What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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Mischief Maker
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Mischief Maker »

If combination brawling and cooking games are your... taste,

I recommend Battle Chef Brigade.
Two working class dudes, one black one white, just baked a tray of ten cookies together.

An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.

Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

Been working on Mr. Driller G. Beat the Time Attack mode for the first time, and retook the #1 spot on the India board on my PCB (sorry colour_thief!). Finally got a score on the scoreboard for America; I can tell that a no-miss, perfect air run of America would nab the top spot, even possibly a 1-miss perfect air bonus run, but I'm having a lot of trouble at about 700M in America. :/

Egypt seems quite doable to 1CC, I got to 1100M on a casual credit I just played cause I wanted to check out the scoreboard on it.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by vol.2 »

Sumez wrote:Been wanting to play that one for a while, but it's very expensive... or a Piko repro, which is arguably worse.
The piko version is just the original rom with a crappy emulator. It's like $5 right now and you can just take the rom and play it in retroarch in SNES 9x.

Unless you have to play on OG equipment. Personally, I'm fine as long as I can play with a basically OG controller on a CRT, and that's extremely doable with SNES in emulation.

Mischief Maker wrote:If combination brawling and cooking games are your... taste,

I recommend Battle Chef Brigade.
lol. i might have to give that one a try. hopefully can find it on PC as i don't own ps4.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Mischief Maker »

Oh yeah, BCB's on PC. GOG has it, too.
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An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.

Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by trap15 »

vol.2 wrote:The piko version is just the original rom with a crappy emulator. It's like $5 right now and you can just take the rom and play it in retroarch in SNES 9x.
??? It's a cartridge, there's no emulation, unless you're talking about something other than the Piko reprint.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by vol.2 »

trap15 wrote:
vol.2 wrote:The piko version is just the original rom with a crappy emulator. It's like $5 right now and you can just take the rom and play it in retroarch in SNES 9x.
??? It's a cartridge, there's no emulation, unless you're talking about something other than the Piko reprint.
i'm talking about the piko version on steam. it's called "gourmet warriors" there in english language. it's packaged with an emulator. you can just buy that and strip the rom from the folder res>game.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by ACSeraph »

Can anyone give me some impressions of the Konami Anniversary Collections (Contra, Castlevania, Gradius 1/2). How are the ports? Save states? Also is it possible to play the Japanese ROMs on the US version? Especially in the case of Gradius, being locked into Nemesis would be a deal breaker for me. Thanks in advance; I trust opinions here a lot more than review sites.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BrianC »

ACSeraph wrote:Can anyone give me some impressions of the Konami Anniversary Collections (Contra, Castlevania, Gradius 1/2). How are the ports? Save states? Also is it possible to play the Japanese ROMs on the US version? Especially in the case of Gradius, being locked into Nemesis would be a deal breaker for me. Thanks in advance; I trust opinions here a lot more than review sites.
On Switch emulation seems fine to me, along the lines of the arcade archives. The alternate region versions are available (JP versions in US/EU version and vice versa, though Scramble is the JP version), though the collection was limited to the US or JP versions of the games when it came out. No version has JP Life Force, JP ROM is Salamander. I don't recommend the Steam version. I ended up getting a refund since the games' wouldn't load. Telling from the game's steam message board, it seems to be a common issue.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by ACSeraph »

I'm thinking about picking up the PS4 versions since they are heavily discounted right now. Thanks for the info, I'm glad to hear you can switch the ROMs around for the most part.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Marc »

Head's up, trophies aren't available when using the JPN versions, if you care about that sort of thing. Other than that, they're just ACA versions in a new wrapper. One save slot per game rather than ACA's odd interrupt-data way of doing it, fewer screen options (mild and hard scan lines), redefinable controls (though Auto is either ON or OFF, no frequencies).. I ended up biting at four quid simply to pick up Twin Bee and Scramble.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BulletMagnet »

Level of story boss I just beat in FFXV - 25
My current level - 53

... ... ...I'm NOT easily distracted, YOU'RE easily distrhey what's that over there

Nuts and bolts-wise I'm slowly figuring out more of the game's nuances, but a handful of enemies still have me completely flummoxed; Coeurls and Necromancers are easily my biggest current bugbears, as the former is even quicker and harder to draw a bead on than comparable annoying small fry but loads more powerful, while the latter sports a Mega Beam O Death that will decimate you out of nowhere if you're not keeping a close eye on him. Not to mention that both can 1) Heal themselves, so chipping away slowly and safely isn't a great option, and 2) Unless I'm missing something seem to be able to insta-kill a character - something even far more powerful-on-paper enemies I've faced can't do - which also means a SMT-esque insta-Game Over if that character happens to be Noct.

If there's only one of either present I can usually manage okay, but two or more means that at least one of them will be able to sneak up on me unseen and send me back to the loading screen instantly; there's a dungeon out there with a recommended level half of my current one, but it sticks Necromancers in there so I end up biting it every time I attempt it. Really annoying, and a huge shock to the system when the game tends to be pretty generous overall about recovering from getting unexpectedly whomped (which is pretty much an inevitability at times) otherwise.

(I also attempted a hunt against a couple of Cactuars, which do not have an insta-death ability but do have both stupidly high speed and an exceedingly nasty distance attack, and a hard-to-see one even when looking straight at them, at that. It did not go well. :P)

In terms of story things just got really goofy:
Spoiler
So my lady friend apparently woke Titan up and asked him to help me...so I go see him...and when I get there he tries to kill me, for reasons never explained...then suddenly the evil empire guys who have been hunting me all game show up, also without explanation, and help me beat him up...and after beating him up I somehow win his favor? WTF? :lol:
Hopefully at least some of this gets cleared up down the line.

Off to the side, I'm afraid that Cecil/Rosa, Squall/Rinoa, and Tidus/Yuna will all have to stand aside - Gladio/Cup Noodles is far and away the series' most passionate (and relatable!) romance ever.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by carlbarx »

BrianC wrote:The amazing thing about the Namco Archives version is that it's an actual NES/FC version.
Limbrooke wrote:I realize it may also be a Famicom/NES binary running in emulation but its stored within the Namco Archives data files and even if I could extract it and play on an NES with a ROM cart, I don't want or need to really.
I think this is a really cool release. Works fine on my old Powerpack cart. :D

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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BrianC »

Both games work great on the Everdrive N8 pro too (didn't try the original N8 yet, since I like the pro much better). Neat that the M2 updated version of CE uses the Namco FC sound chip.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Sumez »

BulletMagnet wrote:Hopefully at least some of this gets cleared up down the line.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Steamflogger Boss »

Oi I'm back in the SNES game. I missed it more than I thought I would.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BIL »

ACSeraph wrote:Can anyone give me some impressions of the Konami Anniversary Collections (Contra, Castlevania, Gradius 1/2). How are the ports? Save states? Also is it possible to play the Japanese ROMs on the US version? Especially in the case of Gradius, being locked into Nemesis would be a deal breaker for me. Thanks in advance; I trust opinions here a lot more than review sites.
Coincidentally, having just picked up Darius Cozmic AC (PS4), and enjoying its beautiful Darius II, I was struck by the realisation that rather than wait on a theoretical Arcade Archives: Super Contra, I could just nab M2's. I already have everything on cart/disc, but Super requires a 360, and mine's currently boned.

Quick impressions of the NTSCJ version: as always, my primary concern is input lag. Game response is universally razor-sharp, as you'd expect of M2 (testing on DS4 bluetooth + my grandma's Maury TV). As usual, they cover all the button & display config essentials, with the sole exception of Hard Corps which doesn't seem to have button config. The setup isn't awful, thankfully, and I guess you could create a PS4 controller profile for it, if you really want. Odd but mostly harmless omission.

AC and FC games have nice autofire (the GB and 16bit ones have it by default), and discrete filter/scanlines plus TATE for the AC duo. Savestates are ACA-style; more of a quicksave, with one slot per game. Not quite ShotTriggers "superplay research bunker" calibre, but it's plenty of help imo, being used to the carts. :mrgreen:

Super Contra's the one I've put the most time on today - it's the Japanese version, which is good, as it's got a second loop I've unfinished no-miss business with. Image It lacks the intro voices, which is dumb, but easily forgiven. Seems accurate to the old 360 one, which was likewise just like MAME, so I'm happy.

The AC Contra included here has the same minor glitch as MAME and every official release barring Arcade Archives, where 3D stage mines always target the lower-right corner. I already have ACA Contra, but even if I didn't... it's a relatively minor flaw, in a game with much bigger intrinsic flaws (aim lag, etc). So I wouldn't call it a deal-breaker, unless of course you're a hardcore AC Contra fan. In that case you'd want to double-dip on ACA.

Spirits, the trickiest game here, feels bang the fuck on. Image Image

Image

For extra regions, there's NES Contra (marginally easier than FC, missing some graphical effects and cutscene fluff), and the Euro versions of the two 16bit games, which IDGAF about. >_> Robots or some shit. More significantly, there's no Hard Corps US, which is a very different experience with its 1HKOs. However, hitpoints aside, NTSCJ Hard Corps is otherwise 110% identical. So if you git gud enuff to no-damage that one, you'll be all set to blow away the US ver. As someone who grew up with NTSCU and now plays NTSCJ, I'd say the latter is the better-designed experience, but you'll end up in the same place regardless.

Also, NTSCJ HC is way easier to play with noob friends, they won't run out of lives every five minutes. ;3

Overall, very happy with this - typical M2 quality. Very convenient having everything on one HDMI-friendly box, even as a hardware or bust sort (one currently living abroad with only a PS4 for company). Think I'll pick up the Castlevania collection too, will post if I find anything amiss there. I gotta update my god-awful VK Johnny Expert no-miss.

God damn, between this and Cozmic, my dick is now rock-hard for the Toaplan stuff. (■`W´■)
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by vol.2 »

Mischief Maker wrote:...
Quick question. Started Starcrawlers based on the rec on previous page. I ran across your hacking guide. One thing I don't totally get it why you say to have programs of only one color active at a time. Or perhaps I am misunderstanding. It's early game for me, but I'm typically using the barrier to prevent deck loss before using the green stuff to deal recurring damage and then using the security attacks to pick off enemies. Also, if the whole system is color coded, shouldn't you have a variety of color attacks to reflect the variety of enemies? I seem to run into mostly red and green, but in basically equal amounts.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by ACSeraph »

BIL wrote: God damn, between this and Cozmic, my dick is now rock-hard for the Toaplan stuff. (■`W´■)
So much this.

Thanks for the in depth analysis, I'll almost certainly pick them up after reading that. Somehow I had no idea that JP Hardcore had a health meter. The game's price is astronomical in Japan so I've always stuck with my old banged up US cartridge I've had since I was a kid. Now I'm curious about what differences Bloodlines (Vampire Killer) might have. I'll have to look that up later.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Mischief Maker »

Oh crap, I think it's been over a year since I last played so my memories are fuzzy. Also they did some balance changes since I wrote that guide. Basically 3 things:

1) There's a basic rock/paper/scissors system between the three colors, and each matrix run tends to only have ICE of one, max 2 colors, so using the single color gives you the advantage.

2) Once you have one of each program (top priority over higher-level programs) you'll see that each set of programs in each color are made to synergize with each other.

3) Each color corresponds to a different "style" of RPG combat, with Blue being the straightforward hard-hitting tank build, red the DOT build, and green the multi-hit crit and summon build. Later in the game you'll be murdered by certain types of high-level ICE if you're not running a counter-build. There's this one green ice that gets faster and faster with every attack and effectively one-shotted my "pick of all the best from all 3 colors" standard loadout up to that point. Then I switched to a red DOT attack that used its powers against it and neutralized it easily.

Have fun! And if you're interested in more procedurally-generated blobber/jRPG hybrids, give Battle Chasers Nightwar a try!
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BIL »

ACSeraph wrote:Thanks for the in depth analysis, I'll almost certainly pick them up after reading that. Somehow I had no idea that JP Hardcore had a health meter. The game's price is astronomical in Japan so I've always stuck with my old banged up US cartridge I've had since I was a kid.
OG NTSCU cart crew Image Got my battered ol' HC+Bloodlines on the shelf next to my grown ass mayne ( :lol:) JP copies.

I sometimes consider selling my JP copy but AH CANNAE DO IT - and tbh, having gotten used to JP, the US 1HKOs were definitely a bit slapdash. There's a couple patterns that go from mostly bullshit to total bullshit. Image
Now I'm curious about what differences Bloodlines (Vampire Killer) might have. I'll have to look that up later.
Gotcha covered :cool:

I prefer the Genesis version by a whisker, but they're so close that if you learn to demolish JP Expert difficulty (the game is designed around blazing a trail of no-hit MAX POWWA carnage), you'll barely notice the US's handful of tweaks. If you struggle to finish the US one on its three credits, JP will be little relief. Most definitely not an Akumajou Densetsu vs Castlevania III scenario (CVIII's difficulty curbstomps AD's)
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by vol.2 »

Mischief Maker wrote:Basically 3 things:
awesome. thanks so much for the clarification.

and yes, i think there has been a massive rebalancing of hack. so far as i can tell, every hack i've done has a pretty even spread of red n green, with maybe some blues. I think there may be a difference between the setup of the hacking only missions and the in-level hacking. not totally sure.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BIL »

Oh nice. :o Gotta correct myself on Contra Anniversary (PS4/JP)'s supposed lack of US Hard Corps. It actually includes the US versions of each title. Just go to the very bottom of the main menu and select "Bonus Content," and the games will flip over to US. I guess they put the PAL games in the default JP menu since they're "third way" picks.

Picked up Castlevania Anniversary - very much the same deal as Contra. Nothing that isn't on the carts, but it's A1 for quality and convenience. Bloodlines Expert REVENGEONING and CVIII 2-ALL nomiss have unexpectedly leapt up my todo list. :cool:

It is a minor shame that X68k and Rondo aren't on here - would've made for a truly titanic lineup. The former's the only OG Dracula I don't own (just the rebuilt and significantly inaccurate PS1 conversion), would've happily snapped this up on release for it. The latter, I guess they didn't want to undercut the Rondo/SOTN pack. Ah well. Even though XX has its issues I'd have loved to see that here too.

There's a few variants missing (FDS Dracula I & II), plus CV Legends, and the two arcade entries: Haunted Castle and VS Castlevania. The disk curios and lame Legends aside (god, I've tried to like that one over the years...), both AC games are on Arcade Archives in typically fine form. Both are decidedly completionist material; HC's only middling at best imo, having suffered a woeful development story, while VS is a SADOMASO parameter tweak for CV1 diehards.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BrianC »

The konami collections initially released with only "domestic" versions of the games and later added the other region's versions as bonus content. HC is in the recent Konami arcade collection.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BIL »

Aha, interesting. I figured something had changed from a glance at the update notes.

Blimey, how'd I forget, no MSX2 Dracula either. No surprise with Contra lacking that one's MSX2 entry.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Marc »

I'm curious as to why the CV Collection lists the JPN entry of CV1 in the main menu instead of bonus items? Pretty sure the release date is wrong by a good ten years as well - can't remember the exact year, but it lists as being released after the SNES game!?
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BIL »

That's the Famicom cartridge reissue, from 1993. :smile: Pretty momentous year for the series, with three brand new (and ultimately classic) games in development for as many platforms, plus CV1 on cart. The original 1986 release was on Famicom Disk System. It's pretty unappealing nowadays with its load times and disk flipping.

The FC cart is pretty much NES PRG1 (bugfixed from PRG0, which introduced a sprite overload crash), with the addition of a new Easy mode (which is actually kinda interesting in its tweaks - no knockback, for one).

JP Dracula II was on FDS, too. I kinda wish it'd been on this collection, as a curio. Technically you can get FDS Dracula 1 via GBA Mini, for its handful of exclusive features (save slots and name entry, sans loadtimes/flipping, as with all FDS GBA Mini carts). I've never gotten into the Disk System, magnetic media gives me the willies mayne.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Ajora »

I finished the entire campaign for Diablo 3/Reaper of Souls. I found myself fairly invested in the story for the most part, but in retrospect, a lot of it was kind of dumb and the ending fell completely flat. I get that they were going for the whole sequel bait thing, but it felt incredibly lazy. Furthermore, there's a plot twist in the game that was half-baked and completely contradicted everything about a beloved character that was already established. The most positive thing I can say about Diablo 3's story is that it's made me appreciate the story content of the first two games that much more.
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Marc »

BIL wrote:That's the Famicom cartridge reissue, from 1993. :smile: Pretty momentous year for the series, with three brand new (and ultimately classic) games in development for as many platforms, plus CV1 on cart. The original 1986 release was on Famicom Disk System. It's pretty unappealing nowadays with its load times and disk flipping.

The FC cart is pretty much NES PRG1 (bugfixed from PRG0, which introduced a sprite overload crash), with the addition of a new Easy mode (which is actually kinda interesting in its tweaks - no knockback, for one).

JP Dracula II was on FDS, too. I kinda wish it'd been on this collection, as a curio. Technically you can get FDS Dracula 1 via GBA Mini, for its handful of exclusive features (save slots and name entry, sans loadtimes/flipping, as with all FDS GBA Mini carts). I've never gotten into the Disk System, magnetic media gives me the willies mayne.
Ah, I didn't know it had never come out on one originally, weird. Still odd it's not listed in the 'bonus' section though? Any notable differences between regions on the NES games?
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by BIL »

Marc wrote:Ah, I didn't know it had never come out on one originally, weird. Still odd it's not listed in the 'bonus' section though?
In practical terms, the '93 cartridge is the definitive version of Akumajou Dracula. Load times? Yuuuck! Image Not on my watch, Nihonjin! More importantly, it was released in Japan, while Castlevania wasn't. Neither was Castlevania II, but since FDS isn't covered by this set, and it never got a cartridge reissue, the NES version fills in.

Come to think of it, Japanese players who can't read English are kinda SOL with Castlevania II. :o

Image

Blimey that's going a bit far, but yeah, it is pretty cheeky! Maybe Japan is as lukewarm on Dracula II as everyone else. >_>

EDIT: just to clarify, I'm talking about Akumajou Dracula Anniversary Collection (JP/PS4), which puts Akumajou Dracula (FC) at the top of its roster, and the import-only NES cart in the bonus section. Which is simply another swanky menu with the Western games all lined up, a "Side B" of sorts. Image

Image

Image

Do the NA/EU versions of the collection put the JP versions up front, too? That would indeed be odd.

Regional differences... I don't know about Dracula II, other than its different BGM sound. Wish it was on here for that reason. As for the first game, nothing significant. PRG1 and FC each have their own obscure glitches, while the earlier NES PRG0 has a sprite overload crash... if you wanna get REAL hardcore, the FC cart's end-stage point tallying is quicker, with a different sound effect. Image The FC cart's big exclusive is its Easy mode, which as noted is actually a pretty thoughtful beginner's assist. Much better than simply tweaking the damage/ammo parameters.

Akumajou Densetsu/CVIII is the biggie for JP vs US. Famicom has VRC6 mapper for extra sound channels... I don't think it's a clean sweep - I actually prefer some tunes in their milder NES takes. No mistake though, when it's called for, that extra firepower positively blows the roof off.

Gamewise, difficulty balance is greatly altered. Basically CVIII starts out roughly comparable, pulls ahead towards the end of its first loop, then leaves Densetsu in the dust with a notably brutal second loop, among the traditional series' stiffest challenges. Also, Grant is retooled as an agile, fragile spine-stabber, rather than a lame pea-shooting sniper.

AD's still good fun, but CVIII's my pick for H4RD CORE Image
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Re: What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Ajora wrote:The most positive thing I can say about Diablo 3's story is that it's made me appreciate the story content of the first two games that much more.
Just like, say, Deus Ex and Max Payne, the first Diablo belongs somewhere in the vicinity of the original Thief in the storytelling respect. Anachronox, too. The lines, pompous writing, fake accents and all, are delivered so credibly that I'm all ears.

I also kind of miss the look and feel of computer games from when they were just computer games, and computer games music had that demoscene vibe to it, think Unreal, Hallf-Life, Deus Ex, Hitman... The latest game carrying that torch I heard was Gorky 02 (which isn't saying much, as around that time I got considerably past-gen about my computer games).

P.S. Okay, so the first Burnout did that "computer games music" thing exclusively on consoles, but it's years older than even Gorky 02.
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