Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Obiwanshinobi]

Feel free to move off-topic to this thread.
When "aliens" look and behave very much like humans, they are just long johns-wearing foreigners.
Heroic tales are stories of humans doing superhuman stuff. The premise is that our kind might ascend to a higher plane of existence. Android tales, on the other hand, are about mankind partake in creation of life. Not quite the same dream.

[BrianC]

(In fact, isn't there a canon, comic book superhero who actually is a robot? Like ROM the Space Knight or something?)

The original Human Torch (not the Fantastic Four one, but the android one that teamed up with Captain America in the 40s)?

[BIL]

Finished Aladdin [MD] on Hard. A middling game subordinate to lavish graphics, despite the considerably developed level design making me hope otherwise. Its issues as a sidescrolling action game are so fundamental I had to stop thinking of it as one before I could enjoy it. Attack animations have too much windup, and no adaptability to or priority over the player's movements. Collision lacks oomph on both sides, and varies wildly depending on the frames involved. Swordplay feels awkward and glitchy as a result. And the camera fails to keep the player sprite dead-center without constant manual refocusing (die crouching and upon restarting, it'll freak out briefly before figuring out where Aladdin is and snapping back into place).

Keeping all that in mind (easily done - none of these issues will leave you alone for long), it's not awful. Despite the seeming lack of strictures it's Prince of Persia rather than Strider, and generally ok in that more ponderous context. A shame it wasn't a full-blown cinematic platformer with occasional combat setpieces ala POP. Al is a satisfyingly athletic-feeling character, and the running, jumping and climbing is sound. The game is *much* stronger in the couple of midpoint levels where enemies are either absent or limited to pests, and death by falling or trap is the main threat (The Escape and Inside The Lamp). The movie's settings beg for lots of rooftop jumping and turret climbing, too. Unfortunately it gets right back to blah combat and undemanding platforming for the remainder.

This is the second Disney-licensed MD game I've picked up after stumbling over a cheap, minty copy while chasing other stuff, the first being Castle of Illusion (or I RABU MICKEY MOUSE: MYSTERY CASTLE GREAT ADVENTURE as it's called in JP format). And although COI's issue is nowhere near as pervasive, it's got an annoying engine flaw too. Try changing direction immediately after landing on something, preferably a small ledge over a pit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rSa_IhgH4s

Now that you've sent Mickey plummeting to his death, next time crouch to restore traction!

[Ed Oscuro]

leavin this here

Gonna see what redrum (maker of the hack) has to say about this after I finish watching it...maybe, depends on what I end up thinking of the playthrough/commentary.

3:29 No you weren't. I saw that one was a'comin' after he barely made it through the door under a flying eyeball earlier.

LOL, Dark Souls' updated release ripped off the tagline from this game! (Or not, but there it is - "Prepare to Die!")

[BIL]

3:29 No you weren't. I saw that one was a'comin' after he barely made it through the door under a flying eyeball earlier.

Haha, knew it'd involve a screen edge somehow. Dunno if I can stomach another of those after watching their Ninja Gaiden episode. I know they're allegedly going for laughs but there's an undercurrent of genuine self-pity and nostalgic back-slapping that grosses me out nearly as much as Contra 4's first stage.

[Ed Oscuro]

I know they're allegedly going for laughs but there's an undercurrent of genuine self-pity and nostalgic back-slapping that grosses me out nearly as much as Contra 4's first stage.

@ this IRL. LOOK AT MEEEE I SUCK AT THE VIDYA

with any luck I can get redrum on there to laugh at them too

[Turrican]

Been playing some Batman: Return of the Joker on NES this time (well, on Famicom, where it's called Batman Dynamite for some reason) and it's kind of disappointing, sadly. The graphics are superb, but the gameplay is kind of meh. No more walljumping, Batman shoots (!) enemies and it's so easy to take hits you'll often want to go at a very slow pace. I probably won't bother with a 1CC on this one.

by the way, I've been trying to access the sound test screen in this game, but without luck. Anyone has the correct code?

[Ed Oscuro]

hmm, played a little bit of little ralph

pretty good so far, has that wonderboy feel + more free-roaming sidescroller stuffs going on

pSX emulator sucks, why won't you apply your damn aspect ratio correction to fullscreen

[Ghegs]

Been playing some Batman: Return of the Joker on NES this time (well, on Famicom, where it's called Batman Dynamite for some reason) and it's kind of disappointing, sadly. The graphics are superb, but the gameplay is kind of meh. No more walljumping, Batman shoots (!) enemies and it's so easy to take hits you'll often want to go at a very slow pace. I probably won't bother with a 1CC on this one.

by the way, I've been trying to access the sound test screen in this game, but without luck. Anyone has the correct code?

The one on GameFAQ's (At the title screen, press and hold Start + A to unlock the sound test mode) works just fine on my FC cartridge. Press them when you're at the "New game - Password" selection screen and don't let go until the test mode appears.

There's really only two stages that are problematic and require a bit of learning, otherwise it's a pretty easy game, at least with autofire. Without it some bosses take boringly long to beat, but it also makes some bosses completely trivial.

[Turrican]

The one on GameFAQ's (At the title screen, press and hold Start + A to unlock the sound test mode) works just fine on my FC cartridge. Press them when you're at the "New game - Password" selection screen and don't let go until the test mode appears.

Thanks, got it to work eventually. Annoying cheat, it's very sensitive that both buttons must be pressed at the same time, and both actually start the game if the cheat doesn't enter. I'm not sure if I loathe this one more than Raf World code: press B 33 times, yuck! I'm not sure why they had to hid these stuff: Sunsoft gameboy games come with the soundtest in the menu, thankfully.

There's really only two stages that are problematic and require a bit of learning, otherwise it's a pretty easy game, at least with autofire. Without it some bosses take boringly long to beat, but it also makes some bosses completely trivial.

Haven't found much trouble so far, and I'm at the third boss (the charging-beam sphere thing). That one is annoying. Also, I've yet to find any meaningful use for any weapon that isn't "C".

[Ghegs]

There's really only two stages that are problematic and require a bit of learning, otherwise it's a pretty easy game, at least with autofire. Without it some bosses take boringly long to beat, but it also makes some bosses completely trivial.

Haven't found much trouble so far, and I'm at the third boss (the charging-beam sphere thing). That one is annoying. Also, I've yet to find any meaningful use for any weapon that isn't "C".

I find 3-1 really annoying, with the twister-throwing witches (or whatever they are) and missiles raining from the sky. Very easy to take unnecessary hits there, and the twisters can throw you down a pit if you're not careful.

Yeah, the game's weapon system isn't particularly well designed. Sounds good on paper (Four different weapons, each with their unique charge shot!) but you can get through the whole game with just normal C. That said, rapid-fire N at close range is even more powerful, you can take down some bosses in seconds with it. But C's four-way exploding shot can be exploited at certain points for huge damage.

[Ed Oscuro]

That said, rapid-fire N at close range is even more powerful, you can take down some bosses in seconds with it.

Sold! (If I didn't already have the game.) You know, screw games that are all "oh look at my special assortment of boss attack patterns, I'm special and you must see them." Speedkill to the max. (Too bad you can't do this more often in GunGage.)

[Turrican]

For the record, how many times do you make an actual good use of the "Super Saiyan" Gold Batman mode? Between this and Sonic 2, Dragonball Z surely cast a long shadow over the videogames industry.

Anyway, this game could have easily lost the batman license and released as "Raf Dynamite".

[Ghegs]

For the record, how many times do you make an actual good use of the "Super Saiyan" Gold Batman mode?

Good use? Zero times. I think if you did a 1CC run you'll get Super Saiyan Batman exactly once. If you collect every power-up contributing to it, it'll happen at the start of the train stage where nothing particularly threatening is happening. I guess you could try to play tactically and ignore some of the power-ups to get it at a more opportune time, but it's kind of useless so there's very little point to that.

I think you could replace Batman's sprite with any weapons-based superhero (Iron Man would work nicely, I think) and it'd fit perfectly to the gameplay. Iron Man would work even better than Batman, come to think of it. He's kind of stiff and there are those flying sections as well.

[Turrican]

Iron Man would work even better than Batman, come to think of it. He's kind of stiff and there are those flying sections as well.

In fact, super saiyan batman gets a backpack which isn't too far from Iron Man's supercannon in Marvel Super Heroes...

It's easy to dismiss this game as a trainwreck when it comes to gameplay, but I must admit that in some sections it really seems to do something at the very edge of NES possibilities. With the giant main sprite and the gothic feel of 1-1, you almost think you're playing Symphony of the Night. In 1991 it could have caused a visual shock not unlike Sonic or Donkey Kong Country managed to do.

[BrianC]

It's easy to dismiss this game as a trainwreck when it comes to gameplay, but I must admit that in some sections it really seems to do something at the very edge of NES possibilities. With the giant main sprite and the gothic feel of 1-1, you almost think you're playing Symphony of the Night. In 1991 it could have caused a visual shock not unlike Sonic or Donkey Kong Country managed to do.

I remember the ads in the magazines for RoTJ that claimed it had graphics like 16-bit. The funny thing is that outsourced Genesis port almost has graphics like 8-bit.

[BIL]

Figures that when I said it'd have been better for MD Aladdin to go more the PoP athletic/cinematic platformer route, that's what Capcom's SFC version already did! Really liking this one so far. The handspring and bar-swinging mechanics are superbly intuitive. It reminds of me of Karuraoh/Skyblazer in that it's not particularly difficult if played safe, but the levels are full of opportunities to show off the athletic moveset and end up in a pit if you're not careful.

Obviously its sprites can't match the MD's incredible fidelity to the movie's cels, but I kind of prefer its overall look. The marketplace feels crowded and full of life compared to the MD's ghost town, and the parallax-layered view of the city from the rooftops blows away the MD's equivalent stage. The SFC game isn't really under the umbrella I'd intended for this topic, but that's probably for the best. Stunning baddies with an apple to the dome before bouncing off their heads fits the license a lot better than spilling guts left and right with a poorly-animated scimitar.

[Turrican]

I remember the ads in the magazines for RoTJ that claimed it had graphics like 16-bit. The funny thing is that outsourced Genesis port almost has graphics like 8-bit.

Dynamite Batman and Revenge of the Joker... If there ever was an example of the incredible gap that existed back then between Japan videogames and the rest of the world's, this would be the one. It's not a matter of graphics either, this port symbolize everything that can possibly go wrong and be "lost in translation". It's the cultural equivalent of the Titanic sink. Now it's only a question to see which is the best embodiment of such a disaster: it's either Revenge or Novotrade's Castlevania for the Amiga. I'm pretty sure nothing else can touch these two.

[BrianC]

I remember the ads in the magazines for RoTJ that claimed it had graphics like 16-bit. The funny thing is that outsourced Genesis port almost has graphics like 8-bit.

Dynamite Batman and Revenge of the Joker... If there ever was an example of the incredible gap that existed back then between Japan videogames and the rest of the world's, this would be the one. It's not a matter of graphics either, this port symbolize everything that can possibly go wrong and be "lost in translation". It's the cultural equivalent of the Titanic sink. Now it's only a question to see which is the best embodiment of such a disaster: it's either Revenge or Novotrade's Castlevania for the Amiga. I'm pretty sure nothing else can touch these two.

I don't know, I have seen a lot of shoddy computer ports. Super C looks like one of them (though it's based on the arcade rather than the NES version). The developers actually attempted to redo the voices in the intro. The results are hilarious.

[BIL]

^ Wow. That's as bad as the Ninja Gaiden II Amiga port.

Although, there's some sad novelty in seeing infected troops and alien drones fighting side by side in the hive stages. Couldn't even get that right, bahahaha.

haxorseidis 1 year ago

Let's get drunk and port Super C

[BrianC]

I think Battletoads for Gamegear is a good example of the opposite happening. A JP company doing a strange port of a US designed game. Genesis, as well, but the GG one is more messed up. Though, to be fair, the Amiga port is definitely more messed up than either of the JP done ports.

[null1024]

Bashing on Amiga ports is almost not fair, as I'm pretty sure most of them were made in about 2 weeks.

Almost. It's still an atrocity that they were released of course, haha.
NGII/Amiga makes me giggle, haha.

[BIL]

I will say one thing for Amiga NGII - the uncanny resemblance of Ryu's title screen mugshot to a prize scotch bonnet makes me hungry as fuck.

[BrianC]

No hate for DOS ports? NGII DOS is pretty much the Amiga version with worse sound.

[BIL]

I don't hate any of these catastrophic home computer manglings - they're hilarious.

DOS MEGAMAN BABY (actually owned this one...)

[BrianC]

I don't hate any of these... things. They're hilaribad.

good point. lol. That's how I feel about Rastan 2. I hope I find something good at Too Many Games in PA in a couple weeks. Last time, I found a boxed E-SWAT for cheap. I planned to get Mercs Genesis/MD for awhile and reading more about it here really makes me want to pick it up. I'm hoping to find a good deal on Shatterhand or Vice Project Doom, as well. I'm also thinking about Power Blade, but the game almost looks too easy. The JP counterpart, Power Blazer seems to be better on challenge, but has more limited abilities. It's like a catch-22.

I actually had the disk for Mega Man 3 PC. It's also hilariously bad in some ways, but actually had some good ideas like non linear levels and swimming in the water parts (later used in Mega Man 8 ). The MMX DOS port is also odd. The strange thing is that it's not even a bad game on its own, but is definitely a failure as a port.

I wish MM1 NES was cheaper. I might pick it up eventually (even in JP form, Japangamestock has it at a reasonable price, last I checked), though I have the emulated VC version for 3DS. It's not my favorite of the series, but I still like it quite a bit. One thing I like is that it's more arcade like than the others with no passwords, a great deal of challenge, and scoring.

[BIL]

Picked up MD E-SWAT myself a few months back. The first stage isn't too great and the second is downright tedious, but it's all good from the second boss fight onward. At first the armoured player character's fragility annoyed me, as I was expecting Assault Suits-style rough and tumble fist-through-metal action, but once I realised it was a more calculated Rolling Thunder/AC Shinobi-style affair, it all made sense. It really clicked when I figured out how to take down stage 2's bosses without taking any damage myself. Hardest difficulty really takes some thinking through.

MD MERCS/Senjou no Okami II gets my recommendation for sure. Original Mode is a surprisingly tough and engrossing run n' gun/action RPG hybrid, easily worth owning the cart for alone.

[ShmupSamurai]

I don't hate any of these... things. They're hilaribad.

I wish MM1 NES was cheaper. I might pick it up eventually (even in JP form, Japangamestock has it at a reasonable price, last I checked), though I have the emulated VC version for 3DS. It's not my favorite of the series, but I still like it quite a bit. One thing I like is that it's more arcade like than the others with no passwords, a great deal of challenge, and scoring.

I feel the same way about MM1 nes as you- I actually prefer it over 2, (but not over 6 and 7) then again
I played it alot as a child, so it has alot of nostalgic value to me...at the same time, there's something strangely magical about Megaman that MM2 doesn't have, something about the way it feels(could be the arcadey nature) the music, stages, graphic desgin , Robot Masters, and difficulty that installs a sense of wonder I find few games can match-it all gels into an marvelous experiance that keeps me coming back time and again...

[CIT]

Well, I just beat Raf World (a.k.a. Journey to Silius).

This is the first Famicom game I played through in about 7-8 years. It's a really nice run 'n gun, which despite the inability to shoot upwards or sideways, controls really well and has some pretty intense boss fights.

It's generally well known for being that Terminator game that never ended up getting the Terminator license, but I think it's all for the better. It still retains all the dark cyberpunk grittiness, and the presentation is top-notch. Best thing about the game is the truly amazing soundtrack though. Especially the tense and atmospheric Stage 2 theme.

[BIL]

Stage 2's music is a huge highlight of the FC, I've long considered it the best Terminator VGM that never was. Desperate-sounding stuff. It always makes me think of Kyle Reese's "storm the fences and smash those metal motherfuckers" reminiscence of resistance operations from the first movie.

On Raf World vs Journey to Silius, I distinctly prefer the FC's armoured soldier player character to the NES's big-headed manga pretty boy. Much tougher-looking and in tune with the rest of the game's hard-edged art, like stage 2's humanoid tank boss and its brutal harpoon claw.