What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Op Intensify]

and some of the best 3D I've seen on the Saturn.

Play Bulk Slash. Now that's the best 3D on the Saturn. It doesn't feel like it's going to fall apart any second like NiGHTS or Burning Rangers.

[EmperorIng]

Having Bulk Slash (dude I can't even remember how I stumbled into finding out about the game), I can say it does have some of the best 3D on the Saturn. It helps that it is one of those great 3D arena/action games with fun weapons, great level design/variety, awesome bosses, and more. It's also incredibly Japanese. Anime girls yelling SUGOOOOOOOOOOIII~ every time you do anything is certainly an entertaining touch.

However, I am extremely jealous that someone has got themselves a copy of Burning rangers. For a long time now it's been on my Saturn dream-list.

[BIL]

3rding Bulk Slash. Super-solid, smooth-controlling 3D mecha action game. Only got my copy a few months back and instantly fell in love with it. The simple destructive fun of machine-gunning and chucking grenades on foot, then blasting off into the sky and divebombing the hell out of stuff is good enough to remind me of Silent Bomber (PS1).

The hyperventilating anime chicks are indeed a great touch, haha. IYAAAAAAAA~ As is the booming, 80s-tastic synth/dual lead guitar soundtrack! Boss intros on live TV pump you the fuck up!

Incidentally it's by Computer Artist Productions, developers of the similarly impressive Hagane (SFC).

[null1024]

Having Bulk Slash (dude I can't even remember how I stumbled into finding out about the game), I can say it does have some of the best 3D on the Saturn. It helps that it is one of those great 3D arena/action games with fun weapons, great level design/variety, awesome bosses, and more. It's also incredibly Japanese. Anime girls yelling SUGOOOOOOOOOOIII~ every time you do anything is certainly an entertaining touch.

However, I am extremely jealous that someone has got themselves a copy of Burning rangers. For a long time now it's been on my Saturn dream-list.

A JP copy of Burning Rangers is cheap as hell [$15 to $30] compared to a US copy [$80+]. You lose out on being able to understand the voice directions though... ;_;

I'll look into getting Bulk Slash. I see a copy for $30 on Amazon from PlayImport that I am tempted to get [but they take ages for stuff to arrive], and other copies for $50 elsewhere.

Currently playing:
Armored Core [PS1] and Assault Suit Leynos 2 [Saturn]. Mentioned both at once, because AC feels like a 3D version of ASL.
Also, I'm terrible at both.

Keio Flying Squadron 2 [Saturn]. Fun, cute, enjoyable.

[trap15]

Maka Maka [SFC]

Basically everything you need to know about this strangely awesome game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGXPy_HDz7Q

You are a man of impeccable taste. I wish the translation project for the game would hurry up.

Why thank you I completely agree about the translation project though Since I don't know if that's ever going to happen, I've started writing a walkthrough with everything important translated. Still no story translation, but... this works for now. The gameplay and aesthetics are enough that I don't mind barely knowing the story.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Bulk Slash looks fun in the way I thought Starfighter 3000 would be but turned out not to be (misleading use of PC screenshot on the box to boot). I figure if I can cope in Leynos 2 and Gundam Side Story without knowing any Japanese I should be alright there?

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Why thank you I completely agree about the translation project though Since I don't know if that's ever going to happen, I've started writing a walkthrough with everything important translated. Still no story translation, but... this works for now. The gameplay and aesthetics are enough that I don't mind barely knowing the story.

Cool! shoot me a PM when you're done. I've known about this game for years and I shouldn't be letting the hope of possible fan translation hold me off any longer.

[EmperorIng]

Bulk Slash looks fun in the way I thought Starfighter 3000 would be but turned out not to be (misleading use of PC screenshot on the box to boot). I figure if I can cope in Leynos 2 and Gundam Side Story without knowing any Japanese I should be alright there?

The entire game (the parts that matter) is in English for the most part. Think like how Arcade games are mostly in English.

The mission briefings are in Japanese but the missions are all so straightforward that it doesn't matter (destroy this, collect 5 of that, protect the ship, etc). Your navigators all point you towards your target any time you press X Y Z so it's not like you never know where to go. The only mission where you don't indiscriminately destroy something is where you have to protect this one ship attempting to leave one level... and that basically amounts to destroy everything.

The VA is all in Japanese (obviously), except for some obvious SHIELDO RECOVAH and FIAH BRASTAH!
Most of the dialogue is your navigator communicating "Go Left!" "Go Right!" "Go Forward!" or "Behind you!" so combine that with the arrows that point directly to your directive it's not hard to grasp.

There is almost no story in the game outside of the intro anime (which is badass), the outro, and a hilarious long-ass conversation before and after the final boss (when the game finally decides that it wants to have a story). So you're really not missing anything, ha.

[BIL]

Bulk Slash looks fun in the way I thought Starfighter 3000 would be but turned out not to be (misleading use of PC screenshot on the box to boot). I figure if I can cope in Leynos 2 and Gundam Side Story without knowing any Japanese I should be alright there?

Haven't played GSS, but I would say Bulk Slash will be easier to suss out than Leynos 2 (it's easier to stay alive / avoid FISSON MAILED while figuring things out, at least). Like EmperorIng said, levels tend to be simple seek and destroy or find the key affairs. Yeah, do note the "target" in stage 3 is not to be destroyed, haha. I overlooked that initially. Whoops!

edit: there's also the stage where you need to pick up and drop off bombs at target points, so they can demolish stuff once all are set.

There's a full playthrough on Youtube if anything completely stumps you. For prospective buyers it's worth noting the game got a Satakore reprint, but these things are sometimes harder to find than the original copies so I can't guarantee it'll be much cheaper.

[FIL]

I'm between games right now and there is nothing on my shelf that interests me. I've got a fair few games and I've managed to burn myself out on almost all of them, and there isn't anything new that I feel like buying.

I just got through my Human Revolution pacifist run and two plays of The Missing Link, including a Factory Zero run.

Looks like it's Pinball Arcade until Jet Set Radio comes out on XBLA.

[Moniker]

Looks like it's Pinball Arcade until Jet Set Radio comes out on XBLA.

Pinball FX is my go-to burnout game too. That and Mega Man Classic. I'm taking a break from beholding the power of the Monado (Xenoblade Chronicles); one too many sidequests, I think. I love the idea of rebuilding Colony 6, but some of the required items are just a little too grindy. Also just realized you can trade with non-shop NPCs so you don't have to spend hours looking for fossil monkeys.

Been playing Metroid Prime instead. Why isn't this approach to FPSes imitated by more companies? It's freaking awesome. Also dabbling in Cave Story PSP. I think it was actually edited to widen the view rather than just stretch the screen, which makes it the best version of the game, IMO. Think I'm gonna play a non-hell run first with the uber weapons (Spur & Nemesis) just so I can get used to them. Sorry, Curly.

[Ruldra]

Final Fight 2cc get. That's one credit too many.

[BIL]

Nice going.

[EmperorIng]

My friend and I got to the fourth level of Die Hard Arcade on the Saturn last night.

I don't really know what the weakness to the football uniform guy is... I thought it was the back but that only seemed to work when it wanted to. He eventually survived longer and got killed by the two fat guy bosses of stage 4.

the story scenes are fucking hysterical though.

WHY HAVEN'T YOU OPENED THAT SAFE YET?

-loading-

IT'S OPEN IT'S OPEN

-loading-

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

-loading-

-bad guy and two thugs wheel a small pallet-jack with a few stacks of bills-

Why would these assholes waste all this time and effort for jack-shit in cash? Because they're nihilists (according to the manual) and don't believe in ANYTHING!

[BIL]

IIRC (a big "if"), the punch to sweep combo works pretty well on the huge footballers / firemen. They'll usually block the punches but get knocked down the sweep. Should be P, (hold up or down) P, K. Apologies if you've already tried this, it's been a while since I played.

One major advantage of the PS2 version over the Saturn one is the lack of load times. It basically plays like the STV cart. I have both since I love native hardware arcade ports (STV, Naomi, System 246), but if I could only have one it'd be M2's brilliant PS2 disc. Like all of their vastly superior AGES 2500 releases (in comparison to D3's weak 3D remakes) , it's import-only. Figures the US didn't get a compilation of those after the D3 one. Alien Soldier and Galaxy Force II on one disc, blasphemy.

I wish there were more good non-STG STV games for the Saturn. Baku Baku Animal's about the only one to catch my eye.

[drauch]

Yeah, the Die Hard Arcade saturn port and the ridiculous loading times got me to get the ST-V cart. Hell, it's like half the price of the Saturn port.

[FIL]

In a fit of boredom I decided to play Police Quest. Fucking Sierra adventure games. Instant game overs for stuff you could have no way of knowing unless you'd already fallen foul of it.

[trap15]

Still playing Maka Maka [SFC]

This game is so delightfully strange that I can't even believe it. I'm definitely going to be playing Idea no Hi [SFC] after this.

[null1024]

Yeah, the Die Hard Arcade saturn port and the ridiculous loading times got me to get the ST-V cart. Hell, it's like half the price of the Saturn port.

This game was like the only ST-V game I saw in US arcades, and I saw it regularly. Loved it too.
Shame about the Saturn version, I was thinking of picking it up...

[EmperorIng]

the game is so goofy and campy that the loading times become a part of the fun, especially with friends.

They are obnoxious, but really only a second long each.

[BIL]

Yeah, the loading itself isn't too awful. It's more that it breaks up the arcade version's rollicking pace and constant setpieces.

*jumps off roof to escape hail of automatic gunfire with no fucking idea what's beneath*

-BLACK SCREEN-

"OOF!" *good job that guard rail was there to stop your face! FUUUUCK THEY SHOT DOWN THE CHOPP-*

-BLACK SCREEN-

*ER! BOOOOM*

If it was a Double Dragon-style *exit stage right* *go up stairs* deal they'd be nearly unnoticeable.

The PS2 one also has some cool extras like the reskinned arrange mode, and you can play as Axe Battler, Tyris Flare and Altered Beast were-creatures as a nod to Makoto Uchida's earlier works. IIRC there's a time attack mode too, been a while though.

---

As for me... goddamn, the amount of hours I've gotten out of Brutal DOOM... so relaxing and gratifying when you know a level, so intense when you don't.

-I didn't realise how powerful the Plasma Shotgun (plasma gun alt fire) is. It doesn't require charging at all despite it not firing until you release the button. One blast point-blank will take down a Caco instantly, with no self-damage risk.

-I also didn't realise the occasional, violent *SPLAT* while backtracking over enemy viscera was disembodied heads popping when stood on. LOL

-New favourite thing to do: block monster closets with barrels, make the fuckers blow themselves up!

-You can carry barrels from level to level, but for god's sake don't try picking any up before getting a new Berserk pack.

[FIL]

Fun fact, in Police Quest, taking your clothes off in the locker room to take a shower KILLS YOU.

[shmuppyLove]

Having so much fun playing Wild Arms on my PSP. Music is awesome, battles are snappy and not annoying, systems are just complex enough to be interesting, load times are non-existant. Switching between characters to use different abilities is always a fun mechanic, no matter which genre the game is underneath.

Can't wait to dig into some more classic PS1 JRPGs.

[Ed Oscuro]

Uh, recently (mostly before STGT) ran through the Chex Quest series (I still haven't gotten the original release of Chex Quest 2 running - it features the original shitty maps - but the Chex Quest 3 three-mission download works fine when the IWAD is dropped into in ZDoom and other modern DOOM engines, and is great; I would just prefer the game run with more enemies and no health pick-ups in levels, and then we'd be talkin'; as it stands it's a very half-baked exercise due to the extreme difficulty in most areas. Also, fuck the last part of the penultimate area - with the reskinned Lost Souls - and fuck the last level of the last mission, just because), and some Half-Life engine stuff: Poke646, Vendetta, Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes again. I'm playing all these mods on hard for the new, fun experience, and allowing myself less backtracking and less loitering (Condition Zero's Deleted Scenes, and to some extent all Half-Life engine-based games, suffer when the player uses corners to slowly peek out at unwary enemies or snipe their extremities). Too bad there's no new content for me to really have fun with, although I am STILL finding easter eggs in the Deleted Scenes, and I've been looking carefully for a few years now. Got the nonfree Nexuiz from Steam, and preordered CS: Global Offensive - why not, my mouse has been behaving since I deleted Razer's shit tray program.

I seem to get smarter (because I'm not remembering every last particular of the maps) in HL mods when I play them as time goes on (including doing better in some new mods I've never played before than I would have years ago), including figuring out puzzles in record time that used to hold me up for a long while in Poke646; combat itself is easier now, too. At the same time I'm reducing the use of dumb exploits (see above, although I have found that unfortunately console use is still mandatory - I've gotten stuck in spots that have no business grabbing me, due to HL engine updates breaking things, apparently, and yet they still never manage to fix the player movement freeze a second or two after you load an autosave, or the other terrible bugs; not only that, but I use the gl_texturemode gl_linear command to remove mipmaps from the games entirely; filtering is forced through my graphics card's Catalyst control panel).

Poke646 does a very admirable job aping but also expanding the HL style - there are lots of riveted and faux-retro '50s and '60s touches here and there (one of my favorites is the subway cars) but there are also things that are decidedly modern. Gotta love the fake "Carson Cars" ads in the metro, for instance - they're no worse than fake ads in Monolith games like Condemned or FEAR, for example; I also like how they've branded the various places and groups in-game, with a stylized vacuum tube logo for "Audion Industries" - pretty appropriate for the game! The default hitscan-style bullet weapons from HL are replaced; instead of a pistol or a submachine gun you get a pistol-like NAILGUN! and a FAST NAILGUN! instead of a submachine gun. Their projectiles act like miniature, faster (I think) HL crossbow bolts, and they sound like them when they hit, too. It still almost feels like Quake. I actually hated these weapons for a long while, and I am starting to change - there is actually enough ammo that you can blast away at lots of things on Hard; have fun, don't give a fuck. I still go toe-to-toe with lots of aliens (especially at the beginning of the game) just to give myself some extra room for error in later confrontations. Poke646 has two other awesome weapons: A remote-detonated pipebomb (the Training section gives a pretty inventive description of exactly how you trigger it with your watch; Goldeneye was definitely an inspiration here) and a friendly little wormlike alien that loves candy and can be coaxed into shooting out very destructive goo for your enjoyment (it shoots at the enemies, I mean). Unfortunately the rest of the arsenal is limited and uninspired: There is a double-barrel shotgun that is essentially an unimpressive reskin of the regular Half-Life shotgun, but loses the single-shot capability, and there is a regular crossbow - useful and very cool-looking, but dicking around with another slow-flying projectile weapon without realistic ballistics is a real drag (the bolts fly completely straight, of course). Oh, and the crossbow has been replaced by a stupid pipe, and your attack weakens rapidly if you don't rest for a moment after the first few swings. Some more variety would have been great, but given the somewhat awesome (if redundant) nailguns, the pipe bomb, and the Xen Squasher, I can't complain too much. Also worth mentioning, Poke646 has some awesome mapping and inventive environments that do a lot more than take you through one room to the next. The inventiveness of some areas exceeds that of many typical Half-Life maps and of its official mods.

Poke646 delivers a nifty tale. The game locales itself are pretty much all hoary action FPS cliches, but it does take you through a somewhat interesting city. Anybody who's played Half-Life will immediately see parallels here, although the style is different enough that you might be confused about its claim to belong in the HL universe (besides the weapons, there's also a fair emphasis on technology that is unique to the Poke646 world, and the military in particular bears no resemblance to the HL military forces which are mostly very directly based on '90s era US forces and equipment).

I also decided to look up the soundtrack, and I'm very glad I did - I found out that the iconic Poke646 theme is actually a barely modified version of the amazing Entroducing...., the first (almost) all-sampled album. So I get the original album, its 2005 Deluxe Edition, and compilations of the sample sources to play with. That's serendipity! The song is "Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt," which is kinda funny given that the game requires a Steamfix patch to look its best in the content delivery / DRM service (Friendly might agree that the original title of the song Entroducing samples, "I Feel A New Shadow" by Jeremy Storch, is a more appropriate fit for Steam). Speaking of shadows over Steam, updates to HL through Steam seem to have broken the mod's MP3 player at a few points: The brief "Hazard" music theme (which plays over a short intro scene to the Training mission) and the very cool music for the Sewers (property of the Nation City Sewer Association, of course). I have to pull those up manually where I didn't a few years ago.

Poke646: Vendetta starts where Poke646 leaves off, with "last time on Poke646" style spoilers at the beginning. It's a nice continuation of the story, but truthfully I felt it might have been done totally differently. Consider HL2, which takes the original story as a springboard to go onto much crazier new things than the original HL. Vendetta, by comparison, ends up feeling very much like the old HL, so it is less strange or interesting by its finish, and just circles back around to the beginning, in my view. I'm not sure what to think of it otherwise. At the time it came out, it felt like the ULTRAMODERN MOD because of a few very clever features - maybe it didn't have a new rendering engine like Paranoia or Cry of Fear, or animations and decorative model prop use as Source-like as found in Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes, but Vendetta features region-based low-gravity areas early on, as well as a sort of neat (but ultimately pointless) portal sequence later on (very obviously inspired by the then-in-development game Portal - shit, Source is old). Weapons got an overhaul; instead of dicking around with nailguns, you get a standard HL-style assault rifle complete with grenade launcher - more like the M4 reskin from Half-Life: Blue Shift. Unfortunately it's not very exciting, even though it does look great. It still has a fair number of neat ideas and even better textures than Poke646, but it doesn't click with me quite like the original did, in part because it's a bit too dismissive of some characters. I do love, however, the points where you return to areas from Poke646, where (despite what I have written above) I get more of the classic Poke646 feeling at times, and it doesn't really feel like a revolution to the origin (it will later, though). Even though I have complained it felt too like a return to basic HL (by the end), you've gotta love that outtro.


Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes - I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that Steam hasn't fixed the failure of the Steam version to save your keybind preferences (which takes all of 30 seconds at game startup to fix when you know your binds by heart). On the plus side, I don't think there are many areas that are broken by dumb HL engine updates, at least not yet. I can't think of any at the moment.

Other shit - Friendly would be shocked, simply shocked to find out that despite the shenanigans about the for-pay version of Nexuiz (I will check out the fork of the original), AND the fact that the "Duel Mode" DLC seems to have some important game logic fixed bundled with it (?!), I bought both (the core game was $2.50, and the DLC $5, lol). It doesn't run fast enough on my current rig, but it seems very fun and beautiful. I am not sold on the in-game mutators (whatever the fuck they're called), though. I got a big bomb and killed everybody, losing my winning streak against the dumb bots in the process. Hooray?

I am looking for more actual quality free shit - Blacklight Retribution is something our very own prodigal son Twiddle has been playing regularly, so I hope the initially reported balance issues were either overstated or are being ironed out.

I installed Second Life too - I wanted to check out some of the featured spots. I am still, despite all the shootin' and the hoppin' and the hippin' and the hoppin' - very much interested in neat adventures. A few incidents involving impossibly proportioned scalies won't put me in my grave.

Speaking of adventure, quality, and free, have you downloaded the updated classic King's Quest and Quest For Glory games from AGDI? Go here, quickly! I need to hoard the rest of their installers. Unfortunately I haven't had time to play with any of them.

Finally: Played the Noitu Love 2 demo...interesting. Not sold on it, unfortunately. I hate the style of the profile graphics and so on, and seeing the dumb things every time you get to the menu is a chore. Also another game that requires me to go into my monitor's OSD because the author didn't provide proper resolution options for the demo. Now, the actual combat and stuff - well, I spent a lot of time in the first level comboing dumb enemies. The combat system doesn't seem deep as much as cluttered. I did find the second level opening quite impressive, though, and it's hard to beat the awesomeness of the hero character's moves and animations (but green helmet army? Fuckin' SERIOUSLY? I like Voltron as much as the next guy, but that just crossed the fuckin' line, man). I might get it yet.

Why would these assholes waste all this time and effort for jack-shit in cash? Because they're nihilists (according to the manual) and don't believe in ANYTHING!

Wie...They...believe in nothing, dude! (Cue Wie Glauben fight music.)

[stryc9]

Bloody hell Ed

My Mega Drive is off being recapped, so it's back to current gen for a bit. Got the new characters for SFxT and playing around with Bryan Fury and Cody, no real time for games too much at the mo as uni is at crunch time phase for me, Dungeon Fighter is too time consuming as well.

[Ed Oscuro]

http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/ ... oming.html
hrm

[SuperGrafx]

Pinball Arcade (X360) - bought the latest add-on tables.
I can't get over how incredibly fun Medieval Madness is!

[FIL]

I wonder how many retarded hoops you have to jump through to get the full score.

[Ed Oscuro]

Police Quest? haha, I've got a sealed copy of that around here somewhere.

[FIL]

A SEALED GAME?