Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[BIL]

Very much enjoyed your Wardner 1cc kitten. I've always had a fondness for the genesis game despite its rough edges. The improved music quality really helps sell it over the arcade ost in my book. That and the extra bosses, etc. Like you though I think there were a few too many stages in calm-music-house!

Speaking of cutesy wizard action (well, relatively cutsey - Wardner got them back-ripping spiderlady transformations and spring-loaded buzzsaws), ACA The Fairyland Story arrives tomorrow.



Looking forward to this one! I've come to regard Green Beret as surpassing even Rygar (1986), to become the current progenitor of R2RKMF. Spartan X and Makaimura (EDIT: and Kage!) are 1985, too, and eminent games in their own rights... but none have the Compact Action Man character/playfield ratio epitomised by GB, Rygar, then Castlevania and the vast swathe of hardcore FC action/platforming.

Anyhoo, I don't know very much at all about the Taito Single Screener (that is Sumez's dept!), but this seems like their earliest one? Always loved the spare yet whimsical look of it, at any rate.

[EmperorIng]

Same; I enjoy Fairyland Story casually, at least from my time playing it on Taito Legends (*cue AVGN wut were dey thinking?!?*). I figure like most of their single-screen output there is a lot of depth and weird tricks lurking underneath its cheery exterior.

Their first 'single screen' platformer... if it can even be called a platformer, might be Chack'n Pop. A game whose concept kind of mystifies me, and I'm not sure what to do. No jump button, you can sort of go from floor to ceiling, you move around and get hearts... I prefer a bit more straightforward foray into the realm of cutesy arcade platformers.

[BIL]

Ah yes, I always forget Chack n' Pop! TBH I only know it very tangentially, via ultimate manful STG MEGABLAST (the quest to rescue lovable SINDY and the rest of Earth's purloined womenfolk from Big Robot Foot!), where Chack and/or Pop makes a cameo, and is then promptly megablasted. Seems like a likely candidate for ACA at some point, being obscure and icon-adjacent. That goes for Megablast too I guess...

Speaking of, as down as I am for ACA Mizubaku (DAY 1 BAYBEE), I hope they quit with the teasing and give us MFN Rainbow Islands and New Zealand Story at some point already! But these guys clearly know how to tease. Can't complain, it's been a great year. And M2's DECO project is still in the pipeline too! This past generation, what a pleasant surprise it's been.

[Marc]

Ah yes, I always forget Chack n' Pop! TBH I only know it very tangentially, via ultimate manful STG MEGABLAST (the quest to rescue lovable SINDY and the rest of Earth's purloined womenfolk from Big Robot Foot!), where Chack and/or Pop makes a cameo, and is then promptly megablasted. Seems like a likely candidate for ACA at some point, being obscure and icon-adjacent. That goes for Megablast too I guess...

Speaking of, as down as I am for ACA Mizubaku (DAY 1 BAYBEE), I hope they quit with the teasing and give us MFN Rainbow Islands and New Zealand Story at some point already! But these guys clearly know how to tease. Can't complain, it's been a great year. And M2's DECO project is still in the pipeline too! This past generation, what a pleasant surprise it's been.

I'd buy pretty much everything off of the Taito Memeries comps again emulated to Hamster standards.

[Mero]

Ah yes, I always forget Chack n' Pop! TBH I only know it very tangentially, via ultimate manful STG MEGABLAST (the quest to rescue lovable SINDY and the rest of Earth's purloined womenfolk from Big Robot Foot!), where Chack and/or Pop makes a cameo, and is then promptly megablasted. Seems like a likely candidate for ACA at some point, being obscure and icon-adjacent. That goes for Megablast too I guess...

Speaking of, as down as I am for ACA Mizubaku (DAY 1 BAYBEE), I hope they quit with the teasing and give us MFN Rainbow Islands and New Zealand Story at some point already! But these guys clearly know how to tease. Can't complain, it's been a great year. And M2's DECO project is still in the pipeline too! This past generation, what a pleasant surprise it's been.

Mr Chack'n is his name according to Chack'n Pop (wife is Mrs Chack'n)

[BIL]

Now I'm having the horrible sense that you whack him AND his wife in some hellish Lynchian bloodbath, I recall two assailants

[kitten]

Very much enjoyed your Wardner 1cc kitten. I've always had a fondness for the genesis game despite its rough edges. The improved music quality really helps sell it over the arcade ost in my book. That and the extra bosses, etc. Like you though I think there were a few too many stages in calm-music-house!

ty!!! i think the more i sit on this one, the more it will melt its way into my mind as a largely positive experience. i can already feel it sinking in there, softly.

re: the fairyland story, i feel i played this one when i was quite young in some capacity - i don't know how! i remember having that sensation when i first played it on taito legends or whatever it was on. its sprites are so darn cute ; __ ; a friend often jokes i have some sort of hate-on for taito, but i do quite like this one.

[BIL]

That's some AAA1 spritework, and a fine excuse to post this classic reification:

Spoiler

(headcanon POWWA revving up, WRT Mean Mister Wizard and DDD chaps being secret bros ;3)

[Herr Schatten]

Generously, BIL has invited me to shamelessly plug the single screen platformer I made a couple of years ago in this thread, so I feel this is an appropriate time to do so. I suspect it might be a little on the short and easy side for the R2RKM crowd, but maybe some of you can get some enjoyment out of it.

You can download the ROM here.

If you fancy a physical edition, the preorder site of my publisher can be reached here.

[Udderdude]

Was doing my usual "Dig through Steam discovery queue" and came across this interesting looking single screen platformer. Looks pretty cute, but even from the footage, you can tell this is balls hard. Reminds me a lot of various single screen arcade platformers. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1186 ... u_Lilinor/

Also this random beat-em-up! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1228 ... Judgement/

[kitten]

:0 herr schatten ur games look rly cute. your pixel art acumen is great, i'd almost think you weren't european were it not for these being modern homebrew sms - a dead giveaway, eheh! maybe i should give these a run on an emulator but i refuse to go looking for an sms emu ;-;

- -

just finished a JEWEL MASTER hard mode 1cc (and recorded it)! mostly smoothly, too, minus bumping into some shit and dropping to ohko territory in stage 4 lol. the game is pretty generous even on hard mode with your health bar, and a bit more grindy blasting than artful jumping & shooting. i could get the run more taut, but i don't think it's worth bothering. this is one of the starkest contrasts i've ever seen from pixel art on emulator and pixel art on yr tv, i've gotta say - game looks pretty damn good, tbh, but i'd thought it was some repulsive dogshit from taking a peak at online videos before buying. soundtrack is pretty rockin, too!

this game's got the aesthetic chops to be better remembered than it is, but it's a bit rote to play and the gem swapping ultimately winds up being more than a bit irritating. once you've got things routed, there's not a hell of a lot that can go wrong on a run, you just get better at swapping more efficiently and running through stages. before you get things routed, prepare to eat a bit of shit. some boss patterns are really confusing and continues are both limited and start the entire stage over.

some tips:

- you're very unlikely to miss a gem, don't worry about seeking them out or pummeling every enemy. the most easily missable one is in the ice caves and it's frankly not even worth using, at all. the only hidden item i could find was a health potion in stage 2 that involved walking through a wall. i want to suspect there's a secret or two in the final stage, but i think paths just branch (if you're stuck, there's destructible tiles to look for).

- once you beat the first form of the dragon boss, put grey & green on one hand and blue & red on another for the hidden sword weapon. this is actually alluded to in the opening text scrawl, but if you mix it up and instead mix and match differently you won't discover it. it's crazy powerful and pretty much necessary for the final boss gauntlet.

- the phoenix boss (st2) doesn't take damage from anything using the red jewels, as far as i can tell. make sure to pummel him with blue + grey. like some other bosses, he's vulnerable during his wake-up, which is where you can do a lot of damage (and you CAN stand in that crater he comes out of!!! do so and pummel him as he rises).

- the first boss is seriously just walk toward it firing and it will jump over you, repeat. it's possible to break it out of its cycle and be left guessing as to what the mother fuck you're meant to do and get mauled in just a few hits. really... shitty fight to figure out and undoubtedly why a lot of people put this game down real quick. once you get it down it's hard to screw up, though.

- now for final boss gauntlet advice! this can be really easy or seem "fucking impossible, what the hell, you've got to tank so much damage." it seriously becomes a joke with this strategy, to the point it's not even one of the dangerous parts of the run even on hard mode given you enter with a decent amount of health:

1st statue - stay at a distance, jump and slash with the sword to cancel its fireballs.

2nd statue - hug the shit out of it. i mean, get REALLY close, your foot should be over the base. then just slash. it won't even hit you. if you fuck up the spacing it doesn't do thaaat much damage, but it's nice to avoid it to ensure victory.

3rd statue - this is where shit can go bad. jump and slash, but time in such a rhythmic way that his wrecking ball is consistently whiffing. it's really easy to mess the rhythm up (especially since he does earthquakes that stop your movement) or jump too high/not high enough and take a hit or two.

4th statue - you'll have to memorize this guy. stand about equal distance from the statue and the pillar, then time your jumps in rhythm to his shots. easy to get nipped on the first shot (try remembering the music queue for when he's about to attack), but he thankfully doesn't do much damage. it's like jumprope!

final boss - make sure you're walking into his arena firing the sword already, as he is vulnerable offscreen. get close so you can maximize the number of hits you're getting on him. when he transforms, unequip RED and GREEN, then double jump with the barrier on. you'll tank a hit, but barely take any damage. prepare to jump over a wrecking ball when he hits one side of the screen, though you can alternatively tank it with the barrier. switch back as he's about to transform back, and then go to town again. once he starts to glow white, he'll fire an after-image, if you're healthy, you can tank it to make sure you just keep slashing and kill him on this cycle, but i suggest unequipping green and double jumping over it and then going back to nailing him with the sword. if you're lucky, he's dead before he starts the next cycle. if you're not, repeat what you did last time when he turned into the big scary head. boom, easy peasy.

- -

i'd say bil's mostly right on the money about the game, if you've seen him talk about it before. i do think kujaku ou 2 is a way better game, tho! that shit's upperclass, to me

[Herr Schatten]

:0 herr schatten ur games look rly cute. your pixel art acumen is great, i'd almost think you weren't european were it not for these being modern homebrew sms - a dead giveaway, eheh! maybe i should give these a run on an emulator but i refuse to go looking for an sms emu ;-;

Thank you. I agree that finding a decent SMS emulator can be difficult, as most of them are a mess. If you still like to give it a try, I recommend Emulicious. It's multi-platform, by far the most accurate emulation of the system that I know of, and even though it's primarily aimed at developers, it's perfectly fine if you just want to use it to play a game.

[Hornet]

I'm replaying Ninja Five-O which I haven't touched since the 2000s. I remember enjoying the game a lot back in the day, but I think I like it even more now lol. You can easily see the influence from Shinobi and Bionic Commando, maybe a bit of Elevator Action Returns as well, although the greatly increased mobility and generally faster pace give it its own style. Trying to focus on melee (just me enjoying it more, although jump-slashing is clearly super effective) but, other than refilling your Ninjustu bar quicker, I'm still not sure if the game actually rewards you for it and the Shinobi fan inside me wants to scream. I'm generally a bit confused in regards to how scoring works in the game. I noticed that you get more points for killing enemies from behind, which I hadn't noticed before, but I often see variations in my score that I can't explain.

Took me a while to re-learn the physics (if you can call them that) but holy shit, swinging around the map and traversing through the tightly designed stages feels so good in this game. If there's a 2D action game out there with more satisfying grappling mechanics I sure as hell haven't played it. Umihara Kawase is definitely up there -and, to be honest, it's also more technical-, but Ninja Five-O has the "ninja feel" and i freaking LOVE the "ninja feel" in my 2D action. I had completely forgotten about the difficulty spike in the final stage and the somewhat "classic-era Mega Man" approach in the level design caught me off guard. The game definitely encourages mastery of utilizing your movement and combat abilities but the final stage is, in every sense of the word, the ultimate test.

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite action game on the GBA. Very cool tribute to the golden era of 2D action and I generally wish the system had more games like this. I often see people describing the GBA as an "extension of the 16-bit era" and, while I can definitely see where they are coming from, despite a few cool games here there, it's action library is no match for the PCE/MD/SNES.

^^^ Excellent post, highlighted for index. I was thinking it sounded a bit like Saigo no Nindou's last boss, IE deadly and obscure but controllable with very specific techniques.

I wouldn't know. I have casually messed around with Saigo no Nindou in the past, but all I have is a vague memory of the game going full Undead Line on me by stage 3/stage 4 and kicking my ass pretty hard lol. Definitely liked what I played, though, and it's in my to-do list for when I can actually spend some serious time with it.

By the way, are there any notable differences between the PCE "arcade" mode and the actual arcade version?

ESCAPE WATER TREATMENT FACILITY WITH BUNS OF STEEL + MAD GRIP STRENGTH

Spoiler

NES Batman kicks ass. I also feel it's a good candidate for "most satisfying wall-jumping in R2RKMF".

[BIL]

Excellent postings on this page! Just a flying visit, trying to diagnose/repair Skype with my 2000y/o great aunt in another country as I type. Brutal shit. X_X Well no, she's only in her 90s, but still. Same difference mirite.

By the way, are there any notable differences between the PCE "arcade" mode and the actual arcade version?

Quite a bit. I wrote a little here. TLDR is: PCE Arcade Mode is very tough by console standards, but doesn't reach the harshest extremes of the PCB. Mastering PCE Arcade Mode will put you within touching distance of a PCB 1CC, but you'll have to learn a few new tricks to deal with its more intense late-game. ;3

If they'd translated stage 6 better to PCE, it'd instantly become a lot closer to PCB. Everyone hates the Ninja Pit, for good reason - it's bloody kusoge - but in the long term, it's nearly harmless. 100% static. No matter how many times you've aced Stage 6, it'll kill you with shocking suddenness if you're a split-second indecisive. Aesthetically, it's simply the finest videogame depiction of "one man war" I've ever seen. No plot armour here, you gotta think on your feet, or get 'em sliced off.

Your post makes me want to finally write up my Saigo 1CC guide, currently a year or so overdue. I'm currently piecing together one for Double Dragon II AC, which I'll eventually assemble into a proper thread. Saigo's next on the list for sure. I think I'll use the holidays to get going on these, I want to write down my Ikari, Dogosoken and Metal Slug X stuff too.

[WelshMegalodon]

Thank you. I agree that finding a decent SMS emulator can be difficult, as most of them are a mess. If you still like to give it a try, I recommend Emulicious. It's multi-platform, by far the most accurate emulation of the system that I know of, and even though it's primarily aimed at developers, it's perfectly fine if you just want to use it to play a game.

Is that the current standard? I've been using MAME these past few years since its accuracy has been mostly verified with test ROMs and all the recommendations I see are for outdated emulators like MEKA and Kega Fusion. Bizhawk and TwoMbit are also supposed to be quite accurate, but hardly anyone seems to be making actual comparisons. How does the Space Harrier theme on the BIOS screen sound?

[Herr Schatten]

Is that the current standard? I've been using MAME these past few years since its accuracy has been mostly verified with test ROMs and all the recommendations I see are for outdated emulators like MEKA and Kega Fusion. Bizhawk and TwoMbit are also supposed to be quite accurate, but hardly anyone seems to be making actual comparisons. How does the Space Harrier theme on the BIOS screen sound?

It sounds fine, even though FM sound is a fairly recent addition to the emulator. From a development point of view I can always be sure that if something works in Emulicious, it will work on real hardware in exactly the same way. Other emulators I have tried all had significant emulation inaccuracies, even TwoMBit. Meka used to be okay-ish, but it's in a permanently unfinished state, and the less is said about Kega Fusion, the better.

[Squire Grooktook]

Getting close to the SAR: Search and Rescue 1cc. Managed to make it a good chunk of the way through the last stage last night. Will need to iron out a few strategies for the last rooms and figure out the final boss (replays I've seen use a simple pattern of jumping back and forth through the spreads to avoid his homing bombs, but in practice it seems a bit trickier to execute then expected).

Still utterly floored to only now discover such an absolute classic of an arcade blaster out of nowhere. Absolutely a favorite nearly on par with Ninja Spirit, Daimakaimura, etc. now.

One interesting thing I find myself taking note of while experimenting with strategies is the (I can only assume) enemy limit means that certain waves and obstacles sometimes don't appear. It's interesting, makes things pretty dynamic and in a strange way rewards you for rushing forward without easing any of the tension (since you know, a horde of zombies and xenomorphs you didn't shoot will be chasing you the whole time).

[kitten]

spent an hour or two this morning doodling this up. had a lot of fun in this thread over the last few years, figured i'd memorialize it a bit with some of the thread's most frequent posters (skye, vanguard, grook, bil, sumez). sorry if i didn't fit some peeps in, i only wanted to spend so much time on this and the frame would have gotten weird. ms paint with a shitty laptop trackpad, as my usual.

[Sumez]

Haha oh my god this is amazing, kitten!

Also a reminder to myself that my profile picture is 10 years old and intentinally dumb, and I should probably change it some time XD

[kitten]

eheheh, it makes you look suitably cartoonish enough to fit in

i'm pretty happy with how this came out, i think it fits the thread's energy really well. years back, i used to draw caricatures of people on forums i was posting on (vague, silly ideas of them i got from their posts rather than their icons a bit stylized, as here) and people liked them a lot, then i just switched to drawing cartoon versions of friends on messengers for ages (something i still do). i like the "high/low effort" feel of my stuff since it takes that ancient forum energy and keeps it alive. which is... also why i use... livejournal cat expressions for emoticons. i only ever used ms paint to figure out how to make sprite comics or silly edits, and then it eventually evolved into enjoying doodling in there a lot.



i assembled the frames for this thing in ms paint, individually, then used a myspace gif maker web page to put the frames together. i tested the animation via flipping back/forth on windows photo viewer lol. one day, i'll learn actual programs. maybe. i've only ever been doing my doofy bullshit so long i think it's forever shaped whatever art i'll do - that thing was originally just a silly skull i doodled in like 10 seconds apropos of nothing.

- -

anyway, back on topic - currently playing rambo III md and god damn i suck at this game. i like that i'm hot off the back of decisive clears on arcade & original mode on senjou no okami II on their hardest difficulties and am struggling to play what is obviously an easier game. something about... the routing. really fucks with me. i cannot remember these goddamn corridors lol. only played it about 20 minutes as i'm typing this, but it's making me feel really stupid ;A; gonna go look up some maps or something soon, maybe play a little more senjou no okami II because i'm apparently addicted to it. been thinking about maybe actually doing a run of original mode's secret difficulty in which the first 5 minutes aren't so teeth-gritting and leaving both as uploads. i would have seriously never picked this one up without bil's recommendation and it's become what is easily one of my favorite games on the mega drive, no question. ain't quite twinkle tale good but it's still goddamn great.

still waiting on a couple more recent MD orders to arrive - meant to get a 1cc on strider arcade via the capcom classics collection a million years ago, but wound up so fed up with the input delay i couldn't deal with it. looking forward to playing the MD version for the first time and getting a clear, there. i think... probably something else is arriving. i've also yet to play damakaimura MD and meant to get a clear on that game for a long time.... i think this is the most i have ever been in love with this console. after my huge, dedicated sfc rampage i had going on and my extended affair with the pc engine, i feel like i've finally got a really good understanding of each of these console's strengths in their libraries. dozens of clears, so much fun and love, such good times. i wonder if i'll ever graduate to giving the ps1 a particularly extended delve, or the saturn. after those consoles, i think my interest starts tapering off a bit and console boundaries frankly start to feel a little bit illusory. nothing really feels 'of the hardware,' after a certain point in game history.

nearly ten years ago, i wrote a list of my top 100 games. over 50,000 words and a ton of effort. there's some embarrassing choices on there by today's standards (both my own and anyone's - good lord i have a mass effect game and mgs4 in the top 10 lol), but i'm still pretty proud of having done it and i got a really surprising amount of people telling me they loved reading it. i'd really like to go back and do another one and see what's changed - pretty sure a good portion over 50% of what would be in that would qualify for this thread lol

[BIL]

With companions like yourselves, I know this thread will be in good hands if the SCRUB POLICE ever take me down (in a final stand where many of the jackbooted thugs will meet a sandblasted end via my Ansatsuken no Cheeto Dust "Aieee!" "Sweet Jaysus! MUH FACE AINT THAR NO MO!" Yeah! That's why I wear the mask you NO-GAME CHUMPS)

Rambo III's very frontloaded, it starts out pretty tough but IIRC (been some years) it stays there. Not as wickedly intense as Senjou II Hard/Nightmare, with their deadeye gunwalls and sprinting kamikazes - more of a slow/steady affair. Which is why I love it! Here's a somewhat biggu 6MB giffu of the unstoppable carnage that ensues when JONNEH BOY gets a good route through IVAN TEH GROUCHY BEAR's Afghani hood.

THE GREAT ADVENTURE OF JOHN Q. RAMBO, ESQ

Spoiler

Prospective Desert Warriors: REMEMBER! You MUST flex hard before shooting down the attack chopper with your exploding arrows. ITS NOT AN OPTION

[Vanguard]

Nice. Can really feel the ancient forum spirit on this.

[__SKYe]

Haha, I'll never change my profile pic so I don't ruin yours and BIL's "Gynoug x R2RKMF roster" pics.

You nailed BIL perfectly -- we all know there's an affable guy lurking behind the hardcore exterior.

[FinalBaton]

cool art kitten

I really like Strider MD. apart from one particular long arc jump that can't be performed on the port (and can on arcade and is very useful and satisfying) and a little bit of perceived jank in the form of easily dropping down and hanging from platform when you meant to stay on them(which can totally be worked around by learning the port's quirks), I think this is a really fun and also pretty accurate arcade port, all things considered. the vibe and movement is totally there.

I think it's BIL who said that one can totally learn the levels there, and transfer the knowledge to the arcade. aside from couple spots and quirks

Oh and I gotta try Rambo 3 already. seems like pretty satisfying snappy knifing/rocket launcher obliteration

[BIL]

MD Strider was a seriously heroic cart for its time, just a year behind the behemoth coinop. When I finally got to play the arcade one in depth via PS1, I came away wondering if it'd been nerfed. Nope, it's dead-on (former DECO guys handling the conversion, IIRC). The MD one's close enough that 90% of what you know will carry over seamlessly (Strider being relatively easy by AC standards, of course, though no less replayable on account of its ultra-compact runtime and Isuke's inimitably rollicking direction).

The 10% difference on MD actually leaves it the harder game (mostly offset by the new HP boosts stashed throughout stages). The bigger hitboxes struggle in the thorniest areas of Stage 5 - as Baton says, you can't do the inverted double somersault over the gravity chamber abyss, one of the AC's most useful and staggeringly cool stunts.

And with the POW sword not carrying over from stage to stage, forget about nabbing the one behind Lago and using it for perfect Shadow Gunner takedowns - you have to hope the st5 Mosquemen give you one (getting really distant memory here, but I seem to recall figuring out a way to nail the gunner on MD sans POW sword - would need to go back and look though).

Also, in what I guess was the result of deadline pressure, you technically cannot one-life the Japanese MD version. Reach Ouroboros mkII for the trip to Meiou and... nothin'. 3; Gotta suicide off the ledge and respawn, or let the timer run down - the former should be allowed for any No Miss recording, naturally.

Great cart to have around alongside Senjou II, Dai and Forgotten Worlds. (and Chiki Chiki Boys + Final Fight CD, the latter-day members of the MD's Goddamn Good CPS1 Port club)

Oh and I gotta try Rambo 3 already. seems like pretty satisfying snappy knifing/rocket launcher obliteration

Game's got some good ideas! One button for the conically-spraying AK - good for general zako clearing, but it can't scratch armour/buildings, and you'll want arrows' accuracy for critical shots. One button for either: Bomberman BOMBAS, the R-Type SPLODING arrows, or ME CROCKADOILE KNOIFE - all with their own uses. Last button for switching between power weapons - good ol' JAMMA-friendly efficiency.

The charge arrers, besides doing monster explosive damage from a distance, also get one over on the AK with their piercing trait. As shown in the GIF, they'll go straight through sandbags and kill the poor pricks on the other side.

BOMBA is good when you want to drop a shitton of damage on a hard target while moving from point A to B. Note you can stack 'em up, as seen in the Gunwall takedown above.

The KNOIFE is actually your designated ammo generator, mad drops including 1UPs (or "extra hits," as Johnny is only FRESH & BROOD and loses one extend with each hit). Zako have a subtle, invisible pause between "locking on" and attacking, which a charging player can exploit to get in close for THE KNIFENING.

See the prick who comes hauling ass down the ridge in that GIF, wondering who TF just BTFO his trucks and guard towers? Because I'm charging in, it's too late for him to attack before OL STABBY is redeeming his godless commie soul. Proshai, tovarisch - not worry! In just few decade, cowardly Mujahideen be persona non grata to arrogant Yankee pigdogs. MUCH embarrassment for Stalloneski AND Jimmy Bond!

In Mission 2 and the later bunker rescue areas, when the alarm is tripped and zako are freely pouring into the area, you can go on massive knifing chains with deft execution. However, if your advance has been compromised in any way - a snag on a corner, or a micrododge that turned into a detour - you should cancel the knifing expedition; you'll probably get shot. High Tension!

[kitten]

i'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the group photo!

baton, you were probably next to fit in and where i cut off, sorry i didn't jam ya in there lol

- -

anyway, been playing some more senjou no okami II! got a run that is significantly better than my first - it's almost 5 minutes shorter and actually manages to incorporate the opening text scrawl, bits of the level transitions, me actually switching the options around instead of just jumping in, etc. i manage to play the entire run without anyone getting downed a single time, it's pretty goddamn smooth. i fuck up a bit going into stage 8, though. when i'm shooting the planes, rifle takes an accidental collage of beatings that are a little embarrassing to the point i even switch to launcher for a minute - but! i end with everyone at full health minus one character, who is just a cheeseburger away, and quite a few extra mega crashes that i wish i had used earlier lol. my one big niggling complaint with original mode is that the last boss is so goddamn easy :[[

going to write up reviews for a stockpile of runs i'm sitting on this morning and then link 'em all in the thread before i think i play anything else. i noticed my x'eye is starting to get rainbow banding, though ;___; i need to do a recap, but i'm a bit too stupid without an in-depth guide (anyone got one?). i should probably finally get around to learning soldering and some basic electronics. thinking about... buying an s-video modded 32x. i use s-video from my modified x'eye and tend to prefer s-video, and i don't have a (functioning, i can't figure out what is wrong with it) 32x to play games on, anyway. would really like to play that space harrier!! and uh. all the other... exciting.... games......

- -

ty for the write-ups on rambo & strider. i'm not sure which jump you are talking about, though? i took a peak at the mega drive WORLD OF LONGPLAYS vid to see if they do it, and they seem to nail it. timing seems considerably tighter, though.

[BIL]

ty for the write-ups on rambo & strider. i'm not sure which jump you are talking about, though? i took a peak at the mega drive WORLD OF LONGPLAYS vid to see if they do it, and they seem to nail it. timing seems considerably tighter, though.

Not without eating a drill straight to the face and pratfalling uncontrollably down the slope first

UNACCEPTABRU (■｀W´■)

(that opening slide had me going "FUCC THIS GON BE GOOD, SO THATS WHAT I NEEDED 2 D-" then *womp womp* 3;)

IIRC, even if you wait for the drill - ALSO UNACCEPTABRU - you'll whack your head on the Octopus, instead Hiryu's just too bulky on MD to slice straight into and through the sequence like on AC, as far as I know. Or maybe the level geometry's subtly different so the gap's not there...

God damn it, I nailed two perfect gravity chambers the evening I recorded that run, and both got LMAOd straight through Ouroboros mkII. On that third attempt I took a drill to the ankle after landing, grumblegrumble. The PS1 conversion actually fixes a lot of the AC's worst jank, namely that bitch Ouroboros, while adding a couple of (far easier to defeat) killbugs of its own.

[kitten]

lmao, i have to be honest, when i was practicing the game (on capcom classics collection, which meant with deeply frustrating input delay), i had no idea what the hell to do during this part. the timing on when those later platforms are moving kind of evades me and i wasn't sure what to do. would you recommend picking up the ps1 version, too?

[BIL]

There's no timing, really - just spacing. Everything's static, and the only inputs are basic.

> Once you're in the Gravity Chamber proper (ie: the music hits), make your way promptly to the top of the slope - ignore the Hit Mice pouring in behind you, you're gonna be gone in a sec. Take out the impeding Octopus, as shown in the replay.



Then simply run down the slope and take the big jump off the end. There's no need to hold back, and doing so will deprive you of the needed velocity to clear the gap, so basically: floor it. Feather [attack] during the somersault to kill the zako troopers in your way, it looks/feels RAD AS FUCK.



You don't need to get too anal about launching this first jump - the landing zone's pretty generous - but once you've taken off, you won't be able to reposition the second jump, and there's a wall of drills you need to avoid slamming into on the other side. I try to strike a comfy balance.



> Keep holding [forward] while feathering the [jump] button as you land on the middle platform - you'll get the second and final jump every time.



> Upon reaching the other side, do a quick 180' to avoid bumping a drill, and to take out the Hit Mice spawning in from above. Then clamber up and onto the "ceiling" as shown, and get your ass into the Gravity Core's room to resume normal gravity - that's a wrap! You want to do this deftly, as hanging around will only give more Hit Mice time to spawn, and you want to save the last of the POW sword you carried in from st4's boss for Gravity Core mkII.



The PS1 conversion is superb. It's actually an extremely accurate rebuild, not emulation. Only disadvantages over the PCB are its brief between-stage loadtimes; a PS2 with Fast Loading enabled will chop 'em down to nothing, AFAIK without breaking anything. It also comes with a very good conversion of Strider 2 (2000), which lacks the original's immense filmic panache, but makes up for it with profoundly better-articulated future ninja mechanics. Easy recommend.

I too have CCC2 (PS2) - got it for Magic Sword and 1941, p.much - but it's literally still in the shrinkwrap, just never got around to it... and in the meantime, the far better-regarded Final Fight Double Impact (XB360) came out, which bundles in Magic Sword. So no idea how the PS2 Strider fares, but given Digital Eclipse's track record, I wouldn't rely on it (and indeed never have ).

[FinalBaton]

ah yes, the POW sword doesn't carry over stages in MD Strider, I had forgotten about that.

actually makes for a difficulty bump of sort, which is not a bad thing

it does make taking out that one turret gunner preeeeety tough, tho!



I have a Forgotten Worlds cart or two lying around the house somewhere (like every retro gamer), I need to give it a proper shot. only played it very briefly