What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[BulletMagnet]

After having committed a bit of personal video game sacrilege by deciding to sell off Super Mario Sunshine (perhaps the only "main" Mario game I've played that I just haven't been able to get into), I decided to give Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door a go, and am generally enjoying myself, though methinks a lot of people here are biting their thumbs at me for admitting it, heh.

[Ed Oscuro]

Spawn turned out to be both deeper and worse than I had imagined. Yes, I went to hell...sort of...no pun intended. But first you go to heaven. Both heaven and hell are pretty depressing places, although hell is filled with a few new kinds of nasty tricks to hurt the unwary. I also discovered, in replaying the game on Normal, that the flying kick almost always (even against normal thugs walking around in the city levels) caused me to take damage and land flat on my back, so I stopped using that and started just evading enemies. During the motorcycle chase sequences (where I had previously noticed that staying at the top of the screen always, evading enemies as necessary and staying at the top-left always on the pier because the stupid jetski missile launchers never target that spot) I also discovered that the motorcycle rush doesn't work reliably anymore. Vertical placement was already tricky (and sometimes the graphics glitch if you are doing a motion at the the the game does another motion - easily seen if you zoom forward right before the stage clearing movement, but also this can be triggered during gameplay. It's very brief but looks goofy if you spot it) and this makes that harder. I then noticed a few key things I had been missing before - the Select key lets you put away the gun and use a kick attack, or the regular punch during levels. How about that? If you hold down the attack button, you charge up your whip.

I don't know about what you guys think, but I think it's very reasonable that swinging a chain involves a lengthy preparation time and also the expenditure of a considerable amount of one's life force. The "9999" counter which serves as your health bar therefore also allows you to make a tradeoff, charging the chain (which kind of homes in on enemies and is usually successful, though not always) and landing a hit this way is better than merely tanking damage (which sets you back further), if it eliminates the enemy. However some of the later bosses (maybe one or two of them) have enough health that just spamming this attack isn't a good approach because you'll end up at death's door (oh god you just walk into awful puns with the Spawn franchise). Ugly, boring, difficult, badly designed game, begone! The power of the reset button compels you!

Speaking of badly designed, how about Castlevania Legends? Who thought it was a good idea to add in the detours for a 1-up and a subweapon, AND the zombie-clearing rooms, while restricting the player with an exceptionally strict time limit? If you miss the 1-up or subweapon rooms, you'd best keep going, because there's no time to go back. You will die far before the boss. I imagine you must be able to scrape through the level even if you accidentally hit one of the zombie room candles (something else Castlevania obviously needed - a new trick to make players adverse to collecting candle items, as if the time spent wasn't enough!) but given how simple-minded the game design is, I'm not so sure. Of course there are no hidden wallmeats in the game so far. Every item drops from a candle, there's nothing cleverly hidden in masonry here. I also adore how hard it is sometimes to determine whether you can walk off a ledge into a rope, or whether the attempt will kill you. A few pixels makes that difference. At least you can still slide, though, so having to jump into every rope out of an abundance of caution isn't quite so bad. Overall, though, it's an incredible step backwards from Belmont's Revenge. Nice music remixes though, and much better than the garbage in Spawn (that hell level especially).

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine seems like something you'd expect on an 8-bit computer, with impressively detailed character movement and very blocky areas that nevertheless are a bit mazelike and full of corners. I got through part of the second level - after a bunch of restarts because I wanted all the treasure for the first stage, to get the maximum IQ - that's Indy Quotient, if my experiences with other games are any indication, which is why you can have an IQ of 250 after the first stage. Much of that comes from realizing how to "sell" found healthkits for 25 points each. In some ways the game seems a bit bland and the combat / maneuvering ideas aren't too special here, but it is very competent and a bit enjoyable in its own way. I realized, however, that I wanted to unravel the storyline with the original. I guess that means trying out the N64 version first. There is also a PC version but I'm not sure the differences from the N64 version are worthwhile. Since I've been wrapping up with some music notes, the game starts off with a stumbling attempt at the Indiana Jones march for the title screen, but wisely drops it for silence during regular gameplay. When you use the whip to swing across chasms, it'll play a brief burst of notes, and that seems to be it. Love the sound scorpions make when they die. Eee! Of course, the Godless Communists utter no prayers when they die. They don't much mind being shot either.

Episode One Racer - starts off with a real bang with some monochrome, but still, HOLY CRAP full motion video for a few seconds. Nice! Then you start playing the game and you wish you hadn't. I got through the first stage. Was close to losing but still scraped through; too bad ramming opponents into canyon walls doesn't seem to be a real option here. Doesn't seem to be anything to this other than following the arrow around the screen. That music is from Star Wars?

Overall scores so far:
Spawn - avoid unless you are a bad games historian and really want to punish yourself. Also a shout out to Dave Matthews, artiste extraordinaire!
Castlevania Legends - not really interesting beyond Castlevania enthusiasts, nice leotard to make you feel awkward and bad, and bad overall game design to make you feel bad again. Not really a broken version of Castlevania, but not really a good one either. It also looks like it overstays its welcome, compared to the quickly looped Castlevania Adventure.
Indy Jones - Okay if you approach it as a kind of relaxed puzzle platformer, or maybe as a speedrunning game. Preparing a full-points run of the game would be a challenge, though, given that you need to sell off the health packs and only use healing plants during levels.
Episode One Racer - maybe a little more advanced than some of the other takes on the idea, but still not good. Konami's old F1 racer (as seen on the Konami Game Boy Collection cartridges) was kind of fun, if memory serves. This is just tedious.

[BrianC]

Konami's old F1 racer (as seen on the Konami Game Boy Collection cartridges) was kind of fun, if memory serves. This is just tedious.

It came out here in the US as World Circuit Series. Also, I'm guessing all of those are the GB/GBC versions. I was confused at first because there are a lot of Spawn games. I think Spawn GBC was one of those by Konami Hawaii, which is part of the reason I lack interest in it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, that's a list of GBC games.

Hmm, I'd like to know how to run Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. Project64 does a real number on it; it's not playable in the least. 1964 emulator doesn't get past a black screen. Mupen...well, it's Mupen, it'll take an effort just to get it going.

Despite being an apparently good Factor 5 release, the N64 release was Blockbuster-only. D'oh. Sellers on eBay are asking mad bank for nice copies, and I don't want to pay even the loose cartridge going rate if it won't really be worth it.

The PC version is another possibility but it has the usual problems with the installer being a 16-bit application, and other quirky Win95-era Lucasarts compatibility issues with modern machines.

[null1024]

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram [DC]
Cypher's lasers are brilliant. Shame he's still got shit health, and they nerfed the fuck out of homing and SLC. The lasers make up for it though. Nothing like smashing Raiden in the face while his laser experiences charge time. And they're slightly spammable, too!

I'd be able to 1CC this without thinking if fucking Bradtos wasn't such a bitch. I managed to hit the fucker with a point-blank nuke from Grys-Vok, and then spammed missiles in his face right before it hit, but it took 8 or 9 continues...
Tangram is easy for the most part. What's with VO and having piss-easy final bosses? Jag is a monster [until you continue], but Z-Gradt is cake.


Guilty Gear X [DC]
I like how Millia hasn't changed in ten years. Also, fuck the DC pad.

I want to play some Crazy Taxi, but my disc is scratched [fuck GD-ROMs], and I don't feel like hearing "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-..." and seeing the disc read error message plastered on the screen while I play. Should have made a backup while I had blank CDs.

also, I semi-gave up on RRT because of Ghegs

I'm mostly joking, but I'd really need better input than a digital PS1 pad to attempt to reach some of those times. It doesn't help that I've been playing much more RR2PSP.

[Zaarock]

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram [DC]
Cypher's lasers are brilliant. Shame he's still got shit health, and they nerfed the fuck out of homing and SLC. The lasers make up for it though. Nothing like smashing Raiden in the face while his laser experiences charge time. And they're slightly spammable, too!

Yeah the lasers are a big part of his game. Too bad you can't use them in some important matchups (specineff, grys) Homing doesn't home that much(it's good for vertical movement though) but you can vary the CW type to hit enemies on different timings. cCW might actually do more damage than voom homing anyway? Maybe not, but at least if you hit the opponent in some windows of a couple frames on recoveries you get a "critical" with homing lasers where all four cause damage. Does like 50% to some VRs.

Been playing some VOOT as well, still trying to improve. Some Virtual-On Force to a lesser extent but it's very fun, wish I could play it more. There's a big tournament coming up for all VO games this weekend, pretty hyped.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

GTA IV. Just did the bank robbery mission. Really cool mission. It was just like Heat.

[dcharlieJP]

RPG grindy city at the moment with a touch of "PC Dad"-ness on the side...

Dragons Crown - Vita
well, i was going to avoid not paying the stupidly expensive amount for the JPN version but alas i cracked. Nice game so far - graphics really are something else : glorious art though maybe a bit "70s rock album cover" for some tastes. Plays a solid 2d beat em up so far. Early days - only level 5. Jpn version has english voices - though has a mass of text including some choices which can have negative effects so i'd wait if anyone was thinking of importing.


SMTIV - 3DS
Switched to US version. I just can't see this being topped unless the back hours really suck. Completely glorious game - maybe the best RPG i've played?


Galaxy Force 2 - 3DS
Another fantastic 3D treatment from Sega/M2.

The Swapper - PC
fairly unsung puzzler - great atmosphere and claymation style art.

Metro : Last Light - PC

i'll be honest - i bought this just to see what the laptop could handle. Playing it in 3D. JESSSSUS CHRIST..... :O

[Leandro]

Heavy Metal Fakk 2, very good use of the Quake 3 engine, nice graphics on this third person action game

and Clive Barker Undying, a kind of horror fps with some sorcery elements

these games run well on my 1999 pc

[null1024]

Grandia II [DC].

Been ages since I've played this. The combat system is pretty much what Square's ATB should have been. Would be nice if the player had a bit more control over positioning though.

Visually, it looks like the kind of game you should see on the N64, had terrible design choices not been made in that console's development [if it was on the N64, it would be running at <20fps and have even blurrier textures, yikes].
I like how the back cover says "...undeniably the prettiest role-playing game ever to grace a console".
It's not bad looking for 2000, but it doesn't show the kind of visuals I've come to expect from the DC. And apparently, the PS2 version looks worse, which is a bit depressing.

[Ed Oscuro]

Heavy Metal Fakk 2, very good use of the Quake 3 engine, nice graphics on this third person action game

and Clive Barker Undying, a kind of horror fps with some sorcery elements

these games run well on my 1999 pc

Good choices. FAKK 2 gets better as it goes on, though the ending didn't really impress me.

[trap15]

Spent all night playing Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari. Fucking amazing game. I didn't realize how incredibly deep it was until the friend I was playing with and I decided to figure out how to do some stuff. Great stuff. Good ol' Technos

[Hagane]

Neo Turf Masters. Just managed to 1CC Germany with -15, I'll try to improve my performance a bit. Lots of Eagle and Albatross opportunities I could score now that I know how to exactly position myself to get long range shots, with no wind at least. I'll start with Cannon Dancer soon. I want to diversify the genres I play to get some fresh air after playing STGs and fighting games almost exclusively for so long.

[mortified_penguin]

Shadowrun Returns

Feel bad for the Genesis/SNES fans, seems they didn't get the game they wanted at all but considering I wanted it closer to the original tabletop experience, I've been having a good ol' time with my dwarf rigger, Rust Bucket.

If nothing else it's just really nice to see some isometric scifi again.

[Obiwanshinobi]

A Shadow's Tale. Might give it a break for a while and revisit Metroid Prime (Wii), which I don't normally feel like revisiting, but tonight is a night of having mercy.
P.S. Sheesh, I have to ask again: who on Earth does REALLY enojy FPP platforming in the latter? I can sort of believe some people liked some bossfights (well, I can willingly suspend my disbelief), but "could be worse" remains the most flattering thing I have to say about MP's FPP platforming.
As someone who likes the Morph Ball exploration here and finished Shinobi (PS2) practically neglecting to make use of right analogue stick, I'm not just being petty about 3D platforming. Prime is not the FPP game that made for a good platformer.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Feel bad for the Genesis/SNES fans, seems they didn't get the game they wanted at all but considering I wanted it closer to the original tabletop experience, I've been having a good ol' time with my dwarf rigger, Rust Bucket.

This actually will probably excite fans of the Genesis port, as it's usually considered better in terms of faithfulness to the original's setting and ideas. People who prefer the Genesis port over the SNES port (like me) usually enjoy it because it's closer to what the tabletop Shadowrun feels like. The SNES port isn't a bad game taken on its own, but it doesn't really capture the gritty feeling the Genesis one does, and isn't entirely faithful in certain elements (the Genesis one's cyberspace is very interesting, and getting kicked out will not necessarily kill the decker unless you're fighting the extremely dangerous Black IC, whereas getting killed in cyberspace on the SNES always seems to be fatal).

[Hagane]

Played a fair bit of Koumajou Densetsu II. Kinda sad how the best post 16-bit Castlevania is a Touhou fangame. It looks and sounds really well for a doujin game, and the challenge, level design and boss battles are heads and shoulders above any Metroidvania ever made. Some of the voices are really annoying and, while I understand that they were going for a Castlevania look, I would have loved to see higher resolution sprites, but otherwise I love the game.

[BIL]

I really enjoy KDII as well. I didn't bother finishing it for now, as the last boss made my PC bog down to slideshow depths (on Normal and Hard), but everything up to that was great. Excellent controls, it's like SOTN's Alucard with proper action stage designs. I particularly like the Coliseum stage, lots of meaty enemies to tear down, and the level design shows some awareness of classic Dracula terrain design with those tight pillared areas inhabited by heavy hitters at the beginning and end.

The only real complaint I have is stylistic: a few too many lame fairies in the enemy rank and file, as per Touhou. All the traditional Dracula-style monsters are cool, however. Quite liked the main character designs too. I could've also gone for more conceptual variety in the boss battles, but I realise the danmaku connection was a major focus and they're generally pretty intense and varied, so it's not a problem.

[trap15]

Been playing a fair bit of Almana no Kiseki [FDS]. Holy hell what a gloriously brilliant mechanic
Definitely going to be on the look-out for a disk of this! Doesn't hurt that the music is fantastic too.

[shmuppyLove]

I really enjoy KDII as well. I didn't bother finishing it for now, as the last boss made my PC bog down to slideshow depths (on Normal and Hard), but everything up to that was great. Excellent controls, it's like SOTN's Alucard with proper action stage designs. I particularly like the Coliseum stage, lots of meaty enemies to tear down, and the level design shows some awareness of classic Dracula terrain design with those tight pillared areas inhabited by heavy hitters at the beginning and end.

The only real complaint I have is stylistic: a few too many lame fairies in the enemy rank and file, as per Touhou. All the traditional Dracula-style monsters are cool, however. Quite liked the main character designs too. I could've also gone for more conceptual variety in the boss battles, but I realise the danmaku connection was a major focus and they're generally pretty intense and varied, so it's not a problem.

wooooord this game is fun.

You guys playing with a gamepad or what? Keyboard isn't doing it for me. I need my other hand for my iced coffee.

[null1024]

Tales of the Abyss [3DS].
I'm hype for Tales of Xillia, I just need $60, haha. Also, I should probably finish this game before I even think of buying ToX.

Ridge Racer 2 [PSP].
Been doing some courses that aren't on Rolling Start's time attack list. Might ask for the Rage Racer courses to be added, they're great fun.

[BIL]

You guys playing with a gamepad or what? Keyboard isn't doing it for me. I need my other hand for my iced coffee.

Saturn USB pad here. ^_~

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

Now I'm playing Phantasy Star Zero on my DS. Anyone else have this game I need someone to play online with
It is really excellent if you're a fan of action RPGs that are treasure hunting oriented, extremely rare items that can be obtained by rare spawning enemies with low drop rates.
This may sound like torture to you but I get a kick out of it, makes finding something epic feel really satisfying, and can be traded online.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

I'm just now starting to check out the Pc-Engine games. Outside of renting one for a few days and playing Bonk and Splatterhouse when I was a kid I've never checked one out before. I remember trying to download magic engine before and they were charging for it, which I thought was ridiculous. So I tried some other emulator that wasn't very good and never got back to it.

I found a unlocked version of magic engine and I'm having a blast with it. Checked out Legendary Axe, Bonk, Bloody Wolf, Aero Blasters, and Alien Crush tonight. All great games. Legendary Axe is fast becoming one of my all time favorites. The muscle definition pills powerup in Bloody Wolf cracked me up. It seems like everything on this system has very pleasant soft bouncy controls. Don't know why I haven't checked all this stuff out before. Too bad I didn't have a Turbo when I was a kid. I think I would have really enjoyed it.

[Obiwanshinobi]

It looks and sounds really well for a doujin game, and the challenge, level design and boss battles are heads and shoulders above any Metroidvania ever made.

Level design? What Metroidvania has levels?

[Hagane]

You guys playing with a gamepad or what? Keyboard isn't doing it for me. I need my other hand for my iced coffee.

I use a PS1 pad (not ideal, but it's what I have for the moment), the game automatically detects it so there's no need for joytokey or similar programs. I don't like the default keyboard controls since the game forces you to use the directional keys and I'm too accustomed to move with my left hand.

Phantasm mode is quite fun too. The archers are very very annoying with their long backdashes and fast arrows.

[Formless God]

The Last of Us. What a fucking turd. So you have to walk between checkpoints for TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES doing interactive activities until you're thrown into the most basic of stealth games. Levels are huge but detours only lead to extra loot, and the puzzles are piss easy. As I said, stop focusing on aesthetics, dipshits, it isn't gonna save your game. 4/10 for the somewhat decent AI, damage output and bullet physics, that's it.

End of Eternity. The combat feels pretty satisfying once you figure out how it works. The whole sacrifice life to gain attack power which you use to regain life thing reminds me of a certain other game. Level design is really meh, though; I was expecting something like VP. Random encounters are still a pain in the ass, Core Lifts are a major waste of time, terminals are completely useless despite sounding really cool on paper, I had to resort to cheating for $$$$$ because there's no way in fuck I'm gonna fight enemies weaker than me THREE times just to advance in arena rank. Other than that, it's probably the first time I didn't regret blowing $20 on a JRPG.

Saints Row: The Third. I was expecting a next-gen GTA2 after the first couple missions, but in the end they failed to deliver. Missions are shooty and repetitive. Still a better game than GTAIV, though, thanks to the latter's pathetic attempts at being "realistic".

GTA: Vice City. 40th run and it's still as good as ever. No nostalgia.

[Hagane]

The Last of Us. What a fucking turd. So you have to walk between checkpoints for TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES doing interactive activities until you're thrown into the most basic of stealth games. Levels are huge but detours only lead to extra loot, and the puzzles are piss easy. As I said, stop focusing on aesthetics, dipshits, it isn't gonna save your game. 4/10 for the somewhat decent AI, damage output and bullet physics, that's it.

But the IMMERSION man, the immersion...

[XoPachi]

I've been playing F-Zero GX. I'm a massive fucking 6 seconds away from a Big Blue: Ordeal world record break. I don't know what I'm doing wrong though.

[Leandro]

Heavy Metal Fakk 2, very good use of the Quake 3 engine, nice graphics on this third person action game

and Clive Barker Undying, a kind of horror fps with some sorcery elements

these games run well on my 1999 pc

Good choices. FAKK 2 gets better as it goes on, though the ending didn't really impress me.

Thanks Ed. I just finished Undying, I started slow and doubtful but the game really picked up for me after getting the Scythe. Those Howlers were stuff of nightmares.
I'll resume FAKK2 now, stopped right after getting the Electrical Sword.