The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

[Ed Oscuro]

goofy cat music

[BrianC]

I wish Silhouette Mirage, aka The Real Mugging Simulator

I thought that was Mischief Makers with its shake mechanic.

[Captain]

Yes. (・｀ω´・) Naw Headdy pwns. I like all three (including Alien Soldier) though. So much I got the MD carts even though PS2 Treasure Box is great.

I have all three on cart too (even though I also have Gunstar on Wii VC), though I'm trying to decide whether or not to get the JP version of Headdy due to the JP/US differences. I also find it interesting that the US versions of both Dynamite Headdy and Contra Hard Corps play in JP mode, though they have no alternate versions on cart.

Before you do this, try out the patches that make you an english version with japanese features available at romhacking.

[Pretas]

I thought that was Mischief Makers with its shake mechanic.

Treasure did have an interesting fixation with the ability to grapple enemies in platformers (bosses included), first seen in Gunstar Heroes. I was disappointed when GSH replaced the grapple with a sword, though it was satisfying in its own right.

[BIL]

After getting brutalised by Metal Storm (FC)'s razor-honed memoriser hellscape of a second loop, I've been chilling out and Exin' ma Ranza for similarly brilliant and radically contrasting mecha sidescrolling funs.

Because this and Leynos were pretty much the two games that kicked off my modern interest in the MD a couple years ago, they tend to get buried as I'm still ferreting out new stuff via teh ROMZ. I've not put nearly as much time on either as I should and still have a lot to learn. Finally noticed today the little bipedal robot guys in stage 2 will die in toxic waste just like Ranza. They'll hop from one foothold to another to keep up with you in the stage's closing area, and won't jump if safe ground is unavailable. <333 Granada/Ranza baddie AI. Fun things to do: let 'em jump for you and give them the boot, or shoot their footing out from beneath them, or blow away the platform they're intending to land on.

edit: stage 6 shield mechs: kick the shit out of them and watch the shield go flying

no, you can do it with a normal jump, there is a tiny floating platform in the air somewhere that you can stand on to recharge and quickly take off again.

Memory refreshed CORRECTIONS ^_~ those floating platforms are totally absent from stage 4 on Hard and higher difficulties. The super jump is indeed the only way to make it up that enormous vertical gap, and even then you'll just barely reach the foothold.

NB the super jump doesn't visibly differ much if at all; rather the added oomph takes strain off the burner so it'll last way longer before reaching its limit. You know you're doin it rite if the needle doesn't move from blue anywhere near as fast.

goofy cat music

wowww-wowww *hi hat* wowww-wowwww ♫

[Ed Oscuro]

goofy cat music

wowww-wowww *hi hat* wowww-wowwww ♫

I mean this one.

[BIL]

Sweet repressed memories! I seem to recall "gimme summa yo fish muhfucka" being on the cards.

[null1024]

I've been playing quite a bit of Shadow Dancer during my downtime [emulated on my PSP, the damn thing might as well be a Sega Nomad considering all I do is play Genesis games on it now ]. Honestly, even though I've mentioned that I've played this game before, I was a total n00b at it and got nowhere. I'm giving it an honest effort, and progress is being made.

also, worst thing to do: immediately proceed to play Shinobi III when done
lolz will happen

Nothing like trying to use your plane-switch's invincibility frames, or expecting enemies to forget you exist since you aren't on the same layer, etc, etc. I've gotten terrible at Shinobi III [kind of embarrassing, considering it takes ages for Shinobi III to get difficult on defaults] and vaguely okay at Shadow Dancer now.

It's a bit of a memorizer. Just a bit. It's really cool how its set pieces are designed, where you have to figure out the best way to pass through an area. You just start forming plans from seeing a certain formation of enemies next to a hostage and then jump into the fray, hoping your plan and execution are good. The game is really satisfying as a result.

I'm currently getting walled by the Statue of Liberty autoscroller, but that's because I've gotten shot by the helicopter before noticing it was there, or being able to think of any course of action.

Also, it took me way too long to get reasonably consistent at killing those shield guys, but that's because I didn't think to just slash at them with the sword.

oh, and I still dunno how to consistently not get killed or not have to bomb on the bosses

Silhouette Mirage* needed more levels inbetween the boss fights!

*switch out with any Treasure game [sans Light Crusader] for a true statement!

never

all Treasure games seem to have too much level between boss fights

[Captain]

My first play of a treasure game was Alien Soldier.

the experience was as follows.


la la la EMERGENCY

la la EMERGENCY

la l EMERGENCY

la EMERGENCY

l..

EMERGENCY EMERGENCY EMERGENCY EMERGENCY

it was awesome.

[BIL]

It's a bit of a memorizer. Just a bit. It's really cool how its set pieces are designed, where you have to figure out the best way to pass through an area. You just start forming plans from seeing a certain formation of enemies next to a hostage and then jump into the fray, hoping your plan and execution are good. The game is really satisfying as a result.

Something that really helps reconnaissance on stationary hostage-guarding enemies (shielders/gunmen) is to bait out their attack, then retreat to safe ground. Although these enemy types technically have multiple attacks (EG shield bash VS high throw), each individual one is locked to the same preset attack every time. So after they whiff you'll know exactly what you're dealing with, and will be dealing with on future runs.

I like the memo/improv balance on the game's fearsome rainbow ninja squad. Although they aggressively chase you down each colour has very specific behavioural rules, so with practice you can really maneuver them into a disadvantage. Like getting between a Red and the abyss either side of 3-2 (his ninja creed dictates one does not move except by jumping!).

Or letting them jump in on you for perfectly timed anti-air sword kills. Dat swooshy anti-air into overhead arc



I've been trying to clear "Shadow Dancer III" tier on and off for ages, since getting back into SDMD after noticing ben.shinobi plays it (I distinctly remember giving up on it as a kid). After the recent Shinobi discussion I think I'll try to nail it down this summer... typically I get to 4-1 without much trouble, then get massacred by the long plateau after the opening climb and lose what remains of my one-towering extend stock* in that hellish pitch-black 4-2. It's definitely on par with what you'd expect from an arcade title, coasting isn't an option.

*Hug the side of the screen in Bonus Round and shoot fast for EZ 3UPs erreh gatdamn time.

[Ruldra]

Shadow Dancer should be played with shurikens off, the game becomes so much easier. The fact that you don't need to get so close to an enemy to use the sword makes a huge difference. Give it a try.

And shurikens are only really useful in the beginning anyway. Most enemies later in the game will block them all.

[BIL]

Very true, not having to gauge the melee range is a distinct advantage for non-shuriken mode. At least when killing something deadly that's hurtling right at you, like a diving red ninja. Otherwise the generous melee range is pretty easy to work with.

I don't like playing with shuriken off, though. The challenge aspect is neither here nor there to me, I just dislike chopping out ranged combat - makes the game feel hobbled. I like having the option of sniping otherwise unshootable katanas while they're running or landing from an attack (aim low), and being able to pick off shielders/rollers from across the screen with good Yamato timing beforehand.

Playing the three AC-style Shinobis on defaults without using shuriken is slightly different, I do dig that since the player is forced to stay within a shorter melee range. There's also the psychological aspect of willingly closing in on stuff normal players would just shoot.

Currently at 5-5, getting re-acquainted with black (or "guess what colour I really am!") katanas. I wonder if the absurd number of 1UPs was the dev team's way of balancing out the highest tier's difficulty for home audiences. I do approve if so. This is pretty tough and would be one of the more intense no-miss no-bomb attempts on the console, but it gives so many extends that a determined player who just wants to make the staff roll should eventually figure out a way through.

[Pretas]

Playing without shuriken makes some of Shadow Dancer MD's bosses unbearable, particularly the fire wheel.

[null1024]

I'm finally getting to 4-1 consistently, and can clear stage 1 without thinking now. Slight trouble with the stage 2 boss, and the stage 3 boss has made me continue. Stage 3 scroller is a bit of minor trouble [when the 4 red ninjas come on screen, I just bomb].

I'm loving that feeling of being able to just blitz through sections that gave me trouble just a day ago. Letting some enemies jump into sword range really helps, although I'll occasionally mis-judge it.

stage 3 boss bothers me -- the pattern is dead simple, but I still keep getting hit, and I'm not very good at hitting her

[BIL]

Playing without shuriken makes some of Shadow Dancer MD's bosses unbearable, particularly the fire wheel.

You might be misremembering, you can't actually execute melee attacks on bosses 1-4. Even No Shuriken mode will temporarily enable projectiles for them.

I was thinking today that the fire wheel would be a lot more interesting if it was one of the rare enemies that kill on contact (it certainly looks lke it would). It's somewhat involving to outrange its projectiles, then get out of the wheel itself's path, but the worst that'll happen if you fail is a bump. Kinda dull, the first and second at least have RNG going for them.

I'm finally getting to 4-1 consistently, and can clear stage 1 without thinking now. Slight trouble with the stage 2 boss, and the stage 3 boss has made me continue. Stage 3 scroller is a bit of minor trouble [when the 4 red ninjas come on screen, I just bomb].

You have to proactively bait the second boss's attacks to dodge them consistently. Spot where the fists are materialising on the wall, make sure you've got enough horizontal space and get moving into it. Return fire as the arms crash down behind you (with the right timing of the boss's invincibility period, you can land two hits per attempt). If you wait until the attack itself to take evasive action, there's a good chance you'll either simply not get clear in time, or will be penned in by a screen edge and smacked. RNG can throw out some really nasty setups here, it's definitely good to have a finger over the bomb button.

stage 3 boss bothers me -- the pattern is dead simple, but I still keep getting hit, and I'm not very good at hitting her

Can't believe I forgot about "Bladesaw Babe" having her own fan forum! Warning: contains madness and/or sadness!

edit: aw ye. Ex-Ranza EZ MODO. yeee.

[Ed Oscuro]

Suddenly I find myself what happens to various articles of enemy clothing once their masters are dead. My thoughts tends toward sadness.

[GSK]

Playing through the little-known Blades of Vengeance right now... for a western-developed game (Beam Software), this ain't half bad. Snappy controls, great presentation, decent mix of action and light exploration a la Black Tiger or whatever. There are three playable characters, but I can't imagine why you'd ever want to pick the barbarian guy, seeing as he's the slowest, has the worst jump and the shortest attack range. (There's an equipment upgrade you can purchase about halfway into the game that transforms your attacks, maybe he's more viable with the upgrade.)

I also don't get why they decided a good two thirds of the game needed to be set inside a tower, or a castle or a dungeon, or a fortified bridge connecting a tower to a castle to a dungeon to a castle, etc. It all gets very samey after a while, which is a shame when you consider that the art itself is quite good.

[Captain]

Speaking of bad balancing, Dinosaurs for Hire literally has no weapon difference and the characters have different jump height. Either play as the best one or you won't have fun.

It's a really nice game though, although there is better.

BIL, do you have any idea what happens at the end of Rager-X?

[BIL]

I played both Blades of Vengeance and Dinosaurs For Hire back in the day, both kinda stick in my mind as Western-developed action games possibly worth revisiting. Neither got JP releases though, so for now I've back burnered 'em.

I've only beaten Ex-Ranza, which is all in Japanese, so AFAIK the end goes:

: "Oh noes, big baddie is usin' mah power to transform!"

Then big baddie gets killed. :[ I dig his slightly demonic look, brings the opening stage's cool techno-medieval aesthetic back to the fore. If I were making up my own story, and I am, it's like evil skyscraper baddies invaded clean energy castle and stole faceplant girl to perfect their soulless corporate deathmachinery. Not quite as great as Metal Storm's story, the greatest mecha sidescrolling story ever told*, but serviceable!

This is on Normal and Hard, I'm currently midway through Heavy. Which is oddly cheat code-locked in Ex-Ranza (ABC three times very fast in the Options menu, piano it), along with Easy mode which totally pwnz teh scrubz with kawaii sugoi Stage 0 (seen above).

I have to say this game fucking rocks, moreso than I'd recalled. MD and SFC had it good for mecha sidescrollers with Ranza and Valken.

*"the unfathomably powerful anti-asteroid laser satellite has gone nuts and casually obliterated several planets before locking onto Earth! Oh shiii! INVADE IT QUICKLY"

[Captain]

heavy replaces the ending ....thingy with ex-renza itself. + you get a cool image of the pilot and girl sitting on renza.

[Ed Oscuro]

I just discovered a game store near me, which has all kinds of neat stuff. Blades of Vengeance on the shelf, I recognized it immediately after this topic. Never played it; I'll give it a look. (TBH, most of their stuff is a bit on the grungy side for my liking, but I'll have a look all the same.)

[BIL]

What I remember most clearly about BOV is the desolate second stage and its boss, who those insightful bards at mid-90's EGM's free advertising I mean "Previews" department referred to as "the ghost of the ancient king." I thought that was pretty cool, but then I look up a FAQ and it says he's just some crummy wizard! I must investigate, coolness is at stake.

Ranza Heavy is rad. Made it to the end of stage 5/"look, stealth action that doesn't blow!" with two targets left but got cocky and rushed in, was caught by searchlights that weren't there on Hard and went down in flames with six bogeys and the two heavies blasting my mech to pieces. Decided to not use a continue as I'd like this first clear to last a bit longer. Tactical Sidescrolling Action!

This and Shadow Dancer tier III do what all harder console game difficulties should - go beyond simply tweaking the parameters of the user-friendly default difficulty, instead designing a new and inherently tougher course intended to push experienced players. Heavy does alter stats, but intelligently so. Player takes more damage, making evasion a far more pressing matter, but deals out the same, precluding any annoying (and cool-destroying) nerfs.

Gynoug is terrible about this - "harder" equates to "identical game, but now you can't kill anything." First thing I do when I try out a console title's harder difficulty is make sure random popcorn #34536363 isn't suddenly taking nuclear warheads to the balls with impunity - it does happen sometimes!

[Captain]

you can use this game genie code to start with two unobtainable weapons in Ranger X.

(use it when STARTING the game)

AKYA-AA3C

[BIL]

What are those weapons? I know about the two hidden ones (charge shot and shield), never heard of any more though. I notice there's a game genie code for a "secret area not in the game" which is just the JP version's Stage 0 (Easy mode only).

Was reading the MD manual last night, and although I can't read its Japanese text it does seem to detail the super jump. Apparently the Genesis manual doesn't, from a quick look around. A shame if so, since you can't clear stage 4 on Hard or Heavy without it.

[Captain]

TWO hidden ones? you have everything wrong.

In addition to the charge oblasteratorator, There is a laser hidden in stage 2 which scans around (while wasting energy) and locks to anything it hits.

In the jungle stage there is a homing hawk weapon (game breaker).

In some other stage there is a fire-wave...thing.

The shield is not obtainable normally.

and this code gives you the shield and an incredibly cool weapon which you will have to see yourself.

[BIL]

Haha, I know about stage 2 and stage 3's extra weapons (tracking laser and Falcon). Hard to miss just like stage 5's Fire Wave. ;3

By "hidden" I mean not normally visible. The charge laser has to be revealed by blasting at the spot it's in (it's easy to do this accidentally, given where it is - I did it the very first time I passed by, then wondered why it wasn't there on subsequent runs). The Shield is dropped by a certain enemy if it's kicked enough times to explode.

Falcon's not gamebreaking at all, at least on Heavy. It's invaluable in some spots but uses up juice quickly and just like the tracking laser it simply won't lock onto certain targets (but unlike TL, can't even be fired blind). It's not much use for fly-by kills either, you need to stick around and let it go to work which isn't always safe.

I'll give the code a go and see if I don't recognise the unused weapon, sounds interesting.

edit: LOL, that is indeed something I've not seen before. I wonder if it was left out for balance reasons, seems pretty overpowering. Also reminds me of Harmful Park's pie launcher.

[Captain]

The Shield is dropped by a certain enemy if it's kicked enough times to explode.

WHICH ONEEEEEE

[BIL]

The one that drops a shield when kicked, obviously. (・｀W´・) Naw for real the second shield dude you meet at Stage 6's opening. WATCH AND LEARN MY SON

[Captain]

GLORIOUS. YOU SHOULD MAKE A GIF OUT OF IT.

[BIL]

One day I'll perfect my advanced mecha piloting hackysack technique.



A motorbike is fine too!