What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Marc]

I got given a SNES by a workmate, so immediately picked up an Everdrive. Then I remembered PAL sucks, so picked up a region free recapped SFC. Started picking up carts that the Everdrive doesn't support, so got Yoshi's Island, Exhaust Heat 2, Pilotwings, Mario Kart and Wild Trax so far. To cap it off, I had scored the absolute bargain of a lifetime yesterday - a guy half an hour away advertised a Toshiba 36ZP46 for sale, at twenty fucking pounds. Convinced he must've missed off a zero, I made enquiries, he confirmed he just needed it gone, and I brought it home - with massive difficulty - it's a beast.

Set it up this morning and it's fucking glorious. Yoshi's Island looks gorgeous.

Appears the thing supports progressive scan and 100hz as well, though PS seems to make my GC look works?

So anyway, lots of SFC.

[vol.2]

Toshiba 36ZP46 for sale, at twenty fucking pounds.

Sick. That's a great set.

[ryu]

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Apparently the last time I played this one was in 2012. Feels weird because I used to replay Silent Hill games almost annually. Anyways, I getting used to the motion controls again took me a little while but I'm enjoying this one as much as I did all those years ago. Love the haunting atmosphere and the chase sequences really aren't as terrible as they're made out to be by some folks.

[Lemnear]

I tried the Demo of The First Berserker Khazan. Everything is very nice until you use the heavy attack, which for some reason takes a whole 1 SECOND to be executed... I hope it is corrected because if it is wanted it is a really stupid thing, especially because if you do the heavy attack after a dodge instead it is executed immediately
Anyway fortunately it is NOT open world, it has linear levels like Demon's Souls and a central HUB and secondary missions Ni-Oh style instead. There are only 3 categories of weapons + one ranged ability and there is a skill-tree also. There is a perfect dodge and perfect parry system (Sekiro style) but the execution windows are extremely narrow.
The combat system has a nice feeling (especially on the impact of the hits) the only flaw is that Khazan is the slowest thing in the entire game when he attacks.
PS: the difficulty is higher than that of ANY other soulslike, the bosses have a disproportionate amount of health and kill you with 2-3 hits and in some cases with 1.

EDIT: Promoted. The feeling of the hits is exceptional! The difficulty is very high (for example, the second main boss uses 6 different weapons!). The linearity of the map is a plus for those who don't want to waste time exploring, furthermore you get a small portion of EXP even by dying against the Bosses, so learning the bosses' moves is at the same time a sort of farming.
The perfect dodge is the equivalent of a normal dodge from FROM's souls, you can't dodge by passing through enemy hits, the hitboxes are very precise and there are no phantom hitboxes. Normal parries consume a lot of stamina and the perfect ones are Sekiro style but with even more precise windows.
The altered statuses are brilliant, for example the electrocution is a sort of short "poison" but on Stamina and if the Stamina is at 0 you are paralyzed, or Plague, which is like a poisoning and damages the HP but IF your Stamina goes to zero every action will be interrupted and Khazan will start vomiting blood! Other statuses give reduced vision, slow movements etc. There will be 10-12 status ailments, on this front it is better than the works of FROM.
PS: no jump, but you can oneshot enemies with an headshot!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Love the haunting atmosphere and the chase sequences really aren't as terrible as they're made out to be by some folks.

I seem to remember the main complaint isn't that the chase sequences suck (they're short enough that they're not that bad) so much as that there's no tension in the rest of the game. The game's strict division of safe areas and danger areas means that a lot of the tension of the survival horror genre gets lost. There's no constant potential for danger that adds tension, no limited resources you're trying to manage, no ever-present threat that could appear.

That's not to say it's a bad game, it's just not a survival horror game. It's an interesting videogame version of something that's more of a psychological thriller with horror elements. People went in expecting one because it had Silent Hill branding, but it was really an experimental reimagining for the franchise that I think, once you adjusted your expectations, was mostly successful.

[spmbx]

Monkey Island 2

[BIL]

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Love the haunting atmosphere and the chase sequences really aren't as terrible as they're made out to be by some folks.

I seem to remember the main complaint isn't that the chase sequences suck (they're short enough that they're not that bad) so much as that there's no tension in the rest of the game. The game's strict division of safe areas and danger areas means that a lot of the tension of the survival horror genre gets lost. There's no constant potential for danger that adds tension, no limited resources you're trying to manage, no ever-present threat that could appear.

That's not to say it's a bad game, it's just not a survival horror game. It's an interesting videogame version of something that's more of a psychological thriller with horror elements. People went in expecting one because it had Silent Hill branding, but it was really an experimental reimagining for the franchise that I think, once you adjusted your expectations, was mostly successful.

More than anything, I wish they'd allowed it a full identity, not that daft SH1 gimmick. It felt instantly dated even at the time.

Happily, it's such a complete experience in its own right, it's easy to forget the gimmick entirely. Like I don't even register it during play. It's the nearest the series, KCET and outsource alike, ever got to recapturing not just SH2's deftly discrete anthology sequel, but also its richly mundane grounding. I love the balls off KCET's four, no shade on SH3+4 at all, SH2's just my ideal.

In game design terms, yeah, more of a Gaiden approach. Forgivable given the goofy hardware imo.

[ryu]

There's no constant potential for danger that adds tension, no limited resources you're trying to manage, no ever-present threat that could appear.

I think people make it sound worse than it is. On a first playthrough you actually don't know when the game is switching modes, and the little stories you discover, together with the great sound design, are disturbing and haunting enough to give the exploration mode its own spooky atmosphere. Also the soundtrack is fantastic.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Being ever the gamepass pioneer, I checked out Expedition 33

When it started up and I saw everyone in waistcoats and corsets I got jazzed, as I thought it was going to be like Resonance of Fate
However, people soon changed into generic, 'adventure' final fantasy garb, and my enthusiasm waned a bit

It reminds me of a more excessive version of Lost Odyssey. By that I mean I played for two hours and had a total three battles (two of which were basically tutorials), and it seems to be piling on the 'systems' very quickly with QTE bonuses, an element weakness deal (using the wrong one will actually heal monsters!), and an unprompted and strictly timed dodge/parry system even though it's turn based. I guess you gotta keep the soulz-headz entertained (I'm not sure even the most strident soulz-head would dock a turn based rpg for not having a reflex based counter system. But who knows? They're a weird bunch...)

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Fatal Fury City of the Wolves

Can't believe that no one else here is hype for this. Awesome game so far. Combos are probably too freaking long. I'm seeing quite a few that dish out 75% damage. Just don't get comboed I guess. I'll probably need to learn a few. I'm lazy about that part of fighting games.

Pinball fx 3

Curently hooked on Attack From Mars. I think the Williams tables on this version have awesome physics. The newest Pinball Fx feels so clunky in comparison. The graphics even look way worse on PS4 than fx 3. The lighting is so much better on fx 3.

[m.sniffles.esq]

The newest Pinball Fx feels so clunky in comparison.

I asked somewhere (here?) if the upgrade was at all worth it, and got no response. So now I know (and won't have to give zen anymore money)

[SuperDeadite]

Material Brave Ignition

This shit is crazy fun!
https://youtu.be/SEI3lsuk5WA

[it290]

The newest Pinball Fx feels so clunky in comparison.

I asked somewhere (here?) if the upgrade was at all worth it, and got no response. So now I know (and won't have to give zen anymore money)

Pinball FX upgrade definitely not worth it, however the newly released VR version is pretty rad. Probably the closest thing to a real machine.

[Marc]

Just picked up a CFW 3DSXL – how the hell have I slept on this fantastic bit of kit?

The 3D is quite remarkable, while occasionally a pain to keep centred, when it works it’s the closest I’m going to get to OutRun and Space Harrier in VR.

I think Mario Golf might be my favourite version so far, and I’ve just started digging into Ridge Racer 3D which seems great fun and looks spectacular for its age. Oh and Pilotwings, which given it’s relatively sedate nature is ideal for the console.



Other than that, Robocop: Rogue City – which is pretty average but strangely entertaining, and lots of Balatro.



Got a few more SFC carts on the way. It started as ‘must pick up any favourites that have extra chips in them and don’t work on Everdrive’, so initial buys were Pilot Wings, Mario Kart, Wild Trax, Exhaust Heat 2 and Yoshi’s Island, and I already had my original F-Zero cart – one game I could never bring myself to dispose of. Then I started to veer into ‘if the price is reasonable’ territory, so I’ve got Mario World, Goemon 3 and Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts on the way. I think I’ll pick up a few more bargains, then after that I’ll narrow my focus, and maybe just pick up one of the higher-priced titles every few months or so. Some of my faves - Axelay, Castlevania IV, Contra 4 etc - seem to go for a pretty penny these days.

[Sumez]

Got a few more SFC carts on the way. It started as ‘must pick up any favourites that have extra chips in them and don’t work on Everdrive’, so initial buys were Pilot Wings, Mario Kart, Wild Trax, Exhaust Heat 2 and Yoshi’s Island, and I already had my original F-Zero cart – one game I could never bring myself to dispose of. Then I started to veer into ‘if the price is reasonable’ territory, so I’ve got Mario World, Goemon 3 and Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts on the way. I think I’ll pick up a few more bargains, then after that I’ll narrow my focus, and maybe just pick up one of the higher-priced titles every few months or so. Some of my faves - Axelay, Castlevania IV, Contra 4 etc - seem to go for a pretty penny these days.

Damn yeah, I can't even imagine getting into SNES "collecting" todoay :O Acquiring the games I have would probably cost me 10 times as much as it actually did.

[Marc]

Damn yeah, I can't even imagine getting into SNES "collecting" todoay :O Acquiring the games I have would probably cost me 10 times as much as it actually did.

.
Yeah, it's gone a bit mental. I got rid of my original SNES collection in the early 00's, even then some stuff was creeping up, I just expected the more popular stuff to still go at reasonable prices - silly me. A bit ago to see Axelay going for £120+.

The three I just picked up were all boxed and complete, shipped from Japan for £50 all in, didn't think that was too bad.

I also got rid of my Neo stuff at the time. Bearing in mind, I started collecting that in 00 exactly, wound up with 25-ish games, and only ever paid above £100 twice - once for Metal Slug 3 on release (approx £180 I think) and Waku Waku 7 at around £220. I priced my collection up on eBay the other month, and it would outright buy me a decent family car these days.

[Sumez]

I can't imagine ever picking a car over a cool Neo Geo collection however. That sounds awful

[vol.2]

I just started playing Xanadu Next.

One of the earliest games I chose for the NES was Faxanadu. When I say "chose," what I mean is that it wasn't a Mario game or a Zelda or a Metroid kind of game that I had played and new about and all my friends already had, it was a game I did a little research to buy. I read about games in magazines and thought about the reviews and what I would like to play. It didn't always work out well (as I'm sure you all have experienced), but in the case of Faxanadu, I was super hooked on it and I played it everyday. Sure, it's pretty basic by today's standards, but it was a good NES game and a fun action side scroller with RPG elements to it.

So now I'm playing Xanadu Next, and it's hard for me not to draw comparisons. Yes, it isn't a sequel, even in the "spiritual" sense, but there are some obvious parallels; they are both side stories that aren't really related to the main series, they are both action RPGs, they both are somewhat limited in scope and presentation.

I'm enjoying the game, but it's a bit on the easy side. Also, it's somewhat grindy. Not that hate that (I sometimes like the repetitive nature of grinding), but I'm afraid that it might evolve into more of a chore. The other thing that is kind of disappointing to me is that lack of different towns or a good overworld experience. It is basically like Xanadioblo or something, although not nearly as complex. The weapon and armor dependencies are fine, but they also come across as a way to artificially limit progress; what would prevent a character who can use a simple sword from using a simple axe? Even in early DnD rules, the stat restrictions were not so miserly. But then again, the game is already easy enough, so they had to do something to make it harder (I can hear them thinking).

Anyway, I will probably have a lot of fun with it, in spite of the grumblings.

[Daytime Waitress]

Thanks for that rundown, v2. I dunno about Xanadu Next, but your post definitely reminded me that I've got to get back to Faxanadu at the next earliest opportunity: I remember enjoying my brief rental of it back as a wee waitress, but it absolutely flummoxed kid me and I want to see if I can appreciate it better three decades later.


As for me, I've been spending a silly amount of time with ballisticNG lately.

I got a hold of a PSX sometime around the death of the Dreamcast, so way late; and while I never spent a long time on the OG Wipeouts, Messij is branded right on my brain as the quintessential EDM/techno/whatever (because I'm garbage when it comes to musical taxonomy). However it's classified, it and Wipeout's aesthetics are what come to mind whenever anyone mentions the 32-bit era. Postcard perfect, "this is how rad this period in time was". So... may as well be starting bng afresh, despite having already formed both an image and an affection for its spiritual predecessors.

There are a bewildering amount of variables at play in this game, and while that definitely makes it difficult to acclimate to initially, it is 100% the game's greatest strength. Right from the outset, you have your vehicle and track selection, like every other racing game in existence. As your knowledge of each track improves, you'll obviously be in a better position to exploit the strengths or account for the weaknesses of your ship (higher acceleration, less responsive cornering, etc., etc.) and the relative differences of your opponents.

There's also a significant risk/reward system whereby your afterburner (turbo) is also tied to your shield/ship health - you *can* squeeze every last drop out of it, but that leaves you vulnerable to a race-ending crash if you smash into the trackside walls, or to be picked off by the rival crafts' weapons. The weapons, from my limited knowledge, appear to be a kitchen sink of everything that appeared in the OG PSX Wipeouts: rapid-fire cannons that deal chip damage and can slightly slow enemy craft; targeted missiles with nearby lock-on capabilities that can be frustrating to make use of through twisting chicanes at 700kmph; and "blue shell" drones that jump to the front of the queue and ruin the leader's day, among others.

Compounding all that, however, is the "pitch" or vertical handling: almost all tracks will have some subtle (and not so subtle) elevation changes that can drastically slow you down if you don't angle the nose of your craft up or down accordingly. Sometimes it'll be a series of motorcross-style humps; sometimes it'll be the grade of a downward-sloping curve that stretches across a significant portion of the circuit; sometimes it'll straight up be a futuristic, anti-gravity pothole, because fuck you.

And that's just the foundational stuff - tying it together is the events themselves. Every tournament starts with a nice, shallow two lap introduction to the course at the lowest class (think Mario Kart's 50cc/100cc/150cc progression). But then the next event might have you performing a time trial with a mandated ship; or an elimination race where last place in each lap spontaneously combusts; or a combat scenario where dealing damage is the only priority and your afterburner is replaced by a hilariously improbable instant 180-degree turn. Or perhaps it'll be the logical endpoint of time trials, Survival: a mode where your ship accelerates exponentially and you simply complete laps until your meatbrain can't keep up with the necessary reaction times required to make formerly basic turns (also, all textures have been turned off to give the track/backdrop a wireframe look, and all billboards have been replaced by graphic equalisers to accentuate the banging choons). Or maybe it'll be a variation on Survival where the goal is to hit turbo chevrons dotted around the circuit, and convert the accumulated engine power to turbo boosts that simultaneously drop an energy-draining barrier on track.

This is just a sample of the kind of events you'll face, and the best thing about ballisticNG is that it not just encourages you to engage with it, but mandates it through the campaign mode. These different types of races/challenges are not shunted off to a submenu at the title screen - they're each part of mastering as much of one vehicle, or as many vehicles as you possibly can. Some ships are going to excel at the combat side of gameplay, and can happily sit at the back of the pack and just pick opponents off; but come "pure" races with no weapon pick-up pads, they just might be shit out of luck. Do you switch to another ship and become a jack of all trades, or try and brute force it with your favourite-looking craft?

There is a colossal amount of moving parts here, and while the racing can be very pinball-like initially (careening off of walls until you explode), that just means there is a huge amount of system mastery to acclimatise to: something that does indeed feel very zen when it all clicks. Until you reach the higher classes, which require genuine fighter pilot reaction speeds - fucking nightmare fuel bad game 2/10 kill yourselves devs.

I haven't even touched on the 5 hours of original dnb/EDM produced for the soundtrack, nor the loving homages/rip-offs of the aesthetics and physics models from across Wipeout's history, nor the fact that the game and its DLC are dirt cheap and it's still receiving significant updates many years after release.

Wipeout may not be everyone's bag - they might prefer the racer-based personalities of F-Zero, or they might not like the floaty feel of anti-grav racers in general. But there's so much to unpack with ballisticNG that it's hard not to recommend to people that like going fast in general.

[Basil]

[BallisticNG]

Yo, I'm really happy to hear that you're enjoying the game! Your post genuinely made my day. I've been in the community for about five years now and I'm always happy to see folks get into it. Not sure if you've had a chance yet, but you're only at the tip of the iceberg of this game if you ever start getting into custom content. Since modding tools are in parity with the development workflow, I'd say it's equal parts game and sandbox.I've made a handful of tracks for the game, but there's a treasure trove of things to try out going back years.

[it290]

Fired up X-Men Legends 2 after having completed the first one ages ago when it was new. This game is more than twenty years old and sadly I think it's still the best X-Men game ever created. Yes, the gameplay is basically a rudimentary version of Diablo, but there is just so much love for the franchise in here and the ability to destroy a solid chunk of the environment really adds to the fun. Sadly the MUA games don't scratch the same itch as this one—hopefully once the X-Men make their long-awaited entrance into the MCU someone will pick up this franchise and run with it. Currently rocking a Claremont-era team of Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Colossus, and Storm.

[Sima Tuna]

Fired up X-Men Legends 2 after having completed the first one ages ago when it was new. This game is more than twenty years old and sadly I think it's still the best X-Men game ever created. Yes, the gameplay is basically a rudimentary version of Diablo, but there is just so much love for the franchise in here and the ability to destroy a solid chunk of the environment really adds to the fun. Sadly the MUA games don't scratch the same itch as this one—hopefully once the X-Men make their long-awaited entrance into the MCU someone will pick up this franchise and run with it. Currently rocking a Claremont-era team of Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Colossus, and Storm.

I agree. I love both of the Legends games. I tried the Ultimate Alliance titles but they don't hit the same way. The narrow X-Men focus just works much better than the grab-bag superhero and supervillain approach.

[Daytime Waitress]

[BallisticNG]

Yo, I'm really happy to hear that you're enjoying the game! Your post genuinely made my day. I've been in the community for about five years now and I'm always happy to see folks get into it. Not sure if you've had a chance yet, but you're only at the tip of the iceberg of this game if you ever start getting into custom content. Since modding tools are in parity with the development workflow, I'd say it's equal parts game and sandbox.I've made a handful of tracks for the game, but there's a treasure trove of things to try out going back years.

I've only downloaded and sampled a tiny amount of mods from the workshop, but they seem to have been of pretty high quality across the board - Enai Siaion's massive 80-track collection; bro bama's track pack; and a healthy rendition of the beginner course from Ridge Racer.

I actually found the former at a perfect time: new to the game, I was head vs. brickwall trying to unlock the Maceno skins, bumbling through a series of bronzes atop some of the league's later challenges. On a whim, I downloaded Enai's mods and, while the custom races did default to "toxic" (50cc), I immediately found them more forgiving than some of the washing machine chicanes found in the later expansion/higher class combinations. Whether the modded tracks were simpler and genuinely easier, or I'd been just been steadily improving and they helped affirm that, they gave me the confidence with my vehicle (Mako) to go back to earlier vanilla campaign events and start busting out platinums, even in "pure" races with which I'd definitely struggled. Modded tracks basically helped me develop as an anti-grav racer and solidified my love for the title at a time when I could have got very frustrated, but instead stepped up to the next level.

SIDE NOTE: whilst I'm still learning the game, I'd definitely recommend fellow newbs to dip to the bottom of the expansions sub-menu and start with the Aster League. I'm not sure if it was consciously added as an "easy mode/tutorial league" later in development, but with the lack of weapons I feel it gives you more capacity to focus immediately on handling, and the smaller, narrower vehicles (bikes/go karts) give you more track room to do so. Pitch seems way more forgiving in this mode, too, but you'll still learn a lot about (horizontal) handling and particularly drifting, before moving up to the main, heavier, more drift-dependent race ships. The fact that this mode exists at all is just rad as all get out: they really did just go and add a whole new mode full of bikes and go-karts, and gave the track duties to a community member (the aforesaid bro bama), all for free...

Right now I'm most enjoying:
- bro bama's "Mykonos IX" (Ridge Racer/Outrun [2k6] aesthetics are some of my favourite in racers)
- bro bama's "Alphard" (the big gaudy cherry blossoms remind me of Ninja Land from Snowboard Kids on the N64)
- Enai's "Praha" (racing AG craft over cobblestones never loses its novelty, and that looming full moon gives the whole stage a big bang of Bloodborne Kart)
- Enai's "Silverthread" (a high fantasy track set in New Zealand, so it's inspiration is obvious, but I like to imagine myself burning through Final Fantasy 14's Gridania and flattening those turnip-headed sylph fuckers).
- chmcl95's aforementioned "Seaside Route 765" (though if I'm gonna be honest, my AG life won't be complete until I can rock Heaven and Hell with "Move Me" shaking the speakers)

Are your tracks available on the workshop, Basil? I'd love to give them a spin.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I agree. I love both of the Legends games. I tried the Ultimate Alliance titles but they don't hit the same way. The narrow X-Men focus just works much better than the grab-bag superhero and supervillain approach.

Have you ever played the PS2 "Champions of Norrath" games? There's two of them, up to 4 players with multitap, and are functionally very similar. They're based on the Everquest license but play nothing like it. Think a Gauntlet style hack and slash with Diablo 2 style item drops and skill trees, but with a very demanding blocking/backstep system where blocking nullifies all damage. You gotta learn to get hits in because failing to block causes you to take a LOT of damage; you can't just run through enemies tanking hits like in Gauntlet, so the combat feels properly skill based rather than RPG mechanic stat based. Highly recommend.

[guigui]

Still lost in NeoLemmix, can stay there forever if I want I guess.

In short, NeoLemmix is a port of the original Lemmings games on modern computer : Lemmings 1, 2, Oh No More Lemmings.
It has all quality of life features that you could have wished if you ever played the original games : fast forward, rewind, frame by frame time control, shadows showing where your skills (digger, builder etc..) will lead you to, and many many more.
Of course you can play the original games on it, but you also have access to litteraly thousands of user-created levels, and believe me those are very good.

In any case, if you ever had fun playing Lemmings, then you owe yourself to install NeoLemmix on your machine, at least if you dont care about seeing the light of day again...

Website : https://www.neolemmix.com/?page=index
Active forum with tons of levels, tips, nice users like here : https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php#c6

[Immryr]

I just started playing Xanadu Next.

One of the earliest games I chose for the NES was Faxanadu. When I say "chose," what I mean is that it wasn't a Mario game or a Zelda or a Metroid kind of game that I had played and new about and all my friends already had, it was a game I did a little research to buy. I read about games in magazines and thought about the reviews and what I would like to play. It didn't always work out well (as I'm sure you all have experienced), but in the case of Faxanadu, I was super hooked on it and I played it everyday. Sure, it's pretty basic by today's standards, but it was a good NES game and a fun action side scroller with RPG elements to it.

So now I'm playing Xanadu Next, and it's hard for me not to draw comparisons. Yes, it isn't a sequel, even in the "spiritual" sense, but there are some obvious parallels; they are both side stories that aren't really related to the main series, they are both action RPGs, they both are somewhat limited in scope and presentation.

I'm enjoying the game, but it's a bit on the easy side. Also, it's somewhat grindy. Not that hate that (I sometimes like the repetitive nature of grinding), but I'm afraid that it might evolve into more of a chore. The other thing that is kind of disappointing to me is that lack of different towns or a good overworld experience. It is basically like Xanadioblo or something, although not nearly as complex. The weapon and armor dependencies are fine, but they also come across as a way to artificially limit progress; what would prevent a character who can use a simple sword from using a simple axe? Even in early DnD rules, the stat restrictions were not so miserly. But then again, the game is already easy enough, so they had to do something to make it harder (I can hear them thinking).

Anyway, I will probably have a lot of fun with it, in spite of the grumblings.

It's been a little while, but i don't remember having to do any grinding in xanadu next. I also don't think it seems anything like diablo, more like a metroid or dark souls 1 style game where exploration and unlocking your way through an interconnected world is the main draw.

[it290]

I agree. I love both of the Legends games. I tried the Ultimate Alliance titles but they don't hit the same way. The narrow X-Men focus just works much better than the grab-bag superhero and supervillain approach.

Have you ever played the PS2 "Champions of Norrath" games? There's two of them, up to 4 players with multitap, and are functionally very similar. They're based on the Everquest license but play nothing like it. Think a Gauntlet style hack and slash with Diablo 2 style item drops and skill trees, but with a very demanding blocking/backstep system where blocking nullifies all damage. You gotta learn to get hits in because failing to block causes you to take a LOT of damage; you can't just run through enemies tanking hits like in Gauntlet, so the combat feels properly skill based rather than RPG mechanic stat based. Highly recommend.

I might give them a go at some point — certainly have them loaded up on my handheld — but admittedly the license is a big part of the charm for me with the X-Men titles, not so much the gameplay.

[Marc]

Robocop: Rogue City

Just about to finish up. Started it on hard, and while it’s mostly proven manageable, in the final couple of levels enemy accuracy and rate of fire has skyrocketed, plus there have been a couple of ambush situations that were literal instant death until I got to grips with what was going on. It’s levelled out by some pretty atrocious enemy AI – I’ve gotten one ED-209 that froze in place, and one stuck on scenery both for me to pick off at will, and Robo’s ‘replacements’ very obligingly lined up one-by-one and followed each other through the same doorway while I blew their metal faces off. It’s a messy but enjoyable slice of gaming that’s sufficiently entertaining and doesn’t outstay it’s welcome. 7/10

Wily Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge

If you’ve any interest in 8/16-bit home computer gamin, buy this immediately. It’s a lovely mash-up of Rare’s Jetman games, Starquake, and some Metroid-lite elements. Reminds me of games I used to play as a kid purely because I wanted to see the next screen. Controls are tight, there’s a decent challenge, and it looks and sounds absolutely lovely. It’s a proper old-school arcade adventure, and for the silly money it goes for at times, highly recommended. 9/10

[Daytime Waitress]

Thanks for the heads-up on Rogue City, Marc.
It damn near set fire to my PC compiling the shaders at the main menu and I'm too scurred to boot it up again :c

[Marc]

Thanks for the heads-up on Rogue City, Marc.
It damn near set fire to my PC compiling the shaders at the main menu and I'm too scurred to boot it up again :c

It's a weird one, I've veered between 'I'm wasting my time', and moments later, utter glee at the carnage you can often cause. It's like the X360 era where everyone had a favourite mid-tier game among all the really popular stuff.