Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

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

Post by BrianC »

Sumez wrote:Wasn't Super Fantasy Zone done by SunSoft, too?
yes, developed and published. I wonder if Sega let them do their own because of the quality of the FC port. I know M2 is fond of that port.
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opt2not
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by opt2not »

Don't know if this was posted here, but I figured it should be mentioned.

Kinda Ninja Gaiden-esque: https://youtu.be/MWbIbjsa490

Coming to the Switch too. I'm really happy to see the indie scene embrace the Switch. It's a perfect platform for these types of games.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Yes, we've already been through all the elitist whining about that game :D
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FinalBaton
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Wait : that game/studio was made/is in Québec City????

Awesome!

will keep my eyes on these guys for sure
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Wow... Arumana no Kiseki is seriously kusoge. What the hell, Konami.

Can't tell if I like it yet...
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BIL
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Always been curious about that one, particularly with its Castlevania-proportioned tuff action man sprites. True FDS exclusive, so I'm way behind on checking it out.
Sumez wrote:Yes, we've already been through all the elitist whining about that game :D
I remain diplomatically neutral. :wink:
Last edited by BIL on Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by soprano1 »

Sumez wrote:Wow... Arumana no Kiseki is seriously kusoge. What the hell, Konami.

Can't tell if I like it yet...
Isn't that the game where the MC is this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy6OYH6FUXU
:lol:
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

BIL wrote:Always been curious about that one, particularly with its Castlevania-proportioned tuff action man sprites.
Yeah, I remembered how awkward and stiff (and a word I would never use myself: dated) the first Castlevania could easily feel to someone not accustomed to its nice little corner of the genre, so I tried to approach the game with that in mind. However it doesn't take more than a couple grapple ropes into a solid wall, enemies walking through floors, or awkward attempts at getting on to a moving platform, before you realise that whoever coded this game probably never tried making a game before. It's the most amateurish thing I have ever seen from Konami.. And from the same year as the suprisingly smooth Ai Senshi Nicol!
However, it might still be possible to like it, with enough patience and familiarity with the controls.
soprano1 wrote:Isn't that the game where the MC is this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy6OYH6FUXU
:lol:
Speaking of that, I actually also really want to play the Young Indiana Jones game for the NES... It's a US exclusive, so it's a bit elusive.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by soprano1 »

Sumez wrote:Speaking of that, I actually also really want to play the Young Indiana Jones game for the NES... It's a US exclusive, so it's a bit elusive.
That made me curious, so i watched a bit of a longplay video. The graphics sure look nice (character sprites look a bit weird, though). It seems to be a Castlevania clone, but with a faster pace.
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

I think you are making it sound better than it is, because "Castlevania clone with a faster pace" sounds god damn badass.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by soprano1 »

Sumez wrote:I think you are making it sound better than it is, because "Castlevania clone with a faster pace" sounds god damn badass.
Ha ha, I mentioned Castlevania because of the whip.
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

Castlevania clone with faster pace?! I have just the thing ^_~

Spoiler
Image


Besides the CVesque spriting, Almana also interested me for the zipline mechanic's seeming connection to Roc n' Rope. Which I've barely played, tbh, but I've always thought it was cool to see an arcade game get a spiritual console followup (assuming that's what it was). Like if Hitler no Fukkatsu hadn't even had the Top Secret name attached.

Also the Colecovision cover dude looks to be an upstanding young fellow who knows how to handle a cockerel:

Spoiler
Image
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by soprano1 »

Boy, he sure has a "can't wait to screw this bird" face. He even escaped a fucking yellow T-Rex, that's ballsy. :lol:
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:I'll make sure I'll download it illegally one day...
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Oh damn yea, the rope in Arumana is right out of Roc'n'Rope :O I've often heard those two games mentioned alongside eachother, but never realised that one could be considered a direct continuation of the other.
BIL wrote:Castlevania clone with faster pace?! I have just the thing ^_~
I was expecting a Ninja Gaiden animation.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Oh Ya BIL my fucking boy :twisted: You've just rocked it so hard right there :twisted:
Been saying for ages that Bloodlines is a POWERFANTASYSIMULATOR but none of the shmup cuckholds believed me. :cry: Which is why I'm STOKED BEYOND BELIEF (aka invested by the energy of belzebub herself) that a well=respected poster(and I'm not just going with the poplar opinion here: I believe in this myself) is pimping the game. Man , I'm not gonna beat around the bush here : it kinda undermined my mood when I first lauded the game here as being "brilliant power-stroke encouraging" but got stoped by a barrage of Euro-cockolds telling me : "euhhh... castlevania The New Generations is no good, maaaaannnnnn*
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Immryr »

FinalBaton wrote:Oh Ya BIL my fucking boy :twisted: You've just rocked it so hard right there :twisted:
Been saying for ages that Bloodlines is a POWERFANTASYSIMULATOR but none of the shmup cuckholds believed me. :cry: Which is why I'm STOKED BEYOND BELIEF (aka invested by the energy of belzebub herself) that a well=respected poster(and I'm not just going with the poplar opinion here: I believe in this myself) is pimping the game. Man , I'm not gonna beat around the bush here : it kinda undermined my mood when I first lauded the game here as being "brilliant power-stroke encouraging" but got stoped by a barrage of Euro-cockolds telling me : "euhhh... castlevania The New Generations is no good, maaaaannnnnn*

uhh.... where are you getting this from? the first time you mentioned castlevania bloodlines it was met with me, bil, shoryukev and mortificator all saying we agreed and liked it more than cv4. i don't see even a single person saying they dislike it.............

i don't really remember bloodlines ever getting any hate around here.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Oh yeah, count me under the "Bloodlines is way better than CV4" banner. I've made that clear pretty much every time it was brought up.

My "Dracula XX is better than both Bloodlines and CV4" opinion didn't get a lot of backing, however. But I still stand by it.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Immryr wrote:uhh.... where are you getting this from? the first time you mentioned castlevania bloodlines it was met with me, bil, shoryukev and mortificator all saying we agreed and liked it more than cv4. i don't see even a single person saying they dislike it.............

i don't really remember bloodlines ever getting any hate around here.
Maybe my gripe stems from the "SNES vs GEN/MD" thread and not from this one. In fact, thinking about it, that's probably where it stems from. apologies if I've 'seemingly' painted you in the wrong camp. I do 100% trust what you've just said right there and have never doubted you
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Sumez wrote:Oh yeah, count me under the "Bloodlines is way better than CV4" banner. I've made that clear pretty much every time it was brought up.

My "Dracula XX is better than both Bloodlines and CV4" opinion didn't get a lot of backing, however. But I still stand by it.
I know very well that you do bud! Specifically made a point to NOT consider you into my list of targets. You've made that point clear a good while back, as you've said
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Immryr »

FinalBaton wrote:
Immryr wrote:uhh.... where are you getting this from? the first time you mentioned castlevania bloodlines it was met with me, bil, shoryukev and mortificator all saying we agreed and liked it more than cv4. i don't see even a single person saying they dislike it.............

i don't really remember bloodlines ever getting any hate around here.
Maybe it was from the "SNES vs GEN/MD" thread. In fact, thinking about it, that's probably where it stems from.
again, i can't see anyone shitting on bloodlines in that thread either. you just seem to have some kind of victim complex about it.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

To be fair, the game does still seem to get a lot of disrespect from people who for some reason hold CV4 as the best thing to ever happen to Castlevania.

Of course, pretty much all of the 16-bit Castlevanias are great, so it's not really that important which ones are better, but it always confused me that CV4 got so much love. Out of all five of them(including Rondo there), I'd say it's obviously the weakest. :P
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Immryr wrote:again, i can't see anyone shitting on bloodlines in that thread either. you just seem to have some kind of victim complex about it.
Oh believe me, I got some serious flack/heat over it, back when. But as said in my post above, I wasn't aiming at you
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Sumez wrote:To be fair, the game does still seem to get a lot of disrespect from people who for some reason hold CV4 as the best thing to ever happen to Castlevania.

Of course, pretty much all of the 16-bit Castlevanias are great, so it's not really that important which ones are better, but it always confused me that CV4 got so much love. Out of all five of them(including Rondo there), I'd say it's obviously the weakest. :P
Well you've just said things better than I ever could have, Sumez. That's exactly it, right on the money! Well said right there
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Immryr »

i know you weren't aiming at me, whatever that means. i just found your initial statement baffling as i've never seen bloodlines get anything other than love round here.

even the md vs snes thread the only "heat" you were catching is from skykid defending CV4 as he was sick of everyone on this forum generally shitting on it. he also said that bloodlines was great.....

seems a weird thing to develop a victim complex about.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

Take it easy guys :D Let's unite around our common love for Castlevania and forget the bloodshed.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

On the subject of brawlers, I'm still trying to expand my horizon. Tried out Double Dragon 1 last weekend at my friend's backyard arcade. Played both the arcade version, and the NES one on his PlayChoice. Both are cool in some ways, but both have issues.

The arcade version feels much more raw in the way you probably want from a beat'em up, however it's entirely mitigated by the elbow smash being able to safely damage any enemy with little danger - conversely, it's also way too easy to lose lives from falling into holes or traps as they start appearing. Not really a big fan of that either. An even bigger problem, however, might be the the almost constant slowdown! The game plays really nice when it's running at full speed, but that happens around 5% of the time at best.
Yet another issue is that with the attacks that require multiple simultaneous button presses (the elbow, again) is very prone to errors, even when you don't feel that you are doing anything wrong, and I'm still not sure why that is. Using classic Sanwa buttons.

The NES version plays nicely, with the controls feeling more consistent and manageable, everything considered, though the lack of a dedicated jump button is very annoying. I didn't really put a lot of time into it, only two short runs, as the PlayChoice control panel made my arms hurt. It's pretty much an entirely different game, but I'd probably say it's the better game of the two. Not a big fan of how the moves are unlocked as you progress through the game, but basically, once you get the jump kick, just spam that.

So I popped in Famicom Double Dragon 2 yesterday, due to all the love it's been getting around here. Starting out playing on Normal to get a feel for it (sorry.)
Compared to Mighty Final Fight it definitely feels a lot more crude, with many situations where I get knocked down and have no idea what I did wrong (a very obvious example is the burly military looking dude you meet early in the section with the low spike ceiling). The controls are even more awkward than DD1, still lacking a dedicated jump button, but rather using a completely superflous button for attacking the opposite direction. Using A/B for attacking left/right, rather than basing it on the direction you are facing, is an interesting idea, but on an NES it feels like a waste of buttons.

Watching videos of people playing on the highest difficulty, it is clear that the game relies almost entirely on mastering the cyclone kick and the knee attack, which I didn't even realise existed when trying the game. Seems it can only be executed after landing from a jump, with very specific timing, and simultanous button presses, similar to the jump itself. Judging by the love that the game gets, I assume it's fun to do when you get a feeling for it, but it seems kind of offputting to me that the game relies on such a series of awkward inputs.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by Sumez »

On my handheld business I'm also getting into River City: Tokyo Rumble on the 3DS. And honestly, the only reason I'm still playing it, is that it works as a nice distraction on my daily commute - it's not really an enjoyable game.
What are people's thoughts on the classic Nekketsu Monogatari? Or Street Gangs as it was called, over here.

Honestly, I don't really remember a lot about that game. Every time I've played it it was combined with alcohol, and just fooling around in co-op with a friend. It's always been a fun game to put on, but I'm not sure it was ever a good game either?
The idea that you could beef up your characters by buying stuff in stores was fun, and never really turned into a grind as far as I recall, but it was completely opaque what you'd actually need to buy. And I was never really clear on where I needed to go and what you need to do, either.
The only thing I remember about the combat was that double-tapping to charge at enemies was always the best approach(?), but it would usually cause me to accidentally leave an area.

Regarding Tokyo Rumble, I've heard people claim that it's a remake of Renegade, but I have absolutely no idea how that makes sense. It's very obviously a Nekketsu game - walk around in an "open" world, beat gangs up for their money, and buy upgrades in stores. Despite using the "River City" brand, they at least had the good taste to leave in everything else - the character names, Japanese school uniforms, etc.
But the combat is absurdly unsatisfying. You just want to approach a guy/gal from the side and mash the kick button until they tumble over, and repeat indefinitely. The enemies have way too much health, which makes the game feel like much more of a grind than it already is. Aside from money, you also get EXP from defeating enemies and level up, but that part doesn't really feel like grinding - it's more like Ys, where each new area immediately brings you "up to snuff".
What is a lot more tedious is all the jobs (sidequests) that the game wants you to do. It really feels like a chore, but without it the entire game would just be go to a new area and beat up a person, rinse, repeat. Which could be fun, if every enemy wasn't completely the same, just with more HP.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Immryr wrote:i.
I am sorry but I fail to see anything "terribly wrong" with what I'm saying. I am discussing a matter, that is all. Maybe it is terribly wrong? But not in my culture, it is not.

also your "victim complex" statement is a pretty vicious attack, but I'm not gonna complain, I can take it :) I can understand that if you felt threatened by my statement, then you're probably gonna want to lash out in some way :)

As for your analysis of the situation : I think you're reading too much into it. The crud of it is : I got a stab, and just now I gave a stab back . The end. The fight is OVAH. I personally want nothing more out of this. My job here is done. Let us move on. I hope you also see it this way.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by FinalBaton »

Sumez wrote:Take it easy guys :D Let's unite around our common love for Castlevania and forget the bloodshed.
Agreed!
Sumez wrote: The NES version plays nicely, with the controls feeling more consistent and manageable, everything considered, though the lack of a dedicated jump button is very annoying. I didn't really put a lot of time into it, only two short runs, as the PlayChoice control panel made my arms hurt. It's pretty much an entirely different game, but I'd probably say it's the better game of the two. Not a big fan of how the moves are unlocked as you progress through the game, but basically, once you get the jump kick, just spam that.

So I popped in Famicom Double Dragon 2 yesterday, due to all the love it's been getting around here. Starting out playing on Normal to get a feel for it (sorry.)
Compared to Mighty Final Fight it definitely feels a lot more crude, with many situations where I get knocked down and have no idea what I did wrong (a very obvious example is the burly military looking dude you meet early in the section with the low spike ceiling). The controls are even more awkward than DD1, still lacking a dedicated jump button, but rather using a completely superflous button for attacking the opposite direction. Using A/B for attacking left/right, rather than basing it on the direction you are facing, is an interesting idea, but on an NES it feels like a waste of buttons.
Your experience matches mine, pretty much. Been saying for a while that I really like FC DD1's handling, despite progressive special moves being dropfed and lack of jump button. Game is otherwise super responsive and zippy.

And yep FC DD2 has it's quirks too, as you've said.
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Re: Ninja Gaiden [NES] + Scrolling Action Monogatari

Post by BIL »

What I love about the four original 16bit CVs is, they're not only consistently great but also highly unique - each feels like its own self-contained followup to the FC games. And three of them (Rondo/X68K/VK) were developed in the same year! 1993 must've been amazing for Japanese fans of the series, at least ones who were lucky enough to have access to all four platforms. They also finally got a cartridge release of the original game. The old Konami of legend...

Even Rondo's pseudo-sequel XX, as rushed as it was, is a considerably strong methodical action/platformer. I'd put its best content over IV and level with the others, actually - it's just nowhere as consistent. Clock Tower+Death is a nails-hard series highlight. For the love of god though, play the SFC one or you're gonna get Metal Slug US-style "milk" all over the screen. That shit looks way more obscene than blood ever could. >_<
Spoiler
Image
Now that's more like it. Post-decapitation photo op! They should've just allowed the player to find all captives on both routes though, because you can't get CT+D in the same run as the rather nice Bad End st5, which makes some of the traditional series' most entertaining use of Axe Armours:
Spoiler
Image
Oh well. Still, even the least masterfully-executed of the set is no slouch.
Last edited by BIL on Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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