Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
User avatar
FinalBaton
Posts: 4461
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 10:38 pm
Location: Québec City

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

BIL wrote:Nice Allen (st3 bald badman) fight! I was goin "USE TEH DOWNSHOT" but you actually got on even footing and survived without the melee exploit, that's tricky. :cool:
Thanks. tbh it was all adrenaline-fighting haha, but it did turn out well. I still haven't found a strat for him. although I'm starting to get his movement pattern.

I haven't even tough of attacking him from above -_-
-FM Synth & Black Metal-
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Generally speaking, you're at the greatest advantage while directly above him - he can only shoot horizontally and at 45 degrees, and he doesn't tend to throw grenades unless you're underneath him. For a more direct approach, his knife slash is hugely exploitable - get in range to bait it out, then hop it - he'll miss every time while you rack up slashes and downshots.

MS1/MSX Allen Omnibus (second GIF down) :cool:

No Allen duel in MS3, he was presumably still fucked up after the unfortunate events of MSX, and was relegated to door gunner duties. :[ Interestingly, Noise Factory actually fixed the melee exploit for MS4. He'll instantly backhand you out of it, costing you your powerup. However, the vertical attack strategy works pretty much identically.
User avatar
BrianC
Posts: 8856
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:33 am
Location: MD

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BrianC »

I was looking at the credits for Ninja 5-0 and found out some of the same staff worked on the TMNT AC games and the TMNT GBA and DS games from Konami.
User avatar
Hornet
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri May 22, 2020 7:09 am
Location: Athens. Greece

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Hornet »

Marc wrote:I think Mischief Makers is, these days, genuinely one of the only reasons I'd ever own an N64 again. The others (Wave Race, 1080), are probably unplayable frame-rate wise these days.
Ah, one of my go-to arcade racers and, yes, it's definitely a crime that WR64 is still stuck in the sub-30FPS land of early 3D gaming. However, as a fellow European, be sure to stay away from the abysmal PAL version. It's unoptimized as hell, laughably slower AND letter-boxed, it also completely ruins Time Trial mode by being 5-15 seconds behind the NTSC releases. :lol: The best version to play is the Japanese "Shindou" 1.1 release which, among a few other minor tweaks, adds the ability to save a ghost of your PB lap in T.T. mode. It's worth it because Wave Race 64 has aged like fine wine in terms of gameplay. The water physics and the super-smooth handling are as satisfying as ever. To my knowledge, there's still nothing like it out there (for better or worse, the western-developed sequel had its own style). And while the 1996 graphics are (obviously) outdated by modern standards, they have that "SEGA Blue Sky" aesthetic which I personally find timeless. 8)

With that said, Nintendo should just follow SEGA's example with the AGES series and start doing re-releases of their old games with QOL improvements and cool additions. The Virtual Console is OK, but early 3D console games (especially the more "arcade-style" stuff, like Sin & Punishment, Wave Race 64 and Star Fox 64) deserve the 60FPS treatment. I would buy a Switch in a heartbeat if they did that...
BIL wrote:TSUMI TO BATSU is Treasure at their best - exuberant, inventive, technically airtight and rigorously hardcore. While its format is essentially Wild Guns via Panzer Dragoon - control is strictly 2D, complete with dodge roll, doublejump, and melee counter, while the character autopilots through the 3D stages - I consider it a spiritual Alien Soldier sequel, too. The game-length boss parade is unmistakable, as is the learning curve - partially knowing their capabilities, partially mastering yours - that'll see once-grueling gauntlets demolished in rapid succession. I knew I was in love when the second stage's mech midboss was no longer taking me close to timeout, instead exploding under the force of my gun/sword BATSU while still in his opening phase, so the subsequent dragon midboss would come screaming in wreathed in burning wreckage. Ala AS, the performance ceiling is sky high.

It also shares AS's balance of forgiving survival play VS 1HKO prestige play - albeit it's not your attack power that'll take a dive in S&P, but your score. It's one of the rare console original games with a viable scoring system - medals will stack in value Garegga-style, as long as you remain unscathed.

Alongside Taromaru and Little Ralph, one of its gen's three action originals which I'd put up against the best of the much better-stocked prior two. Easily the kind of game to keep a whole console around for. :cool:
Yup.

My favorite Treasure game and one of the most mechanically satisfying games ever made.
User avatar
SriK
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:33 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Contact:

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by SriK »

BIL wrote:I recall another decoupled steer/shoot affair, Bally-Sente's clangingly named Night Stocker (sequel to the non-shooting racer, Stocker). Drum (PBUH) was a fan, exactly the sort of oddity I wish he was still around to post about. No idea how it plays, sounds cool though! Not to be confused with Night Stalker, the badass closing track of Anthem's Gypsy Ways.
So last night I walked into one of my local arcades for the first time in a year (the Barcade at St. Mark's Place in Manhattan) and this game was right there next to Strider 2. Completely weird lol. Anyway, I played 5-6 credits and it is indeed very cool and unique for its time, although Lucky & Wild makes it look like Night Crawler :mrgreen: I wonder why more games didn't try out the lightgun + steering wheel combination, it's clearly a winner. Plus the devs get co-op for free.

(I also saw they just got Sunset Riders at another Manhattan location, so I'm going to go soon just so I can say I cleared that game on an actual cab. Even if it was in a barcade.)
User avatar
Marc
Posts: 3404
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 10:27 am
Location: Wigan, England.

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Marc »

BrianC wrote:
BIL wrote: Can't recall if anyone in the NES version of Platoon hits their knees in a hail of bullets while plaintively flinging their hands skyward, but I remember it being kinda bad.
I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't too good since it's a port of an Ocean game that I heard wasn't too good in the first place. Odd choice for Sunsoft to port to NES.
The C64 version on which it's based got great reviews, and I could never understand why. Played like absolute ass.
XBL & Switch: mjparker77 / PSN: BellyFullOfHell
User avatar
Koa Zo
Posts: 1164
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:35 am
Location: Pennsylvania, United States

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Koa Zo »

SriK wrote:Strider 2
wow I never realized that is an arcade game. Always thought it was a PlayStation exclusive.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Haha - unlike Ninja Kazan a couple months back, I'm not surprised at all to see this one on ACA.

Image
Spoiler
Image

Image
TEH LORD OF KING aka (The) Astyanax. Always been fond of its distant Famicom incarnation, and director Tokuhiro Takemori's earlier Legendary Axe/Makyou Densetsu for PCE (whose sequel has some definite resemblances, but was given the slightly more remote title Ankoku Densetsu in Japan - cool game). Never actually played this one, I believe this is its first home version to date.

Jaleco's Mega System 1 stuff has been a lot more likeable than the lukewarm SFC titles I previously most associated with them. 64th Street, Rod Land and EDF are solid genre affairs, Cybattler is outright excellent, and NMK really helped out with Makai Densetsu, P47, and Saint Dragon. Even Ninja Kazan's surprisingly good, in its more consolesque mode. Just kinda fugly.

EDIT: Oh wow. :o Quite liking this. Makes a woeful first impression, offsetting the player towards the incoming screen edge. :evil: Between the mild scrolling speed, the lack of backtracking, and the moderate edge clearance, the game just about dodges this shit-caked bullet. I do hope Hamster patch up the apparent +5F input lag I'm getting in the newest MAME, too, assuming that's PCB-accurate (and assuming my potato isn't boned). Noticed it instantly.

Even with latency, Takemori delivers on simple, skull-caving satisfaction. The axe is swift and articulately violent, its split-second arc gashing foes at your back and front alike. Just like its spiritual FC/PCE brethren, enemies are chunky, colourful, and crushed by well-metered helm splitters. Onscreen numbers are fiercer, imparting much sense of righteous extermination. I like the Tatsujin-style instabomb - where I recall FC magic being temperamental, this is a straight-up fulscreen FOD for obliterating zako and scorching heavies at zero notice.

Outside of offense, there's an interesting guard mechanic, afforded by the Shield pickup - advance to deflect enemy arms, though not direct contact, or seemingly projectiles. Might be cool, input feels good at least (again, even with MAME lag).

Not the most appealing take on Western sword/sorcery I've seen (that'd go to Rastan, Black Tiger and Magic Sword), but I do like the vivid skylines and sense of primordial overgrowth. I watched a longplay, once, long ago, so I know where this is heading. :lol:

Actual spoiler:
Spoiler
"MOOOM, TIMMY PUT HIS DUMB HE-MAN TOYS ON MY ALIENS SHELF AGAAAIN"

SriK wrote:
BIL wrote:I recall another decoupled steer/shoot affair, Bally-Sente's clangingly named Night Stocker (sequel to the non-shooting racer, Stocker). Drum (PBUH) was a fan, exactly the sort of oddity I wish he was still around to post about. No idea how it plays, sounds cool though! Not to be confused with Night Stalker, the badass closing track of Anthem's Gypsy Ways.
So last night I walked into one of my local arcades for the first time in a year (the Barcade at St. Mark's Place in Manhattan) and this game was right there next to Strider 2. Completely weird lol. Anyway, I played 5-6 credits and it is indeed very cool and unique for its time, although Lucky & Wild makes it look like Night Crawler :mrgreen: I wonder why more games didn't try out the lightgun + steering wheel combination, it's clearly a winner. Plus the devs get co-op for free.
Helluva coincidence - who's Night Stalking who? :shock: :mrgreen:
Bassa-Bassa
Posts: 1153
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:18 pm

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

BIL wrote:the apparent +5F input lag I'm getting in the newest MAME, too, assuming that's PCB-accurate (and assuming my potato isn't boned).
Have you tried older Mame versions? Apparently something may have gone wrong with some drivers in this regard in the latest Mame - Psikyo games are reported to run laggier according to a member here.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Good idea. :smile: Seems identical in ShmupMAME 4 and WolfMAME 0.99 (2005).

However, it might just be the way the game animates. Tried out Ninja Kazan (same driver, megasys1.c), and while the character visibly ducks/turns at 2F, he doesn't start running until 5F. So maybe it's at least partially artistic. Kazan controls just fine in ACA, in my experience.

Quite looking forward to trying out King via ACA. Just noticed the shield can indeed deflect the first boss's projectiles, but will shatter eventually. Feels kinda Trojan/Tatakai no Banka-influenced.

EDIT: Oh nice, up now on Japan PSN. Gonna give this a going over tonight.

---

Aww hell yeah, likey likey. :o This is PCE Legendary Axe in glorious hulking JAMMAvision. I was about to say that it's, by far, the most appealing Jaleco scrolling action I've seen. Then I remembered it's Aicom's. :mrgreen:

Image

Input response still feels just a tad slow on PS4. With no latency options apparent, I'm guessing this an innately heavier-handling sidescroller. I'm currently going for nomisses in VS. Castlevania and Rygar, both deadly-precise games with hair-trigger controls - so Lordy's handling all but smacked me in the face.

I wouldn't be against some manner of latency reduction for it, on principle, as seen in a few ACA titles to date. In practice, however, at least on my modest gaming monitor, it works fine. Your attack rate is rapid, and its hitbox is massive. Experimenting with the jump attack, seems tantalisingly stompy? Might be wrong. Death From Aboved some fuckers good with it. Image

Love the standing attack's powerful anti-air. Crouch seems deliberately weenie, though it does guard against sweeps, with Shield equipped. Seems like this might be a really interesting, finessed game. The edge ride is surprisingly easy to forget about, happily. Ninja-kun II is a very similar case... first-rate scrolling action with an exasperating schoolboy camera error, narrowly neutralised by its handling characteristics.

A BRAWL THAT IS LIKE HELL (■`W´■)
Spoiler
Image


Jump feels aight (`ω´メ)
Spoiler
Image


HIT EM DEEP N MAKE EM BUST (■`W´■)
Spoiler
Image


As with its PCE/FC relatives, there's a simple yet compelling tension to combat, between zako-warding flurries, and the big charged hits needed to put down heavies. The first boss's pestering barrage illustrates neatly - flurries will keep him at bay, yet eat into your power. The shield is an interesting wrinkle here, letting you defend without resetting meter. Very cool touch, how it visibly splinters over use.

The beefier hardware really benefits this simple ethos, throwing much livelier crowds and barrages from the get-go, sans any hint of slowdown/breakup.

Top marks for the Continue? sequence - dunno WTF this guy's saying ("Don't you regret playing this game?"), but I do know it's cool as fuck, and would've totally prompted revenge credits BITD. :cool:

Spoiler
Image

Image


Clown on they dead ass, then do the murder face - god damn that's cold Image Image
Vludi wrote:What do you think of arcade Astyanax? i find it a better spiritual sequel to Legendary Axe than the NES version, the last level is damn weir thoguh.
I finally got around to it Vludi :oops: :mrgreen: Been curious about this one ever since your recommendation!
User avatar
Sumez
Posts: 8010
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:11 am
Location: Denmarku
Contact:

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Aicom is probably one of the most overlooked video game devs of the late 80s to early 90s. Of course, they finally earned their belt with Pulstar and my darling Blazing Star, but Legendary Axe, Astyanax, Amagon and of course Gun-Dec is all really cool stuff.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Amagon/Machoman is legit underrated, AFAIK - one of the most genuinely arcade-tuned FC originals. Briskly efficient and sensibly unforgiving. Some funny shit, too. AK blastin in the streets, hard gay posing with the beasts Image

YOU
BETTER
WORK (■`ω´■)

Spoiler
Image


Do ur thing and maek love 2 teh camera~ (^ω´ )
User avatar
Marc
Posts: 3404
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 10:27 am
Location: Wigan, England.

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Marc »

BIL wrote:Just kinda fugly.
See, now I think that looks gorgeous in a distinctly Commodore Amiga type of way (Lionheart maybe?). Was gonna let this one pass as the recent glut of R2RKMS all seem a little interchangeable, but the visuals alone have sold me on that.
XBL & Switch: mjparker77 / PSN: BellyFullOfHell
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Oh no, Lordy looks cool IMO. As said, it's not my favourite JP take on Western sword/sorcery (Magic Sword is my #1, with its earthy reserve, Babylonian decadence and vivid, subtly stubby horrors). I was referring to Ninja Kazan. Which I wouldn't really call fugly, but definitely amateurish-looking. The first stage's muddy hues and clipart Injuns don't pop, and the third's Greece resembles the mockups you'd occasionally see in magazine ads, haha. Combined with the more console-esque structure, it feels very launch-era PCE (while Lordy, conversely, is like a HuCard given a mighty MEGASYS 1 blast of colour and resolution).

I'd still call Kazan a decent B-tier (foot of post), provided you can get past the underwhelming looks, and don't mind a more maze-driven arcade slasher. Handles smoothly, and eventually develops some evil pressure. Last stage is an impressive trial, and apparently there's a loop (not 100% on that, just going by Google-translated JP posts).
User avatar
Udderdude
Posts: 6266
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:55 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Udderdude »

The Lord of King is pretty cool. Yup.
User avatar
Marc
Posts: 3404
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 10:27 am
Location: Wigan, England.

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Marc »

Seconded. Nothing particularly outstanding about it so far, but it controls well, its got plenty of pace despite the heavy handling, and it looks great. Those colour-banded skies on the first stage scream Amiga.
XBL & Switch: mjparker77 / PSN: BellyFullOfHell
Bassa-Bassa
Posts: 1153
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:18 pm

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

It's a bit too early to have been inspired by those, though?
User avatar
Marc
Posts: 3404
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 10:27 am
Location: Wigan, England.

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Marc »

Bassa-Bassa wrote:It's a bit too early to have been inspired by those, though?
It's, what, 1989? Shadow of the Beast was certainly a thing then. They probably copped no influence whatsoever, it's just one graphical style that instantly takes me back. Can't be arsed to draw in a proper layer of parallax? Make the sky really colourful :D
XBL & Switch: mjparker77 / PSN: BellyFullOfHell
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

I just love how fuckin aggressive and powerful this game feels. A true "hack n' slasher." The death-from-above aspect is particularly outstanding - while it's not a traditional "downstrike," the tail-end of your jumping slash folds into a very obvious helm-splitter, which will stomp anything it lands on. Zako are squashed, heavies are staggered. It's a good way to clear space - no floorbound lurker is safe. Twins perfectly with the standing attack's wicked anti-air property. Know your footing and you can nail any target square, classic A+B building block functionality.

Like any good action game, all this generosity is balanced out by the voracity of the horde - you never feel over-favoured, just mightily equipped for the grim task at hand.

I wonder if Takemori worked on Ankoku Densetsu/Legendary Axe II, now. These games have such a distinctive feel, between the meaty hits, beefy varmints, vaulting jumps, and mild tactics via autocharging strikes. Even the FC Astyanax, while nowhere as stunning as the AC one, has some of that large-bore goodness - indeed it's what attracted my notice both BITD and more recently, prior to playing any of the "real" Takemori games.

It also feels like there's some i-frames on your standing slash, ala Haggar and Ninja's standing punches in Final Fight/TNWA? Haven't confirmed, but it definitely gives that same feeling. Excellent touch, if so, those two games being paragons of tactical aggression. Can't hit me when I've pre-emptively socked all your teefs out. :cool:

Image

Pls excuse me while I CHOP A MAHFUCKA HEAD OFF Image

I hadn't even realised you can bomb while attacking and/or jumping, it's nuts. :mrgreen: Fed a few credits up to stage 5, before settling into my favoured mode of learning to no-miss each stage sequentially.

Aesthetically, in addition to the all-in He Man lift, I like the FC Ninja Gaiden-esque continuity. You can see the forest, the bridge and the tower right from the attract mode, with the subterranean/indoor locales easily inferred. I particularly like it when fantasy action games set you on a Legendary Journey (cf Rygar, and Magic Sword again), straight into the jaws of some fell place. Image Image

Interesting touch in stage 2 - I'd thought the oddly floating ceiling was just for mood, but it has a direct effect: the roly-polies' divebomb triggers when they hit the ceiling, so anti-air timing will vary depending on its current position. Weird, cool.
User avatar
Herr Schatten
Posts: 3259
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:14 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Herr Schatten »

Watched a replay of Astyanax AC. Holy shit, I need to play this. It looks more like a sequel to Legendary Axe PCE than the actual Legendary Axe II.

I was amused by the female enemy fighters whose clothes you could cleave off, making them shuffle embarrassed off the screen.
Spoiler
Also by the surprising Giger level tacked to the end. I think I've never seen the line between homage and mimicry crossed quite so boldly. There's quite an accurate reproduction if one of Hans-Rudi's paintings in the background and the final boss is an actual Xenomorph.
I agree with Marc that this game looks like it would have been right at home on the Amiga. I wonder why no one attempted to do a port. I guess Jaleco wasn't probably seen as a developer prolific enough that people were clamouring for ports of their games, but we did get a fine port of Rod Land after all, so it can't have been completely off the cards.
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

^ the beaten dark elves' running animation is so endearingly goofy, especially when one bumps into a wall and has to double back the other way. :mrgreen:

"Just a girl. Get out of here!" Image
Spoiler
Image


^^^ Anti-air is strong!

Lordy, Super Shinobi, Magician Lord - I wonder how many other examples there are of archetypally macho, ultra-destructive sidescrollers where the ladies get special dispensation. I guess there's Rondo's Carmilla too, who just kinda peaces out, instead of exploding into flames like all the other bosses. Like Bathory does on MD for example, Vampire Killer being unfailingly \m/etal as fuck. :o

Had to laugh when I Game Overed on the final stage, and the "Continue?" prompt displayed
Spoiler
an empty window where Big Boi once was. Now that's detail. :cool:
Seems a relatively easy 1CC - combat is mostly about knowing your spacing, with the axe's massive hitbox and speed doing the rest. Maybe a little bomb budgeting, too, though they're plentiful and strong. A few enemies need more specialised tactics, like the penultimate stage's mace wielders - a jump-in and followup thrashing does for them. I feel like I could 1LC it within the week, if I really went at it. That said, it's tremendously entertaining hack/slash - meaty and rampant, with no flab to speak of.

Stage 3/Bridge is the thorniest, terrain/trap-wise, but it's happy to let you advance at your own pace. A little disappointed you can't take out the massive water dragons, although, maybe they're just fauna. Frog dudes (Magician Lord PTSD intensifies!) are a cool zako type - frail, but their horizontal reach is nasty. A good use for the crouching guard, if you end up facing one down.

Apart from stage 5's lengthy gauntlet, the biggest threat seems to be the last boss, appropriately. While his attack is easily countered, the meddling zako make it tricky to lock him down. (the game's only zako-assisted boss, come to think of it)

I notice the BGM chops a bit under heavy action, with yells and explosions piling up. Given Hamster's exemplary track record, I'm guessing this is a feature of the original board, too. One of those games probably best accompanied by a bit of noise ala arcade floor.
User avatar
kitten
Posts: 1102
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 1:26 pm
Location: プププランド

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by kitten »

https://twitter.com/MegaDriveShock/stat ... 09445?s=19

just in case this hadn't been posted here, ever, couldn't let you all have not seen it. if it's old news, i'm sure the reminder of its existence is welcome

Image
~Imagination and memory are but one thing, which for diverse considerations have diverse names~
Image | Image
~*~*~*~*~*~* If there's a place that I could be ~ Then I'd be another memory *~*~*~*~*~*~
User avatar
BIL
Posts: 18957
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 12:39 pm
Location: COLONY

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

News to me! In isolation, I like the more menacing "red rust" aspect, though nothing beats the final's iconic joie de vivre. FOR MEGADRIVERS CUSTOM Image

COMBAT SHOOTING is a great description of Gunstar/Soldier roughhouse blasting. Slap 'em, blast 'em! Image Image A ruggedly tactile ethos upheld by Silhouette Mirage (The Real Mugging Simulator) and Mischief Makers, despite the shift away from run/gun.

Reminds me of ACA's recently classifying Guevara as SURVIVAL SHOOTING Image

Messed about with The Astyanax (Lord of King overseas ver) this morning - nomissed up to stage 5's pillared hallway, seems identical up to that point. Then it gets way harder - I was surprised to find not a Mace, but a pair of Ogres. Turns out the first Mace debuts inside the castle... and there's like half a dozen others, accompanied by flamejets and Red Boney-kuns. Nasty! AFAIK there's just three isolated Maces for the entire interior, in JP. My usual technique - bait out a low strike, hop in to land a fatal combo - works fine, but it's a lot trickier with fucking Boney-kun on my ass the whole time. Definite case for bomb budgeting, there.

Feels about right, tbh - a proper Final Defensive Line. I might give this version a shot too, assuming they didn't do anything really silly to the final stage.

EDIT: Hmm. Might be hungover from Friday. Went back to JP and got similar Macer waves. :shock: Oh well. More research needed. :cool: I do notice you can skip the very last one in the flamejet passage, if you aggressively scroll ahead while bombing his predecessor. Seems there's some spawn malleability here.

I'm not sure why you'd ever want the stronger, accumulated bombs over several weaker ones. Then again, I mostly rely on them to blow away zako while stunning heavies, so I can move in and assassinate the nearest biggie while the remainder lose their support.

It finally hit me, at st4/Elevator's climax, what's missing here - the FC game's stirringly tuneful soundtrack. Not sure if it's the same composer, but you can hear a hint of the FC's distinctively bubbling boss BGM there. Would've loved to unify this steamrolling carnage with those manful paeans. Some menacing tones, too, would've worked a charm in the AC's diabolical finale. Come to think of it, the FC has much wilder enemy/boss designs, too. It's a very characterful game, albeit nowhere as rampant. Worth a look if you dig the AC one.

EDIT: Oh wow, FC Lordy's composer Toshiko Tasaki has quite the resume. Technos, Taito, Atlus, she's worked with a lot of great VGM houses. And Whip Rush, always a little gem in all regards.
User avatar
FinalBaton
Posts: 4461
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 10:38 pm
Location: Québec City

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

This is 'mazin' kitten.

(and no, I'm not talking about MAZIN SAGA)
-FM Synth & Black Metal-
User avatar
Squire Grooktook
Posts: 5969
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:39 am

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Squire Grooktook »

Little bit of progress on my game

ImageImageImageImage

If her arm pose looks a little weird it's because she's holding a sword (which hasn't been drawn yet)
RegalSin wrote:Japan an almost perfect society always threatened by outsiders....................

Instead I am stuck in the America's where women rule with an iron crotch, and a man could get arrested for sitting behind a computer too long.
Aeon Zenith - My STG.
User avatar
mycophobia
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 4:08 pm
Contact:

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by mycophobia »

damn i love metal storm's second loop. some of the hottest memorization action available on the fc/nes
User avatar
BryanM
Posts: 6104
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:46 am

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BryanM »

Ok, finally got around to Astyanax arcade. I had played the NES "version" as a kid, 'twas a gentle thing, easily mastered in a few plays. Like with Rygar I completely understand why they didn't do a port - it'd be a flickering mess that'd make Fry's Pac-Man's ghosts look like solid rocks.

I can't really muster up any complaints about it, which is my chief complaint about it. It has a few of those "stab traps" which shouldn't exist in any game, but even those are executed correctly - unlike the stab traps in Metal Man's stage in Mega Man 2 that take fifty years of your life away if you actually bother to time them to take no damage. (And I just realized there's some messed up stuff going on there - graphically those things are a bunch of spikes, right? But the spikes in Mega Man games kill you in one hit. Much like hydrogen existing in the real world, this is an abomination according to the game's world lore.)

The game even has you use the most powerful weapon in the universe for crying out loud.

It's a bit of fresh air after trying to clear New Ghostbusters II again yesterday. For the life of me... they have a decent couple levels then the level design devolves into the most wretchedly repetitive thing. Boredom is the deadliest enemy in that one, which I succumbed to again.

Anyway, Astyanax. Has a xeno level as the final stage. All good games have a xeno level as the final stage, it doesn't matter the genre. Etrian Odyssey and other Wizardry clones (such as... Wizardry __), gacha rhythm games, Anticipation, Barbie's Dream Date Dressup, whatever - every game is improved by having its ultimate confrontation culminate against mankind's oldest enemy - space.

... could use more xenos 0/5.
User avatar
Sumez
Posts: 8010
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:11 am
Location: Denmarku
Contact:

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Gave some more brawlers some of the attention I needed. As in, I went window shopping in the Capcom Belt Action collecting to see which I'd like to get into, playing none of them long enough to get a fair impression of them. :P
Armored Warriors didn't click with me at all. It's definitely different, but something about it also just feels off. I turned it off very fast.
Knights of the Round seemed fun, but also felt unnecessary when I could play either of the D&D games instead. It's very simple though, which I like.
Battle Circuit felt genuinely fun though. I think it'll be the game I end up spending time with once I manage to really delve into these. I don't like the unique graphical style, but the mechanics are neat.

But then something cool happend.
I'd taken my MegaDrive apart because my region switch kept coming off, so I decided to drill some holes to screw it in tightly, and while testing it out to make sure I didn't screw anything up, I just happened to have the Streets of Rage 2 cartridge in the console. And I couldn't stop playing.

Yeah, I've never actually played any of the Streets of Rage games before, and on the surface there doesn't seem to be anything about this game that really makes it stick out, but I couldn't tear myself apart from it.

Is Axel and the default difficulty a good place to start with this game?
User avatar
BareKnuckleRoo
Posts: 6162
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:01 am
Location: Southern Ontario

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

Sumez wrote:Yeah, I've never actually played any of the Streets of Rage games before, and on the surface there doesn't seem to be anything about this game that really makes it stick out, but I couldn't tear myself apart from it.

Is Axel and the default difficulty a good place to start with this game?
Mechanically it's not as complex as its sequel or SoRR are, and the movement feels fairly stiff compared to a lot of beat 'em ups, but the graphics, the music, the feel of attacks when they connect, it all comes together for a pretty great package that's hard to resist.

Axel is a good place to start. He's a character that's mechanically easy to use and dishes out good damage with Grand Upper. When all else fails, try to Grand Upper stuff. Max is even better, but is much tougher to learn to use (high learning curve with him). Skate is the same way, not as good as Max perhaps but as good or better than Axel but takes a lot more effort to play well. Blaze is decent too, but it's the only game where she's the worst character because her offensive special and blitz are both awkward to hit with.
Bassa-Bassa
Posts: 1153
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:18 pm

Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Bassa-Bassa »

Knights of the Round is nothing like either D&D game. It's very unique when you learn how to play it properly, indeed. Too hard for its own good, maybe. The guard move has to be mastered, not easy. Talking 'bout the original arcade version.
Post Reply