Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Sima Tuna]

Stevens posted quite a bit on Huntdown ITT; as for Cyber Shadow, it got some decent buzz at release, IIRC in its dedicated thread. Haven't gotten around to either myself, but I'll vouch for peeps here, they're why I stick around.

Stevens, Huntdown 1
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Huntdown 2
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Huntdown 3
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Huntdown 4
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I need to get the thread index updated this week, I keep telling myself "just one more clear" but yeah, tomorrow never comes. Never trust a shumpy! :3 Here's Cyber Shadow's thread.

Thanks man! I'm slowly going through the 300ish pages of the thread, but the shortcut makes it a lot easier.

EDIT: Holy shit, I just saw the ninja warriors games. I need this in my life. Those Yaksha combo gifs? It's like someone made a game specifically for my tastes.

[BIL]

The Ninja Warriors Once Again is remarkable work - Natsume not only kept their SFC peak, they arguably improved on it. Godlike i-frame sense... New KikiKaikai is day 1 for sure!

I'm gonna spruce up the index a bit this weekend. Got a ton of new entries, and will be switching to chronological ordering, for series. The indexing itself will always be a bit scattershot, but this thread is a cheerfully shaggy beast by design.



Boof! Finally nailed down a Rygar nomiss, having left it on the cusp earlier this year. From one 1986 icon to another - and about as far from Genpei Toumaden's cheerfully tanky undead carnival as it gets. A mythic journey beset on all sides by sudden death!

Well, aykshually it's an Argus no Senshi nomiss. They differ only subtly, but at such levels of precision, even the fish feel the ripples! Or some shit! Basically, the US one deletes a few buried powerups/1UPs, but spawns slightly more "?" blocks (potential Bombs/Shields). Probably swings and roundabouts, but I am a shameless NTSCJ chauvnist, so it was Nihon a go-go.

Bumped the difficulty up a notch, from Easy to Normal, as I plan to with similarly-defaulted AC games going forward. I rove PCBs that default to 2/4 ala Saigo. 3; Not to give the settings undue importance... AFAIK, Ninja Gaiden's English arcade manual calls its difficulties "Normal/Special1/Special2/Special3," opposite ACA NG/Rygar's less charitable "Easy/Normal/Hard/VHard." Hamster tend to source from original documents, so it may well be that's how the JP manuals call 'em, too. Always a bit of a rough science, it seems. Double Dragon II's US manual suggests Hard Life+Timer (marginally tougher than normal)... but FUCKIN EZ TATSUMAKI (WTF is this WEAK SHIT I suspect this was so 80s kids would get their asses handed to 'em extra-quick, because Tatsu spam = dead )

Either way, as with SNK's similar setups, I just feel a tad uneasy playing at Rank 1, despite not noticing much difference in Rank 2. It's an abstract kinda feel



I posted most of my notes on Rygar earlier this year; they served me well for this initial survival run. I think the biggest new observation is certain runners' inability to bump you, while you're adjacent to the standard blocks.

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It's not much - but then, it's so wickedly easy to die, any refuge is worth knowing. Missed a few midboss decaps, and bonus pickups, particularly in the lategame - nervier to nab in a real run.

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Not sure if I'll ever get into XTREEM superplay suicide milking (BEHOLD ), but I'm interested in pushing my Nomiss score, which still invites some riveting risk. Even in pure survival terms, this is a genuine classic - gets my strongest recommendation, particularly to fans of Compact Action Man sidescrolling ala Famicom. What really stands out, in comparison to its AC contemporaries, is its generosity... your jump, attack and stomp are amazingly potent (don't sleep on the latter's followup i-frames! vital source of forward momentum!), your run is brisk, and your air control is unlimited. And while enemy placement can be devious, their strikes are consistently well-telegraphed. The POV and sprite/screen ratio are also perfect - not a hint of edge-riding badness, just total utility.

At the same time, for all this amenity, complacency invites a swift, brutal takedown. Very much the Ninja Gaiden to Green Beret's Castlevania; a seeming defang that, on sheer design sense, competes neck-and-neck.

[Sima Tuna]

Is Shadow of the Ninja in here somewhere? I'm curious what others thought of it. I bought it on my 3ds a while ago, having never played it on original hardware. Seemed alright. I sucked ass at it of course, but it was fun. I kinda want to go back and try again. Like Ninja Gaiden nes, it impressed me immediately with its level design and controls.

[BIL]

Yup! The search process is primitive as ever, but you can see if something's indexed ITT by adding "+R2RINDEXX" (drop the second "X," it's just there so this post won't be a false positive) to the string.

"Shadow of the Ninja" +R2RINDEXX (include the quotes, and again, delete that extra "X") will sniff out its rough location. Hyper advanced techmology ITT (our motto: It's better than nothing! )

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I'm considering going with US/EU titles for the index. While I'll always include the JP ones, it's probably better to go with user friendliness - wait a second, am I betraying Teh Hardcore? Pls don't assassinate+usurp me, chums It's Scrolling Action Monogatari, not Scrolling Action Shishi no Ko Otoshi, after all.

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Quite a bit of discussion on that one over the years, along with its Natsume FC Power Trio stablemates, Dragon Fighter and Solbrain aka Shatterhand. Great games all, though Kage is very much the middle child - not as instantly accessible as DF, nor as toweringly sophisticated as ShatterBrain, though it packs an equally riveting 1CC run. That final stage autoscroller should be in game design textbooks, hunts down tedium like it hunts down SCURRED turtlers.

[Sumez]

I'm considering going with US/EU titles for the index. While I'll always include the JP ones, it's probably better to go with user friendliness - wait a second, am I betraying Teh Hardcore?

Tbh, I'd probably look under "Kage" before Yami whatever the rest is... Though I appreciate avoiding confusion by ignoring overseas name changes, some Japanese titles are harder to remember than others for a gaijin like me. Though in "KAGE"s example, that name is printed in huge cpaital romaji across the cartridge, while the other words are tiny katakana(?) that I couldn't read without a microscope even if I did know the characters.

[Sima Tuna]

Yeah, I couldn't find Shadow of the Ninja because I didn't know the japanese title. My bad.

I'm a little surprised nobody reviewed Tatakai no Banka, aka Trojan, for the arcade. The two games (arcade vs famicom) seem pretty different. I saw some runs of arcade Trojan and it reminded me a lot of good old Ghosts n Gobbos. Except in the FUTURE APOCALYPSE!!! MAD MAX WITH SWORD AND SHIELD FUCK YEAH!

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[Sumez]

Trojan is super janky. I had fun with the arcade game, but it really felt like you pretty much needed to just learn how to cheese every encounter to make real progress, which wasn't very fun to me. I half expected the NES/FC port to be more enjoyable, but from what little I tried it felt much more insufferable to me.

Might just be my lack of patience though.

[BIL]

I've only put a couple credits on the AC one, way back on the PS2's Capcom Classics Collection - the Road Warrior via Hokuto style is enough to give it a permanent place on my todo list, I really love the idea of an urban post-apocalypse with swords and shields making a comeback.

The FC version is probably at its jankiest with the very first boss, whose ROCKETO PAAANCH can behave weirdly (I don't even recall how to do that fight offhand). Rest of the duels' quirks are a lot simpler, IIRC - I nomissed it in a couple days. I always expect to do a bit of boss AI exploiting in those early sidescrolling combat games (see also Spartan X), but as long as you can whoop 'em soundly once you figure out their antics, I don't mind much. I've never gotten into MD Hokuto no Ken - even knowing how to take down the few bosses I saw, the wafty hits and jumbo enemy lifebars turned me right off.

Street Fighter 2010 is my favourite Whoop AI Bastards game of the pre-16bit days, giving the player a perfect balance of tricky but devastatingly powerful attacks and agile i-frames. You need to observe the enemy, like in any good action game, but not exploit them; just getting an idea of their movement and attacks is enough to compete. It tends to get hate when people play it like it's Ninja Gaiden, cuz it sure as shit ain't! It's not even Castlevania.

[Marc]

I've bought so many AA titles, I'm afraid that I've not given all of them the attention they deserve as of yet.
My first few attempts with The Astyanaz all saw me falling on the third stage. Took the Switch to the pub for a bit of quiet, and made ST5 boss on my first go? Played on default settings as always, but there seems to be plenty of energy pickups and it doled out at least two extra lives. I think, I was far more relaxed than usual and wasn't paying 100% attention which made it even more surprising.

Some very Amiga-ish colour banded skies in the 4th or 5th level, I've always loved visuals like that.

I'll fire it up later at home and play like absolute ass.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Street Fighter 2010 is my favourite Whoop AI Bastards game of the pre-16bit days, giving the player a perfect balance of tricky but devastatingly powerful attacks and agile i-frames.

Really awesome game. I remember stumbling on it because of the unusual name and discovering a really tricky, but super cool game with backflip i-frames, rapid fire punches, and heavy punches/kicks that spiraling energy balls everywhere. It's a tough game to learn because of how the game depowers you on taking damage (down to 1/2 your total strength iirc) that makes it feel very arcadey, but you're incredibly powerful when you have all your powerups active. It's also tricky because jumping is very high, single height, so it's harder to control than say Mega Man. There's also the time limit to worry about which is a factor in some nastier bosses (I remember the sand planet having one with a fairly tricky time limit).

Once you learn how to control it properly, it's super satisfying to destroy bosses by backflipping over them and using the downward midair shot, or by simply rapid fire punching their faces in.

My fondest memory of it is at a local meetup someone was describing a game they'd played with their dad as a kid but couldn't remember and with a bit of prodding for details I was like "I BOUGHT THE CARTRIDGE FOR THAT A FEW MONTHS AGO" and got to see his face light up when I pulled out a copy of the game. Beat it again that night too. I'm tempted to go for the 1CC or no-miss clear but it's a daunting game.

[Sima Tuna]

Grabbed some capcom games on the sale. Dynasty Wars is one I'm going to have to spend some time with. Super fun scroller. I'm a sucker for three kingdoms stuff and the gameplay in this is very fast-paced, yet precise.

Played Trojan/Tatakai no Whatever. Still stand by my opinion that it looked cool. Plays cool too. I'll have to play more to see if it becomes a lot more annoying later on, but the challenge felt doable. Turtleguy (miniboss) sucks ass, but I just need to remap my controls so jumping is easier. The shield is cool and the game has health on top of that. I found the best way to kill enemies was to stab them all in the dick. If you try to fight them straight-up, you'll trade hits. Honorable combat? Bleah. Dick Stab Simulator!


Google Image Search knows what's up.^

Daimakaimura is $2 on any system that has the capcom arcade cabinet. Grabbed that. Feels so good to play more Ghosts and Ghobbos/Ghouls and Ghosties. This is my favorite one too (because it beats my ass the least.) Vanilla Ghosts and Ghobbos is so cruel sometimes.

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^Fuck this guy in particular.

[Stevens]

Steel Assault. Finally made it to stage four!

[BIL]

My fondest memory of it is at a local meetup someone was describing a game they'd played with their dad as a kid but couldn't remember and with a bit of prodding for details I was like "I BOUGHT THE CARTRIDGE FOR THAT A FEW MONTHS AGO" and got to see his face light up when I pulled out a copy of the game. Beat it again that night too. I'm tempted to go for the 1CC or no-miss clear but it's a daunting game.

In classic arcade fashion, it's one of those games that you'll probably 1LC in the process of getting the 1CC. Max power with both upgrades (Flashkick+Option) is a fearsome loadout - though as you say, it takes finesse to keep them, let alone fully utilise them. A really good general tack is to aggressively i-frame through hard targets, dragging the Option into 'em for BEEFY HITZ:

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Like a regular 8bit Alien Soldier. Option is also really good for simple, effective zako control; with the lack of crouch, it's much easier to connect than the tricky overheads. Pesky bastards will whittle away your boss-demolishing Space Kenshiro fists, much deadlier than they can appear in the short-term:

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I've bought so many AA titles, I'm afraid that I've not given all of them the attention they deserve as of yet.

I've no doubt I'll be chipping away at my ACA backlog in my seventies, or however long I stick around. Some mythic beasts roaming about there. Probably the single highest bang/buck ratio of any anthology series, and only gaining with time.

My first few attempts with The Astyanaz all saw me falling on the third stage. Took the Switch to the pub for a bit of quiet, and made ST5 boss on my first go? Played on default settings as always, but there seems to be plenty of energy pickups and it doled out at least two extra lives. I think, I was far more relaxed than usual and wasn't paying 100% attention which made it even more surprising.

AC Astyanax is an uncommonly generous game, even on defaults - it's only in the last couple stages that it finally gets a bit stingy. Keep in mind it's got considerable native input lag (5F in both old and latest MAME builds), which ACA replicates perfectly. It's far from unplayable, particularly with your massive attack hitbox, rapid swings and frequent bombs - but it does demand a bit more concentration than it would otherwise, imo.

Totally get the thing about playing better while out of the house (or when everyone else is out). I can never concentrate 100% on a game with company about. Mostly because I inevitably start to feel like a dickhead.

Incidentally, I noticed I was getting extra-jittery in Super Contra's second loop, in my first few runs at the 2ALL. Wondered if a bit of excess caffeine was to blame - was caning it staying up that weekend. Was a bit less on edge during the short weeknight session where I got the clear. I'd also had a beer just before going for that Rygar nomiss, and while I was in total death stare mode for the last five rounds, I didn't get nervy. I wonder if it's better to take nerves off than fire them up, when chasing personal bests.

Then again, I was also 50% certain I'd forgotten to switch the PS4's capture from 30sec to 60min, and was feeling pretty glum at my hop/bop derring-do potentially going unrecorded. Still, that's a depressant of a sort too, right?

[Sima Tuna]

The stage 5 boss in Ninja Warriors Once Again is going Kenshiro on my balls. Hyakuretsu Ken ATATATATATATA!

I'm not really understanding how to close distance with him as Ninja.

[BIL]

Tricky fight for Ninja. Kunoichi has a far easier time, since her Crouch P spam destroys Jubei up-close... and Kamaitachi also has a far easier time, because he's the shamefur EZMODO pick. As usual with TNWA bosses, the crowd is a major threat; Jubei's also a fairly evasive target. Keep the former under control with throws, or launch combos off of them, at Jubei himself; ignoring them to chase him down won't end well.

Here's an okay example, on Hard difficulty. Not the fastest, but defends well against Jubei and his crowd.

And here's a fairly shitty one, going for a faster clear time. I get beat up by the crowd, because as said, Jubei's a slippery fucker - but it's worth a look for contingency ideas.

NB the walk-up grab that starts the second fight, opposite the first's failed Shoulder Ram. While the walk-up relies on his pre-fight delay, you can execute them with confidence even in the heat of battle, against most bosses and enemies - though you always risk getting countered (typically counter-grabbed, here). It's an abstract kinda feel. NB Golems (the heavy loader bots) become extremely dangerous to walk in on, once they've lost their heads. They're also invincible to Should Rams. Use Hover Dive [jump, then down+ATK] to close distance for the grab, instead.

Jubei himself isn't all that dangerous, head-to-head. Stand P spam will safely check his advance. As a general rule with Ninja, avoid Crouch P. Standing, you can absorb three jabs before knockdown; on defense, you can quickly guard and escape. On offense, tank through the first two jabs and get your iron fist around their throat. Or, as a compromise, Guard and then Tumble past their attack, grabbing on recovery. This is a particularly good counter for knockdown blows, which will floor even standing characters. (jump during Guard = tumble; 100% front-invincible, just like Kunochi's equivalent somersault)

Works exactly the same in Once Again. I guess it's more of a single-arm handspring.

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While you're crouching, the slightest touch will floor you, draining anything but a max meter. Even worse, Ninja's a big target; a lot of things that'll sail over Kunoichi's head will smack him in the face. You're also faster to bust out the vitally important Nunchaku, while standing.

All this said, grabs are probably the most effective damage dealer on Jubei, since (as seen in the first replay's opening) he tends to teleport out of hitstun. Shoulder Ram started from just inside range will usually catch him, for an easy Atomic Drop.

If he darts in, just punch him. Ninja's Stand P has massive range and priority, and leads quickly into Nunchaku - which won't do much damage individually, but will reset your surroundings with a quick i-framed area knockdown.

Flying kick can be ducked, and his fire pillars are more of a crowd threat... if you're caught up in the latter, try grabbing the nearest enemy and i-framing via Giant Swing (up+ATK).

If you get caught in his 3-hit knockdown combo, go to guard immediately. Just hold ATK during hitstun; you'll be in guard from the next frame. It's a good idea to keep ATK depressed, when engaging enemies; as shown here, you never know when Guard will come in handy.

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Beware of the run-in grab he likes to use on nearby retreating players; again, if he's in punching range, just sock him.

[Stevens]

Jubei. Bitch slapper of newcomers and rusty vets alike.

Still figuring out Steel Assault's stage four. Only playing a credit or two a day. Keeping my sessions short.

[Sumez]

Once you get to the first shield on stage 4, you should be impervious for the rest of the stage. There's a lot of health bonuses if you aren't playing arcade mode, so you can afford to screw up a lot.

IMO by far the biggest challenge is the first midboss on the boat. I think I talked about my strategy for no-missing him consistently earlier on, but when you got the health powerup immediately after you can honestly just tank him. Just go nuts on him before the bullet spray pattern.

[Sima Tuna]

Beat the cheating prick. I wasn't using giant swing enough or abusing the nunchucks. Once I started doing that, I was able to power through and clear the game. I couldn't 1cc (stage 7 boss and final stage both walled me for a little while), but the game is fantastic. The depth on display is just... *Chef's kiss.* Each character feels almost like playing an entirely different game. I tried switching to Kunoichi for certain boss fights later, but I was too accustomed to Ninja by that point. I love the way Ninja's grab lets you carry dudes into position so you can get maximum benefit from giant swinging them. Nunchucks are insanely strong against dangerous trash mobs too.

I'm not sure how I feel about the final boss. It felt more like a minigame than a boss fight and most of the frustration came from not hitting the glass when I thought I should have. The Stage 5 boss felt like more of a final boss than the actual final boss.

Still, 10/10 game. Now I need to clear with Kunoichi, Yaksha and Kamataichi. Yaksha seems very cool and I've been reading the guide on her use. If Raiden is also a grappler like Ninja, then I'm sure I'll have a blast with him once he's unlocked.

One of my favorite things about beat em ups is the devs, unlike fighting games, don't have to try to make every character "balanced." Instead, every character should be overpowered, since the challenge comes largely from mobs (and i-frame abusing bosses.) A good beat em up feels so great to play.

That ending, btw. I cry everytime. ; _ ; "History repeats."

[BIL]

Ah jeeze, I totally missed that you were playing Once Again. Most of what I wrote about SFC still applies, but here's a demo Jubei fight that's actually from the game. I find him easier for Ninja in Once Again, simply due to the wider playfield giving more breathing room. (this also makes the slippery bastard even harder to chase down, but then OA's forte is Time Attack, vs SFC's 4:3 survival pressure cooker)

...easier despite my blundering onto more than one Fire Column. It'd been a while, so I'd forgotten how generous the startup window is; get into safe position, then get your guard up.

His biggest difference from SFC actually misses Ninja entirely; his hyper-aggressive teleport punishes crouch P spam from smaller characters.

Never really an option for Ninja to begin with ;3

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Where do you think you're goin'?

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One major difference in Once Again's Ninja is his Hover Dive; its range is nerfed, and won't close the gap on Headless Golems nearly as well. Tumble is better, in those cases, or EX Nunchaku to secure a knockdown, if you've got the meter.

Good going on the clear, it's no pushover! Another addendum to the above - Kamaitachi is now a respectable pick in Once Again. Still has most of his SFC cheese, but it's nowhere as dominant on the wider playfield. I've still not given Raiden a fair shake, I could tell he was 1) utterly unique and 2) trusted peeps like him, so I was happy to move on. Yaksha meanwhile is superb, yet another total original. A ferocious return to form for Taniguchi and company.

[Sima Tuna]

Where do you think you're goin'?

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That's essentially what I did, lol. A true shinobi is immobile and swings his weapon at the air until the boss walks into it.

[BIL]

That ending, btw. I cry everytime. ; _ ; "History repeats."

IKR Hiroyuki Iwatsuki has a gift for outstanding Ending-into-Credits BGM. My possible favourite being his Kage finale, up there with Toshiharu Yamanishi's Setting Out from Elemental Master for surprise epic closers. I love how these guys went all-out, right to the end of the line and the tm/c.

When I first saw the weary people say "history repeats itself," it moved me to return to the treacherous world of VG FANFICTION In the super secret ending, Ninja survives TNWA by sticking a hand grenade in the bunker's Future Microwave and fucken legging it with his jet boosters.

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Tragically because he had no human skin, or fuckin human face, or human concept of mercy, his pro wrestling career never really took off. It's not his fault he was programmed to hit things until his onboard sensors detected no further vital signs! ;[

Last match before he lost his gig and resigned himself to a service lifetime of highly efficient dish washing at the local MulkDonald's:

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Also, the entirely too indulgent promo for Legacy of Ninja-kun!

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[Udderdude]

Saw this on Steam recently. Might be of interest to someone here. Looks very Genesis-y/Treasure-y. There's even flying (shmup) stages?! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1300 ... ar_Sparky/

[Volteccer_Jack]

I've finished all the current content in Death's Gambit Afterlife, and have all the achievements, so I suppose it's time to write about it.

It's a side-scrolling metroidvania similar in length, structure, and difficulty to a DS-era Castlevania title. It borrows HEAVILY from Dark Souls, including a stamina meter which most attacks and all defensive abilities are reliant on, and an 'Estus'-like healing mechanic that recharges at rest sites. Of course you have much more aerial mobility than in Dark Souls, with an airdash and double jump both obtained early in the game, which makes general movement feel a lot quicker and snappier.

Combat tends to focus around blocking. While the dodge roll grants copious i-frames, it is fairly slow and has a vulnerable endlag, making it very often inferior to the more traditional R2RKMF evasion tactic of "just be somewhere else". Blocking however is very powerful because you can perform a well-timed "Perfect Block" which will instantly recover most of the stamina spent on the block, and if you block a melee attack you will stagger the opponent slightly and be able to perform a special counter. Perfect Blocking is pretty essential in the game's more difficult battles.

Speaking of difficult battles, the bosses are the highlight of the game. The devs have said in interviews that Death's Gambit began as "a Google doc of boss ideas" and having played the game, that's not surprising. Excellent bosses like Galaxy Mage Amulvaro and Endless were far and away the standouts of the original release, and while the rest of game has been significantly improved around them with the Afterlife expansion, the bosses are still the stars of the show, their Heroic Rematches most of all. Every boss has a "Heroic" version which you unlock immediately after beating their normal version. These Heroic versions have inflated stats and significant alterations to make them much more difficult, such as leaving landmines behind when they attack, or making an exact copy of themselves at half health, or summoning weird homing squid enemies that instakill you on contact, or a debuff that makes you take 1000 damage if you don't fulfill a certain condition (I had 1004 max hp at the time).

It's a fun little search action deal with interesting story/lore and awesome bossfights. Firm recommend from me if you're into this sort of game.

[Sima Tuna]

Is streets of rage 4 any good? I keep hearing "OMG WTF IT'S THE BEST SHIT EVER" mixed with "IT'S A BILLION HOURS LONG AND IT SUCKS."

I'm personally quite sensitive to the length of arcade games. For me, shorter is usually better. For example, I think eight stages is a *little* too long for Ninja Saviors. Six would have been better for me. I usually prefer a shmup have no more than seven stages. I'm fond of the pacing of Psikyo games, where they toss you into the shit and keep you there for the entire (short) run. Makes them very replayable.

So I'm just curious how much the length of SoR 4 impacts the quality of the game, I guess. I love the first two streets of rage games, but I think SoR 1 might be my preference because it's shorter, more focused (on sick street smackdowns!) and has less weird alien shit in it. What do you guys think of arcade series getting modern remasters? Do you think there's a tendency to "consolize" these games? I saw a review only recently of Blazing Chrome, where the dude reviewing it heavily implied it was a bad value for money because the game is short.... Running under the same assumption that you're supposed to credit feed a clear and then never play the game again, I guess. Then you have stuff like SoR4, which I know has gotten rave mainstream reviews and I've heard a "run" is like 2 hours long.

What do you all think?

[Stevens]

If SOR 4 has a small weakness it would be its run time. It is a little long no doubt, but definitely worth playing.

Blazing Chrome is fucking dope and has more than a few fans here (see my avatar:). Of the three BC has the run time I would say hits the sweet spot of around 30 minutes. Doesn't overstay its welcome at all. Very easy game to learn too - it hands out extends like candy, which makes it easier to practice more of the game in one go, which makes you better far faster: ) Least that was my experience with it.

I love Saviors too, but a quick clear is still 40 minutes.

As far as tendencies to consolize arcade games? Yeah. You've got morons reviewing games with at best little to no experience with the arcade genre. They play through the game while dying repeatedly and credit feeding. Then proceed to bash the game for being too short, too hard, or straight up unfair. All the while not coming to grips with the most basic mechanics let alone the deeper ones that require an actual time investment to learn/come to grips with.

We have a whole generation of gamers who automatically equate value with run time. These are people who will happily put 80 hours into AAA open world fetch shit (doing the same thing over and over), but will balk at spending the same 80 hours on a precision arcade title (doing the same thing over and over).

Why? Not sure, but if I had to guess it's just that people just want everything handed to them with minimal effort and any game that makes you work a little for it is automatically unfair/bad. That and you're average person needs a constant stream of rewards in their games. Sorry for the rant.

Have you played Steel Assault?

[Sima Tuna]

Haven't played Steel Assault, but I've heard it's good. My biggest issue with Ninja Warriors Once Again is the length of the clear. I don't always have an uninterrupted 40 minutes to sit and play at FULL ARCADE INTENSITY. At least time attack lets me practice levels when I want a short session.

These are people who will happily put 80 hours into AAA open world fetch shit (doing the same thing over and over), but will balk at spending the same 80 hours on a precision arcade title (doing the same thing over and over).

This dichotomy bothers me especially with genres like beat em ups and shmups. Entire genres are written off by reviewers as repetitive or generic, just because reviewers don't seem to connect with the core gameplay loop. Yet the mainstream types enjoy stuff like fallout 4, which is nothing but a skinner box of loot+shoot+craft. I'm not gonna say someone is wrong to like what they like, but I don't see what makes that gameplay superior to Kunio Kun, Espgaluda II or Daimakaimura gameplay. Out of curiosity, I searched espgaluda II reviews real quick and...

https://noisypixel.net/espgaluda-ii-switch-review/

6/10. >_> At least it's not a 4/10 or whatever God Hand got from IGN.

[TransatlanticFoe]

SOR4's arcade mode sneaks in just under the 2 hour mark, both through number/length of stages and also generally straightforward boss fights which take an absolute age (looooooong health bar + invulnerable periods). It still holds up in spite of the excessive length though. The core gameplay is there and the latest round of patches has made i-frames a lot more sensible, but it does still suffer with enemies who resolutely run away a lot - which further undermines the already less than ideal (because the i-frames still aren't tight enough so you will get poked mid-animation) combo system.

I would have preferred arcade mode to at least trim the fat by removing a few stages (chiefly where gimmicks are used or bosses duplicated), but it would've been ideal if it remixed the game into 6-8 shorter, more intense stages with better balancing in the boss fights. And the regular mode extended to give the mainstream/modern audience a bit more to chew on.

[Mischief Maker]

The Streets of Rage games have always been too long, all the way back to 1. I have childhood memories of playing co-op with friends and exclaiming, "oh, COME ON!" when the recycled bosses start showing up in Mr. X's tower.

SoR4 is arranged like a Devil May Cry game with each stage played by itself and given a letter grade after clearing it, so you only have to play as much as you can stand before taking a guilt-free break. It has an arcade mode where you do all the stages in one sitting, but I don't recommend it.

Also the DLC adds a random survival mode that's almost like a different game and can unlock brand new move sets that make characters play in a totally different way (like replacing Axel's worthless forward special with something actually useful). Survival mode lets you experience serious combat encounters with underused characters from the base game (like the whip ladies) and usually involve distinctly SoR-style hazards. I almost exclusively play survival nowadays.


Has anyone tried the new Okinawa Rush game? Seems like an amalgam of Shinobi and Ninja Warriors. The move list is surprisingly large. There's a demo.

[Sima Tuna]

I assumed that game was shovelware, but it looks cool.

[To Far Away Times]

Yeah, Streets of Rage 4 is a little too long. It's kinda grueling going for the clear just because it takes so long to get to the end. Don't bore us, get to chorus, ya know?