What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Leandro]

Finally 1 coined Final Fight with Haggar, the only character of the 3 that I had yet to do this... My hands are still shaking, lol
His backwards jump body splash is great to arrange enemies in the desired position, timing and execution are crucial to get it to come out instantly, though. His little invulnerability time after the backbreaker is also useful. Gotta love this brutal character and how this game works, unlike some other belt scrollers that always feel like you are slowly chipping enemy's lifebar instead of giving him a brutal beating.

[null1024]

The XBLA removed the ability to respawn. There's no "Press 1P Start" when he died, no buttons did ANYTHING, I literally mashed the face buttons in vain to try and respawn him. What the fuck did I just waste those points on if I get a broken fucking game that got a half assed fucking useless port compared to just emulating it?!

The hemorrhaging fuck? I can't think of any reason for that to be dropped. Not one.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I can't think of any reason for that to be dropped. Not one.

Incompetence?

Seriously, stealing a life/health to respawn has been a staple in stuff like Konami's NES ports and other co-op games since forever to prevent the experienced player from basically playing through the entire game alone while the less experienced player just waits after getting a gameover. Even if there's a respawn, if you want you can just not respawn after a death if you're playing hardcore or doing a coop + no gameovers run. Removing an ability to respawn others at your own expense in coop just seems mind boggling. I didn't play through to the end of the stage to see if the other player'd respawn automatically in between stages because I was too flabbergasted. This would be logical, right?

Oh wait, if the PS3 port is any indication, it fucking doesn't. If your coop partner dies, have fun playing the rest of the game alone because he doesn't come back at all, not even between levels. Not only are midstage respawns gone, they don't exist period. Suicide or play alone, what lovely options! I guess it's a single player game now, because it's definitely not enjoyable if two people of different skill levels are playing...

The only thing I can suspect is they intended it to prevent trolling in online multiplayer where one person purposefully dies constantly and respawns, taking away half the other player's health each time to prevent them from advancing... but I doubt that sort of thing actually happens, it makes no sense to disable it for local play, and even if they were worried about that sort of thing in online play why not make it a toggle in the options menu?!

Speaking of which, the options menu sucks balls and also removed the sound test as far as I can tell. I want to find the person responsible for this mess, and shove a proper Genesis Gunstar Heroes cartridge down their throat.

[Acid_Rain]

Assassin's Creed III (360)

Assassin's Creed catches crap for being annually milked without changing things up. I can't help but enjoy every entry, though. Maybe it's better compared to Mega Man's NES entries - same formula with a slight change in flavor for each game. Anyway, I find endless joy in climbing up to viewpoints, going for full sync, and so forth. The story is laughable, but i just..can't...stop...playing

Just played a bit of Monaco (XBLA) and its a blast in coop. Chaotic fun with a pacman feel to it.

How is it on single player? Reviews say it's still worth it, but from the game's description, I'm having trouble believing it.

Only played 2 and 3 player coop 'til now. I guess single player is much harder, because you have only one ability at your disposal. But the clear times are being tracked, so it might be fun for people who enjoy their speed-run-type-of-games.

[Ruldra]

Holy shit man, congrats! This one is tough, especially with Haggar (never got far with him). And you did it with a spare life too.

I wasn't aware that you were so good a beat-em-ups

[BIL]

That is impressive, and a great pic too! Final Fight is the only AC beltscroller I've spent significant time on to date - Haggar's invincible frames, ability to combo into a throw, and most of all the sense of him beating the living shit out of enemies are what drew me in. By the time I quit I could make it to Abigail on a credit, but it was getting intense and I shelved it. It's definitely the beater I plan to take up again first whenever I get back to the genre.

[Leandro]

Thanks guys, I'm not much into beat-em-ups actually, just some of the Capcom ones and the Streets of Rage series

And yeah BIL, the sense of beating the living shit out of them, that was well said . If you could get to Abigail the 1cc was within reach I'm sure

[Acid King]

Magical Drop 3. Playing Survival on Normal mostly, but topped out around level 17. I also made it to the final boss in Vs. but got housed pretty quickly. I just downloaded GGPO but haven't worked it out yet. I'm definitely will to take a beating if anyone is interested in playing.

I love this game, but it's hard to find people on GGPO. Once in a while I idle there waiting for a match, but it's usually empty. If somebody finally challenges me, I have a heart attack when that music suddenly blares.

I'm DeepInTheHops on there; I'm up for playing pretty much any evening.

I'll definitely hit you up if I see you. My ggpo username is globox.

[Ed Oscuro]

just gonna leave this here, thanks to Beacons for linking it
Somebody needs to tell those NeoGAFers that I remembered the game being in black and white for chrissakes, for many years. Yeah I remember being a little confused at points by the game demo at TRU (get dead if you don't understand the acronym, RIP TRU, apologies to people who lived in places that didn't have these, you can live a little longer) but I didn't have time enough to figure things out. Didn't even have a game system so it was all new anyway.

Calling the Maridia pipe BS, though = LOLZ

Also, Abyss of Pandemonium thoughts: Aside from TONS AND TONS OF SHAMBLERS (and very little ammunition), this has one of the nastiest enemies I've seen in a vidya game. It's a knight with what seems like about as much health as the normal knights have. It breathes heavily so you can hear it from a distance, kind of a crackling noise I think. It's called a Dark Knight. It's damn hard to see, it's fast, sometimes likes to do a lunging attack at you, but its main draw is a really nasty continuous lightning bolt attack. If you can get far away enough from it, you can shoot at it for a while. Sometimes I lose all my health to one, and then sometimes I get lucky and kill two without a scratch. Having rockets is a good idea, but the opening of the second episode loves to throw you into medium-size rooms with just a double shotgun and a handful of nails for the normal nailer. Nasty, nasty.

[Hagane]

Got to the final boss of AvsP for the first time ever! Too bad I got there with only a tiny bit of life and quickly got killed. I have no idea on what to do against the Alien Queen yet though so the 1CC is still far.

[BIL]

Yeah I remember being a little confused at points by the game demo at TRU (get dead if you don't understand the acronym, RIP TRU, apologies to people who lived in places that didn't have these, you can live a little longer)

Did something happen to them? I used to love digging around the local store's bargain bin / nobody wants these anyway section whenever I'd visit family in the states. I got a sealed Unreal Tournament for DC for like $5, who gives a shit. But then! SUPER RARE SE@LED PAPER MARIO for $10 that I could never be arsed to open and play. That thing's gonna pay off my student loan I tells ya.

Having rockets is a good idea, but the opening of the second episode loves to throw you into medium-size rooms with just a double shotgun and a handful of nails for the normal nailer. Nasty, nasty.

Have you tried the DOOM II megaWAD Scythe, btw? Reading this reminds me of the time it teleported me directly onto a Partial Invisibility in a small fenced-in area surrounded by four Cyberdemons.

[Ed Oscuro]

I downloaded Scythe 10 days ago, but I'm still working through a number of things. I hope to get to it soon. That sounds pretty badass, really. WAD's name is well chosen.

TRU...well, that's just a RIP to the local one. Glad you got to visit one.

I bought a sealed Paper Mario some years back from a Retrogaming Roundtabler on the cheap, but I won't tell anybody when you're selling yours. :}

[BIL]

I'm gonna let the frothing demand for sealed N64 games reach rabies pitch before I unleash the hot cellophane fury. I give it another decade or so.

[Moniker]

Argh.. working on the boss rush finale of Zelda Oracle of Ages + Seasons (my "Lvl2 Sword, lvl 1 everything else, no rings or imports" challenge [a good way to play these two games, btw - good difficulty sweet spot]).

Reversing the controls should never happen in a video game. Ever. Especially not when you're about to put the hurt on Ganon and everything flips and you die. Fuck.

[Hagane]

Aaaand I got it! After a credit where the Alien Queen killed me with 5% of her life left, I decided I would keep trying until I got the clear. And twelve failed attempts (most of them restarts after horribly messing up at the second or fourth stage) later, I did it!

I watched Avspadmirer's videos and stole a few strategies. Basically, shooting from afar, jumping at her head and getting to the other side with a couple of down + attack stabs. The pulse guns helped a bit, then the rest was all painfully long hit and run. Here's the replay (for shmupmame 4.2) + nvram: http://www.mediafire.com/?ilsu9389ym8jsiv

I wouldn't recommend watching it, it's pretty horrible like all first 1CCs. I'll try to polish my play some more before I do a video. There are some nice bits though, like perfecting Mad Predator and randomly finding out that Linn's "desperation" attack while armed is great for avoiding machinegun fire at stage 7. But pretty much everything else is sloppy as hell. Still, I'm really happy for the 1CC!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Argh.. working on the boss rush finale of Zelda Oracle of Ages + Seasons (my "Lvl2 Sword, lvl 1 everything else, no rings or imports" challenge [a good way to play these two games, btw - good difficulty sweet spot]).

The ring that makes you charge spin attack faster is welcome, for it speeds up the already fast-paced combat ("fast" for a Zelda game anyway). Makes the game(s?) play more like Ys and I like it.

[AweOfShe]

Finished the first floor set of side quests in Echoing Library, in Etrian Odyssey 4. Off to second floor.

My main party is now level 50, and the way I built them up was:
- Landsknecht, with skill points focused on Links.
- Fortress (sub-classed Bushi), focused on Taunt, and defense buffs. Sub-class skills are mostly passive for power, and healing when attacking.
- Dancer (sub-classed Nightseeker), holds two swords and attacks multiple times, with possibility of stunning. Main dances are Attack Tango, and Trick Dance.
- Runemaster, focused on elemental damage, with bonus to them.
- Medic (sub-classed Arcanist), usual medic stuff, with debuffs and poison circle, from the Arcanist skills.

I'm still not sure what to sub-class for Landsknecht and Runemaster. I may just put Medic for Runemaster, just to have a secondary healer. Not sure what Landsknecht could benefit off though.

[Marc]

Played the 360 demo for Resi Revelations and was surprised to find myself liking it lots. Old school Resi with better controls. Is it this good all the way through can someone tell me?

[BIL]

Aaaand I got it! After a credit where the Alien Queen killed me with 5% of her life left, I decided I would keep trying until I got the clear. And twelve failed attempts (most of them restarts after horribly messing up at the second or fourth stage) later, I did it!

I watched Avspadmirer's videos and stole a few strategies. Basically, shooting from afar, jumping at her head and getting to the other side with a couple of down + attack stabs. The pulse guns helped a bit, then the rest was all painfully long hit and run. Here's the replay (for shmupmame 4.2) + nvram: http://www.mediafire.com/?ilsu9389ym8jsiv

I wouldn't recommend watching it, it's pretty horrible like all first 1CCs. I'll try to polish my play some more before I do a video. There are some nice bits though, like perfecting Mad Predator and randomly finding out that Linn's "desperation" attack while armed is great for avoiding machinegun fire at stage 7. But pretty much everything else is sloppy as hell. Still, I'm really happy for the 1CC!

Congrats on getting that clear, I could tell you were really going for it when you'd post about AVP. Good luck with the polishing up - chances are the existing run is better than you might think, I know I'm never entirely happy with any gameplay I record, even for the relatively easy console stuff I've been sticking to in recent months.

[Moniker]

Argh.. working on the boss rush finale of Zelda Oracle of Ages + Seasons (my "Lvl2 Sword, lvl 1 everything else, no rings or imports" challenge [a good way to play these two games, btw - good difficulty sweet spot]).

The ring that makes you charge spin attack faster is welcome, for it speeds up the already fast-paced combat ("fast" for a Zelda game anyway). Makes the game(s?) play more like Ys and I like it.

Ahh finally wrapped this up. I basically just got good enough at the previous bosses to take very little damage so I could just absorb whatever I got during controller reverse mode. I think it may be akin to a learning disability on my part...

Anyway! Fucking fantastic games, both of them. I think I slightly prefer Seasons coz there were fewer little things that pissed me off, but they're both top notch. Which I guess isn't news, but after expecting to like Link's Awakening a lot more than I did, I guessed that these would be more of the same. Not so!

[BrianC]

For me, part of what made Link's Awakening so great is the vast amount of little touches here and there, THIEF. I heard the JP version (both regular and DX) actually has some major differences (for one, the trees on the island are different). I read some of the puzzles are harder in the JP version (yet to confirm), there is more action in the US (ditto), and some parts of the game were censored.

[Moniker]

Since I've been going on sort of obliquely about how I didn't really like Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, I might as well have it out.

Biggest problem was the lack of challenge. I didn't go fishing about for heart containers (not even sure I completed a full one), and still only died a few times in the early game when I didn't figure out a boss quick enough.

After that, the dungeon layouts were just torturous. So much backtracking; I remember having to use the song that returns to the entrance a good 4 or 5 times in one dungeon just to save time. Maybe it's better once you know them. For that matter, the overworld layout was really restricted. Since there aren't proper warp points, you have to basically memorize how to get everywhere, which is mighty annoying. It took me forever just to memorize the route to the Animal Village. That plus the lack of difficulty made for really tedious trips back and forth across the land.

The items are also really unbalanced. The boomerang is a freaking killing machine instead of a tactical tool, which is what I've always liked about it. The hookshot might've been a nice substitute, but it takes so long to extend, and the fact that you're invulnerable while it's extended meant I never used it just because it felt like cheating. Finding all the shells for the level 2 sword is such a grind fest that I never ended up getting it. So I had to choose whether I felt taking longer to kill something made it more difficult, or just tedious (in the latter case I'd just use the boomerang).

Lastly, the incessant text popups, especially for the random powerups, got very grating very quickly (as did the music for them). I'd avoid picking them up just so I would've have to click through the 4 page message. Getting a 3 page message every time you forget to equip the power wrist before running into something heavy was pretty bad too.

There were other minor nits like the inclusion of other Nintendo IPs (although I liked the Bowwow bit) and the overuse of the clumsy sidescrolling platforming...


The game undoubtedly has charm - the main village brought back fond memories of I don't even know how long ago, but apart from that...

[Ed Oscuro]

Biggest problem was the lack of challenge.

Same feeling I had when I tried it out a year or so back. Neat little world, though.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Biggest problem was the lack of challenge.

Same feeling I had when I tried it out a year or so back. Neat little world, though.

Considering it was intended for a handheld, I imagine they toned down the difficulty to aim at a younger audience. The DX version is even worse for challenge if you beat the secret dungeon and get one of the two alternate outfits - either a permanent piece of power effect or permanent defense acorn effect (double damage + knockback with attacks or half damage taken).

The level 2 sword comes so late and gets no time to really be used, so I always looked at it as a bonus quest that wasn't really that meaningful. It's a shame that considering how much more detailed it, the fact that it's so easy to navigate means you spend a lot less time in it compared to Zelda 1 or LttP in sheer exploration, and it's usually not as satisfying because the game's never really challenging enough to make you appreciate all your absurdly strong options (bomb + arrow attack is crazy powerful against some bosses).

[KAI]

Aaaand I got it! After a credit where the Alien Queen killed me with 5% of her life left, I decided I would keep trying until I got the clear. And twelve failed attempts (most of them restarts after horribly messing up at the second or fourth stage) later, I did it!

Finally, Congrats!

Playing Gundam vs Gundam Next Plus via PSP emulator. I'm still preferring Rengou vs Zaft II Plus.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Mario Kart 7. Just playing the Grand Prix to unlock characters and three star everything. Did some time trials too.

Dark Souls. Spent a few hours trying to kill off the Knight at the end of the long spiral staircase. I haven't managed to do it yet. Think the closest I got was getting two backstabs in one time and he was still alive afterwards. I'm probably not supposed to be fighting that dude yet. Ha!

[shmuppyLove]

Sunk some time into Infinite Undiscovery today, love a good action RPG!

[Moniker]

Dark Souls. Spent a few hours trying to kill off the Knight at the end of the long spiral staircase. I haven't managed to do it yet. Think the closest I got was getting two backstabs in one time and he was still alive afterwards. I'm probably not supposed to be fighting that dude yet. Ha!

I had almost the exact same experience today.. playing Zelda II.

The more I get into it the more I think it was a direct inspiration for Dark Souls.

[CoolgyFurlough]

Dark Souls. Spent a few hours trying to kill off the Knight at the end of the long spiral staircase. I haven't managed to do it yet. Think the closest I got was getting two backstabs in one time and he was still alive afterwards. I'm probably not supposed to be fighting that dude yet. Ha!

No matter where you are, those knight dudes are usually way more powerful than you are, and IIRC they are all optional. (though that didn't stop me from taking hours to kill all of the ones that I've seen so far >w<) If you are where I think you are, try leading him down the stairs into the large open area (you might want to kill some enemies there first) It really makes it easier to deal with.

[Aliquantic]

Trials Evolution on 360. Does anyone else play the game? I'd be curious to have more people in my friends list to compare times.