What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Air Master Burst]

I always took WipEout to be deeper overall - more tighly focused on the nuances of its antigrav fast-bar-of-soap physics model than F-Zero's mix of strafing, ramming, and meter-management.

I agree with this assessment.
I would also say that Podrace (and its spiritual sequels MotorStorm) has a much better meter-management mechanic.

Wipeout HD on PS3 was based on tracks from Pure & Pulse,

I'd probably pick 2097 for the classics, and HD for the modern entries. Specifically HD; Fury has a badass menu, but the campaign is way too combat-heavy.

For some reason the handling never clicked for me with HD. Maybe it was just cuz I was coming off of the hundreds of hours of Pulse I played (it was one of the games I had in Afghanistan).

[XoPachi]

I wish RedOut 2 had track design that wasn't boring as Hell because the handling in that game is incredibly unique and very active.

[vol.2]

Cannon Fodder. So much fun, but also strangely sad when your guys die. I think it's the sound effects; you really hear the death anguish whenever you kill one of the enemies or one of your men is killed. And also the music is amazing, but kind of melancholy. The Roland MT-32 music is the way to go 100%

GOG has it on sale for a dollar fifty right now, so it's cheep to check out.

[BrianC]

Wait a minute! Wipeout 2048 is not a puzzle themed spinoff of Wipeout where you use futuristic cars to combine numbers to get to 2048?

[Air Master Burst]

Wait a minute! Wipeout 2048 is not a puzzle themed spinoff of Wipeout where you use futuristic cars to combine numbers to get to 2048?

Deeply ashamed to admit that I would probably play the shit out of this if it had Chemical Brothers tracks and the same Designer's Republic vibe.

[Marc]

I'm just replaying XGIII via Dolphin at the moment. It's not bad at all. Relatively straightforward compared to F-Zero GX or any Wipeout, but decent enough. It's more concerned with keeping you pointing forward and not slowing the action down, at least in the early stages.

[XoPachi]

I'm sorry. I know we talked about F-Zero a lot already and moved on, but I want to ask something because I once again am hooked to F-Zero Max. What are some other racers with really good "dodging"? Classic F-Zero is almost as much about evading hazards as it is racing to the point that the games are more about not being eliminated from the race entirely as opposed to points based on finish position. On Master mode, there's a frenetic pace to razor's edge maneuvers you have to make to just barely clear drones, mines, bombs, explosive drones, slipping between all of them and guard rails, and the other vicious racers.

There any other racing games that pull of that sort of pace without literally being a typical survival game?

Also, my friend is making an arcade racing game. He asked me last night about GX's AI and how it operates. Do any of you have a detailed explanation about that? Someone (I think Sumez or Sima Tuna) briefly touched on it a while back. But I'm curious about more in depth specifics that I can share with him.

[Air Master Burst]

There any other racing games that pull of that sort of pace without literally being a typical survival game?

Podracer! There aren't any bombs or weapons (apart from Sebulba's goofy flamethrower), but most of the tracks have extensive environmental obstacles that can mess your day up pretty good. It gets pretty fast on the higher levels, too.

You generally don't explode on impact without taking a bunch of damage first, but you have to slow down significantly to use the repair droids, so it's less a matter of pure survival and more about outmaneuvering other racers around and through obstacles at extreme speed.

Also, there are few things more satisfying in the entire genre than timing your ending boost perfectly so your pod explodes across the finish line for the win. Motorstorm continues this tradition in fine form.

[XoPachi]

You know something? I've had that game since launch. I feel like it's overlooked even by me and it really doesn't deserve it because that game was brilliant.

[Air Master Burst]

You know something? I've had that game since launch. I feel like it's overlooked even by me and it really doesn't deserve it because that game was brilliant.

I feel like its mid-term reputation was dinged by being associated so closely with a movie that was near-universally hated for a generation. It also had a reputation as a stick-killer second only to Mario Party, since boosting effectively meant jamming the stick forward as hard as you could about 90% of the time.

That said, it's apparently outsold both Wipeout and F-Zero, and I admit I haven't tried the recentish remaster.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The Star Wars collector market must have accounted for a fair bit of that. That, and there were some pretty good Star Wars games on the N64 at the time (Shadows of the Empire is great) so it had far more brand recognition than Wipeout for sure. Surprised about F-Zero but I guess it only having one SNES release prior didn't make it a household name like Mario or Zelda...

[vol.2]

(Shadows of the Empire is great)

Gah. "At the time" is right. Tried playing it again and the janky controls sent me screaming. Dark Forces blows it out of the water, two years earlier.

[Air Master Burst]

(Shadows of the Empire is great)

Gah. "At the time" is right. Tried playing it again and the janky controls sent me screaming. Dark Forces blows it out of the water, two years earlier.

I would even disagree it was good at the time; it was one of the first games my best friend and his cousin got for their N64, and we all agreed it was a janky piece of shit. Especially the stupid swoop level. It didn't help that Dash Rendar was such a lame generic Han Solo ripoff.

The Shadows of the Empire version of the Hoth battle is basically the Rogue Squadron mom says we already have at home.

[Marc]

I'm sorry. I know we talked about F-Zero a lot already and moved on, but I want to ask something because I once again am hooked to F-Zero Max. What are some other racers with really good "dodging"? Classic F-Zero is almost as much about evading hazards as it is racing to the point that the games are more about not being eliminated from the race entirely as opposed to points based on finish position. On Master mode, there's a frenetic pace to razor's edge maneuvers you have to make to just barely clear drones, mines, bombs, explosive drones, slipping between all of them and guard rails, and the other vicious racers.

I love Master mode, but catch up AI and heat-seeking drones are rage fuel.

[Sumez]

There any other racing games that pull of that sort of pace without literally being a typical survival game?

Podracer! There aren't any bombs or weapons (apart from Sebulba's goofy flamethrower), but most of the tracks have extensive environmental obstacles that can mess your day up pretty good. It gets pretty fast on the higher levels, too.

Dude!
I have no interest in racing games in general, but I played the PC Demo of Podracer when that came out, and I was super engrossed in it!
The feeling of insane speed was like no other game I'd ever played. I don't think Wipeout came close, at least at the time.

[Marc]

Sounds like i need to get round to playing Pod Racer then. Had the PS4 remaster sat around for years. Think I may have picked it up on Switch as well.

Tried out some 3DO Road Rash last night. It's, erm.... interesting. It's slippy, even more so than I member the original, and with the inertia, takes a bit to adjust to the controls. It's fun enough, but the visuals are pretty ropey these days. The originals have probably aged better.

That soundtrack though..... Soundgarden! Hamnerbox! Therapy?! Paw! 90's heaven.

Briefly tried out the original NFS. Yeah. It's....a thing, I guess.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Briefly tried out the original NFS. Yeah. It's....a thing, I guess.

My dad was really into it back in the day. I've had a copy of the special edition for some time, haven't touched it in decades, tried it a few years ago... yeah, it's not great. The handling is awful, cars barely feel capable of taking tight turns without braking hard. The course designs are pretty fun, so it's rather a shame the cars themselves just aren't that fun to drive.

[Lemnear]

Special Selection:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

[it290]

Cannon Fodder. So much fun, but also strangely sad when your guys die. I think it's the sound effects; you really hear the death anguish whenever you kill one of the enemies or one of your men is killed. And also the music is amazing, but kind of melancholy. The Roland MT-32 music is the way to go 100%

GOG has it on sale for a dollar fifty right now, so it's cheep to check out.

MT-32 music over the Amiga version? Blasphemy.

[vol.2]

MT-32 music over the Amiga version? Blasphemy.

lol. I don't have the Amiga version. Gog just has the PC one, and MT-32 is great compared to the Adlib music.

I gave the Amiga music a listen, and I do like it (there's words), but I'm not a big fan of the heavy noise channel use; I find it quite grating. The MT-32 version is clean, and only lack the vocal samples in the Amiga one.

[BrianC]

Briefly tried out the original NFS. Yeah. It's....a thing, I guess.

My dad was really into it back in the day. I've had a copy of the special edition for some time, haven't touched it in decades, tried it a few years ago... yeah, it's not great. The handling is awful, cars barely feel capable of taking tight turns without braking hard. The course designs are pretty fun, so it's rather a shame the cars themselves just aren't that fun to drive.

I heard the 3D0 and PC versions are very different from the PSX and Saturn versions, which are more arcade like? I also heard the JP version for Saturn (and PSX?) had some changes and has a Nissan license.

[Lander]

Special Selection:

Spoiler

Yeah, Pandemonium! that might be the first PlayStation game I ever touched, thanks to the same neighbours that had Encarta.

Really memorable atmophere, with all the sparkly jingly stock sounds and abstract-but-not-quite medieval locales. That title music brings it all back, along with the first stage's giant watermelons, screeching bats, and punchy DUH! GUH! guys.

Fargus' contribution to the ending is kinda horrifying in its own right, too

Did you ever play Pandemonium 2? I only found about it way later, and it's barely recognizable next to the first game's playful tone. I've groused a lot over the years about series that fail to age with their audience, but P2 seems like a key example of doing that and getting it horribly wrong. Bitchy sexpot Nikki, Insane Fargus, 90s edge everywhere, and final areas that truly go off the edge into Neon Genesis Weirdfuck territory!

[Lemnear]

Special Selection:

Spoiler

Yeah, Pandemonium! that might be the first PlayStation game I ever touched, thanks to the same neighbours that had Encarta.

Really memorable atmophere, with all the sparkly jingly stock sounds and abstract-but-not-quite medieval locales. That title music brings it all back, along with the first stage's giant watermelons, screeching bats, and punchy DUH! GUH! guys.

Fargus' contribution to the ending is kinda horrifying in its own right, too

Did you ever play Pandemonium 2? I only found about it way later, and it's barely recognizable next to the first game's playful tone. I've groused a lot over the years about series that fail to age with their audience, but P2 seems like a key example of doing that and getting it horribly wrong. Bitchy sexpot Nikki, Insane Fargus, 90s edge everywhere, and final areas that truly go off the edge into Neon Genesis Weirdfuck territory!

I like how Nikki is loosely based on Leeloo,i like the unique setting, and the very expansive level design it has, i don't think i've ever seen anything like it, i really love the first one. Very unique!
The second one is too psychedelic and the final boss battle is disturbing... Who the hell are they fighting? Buddha? WTF?!

I would like a Remaster of the first Pandemonium !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxty0lOIbT4

[BrianC]

Did you ever play Pandemonium 2? I only found about it way later, and it's barely recognizable next to the first game's playful tone. I've groused a lot over the years about series that fail to age with their audience, but P2 seems like a key example of doing that and getting it horribly wrong. Bitchy sexpot Nikki, Insane Fargus, 90s edge everywhere, and final areas that truly go off the edge into Neon Genesis Weirdfuck territory!

Things get even stranger with the JP versions. The first game was localized as Magical Hoppers, with different story, characters, and anime cutscenes (or stills in the PS1 version). Instead of Nikki and Fargus, the characters are named Clam and Guppy and are magical superheroes. Strange thing is that despite being renamed "Miracle Jumpers" and being dubbed in Japanese, the sequel was left mostly unchanged and keeps the original character names (Nikki and Fargus), designs, and 3D cutscenes.

[Lander]

I like how Nikki is loosely based on Leeloo

I guess Lee Evans is the shoo-in for a Fargus casting then

Things get even stranger with the JP versions. The first game was localized as Magical Hoppers, with different story, characters, and anime cutscenes (or stills in the PS1 version).

Ah, the endless flexibility of the Extradimensional Reality Police conceit. Though perhaps not wholly without basis, since our jester friend is sporting an anachronistic pair of hightop sneaks in the cover art!

Gets me wondering about how Gex fared in japan, since its heavy pop culture leaning resulted in an unusual full relocalization between US and non-US english territories.

Strange thing is that despite being renamed "Miracle Jumpers" and being dubbed in Japanese, the sequel was left mostly unchanged and keeps the original character names (Nikki and Fargus), designs, and 3D cutscenes.

"We can't possibly outweird this, ship it"

[Kino]

Things get even stranger with the JP versions. The first game was localized as Magical Hoppers, with different story, characters, and anime cutscenes (or stills in the PS1 version).

Not the weirdest localization of a PS1-era Toys For Bob (by way of Crystal Dynamics) release. Wait till you find out how this:

Spoiler

... somehow got turned into this.

Spoiler

[BrianC]

I'm guessing it no longer comes with the Soul Reaver demo.

[Daytime Waitress]

A bit spent on Selaco now, but thoroughly enjoyed clawing all the secrets out of it and am looking forward to going back to it at a higher difficulty some time down the road. Plus it's brought me back into Doom's warm, loving embrace, where I'm dipping in and out of small, community-developed maps, and doing yet another run through of Doom 64.

I intensely disliked that one BITD, honestly - its lack of brightness levels taxed my TV at the time, and kid me was just not as impressed with its visuals when compared to contemporaries like Goldeneye. But these days I absolutely adore the coloured lighting, the legitimately sinister OST and the more pensive, calculated gameplay when compared to both its progenitors and what Doom has evolved into 30 years on. It's still rudimentary switch hunting for puzzle solving, but its not often deliberately obtuse, and the atmosphere does so much heavy lifting; and even though the combat is more measured than even regular Doom 2, it still retains the fluidity of previous games in the series and is by no means a slow game. Glad to see it getting more love than ever with both the re-release and the growing number of community productions.

I'm guessing it no longer comes with the Soul Reaver demo.

I wanted to make a joke about how Raziel would be turned into an elementary schooler and get shrunk and have to find all the lost pages of his homework across his house in Generic 3D Platform Game. But then I actually looked at some of the witches in that title and holy shit - the nearest equivalent would probably be a Hanna Barbera crossover extravaganza that saw the Flinstones and Tom & Jerry and every one of their IPs get smooshed together. Which nowadays doesn't sound like anything special, but seeing that kind of thing on the PSX BITD would have been a trip fr.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Doom 64 is such a cool game in terms of aesthetic. Its horror vibe is top notch. I'm still kicking myself for passing it up back in the day in favor of Quake and Quake II for the N64 (Q2 port is interesting and has unique levels but it's still a stripped down port that removes the final boss fight against the Makron!).

[Lander]

It might be latent salt from experiencing Hectic, but Doom 64's overall design seemed kind of dickish to me in a way that the originals never were. Unrecoverable hidden death pits before a level exit, and other stuff like that.

The aesthetic, secret demon laser, and cool setpieces enabled by the scripting system are awesome though. That room which abuses chained sector doors to make it look like the walls are closing in on you after pressing a certain switch - chef's kiss.