Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Squire Grooktook]

Revisiting Gigantic Army again. Aiming for a 1lc/1cc on Insane without using special weapons. I'd like to record it and upload with the fabled G-Darius complete ost swap, if dislike of my own weak performances don't get the better of me.

Learning the stages more thoroughly is really making me appreciate how good this game is throughout. Stage 3's enemy compositions are a thing of beauty. Reading the timing and composition on the arc/melee/forward shot trio's alongside the variable curving terrain makes dodging and dashing pile bunker strikes insanely satisfying, and stage 4's high flying opening rush takes this to an extreme. Beautiful game.

[Durandal]

Revisiting Gigantic Army again. Aiming for a 1lc/1cc on Insane without using special weapons. I'd like to record it and upload with the fabled G-Darius complete ost swap, if dislike of my own weak performances don't get the better of me.

Learning the stages more thoroughly is really making me appreciate how good this game is throughout. Stage 3's enemy compositions are a thing of beauty. Reading the timing and composition on the arc/melee/forward shot trio's makes dodging and dashing pile bunker strikes insanely satisfying, and stage 4's high flying opening rush takes this to an extreme. Beautiful game.6

Just 1lc'd it on Normal
Now the fun begins

[BIL]

There are some neat surprises here and there, like being able to pick up icepicks, chainsaws, aspirin, portraits of smug doctors - as well as items with their names garbled for plausible deniability, like JELL-O (a trademark) and just plain old "DRUGS," everybody's favorite game item!

This Dangerous Dave stuff sounds a bit randier than the Duke Nukum/Commander Keen/Cosmo Cosmic Adventure stuff I were into as a youth!

As for my recent adventures in running to the right - oo guvna! Busy couple weeks. Spent most of my gaming time on Falcom sidescrolling ARPG / Real Sidescrolling Labyrinth Simulator Dragon Slayer IV (FC). Ported from MSX/2 by Compile (and published by Namco, interestingly). It's better known in the West as the Broderbund-published Legacy of the Wizard, where its formidable scale and obliqueness ensured its infamy amongst we late 80s kids. Even 20+ years removed, finishing it for the first time felt kinda momentous!

I actually like the overseas title - succinctly accurate, and although I always prefer to leave sequels' numbering intact, the "IV" is potentially misleading; the Dragon Slayer series is a jumble of various game types with little continuity, certainly in its earlier years. Just reading up on the various strands and sub-series can easily take up a lazy afternoon.

DSIV is only loosely definable as a sidescrolling "action" game; it's very basic stuff, though nearly always benignly so. Junk design is apparent in places: fall damage is incessant yet virtually irrelevant; extensive spike floors are glitchily neutralised with the upper diagonals; in one particularly cruel passage, landmine enemies are placed in unavoidably tight confines, blatantly pilfering HP en route to a boss. The balance leaves a fat enough resource cushion to absorb these shoddier elements, and the game is substantial enough to reward technique; better play will see a weaning off of the omnipresent Inns, whose 10gp HP+MP restore fees can add up.

It's as an enormous, contiguous sidescrolling dungeon that this stands out. It's actually not a "Metroidvania" per se; sprawling out from a central point, each of the sub-dungeons are effectively self-contained, character-specific stages that'll boot you back to the surface upon completion. You'll glimpse neighbouring areas occasionally, but will never cross over into them.

There's still definitely scope for getting lost or stumped within each area, as well as a strong treasure-finding aspect. Detours will reap key items for use elsewhere, stuff that'll otherwise need to be purchased at exorbitant prices, as well as useful supplies that don't go for much less. Even with this welcome degree of freedom, I was impressed by how tightly-focused stage design felt in comparison to something like the formidably massive but noticeably padded Harmony of Dissonance. Perhaps owing to its flip-screen MSX origins, there's barely a room wasted here. Compared to Metroid, there's also a seemingly total absence of geographical copy/pasting.

Areas genuinely play differently as well. Xemn/Warrior/AXE POP's block mania is practically a miniature Fire n' Ice (or Solomon no Kagi 2 as we say in the cool elitist club ). Meyna/Wizard/Mom gets a punishing resource-budgeting trek with fatal MP exhaustion a spectre looming over every act. Lille/Elf/Daughter's area is by far my favourite, being much more open-air and taking advantage of her enormous vertical jump range. Pochi/Monster, well...

Spoiler

I actually don't need to use him at all; a bit of finagling with an Elixir to get past the crown-guarding Mimic, and Roas/Ranger can handle his route just fine. I actually prefer this approach - the hard-hitting monsters create some late-game tension without Pochi's invulnerability, and it segues neatly into Roas's endgame.

But such flexibility is only a plus imo! Interestingly, bosses are fought in a set order regardless of your chosen game route; consulting StrategyWiki post-clear it turned out I'd gone a bit unconventional, hence those spoilered antics. Because fuuuck taking on rockdude with Pochi's pitiful range! Fair bit of scope for individual strategy there.

For me, the longterm appeal of sidescrolling dungeoners tends to be in the single session run. I like the casual mental exercise of learning the map and plotting a clean, efficient line through, keeping death at bay with learned technique moreso than restore items. DSIV is particularly good for this, with the aforementioned combo of tight map design and sequestered key items collectible en route. Even the simplistic boss battles can be engaging when you're going at them without support items. Terrain is key!

Oh shit son - Tactical Dragon Slaying Action

Spoiler

Not an unalloyed triumph of sidescrolling action/dungeoneering - but the staggering scale and considerable quality therein easily gains my approval. It's also charmingly presented throughout, with stubbily characterful sprites equally suited to waify elves as bulky skeeltens, and Yuzo Koshiro BGM that bubbles with an understated warmth ideal for long-term wanderings. Recommended for any dungeon-appreciative FC sidescroller fan. XTREEM bonus if you love the MSX aesthetic like I do - this feels for all the world like an MSX game gifted with Smooth FC Scrolling™ (apparently it pretty much is, going by a quick look at the other versions). I wish Majou Densetsu II/Maze of Galious's FC incarnation had turned out this beautifully!

[Obscura]

Oh yeah, Legacy of the Wizard is one of my all-time favorites (Falcom fanboy reporting for duty). Sign me up as another member of the "I've always used an unconventional route" camp; before the dawn of the internet, I never knew the "proper" way of getting the key items (fake-wall in the first area nets you the gloves, gloves net you the jump boots, jump boots net you Meyna's items), so what I always do is advantage of the "you sit inside of enemies while they're damaging you on contact" mechanic with Lyll and use those little wyvern dudes + her natural jump height to illicitly bust into Roas's volcano area, from which just about every key item is available.

I mean, shit, you have to use that mechanic to get out of the eyebeast pit in Poochi's area (proved that you're using him and not Roas...), so it totally makes sense to go for it in that situation even though you're taking damage with Lyll, right?

Plus, starting with Lyll's area (as opposed to Poochi, which is the usual recommendation) means that you get to fight Erebone with Poochi, which is probably the best for his ultra-short range, since that's a flat-ground fight.

[BIL]

The routing really is hugely flexible... my current is Xemn->Lyll->Meyna->Roas, with minor snags being 1) buying the spring shoes as Lyll (cash isn't a problem after clearing Xemn, and they're a real PITA to get with Meyna - but still, feels wasteful!) and 2) having to detour into Meyna's area with Lyll to get the Key Rod (not too inconvenient, with the free return Crystal found early in the game... but maybe it'd be smoother to buy the Key Rod in Xemn's route, instead of the spring shoes later? Seems a bit catch-22 at the moment, but I'm still tinkering - there may well be duplicate items I've not found yet).

I used to have to farm a bit for the Shield on Lyll's detour, too (with help from the moneybag found up top) - but since figuring out good sniping points for the last two crown guardians, I can pretty comfily go without it.

This wordless open-endedness is so timelessly cool. Of course you can irretrievably trap yourself quite easily, but tbh that just affirms the sense of going off the rails. One of my favourite things I've had happen so far was screwing up Roas's teleports and landing somewhere inopportune with almost no supplies, then gradually fighting my way back on track with the stomp boots to finish the game. Would've saved time to suicide, but these experiences are to be treasured imo!

[Ed Oscuro]

@ BIL: Just to give a quick recap:

Dangerous Dave pre-Haunted Mansion: Extremely primitive, Apple // quality so not much
Haunted Mansion: Not bad, just gets repetitive near the end
Risky Rescue: Really strange, but generally OK
Goes Nutz: Not worth it even if you can get the drugs (spoiler: they do nothing but give you points. It would be great to see what iD could have managed if they went back to this kind of game instead of more Keen and more DOOM.)

I also finished up Secret Agent's final episode. Here's a couple super secret Apogee Game Design tricks from the pros:

- The goal is forcing player restarts. Beyond missing the steps to get bonuses, choosing the wrong path with a blind jump can and should lead the player into unwinnable situations (or at least damage from unseen enemies) often.
- In the final episode, make a bunch of stages that require arcane knowledge of the game physics to get the bonuses. But for every type of special bonus, make one stage where it's literally impossible to complete the bonus. Better make it look just plausible so that players try 10 times anyway. Make sure the elements are commonplace, like not being able to avoid Robby shots in a two-tile high corridor, or the player's vulnerability due to slow teleportation.
- Make sure at least one secret money bag falls when players obviously can't get them
- Since Secret Agent can theoretically jump into a door, unlock it, and step through without touching a floor, make sure this doesn't work consistently so players get insta-killed by falling into slime more often
- Ditto for wall-mounted rocket launchers. Put some in place where players can't help but notice they only shoot occasionally. Also require arcane game knowledge to safely no-damage through them.
- Ditto for dropping a barrel on a spike pit. Also, disregard Q&A on barrel mechanics so they get stuck often, forcing a restart.
- Every stage must have one shark tank with at least two one-tile-wide platforms or similar, and the ceiling must be the minimum height allowed for jumps because we need another completely useless "REC ROOM" six tiles tall. Season the one-tile wide platforms with hidden spikes.
- The stage should be routed through the most annoying pixel-perfect jumping segment three times.
- Don't put enough ammo in the early forts. Make sure the final stages are as easy and boring as possible, especially the final fortress.

And so 006 saved the day by chaining up Dr. No Body, who we never saw in game, and destroying the island. The world is safe...at least for a few more days. Thankfully, there never was another Secret Agent, but rumor has it his head was grafted onto a much more famous hero...

DSIV sounds pretty cool; I've seen some of the earlier games and, as you allude to, stopped there.

Another random game writeup (not mine):
http://superadventuresingaming.blogspot ... agent.html
Yeah, that showed up pretty early when searching for "Secret Agent" "Duke Nukem" ...poor Apogee.

[EmperorIng]

Reading all of these PC/Apogee writeups, I have to salute Ed's willingness to take on what can only be considered the video-game equivalent of a steel pipe to one's scrotum.

[Ed Oscuro]

Haha, I'm pretty much done with that now. It's amazing we thought this stuff was fun years ago.

Next up would have to be a Turrican game (since I've been seeing so much of it in Duke Nukem) or some Epic sidescroller I haven't played before (anything but Xargon).

[Obscura]

The routing really is hugely flexible... my current is Xemn->Lyll->Meyna->Roas, with minor snags being 1) buying the spring shoes as Lyll (cash isn't a problem after clearing Xemn, and they're a real PITA to get with Meyna - but still, feels wasteful!) and 2) having to detour into Meyna's area with Lyll to get the Key Rod (not too inconvenient, with the free return Crystal found early in the game... but maybe it'd be smoother to buy the Key Rod in Xemn's route, instead of the spring shoes later? Seems a bit catch-22 at the moment, but I'm still tinkering - there may well be duplicate items I've not found yet).

I used to have to farm a bit for the Shield on Lyll's detour, too (with help from the moneybag found up top) - but since figuring out good sniping points for the last two crown guardians, I can pretty comfily go without it.

This wordless open-endedness is so timelessly cool. Of course you can irretrievably trap yourself quite easily, but tbh that just affirms the sense of going off the rails. One of my favourite things I've had happen so far was screwing up Roas's teleports and landing somewhere inopportune with almost no supplies, then gradually fighting my way back on track with the stomp boots to finish the game. Would've saved time to suicide, but these experiences are to be treasured imo!

I'd be surprised if you could do it totally snagless. If I'm remembering the manual correctly, it recommended gathering all of the key items first, then going after the crowns. I'm fairly sure the intent was to have a whole lot of character switching in the form of "Get the gloves with whoever, go into Xemn's area and use them to get the jump boots and some other random stuff, switch to Lyll, go into her area and get the wings, etc". I'm guessing they did want a kind of Metroidvania-ish flow, albeit one where there were multiple places where you could acquire any key.

[BIL]

Haha, I'm pretty much done with that now. It's amazing we thought this stuff was fun years ago.

Next up would have to be a Turrican game (since I've been seeing so much of it in Duke Nukem) or some Epic sidescroller I haven't played before (anything but Xargon).

I remember Xargon's incredibly lame attack gifting me an early, primordial spark of aesthetic realisation. Game looks good in stills, but your dimestore Fabio knockoff just poots out these crappy laser beams without a hint of artistic continuity! Fuck that shit, fire up the NES pronto! :[ Even shareware bin-scrounging middle schooler me was appalled.

Can't remember any of these games well enough to comment in more detail, but I'm kinda curious now. edit: but not so much anymore! Thanks Youtube.

Malvineous Havershim is an archaeologist and explorer of the ruins of Madagascar. These ruins were built of an unknown ancient culture called "Blues for construction." By what Malvineous had tested one of them which contained mysterious signs. Later, he appeared angry eagle Xargon, who threatens him with danger. The aim of our hero is to escape the house.

Now this sounds much better. Especially as I am more accustomed to fleeing into my house to avoid angry seagulls.

I'm fairly sure the intent was to have a whole lot of character switching in the form of "Get the gloves with whoever, go into Xemn's area and use them to get the jump boots and some other random stuff, switch to Lyll, go into her area and get the wings, etc". I'm guessing they did want a kind of Metroidvania-ish flow, albeit one where there were multiple places where you could acquire any key.

This is definitely how I intuit Lyll and Meyna's respective areas. Get the latter's wings as Lyll, then break off and clear Meyna's dungeon while getting the jump boots, before resuming and finishing Lyll's area. At the moment, just getting the boots with Xemn's earnings and finishing Lyll's dungeon in one sweep feels cleaner... but then, 80gp's a helluva lot more costly than the 10gp needed to recover after getting the boots as Meyna. So many permutations! I'm glad I took a chance on this game. The action is basic by design and limited even then, but the progression is outstandingly fun to tinker with.

[Sumez]

Does Ghouls 'n Ghosts fit into this thread?

Having recently acquired a Daimakaimura PCB, I'm putting some time back into this game, and it feels so good. I never 1CC'ed the arcade version, but did it a bunch of time on MegaDrive, so now I'm putting some time into mastering the real deal, which I have previously only played on the PS1 "Generation 2" disc. I don't know how accurate that version is, but somehow there's a nicer feel to the PCB. Maybe it's input lag from my TV, or maybe it's just placebo, but I'm definitely performing better on this version.

Interestingly enough, considering how different the MegaDrive version looks, it's amazing how similar it feels to the arcade one. I actually always felt MD was more "fair", but there's also a slightly more frantic improvision factor on arcade that makes it just a bit more fun to play. Most noticeable on the very first stage where the vines are considerably more dangerous.


I feel like I have most of the game down, and that I'm very close to the full 2-loop 1CC, it's just a matter of getting "that one game" now.
Right now there are just a few places that tend to throw me off a bit more than the others -

• The fire area with the pillars and bats right before the second boss. This is one of my favourite sections of the game, I love the fast reaction based jumps and air kills. At the same time, I just don't have it down as much as I'd like to think, and tend to get way too cocky and punished for it.

• Jumping on tongues and moving platforms on stage 3. Some times the fly spawns will just trap me in situations where I have absolutely no idea what I can do to prevent getting killed. Other times I'm risking my life trying to get items that I shouldn't, such as a dagger from the chest right in front of a mouth, or the back-up grey armor in the chest "inside" the moving platforms.

• Cloud boss (Gassuto) - Probably my main issue at the moment. I think he's pretty easy if you're a chicken and just run far away forcing him to follow you and avoid getting trapped. Though I feel like I could easily be up in his face and kill him much much faster, especially since I almost always have the dagger when reaching him. Thing is, I keep failing to predict what he's going to do, I have no idea how to manipulate him, and I have trouble getting some real damage in, due to bad timing and/or not really understanding how he works.

[BIL]

Does Ghouls 'n Ghosts fit into this thread?

Aww hell yeah.

TBH, as long as there's some meaningful action to discuss, just about any 2D side-viewed gaming is cool here (including stuff that technically doesn't scroll, like Taito single-screeners or MSX2 Dracula & Contra). Some of my favourite posts to date were dojo_b's on the intensity of SMB2 Japan's brutal hop/bop. Hardcore kill or be killed combat platforming ala NG and GNG is the heart and soul of this thread, but Umihara Kawases are equally welcome. ;3

Speaking of flipscreeners, been previewing Faxanadu (FC) this weekend. Falcom-licensed, Hudson-developed original entry in the Dragon Slayer series, got a NES release via Nintendo themselves. Always seem to have such twisty backstories, these 80s Falcom console licenses. Very unlike DSIV's hyper-concentrated labyrinth spelunking, having a more conventional town/dungeon format and much tighter-run combat. I've mostly liked it so far. Action is basic but solidly consistent, dungeon excursions have the right unforgiving air, and aesthetically I really dig the earthy look and semi-realistic sprite proportions. Visibly differing weapons/armour is a great touch. There's a bit more busywork than I prefer though, compounded by overly chatty NPCs to mash through. I think I bought the same key three times to clear the second dungeon. Will give it a bit more time.

Also lots of Hard Corps comfort clearing this week (I tend to gravitate to this game when free time's a bit scarcer). Super Bahamut/Sheena route's finale has really stood out as my distinct favourite, this time around. Spheroid Joe's triple scalpel is a horribly nervous thrill every time. PROFESSOR CRAB's inimitable brand of rambunctious space invasion and deceptively lethal dragnet has confirmed itself one of my top sidescrolling bosses ever. And although 2/3rds of SB is relatively weak, god damn does Hard Corps excel at scary "bullet rain" patterns. I mean yeah the chunky status bar's an issue, but they're a wickedly capricious venue for the slide gambit nonetheless!

[Sumez]

Faxanadu has been resting on my shelf for a long time now, I gotta pick it up and give it some time in the spotlight real soon.

Right now though, I'm still fighting the blessing that is Daimakaimura. Managed a "2CC" today, losing the last few guys of my first credit on Ohme (boss of the second to last stage) on the second loop. Not a boss I usually have too much trouble with, but it's damn aggressive on the second loop, and I messed up a bit. The 1CC is definitely doable any time now. A no-miss seems like a crazy feat however. Hat's off to those that have done it.

[Vludi]

Daimakaimura is harder than the western revisions right, if so in which way? So far I only know the differences between World and USA revisions of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, the USA version is much easier because there are many more checkpoints, even the bosses have checkpoints lol

[BIL]

The general order from hardest to easiest is indeed Dai > GNG World > GNG USA ; for specifics I usually refer to jepjepjep's posts here.

In brief: Dai has the fewest checkpoints, stingiest chests and fiercest enemies. World tones down enemies. USA tones down enemies and makes checkpoints + chests more generous.

Basically it's Dai or nothing, baby.

[Sumez]

This is the first time I've heard there's a difference between Dai and World. If MD GnG is based on World (pro = world, practice = usa?), that could be one reason why I feel that version is much less hectic, despite otherwise feeling very similar to arcade.

[Shoryukev]

I never realised there were that many differences between versions! I've beaten both my Genesis copy and on MAME several times, but I could never really put a finger on why the arcade one was a little harder. Never noticed the extra checkpoints, that seems like a wimpy way to water down the difficulty! I'll have to see if I have the hardest version on my MAME setup and give it a go. I absolutely love the series, never beaten the NES version but I've beaten the SNES SGnG, Genesis GnG, and arcade Ghosts n Goblins...maybe I should set my sights in on NES GnGoblins.

You guys must be a lot better than I am at videogames in general LOL, I don't think a 1cc of any of these is within my grasp. About the only decent 1cc I have under my belt is probably CV1 NES, and that's mainly just from having played it so much.

[Sumez]

Never 1cc'ed the first game, but I've beaten the first loop on the shitty old US ROM that they have in the local arcade here - basically, beating the Satans is a game of sheer luck, and the two unicorns on the final stage is just plain bad level design, but at one point I'm gonna try going for the 1CC on the much more fair final Jap revision of the game (same that's included in all re-releases from Generations and on).
Anyway, bottom line is, I still did play this game a lot, and when you're used to the arcade version, the NES game is almost a pain to play. It looks so much like the original game, but everything is different due to minute details that aren't immediately apparent. I can't say if it's easier or harder, but when your muscle memory is attuned to arcade, it feels insurmountable.

Ghouls 'n Ghosts, no matter which version, is probably the easiest game of the series. But I'd argue probably also the most fun one.

[CIT]

To mark the occasion of Halloween I played through Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-kun, well made little platformer, replete with Konami's trademark varied level design, set pieces, and high production values. Apart from the name and the first stage, this really has nothing to do with Castlevania though, instead playing a bit more like a Mega Man.
Killing enemies with a special attack will yield coins, which in turn will allow you to buy credits for the mini-games between stages and a chance to win dozens of extends — so despite some rather challenging final stages, the game will likely coast you through to the end on the first credit. Once you have the stages and boss patterns down, it should make excellent 1LC material though.

Also have been giving the Astyanax a swing (so to speak). This is a weird one, because it has all the markings of a genuine kusoge of the Amiga design school, like erratic hit detection, too-big-for-his-own-good character sprite, hit-power depletion (already hated that mechanic about the otherwise excellent Legendary Axe), non-existant level design and irrational enemy placement counterbalanced with screen-spanning life and magic bars. Yet, in spite — or perhaps because of its coarseness, it somehow remains oddly fun. I like how the game just makes you feel like a real barbarian, slowly trudging through stages, hacking foes and spamming magic bombs without any gameplay finesse. And visually the bosses are hella impressive stuff!

[BIL]

Anyway, bottom line is, I still did play this game a lot, and when you're used to the arcade version, the NES game is almost a pain to play. It looks so much like the original game, but everything is different due to minute details that aren't immediately apparent. I can't say if it's easier or harder, but when your muscle memory is attuned to arcade, it feels insurmountable.

The NES/FC version was by Micronics, IIRC. I can't help feeling uneasy about their stuff... even the better efforts like FC Kyuukyoku Tiger have a certain tentative feel, leading to thoughts of Ikari, 1942 and friggin Ghostbusters. Normally I'm interested in trying out FC interpretations of big contemporary arcade titles, but I've been remiss on Makaimura for that reason. I really like the FC boxart too (Kyuukyoku Tiger's rules also).

A great FC port can rock your goddamn face off (Konami's Contra, Capcom's Top Secret: HITTLER COME BACK TO LIFE AGAIN). A lame one can make you wanna end it all! (the Bird Week guys' pitiful, anemic attempt at Image Fight... buhhh, I had to mainline FC Salamander to forget afterward)

Also have been giving the Astyanax a swing (so to speak). This is a weird one, because it has all the markings of a genuine kusoge of the Amiga design school, like erratic hit detection, too-big-for-his-own-good character sprite, hit-power depletion (already hated that mechanic about the otherwise excellent Legendary Axe), non-existant level design and irrational enemy placement counterbalanced with screen-spanning life and magic bars. Yet, in spite — or perhaps because of its coarseness, it somehow remains oddly fun. I like how the game just makes you feel like a real barbarian, slowly trudging through stages, hacking foes and spamming magic bombs without any gameplay finesse. And visually the bosses are hella impressive stuff!

A decided B-tier favourite of mine. I'd normally concede "B" is a bit generous... But the enormous sprites, cleaving sword and screen-crushing bomb just about steer it in the right visceral direction. I think the absolute make or break point for me was st4-1 (the endearingly named "MARSHY"). I was trying to conserve bombs with jumbo fishmen erupting left and right, getting nowhere with the game speed crawling. Then just let rip with BOMBA and muscle-powered straight through. It's a fun romp if you can accept the obvious design limitations. A nice cheap Famicom CIB, too! :3

[Shoryukev]

Never 1cc'ed the first game, but I've beaten the first loop on the shitty old US ROM that they have in the local arcade here - basically, beating the Satans is a game of sheer luck, and the two unicorns on the final stage is just plain bad level design, but at one point I'm gonna try going for the 1CC on the much more fair final Jap revision of the game (same that's included in all re-releases from Generations and on).
Anyway, bottom line is, I still did play this game a lot, and when you're used to the arcade version, the NES game is almost a pain to play. It looks so much like the original game, but everything is different due to minute details that aren't immediately apparent. I can't say if it's easier or harder, but when your muscle memory is attuned to arcade, it feels insurmountable.

Ghouls 'n Ghosts, no matter which version, is probably the easiest game of the series. But I'd argue probably also the most fun one.

I feel the same way, when you dive in really deep into a game a different port might be changed just enough to the point where it really throws you off. Muscle memory can be your enemy in cases like that. When transitioning between arcade and console ports little things like movement speed or projectile behavior can have a huge effect on gameplay. I haven't played the NES port much, but it definitely feels less polished than it's arade counterpart.

Ghouls 'n Ghosts might be my favorite too, though kind of a tossup with SGnG. It is very satisfying and just flat out fun to play, I just have to decide whether I enjoy being able to shoot upwards or double-jump more. I need to buy another copy of SGnG, when I moved to Ohio from California I left my copy with a good friend. We spent many drunken nights in college playing the game and it just seemed fitting to leave it with him....though I sure would like to be able to play it right now LOL.

Now that I think of it, it was SGnG that made me realize playing retro games on a CRT was the only way to go. We were never able to beat it until he brought an old CRT with him one weekend. The GnG series is hard enough without bringing lag into the fold LOL.

[Sumez]

SGnG used to be a favourite of mine, but I haven't played it in ages. There's a ton of stages, and they are all really long. Everything in the game is masterfully crafted, it's really a work of beauty. Recent times has found me really into GnG though, even though I feel the fixed arch double jump is much more in the spirit of the series than the up/down shooting. That said, killing enemies above and below as you jump around is a ton of fun.

One thing that does sorta kill SGnG for me though is the loooooong ass auto scroller on the second half of stage 2. Though if I start getting into the game again to practice for a 1CC, I guess it'll be less of an annoyance, if it means further retries around that part. It also leads up to one of those boss fights that most likely WILL kill you if you don't know what to expect from it, forcing you to play the entire autoscroller over again.

To mark the occasion of Halloween I played through Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-kun, well made little platformer, replete with Konami's trademark varied level design, set pieces, and high production values.

Just finished that game too. A little on the easy side until near the end (the penultimate robot head boss is really stupid though), but the production value is really high! It looks beautiful, and it has so many crazy cool programming tricks up its sleave it's incredible that it ended up as kind of as low priority "gaiden" game.

Also:

Spoiler

[BIL]

So I did a little casual digging re: infamous kusoge purveyor Micronics, to determine just how many Famicom games they churned out. Seems they handled Kaiketsu Yanchanmaru 3 aka Kid Niki 3 for Irem. Suddenly I'm a bit less charitable towards its crudely colourful Family Circus look! But tbh, despite some neat-looking Ducktales pogo mechanics, that game and indeed series was never really on my radar. Part of the legion of cutesier, puffier "fighting man" sidescrollers that don't attract my fancy like Dracula & co.

I swear though, it'd make too much cruel sense to discover Holy Diver was theirs too.

Holy fuck am I glad these bozos didn't get their incompetent meat hooks on more projects than they did. A handful of passable exceptions aside, their catalogue plays like a tax fraud. Can just imagine classics like FC Contra, Top Secret and Ninja Ryukenden getting passed off to them, phew. After a rousing session of their pitiful Ikari Warriors I wanna time travel-execute the jagoffs. I usually just bust out the karmic equaliser that is SNK's in-house Guevara, though.

[BrianC]

I was trying some of the Kaiketsu Yanchamaru series. The first seems to be the most interesting of the NES games, but seems to have faulty collision detection with enemies that often move in between grass, times where the main character can randomly hover over pits, and the possibility of getting stuck on objects. I thought it might have been a bad rom, but it turns out both revisions of Kid Niki have the same issue. I wonder what the story is with the third NES game. It seems to be a barely related game that just had the name slapped on.

From what I played, the GB Ganso Yanchamaru seems to be especially fun, though it takes more after Super Mario Land than the others.

Was the Commando/Senjyo no Ookami port done by Micronics? It's one of the buggiest games on the system to the point where I almost wondered if the game was running the way it was supposed to be (it was).

I ended up putting the EU version of Hammerin' Harry on the Everdrive since the AVS can handle PAL games. I'll probably play the JP version more, but only the EU version has that awesome "Let's get busy!" voice.

Edit: It looks like Commando was actually done by Capcom themselves.

[Squire Grooktook]

Picked up Momodora: Moonlight Reverie today.

Plays smooth. I'm more entranced by the lovingly animated and fluid player character sprite and dark atmosphere. It's very clearly Dark Souls / Bloodborne influenced in terms of theme and aesthetic, but the contrast of cutesie character and monster designs with brutal npc slaughtering Souls-trappings give it a grim fairy tale vibe which I like quite a bit.

[BIL]

Was the Commando/Senjyo no Ookami port done by Micronics? It's one of the buggiest games on the system to the point where I almost wondered if the game was running the way it was supposed to be (it was).

I believe so, (EDIT: disregard pls! Commando's not on this list, also I am dumb and sleep-deprived) along with the FC ports of Makaimura, 1942, Exed Exes and Son Son (these are listed however!). I'm glad all of these games got perfect ports on the Capcom Generation discs... they really hoovered up these contracts BITD. Must've charged some nice competitive rates. :/

You can virtually tell the Capcom ports they *didn't* do by the amount of original content, haha. Higemaru, 1943, Gun.Smoke and (of course) the fully-fledged sequel to Top Secret were all in-house. If anything good can be said of Micronics FC ports, they at least adhered to the AC versions. Just really badly, in most cases.

I actually like their FC Kyuukyoku Tiger. It's a little choppy (bahaha!) but easily adjusted to, it has a cute art style and it sticks close to the AC's masterful level designs. Truly superb boxart doesn't hurt either! Fun little B-list port, not up there with Salamander but well above dishwater dregs like Image Fight.

[BrianC]

Picked up Momodora: Moonlight Reverie today.

Plays smooth. I'm more entranced by the lovingly animated and fluid player character sprite and dark atmosphere. It's very clearly Dark Souls / Bloodborne influenced in terms of theme and aesthetic, but the contrast of cutesie character and monster designs with brutal npc slaughtering Souls-trappings give it a grim fairy tale vibe which I like quite a bit.

I didn't realize that was actually the fourth game in a series. The third is also on steam, but the first two are name your own price on the website for the games.

Was the Commando/Senjyo no Ookami port done by Micronics? It's one of the buggiest games on the system to the point where I almost wondered if the game was running the way it was supposed to be (it was).

I believe so, along with the FC ports of Makaimura, 1942, Exed Exes and Son Son. I'm glad all of these games got perfect ports on the Capcom Generation discs... they really hoovered up these contracts BITD. Must've charged some nice competitive rates. :/.

I'm actually not so sure about Commando, the bugs and title screen scream Micronics, but the credits and some of the text found in game seem to suggest that some of the same staff that worked on Higemaru also worked on Commando.

[BIL]

Oh right - I could easily be off there, then.

They're an interesting outfit in retrospect. Some legendary stinkers for high-profile clientele and IPs. And since most of the stuff they handled later got superior if not near-perfect ports, the pain is mostly mitigated!

edit: ugh, Senjou/Commando's not on that list I linked at all, is it... sorry, way past bedtime here.

edit 2: lmao, F1 Circus for Mega Drive. I owned that briefly (got FO FREE) but traded it in after noticing the rather crippling slowdown with more than a couple cars onscreen. That one I can believe was theirs.

[BrianC]

One of Micronics more legendary stinkers, Super Pitfall, thankfully, got a much improved hack that fixes many of the issues with that game.

[BIL]

Have to say though, that game's death animation is classic. I'm surprised and annoyed there isn't an animated GIF of it within easy reach, it seems. edit: so I'll make one. Not a particularly good one, that's more effort than this POS deserves.

BEWARE, EXTREME VIOLENCE

Spoiler

The last spasms of a dying man have never looked so physics-defying... or so auto-fellatory!