Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[kitten]

Thought I'd try Valfaris today, the new "metal" run'n'gun platformer on steam.

this is by the same people who did slain, which iirc was not positively received on here at all and looked incredibly point-missing and repetitive. i watched a trailer for valfaris when it had a physical edition announced and went "nope." it looks european in roughly every considerable way one could use that word as a pejorative.

[blackoak]

this is by the same people who did slain, which iirc was not positively received on here at all and looked incredibly point-missing and repetitive. i watched a trailer for valfaris when it had a physical edition announced and went "nope." it looks european in roughly every considerable way one could use that word as a pejorative.

Oh, I've never heard of Slain before. Despite my earlier grumbling I just finished Valfaris this morning. Maybe the way I played it was best after all: a limited life bar (you usually die in 3-4 hits) gave it a more jp feel. I think the enemy placement and level design was actually fairly satisfying, with the caveat about the modern checkpoint platformer thing I mentioned above. To compare with The Messenger, I found this way more engaging--many sections and enemies actually felt threatening. The game really wants you to use your melee attack all the time which was satisfying.

All in all not a brilliant game, but a decent offering if the several gimmicky frustrations don't do you in first (like they almost did me).

[Vanguard]

Played through a WonderSwan game called Dicing Knight. (the period is part of the name) the other day.

Spoiler

The title screen

It's a roguelite that looks and feels something like a Zelda game. There's a fan translation by Aeon Genesis but I wasn't able to get it working so I don't know what the story is about. You don't need any knowledge of Japanese to play because the only Japanese text is a tiny bit of story in the beginning and the end. Everything gameplay-relevant is already in English.

Spoiler

A typical encounter in a dungeon

Anyway, in Dicing Knight. you go through randomly generated dungeons and gain experience so that you can tackle more difficult dungeons. The exit to every dungeon floor is locked and you have to kill enemies until one drops the key. The key isn't a random drop, it appears after a set number of kills, the number of kills needed increases as you go through harder dungeons. As you'd expect, there's a boss at the end of each of the main dungeons. Each boss has 3 forms and you have 30 seconds to defeat each form. Beating a form is worth a big chunk of experience, and every boss drops lottery tickets when defeated. If you time out on the first two forms you don't get experience points for beating that form and the boss moves on to the next. If you time out on the third form the boss escapes and doesn't drop any lottery tickets. You aren't required to defeat or indeed even challenge bosses to beat the game, but you definitely want the exp and those tickets. The exception is the final boss, you don't get the ending until you properly defeat her third form.

Spoiler

Please wait warmly until it is ready

Your character (whom the game simply calls "Knight") is equipped with a sword and a shield. Attacking an enemy with your sword causes a die to pop out of them, and whatever number the die lands on is how much damage you inflict. The damage doesn't apply until the die lands, so fatally injured enemies often get time to make one last attack. The same thing happens when you take a hit and it's somewhat exploitable. If you get hit and leave the room before your dice land, you never see what number you got and thus the damage doesn't apply. Your shield can block absolutely any attack and, while it can only block in one direction at a time, it's an extremely powerful defensive tool. You have a super meter which fills up a bit every time you attack an enemy, block an attack, or push an enemy away with your shield. Your meter can be used to perform two different special attacks. One level of meter can be used to perform a flaming swordspin, which I don't find especially useful. The other special ability is an extremely powerful attack called shine slash which consumes all levels of your meter and becomes stronger based on how much meter you put into it. You're 100% invincible while performing a shine slash and can still direct your character around with the d-pad. Your standard attacks will always do 1d6 damage, low level shine slashes average at around 40.

Spoiler

Those dice scattered about are the aftermath of a shine slash

You have a hunger meter, and the hunger system is an extremely important part of the game. Your character gradually becomes hungrier over time, this speeds up dramatically while using your sword or shield. Special attacks don't appear to increase hunger, if they do it's probably not more than a single sword slash. The system adds a lot to the game, the time limit keeps you moving forward and the extra hunger from fighting influences both how you fight and which fights you choose to engage in the first place. Without the hunger system you'd have no reason to do anything except hide behind your shield all day until you're ready to use shine slash (though that's still one of the best tactics, tbh. Just make sure not to keep your shield up when you don't need it). The hunger system also adds a lot of luck. If the RNG gives you lots of free onigiri you can take your time and use safe tactics against enemies. If it deprives you of onigiri you might starve through no fault of your own.

The character building system is pretty interesting. Your experience level doesn't directly increase your stats, instead, every time you level up you gain another equipment slot. You equip magic orbs into your equipment slots and you gain orbs by playing a lottery game. Give your lottery tickets to the lottery girl, spin the wheel, and hopefully you'll get something good. You can kill the lottery girl if you want, but cash in your tickets first. She won't revive until you defeat another boss. No you don't get anything for killing her. Anyway, here are the types of orbs you can get from the lottery game:

Red: Attack up. Rather than raising damage directly it increases the max level of your super meter. The first red orb doubles your meter's size and helps a lot, I don't see much need for more than that, though. A level 1 shine slash is already overkill for most enemies.
Yellow: Defense up. You take 1 less die of damage from each attack, down to a minimum of 1. Definitely bring some.
White: HP up. Each white orb gives you 100% more health and also proportionaly increases healing from potions. They're the overall best orb.
Green: Regeneration. By standing still you can heal at the cost of becoming hungrier. Pass.
Blue: Item drop rate up. Without any hard numbers it's tough to say how useful this is. Good item drops can make or break a run so I like to equip these if I can.
Purple: Food up. I believe these increase your starting/max satiation. It doesn't seem to be a big change, but hunger is a huge threat so they might be worth bringing anyway?
Black: EXP gain up. I don't know how much of an improvement this is either. I don't use them because a successful survival run through each of the main game dungeons is more than enough to hit the level cap.

Spoiler

My endgame setup

You can also get a bomb from the lottery game which blows up the room, taking both you and the lottery girl out. The only penalty you suffer for it is wasting your lottery ticket, though honestly that can be a pretty big penalty.

Spoiler

The lottery room. Got a blue orb this time

The cool thing about the character building is how it handles experience points. In dungeons you get experience for fighting enemies, clearing floors, beating bosses, all the usual stuff you'd expect. Except! Your experience points earned are not simply added to your character's experience total. Instead the game keeps track of the highest amount of experience you've earned in a single run in each of the dungeons. The sum of those high scores is your character's experience total. So, for example, if your previous best run through a given dungeon earned 1500 experience points, and then you beat it with a run that earns 2000 experience points, your old high score of 1500 is updated to 2000 and your character's experience total increases by 500. It's a great system where mindless grinding does no good, and good runs will get you to the level cap in short order. Replacing experience grinding with an arcade scoring system is seriously brilliant.

Your experience total also determines which dungeons you have access to. If you get a really good run in one dungeon you can skip the next one altogether. The sole exception is the postgame dungeon, Uroboros, which is unlocked after defeating the final boss. Uroboros is 999 floors deep, has no boss, and isn't fun. Don't play it. The second longest dungeon has 12 floors, and remember, in harder dungeons you need a higher number of kills to progress, so each of those 999 floors are each individually longer than any of the floors in prior dungeons. Enemies in Uroboros behave a bit differently than they do in the main game dungeons. Some enemy types get new ranged attacks, and everything fires off a cluster of suicide bullets when they die. Since you've got a shield that cancels bullets in exchange for meter, those abilities don't make the game harder, they just make it more defensive.

Spoiler

The world map

The bad thing about Dicing Knight. is that it gets worse in a number of ways the farther in you go. The dungeons get longer and slower. Later dungeons get gimmicks that add more inconvenience than challenge, like dark dungeons where you can only see a moderate distance away from your character. Later enemies tend to use more elaborate long ranged attacks. Not a bad thing in a vacuum, but given Knight's ability set, the shield -> shine slash tactic goes from being a strong approach to the only legitimate approach. The lottery system's randomness is also a big source of imbalance. If you get a bunch of white and yellow orbs then you'll be too strong for anything to kill you except starvation. If you get a bunch of bombs or the worse-than-useless green orbs then you'll be severely underpowered and should probably replay the previous dungeon for more lottery tickets. And like I said before, the postgame dungeon is bad but that problem is easily avoided by not playing it.

Spoiler

Shine slash spam is the way to go against bosses

After beating the final main game dungeon you unlock a new character named Fortuner. Fortuner is a magic user who mostly focuses on ranged attacks. She's absolutely garbage compared to Knight. Fortuner's main attack is a magic projectile that does 1d6 damage and can be fired off very quickly. Instead of a shield, Fortuner can throw a cross boomerang that does a good amount of damage and cancels enemy shots. It's a nice ability but unfortunately it costs meter to use. She has a time stop spell that seriously lasts for like 1/3 of a second. I assume it's like shine slash and gets better as you equip more red orbs and fill more levels of your meter, but I really doubt it's ever worth using. Lastly Fortuner has a super attack similar to Knight's shine slash. Both of Fortuner's special abilities cost a big chunk of her hunger meter, and her regular attacks drain a lot too so starvation is a huge threat. Since you unlock her after beating the main story when you're likely max level, I wonder if they didn't make her bad on purpose so the early dungeons would be challenging again. If that was the intent then they overdid it. Even without her hunger issues Fortuner would still be the weaker character because Knight's shield is just that good. I certainly can't imagine she was meant to be used in Uroboros.

Spoiler

Fortuner sucks!

Overall, Dicing Knight. is a bit disappointing because it could've been a serious hidden gem if not for a few flaws. As is it's still good enough to play through every now and again.

[BulletMagnet]

Fortuner seems to be the main character from Gundemonium, presumably this was developed by the same doujin outfit?

EDIT: Yep, it's our old pal Platine Dispotif.

[kitten]

great write-up on dicing knight! i'd been curious about this one since a friend mentioned it, ages ago. was kinda hoping to hear it was on the level of something like cave noire, but i suppose not.

[__SKYe]

Fortuner seems to be the main character from Gundemonium, presumably this was developed by the same doujin outfit?

EDIT: Yep, it's our old pal Platine Dispotif.

Yeah, this was one of the games that were submitted to the WonderWitch contest and that got published; the other one was Judgement Silversword.

[Marc]

TRIED to play some Ghouls n Ghosts on the mini over the weekend. God I suck at this game. I mean, I've never been exceptional at it, but this was REALLY poor.

[Mischief Maker]

How does Valfaris compare to Blazing Chrome?

[BIL]

TRIED to play some Ghouls n Ghosts on the mini over the weekend. God I suck at this game. I mean, I've never been exceptional at it, but this was REALLY poor.

It's a mean cart! True to its "Professional" setting's name, MD GNG doesn't mess around with getting punters off the machine. Could practically have it stand in for the day while your CPS1 was at the shop for repairs.

---



Saigo no Nindou. ¦3 A game that is bad for your heart, but good for your spirit.
YOUR NINJA SPIRIT THAT IS (・｀W´・) dokidokidoki motherfucker!

Saigo's attack powerups seem to function like Metal Black's. That is, higher level = wider spread = diffused damage. This is why you punch through heavies with relative ease on checkpoint recoveries, until you're back on your feet with a couple shadows and some POW tools. Rewatching BGR_44's replay from way back when (page 2!) reminded me of his sticking to one shadow + POW chain the whole run, a good balance of power to spread. I thought I'd give it a go.

For stages 3+4, I found the easier kills near-nullified by zako concerns. st3-2 was nervous once again, with just one buddy and the regular sword. st4-1 was outright scary once again, sans my comfy blue bone-shattering grenade blanket. It's also pretty hard to avoid collecting items in st4-2; they're placed for nabbing amidst the body-shredding gravity rush. Not sure of the exact threshold where rank kicks in, or if it's in increments vs on/off, etc. If you could at least have POW grenades, it'd be a lot nicer.

st6 was wickedly intense as always, particularly with a relative lack of slowdown. Also had to break one of my few concrete rules for that stage and double back a couple times, not to retrieve powerups but to avoid them. However, the slightly quicker heavy kills are indeed a massive assist versus the relentless pincer+setup hazards. The rest of this run was POWWA'D UP and is described in the following section.

VERDICT: Interesting alternative mode of play. A credit to IREM's customarily superb design that such an approach is not only viable, but notably varied in tone.

I think st6 is actually improved this way. Played normally, it's all I can do to carve and weave through the horde - gaining ground the overriding objective, with single combat harshly restricted, and retreat an absolute last resort. Here, heavies can be swiftly taken out with well-placed counterattacks, giving the battle a more dynamic ebb/flow. The pace remains harrowing, warding off multiple heavies and countless zako, but they can't so easily crush you under sheer numbers, and tactical fallbacks can be skilfully leveraged into bursts of momentum.

SHIN SHINOBI KESSEN

Spoiler

Tactically, it's no free lunch. Marginally frailer heavies are offset by consistently faster game speed and sparser zako protection, with the same furiously volatile spawn rate. For aspiring 1CCers, I would suggest playing "normally" at first - you'll inevitably die, and benefit from the rank reduction on checkpoint recoveries. Gradually you'll piece together consistent performances. I'd only suggest staying low-rank if st6 is completely and utterly stumping you - but you'll need the aforementioned knowledge of enemy AI and terrain interactions to assure victory. Not a magic bullet, nor should it be!

EDIT: Oh hey - just checked, and BGR_44 gets a second shadow in stage 6-2, then POW shuriken and grenades in st7. Phew, glad I bailed when I did then! Would've felt a right plonker if I'd tried to die-hard it to the very end and gotten killed. Also, judging by the fucked Ninja Pit wall-scrolling and lack of slowdown on x3 POW Grenades, he seems to be using old-ass MAME. That's rough!

---

A Tale of Fuckery / Versus BONEY-SAMA: Not knowing WTF I was doing in st7, I decided to play it safe. Got the POW grenades and second shadow, in preparation for Boney-sama. A samurai damn near killed me while I stubbornly stuck to my usual shuriken. No POW = extreme accuracy required! POW grenades = much safer! I almost took a BIG MOUTHFUL of DEVILS AIR FRESHNER right after! Spooked, I went with grenades like a normie. And then, horror - AND hilarity! - ensued.

Having arrived at Boney and beaned him in his dumb fucking face, I went with my usual opening gambit: a run-under followed by a max-height, max-duration opening jump, aimed at drawing the bolts upward. This seems to serve me well - witness would-be lethally low bolts snapping and snarling at Tsukikage's top-knot, as he runs to the right dodging motherfuckers! I don't think I've ever gotten insta-whacked using this approach.

HOWEVER, I thought I was dead on the first jump back to Boney. I hesitated, and ended up clearing it by the skin of me arse! Then I thought I was cornered by a dread high/low setup, and exclaimed "DO IT CUNT IDGAF ANYMORE" - but the bolts fizzled out mere pixels from me bonce. I was back in teh game! And then, I almost got air-nommed by a pincer and said "HOLY FUCK" but at last, BONEY wa mou SHINDEIRU.

What a deceptively mean old fucker! Still hard for me to determine when I need to back off, and when doing so will make me ALREADY DEAD. I still wonder if I'm just missing something really obvious here. Oh well. It looked cool! I am satisfied! Also, I got the neat glitch where Boney's mouth and hands fade out of sync with the rest of him, which makes him look like a necromantic Giorgio A. Tsoukalos.



---

Blocky-kun is cool at low rank. No slowdown holding back his steaming charges, with greater precision required of your shots. He's no Boney-sama, but he's not to be fucked with either - even if fought at max power! Even this PC Engine Mode port runner gets owned for a split-second lapse. Smoosh! (WTF @ PCE Mode letting you tank Boney-sama's attacks - I heartily approve of the mode but couldn't help a double-take there also, I wonder what the runner meant by "anything could happen" in the pit. a joking reference to human error, I guess? otherwise I dunno, looked just as static as the AC mode pit to me)

I suggest minimising times where Blocky needs only one move to kill you - try to ensure he'll need two, so you can GTFO. Actually, on PCE you get EZ ceiling-floor switch, just rub against him as you jump. On AC you've gotta clamber on top, not the worst place to be tbh, but he can very much splat you on the ceiling if you're at all careless. He can totally manwich you, too!

An aside - god damn are Blocky's grinding, thumping arcade SFX brutal. That totally sounds like a contraption that'd smash a man to so much shinobi gristle! (st4 BGM "KARAKURI" / "MECHANISM") This is one of those games with an entire audio dimension you might not notice without good bass. The guttural low frequencies absolutely beastorize the already-grisly air.

[Stevens]

Had my hands on TNWAA for a few days. I don't know why the SNES version didn't click with me last year. It is as good as everyone here says it is.

Haven't kuso cleared it yet. I've gotten to Jubei on a credit with both Ninja and Kunoichi. Took me about seven or eight tries before I kind of figured him out and was able to beat him. Phobos and Deimos were easy by comparison (haven't died on them yet - this is on normal mind you), and it took me two or three tries to beat Zelos.

My best run is getting to the final boss on three continues. Ill probably clear it before I 1 CC it cause I want them characters.

EDIT - Just got a 3 CC with Ninja. Two deaths on Jubei. Relatively smooth the rest of the way.

[BIL]

Having arrived at Boney and beaned him in his dumb fucking face, I went with my usual opening gambit: a run-under followed by a max-height, max-duration opening jump, aimed at drawing the bolts upward. This seems to serve me well - witness would-be lethally low bolts snapping and snarling at Tsukikage's top-knot, as he runs to the right dodging motherfuckers! I don't think I've ever gotten insta-whacked using this approach.

First time for everything as they say! One of tonight's several 1LCs to Boney-sama got shut down hard with an instant fast+low bolt. Must adjust accordingly, always be flexible.

Got my first TIGER POWWA miniboss bonus kill in Argus no Senshi, pretty rad. Stomped his head right off.

DECAPITATION BOP

Spoiler

Besides creating an amusing "Wut! WTF RU DOIN" effect, the miniboss's "alert" frames are a really handy zoning tool. They'll go back to chilling if you retreat.

This game's collision detection and control response are insanely tight, you can do some crazy shit with enough precision and guts. Just making it to Round 12 or so on a credit now. I dig the formula of short, intense stages with an emphasis on scenic variety - reminds me of OutRun's "beautiful journey," with the semi-surreal transitions from molten sunsets to blue skies and anything between. Came across a cracking petrified forest in tonight's runs.

I wonder if Pitfall! was any influence on this game. From my brief exposure, I don't think they share much in gameplay terms, but those stage-length subterranian layers look familiar. They're off-limits in Argus, AFAIK, but still a very useful game element ala those miniboss alerts - great for keeping tabs on emerging enemies. Also just looks really cool, having this furiously roiling underworld beneath your feet.

Actually, with the recent discussion of primordial sidescrolling action a few pages back, I wonder how influential Pitfall might be. It's not a game I've played much, as with several iconic Western action efforts from the early 80s.

[Mischief Maker]

I got Valfaris myselt -couldn't resist the visuals. Here's my first impressions with the initial two levels cleared:

The contra comparison doesn't hold water, this game is WAAAAY too reliant on melee fighting. It's more like an Amiga game ala. Shadow of the Beast or Turrican. Not the least because it doesn't have a scoring system.

The graphics are grotesquely gorgeous and the music is fantastic. The opening level's music reminds me of Black Knight 2000 when the angelic choirs kick in.

You've got a jump, sword swing, endless ammo pistol, energy consuming heavy gun, and energy consuming shield with bonus effects for a perfect block. Sword hits (don't have to be kills) restore energy points. The whole system for holding off on activating checkpoints is much more forgiving than I was expecting. And because I was warned that some bosses have a final dying attack, I haven't been frustrated.

Gameplay-wise this game has been evenly competent so far, rising to above-average in some setpieces. But if either the graphics or the music don't wow you, skip it. Everything this game does well in the gameplay department, other games do better.

[Marc]

TRIED to play some Ghouls n Ghosts on the mini over the weekend. God I suck at this game. I mean, I've never been exceptional at it, but this was REALLY poor.

It's a mean cart! True to its "Professional" setting's name, MD GNG doesn't mess around with getting punters off the machine. Could practically have it stand in for the day while your CPS1 was at the shop for repairs.

Genuine question, how hard is this in comparison to the coin-op on defaults?
I ask because although it never clicked with me in the same way as the original, I got competent enough at it on the PSP collection to reach the 4th round more often than not before I gave up. This, on the other hand, is absolutely stomping me. I've not played the arcade version in some time, but there's stuff here that I honestly don't remember bothering me on PSP - plants spawning directly underneath me, vines spawning at such a rate that I literally can't move forward to any degree, enemies this appear to start firing before they've even appeared on screen - just a load of little niggles that are making this a very frustrating experience.

Shit, now I think of it, I actually re-bought the PSP I'd originally sold a few years ago, used it a few times, then threw it in a drawer and forgot about it. Time to annoy myself further later on.....

[BIL]

Genuine question, how hard is this in comparison to the coin-op on defaults?

This depends on whether by the coin-op you mean Daimakaimura (JP), Ghouls n' Ghosts (World), or Ghouls n' Ghosts (US). They go from harder to easier, in that order. I'm only familiar with Dai and its JP MD+PS1 conversions, which are respectively very close and near-perfect.

Not sure how the Mega Drive conversion's US/EU releases vary - if they're based on the Japanese arcade version, you might be getting a harder game than you're used to.

FWIW, I'm pretty sure MD Dai is marginally easier than the arcade version, but not by much. Here's Sumez's comparison of them.

[Marc]

Hmm, that could explain it I suppose. Partially. I'm not sure which version is emulated on the PSP Classics Collection, but I'm playing the JPN version on MDMini. Still, no doubting I suck at this game, I genuinely don't see how anyone could find this easier than Ghosts'.

[Jonny2x4]

Partially. I'm not sure which version is emulated on the PSP Classics Collection

The first volume of Capcom Classics Collection was basically just ports of the PS1 Capcom Generations versions of all the 16 games that were included as part of those compilations, plus six or extra games. They're not 100% accurate to any of the arcade versions

[BIL]

The graphics are grotesquely gorgeous and the music is fantastic. The opening level's music reminds me of Black Knight 2000 when the angelic choirs kick in.

Always happy to see that one referenced. Balls hard Tecno Soft-style synth-metal, and most importantly:

"BWAHAHAAA! GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!"

[Stevens]

Beat Jubei no problem, die on the flexing twins. Figures.

They were all pose downy over my robotic corpse.

[BIL]

Phobos & Deimos ain't as deadly as on SFC (nerfed slidekick, bigger room), but you still gotta be careful around 'em. ;3

(their posedown isn't as rad either - no more CHARGE METER as their sheer mecha-manliness boots up WHOOP_ASS.exe! D: )

For Ninja, the best approach I've found is to bide your time with lots of PPPs while charging a full meter, then tumble into meaty range and burn the whole thing on three EX nunchakus. Will smack 'em around pretty good and even blow away meddling zako. This works great on their st1, st5 and st8 incarnations too.

Noticing their three-hit combo startup and blocking it is critical - even moreso than with other enemies, owing to their hyper armour. Same goes for their wakeup axekick.

Favourite thing: leave the Flying Drones alive and pretend it's Shatterhand.

ZOMG, PLS HALP OPTION-KUN (｀ω´メ) THEY GOTS ME CORNERED

Spoiler

GOOD JARB OPTION-KUN (■｀W´■) RLY NICE SHOT

(F the Battle Roombas though! always be messin' up my shit! )

[it290]

Gameplay-wise this game has been evenly competent so far, rising to above-average in some setpieces. But if either the graphics or the music don't wow you, skip it. Everything this game does well in the gameplay department, other games do better.

So like better or worse than Slain? Is the level design/gameplay structure comparable to Turrican?

[Vanguard]

Genuine question, how hard is this in comparison to the coin-op on defaults?
I ask because although it never clicked with me in the same way as the original, I got competent enough at it on the PSP collection to reach the 4th round more often than not before I gave up. This, on the other hand, is absolutely stomping me. I've not played the arcade version in some time, but there's stuff here that I honestly don't remember bothering me on PSP - plants spawning directly underneath me, vines spawning at such a rate that I literally can't move forward to any degree, enemies this appear to start firing before they've even appeared on screen - just a load of little niggles that are making this a very frustrating experience.

Shit, now I think of it, I actually re-bought the PSP I'd originally sold a few years ago, used it a few times, then threw it in a drawer and forgot about it. Time to annoy myself further later on.....

I don't have any direct experience with MD Dai, but there are some gifs that have been posted around here a few times showing some seriously screwy hitboxes on the first boss's fireballs. Maybe messed up hitboxes are making up for the gentler enemy spawning? I remember someone around here (I think it might have been you actually?) saying that the CV Chronicles port of AD X68K was a similar situation, weird hitboxes cancelling out the difficulty drop from simplified enemy behavior.

[Stevens]

Another 3 CC with Ninja, died on the Twins and Banglar. Took a bit of a beating by the mob before Banglar.

Not really sticking with any one right now. Splitting time rather equitably between Ninja, Kunoichi, and Yaksha. Haven't touched Raiden yet and played maybe a credit of Kamatachi but found him kind of meh, at least for right now. Not having a standard grapple makes him less fun than the others imo.

[Mischief Maker]

So like better or worse than Slain? Is the level design/gameplay structure comparable to Turrican?

I've not played Slain, only watched gameplay footage. But from what I've seen I'd say yes, your dude moves and attacks much faster (but not Strider fast) and the enemies are more numerous and faster themselves. It's not trying to be Dark Souls.

I'm very happy I was warned ahead of time that some bosses have a final suicide attack, that saved me much frustration, but for the most part I haven't found the difficulty to be ball-crushing at all. Supposedly there's a harder new game+ mode coming in a future patch.

One thing I wish I knew going in is not to waste your precious upgrade points on the starting pistol, much much better guns with autofire are coming soon and the three-way shot upgrade isn't nearly as strong as it should be.

Level design is not Turrican-like, it's a linear path with hidden entrances to tiny secret rooms. I was talking more about how the handling of your dude feels.

I think aesthetically the game would have been improved immensely if they left out all the dialogue entirely.

[BIL]

I don't have any direct experience with MD Dai, but there are some gifs that have been posted around here a few times showing some seriously screwy hitboxes on the first boss's fireballs. Maybe messed up hitboxes are making up for the gentler enemy spawning?

The st1 boss's fireballs are indeed bizarre, but they seem to be freak outliers - I've never done any hitbox viewing, but the MD 1CC seems almost seamlessly compatible* with MAME and Capcom Generation 2.

*I've a personal hypothesis on why those fireballs slipped through in an otherwise tight conversion. I suspect the playtesters were too seasoned for their own good, staying in close for the aggressive takedown. The fireballs could only hit a player who's sniping from a distance. Of course it's the job of playtesters to seek out this stuff... but I find it an amusing explanation for the seemingly random break with arcade accuracy. No JP game center samurai is gonna flee from the likes of Shielder!

I remember someone around here (I think it might have been you actually?) saying that the CV Chronicles port of AD X68K was a similar situation, weird hitboxes cancelling out the difficulty drop from simplified enemy behavior.

SuperDeadite, I believe. Rather than MD Dai, slightly easier than the PCB, I'd put the machine's Strider in this category. If it didn't compensate by dotting bonus health restores around its stages, it'd be flat-out harder than the arcade version on account of stage 5.

Ohshi - Super Tangent: Not that Strider's difficulty is anything notable by even console standards. But the final stage's thorny setpieces and bouts of Memoriser Bullshit™ do take rehearsal, the MD's BigBoxes jamming up the works. AFAIK this showpiece stunt is impossible on MD. You have to tumble down the slope like a dumbass. Somersaulting through NOVO mkII's laser grid is an utter bitch on MD, too. I was going to record an AC vs MD 1LC, ala Saigo AC vs PCE... until I discovered you can't 1LC the MD version. Reach Ouroboros mkII and you'll be left waiting as the timer runs out, or you suicide off the edge.

EDIT: The MD version also nixes inter-stage POW sword carryover, so it's a total lottery on whether you'll be able to clean-kill that sentry gunner aka Memoriser Bullshit #1. A heroic effort for a 1990 conversion of a 1989 arcade goliath - stages 1 through 4 are 100% compatible with the arcade, stage 5 will at least give you decent recon - just not the masterwork it's casually cited as.

[Vanguard]

Ah yeah, it was SuperDeadite, sorry.

[BIL]

I think aesthetically the game would have been improved immensely if they left out all the dialogue entirely.

I haven't played it! But I agree! Witness the wordless tragedy of martial arts revenge that is Arcade Double Dragon I & II. (I: "May you live happily forever." II: "The End." )

---

TSUKIKAGE speaks: "I will never let you get away, BONEY!!"
A wolf-man with steel fangs set off to kill that lousy skeleton fuck.

Spoiler

Fuuuck yeah, it were the freshest move I ever seen. Opening attack from SAIGONONINDOU's Zero Shadow/Kusarigama-only run. A real scholar of the game, this chap. Superbly fine control on that jump.

Also, how I never notice until now the game starts and ends in front of a Buddha, or at least idealised and hideous imagery of one, respectively. I'm still kinda bitter that Mad Monk-san doesn't get a more climactic send-off, after you track him down to his ascetic monk cave and whoop his ass. Check my ideas, they're rad!

Then again, he did kinda run away like a bitch in the intro.

However! The intro BGM's title "Oshie/Teaching" makes me wonder if the scene is more ambiguous than it appears. Came across an Amiga review which interpreted it as the player receiving their marching orders from Old Sensei. Maybe it's a shocking twist when he shows up blocking your path in stage 7? This game's plotting is near-elliptic, which I enjoy, but also inconsistent in a way reminiscent of Quake - where the box, manual and final code all seem to reference different scripts. Not the worst thing for archaeological intrigue, tbh.

[Stevens]

Got the 1 CC with Ninja.

Pretty clear sailing the whole way through. Played smart against Jubei and then thoroughly dismembered the twins.

First part of the fight with Banglar had some nerves, but settled down and cleared it.

[BIL]

Well done! That's Yaksha unlocked, IIRC? I've still not gotten around to 1CCing it with her or Raiden, got bit by the Arcade Archives bug around then.

I probably shouldn't say "her or Raiden," I'd gotten pretty conversant with Yaksha but had no idea WTF I was even doing with him. Always a good thing for a character roster.

[Stevens]

Thanks! I had Yaksha and Raiden from two previous 3 CC clears where I died on Jubei or the Twins.

She is a lot of fun to play even if her giant cans are pointless. Although perhaps they act as counter weights during her i frame flips? I don't know. I've never taken even an introductory course in robotics. Gotten as far as stage five with her.

Raiden on the other hand is also fun but as of this point beyond my skill level. I can't get off of the first two stages with him:D They did succeed however in making you feel like you're controlling a giant robot kaiju. He picks up the robots like they're toys. That's cool.

Haven't touched hard mode yet and most likely won't until I get Kunoichi and Yaksha clears. And more than once at that. Haven't gotten passed Jubei with either yet..

[BIL]

I get the feeling from Yaksha and Doris (Wild Guns Reloaded ) that Taniguchi either likes his strikingly proportioned ladies, or fucking with people, or perhaps both.