Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[BIL]

Also keep in mind there's a full health restore at the end of the corridor, dropped by that Halloween (this game's enemy names are [spoilerz] awesome - in your face, Guilty Gear!). So even if you get whapped around a bit you can still recover. You can even get the restore, leave and then return for another. The game is surprisingly forgiving at letting you set up camp that way. The hard part is surviving long enough to reach those restores.

I like to enable Twin Fire for that corridor, it makes sniping intercepting skulls easier and takes down the flying guys easily. Also, the skulls follow Dracula rules - once they've spawned they can't deviate from their course, so just keep moving past the ones that'll miss you. If they reach the back of the screen while you're not scrolling forward they'll rebound and charge straight at you, but this also sets them up for a blasting, so getting a few of those isn't the end of the world.

[trap15]

Those names are pretty badass, haha!

I need to make videos of my strats for the first 3 stages, since I think they work pretty well. I'm still trying to work through Ougon no Shinden... I think I'm about half-way through now ~_~

[BIL]

I was gonna try recording a 1CC this week but I'm exhausted and want to play easy games for the next month. Will get back to it at some point. I need to practice too, I know it'll get ugly in the last couple of stages otherwise.

Edit: Quickie of my stage 1 Lyer strategy DOIN' IT DRACULA STYLE

[Ed Oscuro]

I like to enable Twin Fire for that corridor,

feck, I knew there was something about fire types that I was forgetting to do. That might be the trick. As it stands, timing + h+v positioning of one little stream of fireballs against those things is a bit much.

[evil_ash_xero]

Just curious which entry in the Valis series you guys like best. I'm fiddling around with a few. I have III, IV, and Valis The Fantasm Soldier(PC CD version), on Magic Engine.

I think I'm liking the Fantasm Soldier best, so far, so I might just stick with that. It has really good music, and the gameplay seems tight.

The beginning, where you are running around in a school girl's outfit(and your panties show when you jump) is pretty silly though.

[null1024]

The beginning, where you are running around in a school girl's outfit(and your panties show when you jump) is pretty silly though.

Your panties still show when you jump after you change into your even skimpier battle outfit, haha. The game loves pantsu. Even the intro shows off some pantsu.

I'm slowly but surely making progress at it, mostly getting stopped because I don't know boss patterns or enemy locations [was stuck on the second boss for a bit, and I still don't know how to do it without taking a fair bit of damage].

[Ed Oscuro]

Speaking of Ninja Gaiden, here's an interesting run from last year's Awesome Games Done Quick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLGZH6E5Ois

Stopped the video before NG2, which I am going to finally have a "first run" through of. Can't be as hellish as Holy Diver - I'll take it.

[evil_ash_xero]

Am I dreaming, or does the building that Yoko falls off of at the beginning of Valis III look exactly like the building at the beginning of Battle Mania II? Even the enemy that comes and snatches that girl away looks kind of like the boss of the first stage of BM 2.

[drauch]

Just curious which entry in the Valis series you guys like best. I'm fiddling around with a few. I have III, IV, and Valis The Fantasm Soldier(PC CD version), on Magic Engine.

I think I'm liking the Fantasm Soldier best, so far, so I might just stick with that. It has really good music, and the gameplay seems tight.

The beginning, where you are running around in a school girl's outfit(and your panties show when you jump) is pretty silly though.

Hmmm, I can't really say. I'd say II is probably the weakest of the PCE games, and the easiest, so you're doing well with those three. I finally decided to screw it and picked up a copy of IV for a bit more than I'd like to pay (still not much), but I didn't want it to spike and be screwed in the future. III has some really cool stuff in it, especially when you have to freeze enemies and use them for platforming. I need to dable with Fantasm Soldier a bit more, as it's been a long time since I've played it. I'd still recommend picking up II, though. It's fairly easy up until the end, but still a fun ride that can easily be conquered in a sitting.

[evil_ash_xero]

Actually I think I'm boiling it down to IV.

It seems to be the most refined. It's music isn't that great, but the graphics are probably the best in the series.

I was playing more of the remake of I, but I don't really like it's look. And you move a bit slow as well. The music is way better than IV's though.
And by look, I just mean the main character's sprite, and the designs of the enemies. IV's just looks nicer to me. Especially the lead character. She probably has the best looking sprite in the series that I've seen thus far.

III kind of lost my interest, because IV and the remake seem like better versions of it. And I really hate how you have to push run and down to slide.

I could be totally off, and change my mind later, but that's how I'm feeling it right now. Getting into the groove of IV. I don't know how the game is going to pan out all together, but it seems fun and attractive.

Hardcore Gaming 101 thought the remake of 1 was the best, and maybe it is, but I'm just not into it's designs. They also liked III better than IV, but I'm not feeling that at all.

But in all honestly, we all know that Valis X is the true masterpiece.

[BrianC]

Telling from videos, Valis 1 PCE looks like it's based more on the Genesis version than the earlier ones since the stage themes and bosses seem to be based on the ones from that version. However, it still looks like a very different game. PCE definitely looks like the definitive one, though the Genesis one still looks a lot better than the original version on MSX and PC88.

[BIL]

Well, Dahna doesn't exactly go to hell after stage 4, but it does disappoint a little after the spectacular first half. With the anticlimactic final boss, I assumed (particularly after the mysterious post-credits scene) I'd missed a TLB. But seems not - neither finishing on a credit nor playing on Hard appear to change anything. I'd love to be wrong there.

A weaker sidescrolling sword game. The engine would seem to emphasise technique, but in practice it neither supports nor demands much finesse. Success boils down to putting distance between Dahna and the baddies with a high jump, then whapping them with the standing chop as they close in. There are sparks of something more when battling complementary air/ground mixups, but with the heavy delay and lack of potency on Dahna's attacks, get four or more ground enemies onscreen and you're in for a clusterfuck. Balance via screen-nuking magic is heavy handed to say the least - should've gone with subweapons or better counter-offense. Better yet, should've gone with simpler action - for all its flourishes the swordplay is simply not effective. I'm not sure you can actually connect with all three hits of the standing combo, as enemies become invulnerable during hitstun.

Despite the weak crowd action and largely ornamental movelist, ultimately I quite like this game. It helps that combat with scores of lackeys is relatively rare, only becoming prevalent in the final stage. The preceding five are more about negotiating perilous, varied fantasy settings where combat is only a supporting feature. It's a short game, but with all the tower scaling, ravine jumping, fortress infiltrating and griffon riding it feels like a real journey. Sprites are compact but beautifully detailed, and the backdrops are formidable at times. Music is astonishingly good, the rich sound and dark fantasy tone bringing to mind Sakimoto's immense Gauntlet and Bad Omen MD works - turns out T's Music (of PCE-CD Thunder fame) was responsible.

Not a game I'd recommend in pure sidescrolling action terms, but it's just competent enough in that regard to support its much stronger features elsewhere. Cool little MD obscurity.

It's also pretty tough to make through on a credit. I need vacation!

[BIL]

duckfist had an amazing sword-only NGII speedrun at this year's Awesome Games Done Quick! Nice to hear from an expert that the sword's hitbox was indeed reduced from the first game, and even moreso to see it deployed with dead-on accuracy anyway.

I'd guess the sword reduction was to balance out the clone shadows, but geeze do I wish it applied only to them. Still, I feel inspired to try harder at the game after watching this run.

[Ed Oscuro]

Didn't watch that segment yet, but I did try the game out again - right away I noticed it's a problem landing sword hits, and the damn clones seem to always be in the wrong place to be helpful. Still, most of my problems are the garden variety of "didn't time the jump right" and the first boss was no trouble (but that's not really something to crow about).

[stryc9]

Thanks for the rundown on Dahna, BIL.

What are your thoughts, if any, on the two Taito fantasy side scrollers Saint Sword and Cadash (MD version)?

[evil_ash_xero]

I've been playing Holy Diver a bit. I had tried the English patched version, and I didn't realize that all the chaos going on was glitches in Nestopia.
Tried out the normal version....it's still hard as hell, but at least it makes sense.

I'll have to play this one a little bit more later. I'm stuck on CVIII right now, and I don't need any more games that make me want to kill people at this moment.
I like how your guy looks a bit like Dio in the Holy Diver vid. At least how I remember the video anyway. This game is a temple to Satan.

[BIL]

Didn't watch that segment yet, but I did try the game out again - right away I noticed it's a problem landing sword hits, and the damn clones seem to always be in the wrong place to be helpful.

Particularly when new to the game, it's often better to just blow away enemies with the subweapons - certainly during the "encirclement" patterns increasingly prevalent throughout. You get tons of ammo (way more than the first game), and the shadows will generally keep you covered, so don't hold back. It's a shame the sword hitbox was screwed with though... totally loses out to the certainty and impact of NG1's.

What are your thoughts, if any, on the two Taito fantasy side scrollers Saint Sword and Cadash (MD version)?

Haven't played them, but I did like your post on Cadash in the MD thread - shame it's not a JP release! Can't be bothered just yet with NA collecting.

I've been playing Holy Diver a bit. I had tried the English patched version, and I didn't realize that all the chaos going on was glitches in Nestopia.
Tried out the normal version....it's still hard as hell, but at least it makes sense.

I'll have to play this one a little bit more later. I'm stuck on CVIII right now, and I don't need any more games that make me want to kill people at this moment.
I like how your guy looks a bit like Dio in the Holy Diver vid. At least how I remember the video anyway. This game is a temple to Satan.

FCE Ultra has issues too, at least the version I was using - stage 4's boss background will have tons of sprite garbage (it's meant to be solid black). A real pain as that boss is a total nightmare to begin with - the distraction really isn't needed. The game does suffer from serious bullet flicker issues even on a real FC, unfortunately!

Where are you stuck in CVIII? Some route/character combos are way harder than others in that game (both JP and US versions). Upper route with Grant is probably the best for a first run.

Somewhat disappointingly the Holy Diver dude is actually Randy Rhoads and his bro is (of course) Zakk Wylde, adopted sons of Priest Ozzy. He got the look though! Perhaps Irem Corp were a little wary of litigation by the diminutive yet fiery Mr. Padavona? ^_~ I would've made the lead characters Dio and ROBU HARUFORDO.

[Ed Oscuro]

here's something interesting from IRC (courtesy of the amazing Jimmymnemonic):
X-WOMEN are a SINISTER VIRUS! An ill-starred actioner on the Genesis.

[BIL]

Oh hey that looks kinda cool - not sold without a Lou Rawls voiceover though!

"Heyyy... Ex-Women. Speakin' of Ex-Men lemme tell you about this cat I know, went on vacation to Thailand..."

[GSK]

Just curious, are any of you familiar with an unreleased Vic Tokai FC/NES game called Secret Ties? The FC was based on a manga by the Golgo 13 guy called Magic Thief Sugar, but the NES version had its own original localisation that omits all references to the manga. Very much in the vein of NG and its contemporaries--small sprites, snappy action, little cinematic interludes, etc--but unlike most of the other games of this type, it's piss-easy and seems to rely entirely on static flip screens without any scrolling. I was expecting it to be total junk, but by Vic Tokai standards it's pretty okay!

here's something interesting from IRC (courtesy of the amazing Jimmymnemonic):
X-WOMEN are a SINISTER VIRUS! An ill-starred actioner on the Genesis.

This game was being developed by Clockwork Tortoise, the same team that did the Adventures of Batman & Robin games for Mega Dirve/Mega CD. Can't remember why it never came out... I think their main programmer decided to move overseas and everyone else just decided to disband rather than find a new one.

[BIL]

Hadn't heard of that one at all (I'm generally clueless about protos and such, though). Interesting to see a flip-screen side view action game on the FC, suddenly I realise I don't know of any others.

I wonder if it may have shared some staff with Gun-Dec/VPD? The wall climbing sprite is a dead ringer for that game's distinctive ladder animation, and the cutscene art style seems familiar too.

[GSK]

Hadn't heard of that one at all (I'm generally clueless about protos and such, though). Interesting to see a flip-screen action game on the FC, suddenly I realise I don't know of any. I wonder if it may have shared some staff with Gun-Dec/VPD? The wall climbing sprite is a dead ringer for that game's ladder animation, and the cutscene art and music are very familiar too.

Oh right, Aicom did the second Golgo game, didn't they? Hmm, I wonder... now that you mention it, there are definite similarities. VPD is definitely a better game in every aspect, so I guess Secret Ties could be considered a test run.

Some quick googling tells me it was supposed to be released in 1991/1992, which contradicts that theory somewhat. Then agaion, I've been looking for an excuse to track down some of the old Aicom dudes, so I guess this is it!

[evil_ash_xero]

I'll have to play this one a little bit more later. I'm stuck on CVIII right now, and I don't need any more games that make me want to kill people at this moment.

Where are you stuck in CVIII? Some route/character combos are way harder than others in that game (both JP and US versions). Upper route with Grant is probably the best for a first run.

Well, I've been sorta stuck a couple of times. Stage 7 pissed me off to no end. The tedium of those block falling parts, combined with the hard sections, made me quit for weeks(my avatar is a good representation of me playing that stage). After that, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of stage 8, but then got stuck on Death for a while. I quit playing for a couple of weeks then too.

Now I'm on Stage 9, and I guess I'm just kind of fried. I'm not "stuck" exactly...I'm just sort of worn out.

I'm playing the JP version, which is supposed to be easier. I'm also on Alucard route. I didn't know jack about the alternate paths when I started my game.

It's a great game. I just get kinda frustrated with it.

[CStarFlare]

I was never able to beat CV III's Dracula... could never do the screens leading up to him well enough to have a fighting chance. It's something I want to go back to once I finally have a CRT TV to play on again.

[BIL]

My opinion of CVIII improved a lot on my second playthrough. First play I took the underground route, which is generally tougher, has the tedious and unforgiving block pit, and is artistically rather monotonous (swamp, cave, catacomb, dungeon... and you can only hear "Aquarius" if you know to detour through the sunken city). The overland route is easier (though still no pushover), block-free, and has cooler settings and tunes - and it connects more logically to the final three stages. Technically and artistically it makes for a stronger game. Underground works best as a tougher alternate route.

Alucard also kind of sucks compared to the other three characters, so getting stuck with him *and* the underground route on a first play can grate. His specialty is skipping chunks of stages by flying, something Grant's climbing can usually accomplish more interestingly and without wasting hearts. Grant's also far more maneuverable in general. Dracula-kun has none of Sypha or Trevor's offensive power either.

I was thinking of CVIII while playing Holy Diver... HD's fourth boss "GOLDEN BABYLON" is basically "CVIII final Dracula... FROM HELL." No floor, no mercy!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

What do you think of Grant in the JP vs US version? It's been a while, but last time I played it was the JP game upper route with Grant, and I was delighted to learn that he originally has infinite throwing knives as his main weapon, as opposed to the pathetic range butter knife thing he uses in the US version. I'm not sure if I think the throwing knives + agility makes him crazy overpowered or nicely balanced compared to his weakass but +agility moveset in the US version.

[BIL]

I prefer the US Trevor/Grant team. Great balance of long reach/low agility VS short reach/high agility. In JP the contrast isn't as sharp, making Grant feel a bit overpowered during stages. He's still nowhere as good as III-equipped Trevor at smashing bosses, though, so it's not totally busted.

I prefer the US version in general. The first loop difficulty divide is nowhere near as pronounced as Ninja Gaiden/Ryukenden III's, but the US second loop is a real trial. You'll know you're in for some pain when you see the new and improved sine wave pests! (still not as nasty as Holy Diver's fearsome LYER, but damn close)

[evil_ash_xero]

Well, I just beat Dracula III.

The D Man is always fun to kill. He wasn't as bad as I thought he'd be.

[Ed Oscuro]

"Once you've killed Drac, you can't go back to other endbosses" or something to that effect

[BIL]

Dracular kinda lost his mojo after the first game, imo. Glammed up with awesomer monster transformations but forgot his fundamentals. Dracula I's random, untelegraphed teleporting is a threat every time - if he materalises over Simon, you've got a fraction of a second to run in the correct direction or lose 25% health (get it wrong and he'll own you and SFII with a brutal crossup). Good thing there's no POP turnaround lag! A tense, iconic encounter where victory never feels assured. Even more menacing than Joker and JAKI-OH.

Of the later traditional games' Dracula battles, I actually like the one with the lamest transformation the best, Dracula IV. Those flame options are a fun challenge to keep at bay without getting hemmed in. Vampire Killer is pretty neat with three varied and decently tricky fights at the end of a long, endurance-testing boss rush, the middle of which sees the last of the game's antagonist triumvirate tag in - nice direction (stories without waste my muddafuckin' time). Despite being an incredibly strong installment in other aspects Rondo has the weakest Dracula, basically the original with EZ teleport dodging. Shaft's Ghost is a better fight, backflipping over that necro-behemoth never gets old.

Dracula III's bizarre second form is really cool. He's gonna bulldoze me! Or bleed on me! Getting to hear the "rawrwaruuu!" boss death yowl as each face dies is a great touch. Always thought the final was a bit weak on account of the generous floor, although the instant-death nightmare of GOLDEN BABYLON now makes me think twice.