What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[1up]

Started playing Super Metroid on SNES, again... , for the 100th time. Never completed this game for some reason and I hope I can finally complete it this time before Mass Effect 3 comes out.

[Ed Oscuro]

Started playing Super Metroid on SNES, again... , for the 100th time. Never completed this game for some reason and I hope I can finally complete it this time before Mass Effect 3 comes out.

You sit your ass down and finish Super Metroid, throw those dreams of some new game in the trash because they are false dreams and should go into the trash with all the other whores of gaming

yep that's right

[JBC]

Splatterhouse 2. There's a really beautiful double page spread depicting the octopus/motorboat scene in the new Games TM. I'm already finished though & might give 3 another play, truly an underrated game.

[Ed Oscuro]

Splatterhouse 2. There's a really beautiful double page spread depicting the octopus/motorboat scene in the new Games TM. I'm already finished though & might give 3 another play, truly an underrated game.

Haha, I didn't get that far when I played recently. Ought to give it another go I guess.

[evil_ash_xero]

Binary Domain and Dark Souls(again).

[drauch]

Splatterhouse 2. There's a really beautiful double page spread depicting the octopus/motorboat scene in the new Games TM. I'm already finished though & might give 3 another play, truly an underrated game.

Haha, I didn't get that far when I played recently. Ought to give it another go I guess.

You beat it???? I'm a huge fan of the series, but man...I can't do anything in the 2nd game. It's too much.

[BIL]

I've been on a huge FC/MD/SFC binge lately, with Splatterhouse 3 getting lots of play. I still love the simple but finessed beat 'em up gameplay and incredibly gruesome atmosphere, but something I find slightly irritating is the way monsters will automatically escape a combo or grab (by falling to the floor) when they sustain heavy damage. I wish you could just keep whoopin' em as their bodies fell apart. Still, one hell of a satisfying horror-themed brawler.

I like how Rick keeps a print of "Saturn devouring his son" around the place, just to keep appropriate decor going when demons invade. It's worth going off the beaten track just to see some of the weird shit dotted around the game. Piano lady, brr.

In case it helps anyone, I highly recommend the Japanese version over the US one. In the former, the roundhouse move is a neat split-second dodge / rear attack counter / boss attack stuffer that does negligible damage, executed by hitting jump + attack (or holding one and pressing the other). In the US version it's executed by away-towards-away + attack, but more importantly it lasts a good few seconds and is basically an unlimited-use screen-clearing bomb (and looks ridiculous!). Totally dumbs the game down. You have to fight and evade with cool efficiency to survive situations in JP that you can just disco bomb through in US.

[JBC]

You beat it???? I'm a huge fan of the series, but man...I can't do anything in the 2nd game. It's too much.

It's a toughie but I had it when I was a kid so I've still got most stuff memorized. Aside from that, the secret is patient thinking or rather putting yourself in a patient mood when you sit down to play. I also play it once every few months regularly because I'm a pretty big fan of the original three. 2 is my favorite even though 3 has more meat on the bone, but I guess it's because it retains the gameplay of the original and uses dithering effects which I'm a sucker for. I have my own idea for a Splatterhouse that would be a worthy follow up so I was pretty disappointed with the new one

While I'm on the subject of Splatterhouse fandom I wanna mention that Biggy Man was the most terrifying thing ever when I was a kid and I'm SO glad that Resident Evil has kept the idea alive with Doc Salvador and the Chainsaw Majini. I first got to play the original Splatterhouse under a tarp canopy at the state fair during a thunderstorm and because I had continued from an older guy's game he was the first creature I faced. I died instantly, but was fascinated with the game and got a copy of part 2 after finding out about it from Gamepro. It's probably the whole reason I became a Friday the 13th fan despite having coincidentally been born on the same date as the movie titles.

[drunkninja24]

Started up playing Xanadu Next now that I got the translation patch working. Seems like a great game so far, definitely getting some Diablo/Zelda vibes from the game, and paired up with the signature Falcom musical flair, makes the whole thing come together extremely well.

[BIL]

lmao. This occurred when I decided to rush across the room to destroy the fake immediately, instead of waiting for it to cross to the safespot. Rather than dying after a couple windmill stars as usual, it got all its health back and spawned a second copy. Left-hand pedestal safespot still worked (ended up killing one of the fakes before the real one). No idea if it's reproducable on cart. If I had a console to play my new Ninja Ryukendens on I'd try right now.

Really glad I didn't settle for the maimed SNES/SFC trilogy. These games are so damn good on all fronts in their original format. And I'm done trying out other versions of them... last one I gave a shot was the PCE version of the original, and man, not only is it even uglier than the SNES rendition (plus st-st-st-stuttery parallax!), it screws with the gameplay. Want to shred that enemy and leap the gap behind him in one razor-sharp move? Think again you NES motherfucker, we don't bring out attack frames until we're good and ready in Hucard land!

edit: Actually, I vaguely recall some weird stuff occasionally happening in NG2's version of this boss back in the day, like shoving the fake out of the room with a subweapon.

[Skykid]

Splatterhouse 2. There's a really beautiful double page spread depicting the octopus/motorboat scene in the new Games TM. I'm already finished though & might give 3 another play, truly an underrated game.

Haha, I didn't get that far when I played recently. Ought to give it another go I guess.

Hey that's right at the end! Talk about a spoiler.
I played through this a few months back with a couple of friends. I pipped that cheesy last boss.

[drauch]

lmao. This occurred when I decided to rush across the room to destroy the fake immediately, instead of waiting for it to cross to the safespot. Rather than dying after a couple windmill stars as usual, it got all its health back and spawned a second copy. Left-hand pedestal safespot still worked (ended up killing one of the fakes before the real one). No idea if it's reproducable on cart. If I had a console to play my new Ninja Ryukendens on I'd try right now.

Really glad I didn't settle for the maimed SNES/SFC trilogy. These games are so damn good on all fronts in their original format. And I'm done trying out other versions of them... last one I gave a shot was the PCE version of the original, and man, not only is it even uglier than the SNES rendition (plus st-st-st-stuttery parallax!), it screws with the gameplay. Want to shred that enemy and leap the gap behind him in one razor-sharp move? Think again you NES motherfucker, we don't bring out attack frames until we're good and ready in Hucard land!

edit: Actually, I vaguely recall some weird stuff occasionally happening in NG2's version of this boss back in the day, like shoving the fake out of the room with a subweapon.

Yeah, this can happen sometimes. My friend had the same crap about a month or so ago when he was playing. Because it wasn't hard enough!

[BIL]

Haha, awesome. I wonder if it's related to the game's wickedly aggressive enemy respawning. I didn't fully appreciate until now how purposefully you get punished for backtracking, from both directions.

[Ruldra]

I was more annoyed about the game crashing on me during the credits roll. So I went to youtube to watch the ending and the game crashed on the guy too. Is it that common?

[Ed Oscuro]

Get down to the last handful of enemies in the first stage of Nightmare 3D's second episode, and guess what? Outta ammo. Scavenged around the level too, and I wasn't terribly wasteful earlier (though another 20 shots would have worked wonders). If I hadn't used the health cheat I would've run out of potions too. So, I charged over the middle of the maze I was in to grab a pack of plasma shots in sight, and of course there were more skeletons out of sight inside the room. Makes you appreciate the "enemies drop ammo" design of DOOM that much more (and replenishing health wouldn't be bad here, either...)

[BIL]

I was more annoyed about the game crashing on me during the credits roll. So I went to youtube to watch the ending and the game crashed on the guy too. Is it that common?

Can't recall it happening to me in my NES days (I would've remembered, I got the proverbial "brick wall demolished with forehead" clear). And the JP version didn't crash in NEStopia yesterday. Maybe it's a particular emu.ver. / rom combination? I'm using Nestopia v1.40 with "Ninja Ryukenden (J) [!].nes," haven't tried the US version. I'll have a run through it now just for the hell of it. Was looking forward to playing some more NG when I got home from uni, heh.

edit: Nope, didn't crash on Nestopia 1.40, using the ROM "Ninja Gaiden (U) [!].nes." Credits rolled right up to the "see you next" message, where you have to reset the console / emulator.

bahaha, I'd forgotten all about Jaquio's brilliantly-timed "have a nice day" before he owns Ryu with that trapdoor. The US script is actually pretty snappy.

[Marc]

Just picked up Project Gotham 4 for £2.00 thanks to Game going under. That's less than an 8-bit budget game for fuck's sake! The game itself, I'm mixed about. It's stuck in an uncomfortable place between arcade and sim, and yet I still quite like what I've played. It'll tide me over until Ridge Racer unboundededed.

[JBC]

Playing Desert Breaker for the first time right now and am pretty impressed. What a game! It's not exactly a shmup since it's from the Mercs/Outzone category.

Also played Daikaiju no Gyakushu which I swear I remember from my childhood. Was this released in the states by a different name?

[null1024]

Tales of Innocence [DS].
God damn, for the most part, the characters haven't been completely retarded, but then the main character, Luca, goes up to the deranged maniac you just defeated and lets himself get slashed in the face for no good reason.
It's like "now that you've won, come here so you can hear something", "ah... ok-ohgodmyfacewhy", "I wanted you to hear the sound of my sword on your face".

At least the game is fun. Even if you're grinding [which, usually doesn't need to happen thankfully, especially since leveling up takes ages].

Oh, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days [DS], which is pretty enjoyable. I fucking hate the characters in the Kingdom Hearts series though, but so far Roxias is infinitely more likable than Sora or anyone else [which is depressing as fuck], and the Organization's clothing doesn't look retarded, which probably helps.

[Marc]

I just tried out Fifa '10 because I picked it up for 50p now Game is going tits up. Man, I have never, ever been further away from what football games are all about. I would suck Konami's collective dick for an I.S.S. HD.

[replayme]

Played a bit of Zombie mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Got scared about a minute in, and turned it off.

Yeah, I know. I suck.

[Moniker]

Mass Effect 3, baby. Just finished up the first chapter or whatever. Combat's basically the same as ME2, but character progression is much improved, with more customization. Great gear system too - basically a fusion of 1&2 with a good interface. New squad members are a bit meh (revived prothean excepted), but all I need is my boy Garrus and my girl Liara. Script isn't quite as good as the predecessors, but still great.

[iconoclast]

Spent a few days playing BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend. I learned most of Ragna's bnb combos and went to play online, but there was hardly anyone around since I can only play online from 12am-4pm (est). I did manage to get around 50 matches in, but a lot of the time I'm fighting the same person over and over or getting matched with someone a billion miles away, so it's ridiculously laggy and unplayable. I guess I'll try playing at more regular hours before giving up on it.

I just got Street Fighter x Tekken as well. Seems pretty fun so far, and I'm glad it appears to have easier execution than SF4 (ie. no reliance on 1 to 2 frame links). Now I'll have to see if gems ruin everything (probably not).

[Siren2011]

I just got the floppy discs for King's Quest VI. Holy shit, I missed this game.

[sjewkestheloon]

Mass Effect3, a little bit in the campaign and then a ton of multiplayer with friends. Damn fine game so far! I intend to get all of the characters to 20 in multiplayer, do two runs of the campaign with my main Sheps and then on to a full trilogy run on Insanity completing every sidequest.

[BIL]

Ninja Gaiden III rocks Ninja Ryukenden III's goddamn face right the fuck off. Better enemy placements, meaner damage ratio, smarter item distribution, more exhilarating action. And the JP version does absolutely nothing to address the biggest obstacle in the way of a no-miss, the annoyingly short time limit on the lengthy, triple-boss final stage. So it's not really easier, just relatively boring compared to the ruggedly challenging US version.

edit: well, NRIII isn't boring... but it's very much a game where it's easy to feel like a badass. NGIII makes it hard as hell to survive, let alone feel supreme. That's what it's all about...

[JBC]

Played straight through Taito's The Ninja Warriors arcade yesterday and did very poorly But the game itself was damn fun. I love the first and last level tune and how your ninja comes off as just casually strolling while an entire army rushes you.

Ninja Warriors on the YouTubes

[BIL]

Have you played Natsume's The Ninja Warriors Again (SNES/SFC)? A masterpiece in my action gamer book. The combat system is streamlined yet robust, the characters are truly varied and the action feels utterly brutal. Manhandling and brutalising enemies as the Ninja is the best Robocop game that never was. When I detonated a fuel canister by smashing an enemy into it, killing him and the other three onscreen, I knew I was in love.

I adore the combo system too - basically, score two clean hits in short order and you can whip out a selection of vicious moves. The timing window is loose enough to be flexible but tight enough to demand finesse. Natsume were really good at that... Wild Guns and Kiki Kaikai control like dreams too. Damn, that company kicked some ass on 8 and 16-bit systems.

Great pseudo-Zuntata soundtrack effort too - not quite as fantastic as the real deal but certainly catchy!

[drauch]

Yeah, I need to playing Ninja Warriors Again more than I have. It's been just sitting lonely on my shelf for too long. I think a lot about how much I love Natsume's SNES days myself. Such nice fluid controls and awesome animation. I'll always remember finding Wild Guns for super cheap at a local store and squealing in excitement. Still need to get Pocky & Rocky 2 someday.

[BIL]

I'm really interested in Pocky and Rocky 2, but I hesitated a bit when I saw that it'd been given some adventure elements. Does it still deliver on action? I love how the first one, NWA and Wild Guns all feel like arcade games developed on home consoles. No mucking about, hit start and away you go... 110% action with ultra-smooth controls and gorgeous production.

edit: actually, it's probably because I can't read Japanese that I found P&R2 a bit fiddly at the start (figured out you could skip the tutorial, though!). I should give the US ROM a go but it's probably not the version I'd get. Or maybe look for a translation patch.