2017 Game Completion Challenge

[Emperor Megas]

ESPGaluda for the Import Alternative this week. In case anyone doesn't know the game, it's one of my very favorite vertical shooters. It gives you the unique power to activate slowdown instead of just simple smart bombs, which gives you your big point multiplier and makes things easier, but when it runs out, things briefly speed up like crazy, creating a cool risk/reward mechanic. It has a 360 sequel, but it's the first one (I guess technically the second if you count ESP Ra De) for this week.ESPGaluda is awesome, and ESP Ra De is amazing! My old emulation PC has been down forever, so I have played them for years. I didn't know there was a 360 release.

[celerystalker]

That Rambo game is basically a light gun game on PS3. I'm pretty easy to please with gun games. There are some QTEs as well, but gun games and gallery shooters are a jam for me.

[celerystalker]

ESPGaluda is awesome, and ESP Ra De is amazing! My old emulation PC has been down forever, so I have played them for years. I didn't know there was a 360 release.

Yeah, ESPGaluda II came out on 360. I'm wanting to say it was region free. I'll pop it in and check.

[Cornelius]

Came down to the wire a bit, but Lunar SSSC is completed! Wound up having to fight Royce again because I'm a dumbass and saved over my last file with an earlier one I loaded by mistake. I'm also still annoyed that a game that didn't require any grinding all the sudden did need it to beat the final boss. Dumb. Decent game, really could have done more with status effects and some of the (unused) spells.

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww75/evanwink42/IMG_20170430_215608.jpg (http://s707.photobucket.com/user/evanwink42/media/IMG_20170430_215608.jpg.html)

[celerystalker]

Came down to the wire a bit, but Lunar SSSC is completed! Wound up having to fight Royce again because I'm a dumbass and saved over my last file with an earlier one I loaded by mistake. I'm also still annoyed that a game that didn't require any grinding all the sudden did need it to beat the final boss. Dumb. Decent game, really could have done more with status effects and some of the (unused) spells.

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww75/evanwink42/IMG_20170430_215608.jpg (http://s707.photobucket.com/user/evanwink42/media/IMG_20170430_215608.jpg.html)

Nice win! Did you find all of the bromides?

I like Lunar quite a bit. I own it on Sega CD and PS1, but have only finished it on Sega CD. I've been saving those PS1 remakes for a rainy day. I love how colorful they are, and the cleaned up cutscenes look great. I do miss Working Designs.

[Emperor Megas]

I had to play GCC hookie this week because I got Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it's a blast. It's probably been more than a year since I've played.

[Cornelius]

Nice win! Did you find all of the bromides?

I like Lunar quite a bit. I own it on Sega CD and PS1, but have only finished it on Sega CD. I've been saving those PS1 remakes for a rainy day. I love how colorful they are, and the cleaned up cutscenes look great. I do miss Working Designs.

Not even close on the bromides. I've never played a Lunar game, so didn't know about them or the 'secret' items until at least 3/4 of the way through when I checked something in a guide. Too late for the items (except the Hell ring) at that point, but they sure would have made things easier.

[celerystalker]

Another month went by, and mighty Cornelius took down Lunar. So, time for a new challenge! For May...

-Pick and complete story mode from a game in the Culdcept series.

If you don't know, Culdcept is a board game/RPG hybrid with a deck building component. It's very accessible and addictive. English language versions were released on PS2 and Xbox 360 as Culdcept (actually a port of Culdcept II from Dreamcast) and Culdcept Saga (my favorite) respectively. Versions exist for Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, PS2, 360, DS, and 3DS. Will anyone become a master cepter?

[RP2A03]

For player's choice I went with Hello Kitty no Ohanabatake (Famicom).


http://i.imgur.com/FBPzFqmh.png (http://i.imgur.com/FBPzFqm.png)

Squirrels and snails be damned! I will not be deterred from my quest to water all the flowers!



http://i.imgur.com/pHiXWX8h.png (http://i.imgur.com/pHiXWX8.png)




http://i.imgur.com/4AeVeuyh.png (http://i.imgur.com/4AeVeuy.png)

[Emperor Megas]

Does Altered Beast count? The main character's transformations are all anthropomorphic animals. It's a definite grey area, buuut does it count?

[celerystalker]

Does Altered Beast count? The main character's transformations are all anthropomorphic animals. It's a definite grey area, buuut does it count?

Nope. He's an undead human granted powers to become were-beasts, not an animal stylized to have human traits. Same would apply to Shapeshifter, Shadow of the Beast, Bloody Roar, Wonder Boy III, etc.

[jperryss]

Came down to the wire a bit, but Lunar SSSC is completed! Wound up having to fight Royce again because I'm a dumbass and saved over my last file with an earlier one I loaded by mistake. I'm also still annoyed that a game that didn't require any grinding all the sudden did need it to beat the final boss. Dumb. Decent game, really could have done more with status effects and some of the (unused) spells.

Glad someone finished this one!

[Cornelius]

Glad someone finished this one!

Me too! Some meetings and kid stuff came up last week, so I wasn't sure I'd get through.

Re-reading my comment you quoted; I sound really pretty harsh. Lunar is a great game. Back in the day I would have probably re-started right away to go and find all the bromides and 'hidden' items. I had lots of fun with it. Oh and the voice acting is really quite good. There were only a couple of times during the game where I kinda-sorta thought about "Voice Acting", which is good. I only really noticed that when listening to the outtakes after the credits. Then I was like, "oh yeah, these are all voice actors, and I never really thought about it till now."

Unrelated: I've started Breath of the Wild, so I may be a bit more checked out from the challenge.

[RP2A03]

Whomp 'Em completed.

http://i.imgur.com/WKITTO5h.png (http://i.imgur.com/WKITTO5.png)

[celerystalker]

Whomp 'Em completed.

http://i.imgur.com/WKITTO5h.png (http://i.imgur.com/WKITTO5.png)

Nice. Did you enjoy it?

[RP2A03]

Nice. Did you enjoy it?

Yes, except for that zero g section. If it wasn't for that, I might have 1cc'd the game.

[Scissors]

I finished all 3 games this week.

For Rambo, I played Rambo: First Blood Part II for Sega Master System. I didn't like it at first, but it kinda grew on me. A bit of a challenge, but not too hard. Rambo walks painfully slow though.

I played Whomp 'Em once before many years ago. It looked like a pretty good game, but I was pretty disappointed with it. I'm still not a fan.

For player's choice, I played Sonic the Hedgehog on Genesis. I didn't get all the chaos emeralds though. I just wasn't into it enough to try again.

[jperryss]

Espgaluda finished.

10278

I recently finished wiring up my MAME control panel so going with an arcade game this week was a no-brainer. Still running MAME over s-video for now but an ArcadeVGA card upgrade is planned very soon.

[celerystalker]

Espgaluda finished.

10278

I recently finished wiring up my MAME control panel so going with an arcade game this week was a no-brainer. Still running MAME over s-video for now but an ArcadeVGA card upgrade is planned very soon.

How'd you like it? I really like its slowdown mechanic. Has a nice risk/reward flavor that offers something different from the usual bombs.

[jperryss]

How'd you like it? I really like its slowdown mechanic. Has a nice risk/reward flavor that offers something different from the usual bombs.

It wasn't bad. I'm not exceptionally good at shooters but I enjoy playing them and watching playthroughs of the more hardcore ones. Ikaruga is the only similar game I've cleared and the bullet patterns were much crazier in this game.

[Az]

For player's choice (if it counts) I played through TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES, then a quick run through MD Hyperstone Heist just for comparison.

I'd never spent more than 5 minutes with either game until now. For Turtles in Time, I thought it was a good game and can totally see the hype/nostalgia behind it. Never played the arcade version so I don't know how it compares to it, but as its own thing I enjoyed it more than anticipated. While I can totally recognize the quality I still don't care too much for the licensed Konami beat 'em ups for the fact the engine doesn't have a consistent grab mechanic. They're more like a hack & slash, even moreso than Golden Axe. Totally underwhelmed after finally seeing the "footsoldier thrown into the camera" trick; it's a 2 frame animation with zero scaling that could have been done on any system.

Hyperstone Heist is decent but fully embraces the Konami half-ass Sega efforts curse. Having a dedicated dash button is awesome, having half the content removed isn't.

[celerystalker]

18 weeks in, and Scissors sweeps another! Cornelius knocked out Lunar, and Megas fell to the Switch siren song. 'Ems were whomped, and jperryss took down ESPGaluda for the import alt. One day to go! However, for the new week...

-Sunset Riders (Arcade, SNES, Genesis). Extra love if you do it with four players on the arcade version.

-Sol Divide (PS1, Saturn, Arcade)

-Player's choice: pick a game whose title (not including subtitles or numbers) begins and ends with the same letter. Examples might include Super Star Wars, Rough Ranger, Super Troll Islands, Super Sidekicks, Shock Troopers, Rygar, Shadow of the Colossus, Sakura Wars, Gynoug, etc.

-RPG of the month us a Culdcept story mode. Anyone planning on finding out about the goddess Culdra?

-Import Alternative: Download (PC Engine)

[celerystalker]

Sorry, had to update the import alternative for week 19. Forgot I'd already put Space Hunter up two weeks ago, just didn't get any takers as I recall. Download for PCE is the new one, and it's one of my favorite PCE games. Fast paced horizontal shooter with a surprising amount of story and very funny engrish.

[jperryss]

For player's choice (if it counts) I played through TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES, then a quick run through MD Hyperstone Heist just for comparison.

I'd never spent more than 5 minutes with either game until now. For Turtles in Time, I thought it was a good game and can totally see the hype/nostalgia behind it. Never played the arcade version so I don't know how it compares to it, but as its own thing I enjoyed it more than anticipated. While I can totally recognize the quality I still don't care too much for the licensed Konami beat 'em ups for the fact the engine doesn't have a consistent grab mechanic. They're more like a hack & slash, even moreso than Golden Axe. Totally underwhelmed after finally seeing the "footsoldier thrown into the camera" trick; it's a 2 frame animation with zero scaling that could have been done on any system.

Hyperstone Heist is decent but fully embraces the Konami half-ass Sega efforts curse. Having a dedicated dash button is awesome, having half the content removed isn't.

Turtles in Time is probably my all-time favorite SNES game. The grab-and-throw is mostly based on whether you're holding the joystick towards your opponent when you hit the button. The foot-soldier-toss animation is a lot smoother in the arcade version. The hit contact and detection actually feels better on the SNES game than the arcade version.

There is a lot of variety in moves that you may not notice if you only play it a couple times. For example, there are three different kinds of jump kicks depending on when you hit the attack button during the jump. There also also four separate dash moves: a shoulder charge, flying kick, flip, and slide.

The SNES game would be just about perfect with a dedicated run button and with six buttons there was no good reason not to include one. The double tap timing to run feels just a little bit off.

[jperryss]

sorry, had to update the import alternative for week 19. Forgot i'd already put space hunter up two weeks ago, just didn't get any takers as i recall. Download for pce is the new one, and it's one of my favorite pce games. Fast paced horizontal shooter with a surprising amount of story and very funny engrish.

mission incomplete

i can not fuck up for this

(DP won't let me post this in all caps as intended.)

[celerystalker]

mission incomplete

i can not fuck up for this

(DP won't let me post this in all caps as intended.)

Yes! I love that they are specific to when you die as well.

[Emperor Megas]

I figured I could kill two birds with one stone this week, so I took time off from Mario Kart 8's online play to play through and clear the offline Gran Prix modes. I used Lakitu instead of my usual charater (Daisy) since he's a turtle, and I figured completing the game with an anthro' animal would count for the Player's Choice challenge.

I played a few minutes of Rambo: First Blood Part II on the Master System, but didn't bother trying to complete it. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but I had limited time again this week and it seemed like a Master System game that I would have really liked back in the day (I'd never played it before), so I wanted to play it at my leisure to enjoy it more at the expense of a point.

[jperryss]

The cutoff is midnight, right?

10279

This was a decent Mega Man clone but the power-ups just weren't as fun to experiment with. The zero-G level and final boss were a PITA.

I can't believe I never caught the pun in the title until now.

[celerystalker]

The cutoff is midnight, right?

10279

This was a decent Mega Man clone but the power-ups just weren't as fun to experiment with. The zero-G level and final boss were a PITA.

I can't believe I never caught the pun in the title until now.

Heheh, good ol' injun puns. Yep, cutoff is midnight. Point scored.

[Az]

I played a few minutes of Rambo: First Blood Part II on the Master System, but didn't bother trying to complete it.

I played this a bit back when it was released, seemed like it was a decent 2P game but extremely slow paced. Was this the original game and the license stripped for overseas release, or vice versa?

[celerystalker]

I played this a bit back when it was released, seemed like it was a decent 2P game but extremely slow paced. Was this the original game and the license stripped for overseas release, or vice versa?

It's a port of a game called Ashura in Japan. It was re-skinned as Rambo. Pretty decent Ikari clone.

[Emperor Megas]

I've never played more than a few minutes of this game, and if I remember correctly, a lot of people don't like it. I can understand why though. For me, it's definitely a solid experience, hindered by a few shit design choices. For one thing, your hit box is ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUSLY MASSIVE, which I would be alright with were it not for the stupid, unnecessarily clumsy directional input you have to use in the middle of a combo attack when you perform a melee in this game.

BTW, does this game really not support analog controls on the PS1? When was this released exactly? I can't think of ANY console shooter that I felt I needed a joystick to play well before Sol Divide. It's those damn melee combos. They're really murder for me.

Anyway, I'll find a Player's Choice game to knock out quickly than I think I'll try my hand at whatever Culdcept game I have that isn't sealed. I think I have an open copy of Culdcept Saga on the 360.

[celerystalker]

Sol Divide doesn't support analog control despite being a late release. It was a much earlier arcade game that got a very playable, but super half-assed PS1 port by the same folks who did the Mobile Light Force nonsense.

[jperryss]

For player's choice I went with Metal Storm (NES). This was a great way to test out my new arcade stick. For some reason DP isn't letting me attach a pic, so: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qotinxl04nc6a3c/ms.jpg?dl=0

I think we talked about Metal Storm earlier in this thread. It has some of the nicest parallax scrolling I've seen on the NES and is probably one of the best-looking NES games. The gameplay is tight and challenging, requiring just a bit of memorization to get through. Stage 7 is a boss rush, but the actual last "battle" is about as easy as it gets. Which is OK because the stage 6 boss will cause screaming. The second loop is brutal and requires memorization and perfect timing in a lot of places (think R-Type, another IREM game). I've never cleared it and probably never will.

The arcade stick consists of a Sanwa joystick and Seimitsu buttons in a tek-innovations plexi case. I pad-hacked original controllers for NES, SNES, GEN, and PCE and mounted them in a project box which connects to the arcade stick with a DSUB15 cable, allowing me to use it with my consoles.



Sol Divide doesn't support analog control despite being a late release. It was a much earlier arcade game that got a very playable, but super half-assed PS1 port by the same folks who did the Mobile Light Force nonsense.

I tried this one last night in MAME and it ran pretty well. Got to a series of bosses fairly early and gave up after having to restart a few times. Might pick it up again this week.

[celerystalker]

Yeah, I'm a big Metal Storm fan. My brother and I used to beat the pants off of it, alternating levels and passing the controller. The gravity mechanic is so much more than a gimmick in the game, and it's got some tricky stages.

That stick sounds slick. I prefer the looser feel of the Sanwa sticks over the more stiff Happ stuff. I usually end up using Happ cmpetition sticks on supergun builds for others, as people I know seem to prefer the bat-style sticks, but give me a Sanwa or Seimitsu ball any day.


For player's choice I went with Metal Storm (NES). This was a great way to test out my new arcade stick. For some reason DP isn't letting me attach a pic, so: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qotinxl04nc6a3c/ms.jpg?dl=0

I think we talked about Metal Storm earlier in this thread. It has some of the nicest parallax scrolling I've seen on the NES and is probably one of the best-looking NES games. The gameplay is tight and challenging, requiring just a bit of memorization to get through. Stage 7 is a boss rush, but the actual last "battle" is about as easy as it gets. Which is OK because the stage 6 boss will cause screaming. The second loop is brutal and requires memorization and perfect timing in a lot of places (think R-Type, another IREM game). I've never cleared it and probably never will.

The arcade stick consists of a Sanwa joystick and Seimitsu buttons in a tek-innovations plexi case. I pad-hacked original controllers for NES, SNES, GEN, and PCE and mounted them in a project box which connects to the arcade stick with a DSUB15 cable, allowing me to use it with my consoles.




I tried this one last night in MAME and it ran pretty well. Got to a series of bosses fairly early and gave up after having to restart a few times. Might pick it up again this week.

[Scissors]

I played Transbot for player's choice. I was scanning my SMS games for one that matched the player's choice criteria and this was the second one I saw (the first was Super Tennis, which I stopped playing after about two minutes). This game has two areas, one that loops for ever and one that ends with a boss. I looped the first area and beat the boss in the second. After beating the boss, the game sends you back to the first area and never ends.

I also beat Sunset Riders for Genesis. It took me three tries to beat the final boss. The first time I got to him, I only had two lives left and lost almost immediately. The second time I had a bunch of lives and continues, so I figured I could just mash the fire button and not worry about dodging. This seemed to work and I thought I won, but then the boss got back up and revealed that he was wearing a metal plate for protection and I had to fight him again. By this point, I was down to two lives and couldn't finish him off. The third time, I played very cautiously and beat him with lives and continues to spare.

I'll probably play Sol Divide this weekend.

[celerystalker]

I played Transbot for player's choice. I was scanning my SMS games for one that matched the player's choice criteria and this was the second one I saw (the first was Super Tennis, which I stopped playing after about two minutes). This game has two areas, one that loops for ever and one that ends with a boss. I looped the first area and beat the boss in the second. After beating the boss, the game sends you back to the first area and never ends.

I also beat Sunset Riders for Genesis. It took me three tries to beat the final boss. The first time I got to him, I only had two lives left and lost almost immediately. The second time I had a bunch of lives and continues, so I figured I could just mash the fire button and not worry about dodging. This seemed to work and I thought I won, but then the boss got back up and revealed that he was wearing a metal plate for protection and I had to fight him again. By this point, I was down to two lives and couldn't finish him off. The third time, I played very cautiously and beat him with lives and continues to spare.

I'll probably play Sol Divide this weekend.

I've never spent a ton of time on the Genesis version of Sunset Riders. Back in the late '90s, I played both it and the SNES version a bit while working at FuncoLand, and greatly preferred the SNES version... and then promptly spent that money on Saturn stuff instead. Years later, I was considering picking it up again, but opted to buy the four player arcade cabinet instead. I was looking for a good four player JAMMA cabinet at the time for swapping out four player boards, and after playing around with Sunset Riders with my wife, I snagged it. It's been a big hit with friends and family, and my nieces and nephews always crowd around it, even more than TMNT or GI Joe.

[jperryss]

I prefer the looser feel of the Sanwa sticks over the more stiff Happ stuff. I usually end up using Happ cmpetition sticks on supergun builds for others, as people I know seem to prefer the bat-style sticks, but give me a Sanwa or Seimitsu ball any day.

The Sanwa/Seimitsu controls are effortless, precise, and an absolute joy to use. The Happ stuff (which I loved) now feels stiff and clunky in comparison. I have a separate 2-player tabletop unit for MAME that uses all Happ parts and I'm now thinking of switching them out.

[jperryss]

Woohoo, we're back!

10288

[Crystalian]

I had been reading this thread on and off and decided to try Snow Bros for players choice. Got to level 22, couldn't fight sleep anymore, turned it off. Next day, did a quick run-through of Super Mario Bros just to make sure I get my name on the list. Cheap but effective... If I have time, I might try some cheesy stuff like RP2AO3 picks out just for laughs. I kind of wish I had been around when Crystals Pony Tale was an option. I actually have a copy and it would have been a hoot to put something that out there on the completed list. Oh well, we'll see what becomes available. Lastly, are there any restrictions on systems, or is anything fair game as long as the GAME meets the requirements?

[celerystalker]

I had been reading this thread on and off and decided to try Snow Bros for players choice. Got to level 22, couldn't fight sleep anymore, turned it off. Next day, did a quick run-through of Super Mario Bros just to make sure I get my name on the list. Cheap but effective... If I have time, I might try some cheesy stuff like RP2AO3 picks out just for laughs. I kind of wish I had been around when Crystals Pony Tale was an option. I actually have a copy and it would have been a hoot to put something that out there on the completed list. Oh well, we'll see what becomes available. Lastly, are there any restrictions on systems, or is anything fair game as long as the GAME meets the requirements?

For player's choice, any game that meets the requirements works, regardless of system. Welcome to the challenge!

[celerystalker]

Okay, screwy week with the forums being down, so this week's deadline will extend until Wednesday night at midnight next week. So, new games!

-Mendel Palace/Quinty (NES)

-Keith Courage in Alpha Zones/Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru (TG16)

-Player's choice: pick any game with a metal/metal alloy in the title. Examples might include Steel Empire, Blades of Steel, AD&D: Iron & Blood, Gold Medal Challenge '92, Silver Surfer, etc.

-Import alternative: Hashire Hebereke (SFC)

-Culdcept games are still out there for May RPG!

[RP2A03]

If I have time, I might try some cheesy stuff like RP2AO3 picks out just for laughs.

Who is RP2AO3?

[Scissors]

I wasn't able to post this due to the forum being down, but I did finish Sol Divide on arcade mode on Saturday. I really didn't like this game when I first played it years ago, but I found it pretty enjoyable this time around. I think my problem back then was that I didn't play very long and that in that time I didn't get used to using melee attacks. Also, call me crazy, but I really like the graphics. Since it was so short, I wound up playing through a second time with a different character and then again in original mode. Original mode was a bit of a letdown. While I like the idea, there just wasn't enough variety in the levels and your strength grew too slowly.

[celerystalker]

I wasn't able to post this due to the forum being down, but I did finish Sol Divide on arcade mode on Saturday. I really didn't like this game when I first played it years ago, but I found it pretty enjoyable this time around. I think my problem back then was that I didn't play very long and that in that time I didn't get used to using melee attacks. Also, call me crazy, but I really like the graphics. Since it was so short, I wound up playing through a second time with a different character and then again in original mode. Original mode was a bit of a letdown. While I like the idea, there just wasn't enough variety in the levels and your strength grew too slowly.

I had a similar experience. When I first played it, I played it like a shooter and got whipped. When I decided to give it an earnest go, I learned it's got some beat 'em up in it, and started to do really well. I also started to really enjoy those weird graphics, which almost feel like stop motion digitized sprites in a weird way... They're the sort of thing you'd only see in the late '90s.

[Emperor Megas]

I actually think the graphic in Sol Divide are amazing. I always thought it was the standout thing about the game.

[RP2A03]

I completed Mendel Palace. Never before have I raged so hard.


http://i.imgur.com/n4fq2HYh.png (http://i.imgur.com/n4fq2HY.png)

[celerystalker]

I completed Mendel Palace. Never before have I raged so hard.


http://i.imgur.com/n4fq2HYh.png (http://i.imgur.com/n4fq2HY.png)

Nice! I'm a bit surprised it got to you, as you seem to take down NES games pretty effortlessly. Nice win all the same!

[Emperor Megas]

Oh man, I didn't even read the import alternative for last week. I own Download and totally needed an excuse to finally play it. Granted, I has no time to complete it, but I've never played it before and really wish I had fired it up.

I have more import PC Engine games than imports for any other system. Probably more than for all other systems combined.

[RP2A03]

Hashire Hebereke completed.


https://i.imgur.com/A6ZyYkHh.png (http://i.imgur.com/A6ZyYkH.png)

[celerystalker]

Hashire Hebereke completed.


https://i.imgur.com/A6ZyYkHh.png (http://i.imgur.com/A6ZyYkH.png)

Nice, I wasn't sure anyone would go after that one. What'd you think?

[celerystalker]

Oh man, I didn't even read the import alternative for last week. I own Download and totally needed an excuse to finally play it. Granted, I has no time to complete it, but I've never played it before and really wish I had fired it up.

I have more import PC Engine games than imports for any other system. Probably more than for all other systems combined.

Shit, you need to play that one. It's a top notch shooter on top of its astounding Engrish. Maybe it'll fit another player's choice criteria down the line... but seriously, of all of the import alternatives I've posted, it's probably the best, and is definitely in my personal PCE top 10. I should clarify, it's not one of those cases where I like a game that's generally considered to be shit (like Rambo on PS3). Download is the shit.

[RP2A03]

Nice, I wasn't sure anyone would go after that one. What'd you think?

It was kind of meh. Racing games aren't generally my thing, but I thought it was a bit slow and the items didn't really do much to make things exciting. On the positive side, the AI doesn't cheat.

[Crystalian]

Killer Instinct Gold for the players choice. I'm not sure I would want to play Mendel Palace after watching a quick youtube clip. I couldn't make heads or tails out of anything that was going on! What exactly are you supposed to be doing in that game? I'm looking forward to next week; I'm working over 60 hours this week so have to go the cheapness again. I wonder if there are any game show games with a metal in the title? Jeopardy Silver Anniversary or something like that...

[celerystalker]

Killer Instinct Gold for the players choice. I'm not sure I would want to play Mendel Palace after watching a quick youtube clip. I couldn't make heads or tails out of anything that was going on! What exactly are you supposed to be doing in that game? I'm looking forward to next week; I'm working over 60 hours this week so have to go the cheapness again. I wonder if there are any game show games with a metal in the title? Jeopardy Silver Anniversary or something like that...

Yuck, long week! I do believe there was a Wheel of Fortune: Golden Edition on PC, though I'm not 100%. Also, remember that week 20 has an extended deadline through Wednesday night due to last weekend's forum outage. New games up shortly!

[celerystalker]

Lots of games to play this week! Week 20 has an extended deadline through Wednesday night due to forum outages, and this week will overlap, returning to the usual schedule. Crystalian joined in this week, and RP2A03 ran Hebereke in circles after helping save DP this week. Time to beat some more games!

-Code Name: Viper (NES): since I got a new arcade pcb this week, Rough Ranger (a Rolling Thunder clone distributed by Capcom), I figure everyone can play a different Rolling Thunder clone, also from Capcom!

-Last Bronx (Arcade, Saturn, PS2)

-Player's choice: pick any game exclusive to its system. No arcade ports to console or multi-platform games, just exclusives (to console Download service emulation or PC ports don't count, arcade exclusives are okay). Examples might include Team Innocent, Stone Protectors, The Red Star, Scud: the Disposable Assassin, Bangai-O, Mischief Makers, Tricky Kick, Trampoline Terror, etc.

-I don't think anyone's gone for Culdcept yet for May... running out of time!

-Import alternative: Gal*Gun (Xbox 360, PS3)

[jperryss]

-Player's choice: pick any game exclusive to its system. No arcade ports to console or multi-platform games, just exclusives (to console Download service emulation or PC ports don't count, arcade exclusives are okay). Examples might include Team Innocent, Stone Protectors, The Red Star, Scud: the Disposable Assassin, Bangai-O, Mischief Makers, Tricky Kick, Trampoline Terror, etc.

Battletoads Arcade was exclusive except for an XB1 re-release as part of Rare Replay. The Simpsons arcade game was ported to C64 and DOS and re-released on XBLA. Are either of these candidates for this week's PC?

[celerystalker]

Battletoads Arcade was exclusive except for an XB1 re-release as part of Rare Replay. The Simpsons arcade game was ported to C64 and DOS and re-released on XBLA. Are either of these candidates for this week's PC?

Yes, they count. Download service re-releases don't count for the sake of this stipulation, including eShop, Steam, Xbox Live, and PSN.

[RP2A03]

For week 20 player's choice, I completed Ka-Ge-Ki: Fists of Steel.

It's a simple fighter where you beat up on a few goons before taking on that stage's boss.


https://i.imgur.com/MP3culnh.png (http://i.imgur.com/MP3culn.png)



For some reason the loser gets tossed down a manhole.


https://i.imgur.com/ukGjO0Ph.png (http://i.imgur.com/ukGjO0P.png)



Yes, the ending is exactly what it looks like.


https://i.imgur.com/suGKHxAh.png (http://i.imgur.com/suGKHxA.png)

[celerystalker]

For week 20 player's choice, I completed Ka-Ge-Ki: Fists of Steel.

It's a simple fighter where you beat up on a few goons before taking on that stage's boss.


https://i.imgur.com/MP3culnh.png (http://i.imgur.com/MP3culn.png)



For some reason the loser gets tossed down a manhole.


https://i.imgur.com/ukGjO0Ph.png (http://i.imgur.com/ukGjO0P.png)



Yes, the ending is exactly what it looks like.


https://i.imgur.com/suGKHxAh.png (http://i.imgur.com/suGKHxA.png)

Heh. Did you do the Genesis or arcade version?

[RP2A03]

Heh. Did you do the Genesis or arcade version?

Genesis.

[celerystalker]

Just a reminder that there is still the Week 20 extended deadline until tomorrow at midnight due to the forum outage that week making it impossible to post the games on time. Beat somethin' will ya?

[Emperor Megas]

I thought that I'd have a simple and easy run through of this game because I can beat the arcade game on a single credit almost blind folded. I either didn't know or didn't remember that there was an additional stage in the Genesis version...WITH INVINCIBLE SKELTONS! Really!?

Anyway, I still beat it, but it took my about 5 tries.

[jperryss]

Iron Tank for last week's Player's Choice

10294

This game was much more frustrating than I remember and by the time I got about 2/3 of the way through I remembered why I gave up on it. Glad I had an excuse to revisit it at least.

[Scissors]

I played through Steel Empire (the Genesis version) for player's choice. It was a decent shooter, but had some of the worst slowdown I've ever seen in a game.

[Emperor Megas]

I'll admit, because of work and personal shit I'm cheesing most of my entries. It's all I can do to get some gaming in and SOME points on the board. With that said, I really love Zillion II

I know that NO ONE else likes this game, and all think it's a complete wash, but I grew up loving this title. I actually played it BEFORE I'd played the Metroid'esque original, which might have contributed to my appreciation for it. I also really liked the Zillion Anime, and Triformation borrows a lot of material from the Anime. Certainly more than the original.

It's like a 15 minute game, and it's very simplistic and monotonous, but this year marks its 30 year anniversary, so I had to give it play through.

[celerystalker]

I'll admit, because of work and personal shit I'm cheesing most of my entries. It's all I can do to get some gaming in and SOME points on the board. With that said, I really love Zillion II

I know that NO ONE else likes this game, and all think it's a complete wash, but I grew up loving this title. I actually played it BEFORE I'd played the Metroid'esque original, which might have contributed to my appreciation for it. I also really liked the Zillion Anime, and Triformation borrows a lot of material from the Anime. Certainly more than the original.

It's like a 15 minute game, and it's very simplistic and monotonous, but this year marks its 30 year anniversary, so I had to give it play through.

Personally, I like Zillion II, and think it's the better of the Zillion games. The first one with its room codes just bugs the snot out of me. I want to like it, but where the second game just goes for some fun action, the first bogs itself down with design choices that artificially slow play.

[Emperor Megas]

Personally, I like Zillion II, and think it's the better of the Zillion games. The first one with its room codes just bugs the snot out of me. I want to like it, but where the second game just goes for some fun action, the first bogs itself down with design choices that artificially slow play.A think Cyborg Hunter is a good combination of the some of the better parts of both Zillion games, minus the Triformation motor cycle stuff.

It's got labyrinthine levels with corridors and elevators, but it's also got enemies that pose more of a challenge than those in the first Zillion, and of course the exploration isn't bogged down by terminal codes or anything of the like. It's even got a similar ending as Zillion II, where they show stills of three heroes together. Though as far as I know, the other characters shown at the end don't make an appearance anywhere in the actual game.

BTW, I don't know what it is with SMS sound emulation on the Retron5, but for some games it's HORRIBLE. Fantasy Zone II sounds FUCKING HORRENDOUS, and Zillion II was also god awful.

[jperryss]

Player's Choice - Battletoads Arcade

10295

I spent WAY too many hours of my childhood playing the NES and SNES Battletoads games and was pretty excited to learn that there was an arcade game also. I couldn't get it to run very smoothly with the latest version of MAME but discovered this week that I can setup my front-end to use different versions of MAME for specific games and BT runs just about perfectly on v106. Apparently at some point MAME got a bit resource-hungry and some games just don't run as well on the newer versions unless you've got a reasonably beefy machine.

This game plays similar to the beat 'em up levels of Battlemaniacs for the SNES. There are no turbo tunnel or clinger-winger style levels, just lots of blood, vomit, and vanilla nut taps. There's also a helicopter stage (similar to the rappel stages from the earlier games) and a SF2-ish "Smash The Car" style bonus stage. There's also a frustrating shmup level with a tedious Robo Manus finale. Sadly, no face-off with the Dark Queen.

[celerystalker]

Some good wins these last few weeks with some neat player's choice picks. I'm about dead after a brutal work week, so I'm gonna go pass out. First, though, NEW GAMES.

-Mad Maestro (PS2)

-Dexterity (Game Boy)

-Player's Choice: pick a game with the word "fight" in the title. Examples might include Mighty Final Fight, Slap Fight, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer, Phantom Fighter, Art of Fighting, Starfighter, etc.

-Import Alternative: Choaniki: Bakaretsu Rantouden (SFC)

-Couple days left for Culdcept for May's RPG challenge. Sad to see it get no love, but hey, to each their own.

New scoreboard will be up Monday or Tuesday. Have a funeral tomorrow, so depends on how everyone's feeling around here for when I'll have time. Good luck, everyone!

[RP2A03]

For the week 21 player's choice I did Bishoujo Sexy Derby (FDS). The game is pretty simple. You select a girl and then proceed to get your derby horse to the finish line by giving yourself a repetitive strain injury. Win enough money and you get to see her naked!


Let's see now. Who should I pick? That pink haired chick looks nice...

https://i.imgur.com/oaiGWB2h.png (http://i.imgur.com/oaiGWB2.png)


Whoa! Wait! Who is that sexy pig?

https://i.imgur.com/7E4b3qth.png (http://i.imgur.com/7E4b3qt.png)


Time to win some money!

https://i.imgur.com/bhhqRbch.png (http://i.imgur.com/bhhqRbc.png)




https://i.imgur.com/HOc8zaQh.png (http://i.imgur.com/HOc8zaQ.png)

Errrm...












https://i.imgur.com/E6xLOIJh.png (http://i.imgur.com/E6xLOIJ.png)

GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!





https://i.imgur.com/rHWyNGfh.png (http://i.imgur.com/rHWyNGf.png)

This could have ended a lot worse.

[Crystalian]

I was going to do PLOK because I couldn't think of too many system exclusives I can beat in a relatively short period of time. Then I realised you have me a second chance to put Crystal's Pony Tale on the board! Purely for the LOL factor, put some pony-ey goodness on the completed list. Now if you didn't have Cho-Aniki up for next week, I might ALMOST be able to live it down, LOL!

[celerystalker]

I was going to do PLOK because I couldn't think of too many system exclusives I can beat in a relatively short period of time. Then I realised you have me a second chance to put Crystal's Pony Tale on the board! Purely for the LOL factor, put some pony-ey goodness on the completed list. Now if you didn't have Cho-Aniki up for next week, I might ALMOST be able to live it down, LOL!

Nah, Cho-aniki is the manliest kind of manly there is! Muscle!

The SFC one is the oddball one on one fighter that is just a blast in 2 player mode. Very unconventional, and not just because, you know, Cho-aniki. :)

Also, RP2A03... You found one with which I was quite unfamiliar. The lovely piggies...

[Scissors]

For Week 21 player's choice, I played Ghostbusters II on NES. It's a decent little action game.

[Crystalian]

Celery, what is the fascination with "puzzle" games that look like "Lights Out" on crack? I actually have Dexterity and have never played it. This is like that Mendel Palace video that made me want to blow my brains out... Q-bert, Kickle Cubicle, Lolo, etc each have some elements similar to this, but I find something enjoyable in each of those. I just think you've found that "perfect storm" of game genre that holds no interest for me. LOL.