Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Blinge]

If there's no early unlockable fast movement options, whether through exploits or intended toybox, i'll be sad.

The same goes for shorthop attacks and shorthop cancel into another attack for a double-hit. i like doing that..
I guess i could try the demo, i never really bother with demos.

[Jonny2x4]

Nope

Except in the manga Shin dies in the beginning of Vol. 2 and the Devil Rebirth fight occurs in Vol 3. The anime rewrote the first few story arcs and switched the order of events so that the fight against Shin happens much later.
The Devil Rebirth fight is in Episode 13 by the way.

Yeah, Hokotu no Ken had such a massive influence on games. It's basically part of action reto game mythos at this point.
Loved the Double Dragon famicom art posted awhile ago that was clearly a Hokotu no Ken hommage

Yeah, the manual/box art for the first FC game was very Tetsuo Hara-like (to the point that I once thought Hara actually did the art), but I never really got that much of a Hokuto-vibe from the in-game graphics themselves though, even after Kishimoto admitted to being influenced by the franchise. It always looked more like generic crime-ridden city, USA than a post-apocalyptic wasteland to me.

Still, the way they drew Billy Lee as a Kenshiro-lookalike in all those promo art for the Famicom games and even in Super Double Dragon (with his black hair and blue outfit) is probably how we ended up with the design they used for the American Double Dragon cartoon, where he looks like Kenshiro's wussified cousin.

Wait, whaaat?? o_O
Their involvement was pretty much the only reason I was interested in the title, since they at least guarantee a solid base for the game mechanics. wth…

Inti Creates only worked on low-resolution 2D games prior to Mighty No. 9 and that turned out to be a disappointment from what I heard (never played it myself). Perhaps they were unable adapt to HD development standards, which is why they probably backed off from Bloodstained following Mighty No. 9's poor reception.

The few games I played from them (Mega Man 9 and 10, plus the first two Zero games via the Nintendo DS compilation) were enjoyable, but nothing that blew me away. Zero 1 in particular has the weirdest progression system I've ever seen in any game. You're allowed to skip most missions after failing them and the game will still allow you to progress further into the story. Not sure why anyone would do this though, since you'll miss out on new equipment and upgrades. Zero 2 is more conventional, but it locks certain weapons behind its grading system and you can't repeat stages once you've cleared them. Mega Man 9 and 10 felt like overly-safe retreads of Mega Man 2.

[Arasoi]

.

[soprano1]

For those who like their Mega Man 8 playthroughs with a little more "oomph"

Lovely thing, thanks.

[FinalBaton]

Except in the manga Shin dies in the beginning of Vol. 2 and the Devil Rebirth fight occurs in Vol 3. The anime rewrote the first few story arcs and switched the order of events so that the fight against Shin happens much later.

Should have stated that I was talking about the anime! I haven't read the manga.

I knew without even looking it up that it was in the Shin arc in the anime, which is why I went with a spontaneous response and gave an approximate number for the Devil Rebirth episode : I knew my ep number would be close enough If I wanted to find the exact episode, I could have looked on the back of my blu ray set, hehe

[FinalBaton]

For those who like their Mega Man 8 playthroughs with a little more "oomph"

This is really a cool idea, and at first listen seems well done. Will listen to the full thing. Thanks!

[BIL]

FC Hokuto no Ken 2 is a considerable improvement over the original, but it's still rather mediocre. It was actually localized as Fist of the North Star on the NES and had some difficulty tweaks for the U.S. version, but there's a glitch in the U.S. version that turns the "bad ending" (if you used a continue prior to defeating Falco) unviewable. Instead of the usual credits, you'll get a glitched screen with an annoying noise. If you use a continue on the true final boss (the Nameless Shura), it takes you to glitched versions of the boss rush stages instead.

I'm dismayed Nameless Shura got to be the TLB of anything. D: Only reason he got one over on Falco was because the latter had just given Ken his hardest straight-up fight of the entire manga and was still beaten up AND one-legged (straight-up as opposed to the other beatings Ken took that typically had some cheap trick attached, like Shin's heel turn, or Souther's inverse pressure points, or Kaioh's magical fuckery... I think I'm remembering Kaioh right, been years since my last read).

I guess in the series' context, though, Shura was the enemy chosen to sell the "this ISLAND is FULL OF DUDES AS TOUGH AS KEN" angle. Makes sense to hide him at the end of a game that way.

And yes, HNK is de-facto on topic in any hardcore JP action gaming thread.

[Arasoi]

.

[BIL]

I think the newest HNK material I've seen is still a good decade+ old... was that Raioh Gaiden OVA that covered the Souther arc. Didn't like it much tbh, besides some shaweet guitar in the opening apocalypse recap sequence. Sanitised the gore away, removed Souther's secret motive for being a complete and utter asshole, and also turned Ken into a grouchy Duke Togo knockoff! He was never that frowny even at his lowest points in the manga.

Ein: "Oi. Do you have a woman?"
Ken: "No..." *bitch-slaps Ein*

[hien]

Inti Creates only worked on low-resolution 2D games prior to Mighty No. 9 and that turned out to be a disappointment from what I heard (never played it myself). Perhaps they were unable adapt to HD development standards, which is why they probably backed off from Bloodstained following Mighty No. 9's poor reception.

MN9 was a pretty crappy game all in all, that's for sure. Save for Ray maybe. It's also true that the first Gunvolt (have not played the second yet) wasn't exactly the most convincing game. Still, they normally at least manage to offer a very solid control scheme and perfect responsiveness with their games, so I was hoping for them to have a positive impact in that regard.
Inti also certainly sucked at creating 3D assets so far though. If that's really where their responsibilities were within the project, them not being involved anymore is probably indeed not a big loss if at all. Seems odd though, since why would you turn to such a company only for a field in which they have no relevant experience?

The few games I played from them (Mega Man 9 and 10, plus the first two Zero games via the Nintendo DS compilation) were enjoyable, but nothing that blew me away. Zero 1 in particular has the weirdest progression system I've ever seen in any game. You're allowed to skip most missions after failing them and the game will still allow you to progress further into the story. Not sure why anyone would do this though, since you'll miss out on new equipment and upgrades. Zero 2 is more conventional, but it locks certain weapons behind its grading system and you can't repeat stages once you've cleared them. Mega Man 9 and 10 felt like overly-safe retreads of Mega Man 2.

The first Zero game was a very rough start for an outstanding series imo. Since 2, the basic mechanics were some of the best the genre had to offer, especially with them finally handling the Z-Saber right in my opinion. In the PSX X games, it always seemed a bit half-baked while slashing through enemies in the Zero games is really satisfying. 3 with it's additional movement options and them finally ditching the level up system was probably the pinnacle of the series, though I like 4 the best when it comes to stage variety and graphics (too much ledge grabbing nonsense in that game though sadly). I also really liked the first ZX, though people apparently hate it for its confusing map.
Really never cared much about MM9 and 10 to be honest, but I also never perceived them as that relevant in regard to Inti's portfolio since they seemed more like side jobs. As you state, after the 16/32-Bit iterations of the classic series, those games felt too much like a step backwards, especially with them being optimized without the charge and slide in mind. Always thought that I'd rather play one of the original NES games again instead of 9 or 10. Also because they managed to make them look worse than the last few NES MM games. Totally stupid approach restricting themselves to the NES hardware limitations without being up to the task. Seems they've learned though, looking at the new Blaster Master game.

[Jonny2x4]

I'm dismayed Nameless Shura got to be the TLB of anything. D: Only reason he got one over on Falco was because the latter had just given Ken his hardest straight-up fight of the entire manga and was still beaten up AND one-legged (straight-up as opposed to the other beatings Ken took that typically had some cheap trick attached, like Shin's heel turn, or Souther's inverse pressure points, or Kaioh's magical fuckery... I think I'm remembering Kaioh right, been years since my last read).

I guess in the series' context, though, Shura was the enemy chosen to sell the "this ISLAND is FULL OF DUDES AS TOUGH AS KEN" angle. Makes sense to hide him at the end of a game that way.

Well the game was released when the Hokuto no Ken 2 anime was just starting to air and the Shura arc in the manga was still unfinished, so they couldn't use Kaioh yet. It's fascinating that they managed to pad out the boss roster considering the game covers such a short arc though. Not only do they include Jakoh's sons, Jask and Sheeno, as sub-bosses, but the Gento Koken successors that replaced them in the anime (Taiga and Boltz) are also in the game as end-bosses. In fact, they even included an unused/rejected character from the anime, Bronza, who was supposed to be the red Gento successor before they decided to use Shoki (an actual manga character) instead. That's probably one of the few merits I give FC Hokuto 2 over its MD counterpart. The MD version glosses over the plot points of the manga pretty quickly, lacks any showdown against Jakoh and features some very flat and interchangeable level design.

It would've been interesting if Shouei had made another Hokuto side-scroller on the Famicom covering the Shura arc and actually get it right on their third game, but for some reason they ditched the format in favor of making a rather lame RPG adaptation of the whole manga (that still leaves out all the post-Kaioh stuff not covered in the anime). I would imagined they probably got a mandate from Toei that says "WE WANT THE DRAGON QUEST AUDIENCE".

I think the newest HNK material I've seen is still a good decade+ old... was that Raioh Gaiden OVA that covered the Souther arc. Didn't like it much tbh, besides some shaweet guitar in the opening apocalypse recap sequence. Sanitised the gore away, removed Souther's secret motive for being a complete and utter asshole, and also turned Ken into a grouchy Duke Togo knockoff! He was never that frowny even at his lowest points in the manga.

Raoh Den were the titles of two movies that adapted the Souther and Goshasei arcs that were entries in a five-movie/OVA series. Raoh Gaiden (aka Ten no Haoh) was a spinoff manga to those movies that was later adapted into a 12-episode anime series (which was dubbed in English as Legends of the Dark King). It's easy to get the two mixed up though, since Raoh Gaiden was the working title for the two movies and Raoh's female general/wannabe love interest from Raoh Den also shows up in Raoh Gaiden.

Regardless, I found most of the newer Hokuto anime pretty forgettable and I should know, since I've rewatched the five-part movie series not long ago. I remember every single episode of the old movie and TV series by heart (even the crappy filler episodes), but the not-so new movies are mostly a blur. With that said, I'm still cautiously looking forward to the new Souten no Ken anime series, even though I'm not too crazy over the cel-shaded CGI style they went with.

By the way, it seems Kaioh and Falco were avid Super Contra players.

Seems they've learned though, looking at the new Blaster Master game.

I might get that and the Gunvolt compilation if I ever get around to buying a Nintendo Switch. It's a nice touch how Jason and Eve in this new version are basically Kane and Jennifer from Metafight, but with the backstories from their American counterparts. I don't think I ever seen any other Japanese gaming franchise where the Americanized version of its story ended up superseding the original.

[BIL]

By the way, it seems Kaioh and Falco were avid Super Contra players.
[image: AC Super Contra design document]

Never seen those docs before, very cool... reminds me of the ones included in that Toaplan music anthology from a few years back. Always heartening to know someone preserved this stuff, with how scattershot game archival can be. I liked this one in particular, being a big fan of AC Super's Great Heli:



https://www.amusement-center.com/projec ... ecial.html

One of the more elaborately destructible bosses of its time, perhaps? Seems like you can wreck every inch of its armour, before blasting the exposed engine and sending it down in an almighty cacophony. (or just kill the bugger ASAP and get to massacring the fortress guards in an unbroken rampage of downshots)

I still think AC Super has some of the best explosion SFX ever, particularly where vanquished bosses are concerned - unholy battering rackets you can feel in your chest, unmistakably geared for maximum player gratification. Between those and the savage guitar/bass/drum BGM power trio, it's a game I refuse to play at reasonable volume. Even the "coin in" SFX is goddamn feral. The laboured aiming will never feel right to me, but as an example of flame-belching, floor-shaking late 80s Coin Operated Amusement, with the brutal yet intricately-detailed aesthetic and relentless pace, it's quite immortal.

[Sumez]

Any thoughts on Crossfire for the Famicom?



Just got a cartridge today, but it'll probably be a while before I get to set some time aside to play it. Looks like one of the "lost" hold-right-and-kill-motherfucker games for the platform, and is surprisingly uncommon, though not horribly expensive unless you want to get it CIB.
Considering how little information is out there on the game, I shouldn't expect too much, but I heard more than a few people talk about it positively.

[Ghegs]

I got it some years ago to round out my FC collection, but haven't played it terribly much. Feels very clunky, a far cry from the super-slick approach of the Contras.

[Stevens]

With all the Hokuto talk I was reminded of this amusing write up from HG 101.

http://hg101.kontek.net/hokutonoken/blackbelt.htm

The first paragraph is fucking gold.

[Sumez]

Whoa what the hell. I do have a lot of respect for Kalata despite all the laughs we have had at HG101's expense. In fact, I'll confess I actually really like HG101 for what it is. But that particular paragraph should probably have been scrapped before making it anywhere near an online article. :S
Please leave your personal bigotry out of your attempts at objective presentations of video games.

[BIL]

I don't think he was being bigoted tbh - just the usual playing up of ubermanly 80s manga VS the moeblobs of more recent times. If I remember right, Lucky Star was irritatingly popular back then, and HNK was seeing a resurgence with those (lame) OVAs and (much better) fan translations of the original manga.

I'm surprised Golgo 13/Duke Togo never seemed to get as much of a look in as Kenshiro and Guts, on that tangent. Now there is a very bad man carved from unfeeling granite. Ken and Guts are (to their series' credit) like friggin Mister Rogers by comparison. Duke has no friends to mourn or feelings to hurt, and he sure as shit doesn't shed tears over his cruel world. He shoots the quarry in their fucking face, stabs anyone who makes the mistake of double-crossing him, then packs up his shit and retires to his room to fuck Disposable Babe du jour. He even screws like an emotionless killing machine, silently glaring at the ceiling like a grave-slab (or perhaps a granite counter-top) as his woman bounces and writhes in mad climax!

I think AiCom (GUN-DEC) did the second FC Golgo (Mafat Conspiracy) ? Been mildly interested in that one... doesn't seem anywhere as rip-roaringly good, but I liked the classy aesthetic/mechanical reserve of its sidescrolling action, and the Sudden Genre Shifts have an interesting parallel with GD's. GD's big advantage here seems to be ditching the plodding FPV mazes for straight-up Operation Wolf shooting galleries - I had to call it a day after reaching Mafat's first one, but as said I remain intrigued.

[BrianC]

I think AiCom (GUN-DEC) did the second FC Golgo (Mafat Conspiracy) ? Been mildly interested in that one... doesn't seem anywhere as rip-roaringly good, but I liked the classy aesthetic/mechanical reserve of its sidescrolling action, and the Sudden Genre Shifts have an interesting parallel with G-D's.

It has been awhile since I played Mafat Conspiracy, but one thing I remember is that the game actually punishes you for skipping cutscenes.

[BIL]

Oh no. Punish as in you don't get vital info, or it outright takes resources off you? The former could be do-able with a FAQ I guess.

[drauch]

Yeah, kinda seems like he was just trying to be funny but that's poorly conveyed in his weak writing.

I think Golgo gets brushed aside because while he's a stoic killing machine, he doesn't have the hyperbolic brutality of Kenshiro's exploding bodies or Guts' giant sword that cleaves enemies in half. My dream is to go back in time and fund a 70's or 80's series like the Dezaki film. I like that newish one alright, but the shiny new animation doesn't really fit the grit. I need more postcard memories, like that freeze-frame of all those doves flyin' around Duke. OHhhhhhhhhhh I'm salivating here!

Man, I almost have a hard time even having Guts in the same sentence as these two heroes anymore. It's a real mere shadow of its former dark days anymore, so much that I've sadly turned my back on it. Ah, but I digress! Uhhhhhh, side-scrollers!

[BIL]

I think Golgo gets brushed aside because while he's a stoic killing machine, he doesn't have the hyperbolic brutality of Kenshiro's exploding bodies or Guts' giant sword that cleaves enemies in half.

This sounds bang-on. Duke doesn't smack you in the mouth, then walk away as you spontaneously combust while shitting out your liver - nor does he cut you and your five buddies in half with one murderous swing of his mansized blade. Duke locates your high-security compound, observes when you like to enjoy the sports papers on the balcony, then rents a vacant office two miles across town and shoots you in the face.

Just too Professional, man. He can whoop ass but whenever it gets to that point, it's usually because somebody talked™! Occasional knife fight with fiends like BIGGU SNAKE aside it's all rather cold, like the man himself.

Man, I almost have a hard time even having Guts in the same sentence as these two heroes anymore. It's a real mere shadow of its former dark days anymore, so much that I've sadly turned my back on it. Ah, but I digress! Uhhhhhh, side-scrollers!

Same. :[ That and Miura's glacial pace make me check back every... five years or so, but nothing seems to change much. Either he's planning one hell of a blindside or it's gone full Feelgood Shonen.

Speaking of, Ninja Five-O aka Ninja Cop secretly featured a dead-on sidescrolling Guts, via its third boss. His goofy dragon helm even kinda resembles the Beast Armour:

Spoiler

As Serpico pointed out in that cliffside duel, the Dragon Slayer is a horrible thing in Guts' hands... but it's expert technique and high velocity, not just monstrous bulk, that wreaks the slaughters his less-perceptive colleagues assumed were caused by cannonfire! All perfectly captured in those animations.

Would kill for a properly-balanced game featuring that character. Squire and I were discussing this a while back.

[Jonny2x4]

Never seen those docs before, very cool... reminds me of the ones included in that Toaplan music anthology from a few years back. Always heartening to know someone preserved this stuff, with how scattershot game archival can be. I liked this one in particular, being a big fan of AC Super's Great Heli:

https://www.amusement-center.com/projec ... ecial.html

There's plenty of trivia regarding the two arcade Contra games on that page.
Regarding the AC Contra
*Originally Contra was planned as a side-scrolling action game set entirely in a stage with multiple vertical floors. The concept evolved during development after several trials and errors until it eventually resembled the final product. While the initial concept had a war motif too, it didn't originally involve shooting guns, but instead featured a macho hero who's on a mission to rescue a kidnapped woman and fought his enemies with punches and kicks. [Sounds like a more hardcore version of Spartan X. I'm guessing that's why the working title was Beat Out]
*While this aspect was downplayed in later entries, AC Contra was a game which primarily involved destroying sensors to clear each stage. During the planning stages the developers conceived the idea of putting other types of sensors within each stage, such as sensors that would lower the difficulty level by reducing the enemy count when destroyed or increasing the difficulty when ignored.
*There were power-ups planned that were not in the final game, such as a gun that shoots backwards [the MSX2 Contra implemented this idea with its rear gun] and a power-up that increases your jumping ability.
*The composer for Contra was a newcomer who was not given instructions on what kind of music to make for the game, so he came up with his compositions while seeing the game under development. The music he came up was immediately liked by the rest of the staff, as it fit perfectly with the game's imagery, and was quickly implemented with very little changes.

As for Super Contra
*The game allows you to upgrade your weapon by picking the same power-up twice in a row. Originally the developers felt that the enhanced Machine Gun was overpowered, since it's capable of killing most bosses in a matter of seconds. But they decided to leave it as it is after witnessing players enjoying it too much as they yelled "KIMOCHII" while playing. [kimochii means "feels good".]
*Super Contra is the only game in the series where you can control the height of your jumps with the joystick (e.g. holding up while jumping causes your jump to become higher, while holding down causes you to land faster). The developers wanted to give players more control of their jumps due to how the game revolves around jumping to avoid enemy fire.
*When the game was about to enter location testing prior to release, the company was debating whether to show the game's title and attract sequence. They were worried that another developer might copied the elaborate cutscene they've prepared for the attract sequence and beat Konami to the punch. At the end, the location test was conducted with the attract sequence kept in order to gauge players' reaction, but it was uniquely cinematic for its time.
*The difficulty of Super Contra was adjusted specifically for overseas players in response to the popularity of the original Contra. The Japanese version adds an exclusive second loop. While the first loop is pretty difficult as it is [I'm assuming he's talking from the default settings.], many hardcore players managed to 1CC it after enough practice, so the second loop raises the difficulty to overkill.

The liner notes for the Contra Chronicle Vol. 2 album has a more elaborate commentary on the development of the two AC games, complete with accompanying concept art and names of the enemy characters from the first game. I'll get around to translating it one of these days, assuming SHMUPLATIONS-sempai doesn't beat me to the punch first.

At the meantime, here's a photo of a Super Contra comic from Gamest.
https://ibb.co/bYQoMw

I still think AC Super has some of the best explosion SFX ever, particularly where vanquished bosses are concerned - unholy battering rackets you can feel in your chest, unmistakably geared for maximum player gratification. Between those and the savage guitar/bass/drum BGM power trio, it's a game I refuse to play at reasonable volume. Even the "coin in" SFX is goddamn feral. The laboured aiming will never feel right to me, but as an example of flame-belching, floor-shaking late 80s Coin Operated Amusement, with the brutal yet intricately-detailed aesthetic and relentless pace, it's quite immortal.

Super Contra is awesome, but I've never managed to beat its tough-as-nails JP-exclusive second loop. From my experience, it's the same as the hardest DIP switch setting, but with your score, lives and weapons carried over from the previous playthrough and no continues. One detail I liked about the AC entries that got lost on the console iterations, even in Contra Spirits, was how Bill and Lance had unique designs and weren't just the same guy with different colored clothing.

I'm pretty tempted to drop down $10 on the ACA version of Contra on PS4, since the emulation on MAME is far from accurate. I was proud of my deathless hardest run I've did several years ago, until I realized that the rolling mines on the 3D stages aren't supposed to be rolling to the corner after I've seen videos on the game running on real hardware.

Whoa what the hell. I do have a lot of respect for Kalata despite all the laughs we have had at HG101's expense. In fact, I'll confess I actually really like HG101 for what it is. But that particular paragraph should probably have been scrapped before making it anywhere near an online article. :S
Please leave your personal bigotry out of your attempts at objective presentations of video games.

With his more recent writing, it's hard to tell whether Kalata is being satirical or serious, considering he's vehemently hostile towards everyone who is slightly right of Hillary, to the point that he even broke ties with one of his contributors over some trigger warnings in one of their articles (which is ironic, given how he handled the whole Agness Kaku situation).

The 80's Heroine article he co-wrote with Derboo has too much reading into things that aren't there for me to take too seriously. But more importantly, I was disappointed by their exclusion of Kunoichi from The Ninjawarriors, who is an iconic 80's heroine and even got to be Player 1 of her own game. Just because she's an artificially-constructed killing machine doesn't mean she's not a woman.

HG101 confirmed for robophobic shitlords.

[BIL]

As for Super Contra
*The game allows you to upgrade your weapon by picking the same power-up twice in a row. Originally the developers felt that the enhanced Machine Gun was overpowered, since it's capable of killing most bosses in a matter of seconds. But they decided to leave it as it is after witnessing players enjoying it too much as they yelled "KIMOCHII" while playing. [kimochii means "feels good".]

I loved reading that. SMG satisfies like little else. And tbh, with how difficult the game's aiming controls can be, it feels pretty well-earned lining up your shot and burning a hole straight through bosses.

[Stevens]

Splitting time between EWJ (an old favorite), Thunder Force IV (I know I know:), and Alien Soldier.

Never played Alien Soldier before, but it has always been one of those "You really like Gunstar and Headdy so you should probably play it at some point."

Took me a little while to get comfortable with the controls and I'll admit the lack of six button support strikes me as a bit odd. In the end though it doesn't matter - once you get used to the controls and figure out what's what everything becomes second nature.

The game? Has the scent of Treasure all over it. Delicious.

[BrianC]

Oh no. Punish as in you don't get vital info, or it outright takes resources off you? The former could be do-able with a FAQ I guess.

Punish as in it won't give you a needed item to progress, if I remember correctly.

edit: I read some info here. One part of the game doesn't give you bullets if you skip the cutscene and another area doesn't allow you to hold more bullets if you skip a cutscene. Bullets are essential for the first person areas.

[BIL]

Took me a little while to get comfortable with the controls and I'll admit the lack of six button support strikes me as a bit odd. In the end though it doesn't matter - once you get used to the controls and figure out what's what everything becomes second nature.

With how brutal the game's dev cycle was, it might've just been for lack of time, but otherwise I get the impression they were deliberately trying to create the ultimate action game for stock MD hardware. One-button counterforce is the only thing I'd like, but it's easily forgiven with how lenient the move's input and hitbox are (don't sweat the bullet-cancelling's timing too much; just get mash B in the general vicinity of projectiles and you'll get 'em).

Probably my single favourite MD game, and most definitely among my top scrolling action games overall - I've seen few boss eviscerators so simultaneously hardcore yet freeform - but there's a decided entry barrier with the controls. They are razor-sharp once mastered though, have no doubt - no input-drop nonsense here. I wrote a brief primer here (minor boss spoilers), if it's of any interest. Basically, get comfy with the controls, don't pull a gun if you're not going to use it, and don't skimp on building your ammo stocks. ;3

I've since disavowed Flame/Flame/Lancer/Lancer for anything but absolute speed - if you want to enjoy the shooting, you'll be out of ammo in no time. I've also moved onto Flame/Flame/Lancer/Buster for my runs, but I still consider Flame/Lancer/Lancer/Buster the comfiest beginner setup, for the same reasons in that post.

Punish as in it won't give you a needed item to progress, if I remember correctly.

edit: I read some info here. One part of the game doesn't give you bullets if you skip the cutscene and another area doesn't allow you to hold more bullets if you skip a cutscene. Bullets are essential for the first person areas.

Oh lord. It's like my nightmare version of Ninja Gaiden with unskippable cutscenes. Thanks for the info, might still be worth a look if they're short/cool enough... GUN-DEC seems to be AiCom's piece de resistance for pure action gaming, anyway.

[Arasoi]

.

[Jonny2x4]

I cleared The Mafat Conspiracy several years ago. It's a much more conventionally designed game compared to the first Golgo 13 game and with better production values, but it's also much more generic and forgettable. I don't even remember what the plot was about. The game's sniper segments were a chore to figure out since it's never explain exactly how you need to aim. Essentially you're supposed to take into account the wind pressure and then calculate your aim based on the different. For example, if the wind pressure is 4km north, then you're supposed to aim 4pixels downwards off your target or something like that (it's been a while).

W.U.R.M. (or Valzoder if you go by the JP title), which was done by the same director as the first Golgo 13, always piqued my interest ever since I've seen the coverage of it on Nintendo Power, but I never got around to find a copy of it.

[Sumez]

WURM is surprisingly cheap for a game that was never released over here. It's flawed as hell, but has some very endearing aspects to it.

[BIL]

Love that avatar, Arasoi.