Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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BIL
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Marc wrote:Only managed one credit last night. Still got my ass kicked at ST3's gunman / charging red pants. Charge dude seems to break every attack I use?
Red Junkyards are a pain in the ass, probably the most dangerous regular enemy (though fortunately, also among the rarest). Nasty priority on their shoulder charge, though they seem otherwise identical to Greens. I'm still trying to nail down an airtight method... best for now is to get close via vertical offset, then PPP+shoe 'em. Worst thing is to keep them at midrange, where they'll just mow you down repeatedly.

You can pretty much skip st3's, however, via a combination of spawn control and the gun. As soon as the gunman arrives, lure him to the left, then kill him and proceed with his weapon. Adios Red and a dozen or so other thugs. When the next gunner arrives, cripple-snipe him (you'll know he's done when he no longer returns fire), then do a header straight into the brothel. This'll take care of that and the deadly-accurate bikers. I think the designers intended you to lose your gun to one or the other. :wink:

(sometimes the gunner will follow you into the brothel, then get bitch-slapped away by the door, molotovs raining on the fine establishment - a quality scene Image)

Afterward, take out the crippled gunner, and mow down the rest of the stage similarly. st3's a snap once you get robbing both gunners down to a method. This goes for pretty much anywhere they're encountered, tbh (meaning stages 6 and 8, too).
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by CIT »

Recently played through Exile, an Action-RPG that is a sort of mix of Zelda II, Ys III and Castlevania II. That will probably set off some alarm bells right there, and indeed, just like those games Exile lacks polish. However, it's still a pretty enjoyable romp due to its charm and rather unusual story (funnily enough, the setting is the same as the first Assassin's Creed).

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Like Ys and Xak, Exile has its origins on Japanese home computers. In fact Exile is the second instalment of the XZR series on MSX, slightly modified for consoles. The Mega Drive port is noticeably worse than the PC Engine version, as the anime cutscenes and a few smaller in-game scenes are missing and therefore essential plot context is lost — which makes for a pretty confusing experience in places. :D

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Set in the medieval Middle East, the game tells the story of Sadler, a continental and dimensional traveler who must do nothing less than save the world. You explore various cities and areas in top-down view before fighting your way through the dungeons in side view. Overall, Exile is fairly linear and feels more like an action game with a lot of plot than an actual RPG. The action sequences are a bit rough around the edges, but still OK enough. However, after a bit of grinding, most of the bosses are way too easy and the level design is a bit too reliant on confusing the hell out of the player (e.g. hallways with 12 doors). The magic system is pretty fun, but I hardly used it.

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^Love this splatterhousy final boss!

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On the other hand, I really liked the wacky plot (among other things you visit a penal colony in Japan and the Pythagorean sect) and the weird character cast (like the two weirdos who join your party in the beginning and then just drop off, never to be seen again :lol: ). I also liked the sprite Designs quite a bit. For reasons already mentioned, I would definitely recommend the PC Engine version over that for Mega Drive. It also has a much more lush OST, while it is (atypically) pale on the MD.

I'd give the PCE version 7/10 and the MD version 6/10 scimitars. Check the game out if you like stuff like the old Ys games or the Xak series, Exile has a very similar vibe.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by drauch »

I need to play through this all the way still. I got a bit discouraged for some reason a few years back. I know now someone on Romhacking has been working with restoring the original difficulties to all of the Working Design releases. Exile II is obviously the big one since it was basically unbeatable, but I believe the difficulty was upped on the US release for Exile as well, with some editing of the cigarette and drug use. Yet Joe Camel still had his filthy mug all over! RIP Joe.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Good post, indexed! I wasn't sure whether to put it under "XZR" or "Exile" - went with the former, for now. At a glance, it seems like the series started on MSX, then concluded on PCE? Always fascinating, these games/series that made the jump from Japanese PC to console. Granada, Snatcher, Undeadline, etc.

Ys III and Castlevania II are charity cases, but I'm always down for more (JP) Zelda II! Hence much OLYMPUS NO TATAKAI in my house :cool: (not quite as good, lacks knightly duels :oops: good world design though!)

Always thought Sadler had a pretty cool antiheroic design, with his sandy hair, billowing red cloak and tactical head towel - sunburn is no joke! - though I've never played any of the games (Exile or XZR). They got pretty consistent coverage in US mags back in the day, I'd have been down! Vivid memories of the Working Designs ad for Wicked Phenomenon, in which a grade-schooler cosplaying Sadler, armed with a stale taco, faces down a California Raisin Gone Wrong. :lol:

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Seems it was the Western cover too? Blimey. :o Turbo stuff never fails to amaze. On the JP side, Telenet-related games, regardless of quality, always had such sharp boxarts.

TREASURE OF THE ARABIA starring WILLIAM SADLER
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THE KING OF IRON CHIN
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RE Crime Fighters: figured out this evening that you can Touch Of Death both Greasers and Switchblades. While PPP/KKK will kill Mohawks dead, it leaves the others floored and able to recover, if you're not right on top and free to shoe 'em. If you hit them with PP-KKK/KK-PPP, they'll eat five hard hits and die outright. It's slightly riskier on Switchblades, with their nastier reach, but very safe as long as you invade their space and attack promptly.

"K" referring to Back Kick, here - the regular kick, from what I can tell, isn't really a combo option. it can poke to some extent, and it technically will lead to a combo ender, but I'm wary of relying on it. (I wish the ender wasn't random - while the high kick to the head is cool, it's pretty much the same as BK's... however, the low kick to the knee, causing the enemy to collapse in a heap, is KINEMA. brawling needs more career-ending low kicks. we're not making fuckin cupcakes here Image) Interestingly, it can function as a quasi-grapple button at pointblank, though you'll need to have the target on the ropes to prevent them hitting you out of it.

You can also ToD Green Junkyards this way, provided you really go ham.

*ahem* STOMP EM IN THE NUTS (■`W´■)
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I wonder if Dolphs and Dominatrices can be, too. Technically, you can interrupt the two-strings as long as desired, eg: PP-KK-PPP. Konami modeled CF after Technos, where you can tap an enemy until the heat death of the universe - it's the coup de grace that puts 'em out. However, each hit does deplete the target's HP down to zero, at which point they can no longer fight, and will be KOd at the next knockdown. So it's never a wasted effort to tag on an extra hit.

This game loses so much flexibility and subtlety without the Back Kick button - its range and speed play superbly off PPP's face crusher, as well as weapons, while enabling a range of counter-offensive tactics. A precision iframe poke is exactly the leavening a nails-hard brawler needs for compelling solo combat. The 4P revs are a different matter - it's kind of hilarious how viciously overmatched the enemies are, and yo, 4x the earning$! :o - but I wouldn't like the 1/2p combat nearly as much without it.
Marc wrote:Only managed one credit last night. Still got my ass kicked at ST3's gunman / charging red pants. Charge dude seems to break every attack I use?
EZ st3 Gunman/Red breakdown :cool: The trick is to scroll the screen back at the Gunman, then take him out. Also featured: Visiting prostitutes for fun and profit, and GUNS

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Straight into the broken glass, that's why you wear a shirt homie Image

I've been experimenting with fighting Reds unarmed, and with knife/pipe. It's not worth it here, but the st4 Red/Hardgay duo is probably the most dangerous thing in the game's first half. Had some success whacking him out of his charge with the pipe, once I'd gotten to grips with its startup animation, but not only is the timing intense - this game's Z-axis is wickedly strict, and his charge can hit you from outside it, while you whiff.

Aligning with the screen top/bottom seems to help, but it seems the simplest option is to just get in close, and infight with Back Kicks. At pointblank, he won't charge, and BKs speed and i-frames tend to stuff his attacks. It's possible to get thrown, but rare from what I've seen. He also doesn't have all that much HP - just one knockdown and a brisk followup kicking will put him well on the way to 0HP state. WIP.

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

Post by Marc »

Yeah ST4 boss last night!
Utterly destroyed me - the only opening I could see if the odd time he buries his saw in the floor, but even that last only a millisecond.
I had a few scrapes with the ST3 boss, but on the final credit managed to get him completely stunlocked with PPP. Not sure how, but I was just off-axis and breaking back into a new combo before he could recover.
Weapon management is key while learning this thing - I'm still a bit off with knife timing but give me the bat and it's all good. Though I'm not keen on any game that makes me beat on Freddie Mercury.
Can imagine it feels a bit of a broken mess without the back kick though - it's my go to for anything larger than a standard character.
Really enjoying this, so glad I didn't pass. Again, it's thanks again to this thread - some of the discussions of strategy and mechanics throughout have given me a new appreciation for games I'd written off/wasn't very good at years ago.

Properly hyped for the sequel now.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Marc wrote:Weapon management is key while learning this thing - I'm still a bit off with knife timing but give me the bat and it's all good.
Coming straight in from Ikari/Guevara, weapons are pretty much this game's tanks. Game-changingly powerful, but by that same token, if you lose 'em at certain critical junctures you're hosed. 3; Fortunately it's mostly the bosses, and even if you only get in half the hits you need, you'll still take a chunk out of 'em. The designers are generally good at ensuring weapon drops nearby, too.

...except in that shitbird Boss Revenge stage, which I'm guessing is gonna need hammer/tongs to figure out. :evil: Ah well, could be worse. People say Detana Twinbee's second loop is friggin impossible. Image
Though I'm not keen on any game that makes me beat on Freddie Mercury.
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Holy fuck, it's him! :shock: Only a casual Mercury/Queen fan, but I'd no idea he'd donned the black leather too. I always picture his Live Aid look. Thought I was facing down Glenn Hughes from the Village People, or at a stretch The Metal God himself. :wink:

There's quite a tradition of the huggy hard gay enemy in JP arcade games, now I think about it. >_> Goemon's had one since the very first AC title, and there's Ikki's, too.

CF's is a pretty novel brawler enemy for his day, can't recall anything similar in the other 80s titles. Hyper-armoured against unarmed hits, but forced to taunt every few steps, and he doesn't actually have much HP. So it's pretty easy to zero him for a knockdown kick and farewell shoeing (as he humps the floor frantically, of course) - plus weapons take him out in one shot, just like the lowly Mohawks. Who have their own minor edge in a deceptively strong grapple + nut shot.

(speaking of the punks, I like that ROOTS REGGAE graffiti in st2's subway train, which also sports a PUNX NOT DEAD. guessing some of these dudes, for all their despicable ways, might have decent vinyl back at the flophouse :cool:)

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Red gold black and green, mi bredren! Image Or in this case BLACK N BLUE Image Image
Again, it's thanks again to this thread - some of the discussions of strategy and mechanics throughout have given me a new appreciation for games I'd written off/wasn't very good at years ago.
Same, I've gotten a lot more out of this hobby than I might've thanks to this place. :mrgreen: Image
Properly hyped for the sequel now.
If there's one batch of games I hope they get to, it's the unported early 90s Konami stuff including Crime Fighters 2 and Violent Storm. Those two and Mystic Warriors are my top three, pretty much. These games are pretty much new to me, so in a way, I've enjoyed this gen way more than several previous. I hate jinxing things, so I keep it under my hat, but if ACA keeps it up and M2 pull off their Toaplan + DECO projects, I'll have gotten pretty much all I wanted out of console gaming. God knows there's enough arcade material on PS4+Switch alone to last a couple lifetimes.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Weird, I have owned the Japanese PCE version of Exile for the past couple of decades, and somehow I never realised there was an official English release of the game.
Well, I'm sure that ship has sailed by now in terms of video game prices.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by __SKYe »

Thanks for the strats BIL, I'll try them out next time I play (probably on the weekend).

Marc, the 3rd boss is trivial if you reach him with the pistol but even if you don't you can reliably land a few punches/back kicks as he gets close to you and still have time to move away (along the z-axis) due to his relatively slow attack speed. A weapon is also useful, as you can just stab him once and move away.
Marc wrote:I had a few scrapes with the ST3 boss, but on the final credit managed to get him completely stunlocked with PPP. Not sure how, but I was just off-axis and breaking back into a new combo before he could recover.
Yeah, you can do this by punching bosses out of their attack, which will make them flinch a bit, but it is fairly unreliable due to this game's fairly strict hit detection as even a small movement from enemies can make you miss an attack. This is quite noticeable against addled enemies -- trying to hit/stab them as they jiggle around is surprisingly tough. :)
Marc wrote:Though I'm not keen on any game that makes me beat on Freddie Mercury.
Eh, I had this Hard Gay in mind. :)
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Marc »

Yeah played another credit last night. Got the third level down pat, but that fourth boss is still destroying me.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

You gotta trust in... the REFREX :cool: Looks scarier than it really is. :mrgreen: Don't go for double hits unless he's hoisted the saw high up!

Earlier attempt demonstrating why it's probably best to dodge straight [down]. I was trying to go diagonally, too, baiting the saw without breaking stride - but that'll put you nearer the blade, cancelling the gain to your reaction window. The vertical dodge is surprisingly repeatable, imo, especially given how untelegraphed his attack is.
__SKYe wrote:
Marc wrote:I had a few scrapes with the ST3 boss, but on the final credit managed to get him completely stunlocked with PPP. Not sure how, but I was just off-axis and breaking back into a new combo before he could recover.
Yeah, you can do this by punching bosses out of their attack, which will make them flinch a bit, but it is fairly unreliable due to this game's fairly strict hit detection as even a small movement from enemies can make you miss an attack. This is quite noticeable against addled enemies -- trying to hit/stab them as they jiggle around is surprisingly tough. :)
That 0HP jiggle was seriously annoying me, at first :evil: - you can see it in the Stage 3 video I recorded, on the blonde Greaser right before the brothel, where I go for a back kick and miss, then proceed to bust fuckin caps. :lol:

The Dolph immediately after dodges a would-be fatal shoe in the face, too, causing me to freak out for a sec. Now I know that healthy enemies simply don't break off their attack - once they've moved in on you, they'll lock onto your Z-axis and stay there, come hell or high water (as you've said, this is actually an advantage, countering the strict Z-axis). If you whiff, it's because they're 0HP and wavering (not that it's always easy determining that, surrounded by enemies... game could've used stagger frames).
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Udderdude »

This came out earlier this year and I just found out about it. Bought it, it's pretty fun. Definitely reminds me of some classic 80's arcade games.

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

Post by Jeneki »

Exile (Turbografx) was a weekend rental one-and-done for me back in the day. And now that I think about it ... who in their right mind had Turbografx CD games for rental, I wonder if they were experimenting with different stuff to see what sticks.
Don't read that title too fast, lol. That must be Evil Lyn's profile name on kink websites.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Bloodreign »

Awaiting Namco Museum 5, Japanese version, CANNOT wait to have some Legend of Valkyrie goodness to play. Do have one of it's prequels, Xandra no Daibouken, aka Whirlo (good platformer, but balls to the wall hard), and I'll go after Namco Anthology 2 PS1 next, to get that beautiful remake of Valkyrie no Bouken. Saw a playthrough of that game, would've made for a beautiful US release on the PS1 with it's gorgeous 2D artwork.

I have heard some Japanese language is necessary for either game (and Xandra to an extent) due to some of the choices in the game, like either using brains or brawn when a giant elephant gives you a choice on how to proceed in Legend of Valkyrie.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BrianC »

I have the JP Namco Museum 4. I find it interesting that the Pac-Land in that collection is like a hybrid between the JP and US versions. I mainly got that one for Assault and Assault Plus, which was well worth it.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Bloodreign »

BrianC wrote:I have the JP Namco Museum 4. I find it interesting that the Pac-Land in that collection is like a hybrid between the JP and US versions. I mainly got that one for Assault and Assault Plus, which was well worth it.
I have the Japanese version of that, but sadly the disc is gimped, and only Pac-Land and Assault/Assault Plus work on it. No Genpei Toumaden, Ordyne, or Return of Ishtar for me. :-(


It's a mistake I'll have to eventually correct. I also had a Namco Anthology 2 recently on watch on Ebay, time ran out on the BIN, the guy then relisted and jacked the price up another $10. It was originally under $50, and I was ready to strike, it has another Valkurie game on it, a remake of the Famicom original, and is downright gorgeous 2D art. I got Namco Museum 5 Japan version for under $30, and my main reason for it was Valkyrie, and in return I have yet ANOTHER version of Dragon Spirit, and ANOTHER Pac-Mania port from the arcade (Namco Museum PS2, and Namco Museum 50th Anniversary has Pac-Mania, and I have both, don't have the NES and Genesis versions yet).
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by trap15 »

BIL wrote:...except in that shitbird Boss Revenge stage, which I'm guessing is gonna need hammer/tongs to figure out. :evil:
Might be helpful that NOA has just put up a video of a no-miss boss revenge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKahkflBPNE

Zombifying all the bosses to avoid dealing with zako while fighting them is a pretty funny strategy, but clearly required really.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Nice, 6m30s! :o I'd watched a ReplayBurners 2-ALL before picking up the game (can never be too sure with even iconic 80s brawlers... Datsugoku kinda Datsublowkus :evil:), where the player used that strat, but dropped a life and, worse - took so long I literally fell asleep. :lol: So this is encouraging!
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BrianC »

I found out that odd slowdown and frame drops in frogger actually are present on the original AC version. The mister core has a bugfixed version, which made me suspect that the slowdown and input drops may be in the AC one after all. When I looked it up, I found out that was the case. I think this is one rare case where many of the home ports are better than the AC version.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by SriK »

Speaking of Namco, it's probably beyond the scope of this thread, but I don't want to start a new one just to ask: has anyone here had the opportunity to play Namco's Lucky & Wild on an actual cab? I found out about this one a few days ago while figuring out a car chase sequence that I want to put into a new game, and damn this game is insane. Co-op lightgun shooting + driving at the same time, with cars and motorbikes swerving and crashing around you, criminals jumping on top of your windshield, armored trucks firing out missiles and beams of flame, and a theme straight out of an '80s buddy-cop action movie. I couldn't find a decent setup for all the different controls on either controller or arcade stick, and I don't have the necessary peripherals right now, so I am currently playing this with the mouse and the arrow keys lol. And I seem to suck at it (can't get past stage 3). I think it must be designed mainly for co-op anyway, since I have no idea how one person is supposed to manage all this stuff coming at you even with a lightgun and a steering wheel. (And maybe that's appropriate: try "managing" a real high-speed police chase by yourself sometime and see if you can get past "stage 3" :mrgreen: ) Anyway, I would love to hear more about this game, and about where to find it in Japan, since I'm probably traveling there in the summer (I hear there are plenty of cabs around mainland China, but I'm not terribly interested in going there right now, unless I meet an elderly person who I really don't like). It seems like a must-play, an awesome yet forgotten genre-blending game, and I was surprised to find so little about it on these parts of the Internet.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

We live in interesting times. Image Arcade Archives: Saboten Bombers out tomorrow. NMK-developed, Tecmo-published, much like the recent ACA Thunder Dragon. Never so much as seen this one, but I've heard so many good things about it over the years. Always happy to see NMK's catalogue brought home, too.

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BrianC wrote:I found out that odd slowdown and frame drops in frogger actually are present on the original AC version. The mister core has a bugfixed version, which made me suspect that the slowdown and input drops may be in the AC one after all. When I looked it up, I found out that was the case. I think this is one rare case where many of the home ports are better than the AC version.
Interesting - I guess the ACA version was quietly fixed up too, at least I've never seen it stutter. I wonder if there was a revised PCB?

EDIT: This seems illuminating! I just tried controlling the frog during the Attract mode, as the author mentions - doesn't seem to work in ACA. I wonder if it had some work done, or if it's one of those popular PCBs with a million revisions/license variants. Then again, I know at least a few ACA releases use ROMs modified for earlier gens. Ninja Gaiden comes to mind - missing the "Iron Man" cover (still got "Bound To Break" :cool:) and Devil Carpet, just like the Virtual Console release. Maybe Frogger is a similar case.

I've always been idly curious about Frogger's provenance, I could never work out where it'd come from. Great story behind its publishing, very Beatles/Decca.
SriK wrote:Speaking of Namco, it's probably beyond the scope of this thread, but I don't want to start a new one just to ask: has anyone here had the opportunity to play Namco's Lucky & Wild on an actual cab?
I actually did, once, though I can't recall any specifics. I only remember because my grandma was 2P. We didn't do very well, IIRC. :lol: Had good laugh, though!

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

Post by Marc »

Been waiting for a home version of Saboten Bombers for literally YEARS - was one of the odder machines my local had when I was a teen. From memory, more frantic and possibly less polished than a lot of single-screen platformers, but a riot with two players. Made up with this!
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Pleasantly surprised to see you can STOMP N SHOVE enemies for better combos! And they can bop you, too! Nice brawler-esque physicality - very unlike the other Bubblesques I've played.

Useful Attract Mode = GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION Image
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Got the usual "FML how the items do" feeling I do from BBesques - a not unpleasant sensation. Image Manual helps quite a bit.

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Daww! Paper scans, a cute first for ACA. Pls keep givin' me my flat black wallpaper though.(^ω´ )MAX CONCENTRATION (■`ω´■)

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Nice offbeat style, some gorgeous animation. After HardGay's mild censoring, it's good to see the blue zako sparking up in full yanki zuwari glory. Image

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

Post by trap15 »

Don't forget to check out the Saboten Bombers Handbook, which I believe was part of the original game kit lol. So many weird secrets they had to literally explain it all in a little booklet. https://retrogamegoods.com/gamegoods_item/テクモnmk「サボテンボーンバーズ」はんどぶっく
@trap0xf | daifukkat.su/blog | scores | FIRE LANCER
<S.Yagawa> I like the challenge of "doing the impossible" with older hardware, and pushing it as far as it can go.
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BIL
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Image Image Ta bud, marked for index! I never know WTF I'm doing with these games at the best of times. :mrgreen:
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by mycophobia »

I got a no miss 1-ALL on NES Castlevania earlier this evening. Pretty standard stuff for most of it, went real smooth, with a bit of a nailbiter dracula fight. 2-4 destroyed me, dying during the outdoor section and having to make do with the level 1 whip is pain. will go for 2-ALL sometime probably soon
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BIL
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Good job making it out of Loop 2's catacombs! They're the TLB, haha. AFAIK, stages 5 and 6 don't actually change, or if they do, definitely not to the extent of the significantly nastier first four. So if you can get 2-4 nailed down, it's just a matter of steady hands.

If it's of any help, in case you've not seen it: Loop 2 Fish Fuck Survival :cool:
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mycophobia
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by mycophobia »

thanks for that. my biggest problem with the 2-4 catacombs is that last fucker that knocks you off the platform that i pointed out on your Vs. version 2-all vid, the rest is a little chaotic but i can get through it with a bit of patience

and yeah i made it to 2-5 on an earlier non-nomiss first loop run and was struck by the lack of bats or medusas. weird that they didn't do anything with those stages
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Got a Magician Lord no-damage clear recorded. A punishing but very controllable game - nice tight runtime, too, a concise Commando Mage blast.

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TBH, there isn't much distance between no-death and no-damage; mastering the former will see you 95% towards the latter. This goes double if you're sticking with Elta's base form, where you've got just two hits for the game's short yet intense duration (barring the handful of restore opportunities, which will still see your attack power decimated). I actually wasn't setting out for one - having had several promising 1LCs ruefully implode at endgame, I actually forgot I'd managed at all, until the last boss died.

Magician Lord will always enjoy a certain mythic air, for those of us who were impressionable kids at the Neo's debut. Image :cool: At the same time, its combo of glossy production, simple action, and callous, occasionally cheap design makes it easy to prematurely write off. I was surprised at how enjoyable I found it, once I'd gotten past its initial hurdles: hitboxy handling that turns even simple straits lethal, and rambling deathmazes that'll bludgeon hapless explorers. Ultimately, while the mature run lacks the finessed brilliance of a Daimakaimura, Shinobi or Saigo no Nindou, it delivers on rollicking assault course pace, with some immortally cool pixels and tunes.

For those approaching ML, the first thing to know is, as Mr. Mosquito and CIT say: the transformations are 90% trash. Ninja is a mostly even trade, though his shot's high damage is held back by poor speed and awkward hitbox. Dragon's flamethrower is great at the last boss, a deathtrap everywhere else. Samurai's piercer and Raijin's aura are nearly as situational, and similarly, not worth it. Finally, the two Atlanteans are utter shit - avoid like the plague. (echoing CIT - two? WTF? goin' for that Lovecraftian undersea horror cred, I guess Image :lol:)

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I would suggest learning the game as Ninja - his additional HP and slightly better jump will take the edge off Elta's punishing 2HKOs - then switching to Elta once you've seen the course, and can maintain Level 3. While Elta's L3 shot isn't quite as strong as Ninja's, its pointblank capacity, high speed, and huge hitbox make it ML's best weapon, hands-down. You can obliterate enemies, midbosses and bosses alike with scintillating violence, once you know how. Image

A useful trick for Elta learners - if you're about to die in Stage 5, switch to Ninja at the treasure chests just before the boss, while grabbing the POW. Now you're back at 4HP with a decent weapon. If you can make it to Stage 6's final area, it's a snap to suicide off Ninja, then grab the pair of POWs under the boss room. Sounds convoluted, but it's a ruthless game, you gotta take what you can get. Image

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I think it'd have worked better to treat the alternate forms as limited-use subweapons, on the C button. Maybe make them desirable enough to go exploring for. I was sad to see there's an infinite milk, as demonstrated by IRL magician ben.shinobi - albeit a difficult, slow one. I could still see questing for all-treasure scores being a lot of fun for experienced clearers, though.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Herr Schatten »

BIL wrote:Magician Lord will always enjoy a certain mythic air, for those of us who were impressionable kids at the Neo's debut.
Absolutely. I remember drooling over the screenshots in magazines back then. In hindsight, though, the game doesn't really look like something an SNES couldn't handle. I guess even a decent Mega Drive port wouldn't be totally unfeasible if you could live with fewer colors.

Anyway. It's always fun to watch a playthrough of this. My favourite part, apart from the hilariously inane ramblings of the main bad guy, is how the zako enemies just seem to mind their own business until the player strolls along, then reluctantly get up and wearily shuffle towards their doom.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BryanM »

BIL wrote:I think it'd have worked better to treat the alternate forms as limited-use subweapons, on the C button. Maybe make them desirable enough to go exploring for.
What?! You want more hitpoints, and more attack power?! What greed.

As it's been over a decade since I've played this one, I only have any recollection of the dragon and ninja forms, and vaguely think there might be a samurai form. So while I'm sitting here saying to myself "eh, the water forms can't be that bad" why the hell didn't I ever use them if that were the case? A bit of wasted effort on their part, to make these harder to get powerups undesirable, I'd agree.

Anyway, I've only identified three basic factors of game avatars - attack, mobility, and durability. Mario games are pretty infamous for making forms mostly only excel at one factor (and the fire flower is inevitably useless even though it's completely overpowered in a vacuum - enemies are just too harmless in those games), though the yoshi is intentionally a pushed unit that enhances all three. (It even allows you to set him down and not use him, much like your "make the forms in ML strictly better" idea.) I'm a big proponent of only pushing one of them at a time, since the well on each of them is only so deep.

Altered Beast would strongly disagree with me, but I'd say that's a reason why it has such poor depth.
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