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

Anything from run & guns to modern RPGs, what else do you play?
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by GSK »

I will say that Dahna: Megami Tanjou and the Devil Hunter Yohko are two JP MD games that come up a lot in these sorts of discussions, but I don't rate either one, really. Dahna does have cool box art, at least.

Incidentally, has anyone played the MD version of Cal.50, SETA's Ikari-like? Did they make any attempt to alter/improve it a la Mercs MD? It was recently offered to me as part of a bulk lot with a bunch of other crap that I can't be bothered to offload, but I might take the plunge if anyone can vouch for it.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Bar81 »

GSK wrote:Incidentally, has anyone played the MD version of Cal.50, SETA's Ikari-like? Did they make any attempt to alter/improve it a la Mercs MD? It was recently offered to me as part of a bulk lot with a bunch of other crap that I can't be bothered to offload, but I might take the plunge if anyone can vouch for it.
It's garbage.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by GSK »

Bar81 wrote:It's garbage.
Welp, that's settled, then!
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Ed Oscuro »

BIL wrote:Unfortunately he jumped ship to be pretend Def Leopard sometime around 2004
I'm sure it's a coincidence that Konami as a whole started circling around the drain about the same time.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

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3. Subterrania
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by BPzeBanshee »

royalfan84 wrote: I got my Genesis in about a week ago and with it I had also purchased:
1. Thunder Force IV
2. Gaiares
3. Subterrania
4. MK and MKII
5. Desert Strike
6. Steel Empire
Personally I always thought Jungle Strike was the best in the series. Not to poo-poo Desert Strike but its sequel adds quite a bit more variety than all the...well, desert army bases of the original. Do consider getting that one.

My uncle threw out his MD2 and all the games the other way about a week before I got the video cable to finally get it up and running some months ago. Still raging hard. :evil:
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by stryc9 »

royalfan84 wrote:This thread is quite informative; I've been reading through it in it's entirety on and off for the last 8-9 days. I recently bought a Genny (I owned one when I was younger but it was sold in a yard sale.), and this thread was a perfect read for me.

After reading this thread I will be buying:

1. Rocket Knight Adventures
2. Ranger X
3. Granada
4. Contra HC
5. Castlevania: Bloodlines

I got my Genesis in about a week ago and with it I had also purchased:
1. Thunder Force IV
2. Gaiares
3. Subterrania
4. MK and MKII
5. Desert Strike
6. Steel Empire

What all your thoughts on these games?

My top 5 Genesis games currently:

1. Gunstar Heroes
2. Sonic 3 & Knuckles
3. Streets of Rage 2
4. Shinobi III
5. (Tie) Alien Soldier and Thunder Force IV
The only ones I don't rate from your list of initial pickups are the Mortal Kombats, on account of some lazy porting work by Probe. Actually it's pretty much arcade or bust for those games IMO.
Subterrania is excellent and underrated.

Your 'to get' list is super solid, I just got Ranger X recently and it's awesome.

Alien Soldier is genius, perhaps not for everybody however. It's certainly one of the deepest action games for MD. It would be in my top 5 for sure.

Further recommendations from my own personal 16-bit escapades:

Rainbow Islands: Bit of a flicker-fest but a solid early port regardless with good renditions of the classic tunes.

Psycho Pinball: There are only two pinball games you need on MD, the other one being Devil Crash. Dragon's Fury is censored and apparently has a gameplay bug as well, so grab the JP version if possible. Anyway, Psycho Pinball is fast and furious, faster than DC if you toggle the ball speed. It also pips DC to the post in terms of physics (just). Whether or not all of the four included tables are great is debatable, I've been concentrating on the ocean themed one and it's worth it just for that IMO.

Mega Turrican: Love this game. The graphics, sound and gameplay are all triple A. Hard mode bumps up enemy damage and removes continues altogether, forcing you to 1CC it to beat it.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by GSK »

I was trying to come up with a top list of western-developed action games, but when you take out all the big obvious titles from STI, EA, etc there's not really a whole lot to choose from, is there? Mega Turrican, Subterrania, Adventures of Batman & Robin, Blades of Vengeance, Misadventures of Flink (if you can handle the euro-ness)... and I guess that's it? Dunno why I'm so surprised.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by royalfan84 »

BPzeBanshee wrote:
royalfan84 wrote:
Personally I always thought Jungle Strike was the best in the series. Not to poo-poo Desert Strike but its sequel adds quite a bit more variety than all the...well, desert army bases of the original. Do consider getting that one.

My uncle threw out his MD2 and all the games the other way about a week before I got the video cable to finally get it up and running some months ago. Still raging hard. :evil:

Yes I had all three Strike games as a kid and I actually think Jungle Strike is the best. Agreed. MK was for nostalgia mostly. Although I think the 2nd one is pretty good.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Squire Grooktook »

BIL wrote:About the infected soldiers, I've found with Sheena A it's easily possible to run and gun that section with an unbroken stride, and a little creative downshotting during jumps. I play it safe during my run since as you say, their transformation sequence is pretty intimidating. It seems that if you head straight towards them the explosion will blast the accursed rooster clear of your path, letting you leap and downshot any that give chase.
That sounds like a fun strategy, maybe I'll try that next time. What happened to me (twice!) is that I would wait for them to become vulnerable and begin shooting, and would find myself turning around to shoot one coming from behind, without realizing that I need one or two extra bullets to kill the transformed one. As a result I adopted the strategy of preemptively keeping the others at bay so that I would have a clean shot on the transformers once they were vulnerable.
BIL wrote:(best runners ever, seriously - not that they're particularly advanced or anything, but they're horribly creepy [ever tried leaving them alone together a while?] and seem wonderfully determined to catch you - immediately doubling back at the player if jumped over, where most similar Contra enemies just jog on. Hard Corps/Vampire Killer/Rocket Knight enemies all exude personality this way... VK's bone chucking skeletons and harpies are two more common enemies with their own little "idle" routines you'd probably never see without observing a while.
Indeed, they're quite threatening. My only complaint is that it would have been nice if they were eventually put to use on more interesting terrain, throwing a wrench into ones careful defensive strategies (example: the terrifyingly speedy runners on hard Contra 3/Spirits final stage, paired with deviously deformed geometry and nasty living turrets to keep track of).

The "eat each other routine" is just amazing. They really went the extra mile with the game aesthetically. So cool. It really adds to how bizarre and messed up the alien ecology is. You'd expect the denizens of a monstrous living body world to act symbiotically and mutually beneficial towards the whole. But seeing them running around devouring each-other in a Darwinian orgy just underscores how weird and wrong everything is.

Bonus points for how ugly the creatures design is too. The cyclopean xenomorphs of previous entries may not have been pretty, but at least they had the semblance of a human figure. These guys on the other hand are just ugly top to bottom, you'd be hard pressed to find anything aesthetically pleasing about them.
BIL wrote: And wow, Ray C really does tear up the Alien Mother + Heart. Nice work, you made it look easy even knowing how lethally capricious her auxiliary parts are.
Yeah, that fight is just crazy. The rng just went perfect on top of solid execution, so that run ended up looking real smooth. In reality, even with save state practice I have a 50/50 win rate against her with that tactic, the fight is totally clutch every time.
BIL wrote: Superb vids, truly. To be honest, until you picked the game up seriously I'd thought of HC as kind of played out, especially Ray. Still hugely appealing as an overall package, but firmly within "comfort gaming" territory. I've enjoyed seeing it from a fresh perspective.
Ah, thank you. I do enjoy the game quite a bit. Definitely the kind of game I could see myself replaying again and again throughout the years, along with Spirits/3.

3/Spirits has the fundamentals down better imo, but Hard Corps is also endlessly charming between its varied weapons and characters, explosive slide mechanic, and bevy of creative bosses (which make up for the few snoozers/poorly balanced ones). It has a few flaws, but it's got enough of every taste you could want from an action game that every run through feels satisfying and fun.
Axelay wrote: A very good and solid play through thanks for the link.
Really enjoyed the annotations they were very informative.
Cheers for all the information on rays c gun and then the video with it in real time.
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Glad you enjoyed it! Also I would love to see a Shinobi run from Bil too.
BIL wrote: *Elemental Master: super smooth and majestically soundtracked ground-based vert from Tecno Soft, exemplifying their forgiving, accessible yet ultra-manic shooter design. A hell of a rush every time.
Been playing this a bit more lately. Great game. I think what gives it that "manic" feel is not so much that many bullet patterns move fast (any ol shmup can do that), but that the game is just constantly forcing you to dash around at full speed everywhere to keep up with the rush of enemies from every corner, giant fire balls, and highly mobile bosses. Definitely a game to put on my list of go to "fast dodging" shmups.
stryc9 wrote: Alien Soldier is genius, perhaps not for everybody however. It's certainly one of the deepest action games for MD. It would be in my top 5 for sure.
It sure is! Definitely takes a while to get used to, but it's an experience like no other once you learn the finesse of its controls and move set (gotta love the sheer sense of speed and thrill on the Zero Teleport). Not to mention the awesomely surreal atmosphere and adventurous sense of progression (if you like that sense of "adventure" from Eschatos, this is pretty much where it came from).

My only complaint about the game is the time limit on boss fights. I feel like the game would feel a lot more "fair" and less memorization/routing intensive if they gave you the freedom to play defensively for a bit when you run out of ammo.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

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Many bosses have counter-able attacks that give you health.
Get enough and use that super attack thingy.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Squire Grooktook »

Captain wrote:Many bosses have counter-able attacks that give you health.
Get enough and use that super attack thingy.
Yeah. The moth for example always gives you come back potential. It's stuff like 7 Force Kaede's first form (Valkyrie) that can be really irritating if you make it there with minimal ammo. Difficult to melee weakpoint + no energy projectiles to deflect. Definitely a few things in there that I find necessary to plan around.

Actually that reminds me: It struck me, if Hard Corps wanted to be easier for the JP release, I think it might have been better if they simply let you keep your weapons and gave you an extra bomb on death, instead of a life bar. The game is actually quite generous with lives, so I feel that the issue many newcomers seem to have with initially learning the game is more to do with Gradius syndrome on top of a few patterns that need to be memo'd. You die once at a bad boss, and suddenly you have to fight him for twice as long.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

GSK wrote:I was trying to come up with a top list of western-developed action games, but when you take out all the big obvious titles from STI, EA, etc there's not really a whole lot to choose from, is there? Mega Turrican, Subterrania, Adventures of Batman & Robin, Blades of Vengeance, Misadventures of Flink (if you can handle the euro-ness)... and I guess that's it? Dunno why I'm so surprised.
I guess Outlander deserves an honourable mention.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by royalfan84 »

Played some Thunder Force IV the other night....man this game just kicks ass. I had been making the mistake of playing the desert level second after I played Strite...took me a couple of extra continues to finally beat the flying mecha boss in that stage...then I realized it was level 4! It made the other two stages quite a breeze however. But man oh man some the lighting and explosion effects in this game are just outstanding. The sound is awesome too when slowdown isn't around...I must admit though slowdown is what assisted me in taking down the level 4 boss.

What's cooler than being cool? Thunder Force IV. It's ice cold.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Captain »

cool, yes, quite.

Hard, no lol.

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

Post by royalfan84 »

Well a game doesn't have to be super difficult for me to enjoy; as long as it's well-made and exciting. Imo it presents enough of a challenge (the majority of people would probably consider it at least medium-level difficult) even for hardcore gamers to enjoy for a bit.

Besides I've always got Gaieres, Mars Matrix, The Gradius series and DDP if I want to be truly challenged and put in my rightful place as an average gamer!
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Played through Shinobi 3 for the first time in many years recently.

Maybe it's just me, but I think I actually prefer Revenge of Shinobi or Shadow Dancer. I really like Shinobi 3's move set, and feel it really nails the ninja feel. But I also feel the level design is kind of hit and miss. It's great when your dashing along and using your huge arsenal of attacks judiciously to mow through encroaching assassins, but there are too many auto scroller stages or places where there aren't enough enemies to go around. Revenge of Shinobi has a better balance of platforming vs combat imo. Shinobi 3 also feels a bit too easy for too long, with the first 4-5 stages being pretty difficult to die at if you know what you're doing.

It does really nail that ninja feel. Getting the drop on enemies with your huge move set is really satisfying.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Skykid »

Squire Grooktook wrote:Played through Shinobi 3 for the first time in many years recently.

Maybe it's just me, but I think I actually prefer Revenge of Shinobi or Shadow Dancer. I really like Shinobi 3's move set, and feel it really nails the ninja feel. But I also feel the level design is kind of hit and miss. It's great when your dashing along and using your huge arsenal of attacks judiciously to mow through encroaching assassins, but there are too many auto scroller stages or places where there aren't enough enemies to go around. Revenge of Shinobi has a better balance of platforming vs combat imo. Shinobi 3 also feels a bit too easy for too long, with the first 4-5 stages being pretty difficult to die at if you know what you're doing.

It does really nail that ninja feel. Getting the drop on enemies with your huge move set is really satisfying.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Squire Grooktook »

Skykid wrote:
Squire Grooktook wrote:Played through Shinobi 3 for the first time in many years recently.

Maybe it's just me, but I think I actually prefer Revenge of Shinobi or Shadow Dancer. I really like Shinobi 3's move set, and feel it really nails the ninja feel. But I also feel the level design is kind of hit and miss. It's great when your dashing along and using your huge arsenal of attacks judiciously to mow through encroaching assassins, but there are too many auto scroller stages or places where there aren't enough enemies to go around. Revenge of Shinobi has a better balance of platforming vs combat imo. Shinobi 3 also feels a bit too easy for too long, with the first 4-5 stages being pretty difficult to die at if you know what you're doing.

It does really nail that ninja feel. Getting the drop on enemies with your huge move set is really satisfying.
Shinobi 3 is Super Shinobi II in Japan?
Yeah, Super Shinobi II, apparently. I'll have to give this one another try on hard mode. Great game, but Revenge of Shinobi just feels better to me despite the more limited and slower movement options.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Skykid »

^ I'm with you, just wanted to confirm the game.

I played through both Revenge and SSII and had the same reservations about the latter, and I think (not sure) I expressed them here.

My gripe is the same as yours, but I the way I see it is the setup is sublime, your moveset a full box of tricks, but it's often stifled by stage layout and enemy placement. Either the stage design isn't made to be bladed, like the oil pipes or bomb detonation, or there seem to be issues where enemy placement is sparse or weirdly arranged, knocking you out of your ninja flow or simply not allowing you to engage it for a prolonged period.

In many cases the game is pure ninja perfection, triple kicking tank brains, devastating bosses - and stage one is simply perfect. But I'm of the opinion the execution could have been better on the whole.

It's also way too easy on defaults, handing out lives recklessly.

This could all be rectified by the hardest difficulty level but I seem to remember testing it and arrangement is the same, it's just your energy bar is shorter and you take greater damage.

I agree Revenge is altogether better measured despite lacking SSII's amazing set-piece highlights, and balls hard start to finish.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Squire Grooktook »

Yeah. I was also about to comment that, as you mentioned, stage 1 is oddly the games highest point for me (or at least one of them). 1-1 is just a blast to skillfully take out enemies with whatever means are most stylish and quick. If the whole game played like that, I could imagine it being really addictive to learn and perfect wicked routes through the stages. As it stands though, it only really plays like that for roughly half the game, maybe less if one isn't feeling generous.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

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I think less. It's a very long game. The majority has an element of interruption or flow breaking enemy placement.

I don't want anyone to get me wrong, I think it's a superb game with tons of effort, and I know it can be learned inside out to flow like a ninja (I watched replays to confirm). It's just sadly not conducive on initial platythroughs, it's more something to be exploited than the offering on a plate you would expect.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Ed Oscuro »

I kinda had the same reaction when I last played it some years ago, actually. Too easy to get an unwanted knife pickup, and often it was too awkward to approach enemies for close-range kills (and the practically safe air kick does encourage lots more jumping than would be needed in Shadow Dancer or Revenge).
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Ed Oscuro wrote:I kinda had the same reaction when I last played it some years ago, actually. Too easy to get an unwanted knife pickup, and often it was too awkward to approach enemies for close-range kills (and the practically safe air kick does encourage lots more jumping than would be needed in Shadow Dancer or Revenge).
Knife pick up?

Kind of reminds me though of how awkward the dash linking into a melee attack was at first, since on a first time playthrough one would be more tempted to just shoot your way through the opening stage. I think I definitely agree that you shouldn't be able to just dash through while throwing kunai, since Shinobi is IMO all about getting into position to surprise or instant kill enemies, prioritizing precise strikes over a guns ablazing approach. On the other hand, just disabling it while dashing (forcing you to crouch in order to throw) is perhaps not the most elegant solution. Still, definitely something you get used to, and the dashing melee is satisfying to pull off when it's viable.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Ed Oscuro »

Knife pickup = any of the many boxes of kunai littering the game, even when you select 0 knives. There is a cheat to get unlimited kunai - unfortunately there isn't one for disabling the damn things altogether. Especially bad if you want the 30K bonus per stage.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Mortificator »

I don't think that's a problem if you use a 6-button controller.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by BIL »

SS2 is conditionally a first-rate sidescrolling action game. Specifically when approached as Make Your Own Badass Ninja Movie, where authoritative play is its own reward. As a stage for superhuman ninja showboating it excels, especially with the POW mechanic putting paid to any notion of winging it through.

The potential for honing ever flashier runs from the thorny moveset/stage dynamic is its overwhelming strength. It's nowhere as remarkable a work otherwise. I don't think the extreme performance focus is ultimately a bad thing, particularly given how good its engine and near-future ninja aesthetic are... stabbing, stomping and shuriken bursting each stage into submission in a seamless trail of destruction sure as hell scratches that technical sidescrolling action itch.

Ideally it'd have been easier to play smoothly and harder to play truly authoritatively.

Six button mode is absolutely recommended. Instant blocking alone would ensure that, but it also opens up an entirely new dynamic in the katana. The low slash has huge horizontal reach - it's a blast cutting goons off at the knees before they can get anywhere near you. And the standing attack frames for both kunais and katana have powerful anti-projectile properties, making it a snap to slice through an incoming bullet while gutting anyone in range, where 3-button would force you to leap away.

Shin Shinobi Den lets you throw shuriken while running... and other cool stuff like a sword slash during double jumps. It's goofy as hell in action though. Sho be bouncin' on his cane I mean katana like a certain wanpaku duck on a yume daibouken. >_< It's a surprisingly quality action game underneath the cheapo tokusatsu graphics though (and they're not without charm either, if nowhere near as excellent as SS1&2's superbly muted techno aesthetic and timeless pixel art).

*fuck that 2-2 autoscroller though! but at least the bionically slammin' NINJA SOUL is the BGM. Now that is some mahfuckin infiltration BGM.
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by Ed Oscuro »

Knew there was something I was forgetting - six button mode absolutely sounds like the thing to do.

It's a damn shame they required the player plug in two controllers and input a code to do this. Like Atomic Runner's useless default control scheme, I have to wonder "who thought this was a good idea?"
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Re: The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

Post by GSK »

Some dude arranged an Hagane tune with the Revenge soundfont... man, that Revenge drum sample gets me going every time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfLocDERPIc
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