What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Stevens]

Sorry for being presumptuous about it; I don't ever want to shit on something creative that other people like.

Haha. Apology totally not necessary friend. You ain't done nothing wrong

[FinalBaton]

Now I get where the Genesis version borrowed more heavily from!

absolutely! the superb version in Phantasy Star IV ost had it's work cut out for it, so to speak. but that one's a damn banger, even more so!

[Sumez]

haha oh my god. REE, I confuse.
So welshy was playing Monstuh Land ?

EDIT: yes he was. fine i went back and read the thread. sorry, i thought it was buried several pages ago.

It's confusing, because the first Monster World game is called Monster Land, but Monster World 3 game is called just Monster World in englishlanguage... while Monster World 2 was called Wonderboy 3, but there's also an actual Wonderboy 3 (monster lair). And that's probably still not the most confusing titles in the series.

[Vanguard]

Wonder Boy in Monster Land aka Monster World 1 aka Super Adventure Island aka Wonder Boy: Monster Land aka Super Wonder Boy: Monster World aka Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land aka Monica no Castelo do Dragao aka Bikkuriman World aka Saiyuuki World is probably the most confusingly named game in the entire world.

[Sengoku Strider]

There could be college courses on the Wonder Boy & Dragon Slayer genealogies:

Spoiler

[vol.2]

Ok. So All this Phantasy Star talk got to me. Now playing PSII.


It's been awhile since I played this. What are people's opinions about guns VS vulcans?

[WelshMegalodon]

Wonder boy in Monster World loosks rad holy hell. Is it way more complicated than the dragons trap?

Nah, in terms of complexity it goes Monster Land > Dragon's Trap > Monster World > Monster World 4. Each title became more generic and straightforward than the last.

I think Monster World II hits the sweet spot as far as complexity is concerned. It's mostly pretty straightforward, but has just enough hidden content and backtracking to reward those that go out of their way to explore, and even a few really obtuse bits that aren't necessary to beat the game but still cool to have. The last time I tried Monster World III, which was several years ago, I ended up dropping it because it was getting dull.

Super Wonder Boy Monster World is stuffed to the gills with secrets, but as Herr Schatten said, it's not really comparable to its sequels.

[Sumez]

There could be college courses on the Wonder Boy & Dragon Slayer genealogies:

Spoiler

That's an amazing infographic, and I'm glad they remembered to keep in Whomp 'em. Though I would have drawn two separate lines down from Monster Land to Monster Lair and Monster World 2/Dragon's Trap. Dragon's Trap isn't a sequel to Monster Lair, in fact in terms of "plot", Monster Land and Dragon's Trap are the only games to have a completely direct story relation, with the latter kicking off exactly where the former ends.

(there's a slight relation between Monster World 3 and 4, too, but it's kinda cameo'ish)

[Mischief Maker]

The Wonder Boy Theme Song

[guigui]

Great diagram there.
So which one is the Arcade-with-RPG stuff ?

[Vanguard]

Great diagram there.
So which one is the Arcade-with-RPG stuff ?

Wonder Boy 2: Monster World 1 aka Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

[Herr Schatten]

I would have drawn two separate lines down from Monster Land to Monster Lair and Monster World 2/Dragon's Trap.

I would have drawn those two lines down from the original Wonderboy to Monster Land and Monster Lair. Both are evolutions of the original game, but not of one another. Monster Land is Wonderboy with (a few) additional RPG elements, Monster Lair is Wonderboy with (lots of) additional shooting. The numbering in the series is all kinds of wacky anyway, so I wouldn't really put much emphasis on Monster Lair being called 'III'.

[Blinge]

There could be college courses on the Wonder Boy & Dragon Slayer genealogies:

Spoiler

Oddly enough just seeing this makes me salivate and i wanna be a big nerd and play them all

[Vanguard]

Oddly enough just seeing this makes me salivate and i wanna be a big nerd and play them all

Go for it, they're pretty good, or at least the Monster World games are. Dunno about OG Wonder Boy. Monster Land is sort of like if Cadash was less an action game and more of a puzzle/RPG. Dragon's Trap is both solid and unique. Wonder Boy in Monster World is a good if straightforward search action platformer. Monster World 4 is too slow, linear, and easy for me, though it is cute and has a lot of personality. Oh yeah and Monster World 4's entire soundtrack is different variations on one song. I hate that shit.

Arrows pointing left and right on the chart are ports, so there shouldn't be a compelling reason to try Monica No Castelo do Dragau if you've already played Wonder Boy in Monster World.

I played Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Shima IV for the Famicom once, and as I recall that was a nice little search action platformer too. It even had a bunch of dinosaurs you could ride, kind of like Mario World's yoshis. Only thing to watch out for is that there are some mini games you need to do and it isn't immediately clear what leads to success or failure. It turns out that your food meter in the bottom left corner of the screen determines how strong your dude is in the mini games. They're basically impossible when it's empty and really easy when it's nearly full. The confusing thing is that filling up the food meter all the way heals you and then empties the meter, which is fine on its own, but for the purposes of the mini games doing that means you're helpless and starving.

[Sumez]

Adventure Island 4 (the name is in English right there on the box, so I'm sticking to that ) is a cute little "search action" game, but it's also super forgettable. It's definitely not worth the asking price (for some reason I shelled out for a CIB copy, wouldn't recommend).

There are much better alternatives on the Famicom, and even Super Adventure Island 2 which also goes the searchactionvania route is better, and of course all of the Monster World games are.

[WelshMegalodon]

In the Japanese and European home releases of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, the arcade original, and Bikkuriman World, the bosses all take twice as many hits, possibly more. Meaning I've been playing the EZ-MODO version all this time...

And is it me, or is the music in the arcade version kinda drab? I'm glad they changed some of the tunes for the home release.

EDIT: Still got the 1CC though:

Spoiler

I hate Kong.

[BulletMagnet]

Lately I actually haven't been playing a single title, but have become utterly fascinated with finding out how many games in my Steam library can be played without Steam running; incomplete lists to this end are scattered about, and I used them as a base, but since then I keep going back to my library, downloading stuff I haven't played in some time, and seeing if it'll run by itself.

The thrill of an unexpectedly high-profile "yes", the crushing disappointment of a game that felt like it should be DRM-free but wasn't, coupled with the usual "...wait, when the heck did this get here?", it's all nothing short of addicting. Is there a helpline for people like me?

[supergrafx77]

Lately I actually haven't been playing a single title, but have become utterly fascinated with finding out how many games in my Steam library can be played without Steam running; incomplete lists to this end are scattered about, and I used them as a base, but since then I keep going back to my library, downloading stuff I haven't played in some time, and seeing if it'll run by itself.

The thrill of an unexpectedly high-profile "yes", the crushing disappointment of a game that felt like it should be DRM-free but wasn't, coupled with the usual "...wait, when the heck did this get here?", it's all nothing short of addicting. Is there a helpline for people like me?

https://ultra.io/
AMD/Epic/Theta backed/drm free outside ultra through 3rd party marketplace/own your own assets/games, sell if you like/on blockchain.
Because of btc crash, uos coin is only .24465 now. Wish I could buy. Like Theta, imo going to be a big deal.
I don't have any yet, but seems like good investment and should solve such addictions and take over Steam or at least make Steam follow suit..

[Stevens]

Lately I actually haven't been playing a single title, but have become utterly fascinated with finding out how many games in my Steam library can be played without Steam running;

A few months back I tried this with Divinity OS 2. Bought it, refunded it, and then put 30 hours into it.

Certain games I feel Steam's two hour window just isn't long enough. I would have bought it again if I played if through.

I deleted it though.

[Mischief Maker]

Lately I actually haven't been playing a single title, but have become utterly fascinated with finding out how many games in my Steam library can be played without Steam running;

One of my single greatest achievements of 2020 was buying Devil May Cry 5 during the brief window it was DRM-free after they removed Denuvo, then burning it to a Blu-Ray XL. (Didn't refund).

That I view it as an achievement... actually seems kind of sad when I type it out.

[Licorice]

Is there any relationship between Tomba and Wonderboy via Adventure Island or otherwise?

[Randorama]

Late to the party, but I am glad that the WB series is getting all this love.

Trivial comment:

There could be college courses on the Wonder Boy & Dragon Slayer genealogies:

Spoiler

Ah! "Videogame genealogies" sounds like an interesting course for Folk Universities, a type of "people's college" that exists in Scandinavian (SE/NO, maybe DK/FIN?) countries (this type of institution here).

I don't remember exactly how they work, but they should be something between vocational and "general skills" education, and one can take single semester-long courses.
I would be happy to take a semester on, say, "fantasy arcade games" or something to that extent.

I took a semester of "Jazz" in 2014 and found it *really* useful, since it is mostly about meeting with people who want to learn more, one/two people guiding the learning process (the "teachers"), and no real stress on evaluations and such (...and as an academia person, I can see the benefits of the system).

I mean, picture taking classes on "Heavy Metal rawk" and "pumping & manly action games" with BIRRU for a semester! Who wouldn't pay good bucks for such type of education?

On topic: WBML, arcade. Do I understand correctly, that stage 4's kraken can be fought twice, like the knight boss on stage 7? I am going through the backlog discussion so I may have misunderstood something. Also, has anyone bothered to fight the Sphinx (stage 6), rather than using the "right answer" method?

[BIL]

I mean, picture taking classes on "Heavy Metal rawk" and "pumping & manly action games" with BIRRU for a semester! Who wouldn't pay good bucks for such type of education?

I rove you Rando

[Blinge]

I was gonna bang some remade dragon trap after its facelift

but.. I feel like a magical vacation is in order, it's been a while.

[Sumez]

Is there any relationship between Tomba and Wonderboy via Adventure Island or otherwise?

Not to my knowledge. The Tomba/Tombi games are the brainchild of Tokuro Fujiwara himself, of Capcom fame. Probably most notable for the Makaimura series, but had a hand in pretty much anything great they churned out from the mid 80s to early 90s, from Mega Man to Goof Troop.

[Blinge]

Well I finished and platted Gravity Rush on ps4. That was.. meh.

[Marc]

I found that utterly average on Vita, got bored after a few hours.
I've finished the dumpster fire that is Heavy Rain. Kind of interesting, but dumb as a bag of rocks. And the twist.... oh god.
Picked up Grip for the PS4 - I've started it on my lad's Xbox before then Switch, which was a brave, but gimped port. Really enjoying it, proper arcade racing.

Control was on sale for £6.00 so seemed rude not to, seems to have been received pretty positively. GAME had The Last of Us 2 for a tenner... couldn't really leave it at that price.

Went for an afternoon's drinking yesterday and also seem to have picked up that Mario Kart RC thing on the way home..... should keep the kids amused I suppose if nothing else.

[Sengoku Strider]

Gravity Rush is something you fall in love with for its setting, characters, atmosphere and general charm as you fight a pitched battle to the death with the controls. It's basically Sony's Jet Set Radio.

[Blinge]

Characters were alright, I liked the dopey lawman and world-creators. I guess i kinda respect how balls-out sequel based the story is? Auldnoir music was top.
Kat is on the dick-hunt for real. Shame the enemies keep getting in the way. Combat was just horrible in general. I spammed that missile super constantly later on just so i didn't have to fight.


Did you try the added packs? they come free on the remaster

Bro that firefighting mission was piss boiling!

[Blinge]

I've finished the dumpster fire that is Heavy Rain. Kind of interesting, but dumb as a bag of rocks. And the twist.... oh god.

Did you survive the Mad Jack encounter, cracker?

how did you like that love scene.. if you got it?
ffs david cage.

yeah the twist is fucking terrible.

Spoiler

Unreliable narrator

is a trope that i've never seen work in any game.