Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[Immryr]

I'm pretty sure you don't need to open the chests, just make it pop up. So you can leave the magician safely in his box and not have to deal with him. It's been a while since I played it though so I could be mis remembering.

[BIL]

Also, relevant



The icon of manly sidescrolling! Kills demons in his friggin drawers!

[FinalBaton]

Also, relevant



The icon of manly sidescrolling! Kills demons in his friggin drawers!

Agreed! The manliest of men

[Vludi]

Japan version (or a port based on it, like Capcom Generation 2's) is the way to go - the World and US "Ghouls n' Ghosts" versions are progressively easier, toning down the enemy spawn frequency and aggression, lowering boss HP, and giving more generous chests + checkpoints. Easier isn't necessarily inferior, of course, but the relentlessly encroaching chaos is really the game's defining feature imo, and it's in full force in JP.

Regarding the chests, I am *fairly* sure their contents are not set, but work on a queue. EG, in stage 1, the first will contain a magician, then the next a gold armour, and the third a weapon. As soon as the stage starts, run to the left edge to reveal the chest, open it and kill the magician, then proceed right. The chest that appears on the small hill will contain armour. If you didn't go left for that first chest, you'll get the magician here instead.

Others here like Squire, Vludi, Sumez and Ex_Mosquito are far more knowledgeable than me so I'll let them fill in the details. I think losing your armour affects things too, pretty sure chests won't spawn gold armour if you're in your drawers. :3

Thanks BIL although I'm just an average Daimakaimura player . Regarding to the chests, the basic order is always like this: 1st chest: Magician, 2nd: Gold armor, weapon (if gold armor equipped), Magician (if naked)* 3rd: Weapon, 4th: Weapon or Silver armor (if naked). Every time you reach a checkpoint the chest order resets.

In terms of strict memorization stage 3 and first half of 4 are probably the most important to learn, plus the pattern of Arremers. Regarding to region differences, JP is the hardest, World is easier (probably lower rank) but the checkpoints are the same, US is easier and has more checkpoints (easiest revision).

*thanks for the acclaration Skye

[BIL]

Every time you reach a checkpoint the chest order resets.

Aha! This explains a lot, thanks. I was never sure just how far the sequence went, and had no idea checkpoints reset it.

[BrianC]

To bad the Capcom Arcade Cabinet for PS3/360 doesn't have Dai. All of the games in it, including the original Makaimura have the JP versions. Not sure which revision it's based on, but knowing M2, it's probably the latest one.

[__SKYe]

Alright, managed to beat the 1st loop (continuing many times, of course), and reached stage 4 after that, but that damn boss still gives me a lot of trouble.

Regarding stage 4's second half (starting of the ice platforms, and ending right befor ethe boss), I can now do it flawlessly every time.
That's a load of my back, as I can now focus on the boss alone, and not dying even before I even get to him.

On stage 5, the Arremers are still a pain in the ass, but I can more or less beat them (irregularly, but still). They only have 3HP, so with a bit of luck, I can get past them. The pigs/dragons/fireflies combo right after isn't too hard, and I can usually pass it without losing a life (or the armor).
The boss rush is still quite tough, but I think I found a viable strategy for the Astaroth duo. I managed to beat them some 3 times in a row using it, although I'm not sure if this is what Squire was refering to.

I'll post it in spoiler tags, just in case it spoils the fun for anyone who has yet to beat them

Spoiler

When I reach them, I immediately get as close to the rightmost enemy as possible, and shoot him in the face, and he'll keep retreating, and his flamethrower attack seems to be much shorter than if I stay still.
After that one is defeated, the other is a piece of cake.

Surprisingly, I found a new chokepoint: the 3 clouds after that. The only times I've been able to beat them, was using the gold armor & knife combo, and they are now the place where I usually lose in that level.

The first time I beat the clouds today, I also managed to beat the 1st stage boss right after, and reach Beelzebub, and I actually beat it in the first try. I just attacked like hell, when it was spawning, and it was dead before it even got a chance to teleport.
I considered myself to be quite lucky, as I don't think that if he used his full arsenal, I would've won.
I really don't feel confortable knowing that I won without having faced all his attacks. But, oh well.

It's going pretty nicely, but there's still plenty of work to do.

Japan version (or a port based on it, like Capcom Generation 2's) is the way to go - the World and US "Ghouls n' Ghosts" versions are progressively easier, toning down the enemy spawn frequency and aggression, lowering boss HP, and giving more generous chests + checkpoints. Easier isn't necessarily inferior, of course, but the relentlessly encroaching chaos is really the game's defining feature imo, and it's in full force in JP.

That's good then, I always intended to play the JP version, but was really surprised at how much you can still jack the difficulty up.

Regarding the chests, I am *fairly* sure their contents are not set, but work on a queue. EG, in stage 1, the first will contain a magician, then the next a gold armour, and the third a weapon. As soon as the stage starts, run to the left edge to reveal the chest, open it and kill the magician, then proceed right. The chest that appears on the small hill will contain armour. If you didn't go left for that first chest, you'll get the magician here instead.

Others here like Squire, Vludi, Sumez and Ex_Mosquito are far more knowledgeable than me so I'll let them fill in the details. I think losing your armour affects things too, pretty sure chests won't spawn gold armour if you're in your drawers. :3

I thought that, at least some of them were static, because when restarting from a checkpoint, everytime I open one of the chests that appear on the way, always contain a magician.
And yes, on the Astaroth duo, whenever I reached them with armour, the chest right before that had a gold armour, but I never got it when Arthur was in his briefs.
That's like rewarding for playing well (being able to reach them unscathed), and punishing you for playing badly (not only you struggle to reach them, but you also don't get the gold armour on top of it).

I'm pretty sure you don't need to open the chests, just make it pop up. So you can leave the magician safely in his box and not have to deal with him. It's been a while since I played it though so I could be mis remembering.

That's good to know, thanks.
Though to be honest, they usually aren't much of a threat (as you can kill them quickly), except on some places, like on the ice platforms (where you can slide and touch them accidentally) or the start of stage 5 (where the dragons are a pain in the ass).

Thanks BIL although I'm just an average Daimakaimura player . Regarding to the chests, the basic order is always like this: 1st chest: Magician, 2nd: Gold armor or weapon (if naked) 3rd: Weapon, 4th: Weapon or Silver armor (if naked). Every time you reach a checkpoint the chest order resets.

In terms of strict memorization stage 3 and first half of 4 are probably the most important to learn, plus the pattern of Arremers. Regarding to region differences, JP is the hardest, World is easier (probably lower rank) but the checkpoints are the same, US is easier and has more checkpoints (easiest revision).

Thanks for the info, no wonder I always got the bloody magician after a checkpoint restart.
And indeed, this game has less need for memorization than I originally thought.

EDIT:
On loop 2 you need to have the special weapon on stage 5 correct? Is there a sure way to acquire it, or is it just luck based?
Given that you guys have 1CC runs, I'm doubtful that it depends purely on luck.

[Vanguard]

Thanks BIL although I'm just an average Daimakaimura player . Regarding to the chests, the basic order is always like this: 1st chest: Magician, 2nd: Gold armor or weapon (if naked) 3rd: Weapon, 4th: Weapon or Silver armor (if naked). Every time you reach a checkpoint the chest order resets.

So that's how it works!! I knew I was missing something!

On loop 2 you need to have the special weapon on stage 5 correct? Is there a sure way to acquire it, or is it just luck based?
Given that you guys have 1CC runs, I'm doubtful that it depends purely on luck.

I always get it from the first chest I open on loop 2 while wearing gold armor. Based on Vludi's valuable intel, it's possible that the chest must also be the third one after a checkpoint.

[Vludi]

I'm not entirely sure but I think you just need to open a weapon chest when you have equipped the golden armor, at least you will always get it in the next chest after getting the gold armor.

[__SKYe]

Alright, thanks for the info.
By the way, you do need to have the gold armour first right?
And also, can you get the special weapon anywhere on the 2nd loop, or just the 5th stage?

[Vludi]

Alright, thanks for the info.
By the way, you do need to have the gold armour first right?
And also, can you get the special weapon anywhere on the 2nd loop, or just the 5th stage?

Yes the gold armor is mandatory, and yeah you can get the special weapon anywhere in the 2nd loop. Just tested myself (getting a rough clear clear in the process) and every weapon you get after equipping the gold armor will be a Psycho cannon (special weapon), granted you don't have it equipped already of course.

[__SKYe]

Yes the gold armor is mandatory, and yeah you can get the special weapon anywhere in the 2nd loop. Just tested myself (getting a rough clear clear in the process) and every weapon you get after equipping the gold armor will be a Psycho cannon (special weapon), granted you don't have it equipped already of course.

Alright, many thanks for this, and also for taking the time to test it.

[Vanguard]

By the way, unlike the final weapons in Makaimura and Choumakaimura, the Psycho Cannon is very good and I recommend grabbing one right away on 2-1.

Surprisingly, I found a new chokepoint: the 3 clouds after that. The only times I've been able to beat them, was using the gold armor & knife combo, and they are now the place where I usually lose in that level.

I think the best way to beat the clouds is

Spoiler

exactly what you did. Equip the knife, go just far enough to the right that they will approach you and pummel them into dust before they get a chance to attack. Gold armor is helpful but not necessary.

[BrianC]

By the way, unlike the final weapons in Makaimura and Choumakaimura, the Psycho Cannon is very good and I recommend grabbing one right away on 2-1.

It also has the most awesome name out of those weapons.

[__SKYe]

By the way, unlike the final weapons in Makaimura and Choumakaimura, the Psycho Cannon is very good and I recommend grabbing one right away on 2-1.

This is a very welcome thing, as the main reason I never finished Cho's 2nd loop, was because I couldn't finish the last level with the mandatory weapon.

I think the best way to beat the clouds is

That's pretty much what I've resorted to, as there's really nothing else I could think off. If I reach them with an armour (either of them), then I can usually beat them.

I've cleared the 1st loop twice now, and on the last run managed to reach the final level, but I was so focused on getting there, that I conmpletely forgot about the special weapon.
And with a cruel twist of fate, I accidentally pressed one of the buttons after a game over (don't know which one), and let the countdown reach zero.

The runs are going much more smoothly though, so I should, at least, reach Satan soon.

It also has the most awesome name out of those weapons.

Indeed, it looks like somthing out ot M. Bison's or Athena's moveset.

[WelshMegalodon]

Indeed, it looks like somthing out ot M. Bison's or Athena's moveset.

Eight years later...

[__SKYe]

Indeed, it looks like somthing out ot M. Bison's or Athena's moveset.

Eight years later...

Haha, so he does have a move named Psycho Cannon.

I knew most (if not all) of his (and Athena's) moves started with "Psycho", but wasn't sure if any had the full name.

EDIT:

Finally did it.
Cleared Daimakaimura's 2 loops, but used somewhere around 30 credits to do it.
The run itself took almost 2 hours (around 1:50), a good chunk of it spent on the last stage of loop 2.



Honestly, all of you guys, who can get a 2-ALL are fucking amazing. I salute you.

The special weapon is indeed good, and does amazing damage, but its short range made the stage 4's boss a gigantic pain in the ass.
You have to jump to fire down, like usual, but you need to fire only pretty much as you hit the ground, otherwise you won't hit its weakpoints. The outer two can be hit with horizontal shots from the very tip of the boss, though.

It does short work of the Red Arremers though, as a single shot up close, when they swoop at you, will kill them.

On both loops, Beelzebub was my main chokepoint, by far.
On the 2nd loop alone, I lost against him upwards to a dozen times, even getting 2 double KOs in the process.
I've fought him without armour, with the standard armour, and with the golden one, and I still lost everytime. A good 30 minutes alone (or more) must have been spent on him (and the preceeding semi boss rush).

Against Lucifer (he isn't Satan, like I previously thought ), I lost 2~3 times, but he was quite a bit easier than Beelzebub.

The special weapon plus the golden armour, make for a fantastic arsenal, as the longer range and the bullet canceling is very nice.

By the way, does the special weapon inflict more damage up close than from afar? Because it certainly seemed so.

A couple things I learned (for certain), are that, if you lose your standard armour, the chest that would've contained the golden armour will contain a magician, and also, if you open a chest and it contains a golden armour, but you lose your standard armour before picking it up, when you do pick it up, it will be a standard armour instead.

In other news, it's quite funny that, on the ending, the game shows princess Prin Prin's measurements.
A small reward for (literally) going through hell and back.

Anyway, this was hard. Very hard indeed, and I need some respite.

[NYN]

This seems like the ideal opportunity to ask y'all what you think of Earthworm Jim.

We have to talk about Jim.

I got both games for SNES, PAL that is and I'm not afraid to go there (Whoa Nelly!!). Certainly is a time warp, to the magical plane when ignorance was bliss in regards to how there is a difference.

Anyway, never finished them and your post made me feel the sting, since I always did have a spot for the whacky humor.
(Continuing by opening a can of worms)
Made it past Tube Race, which was in former times me hitting the wall. Got the game over in Level 5. Funny thing is I don' recall how far I made it before, but some felt vaquely familiar.
What I spotted about Jim is that he is not dead center on screen while moving on. It's not dreadful. More something I would pick up now.

Did you get your hands on Earthworm Jim HD? What I'm told is that's a remaster and they tossed outed a whole lot of the original game and replacing it with new content. And what do you think about the sequel?

Opened the box o' loose carts and snatched Sparkster, Flashback and 'Vania: Vampire's Kiss.
Time to revaluate the Rocket Knight sequel, because I tried my best to not giving it a proper chance. Almost loathed everything. Mostly how it not plays like the original and Sparks 90s 'tude. Was I wrong to expect more of the likes what I relished? I hear that Sparkster for SMD is a whole different game.
Never got far in Flahback and I don't dig the Vampyr's Buss much, but honestly think the moniker is kinda sexy. Well, at least more then Simon's Quest or Dracula's Curse. While in the language of erotic electronic arts the latter are ringing closer to STD in tone.
It's all about the in-out with the suckers. Everbody knows this.

[Squire Grooktook]

Congrats Skye! Don't worry about not clearing, it's nice to always have an excuse to return to this amazing game.

About Beelzebub: you know that you can shoot his fly swarm to make them miss you, right?

I also like to handle his normal projectiles by strategically moving him off screen. He can't fire when his sprite is outside camera range.

[Skykid]

Finally did it.
Cleared Daimakaimura's 2 loops, but used somewhere around 30 credits to do it.
The run itself took almost 2 hours (around 1:50), a good chunk of it spent on the last stage of loop 2.

That's how it goes for everyone, don't sweat it. That place is hell's bastion.

The special weapon is indeed good, and does amazing damage

It's not, it's absolute rubbish, and intentionally so. Everything about it's design (high damage, short range, slow firing rate) is designed to make the last stage of the 2nd loop and the incoming bosses a total nightmare. My suggestion is not to get it until the last possible opportunity (which IIRC is somewhere in the penultimate stage).

That said, once you're at the TLB it works in perfect concert with the way you're meant to work his patterns - it's just everything before that's teeth gnashingly maddening.

[Squire Grooktook]

Uhhh, skykid, I think you're thinking of Cho/Super there. Goddess Bracelet does make the last stage hellishly worse in Cho, but the Psycho Cannon in Dai lets you skip literally every difficult section in the last stage if you have gold armor and know what you're doing (and even naked, it'll still let you skip most of them if you know the patterns).

Your mention of "incoming bosses" makes me think you probably meant or were thinking of Cho though, since Dai's last stage ends with a singular Beelzebub fight prior to encountering Lucifer, not cho's horrifically grueling Astaroth > Nebiroth rush leading into the tlb.

At any rate, the Psycho Cannon is inarguably the best weapon or at least as good as the dagger in Dai. It's weaknesses are minuscule compared to the very safe new strategies it opens up from beginning to end.

[Blinge]

Welp my Plague Knight No Deaths/Subweapons/upgrades vid is up!

https://youtu.be/POuHJsDalyc

Cutscenes and dialogue left in for popcorn time but I've added skip links to the annotations and description

As you can see I don't play very safe, One of the things I like about Plague Knight is the ability to use constant forward momentum and be very aggressive against bosses.
Let nothing halt the forward march of SCIENCE

Sure, dodging everything requires more finesse but I prefer turning it into a DPS bloodbath
I doubt such strats would work on NG+, with default equip at least.

Oddly enough I think I played much better on later stages than I do at the beginning. Specter Knight almost killed me after I fumble getting up to the platform >_<

recorded in segments cause I had to restart the airship like 10 times.. all of it cut out..

A primer on how Plague controls:

Spoiler

He has a smaller standard jump than Shovel Knight, but a little double jump to compensate.

Attack throws a bomb, and holding the attack button charges his burst move.
With default equip he can throw 3 at a time, incurring a small delay before he can begin a fresh salvo.

Throwing these bombs in the air can cause him to hover in place for a second with each throw - more air time!

The Charge Burst acts as a third jump and deals damage with a hitbox slightly larger than Plague's sprite - useful as a poor man's iframes to damage enemies and pass through them.

Bursts can be done neutrally in the air, but hold a direction and you're sent flying - often wildly out of control.

[Perikles]

Did you get your hands on Earthworm Jim HD? What I'm told is that's a remaster and they tossed outed a whole lot of the original game and replacing it with new content.

I've only played a bit of the demo you could (can?) download for free, wasn't impressed by it. The music doesn't sound right at all and apparently, the default difficulty setting of the original game is now the highest difficulty in the HD version. Can't say anything substantial, though, maybe the later stages are better.

And what do you think about the sequel?

Now that's a nostalgic game - I got the sequel (SNES version which is undoubtedly superior to the MD counterpart in my opinion, unlike the first game) quite a while before I had the first game back in the day, loved it then. These days, I don't find myself going back to it that often. I feel reminded of the Super Turrican/Super Turrican 2 comparison drawn earlier, Vludi summarized it succinctly when he said that 2 is "gimmicky". There are still some solid stages, it's quite unfortunate you also have to sit through several needless sections/stages that don't add anything interesting. Namely the three Puppy Love stages that drag on forever, this awkward isometric pseudo-shmup stage and the Simon Says section in the underwater cave, although you can immediately end the latter at least. I also never could quite get used to the final stage, it's the only stage in both games where the camera proves itself to be major issue.

The better stages are almost on par with their equivalents of the first game, there's quite a bit to enjoy both visually and conceptually. The game never gains any momentum, however, since you constantly get one of those aforementioned pace killers when you're starting to really enjoy yourself, turning the overall experience into a disjointed affair. I would probably still reluctantly give my placet, moreso for fans of the first game than anything else. While I never feel any tardiness when playing the first game, the sequel feels unseemly long even though there's not much of a difference in length between them.

[Skykid]

Uhhh, skykid, I think you're thinking of Cho/Super there.

Fuck, I always think we're talking about Cho.

Ignore me.

[Squire Grooktook]

First quote response is still accurate ^_^

[NYN]

Re: Earthworm Jim.

Croaked in Buttville. Will start again.
Shiny never came around in designing a proper boss fight, haven't they? Same with Wild 9. Some parts or stages are kinda cool, but the final boss is the only one methinks and nothing special.

About the For Pete's Sake stage. Is the signpost serious at the regular end? It says 'home' and 'advanced'. So if I'm to whip ol' Petey over his residence it gets on and with more challenge? Have to try it I guess.

[Perikles]

About the For Pete's Sake stage. Is the signpost serious at the regular end? It says 'home' and 'advanced'. So if I'm to whip ol' Petey over his residence it gets on and with more challenge? Have to try it I guess.

Yes, the stage goes on for a little longer if you do that - you can get some ammunition and one (?) extend, but it's not worth it if you play for survival, just as a bonus if you want to see more of the stage.

[BIL]

I'd probably have picked up a SFC copy of EWJ1 by now, if it weren't generally considered weaker than the Genesis version I grew up with. Always liked that game, and from my recollections it holds up. At least I don't recall it having the amateurish camera issues that spoil Perry's otherwise enjoyable MD Aladdin for me. Regardless, I really like its take on whip-lashing. Nice visceral *SNAP* - more like something that'd take an eye out, than bludgeon a skull to pieces ala CV's morningstar approach. /sadomaso biru

Alas the Sega version never got JP release and I am Captain Neurotic Collector so for now I've let it lie. ;3

The second game, I recall being wowed by the production values (even on the Genesis version), but all the gimmick stages make me less interested in revisiting. I don't recall them being bad or anything, just distracting.

[Stevens]

Earthworm Jim.

Game has style to burn. Like others here I've played it a bunch and want to weigh in.

Boss fights....yeah. I remember the first time l fought Bob. Funny? Sure, but I was expecting a shodown with #4 of some sort. Chuck is more like a mini puzzle, and tons of potential were wasted with the queen. That said Evil is decent and the robot chicken in free fall is dope.

Stage design is pretty good overall. Level 5 could do without the cage, but the secret area makes up for it. Down the Tubes, Intestinal Distress, and Buttville are my favorites. The submarine section provides great tension, but could have been a disaster without tight controls.

The backgrounds don't scroll but they're so pretty it doesn't matter. Level 5's probe(?), and dtt's wave effect stand out.

I won't comment on the music, everyone already knows.

[soprano1]

Thanks for the Plague Knight replay, Blinge.