2017 Game Completion Challenge

[celerystalker]

15 weeks strong, and it's time for the new batch of challenge games! Good luck for everyone working on week 15 for the next day and a half. Anyhow, new week, new games:

-Phelios (Genesis, Arcade)

-LA Machineguns (Arcade, Wii)

-Player's choice: pick any game with 5 letters/numbers or less in its title. Examples might include Limbo, 1943, Tai Fu, Golf, NARC, etc.

-Lunar is getting some love from a couple of folks. Anyone else gonna take on the April RPG franchise?

-Import alternative: Wolf Fang (PS1, Saturn, Arcade)

Ha, sorry this post is late. I finally fell asleep while typing it 10 hours ago, but it feels amazing to have finally slept for more than an hour in the last several days!!

[Scissors]

I finished SCAT and Star Soldier (PS2). SCAT is pretty good, but a bit on the short side. I didn't really like Star Soldier. It wasn't exactly bad, just unremarkable in every way.

[celerystalker]

I finished SCAT and Star Soldier (PS2). SCAT is pretty good, but a bit on the short side. I didn't really like Star Soldier. It wasn't exactly bad, just unremarkable in every way.

Was Star Soldier the remake from the Hudson collection where they did Adventure Island, Bonk, Star Soldier, and Cubic Lode Runner? That version of Star Soldier is pretty vanilla as shooters go. I think Final Soldier is probably my favorite in that franchise.

Those remakes, though... Cubic Lode Runner is the star of the bunch. That game made a beautiful 3D evolution of classic Lode Runner instead of being a simple remake. I love that one.

[Scissors]

Was Star Soldier the remake from the Hudson collection where they did Adventure Island, Bonk, Star Soldier, and Cubic Lode Runner? That version of Star Soldier is pretty vanilla as shooters go. I think Final Soldier is probably my favorite in that franchise.

Those remakes, though... Cubic Lode Runner is the star of the bunch. That game made a beautiful 3D evolution of classic Lode Runner instead of being a simple remake. I love that one.

That's the one. I've played the Adventure Island and Bonk remakes too and was equally unimpressed. In both cases, I felt I would rather have been playing the originals. I haven't tried the Lode Runner one yet.

[Emperor Megas]

Between work, Easter, and a few other things, I missed out on a few really easy points these last couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get back in now. Phelios is a game I wanted since it was first released but hadn't acquired until a few years ago, but I never played until last year. I only played it a few times, and got nowhere near the end, so this is a good place to try to jump back in. Sadly, I've lost more than 2 weeks of RPG time, so I doubt that Lunar will get completed, but that won't stop me from trying.

[Scissors]

I played through the delightfully terrible Alf for player's choice. There is something endearing about how lazily designed the game is, along with the amazingly bad collision detection.

[celerystalker]

I played through the delightfully terrible Alf for player's choice. There is something endearing about how lazily designed the game is, along with the amazingly bad collision detection.

Oh, wow! That one is a mess! I have that one, and it is easily one of the sloppiest Master System games in the library. Congrats on having the stones for that one!

[celerystalker]

Between work, Easter, and a few other things, I missed out on a few really easy points these last couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get back in now. Phelios is a game I wanted since it was first released but hadn't acquired until a few years ago, but I never played until last year. I only played it a few times, and got nowhere near the end, so this is a good place to try to jump back in. Sadly, I've lost more than 2 weeks of RPG time, so I doubt that Lunar will get completed, but that won't stop me from trying.

Glad things are slowing down a bit for you. I hope it was all good stuff going on! Good luck finishing Phelios and Lunar. Phelios is fairly tame as vertical shooters go, so you'll probably take it down as long as you have time to get a feel for it.

[Emperor Megas]

What's the official policy on subtitles and taglines?

Like would a game like Halo: Combat Evolved, or Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller work, or would the subtitles disqualify them? What about re-releases that have a gratuitous or a commercially necessary tagline that just denotes it's a updated version of an existing game, like Okami HD, or Bully: Scholarship Edition?

Or what about games with a tagline with even less prominence, like P.N.03 Product Number. 'Product Number' doesn't appear on the spine of the game case at all, it just reads P.N.03. It's the same with Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Also, do games with titles that are acronyms count if they subtitle it with the acronyms meaning? Like MUSHA - Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor, or F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon for example?

[celerystalker]

What's the official policy on subtitles and taglines?

Like would a game like Halo: Combat Evolved, or Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller work, or would the subtitles disqualify them? What about re-releases that have a gratuitous or necessary tagline that denotes it's a updated version, like Okami HD, or Bully: Scholarship Edition?

Or what about games with a tagline with even less prominence, like P.N.03 Product Number. 'Product Number' doesn't appear on the spine of the game case at all, it just reads P.N.03. It's the same with Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Also, do games with titles that are acronyms count if they subtitle it with the acronyms meaning? Like MUSHA - Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor, or F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon for example?

Subtitles and tag lines can be ignored for this week's challenge. Halo, FEAR, MUSHA, etc. would all count.

[Emperor Megas]

Subtitles and tag lines can be ignored for this week's challenge. Halo, FEAR, MUSHA, etc. would all count.

One more question then, since subtitles can be ignored: Do Roman numerals count as individual letters, or do they have Arabic numeral values?

For example: With MYST III: Exile, since we can ignore the Exile subtitle, I'm wondering if the main title, MYST III, would be considered an invalid 7 letters/number combination? OR, would be counted like MYST 3 would (with III being only 1 number), and qualify as only 5 letters/numbers, and be valid?

[RP2A03]

For the player's choice, I played an unlicensed Mega Drive game called Chess.

[celerystalker]

One more question then, since subtitles can be ignored: Do Roman numerals count as individual letters, or do they have Arabic numeral values?

For example: With MYST III: Exile, since we can ignore the Exile subtitle, I'm wondering if the main title, MYST III, would be considered an invalid 7 letters/number combination? OR, would be counted like MYST 3 would (with III being only 1 number), and qualify as only 5 letters/numbers, and be valid?

Roman numerals count as individual letters. While they technically represent a single number, so does something like 1943. Since there are games whose entire titles are roman numerals as well, they count as multiple spaces. So, XIII would count as 4 letters/numbers, as would 1943. If a game uses both systems of enumeration, whichever is on the title screen counts.

Also, in case it comes up, punctuation marks such as apostrophes, exclamation points, colons, etc. can be ignored. Only letters and numbers count.

[Emperor Megas]

For the player's choice, I played an unlicensed Mega Drive game called Chess.

Despite badgering celerystalker with hypotheticals, I was actually going to play (PS1) Chess as well.

[Az]

Played through the Wii version of LA Machineguns last night with around a lame 1.5+ million end score. I must have changed Wii memory cards and didn't notice since none of my previous scores on this or Gunblade NY were on the system.

LA Machineguns is fantastic, doesn't get enough love. The combo system is great and it's dripping in that late 90's Sega coin-op asthetic that unfortunately disappeared very soon after. Some may complain the port is light on content, but if you appreciate rail shooters and its arcade/score attack origins it has plenty to offer.

I also think this is one of those games perfect for the Wii remote and probably would have not been as good with a Guncon. Having the trigger held down permanently along with constantly swooping the crosshair around just wouldn't work as well with an actual gun controller.

[celerystalker]

Played through the Wii version of LA Machineguns last night with around a lame 1.5+ million end score. I must have changed Wii memory cards and didn't notice since none of my previous scores on this or Gunblade NY were on the system.

LA Machineguns is fantastic, doesn't get enough love. The combo system is great and it's dripping in that late 90's Sega coin-op asthetic that unfortunately disappeared very soon after. Some may complain the port is light on content, but if you appreciate rail shooters and its arcade/score attack origins it has plenty to offer.

I also think this is one of those games perfect for the Wii remote and probably would have not been as good with a Guncon. Having the trigger held down permanently along with constantly swooping the crosshair around just wouldn't work as well with an actual gun controller.

I agree; a traditional light gun wouldn't feel right. The Zapper setup actually feels okay, too. I tried it in hope to get a feel similar to the mounted guns of the arcade cabinet, and while imperfect, it didn't feel half bad. I love both that and Gunblade NY. I wish there was a port of the Terminator game that was a conversion kit for those cabinets as well. The Wii did those games proud.

[jperryss]

I hate myself for saying this but I lost interest in Lunar and don't think I'll be finishing it. I did have fun with this one for awhile but it couldn't hold my interest. I don't fault the game, I guess I just can't get into a new RPG and stay entertained for long. Even Super Mario RPG and Earthbound, both games that I played for the first time last year and really liked, I just couldn't drive myself to finish and instead wanted to move on to something more action-oriented. Yet for some stupid reason I'll still suffer through a familiar grindfest like DW2. Can't really explain it.

Next time an action RPG is on the list, I'll try to give it a fair shake.

[celerystalker]

I hate myself for saying this but I lost interest in Lunar and don't think I'll be finishing it. I did have fun with this one for awhile but it couldn't hold my interest. I don't fault the game, I guess I just can't get into a new RPG and stay entertained for long. Even Super Mario RPG and Earthbound, both games that I played for the first time last year and really liked, I just couldn't drive myself to finish and instead wanted to move on to something more action-oriented. Yet for some stupid reason I'll still suffer through a familiar grindfest like DW2. Can't really explain it.

Next time an action RPG is on the list, I'll try to give it a fair shake.

Fair enough. I'm trying to change up the style of RPG every month to keep it fresh. Started with Ogre Battle for strategy, then the Heaven and Earth games for action, Vanillaware for a different kind of action, then Lunar for more of a traditional JRPG. I have a few ideas for the next few months, but I'm still kicking the tires on the order. I'll be sure to counterbalance the 30-40 hour stuff with 10 hour stuff now and again.

[Emperor Megas]

I didn't want to wait until the last minute to get any points on the board this week, so I went with another of my all time favorites, Valis. I wanted to knock it out as quickly as possible, so I played through the Genesis version rather than the longer, prettier, and more difficult PC Engine CD version.

It's been a while since I'd played this version, and while I don't speak Japanese to know what they're saying on the PC Engine version, the sequels tell a backstory completely different from the weird story they tacked onto the Genesis game. "Yin and Yang", "negative energy called Vacante", really?

The ending cutscene doesn't even wrap the story up at all. Meh, I don't care, I just really love this series. I wish there was an official, canon (non hentei) manga to expanded on the story.

[Aussie2B]

I can claim an easy player's choice point this week, as I was already playing Norn9 on Vita. I cleared Itsuki's route:



(Yes, I took a crappy phone photo, even though the Vita has a built-in screenshot function, haha. I can't be assed to set up the content manager and all that junk to transfer screens from my Vita to my PC.)