it. The game has a tendency to close dialog boxes as soon as you tap something when you didn't realize that one was even going to open. I've missed a lot of one shot dialog boxes, and several of the first box of many exchanges.

[Cornelius]

I've only got 1 of the statues so far, but I haven't put that much time into it yet. I'm enjoying it so far, but this game has one really annoying thing about it. The game has a tendency to close dialog boxes as soon as you tap something when you didn't realize that one was even going to open. I've missed a lot of one shot dialog boxes, and several of the first box of many exchanges.

I was annoyed by that as well, but at this point don't really feel like I missed anything.

[celerystalker]

Think I'm making some progress in Gaia. Up to the pyramid with 4 or 5 of the statues. This the only game in the trilogy I never beat for whatever reason.

You're getting close! I think it's my favorite of the three, though I did really get into my last playthrough of SoulBlazer. They're all good shit.

[FieryReign]

IoG is done. That was shorter than I expected.

Edit. I also accomplished the major feat of finishing Snow White and the 7 Dwarves on GBC for players choice. That was a fucking tough one there, I tell ya. I'm starting to get a kick out of pure licensed garbage on handhelds.

[RP2A03]

http://i.imgur.com/KlKXXne.png


Kabuki Quantum Fighter completed! My first attempt ended in failure at the final boss. I 1CC'd it on my second attempt, although I nearly cleared the game with no deaths. The final boss killed me with only one hit left.


http://i.imgur.com/B1iVFej.png

The imagery in this game is crazy.





http://i.imgur.com/4qw47A4.png

IT'S BEEN SIXTEEN YEARS! WHERE ARE YOU?