The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Thread (NEW)!!!

[BIL]

Well, the birdstep is still in the PAL localisation of Vampire Killer. They may have cleaned all the cadavers out of Dracula's pad but those lil' tweeties are shit outta luck! "FUCK ANIMALS" - Sega of Europe

Also I felt goddamn near nauseous playing just two stages of that 50hz POS. What a travesty. NTSCJ MD Dracula is all about speed. Speed killing, speed platforming, speed birdstepping. Bounding up staircases four steps at a time, shredding meaty hordes with whirling blades, demolishing minibosses in gouts of flame, slashing and stabbing one way while leaping deathfalls in another, grabbing the red crystal mid-descent with a perfectly judged Indy Jones swing, etc etc... fellow patrons of our great Off Topic forum: if you think you know MD Dracula and you're actually referring to this game: STFU! >:[ Redeem yourself by hitting your cart with a hammer. ^_~

[greg]

Don't think I've seen any mention of Devil Hunter Yohko ITT. Even though I haven't played it much myself I think it's the best Masaya game by far, very neat charge/shield mechanic with persistent enemies that force you to master it ASAP, and slope heavy level design vaguely reminiscent of the Strider series.

Yes, I even posted pictures of DH Yohko a few pages back. I just recently bought it. It's great fun, but it's nowhere close to being the best Masaya game. Assault Suits Valken, Assault Suits Leynos 2, and Langrisser are some of the best, I'd say.

[stryc9]

Well, the birdstep is still in the PAL localisation of Vampire Killer. They may have cleaned all the cadavers out of Dracula's pad but those lil' tweeties are shit outta luck! "FUCK ANIMALS" - Sega of Europe

Makes you wonder what they were thinking at the time - Mega Drive was sold on the fact that 'mature content' was OK, Mortal Kombat has buckets more blood and yet they censor this?

Also I felt goddamn near nauseous playing just two stages of that 50hz POS. What a travesty.

Tell me about it. I never, I repeat never want to see another PAL game again, unless it's a british game to begin with. I'm from a PAL region - on top of getting short changed with what actually got localised, we had to put up with bordered, stuttery versions of games with content edited out of them

I suffered this with Neo Geo BITD as well. Playing PAL Fatal Fury then going to the arcade and feeling the (massive) speed difference, I was like WTF is going on here?

[BIL]

Awwww yeahhh. I'd forgotten about triggering the classic Famicom trilogy BGMs in Vampire Killer when at max power, had put it down to randomness. Turns out you go to options and leave "sound" at 005 and "music" at 073 (573! oh for when that name meant something...). Set difficulty to "Expert" and demo to "Skip" and away you go! Every time you max out your weapon you'll randomly get a YM2612 rendition of Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears or Beginning until you get hit. If you clear a miniboss or stage boss you'll get the cute item pickup "meep!" before the song resumes.

I'm "supposed" to be "working" on The Ninja Warriors Again but VK is so good. I can beat it all night, that's what she said.

"WARNING: THE BIG ENEMY IS APPROACHING AT FULL THROTTLE. ACCORDING TO THE DATA IT IS IDENTIFIED AS 'GEAR STEAMER.'"

"meh stfu"



So many places to boot undead chumps in they fuckin' mout.

[BrianC]

Makes you wonder what they were thinking at the time - Mega Drive was sold on the fact that 'mature content' was OK, Mortal Kombat has buckets more blood and yet they censor this?

I'm not sure why it was censored for all of Europe, but I read the censorship for Bloodlines and Contra was due to Germany.

[stryc9]

Of course, Germany. That would explain it alright. What's funny though is the name change from Bloodlines to New Generation. It's as if they didn't realize it was in reference to characters in the game having ancestors related to them, they just saw the word 'Blood' and down came the censorship axe.

PAL regions lose again

[drauch]

Hey BIL, do you ever record any of your playthroughs? I'd like to watch you stomp Vampire Killer.

[BIL]

Sadly I can't record anything but MAME .inps at the moment. :[ My first big non-gaming toy will be a good recording setup.

VK's a pretty simple game, though - any decent speedrun will give you an idea of how to rip through it. Basically keep blasting enemies with subweapons while moving in for the kill (think following a sonic boom in as Guile), and don't forget to exploit the light/heavy dynamic and the downstrike for hop-over kills. And as you get better and take less hits, you'll find you more frequently have the max weapon and bomb - both of which fuel the destruction further. It's a game for tearing through much like the FC Ninja Ryukendens.

edit: hmm, looks like I may be able to record after all! Will see about getting an Expert mode 1LC upped to YT sometime tonight.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

If I remember right, the character can take a lot of damage quickly. Got completely shut down by the underwater level boss, too. Could not figure that one out at all.

The method to that boss is deceptively easy. He only ever moves from left to right to shoot at you, so rather than trying to chase him back and forth just stand on the rock center of the room and fling your boomerang in whatever direction he's at. If timed right, the trajectory of your shot should be able to destroy his own before they can split while also toasting him quite nicely.

Mamono Hunter Yoko was developed by KLON, not Masaya. The atmosphere definitely has something, but I agree about the general sloppiness. Stage and boss design is just cheap (and I even managed to get quite far). For a dark-themed side-scrolling action game, I'd recommend Kujaku Ou 2 instead. Very unique atmosphere, and the it lets you fight fetuses!

During my play time yesterday I managed to reach the stage 5 boss before I had to call it quits for the day. I don't think it's nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. Takes a bit of getting used to, yes but I think it's pretty far from being cheap, even with the low stun time. I'd say the learning curve for this game's levels is less than your average Castlevania game. Oh, and thanks for the recommendations! I definitely enjoy being able to play more of these darkly platformers.

Yes, I even posted pictures of DH Yohko a few pages back. I just recently bought it. It's great fun, but it's nowhere close to being the best Masaya game. Assault Suits Valken, Assault Suits Leynos 2, and Langrisser are some of the best, I'd say.

My bad. I actually hadn't checked this thread in a while. Not a fan of mecha or the tank controls that usually come with the games themed after them, but I guess I'll have to look into ASV too.

[drauch]

Okay, back at Bloodlines. I feel like a jackass about my comment with the stiff controls. Turns out I was playing on a controller with a jank D-pad. I plugged the same one in from the other night and instantly noticed I had trouble going left at times. Ugh.

Still, doesn't erase the fact that I suck. Got to stage 4-8 before I lost all my doods. I hate Cvania clocktowers so much. I'll give it another run maybe tomorrow. I'm sure my roommates are tired of hearing me yell obscenities.

[Ganelon]

Who are you playing as? If you're playing as John, then try Eric for an easier time in every part of the game if you figure out what to abuse...

[drauch]

John for now. The main thing is that I'm just terribly out of practice. Making lots of stupid mistakes: collecting items on impulse that I don't need, lack of patience, attacking too soon, etc.

[BIL]

Ugh, sorry drauch. KEGA's video codec is lightweight enough that my crummy PC can record with it, but an absolute nightmare to convert to mainstream format without hideous sync problems. In case it's still of any interest, here's links to the raw .avi files for each stage of a Vampire Killer Expert mode no-miss. They only seem to work in Windows Media Player, and seeking is a bit sketchy, but they otherwise do play perfectly there. I look forward to the day I can record straight from console, a far-off dream...

edit: oh, and you need emulator's KGV1.dll file in your windows/system32 folder as well or WMP won't play. -_- Here's a download if you don't have the emulator (it automatically installs the codec during recording setup).

Ahem. Lots of silly mistakes here and there in this run, but it should give an idea of how to approach the game aggressively. tbh in a fast-paced, relatively forgiving game like this I like to play a bit crazy. My nerves are a bit shot (family visiting tomorrow) so a certain lethal optional challenge in stage 4 goes unanswered. ;]

Stage 1 / Ruins of Castle Dracula, Romania not a whole lot to say about this stage, really. Bloodlines adds bats in the penultimate dungeon area, complicating things very slightly.

Stage 2 / Atlantis Shrine, Greece caught on video, the moment I learn the red giant armour's crushing leap is aimed to land right on you! This is the first of two stages with no health pickups whatsoever, so death by attrition must be guarded against.

Stage 3 / Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy the opening area is one of my favourite sidescrolling action things ever with its fierce fighting. Giant staircase demonstrates how to haul ass VK-style. As with Greece there's no health pickups. King Bone Dragon miniboss demonstrates the axe's very useful ability to strike overhead targets from a crouch. Light attacks are essential on Gargoyle's final pattern to avoid being slammed into him after every hit.

Stage 4 / Munitions Factory, Germany there's two hidden 1ups in this stage, didn't bother with either as the first is roundabout and the second is easy to die getting. Worth getting them when you're going for a first 1CC, if you die on the second the first will cancel the loss. Probably the trickiest platforming area of the game at the end. Gear Steamer likes to pretend he's in a fighting game so I really kick the shit out of him.

Stage 5 / Versailles Palace, France there are no guaranteed health pickups here, and several life-draining hazards to master (skullmonkeys, armour lord in entry hall, giant bone pillar, erratic bombers in cellar). Entry hall demonstrates use of the light attack to swat away an incoming projectile followed by rushing in and using heavies to immobilise and demolish its source. Totally cocked up the bone pillar, heh. You want to tease both ghosts out before going to work on it. You can randomly get a roast beef from the bombers, like I do, but it's not to be relied on. I think Bloodlines got rid of this.

Got clipped by the gatling gun armour because I felt like being stupid and refusing to duck. You can actually nail him and close in for the kill without ducking. Bloodlines gives the Evil Pillar triple rather than double fireballs, being slightly harder for John to deal with, but as with most of these changes it's not very effectual in practice. Also captured on video, I learn the Queen of Moss's divebomb can hit you while you're ducking. Usually chuck an axe up her ass.

Stage 6 / Castle Proserpina, England don't know what happened on the bridge, awful timing on my part but this is a warts and all run. Normally you can smack all the birds and medusas without missing a step, but if you miss one you need to stop and regroup. For the shattered mirror hallway you need to keep an eye on your character's feet in the lower layer at all times. Damn near walked off the edge to my death at the end.

This stage receives the biggest, and only really relevant, difficulty increase in Bloodlines - Death doesn't give healing items, meaning you've got one lifebar for the whole stage. I play sloppily throughout and get off scot-free, but in NTSCU you have to be extremely careful with the first half of the stage lest the massive rush of bosses in the second whittle you down. The resurrected stage bosses take double damage in both J and US, so they're never very hard to deal with even successively.

Staying close to Medusa renders her flame attacks harmless. Dracula's various fireballs can all be snuffed out as you hit him, with proper timing. That bitch Drolta claps me with her pincer fireball attack. The proper way to handle it is to jump early so both fireballs target the thin air you used to be in. Crouching axe works well for keeping her swooping attacks at bay. Monster Dracula's very last form actually isn't that dangerous. It looks like he's about to squash me, but you actually have to play very badly to even get into that situation (much more intuitive to just run underneath him early).

[drauch]

Awesome, thanks a bunch for the uploads! I certainly gathered a bit more tips from that than the speedrun I watched earlier. I suffered the most in the revolving axe/flying demon scooter room, mainly because I didn't take them down before then reached the ground. I'll see how I do with Stage 5 tomorrow.

I find it criminal that I neglected this Castlevania title for so long, especially for claiming to be such a fan of the traditional games. What a damn fool I've been!

[BIL]

I love those things, haha - so weird to look at, they make an awesome mechanical chittering, and they blow up real good with screen-jarring explosions too!

Incidentally, they're one of two fan-designed monsters from a magazine contest Konami ran for the game in Japan - the other being the Versailles skullmonkeys. Well, technically they're bats. Sure as hell act like monkeys to me though, with their vine-swinging antics. Apparently the gold and silver carts given as prizes make the regular-edition VK cart look reasonably priced.

Was fooling about with the game yesterday, and as with Contra Hard Corps, some enemies will do weird things if you stop and observe them. A headless harpy touched down and paraded back and forth without a care in the world in stage 3's opening, brrr. And the skullmonkeys - I mean, hanging bats will disgorge a rolling bomb from their mouths, if you don't smack them to set off their recoil attack. In Hard Corps' alien-infested base, the "monster roosters" will devour infected soldiers and even friggin' each other if left alone.

[Ed Oscuro]

Incidentally, they're one of two fan-designed monsters from a magazine contest Konami ran for the game in Japan

lol, the first and third entries for Bronze wipe the floor with what they actually put in, if only in terms of the concept art. What the fuck at that second one though. LOOK AT ME, IMA DOLLA MADE O' SILVA SO GIMME DAT PRIZE

I guess the first one wouldn't have worked well unless they had some kind of underwater stage - I suppose it could rise out of the floor in sections of Atlantis? - and I don't know what the third one is, but awesome regardless.

[BIL]

Chain Pierce looks it might've made a neat second midboss for Germany, with the slight mecha motif it seems to have. Looks like the Headhunter Bat employed a very similar "anchored enemy" gimmick. Needle Hornet, I dunno - not fond of "jumbo animal" enemy designs (see the original Silent Hill's entire boss roster), and the harpies seem to fill the same role of a large, aggressive flying enemy with more style.

But the second, yeah - "smooth stone of larvae?" more like smooth and refreshing tablet of Alka-Seltzer. Maybe he was going to roll himself into the water in stage 2 and cause a bubbly commotion. Gradius III reference!

[Ed Oscuro]

Headhunter Bat is a disgusting refresh of the classic Super Castlevania IV enemy which is similar even to those tree spirits from Haunted Castle - except since the parts are now little spheres, we can make use of BLAST PROCESSING!! WOO

If anything, I thought Chain Pierce had a Roman Gladiator motif and I couldn't really tell about Needle Hornet - if it was meant to act just like a bit flying insect, yeah, that'd be terrible and dumb. I thought it had something of a cyborg/mecha motif actually, so we're somewhat reversed there.

Smooth stone of larvae...that's even worse than I had imagined. Well, it's not as if the series hasn't gone that route since, but make the actual form something disgusting, instead of a "smooth stone." Like a dragon or a throne that weeps big slugs off or something...or a dragon inviting you to sit on his throne...fuck I dunno

I wonder how many people submitted Super Harpy Aerobic Twins from Isla Lesbos?

[BIL]

Honestly never connected the HH Bats and the AC/IV/X68k walltreethingies - the latter are pretty blah, being rooted to a spot and pawing uselessly at air while being whipped from safe distance (...actually, this explains Silent Hill 4's wallthingies. Maybe SH is where bad Dracula monsters go to die?).

I thought HH Bat was pretty distinguished at that point in the series both artistically and mechanically. Curiously metallic humanoid bat chilling upside down ready to lop off unsuspecting heads with its razor wings > sad woody thing stuck in a wall groping boobs (if lucky). The backlashing revenge attack is a keeper - I'm always aiming to combine speed and destruction percent (none of that weenie running past monsters!) while also minimising damage, and those things never feel entirely safe to kill at speed. The bomb barf is also functional at catching out the overly-cautious, it's hard to dodge without Eric's Doki Doki Panic move iirc (haven't seen it in years). Walltreethingy is just a one-time surprise and long-term chore to scrub off the wall, like marginally more threatening shower mildew.

Ah, here's what Needle Hornet was subconsciously reminding me of (ta HG101!):



edit: haha... just saw a skeleton wrench its head off and chuck it at me for the first time in ages. Had forgotten they'll do that.

[zinger]

I've always been a big fan of Motoaki Takenouchi's music (all his MD soundtracks are just amazingly cool), but the weird perspective of Landstalker and the overly slow pace in the beginning of the game has always prevented me from making enjoying it. My expectations of the game picking up later on are extremely low, but I'm curious of what everyone else think? Soundtrack aside, I mean. I don't think it's been mentioned here yet.

[Ganelon]

I recall how everyone used to mention it in the same sentence as Phantasy Star II and Shining Force. I've never been a huge fan of Landstalker's isometric platforming, especially since the later released The Story of Thor / Beyond Oasis does just about everything (characters, setting, graphics, music, combat, platforming) better. I'd chalk it up more to the innovative new camera perspective since this was also a time when weak isometric games such as Solstice II / Equinox (SFC) had much better reputations. Even in a relatively scarce genre for the platform, I don't see Landstalker in my top 10 MD RPGs.

I agree that Motoaki Takenouchi is outstanding though. I'd say that Shining Force II was his crowning work, although I'm sure he would've had even better had he stayed longer in the industry. I always likened his musical style to Motoi Sakuraba's.

[Rob]

I think Landstalker is great - satisfying challenge even if some of it is kind of sneaky (platforms obscured by the view). Also love some Story of Thor for different reasons.

[stryc9]

Landstalker was great BITD, as there was really nothing much like it on the Mega Drive at the time. I believe it was also either the first or second 16 MEGA game. At the time the isometric graphics blew me away, well, actually I still think they're great, but it got confusing with no shadow cast by the main character leading to a few unintended falls.

Light Crusader fixed this, and you can jump around corners too. I never played LC BITD, but I'm on the third dungeon level as we speak, and have only just got stuck with one of the puzzles.

I don't tend to use guides, although Pier Solar made me break that rule a couple of times

[zinger]

Yes, I definitely agree about Shining Force II being Takenouchi's best work! Insane level of quality there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFIFLDU9 ... 64EB9074BD

I think Light Crusader is weak, excepting the music and graphics which have a certain charm (but get repetative due to rehashing). The puzzles are not only annoying but also unsophisticated. I was annoyed with the perspective here, too, though most of the time it doesn't matter much since you have so much healing magic at your disposal (so you can just run straight across spiked floors or other hazards and then heal completely at the other side of the room at a very little cost).

Beyond Oasis is impressive, but only as a technical achievement as far as I am concerned. It just seemed incredibly boring to me, though I couldn't stand more than 20 minutes or so, so I can't tell if it gets better or not later on.

[Bloodreign]

I had a lot of fun playing the ROM of Magical Taruuto-kun (I checked prices on it, not pretty), sure it does nothing different than your average platformer, but something seems quite charming about the game and the main character. Plus the little bastards cute as a button when you beat a stage (his facial expression at least).

I believe this was from the creators of Pokemon, Game Freak.

[EmperorIng]

Talaluto- (or Talaruto, or Tararuto-) Kun is a very charming platformer, aesthetically-speaking. Very nice, crisp, engaging visuals. While it very easy for about half the game, the latter half gets a rather large upswing in difficulty curve. All in all, I'd say it's a solid game. I love how everything you touch with your magic wand dons a goofy face. Little touches like that give the game charm.

[Jonathan Ingram]

I`ve been playing Starflight for the last few days and I`m almost done with it. I honestly didn`t expect it to be as good as it turned out to be and hold up so well. There`s no in-game clock, so I don`t know how much time I spent exploring the solar systems, searching for rare artifacts, mining planets, negotiating with other races and buying upgrades for my ship, but it`s gotta be in the tens of hours now and I loved every second of it. Like the lore a lot too. I`m only one artifact away from finishing this game now, but the hints provided by other races as to its whereabouts are kinda vague and I spent the last few hours scanning solar systems for it with no success.

I wish this game got a proper sequel. From what I understand, Starflight 2 for Amiga and PC is not it. But given the existence of Star Control II, I can`t really complain.

[BIL]

Gave MD Yohko some more time this morning, got to stage 5 on a few continues before calling it a day for now. The basic feel is definitely a bit shoddy; no sense of impact when either giving or receiving damage, compounded by the lack of player recovery time / knockback. Not a fan of how the sword animation cancels into itself when attacking rapidly, either - brings back bad memories of Ys III.

The rolling level designs and hybrid shield/ranged weapon mechanic are both fun, though, and make me want to see it through. Having to balance attack range and defense is a lot more involving than the basic sword action. Not sure if I'd spring for the cart but I'll stick with the ROM for a bit.

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Having an enemy tackle you in the tummy while you're trying to swing at it with your sword overhead. One of the more creative ways slowdown can screw you over, that's for sure. Not since The Legend of Kage have I been able to find such great comedy in all my deaths.

[greg]

I`ve been playing Starflight for the last few days and I`m almost done with it. I honestly didn`t expect it to be as good as it turned out to be and hold up so well. There`s no in-game clock, so I don`t know how much time I spent exploring the solar systems, searching for rare artifacts, mining planets, negotiating with other races and buying upgrades for my ship, but it`s gotta be in the tens of hours now and I loved every second of it. Like the lore a lot too. I`m only one artifact away from finishing this game now, but the hints provided by other races as to its whereabouts are kinda vague and I spent the last few hours scanning solar systems for it with no success.

I wish this game got a proper sequel. From what I understand, Starflight 2 for Amiga and PC is not it. But given the existence of Star Control II, I can`t really complain.

I played the first Starflight game up until the very end on the PC. There was a flaw in the programing on my copy, and after letter after letter to EA's support, they finally determined that I just had a bad copy. I was following the guide book perfectly, but I just could not blow up the Crystal Planet whatsoever for some reason. They suggested I just buy the game over again at retail price. Uh, no. I do own the Genesis version, but I was a bit hesitant to play it with the terrain rover being augmented to feel more of an adventure game, like upgrading its traction and weapons and such. I should play the game sometime on the Genesis though.

Starflight 2 is every bit as much of a proper sequel as you can get, plus more. Holy crap, that game is super, super cool! This time when you land on a planet, you can actually visit cities and barter with the aliens on their home planets. The premise of the game is that ISS has discovered a "wormhole to the gamma quadrant" pretty much (sorry to make a Star Trek analogy, but it fits). So this means you have a whole new part of the galaxy to explore, including new alien races. The Spemin, who were complete pushovers in the first game and fun to slaughter, have now obtained powerful shields and weaponry beyond current technology. So thus enters a great time travel aspect of the game, and it is super-duper-neat-o! Unfortunately, I had upgraded from my 286 to a 486, and the math coprocessor skipped over the triggers to initiate conversations in the game. So I would hail the approaching starships, but they'd never respond.