Damn, it's been quite a while since my last post -- Task Force, I apologize for my unauthorized leave of absence.
Just as a quick update, and as not to go off topic much, it suffices to say that I finally got to (mostly) play through Ridge Racer(PSX) and Colin McRae Rally (PSX), and most of my off time was spent playing the latter.
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I finally decided to post, because only recently have I played something that is both post-worthy and is actually on topic.
So, a few days ago, while trying to decide what to play, I ended up booting up Ys IV (SFC) and actually played for a bit.
I had previously played the first 2 games, and actually cleared the 1st, so I recognised some familiar names/places in Ys IV, but couldn't quite remember whom/where they belonged to, so I figured it was better to play the games in order, to better follow the story.
I originally thought of replaying the 1st game to brush up on it's lore (it's been maybe a year or so since I last played it), but I ended up just playing a fair bit, until it came back to me, and it really wasn't worth replaying it again, especially when I still had all the others to go through.
I cleared Ys II, and am in the process of clearing Ys III (the PCE CD version). Ys III is, of course, a very different beast than the other games, but it is fun nonetheless.
In general, all the Ys games (at least the ones I've played so far) have this odd thing, where it's like, you're supposed to be at a specific level in order to beat any boss.
Any lower and you either do no damage, or you do so little that you either end up dying or have to go through a very long (and eventually boring) fight. But if you level up even 1 or 2 levels more, then you'll pretty much plow through them, which makes for pretty unsatisfying fights.
I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but I cannot help but think that it is pretty weird.
Ys II somewhat circunvents this (not entirely, but is not as pronounced as the 1st and 3rd games, at least) by having more frequent level ups, that raise your stats in a more smooth manner.
The first boss in Ys I (the magician that teleports, and has 3 flamethrowing statues on both sides), is the perfect example of this, as he is pretty difficult to hit without taking damage, since you need to hit him when he teleports to the center of the screen, while avoiding the flamethrowers.
If you're underleveled, you'll take a nice chunk of damage from the flamethrowers, but you'll do a minuscle amount of damage to him. So you either have too level up, or if you're good enough, go though a very long fight, in order to hit him without taking much damage.
The crystal core boss thing in Ys III is a similar case, as although beatable without taking damage (which in itself is not too hard), takes an obscene amount of hits to kill if you're not at the proper level.
Another thing I dislike, is the lack of any invincibility frames whatsoever, after taking damage.
This becomes especially obvious on, for example, the Ice Caves boss in Ys II (the one that jumps around and sends ice waves around him), and the spider boss from the same game.
These are bosses that are not too hard (I still find that the spider still poses a genuine threat, though), but depending on your level, can either shave half your life, or kill you althogether (getting caught in the ice wave, or getting trapped by the spider).
On the other hand, I found Ys II quite a bit easier than the first game, due to the ability to attack diagonally.
Since this guarantees that you'll damage the enemy, and unless the enemy is flashing and attacks you, you can just ram him against the wall until he's dead, pretty much without any danger whatsoever.
The only thing you need to be careful of, is when pushing an enemy into another (while attacking diagonally), as the enemy behind the one you're attacking is only being pushed, and can still attack you.
Overall, and not counting the bosses, this makes the game quite a bit easier than the others, because you don't need to be contantly fine tuning your position to hit enemies off center, to avoid taking damage.
It is also easier in that, all the bosses except for the last two can (must?) be killed with magic, which is much safer than having to ram them.
Even the final boss is rather easy, as if you use the Shield Magic, you can pretty much, simply ram the boss' entire first phase (or until you run out of MP), without fearing taking damage. And if you have the Elixir, you're virtually guaranteed to win, as it will revive if you die, with full HP and MP, which will make the shield magic active again, which in turn means you can, once again, ram the boss down to its doom.
In contrast, I had massive trouble beating the first game's final boss, as the disappearing ground tiles make for quite the aggravating fight. It makes for a good climax, though.
I do enjoy the variety that Ys II introduced with the magic ( and some of the rings/items), though.
As for Ys III, it's pretty much like Zelda 2 (which I've yet to play
), and it's actually pretty fun.
However, I'm quite disappointed with the PCE version, as the scrolling is pretty terrible. The only reason I ddin't switch to the MD version, is because I had already played it for awhile, and didn't want to restart.
Your character also walk one tile at a time, instead of one pixel, which is pretty awkward, although you get used to it.
I had read about the choppy scrolling, but I always assumed it was only present in the parallax background (as happens in the town), but is is mostly the foreground that is choppy. I which they had just simplified the backgrounds, and made the foreground scrolling smooth instead.
I might still play the MD version later (or the SFC perhaps), though.
The lack of i-frames are on this game too, as if you happen to land into an enemy, you'll take quite a bit of damage (and, once again, if underleveled, or in a new area, probably killed). You can save almost everywhere though, so it sort of balances it out.
On the story side, I find it pretty funny that your partner (Dogi), whose hometown is in trouble, doesn't do a damn thing to help, and instead either hangs around the inn reminiscing, or sends you to help the citizens, while he goes away looking for his 'spiritual master' (or whatever he calls it, can't quite remember).
The character's English speech audio is rather crappy as well, though I suppose you can't really expect much, and it does get pretty entertaining.
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BIL, I'm not sure if this game fits the thread due to it's overhead, STG-esque gameplay, so if it doesn't, let me know.
The other game I recently started playing, but am still pretty much learning the ropes, is Taito's Front Line (FC).
I intended to play the arcade original, but it is a twin joystick game, and I don't have an appropriate gamepad for it (my pad's left thumb stick is busted). I never really liked twin joystick games to be honest, anyway.
I was reading about Senjou No Ookami (Commando), Ikari Warriors, etc, and I was interested in how the sub-genre started, so I looked it up, and apparently Front Line was one of the (if not the) most influencial before Capcom's Commando.
I only managed to reach the second level so far, but I found it pretty fun and tense to play.
Visuals and character weirdness aside (it is a pretty old game after all), there a few quirks that take a while to get used to.
First, it took a few credits to get used to the way your character holds the gun.
He holds it on the right hand (normally), which means your shots come from the right (which makes aiming at the enemies a bit trickier than normal). Now, this is simply a matter of getting used to it.
The oddest part is that when you hold up+right, the gun suddenly switches to the left hand, messing the angle you'd expect the bullet to have. This really messed me up for quite a while, and it still occasionally does.
Also, the grenades are pretty tough to use, as they take a long time to reach the destination, and the throwing animation is really weird too.
I pretty much only use them on the turret on the end of the level (at least for the 1st level).
You also need to hit the enemies dead center (or thereabouts), or you'll miss them, and since your weapon is Galaxian style (AKA: one shot on screen at a time), this means that missing a shot can be potentially fatal.
The tanks part is pretty cool, and is my favourite part of the game (at least from what I played so far).
If becomes almost paramount to quickly dispose of enemy tanks (since even with the tank, you still can only fire one shot at a time), as a missed shot can easily cost you a life.
There's two types of tanks, a small and large one. The small one has a smaller projectile, and (I assume) a smaller hitbox, while the larger tank is the opposite.
I think both the tanks' speed and projectiles' speed are equal, but they have one major difference: If you're in the large tank, you can survive one shot from the enemy (keyword here -- shot).
If you get hit by an enemy bullet (while on the large tank), the tank will start to smoke, and become disabled. To use again, you have to get off, and then climb on again, and it will be like new. Of course, getting hit with a bullet in any other form (either walking, or in the small tank) will cost you a life.
Do note that any close encounter with an enemy (meaning if you touch any kind of enemy) will kill you instantly. This gets pretty humurous, as if, for example, a small tank touches you while you're on the big tank, you're dead.
But, in my opinion, this 1HKO, and your small movement speed, is what makes this a challenging, but fun game.
Much like in Galaxian (which I very much enjoy, precisely because of this), shot precision is paramount, as missing a shot can cost you a life, so I believe there's a big focus on accuracy, rather than pure firepower.
The fact that the screen only scrolls up when your character is about 1/3 of the way from the top, makes for an even tenser gameplay, which to be honest, at first I disliked (I usually prefer mid-screen scrolling), but actually grew to enjoy it. I think the slow pace of the game helps with not making this feel like a bad thing, since you rarely (if ever) get surprised by a cheap shot from the top.
This is just my semi-initial impression on it, but I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
Well, I've really ranted for too long, so I'll stop now.
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One final, little thing, unrelated to the topic, but pretty fun nonetheless: this has to be the weirdest synonym for 'port' that I've ever seen in any game.
post baleeeted
ii) HMD is credited for 2010 Street Fighter as well... makes sense. 
So instead, I'll be a lazy cunt and wheel out an auld classic: PATRIOTIC WEREWOLF BALLSACK
