I just bought a gamecube.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:00 am

I was P.N 03 or whatever it might be called at Blockbuster. It looked boring and uninteresting as do all PAL covers. What is it, like an Oni clone?

Capt. Takehiko · Post by **Capt. Takehiko** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:40 am

Elixir wrote:Oh, alright. Thanks. If I need any more material that doesn't make any sense and will ultimately confuse people who don't know what the fuck you're talking about, I'll keep you in mind.

Well... everyone gets to have their fun.

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:40 am

Elixir wrote:I was P.N 03 or whatever it might be called at Blockbuster. It looked boring and uninteresting as do all PAL covers. What is it, like an Oni clone?

It's NOTHING like the crapfest that is Oni. The best I can describe it is a 3D shmup. See here:

http://hanisbottomline.com/reviews/gc/R ... -PN03.HTML

And while we're on it, Space Raiders (note that Mastiff has released this in NA now):

http://hanisbottomline.com/reviews/gc/R ... iders.HTML

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:51 am

I really don't think I'd be interested in P.N 03 at all, actually. I've read that review and I've seen the screenshots, and my previous opinion still stands. Though it might be worth renting, I'd rather just save myself the time.

I suppose I should add that I bought a gamecube for it's "classics." which are the games you'll still be playing long after the console has died(I'm guessing, this will happen by the end of the year?) like how people treat SNES right now.

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:05 am

Bar81 wrote:
IlMrm wrote:
Bar81 wrote:P.N.03
Space Raiders
Two games I own that I definitely should spend more time on. Started playing P.N. 03 again to get the Papillion Suit, but all the trial missions and the backtracking through empty rooms is extremely boring.
There's very little backtracking. You're doing something wrong. Play the real game. If you're any good you'll get all the suits playing through the game.

IIRC to get the Blackbird Suit which is needed if you want the Papillon Suit, you need to either complete all the trial missions, or buy all the suits and their energy drives. To get all the suits(most are 600,000 points each, and the energy drives are 110,000 each), you have to play the trial missions to earn the points to buy them.

In the trial missions, there are rooms that branches off into two other rooms, and some of those will branch off into two others. That is a hell of a lot of backtracking through empty rooms in the trial missions. Today in a trial mission I had to backtrack seven rooms to reach the room where it branched off from. If there's another way to get all the suits without going through the trial missions to earn points to buy them, I really would like to know.

In the regular missions it's straightforward, thank goodness.

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:58 am

IlMrm wrote:
Bar81 wrote:
IlMrm wrote: Two games I own that I definitely should spend more time on. Started playing P.N. 03 again to get the Papillion Suit, but all the trial missions and the backtracking through empty rooms is extremely boring.
There's very little backtracking. You're doing something wrong. Play the real game. If you're any good you'll get all the suits playing through the game.
IIRC to get the Blackbird Suit which is needed if you want the Papillon Suit, you need to either complete all the trial missions, or buy all the suits and their energy drives. To get all the suits(most are 600,000 points each, and the energy drives are 110,000 each), you have to play the trial missions to earn the points to buy them.

In the trial missions, there are rooms that branches off into two other rooms, and some of those will branch off into two others. That is a hell of a lot of backtracking through empty rooms in the trial missions. Today in a trial mission I had to backtrack seven rooms to reach the room where it branched off from. If there's another way to get all the suits without going through the trial missions to earn points to buy them, I really would like to know.

In the regular missions it's straightforward, thank goodness.

Maybe I'm just good but I got it all and never did any of the trial missions

Then again I played the JP version of the game so maybe they changed things for the western release.

IlMrm · Post by **IlMrm** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:48 am

Bar81 wrote: Maybe I'm just good but I got it all and never did any of the trial missions Then again I played the JP version of the game so maybe they changed things for the western release.

I did a little checking, and that's exactly what they did. You are right, in the Japanese version all you have to do is beat the game, and you'll get the Blackbird suit. In the western version, it's a pain in the ass. It's even more of a pain to get the Papillon suit.

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:58 am

One of these days I'll have to give Space Raiders a try... I think I can still pick up a copy out of the bargain bin at the local Sam's Club...

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:13 pm

IlMrm wrote:
Bar81 wrote: Maybe I'm just good but I got it all and never did any of the trial missions Then again I played the JP version of the game so maybe they changed things for the western release.
I did a little checking, and that's exactly what they did. You are right, in the Japanese version all you have to do is beat the game, and you'll get the Blackbird suit. In the western version, it's a pain in the ass. It's even more of a pain to get the Papillon suit.

Well that blows. Reminds me of the US butchering of Contra: Hard Corps for the Mega Drive where they removed the hitbar for the western release.

PepsimanVsJoe · Post by **PepsimanVsJoe** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 5:57 pm

Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2(If I ever get a good internet connection I'll post some crazy replay vids)
Paper Mario 2
Zelda Collector's Edition(Good luck finding this on the cheap though, I was lucky to stumble upon this and the Zelda 64 master edition for $30 shipped)
Zelda: The Wind Waker(The sailing is for the most part crap but there is a very charming adventure otherwise)
Skies of Arcadia Legends(Provided you didn't already play through the DC version, although this one adds a few extra quests)
F-Zero GX(Tough as hell though, especially the soul-crushing story mode)
Smash Brothers Melee(Still one of the most popular games for the system..and for good reason)
1080 Avalanche(Really good snowboarding game)
Resident Evil 4(No idea why though)
Megaman Network Transmission(Unfortunately it gets easier as you progress but it is a fine action-oriented Megaman game based off the GBA Battle Network titles)
Both Metroid Primes(Not really my cup of tea but I can recognize them as being really well done titles in the Metroid fashion)

Looking forward to Zelda: Twilight Princess as well.

What I can't recommend:

Tales of Symphonia(Probably the worst game in the series, lousy characters, awful story, mediocre everything else. A big fuck you to Namco Hometek for being one of the worst publishers around.)

Eternal Darkness(I really have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing here. I run through hallways, fight a few monsters, and next thing I know I'm someone else..right)

Wario World(Not one of Treasure's high points..best left alone)

Dartagnan1083 · Post by **Dartagnan1083** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 8:42 pm

I'd reccomend at least renting 'Tales of Symphonia' and 'Eternal Darkness' to see if they're your thing.

I enjoyed both titles, but I do see why others would have serrious problems with them.
Plus ED can be picked up for relativly little.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:22 pm

Already purchased Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and it's arriving at the end of the week. Though I still won't be able to play it until a Freeloader has been bought. The 'Freeloader JAP/USA memory deletion' garbage is going to force me to buy two fucking memory cards, too. Kind of pathetic, considering I only have one or two intentions to buy myself japanese gamecube games in the first place.
'
Oh well, it's nice to have a console that doesn't revolve around popularity.

Dartagnan1083 · Post by **Dartagnan1083** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:07 am

You really should have asked us about FF: CC first

It's pretty much a Gauntlet-esque multiplayer game.
Which is barely worth playing unless you have 2-3 friends...which requires GBAs and link cables.

But if you knew this ahead of time then godspeed...it is quite fun if you have the resources

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:45 am

It's only $32 USD, so I think it's a pretty reasonable deal for a brand new game. I just -need- something to play. Don't think for a second that I rushed into this, because that's not the case.

After watching the trailers and videos at gamespot, the one player mode looks really good. Minus the bucket carrying, which I don't fully understand properly.

It's always been a pain in the ass buying games, only to realize their graphics are horrid. Squaresoft are pretty known for good graphics, so this will be a good evaluation test for my new gamecube. I don't enjoy having a console with any games for it whatsoever.

After FFCC, I'll be trying for Shikigami no Shiro II.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:29 pm

For starters definitely get:

Metroid Prime

Viewtiful Joe

Mario Sunshine

Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:57 pm

As much as I enjoyed Mario 64, I really can't enjoy Sunshine. An old friend owned this before he moved, and I had the enjoyment of killing this oversized center-peed. Not only did the controls annoy the hell out of my experience, but I was killed by a giant bug.

I've rented Viewtiful Joe for PS2, and it's pretty good. I heard it was short, though.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:08 pm

Elixir wrote:Oh well, it's nice to have a console that doesn't revolve around popularity.

My sis actually give me her PS2 Slimline just because she wasn't using it anymore. Now I have two, I was thinking of selling one for cash so I could buy another Cube.

There's just something about Nintendo that I like. Maybe it's the franchises, or their personality, or maybe because they are more gaming oriented than the "other guys."

Sure, Nintendo may be last in the race, but who cares as long what you play makes you happy?

aesthetik · Post by **aesthetik** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:31 pm

If you're really looking for quality GC games:

Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (especially if you don't have it for PS1)
Resident Evil 4 (People say must-buy for a reason..seriously get this)
Resident Evil 1 remake (Should only be $20 Greatest Hits and it's worth far more than that)
Resident Evil 0
Metroid Prime (Amazing game)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Not as good as the first, but still damn good)
Viewtiful Joe (Tough, but extremely fun)
Viewtiful Joe 2
Zelda: Wind Waker
Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
Smash Bros
Phantasy Star I&2

Even though everyone has already mentioned most of these games, you absolutely can't go wrong buying one (or all) of them.

And for my personal likes:

P.N. 03
Tales of Symphonia
Eternal Darkness
Mario Sunshine
Baiten Katos
MegaMan: Network Transmission
Pikmin 2
Donkey Kong: jungle Beat (which is pretty fun)
MegaMan X: Command Mission (RPG)
Zelda: 4 Swords

I will also be getting Killer 7, as it looked pretty good at E3 and the previews make it out to be a unique and interesting game.

Of course, to each their own, but I personally don't care for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles at all. I think the game is poorly done, with a battle system that lacks any depth whatsoever. I do understand that it's meant to be played multiplayer - and I enjoy Zelda 4 swords - but this one doesn't get any better regardless of how many people play. That's my take on it, at least; take it for what it's worth.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:51 pm

Crystal Chronicles was overseen by the guy who made Final Fantasy II, and the SaGa series. That pretty much says it all for me.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:02 pm

Hey, I liked the SaGa series. Did you ever play Frontier 2? Despite the fact that you spend a relatively large amount of your time taking the role of a character who dies, and then switching over to another character, that's the only lack of enthusiasm the game has.

Plus, itself contained some really nice artwork. The gamecube itself isn't really one for RPGs, which is obvious. If I wanted RPGs, I'd spend my time playing the ones I already have which hardly get touched. After visiting 6/7 stores and failing to find a copy of Disgaea, I thought "Oh well." and went along my merry way. That kind of resolved my entire RPG fan scene. I only touch Phantom Brave because of it's unique style, but we'll see how I like Crystal Chronicles when it arrives.

My current view on the game is this - it contains a nice atmosphere. There's this lame bucket carrying phase, but that isn't going to stop me from putting this game under an endless trial.

However, anything which involved Diablo 2-style fighting always bares my interest. I'll probably be picking up a Freeloader around the same time as this. Starting somewhere is the key to starting somewhere, so remember that.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:47 pm

Elixir wrote:As much as I enjoyed Mario 64, I really can't enjoy Sunshine. An old friend owned this before he moved, and I had the enjoyment of killing this oversized center-peed. Not only did the controls annoy the hell out of my experience, but I was killed by a giant bug.

I've rented Viewtiful Joe for PS2, and it's pretty good. I heard it was short, though.

Then definitely skip Sunshine but definitely get Metroid Prime...assuming you like Metroid.

And Viewtiful Joe is a must buy if you like 2D beat 'em ups.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:54 pm

Honestly, I didn't like the Metroid demo which came with my now returned DS. If it's anything like Halo, I probably won't be that interested. Though I've seen it pretty cheap around here($35 NZD) so I might.

And yeah, I like Viewtiful Joe. Aside from the matrix imitation that halts time, because if I wanted that I'd buy Enter the Matrix(which wasn't bad either, when I rented it.)

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:57 pm

Nobody liked that demo. Ignore it. The GC games play nothing like it.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:32 pm

The GC Metroid games are actually pretty good, I really liked the atmosphere in Prime. (Haven't played Echoes yet.)

As for F-Zero GX, it's a great game, just that the difficulty is a bit too high and as for Story Mode.....good luck. I thought Captain Falcon was kinda lame though.

Looking forward to Zelda: Twilight Princess. Hopefully it'll be alot better than "drown me in the ocean" Windwanker.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:35 pm

Hmm, in this case, I'll check out the videos over at gamespot. Back in the day, I was a reviewer. That's where most of my opinionated judgment comes from. Nobody should trust a review of a game until you've experienced gameplay with your own eyes.

This is easily seen by Ikaruga reviews. People judged this game for it's difficulty, lack of menus, and even one of them had the nerve to say "it turned the picture sideways, and didn't say at all what it did originally." This is basically why I stopped reviewing games. Along with a few other reasons that are pretty irrelevant.

So yeah, this is the process of what's done when interested in buying games. Have people throw suggested titles at me, and then check them out.

Originally, Animal Crossing was my top priority to begin with. After watching the trailer, it just appeared as another version of Harvest Moon. They are much alike, at least. Being a graphics whore, Final Fantasy games are a mutual thing to have, and this is partly why games such as Vagrant Story will never be played.

Edit: Christ, a 9.7 from gamespot? Aren't they overrating this just a little for a Metroid game? Let me guess, the C stick controls your aim, and analog controls movement? R button for shooting, or something of that caliber?

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:43 pm

Metroid Prime might look like a FPS in videos. However, if you've played the N64 Zeldas, be aware that it controls more like those, and nothing like a console FPS.

If you can rent the first one, I'd just go for that. It's one of those games where you don't really get a full understanding of how it works until you actually play it.

Edit: The R button, like in Zelda, locks on. The big A button fires, and the B button jumps. The C stick switches beams, and the analog stick moves. The d-pad switches visors, Y fires missles, and X is the morph ball.

And I'd say it's worth a 9.7. There's a sizable group who feel it's the best Metroid game by a fair margin. Personally, I'm torn between Super and Prime. Either way, if you're a graphics whore you need Prime just for Phendrana Drifts, which is stunning in 480p.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:53 pm

The controls for Prime are something like this:

Control Stick - Moves you around. Up will move you forward, Down will move you backwards, and Left and Right makes you turn.

D-Pad - Choose visor (these give you the ability to see in different modes, like X-Ray and Thermal vision, plus you have a scanner for um....scanning stuff)

A - Shoots, duh

B - makes you jump

X - Turns into Morph ball mode/returns to normal

Y - Shoots Missles

C-Stick - Switches between the various beams you acquire

L - Locks on I believe

R - Locks on

Z - I'm not sure, it's been a while since I've played the game.

It is not a Halo clone, it's far from it. Think of it as a First-Person Sci-Fi Zelda. (Metroid is bascially a Sci-Fi Zelda IMHO).

I recommend that you get it, espeically if you like Metroid games.

[EDIT] Oops, looks like sethsez beat me to the punch.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:57 pm

Z brings up the map.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:01 pm

sethsez wrote:Z brings up the map.

Oh yeah, that's what it was!! Without the map, you'd probably be lost for hours!! Although 3D maps are a little confusing for me, which probably lead to many bouts of panic after blowing up the reactors in Descent II, since you had only so much time to get to the exit before you were vaporized and lose all your weapons. Thank goodness for the Guide Bot.

sethsez · Post by **sethsez** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:03 pm

I actually forgot the map was even there. Then again, I never use maps in Metroid games... the first one I ever completed was part II, so I probably just got used to feeling my way around and never felt the need for a map.

shmups.system11.org

I just bought a gamecube.

oh okay