100 Favorite Games Challenge

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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BareKnuckleRoo
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Re: 100 Favorite Games Challenge

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

It's still mindblowing to me that I never realized that the company responsible for Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast (which includes an exceptional port of Outrun 2 SP along with a bunch of additional challenge modes and content) was also responsible for Snake Pass. Quality dev team. They're also responsible for the more recent (and wildly popular) Forza Horizon 5 as a co-developer with Xbox Game Studios.

I struggled to think of a criticism to level at Snake Pass, it's that good. The movement is clearly not actually snake-like (you're basically dragging your head along and your tail follows, you don't have any fine control over your body) and the "tighten your grip" button doesn't seem to tighten your grip nearly enough in my opinion (you still slide off poles pretty easily), but it works really well when you get the hang of it.

It's really daunting though and I can understand if it's not for everyone. The platforming and movement are considerably trickier than something like Super Mario 64, and the pacing is a lot slower, more chill (at least in the first two worlds, this applies less later on!).

Apparently I gave M2 an honorable mention for a bunch of games and neglected to mention their fantastic port of Mushihimesama Futari. Oops.
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drauch
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Re: 100 Favorite Games Challenge

Post by drauch »

Searchlike wrote:
Fun Pimps, The (worst studio name in history)
I don't know man, have you heard about Sick Puppies? :lol: :cry: Anyway, these cold-hearted developers made an interesting looking game where you command a bunch of ghosts in order to scare the Sims out of their homes. Looks funnish. Perhaps you've played it?
I'm a fan of their Pipe Dream, but I hadn't heard of this. Looks up my alley!
BIL wrote: "Small sack, LOTS OF CUM" - Nikola Tesla
Searchlike
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Re: 100 Favorite Games Challenge

Post by Searchlike »

BareKnuckleRoo wrote:It's still mindblowing to me that...
Yeah, I only knew them as 'those guys that do a lot of racing stuff for Sega', hopefully they (Sega) can chill with the Sonic Kart games for a while so that Sumo can work in more exciting projects because Snake Pass is truly special, the kind of game that can rekindle your love for gaming. Thank you, DMC and Roo for putting it on my radar! 8)
drauch wrote:I'm a fan of their Pipe Dream, but I hadn't heard of this. Looks up my alley!
It's on sale for peanuts on GOG, I might give it a try too. The name's Ghost Master btw, in case anyone else is interested.
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Mischief Maker
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Re: 100 Favorite Games Challenge

Post by Mischief Maker »

Oh, I've played Ghost Master! Recommend without hesitation during a sale. Rather than try and conjure up a review from memory, I'll just repost an exchange I had with the developer in the game's post-mortem blog... jesus christ, 14 years ago:
I live in the states and remember seeing this game on the shelves years ago, thinking it was a children's game based on the title and the box art, and passing it by.

Years later I picked up a copy for $6 off gog.com and was floored by how excellent this game actually was. Unlike Dungeon Keeper, which turned out to be an incredibly simple RTS with very involved recruitment mechanics, this game delivered on its promise of strategically placing your ghosts around a haunted house before springing the trap on the unsuspecting visitors and sending them screaming into the night.

I particularly liked the way the energy meter made your hauntings play out like in TV or movies. A moan here, a light cutting out there, the weather picks up, slowly building up to crazy telekinetic madness and visions of hideous ghouls. I also liked that it took ghosts a couple seconds to warm up their powers so you couldn't just dump the lot of them on your victims' heads all at once like in Dungeon Keeper.

As for problems with the game, I just have one big one. The thing that keeps me coming back is getting a high score to unlock new powers. Unfortunately freeing trapped ghosts are the biggest part of your score, and since most of them depend on mortals randomly entering the correct room (and not too scared to be curious) it can be incredibly frustrating trying to free them all AND get triple pumpkins. Ironically the best and worst missions in the game take place in the same house: Calamityville horror, where you can't scare the mortals too much and you need them to randomly travel to the correct rooms to discover the hidden bodies, and the poultrygeist, which involves absolutely no puzzles and a gives a big house full of interesting fetters to have a ball in while scaring the bejeezus out of everyone.

Posted by: Mischief Maker | November 10, 2008 at 02:19 AM



Mischief Maker: always glad to hear from a Ghost Master fan!

I wasn't happy with how Calamityville turned out. This was the very first of the scenarios to be scripted, and we learned from this one that it was harder to wrangle the mortals than we originally expected - so we toned this down in later scenarios. Believe it or not, the puzzles in this haunting were much harder during development than they were in the final game!

I confess, I didn't even want the puzzle element to the game - it was forced upon us, allegedly from the publisher. I would have preferred a straight haunting game, and if I ever have the chance to make a sequel this would be my preferred focus.

But I'm surprised to hear Poultrygeist listed as a favourite haunting! I always found this one to be a little frustrating since the child fetter is a little too anarchic for my tastes. I think Weird Seance is my favourite haunting - the puzzles are easily handled and the mortals are a scream to scare! I also have a soft spot for Full Mortal Jacket - lots of enemies, and a location you can really let the headless horseman loose in!

Glad to hear you appreciate the way the mechanics mimic a horror movie - this was always my goal with them, and with the wonderful art the team provided, plus Paul Weir's dynamic music score, the final result was very satisfying indeed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by: Chris | November 10, 2008 at 07:49 AM
https://onlyagame.typepad.com/only_a_ga ... m_gho.html
Two working class dudes, one black one white, just baked a tray of ten cookies together.

An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.

Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
Searchlike
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Re: 100 Favorite Games Challenge

Post by Searchlike »

Mischief Maker wrote:Oh, I've played Ghost Master...
Awesome! Thanks for sharing, MM! I'm grabbing it now for sure. Did I call these guys cold-hearted? I take that back, love me some sick puppies! Hope Chris manages to make a sequel someday, somehow.
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