Game title interpretations

[gbpxl]

I'm going through a list for SNES games and some of the titles were wrong. For example, I had a cell that contained "Adventure of Kid Kleets, The" when it's supposed to be *Adventures*. Other one are tricky. Is it "Bonkers"? Or "Disney's Bonkers"? I feel if Aladdin is "Disney's Aladdin" then the same title scheme should apply to Bonkers. Another goof one is Batman Forever. The game is obviously called Batman Forever, but the title screen just says "Forever." Other ones are tricky. Is it "Blackthorne?" Or BlackThorne?

The goal here is to make comprehensive lists that can be shared across any platform or medium but there is obviously going to be some controversy on spelling and what-not. I had on my original list that I downloaded "Blastris/Laser Blaster" didnt know wtf that was and it turned out it was Super Scope 6.

Any input or help with this would be greatly appreciated. I am using Youtube longplay videos as my source since these days no one is really looking at boxes or cartridges anyways.

[Edmond Dantes]

The movie Batman Forever did the same thing, I think the idea was the bat-symbol was the stand-in for just saying "Batman."

Not sure if it fits in this topic but one issue I ran across when I alphabatized my NES carts was the game Spy vs Spy. The top of the label says "Mad" (the magazine the feature ran in) rather than the game's proper title, so do I file it under M for Mad or S for Spy vs Spy? (For the sake of not driving myself insane I chose the former).

Might and Magic, or really any game with "and" in the title, has the issue of some people insisting the "and" is supposed to be an ampersand. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

Also for that matter, do you group games based on the Dungeons & Dragons license together, or do you ignore that part unless its actually part of the title? Like nobody calls it "AD&D: Baldur's Gate" they always just call it Baldur's Gate.

[gbpxl]

I try to follow the actual title screen as closely as possible and obviously some cases are up for debate. When I made the Xbox list here I went by box title and that was a mistake. got to be too confusing

[Edmond Dantes]

I mean, do whatever makes the most sense for you. For me I just think my OCD would go nuts if it saw an end label that started with M but was placed in the S section because of text I can't even read unless I start playing the game..... but that's just my own personal brand of insanity.

My nephew tried to arrange my Dreamcast games in order of which ones he most expected to be good to least expected to be good.... that didn't work out well. It was fortunate I didn't have many Dreamcast games.

[Gameguy]

My nephew tried to arrange my Dreamcast games in order of which ones he most expected to be good to least expected to be good.... that didn't work out well. It was fortunate I didn't have many Dreamcast games.
Well I can see how that would be basically impossible, it would be much easier to arrange them from bad to unplayable considering it's the Dreamcast.

[gbpxl]

I mean, do whatever makes the most sense for you. For me I just think my OCD would go nuts if it saw an end label that started with M but was placed in the S section because of text I can't even read unless I start playing the game..... but that's just my own personal brand of insanity.

My nephew tried to arrange my Dreamcast games in order of which ones he most expected to be good to least expected to be good.... that didn't work out well. It was fortunate I didn't have many Dreamcast games.

So what about NES games published by Jaleco? Do you put those in the J section since the end labels just say Jaleco?

[Gameguy]

Does anyone organize their games by genre? Either by each console separately by genre, or mixing all systems together by genre?

[gbpxl]

Does anyone organize their games by genre? Either by each console separately by genre, or mixing all systems together by genre?

Nope never did that, collection never got big enough to do that. Whats kinda weird is that in some ways I consider the game's platform to be the genre. Like original Xbox is definitely its own set of games compared to GameCube, and Genesis games had their own feel versus Nintendo stuff.

I feel movies and CDs should be categorized by genre though. It seems weird to put a rap CD next to a classical CD. or a Disney movie next to a slasher

[Edmond Dantes]

Does anyone organize their games by genre? Either by each console separately by genre, or mixing all systems together by genre?

I think I tried that once but it resulted in a lot of "wait, does Zelda count as an RPG?" type of mental debates, so I decided screw it.

I once tried to mix my libraries and keep, for example, all my Mega Man games together... it was a mess though, because of different cartridge sizes.


So what about NES games published by Jaleco? Do you put those in the J section since the end labels just say Jaleco?

I usually put Jaleco games in a "for sale" bin ;)

Actually, if I owned any, and if the end label situation got too confusing, I might stick a post-it note to the end label and organize them by title.


Well I can see how that would be basically impossible, it would be much easier to arrange them from bad to unplayable considering it's the Dreamcast.

You did NOT just insult Marvel vs. Capcom...

[Gameguy]

You did NOT just insult Marvel vs. Capcom...
I never got into fighting games much so I never paid attention to it. I think that had a PS1 port though. With the Dreamcast most of the good games got released on other consoles too, the exclusives to it are pretty underwhelming overall.

[Edmond Dantes]

I never got into fighting games much so I never paid attention to it. I think that had a PS1 port though. With the Dreamcast most of the good games got released on other consoles too, the exclusives to it are pretty underwhelming overall.

The PS1 port, from what I've heard, is severely nerfed, while the Dreamcast one is practically arcade-accurate. Actually in general Capcom fighters tended to do better on either Saturn or Dreamcast than on the PS1.

Speaking of Dreamcast games, one of these days I need to finally pick up Shenmue.

[Gameguy]

Speaking of Dreamcast games, one of these days I need to finally pick up Shenmue.
Literally the game that convinced me to sell my Dreamcast console. Good luck with it. Though you like Resident Evil for being cheesy so you might like it, it's about 10x as cheesy without anything funny to offset it. And far more boring gameplay, it's literally the game which invented QTEs. Oh, and the story never gets resolved in any way.

I actually looked forward to getting this as I'm big on adventure games, and eventually I found a copy at a thrift store. I originally got my Dreamcast hoping to eventually play this game. I found it mostly boring and slow with terrible dialog and uninteresting characters, and sidequests that detract from the main story rather than add to it. I then sold this game and my console with no regrets.

I genuinely consider the Virtual Boy, 32X, and 3DO to each have better libraries than the Dreamcast. I sometimes miss my Virtual Boy but never my Dreamcast.

[gbpxl]

Literally the game that convinced me to sell my Dreamcast console. Good luck with it. Though you like Resident Evil for being cheesy so you might like it, it's about 10x as cheesy without anything funny to offset it. And far more boring gameplay, it's literally the game which invented QTEs. Oh, and the story never gets resolved in any way.

I actually looked forward to getting this as I'm big on adventure games, and eventually I found a copy at a thrift store. I originally got my Dreamcast hoping to eventually play this game. I found it mostly boring and slow with terrible dialog and uninteresting characters, and sidequests that detract from the main story rather than add to it. I then sold this game and my console with no regrets.

I genuinely consider the Virtual Boy, 32X, and 3DO to each have better libraries than the Dreamcast. I sometimes miss my Virtual Boy but never my Dreamcast.

I wont knock you for your dislike of a game most people like since I personally dislike Breath of the Wild and GTA4 but Shenmue was groundbreaking at the time for its graphics at the very least, as well as its depth. Its a fun 1980s Japan simulator

[Gameguy]

I wont knock you for your dislike of a game most people like
It's not really most people who do, it's just a niche group of fans who somehow REALLY like it. Back when Sega was making the game, they thought it would be the game to save the Dreamcast, instead it sold far below expectations and the system was discontinued. You have a serious story, yet you apparently have time to help a girl feed a cat, and help and elderly woman find an address, etc. I just couldn't get into the story because the tone was so inconsistent. And the horrible voice acting didn't help at all.

Fans continued to want more of it's story so it got a sequel, which sold worse so nothing came out for ages. Then finally through a kickstarter a third game got made, and reviews from fans were terrible. Fans expected the story to get some sort of conclusion as it's been so long since the previous game was released, and most likely this would be the only sequel that would ever get made, yet it ends on another cliffhanger. And it plays very badly. The creator says that the first three games cover roughly 40% of his story, and he's not deviating from his planned pacing so good luck getting anything resolved even if another game somehow gets made. Getting invested into the story is basically a waste of time at this point.


Shenmue was groundbreaking at the time for its graphics at the very least, as well as its depth. Its a fun 1980s Japan simulator
That's kind of an excuse though, like saying it's ok that it plays awful as it was trying something different for the time. If a game sucks now, it always sucked. I can give slack to hardware limitations for some older games as that is a thing, but by the Dreamcast there's no excuse as good 3D games already existed for years at this point. I'm into older games, I don't care much about graphics, I just want the game to be fun to play. It was the first game to include QTEs which was new, but I really dislike QTEs in games so it essentially inspired many other future games to play badly. Just exploring 1980's Japan is sort of fun, basically when you ignore the actual game and just mess around with various things. Like playing other games in the arcade. I don't think it's great that you can search every empty drawer in your house, I can do that for free in real life.


When I got a Dreamcast console, I seriously was hoping to find a copy of Shenmue so I could play it. That's why I wanted a Dreamcast. After finding a copy and finally playing it, it was a huge letdown. I was seriously disappointed with it as I'm into adventure games and tend to be more forgiving with faults in these games. I did not expect it to be anywhere near that awful to play.

There is another Dreamcast game that sort of interests me, Elemental Gimmick Gear, though I've heard mixed reviews of it so I'm not sure about bothering to play it. I would need to track down another console first and it might not be worth the effort for just this one game. It might look better than it actually plays.

[gbpxl]

Shenmue is one of the best selling DC games to my knowledge

[Gameguy]

Shenmue is one of the best selling DC games to my knowledge
Yes, it somehow sold about 1.2 million copies worldwide. I would argue that you can't return opened games so even if you didn't like it, you're still stuck with it. People bought copies because of the hype.

There are plenty of common NES games that sold well, but people generally consider bad, like Total Recall. Nobody says that's a good game but it's not rare at all so it sold well.

Reviews from when Shenmue first came out were more positive, but recent ones from the HD re-release were more negative as people were less impressed with it just looking good or being different from other games compared to how people felt back in 1999. Like I mentioned, I don't get impressed by graphics alone, I expect the game to actually play well. I just see past the superficial shiny exterior that most fans gush over, which is why I don't get impressed with modern gen games either.

[Edmond Dantes]

I honestly feel like if I played Shenmue, I would mostly just end up going to the arcades and playing Outrun or the other embedded classics.

That said, is the tone really inconsistent or just not what you expected? There's a certain vibe where wanting revenge doesn't necessarily contradict helping a woman feed her cat. That almost sounds like something from a Miyazaki movie.

Mostly I just wanna play out of curiosity, but I'm not going in with high expectations.

[gbpxl]

My favorite part of Shenmue is asking someone at the grocery store the same question over and over only in a slightly different way each time, to see how many different responses I can get.

also, collecting those little toys was fun too. like you, I did have to laugh at the fact that this guy is supposed to be exacting revenge yet somehow has time to sit there and dump quarters into the capsule machine

[Gameguy]

I honestly feel like if I played Shenmue, I would mostly just end up going to the arcades and playing Outrun or the other embedded classics.
Yes, that is a temptation. Those arcade games in Shenmue were later made available in other games too like the more recent Yakuza entries so that's something else to consider. It depends on what consoles you own.


That said, is the tone really inconsistent or just not what you expected? There's a certain vibe where wanting revenge doesn't necessarily contradict helping a woman feed her cat. That almost sounds like something from a Miyazaki movie.
I would say it's a bit of both, it is inconsistent and also not exactly what I expected going in. To be fair, the sidequests are all optional so you don't have to do them, they're mostly there to fill time as you end up waiting to do certain sequences in order to actually progress in the game. At times the game seems like it wants to be taken completely seriously with avenging his father, not lighthearted like a Miyazaki film, yet shifts to exploring the neighbourhood just finding random things to do like helping kids or elderly people or using vending machines or shopping in stores or using the arcade. The dialog is bad, the creator insisted on the English being recorded in Japan so most voice actors weren't fluent in English. You complained about the English dub in Phoenix 2772 so you might have problems here too. Usually I don't have problems with dubs, like when people say dubs are horrible and just stick to subs, I'm still mostly fine with the dubs even though I'll agree that subs are usually better. But here, the dubs are just shit.


Mostly I just wanna play out of curiosity, but I'm not going in with high expectations.
You can try to play it just to see what it's like. There are cartoons you like that I don't, and cartoons I like that you don't so you might think differently about this game than I did. I personally played around 2 hours and had enough, it was the pacing that got to me the most. Like even knowing where I had to go after talking to someone, it took ages to walk there, and when I actually just started to get into the game and felt like I was finally getting somewhere, the day/night cycle kicked in closing the shops so I had to go home and come back again the next day. That slammed the brakes on progress and took me right back out of it, back to being bored, and there's no way to skip time in the game so you're mostly finding ways to waste time until you're allowed to progress again.


Here's some reviews on Shenmue if you want to check them out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t945PwBwMM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDVTCGpNqxY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3318TsuDy0A

Overview of entire Shenmue series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI9EISn8K0Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpNAKDx4CwY

[YoshiM]

It's been a while but it seemed like Ryo, after getting his rear handed to him and having his father die at the hands of the same foe, knew he couldn't go and kick ass and take names. He had a calm head on his shoulders and had to do his obe-track-minded detective search. Since Shenmue was supposed to have many "episodes", I wonder if this more slow approach wasn't far off from a "Kung Fu" (TV series) where Ryo walks his native and foreign lands, learning and helping others on his quest?

And then asks everyone if they are, or know or have seen sailors. Or the 5 (or however many) Blades. Or if they saw a car the night when the rain turned to snow....

I did enjoy seeing if Sega put a limit on how many sodas Ryo could drink. Alas he didnt politely decline nor did his bladder burst at about 20 drinks in one sitting. Incredible control over his body.

[Gameguy]

It's been a while but it seemed like Ryo, after getting his rear handed to him and having his father die at the hands of the same foe, knew he couldn't go and kick ass and take names. He had a calm head on his shoulders and had to do his obe-track-minded detective search. Since Shenmue was supposed to have many "episodes", I wonder if this more slow approach wasn't far off from a "Kung Fu" (TV series) where Ryo walks his native and foreign lands, learning and helping others on his quest?
A lot of people point out how the basic plot of Shenmue is basically taken from any random 1970's Kung Fu movie, it seriously is generic like that.

I do think it would have worked better like a TV series type of premise, a "wandering soul" kind of show which isn't exactly a unique premise either. He could have got revenge for his father and defeated this specific villain, but then continue on with his quest, as the real quest would be for continued personal growth. But no, instead he's still working towards defeating this one specific person, and never does. So many shows and film series do this basic concept better; like Kung Fu, Zatoichi, The Incredible Hulk(1978), The Fugitive, The Littlest Hobo, etc. Really any type of villain-of-the-week type of show where the main protagonist travels around would work, there needs to be some actual resolve to the story he's currently facing while still leaving it open ended for more to come after.


Or if they saw a car the night when the rain turned to snow....
Yes, specifically asking about "that" night. As if random people would know what night he was talking about because there could only be one night like "that" night. It's like talking about "That Man" from Excel Saga, only Excel Saga was meant to be a parody.


I did enjoy seeing if Sega put a limit on how many sodas Ryo could drink. Alas he didnt politely decline nor did his bladder burst at about 20 drinks in one sitting. Incredible control over his body.
I wish the game was more realistic and would have Ryo gain weight based on what he consumed in game, like that fan Sonic game where you ate onion rings and got fat. If only they focused on this mechanic over opening random drawers.

[Edmond Dantes]

The dialog is bad, the creator insisted on the English being recorded in Japan so most voice actors weren't fluent in English.

Please tell me somebody found a weapon that was really powerful, especially against living things.


You complained about the English dub in Phoenix 2772 so you might have problems here too.

To be fair there, I'm going by 15 year old memories.... still searching for a subtitled version of that film, especially since I've been reading the Phoenix manga volumes (2772 is apparently a movie-original installment in the saga). Besides that the main thing I remember is the surprise appearance by Black Jack of all people, except here as a prison guard or something (he's the guy with hair that is half-black, half-white, in case you're not up on Osamu Tezuka's Star System).

[Gameguy]

Please tell me somebody found a weapon that was really powerful, especially against living things.
I wish it had that. Seriously, I don't have a problem with Resident Evil's voice acting. The whole game was basically meant to be a campy B movie, and there's actual emotion given in the line delivery. It's not great voice acting at all, but I'm still mostly fine with it. Capcom didn't even expect Resident Evil to be successful, they just expected it to sell around 200,000 copies. I wish I could find the development cost for the original Resident Evil but so far I can't.

Now, just imagine everything is said with almost no emotion whatsoever, and the game is meant to be taken completely seriously and not campy in any way. That's Shenmue. The game that cost $70,000,000 to make.


Besides that the main thing I remember is the surprise appearance by Black Jack of all people, except here as a prison guard or something (he's the guy with hair that is half-black, half-white, in case you're not up on Osamu Tezuka's Star System).
I didn't remember seeing Black Jack in the movie, I'll have to check when I rewatch it. I've never watched any anime focused on Black Jack, or read any of his manga, but I know who the character is and what he generally looks like.

[Edmond Dantes]

I've never watched any anime focused on Black Jack, or read any of his manga

Want me to PM you some links? Cuz seriously Black Jack is the best thing ever, even for people who aren't already Tezukaphiles (although to be frank.... the world needs more Tezukaphiles. Lately I'm in a mindset where his stuff feels like the only anime/manga worth experiencing because I'm otherwise tired of the endless stream of shonen crap).

(.... I get the feeling this discussion might be more suited for the General Cartoon Discussion in the Off-Topic section)