Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[mycophobia]

Congrats, __SKYe.

I'm slowly but surely making progress in Kaiketsu Yanchamaru. I can get to stage 6 on one credit but the game seems to really ramp up in difficulty there. It seems like they basically throw every enemy in the game at you at one time at one point in the stage.

[BrianC]

Anyway, I'm happy to have finally cleared it, and now only the 3rd game remains.

Do you plan to play both versions? I definitely prefer the JP version, from what I have played. Nice job on the clear! Blaze rocks!

One warning about the Konami GB collections (both JP and US versions), while most games are fully intact, the vs mode has been removed from games with 2 player modes (Quarth/Block Game is one of these) and Track and Field is only half the game. One interesting thing is that the GB port of Guttang Gottong in one of the collections seems to be based on the Tomy Tutor/Tomy Pyutta version, which was actually released in the US as Locomotion.

[dunpeal2064]

Good to know about more nuances of those Konami GB comps. For me, as long as the real good stuff (Vania, Contra, Gradius, Pop'n, Parodius, Kung Fu)'s single player content are in tact, I will be more than happy with little colorized versions of them.

Big grats SKYe! That clear took me ages as well. On the other hand, I have not been able to hit the 1cc in the first game. That game is downright brutal to me. The Twins are a nightmare, taking multiple lives each time I encounter them. Took another (unsuccessful) shot at it last night, having not played in a while. This game always seems to float into a "lighter version of the sequel" while in the back of my mind, but it is a damn brisk game! I love how quick, small, and snappy everything is compared to the sequels. It is such a different game, and I would not be surprised if some would even prefer this. Certainly holds its own (Plus that cop car!)

Third game is JP mandatory imo. Sadly I own the us cart.

[kitten]

hey everyone!!!

been a while, huh? i was kinda tearing up a little that several of you left comments missing me and wanting me to come back. to be honest, there's not anywhere better for discussion of some of these old games than this thread! i miss talkin' to y'all, especially skye and bil. i get a little too worked up with any extended stay on a forum, and i think it would be best i make this not a full comeback, but more of a once-in-a-while kinda visit for a couple weeks. i was planning to post again once i'd recorded a video of a no miss for ninja gaiden, but life has been pretty busy (we got a cat!) and getting proper capture stuff that didn't dim out my nes or famicom (worked fine on my pc engine for some reason) took me quite a while. i have the equipment to do so, now, but i'm currently house-sitting and only brought my snes. i'll probably get around to it before the year end.

in the mean time, i have started uploading several recordings of my play to youtube, and a few are relevant to this thread! get ready for an unnecessarily big post, the only kind i make!!!

with each of these runs, please check the description for a few extra thoughts & details. please forgive the super huge titles and inclusion of the notorious "longplay" in them, i just want them to be easily searchable. i often look for longplays when looking up a new game, so i figure other people might do the same.

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a no miss of splatterhouse for the pce

my first full game recording! i get to dancing around with rick quite a bit, trying to make the run seem a little more fun. i do really horribly in the jennifer fight on this play, and could have really learned how to deal with her much better. kinda want to play this on the expert difficulty i only found out about a week or two after i'd moved on from the game - might be a treat to no miss that, too.

i don't think there's a lot to say about splatterhouse on here that hasn't already been said and likely phrased in a way i'd perfectly agree with. it's a classic, and this conversion is quite good and feels like it has its own identity. splatterhouse is deceptively good at what it does, and works both cinematically and as a quality scrolling action game.

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a no miss of makyo densetsu for the pce

ah, man, i really love this game! i feel it's a solid 3 out of 4 star kind of game, but i'm endeared so strongly to it that it's become a bit of a favorite. it really feels like a slightly suped up famicom action game in both presentation and play, and i love how snappy it is. runs into pacing issues in the super long final stage and the charge mechanic makes play a little too stop-and-go, but i managed to get over that hump pretty well. i think my play here is pretty solid.

i'm excited to play ankoku densetsu, which i have on the way in the next shipment of stuff i ordered from across the sea~

i have REALLY got to take back what i said about the pc engine not having a lot of very noteworthy non-shmups, as my rampant digging into its library has resulted in a lot of sheer joy. it may genuinely be heading to be my favorite console of its generation, provided you consider its generation in line with the SFC and MD, and not the famicom (which will forever be my favorite console of all time). i think it's more that its quality titles are just a bit less canonized into the great internet consensus, and a lot of its enthusiasts are american TG16 people who i filter out because of their weird nostalgia. even with how talked up makyo densetsu was, for example, i figured given how rough it looked that it was just the token action-platformer that TG16 fans put on display to try and make the library look more robust.

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a 1cc of marchen mace for the pce

given the free-scrolling nature of this game, i think it semi-qualifies for this thread. a nomiss of this game is a bit beyond what my heart can take considering the sheer spontaneity of death (i really just don't want turn this game into that), but i was really happy to pull off this 1cc after some practice. another very solid title, like the previous two, that i ended up finding myself quite fond of with some time investment. this appears to be even more challenging than the arcade game, and i really appreciate the overhaul they did for it. it feels a bit more completely explored, given the additional concepts and less repetitive stage elements. i kinda love this game, even if it can be very mean.

also, although it's a shmup and not quite thread-qualified, i'm going to stick my no miss of final blaster here, given the two other namco pce games i'm talking about at least keeping it in theme for the post. feel free to comment on the video if you wish to reply to keep the thread on-subject.

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a 1cc of batman returns for the snes

aw, heck, i bet skye will be proud of me tackling a final fight-esque beat 'em up, eh? man, this game is really rigid, but i quite enjoyed it. the ability to knock two goons' skulls together feels great, and there are some interesting subtleties to how the game works that reveals it to be more thoughtful than you might have initially anticipated after getting your ass stomped flat by the brutal catwoman fight. konami's production value is much appreciated, and i was really happy to pick this one up for under $10.

my play here is a little bit shaky, but i think it makes for a more exciting run to watch. some of my mistakes really cost me, and i pull through a 1cc by the skin of my teeth. i have also 1cc'd the game with the lives cranked up to 7 on its hardest difficulty, mania, but i'm not sure i could do that with the 3 life setting without a really dedicated day's worth of practice and grinding the game into a bit too much of a paste for my liking. mania doesn't really seem to change too much other than the item drops and enemy health exclusively for the batmobile bonus stage, but the lack of those health drops can reaaaallly burn with so few lives, even given the generous extend rate. maybe i could do it without as much practice as i'm making it out to be.

i still hate snes/sfc final fight, unfortunately. man, i just cannot get into that one. maybe i should try the arcade game again and see if i've warmed up to it, via CCC? i do have both mighty final fight and final fight 2 on the way, however!

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a no miss of umihara kawase for the sfc

perhaps this would be more accurately described as an amateur speedrun? i knock the game out on its shortest path in under six minutes, here. a few silly mistakes and do some amateur flailing, but i feel like i have put the time into this game to declare myself a genuine enthusiast, even though i'm still far off from expert territory. i played this game quite a bit for three or four days, and really, really fell in love with it. it's ridiculous i'd put this game off for so long given its many factors that appeal to me, particularly that it's a grappling hook game. it's the only game out of this group i'm posting here i'd give a 4 star rating to - it's really superb, even though it has a rough patch or two.

i wrote a quick review for this small, private forum i use mostly just to chat with a good friend, and here's a pastebin of that if you're interested in reading.

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i've also got a recording done for a no miss of majuu ou on hard, but it'll have to wait until i'm back w/ my roommate to upload. i'm stupid and she has to encode things for me.

i get the good ending and make sure the fairy you get at the start doesn't die. i feel like the super famicom has a bit of a disappointing game selection, given how stellar the famicom's selection is and how many great action titles the megadrive and pc engine have. even though it probably matches in quantity the number of quality titles that the PCE and MD have, i feel like given the big names that devoted their time to it and sheer size of the library, it should have blown the two out of the water rather than just met or potentially barely exceeded them. i've been exploring the recesses of its library, lately, and found more stuff to enjoy than i'd initially pegged, but there are such incredible expanses of utter garbage.

majuu ou i feel sticks out as an sfc game for having concise, quality action. no free-scrolling (good ol' left to right, for the most part) and directionless stages, no hidden secrets or upgrades, no bosses that don't stick to the screen and go do patterns off where you can't see, no unnecessary extra moves or ridiculous set of magic you'll never use, et cetera. feels almost like a pce or famicom game in how straight-forward it is, and how smart it is to keep the character sprites relatively small so that every boss fits on a single screen without things getting claustrophobic. kinda wild that this was a 95 title, all things considered.

it's still a little bit easy, but i admire a lot that it mostly knows what its doing and where to keep its limitations at. if you bother switching it over to hard mode (which has a few thoughtful changes rather than just bloating damage done to you and enemy HP) and limiting yourself to a single life, the lack of health refills after a boss turn this into a rather nice endurance match of a game.

aaaaaand i've got a no miss of trip world i need to encode & upload, as well (not that that's impressive lol). i play it a little slow and have fun, and consider it demonstrative of how i think a run for that game is supposed to be. it's not so much action as it is thoughtful interaction.

[soprano1]

Glad you are back.

[dunpeal2064]

Very nice Umihara run Kitten, some really good techniques on display, and great execution. I think this at least qualifies as Intermediate, not amateur

I agree with you on Majuu Ou. I have really enjoyed how tight and consistent the game is. No real bells or whistles, but its a constant pace with good actioning. Very cool to hear that Hard mode is actually thought out, this has quickly become my favorite thing to look for in these 8-16 bit games.

Also glad to see you back, always enjoyed reading your posts!

[FinalBaton]

Nice to see you back kitten!

[Squire Grooktook]

Same as the above. Welcome back! I was secretly holding back hope we'd get a return from you.

I can't post here quite as much these days due to gamedev and college work both intensifying, but I remain a dedicated reader of Scrolling Action Monogatari.

[M.Knight]

Welcome back kitten!

I would also say your Umihara Kawase run is at Intermediate level. It has a mix of above beginner-level tricks and moments that could still be optimized. For instance, you can go underneath the platforms on Field 1 to avoid being slowed down by the conveyor belt's slow movement, slingshot yourself on Field 12 to bypass the spikes and reach the door in a few seconds instead of traversing the whole stage, or use that slingshot technique on the final field to be launched towards the left wall without having to deal with the enemy on the platform above.

I agree with the complaints in your review. (aside from the artwork's boob size, that is ) The route you showcased is the only one I bother following when I play the SFC Umihara Kawase due to how tedious most of the bosses are. Some of the boss fields have circles of fish enemies chasing you down that you have to lure in your backpack to clear the level; those are not as bad and more interactive but I avoid them nonetheless.

In light of those issues, I would recommend trying out Umihara Kawase Shun.
While it has a bit of visual clutter with more background decorations in the stages, it drastically reduces the enemy spawning and streamlines the large bosses as to provide ways to shorten the fights.

Remember the tadople that jumps millions of times and spawns tons of frogs before leaving the stage and unlocking the door? Shun has the same boss and it does the same thing, only now the door is already unlocked above a wall on a platform you are supposed to reach after the boss leaves and a ladder is spawned, but wall-climbing to get to the door in ~10 seconds is totally doable!

Shun also features a stage practice mode, with stages unlocked as you reach them in a full run and visually organized as a flowchart. Pretty convenient, especially given how nasty some of the furthest stages are.

Sayonara Umihara Kawase is a step-back though, as the bosses are once again tedious and way too long. For some of them, you are supposed to swing underneath specific boxes to drop items on the bosses and damage them, which is still better than doing nothing but not by much. And IIRC, every route ends with a boss, so there's no way to avoid them completely.

[__SKYe]

Thanks everyone, and welcome back kitten.

Do you plan to play both versions? I definitely prefer the JP version, from what I have played.

I'll go with the JP version here, since not only is it the proper one difficulty & story wise, but it also has all the extra characters intact.

Nice job on the clear! Blaze rocks!

Yes she does.
I've always liked her, even when she had worse power than the other characters (in SOR1), but here she has the same power as Axel (which I used to use in SOR2), so that's even better. Will also use her on SOR3.

Big grats SKYe! That clear took me ages as well. On the other hand, I have not been able to hit the 1cc in the first game. That game is downright brutal to me. The Twins are a nightmare, taking multiple lives each time I encounter them. Took another (unsuccessful) shot at it last night, having not played in a while. This game always seems to float into a "lighter version of the sequel" while in the back of my mind, but it is a damn brisk game! I love how quick, small, and snappy everything is compared to the sequels. It is such a different game, and I would not be surprised if some would even prefer this. Certainly holds its own (Plus that cop car!)

I also used to think that SOR1 was much harder, but ended up 1CCing it much earlier than SOR2.
Besides the obvious gameplay differences, the one "mandatory" thing to learn in SOR1, is to have a strategy for all the bosses (that doesn't involve calling the cops), otherwise the last stage's boss rush will destroy you.
Of course SOR2 has this too (and it was damn hard for me as well), but at least you can count on the specials to help you.

As for the twins, even though I have a strategy for them, I still tend to lose a life on them (on either encounter), and they are the only boss I've lost against due to a timeout (and still do occasionally).

I posted a few GIFs back in the day, which detail my strat for the twins more or less, so perhaps it can help.

aw, heck, i bet skye will be proud of me tackling a final fight-esque beat 'em up, eh? man, this game is really rigid, but i quite enjoyed it. the ability to knock two goons' skulls together feels great, and there are some interesting subtleties to how the game works that reveals it to be more thoughtful than you might have initially anticipated after getting your ass stomped flat by the brutal catwoman fight. konami's production value is much appreciated, and i was really happy to pick this one up for under $10.

Yes I am.
I was also quite surprised that Konami produced a game so FF-like, so I enjoyed it (no 1CC yet, though) but I was expecting a full Beat-Em-Up and not a partial sidescroller, though I admit it does make for an interesting change of pace.

i still hate snes/sfc final fight, unfortunately. man, i just cannot get into that one. maybe i should try the arcade game again and see if i've warmed up to it, via CCC? i do have both mighty final fight and final fight 2 on the way, however!

Yeah, I've grown to like FF2 more, and it is superior to SFC's FF1 in every way, so you should have a better time with that one.
Mighty FF is great, and a lighter approach to the FF universe, though of course it is on the easier side. Shame that there's no standard 2P playing, but still a great game nonetheless.

aaaaaand i've got a no miss of trip world i need to encode & upload, as well (not that that's impressive lol). i play it a little slow and have fun, and consider it demonstrative of how i think a run for that game is supposed to be. it's not so much action as it is thoughtful interaction.

Looking forward to this one.
I've 1CCed it a bit back, and thought I had a proper strategy for the final boss, but I later attempted a 1LC, my assumptions were wrong, and I lost miserably. Then I started to get the feeling that my win on the 1CC was pure luck.

[BIL]

Hey, thought I saw you online earlier kitten. Looks like you've been busy, will enjoy that post when I've got the time it deserves! (flying lunch visit here)

[NYN]

OMG people now prefer Hard Corps US?

I think people always did.

As long as it's not the neutered Pal Probotector all is well.

Oh, lookit! Robots for sweaty dudes. Like Anime. Did we score or what? Can't side with the bad dude? Who cares?

[Sumez]

The Probotector robots are pretty badass

[NYN]

Then they should have probably made a game 'specilly for them. The way it rubs me, is that it feels like a occupation of space.
And for what reason? To make it futuristic?
Naw to all.

Wonder what non-Pal players think of this. And to all the changes on the MD one.

[EmperorIng]

Wonder what non-Pal players think of this.

Another laughable example of European game-butchering.

[WelshMegalodon]

Like everyone else, I'm glad to hear from you again, kitten. I noticed the Marchen Maze run when you posted it a few months back and wanted to thank you for a valuable upload of another overlooked Namco title.

I completed a 1cc of Trip World not too long ago and was wondering if you could elaborate on the scoring and maybe the meaning of the flower powerup, so to speak. I did read your writeup, but it doesn't explain the ending.

Is kitten the only person on the Internet to bring up scoring in Trip World? Aside from defeating bosses, the game awards points for two things: crossing crumbling bridges and immobilizing enemies (and bosses) with the flower power-up. I was hoping that the ending cutscene would shed some light on what the flower power-up actually means, but it, well... doesn't, really.

If Trip World does indeed have a focus on learning to care for the denizens of the game world, rather than aiming to defeat them, then kitten appears to be the only one to know so. Just about every other review out there ignores this in favor of dismissing the game as being short and easy, even claiming it lacks Gimmick!'s nuances and secrets when its AI behaviour and handful of hidden areas suggest the opposite.

The Probotector robots are pretty badass

Pretty neat designs. The heads are very Zeorymer:

Spoiler

[FinalBaton]

Wonder what non-Pal players think of this. And to all the changes on the MD one.

I think it's ridiculous.

Game is clearly meant to fuel the fire in the hearts of Arnie/Stallone movie fans and exude ÜBER-MASCHISMO. ' the fuck outta here with your robots I want HUMAN LIVES TO BE LOST AND THE FAMILLIES OF THE LOST ONES TO BE IN ETERNAL PAIN Yes.

[BrianC]

The definitive version of NES Contra is the JP FC version with extra cutscenes and background animations. The original Probotector is based on the NES version. It isn't even properly optimized for PAL.

[Sumez]

It's not at all optimized for PAL. Konami had a tendency of just not caring, but at least they usually fixed the music. Contra, like the first Castlevania, is old enough that they didn't bother doing anything. So despite giving the game a different coat of paint, they didn't even bother changing the tempo of the music. On the plus side, for modern collectors, this means the original PAL release of the first Probotector will play perfectly on an NTSC system. I personally have both versions.

[Ghegs]

As someone who grew up with Probotector rather than Contra, I was a tad disappointed when I discovered that the game originally had humans. Humans were the star in pretty much every game back then, robots not so much. And robots are the coolest thing when you're 8. I loved the cover of the original Probotector back in the day. They were like Transformers, except, y'know, without the transforming thing.

[Sumez]

Yeah, word of mouth would have it that they changed it to robots so humans would not be hurt, but it's difficult to tell how much truth there is to that. Maybe the PR department genuinely thought robots would sell better? They definitely didn't stick to those robots for four(?) additional sequels exclusively for censorship reasons.

Another laughable example of European game-butchering.

What other examples exist? I was always under the impression that most video game censorship was being blamed on USA, and Nintendo of America in particular.

[EmperorIng]

Another laughable example of European game-butchering.

What other examples exist?

One particularly famous example. I can't confirm, but rumor has it the new Wolfenstein game has this same problem. If true, that'd be pretty funny.

As for the robots, IIRC Germany had some pretty strict blood censorship policies, and being a large market was probably a determining factor to make everything robots. That's hearsay for me though so take that with a grain of salt!

[kitten]

I agree with you on Majuu Ou. I have really enjoyed how tight and consistent the game is. No real bells or whistles, but its a constant pace with good actioning. Very cool to hear that Hard mode is actually thought out, this has quickly become my favorite thing to look for in these 8-16 bit games.

i think one of the reasons that it is quite good is specifically because of the lack of bells & whistles - they tend to get in the way of a good action game and make it harder to balance or pace properly. it was pretty rare to see a dev give a genuine effort to a game in 95 and deliberately forsake all that kinda stuff. i actually picked up the cart of this because of my mostly-strict no emulation policy (aside from when i got my pce and went nuts on burning discs before deciding to pick almost all of them up - i'll get you one day, sylphia!!), and man, that was pricey. i did get kind of a deal for the loose cart given what i won it for, though (and it was sold by a fellow forum member!).

i'd have looooved to get a boxed copy because of the cool cover art, but that ratchets the already ridiculous price up around 3-4 times what it goes for loose. when we're talking that much money, that's not something i could afford at all.

anyway, yeah! i appreciate when hard modes do stuff like that, too. the changes, aside from getting rid of the ever-important couple of extra fairies, mostly involve giving a few enemies faster reaction times or nastier spreads of projectiles. this makes the train level, in particular, more difficult. the gatling enemies now fire a hair faster and have a spread to their shots, which makes them much more deadly snipers, especially when placed near pits. they also change up the speed the demons move on the collapsing bridge in the subsequent stage, which turns that portion into a much more difficult hurdle and perhaps the place you'd be most likely to choke and die, even on a good run. i actually take a hit there on my run (which will probably be uploaded thursday or friday) which by only a few pixels doesn't knock me into a pit.

would'a really ruined my day to end my otherwise good run, there

i actually got this game shortly after i stopped posting here and did a similar run back then, but it was before i had recording stuff set-up. there are many, many titles i want to go back to and get recordings of, but i've been moving forward with so many new titles lately that it's hard to get the time and energy. the ninja gaiden run is a courtesy i feel i owe this place.

I would also say your Umihara Kawase run is at Intermediate level. It has a mix of above beginner-level tricks and moments that could still be optimized. For instance, you can go underneath the platforms on Field 1 to avoid being slowed down by the conveyor belt's slow movement, slingshot yourself on Field 12 to bypass the spikes and reach the door in a few seconds instead of traversing the whole stage, or use that slingshot technique on the final field to be launched towards the left wall without having to deal with the enemy on the platform above.

i am really bad at the slingshot, and yeah, i've seen runners pull it off in both of those stages and it's why i used the term "amateur" to describe my ability. i just can't quite grasp it! perhaps intermediate is a more accurate term for my skill level, but the gulf between me and people who have dedicated themselves enough to do superplays is pretty obvious.

i do feel like i grasped the game in a shorter amount of time than most, and that's perhaps my big pursuit when it comes to any game - to quickly, if sloppily, get myself up to a competent par. i enjoy learning games a lot, but i get bored or exhausted by hyper-refining play down to a science. i consider myself to probably be more casual or at least more reckless in my approach to these games than most of the forum is, regardless of if my skill level & general ability are higher or lower than who you're comparing me to. with umihara, learning and refinement feel like they approach a near-perfect symbiosis, making it a highly replayable and superb kind of game.

when i hear about people putting in excess of 100 hours into the game and still struggling with it more than i did after what i'd estimate was less than 20, it helps me feel a bit less small when watching people's extremely high level play. with umihara, you're almost constantly learning, so i estimate i'll keep coming back to it and picking at it. maybe one day i'll get the slingshot down and get that run under 4 minutes and into real runner territory (it wouldn't take much practice to get it under 5, i think, and that is probably something i'll do before i croak).

i've already got a copy of sayonara (with the soundtrack and that cute little umihara figure that sits on ramen cups to seal the steam in), which i've heard is the least loved of the three! and i've got both shun & shun 2nd edition on the way in my next shipment of imports. not sure if i will dive into them immediately, however - umihara was a real treat, and i might want to space out the sequel and even further space out sayonara. some weird little company is going to be putting sayonara++ into a physical edition early next year, and i might grab that.

Yes I am.
I was also quite surprised that Konami produced a game so FF-like, so I enjoyed it (no 1CC yet, though) but I was expecting a full Beat-Em-Up and not a partial sidescroller, though I admit it does make for an interesting change of pace.

yeah! it's pretty surprising given konami's other popular beu's (like the turtles games, or simpsons arcade) that this one would be as much like final fight as it is. it's even got them really satisfying, crunchy sound effects and hyper-fast jabbing. batman plays a bit like a combination of haggar and cody, i feel.

the side-scrolling stuff is a bit weak, but yeah, i think it makes for a fun shift of pace. that is, with the exception of the first penguin boss, who i think is maybe the least enjoyable part of the entire game.

Yeah, I've grown to like FF2 more, and it is superior to SFC's FF1 in every way, so you should have a better time with that one.
Mighty FF is great, and a lighter approach to the FF universe, though of course it is on the easier side. Shame that there's no standard 2P playing, but still a great game nonetheless.

i really, really wanted to also pick up a copy of tough given how frequently people praise that one, but it sadly eluded me on this auction-spree. i do, however, have the entire rushing beat trilogy and both sonic blast man games on the way along with those two final fight games, so i'm hardly going to be in need of more beat 'em up action any time too soon. i've also got sailor moon r on the way, at your behest - nearly picked up the first one, instead, oops!

speaking of, i've also recently gone through and 1cc'd turtles in time on hard mode with default/lowest lives setting, which was quite a fun ride and a bit more tough than you'd think (this was done in 2p mode, and my partner continued a few times), and i've also 1cc'd pirates of dark water in its default settings (again in 2p). need to record runs on both of those, but i'm not making any promises in getting around to it.

although pirates of dark water is upsettingly, jarringly long and can last over 1h30m for a playthrough, i'm going to go out on a limb and call it very surprisingly good. decent enemy variety, lots of hazards and pits reminiscent of double dragon 2, a good variety of basic moves that feel somewhere between SoR 1 & 2, and some really surprisingly enjoyable scenarios to get yourself embroiled in. the length is exhausting, but if this were trimmed down and added an additional basic enemy, i think it would be great. i went into it with very low expectations and felt blown away, and it's kind of becoming a favorite.

get ready for a lot of grungy-sounding guitar synth!

Looking forward to this one.
I've 1CCed it a bit back, and thought I had a proper strategy for the final boss, but I later attempted a 1LC, my assumptions were wrong, and I lost miserably. Then I started to get the feeling that my win on the 1CC was pure luck.

if you still need advice for the final boss after watching my video, let me know. i think it's pretty instructive on how to trivialize each stage, though iirc i flub a bit on the 2nd "phase" of the 2nd of the 3 bosses, which is perhaps the trickiest part of the whole affair and what might be giving you the trouble.

I noticed the Marchen Maze run when you posted it a few months back and wanted to thank you for a valuable upload of another overlooked Namco title.

what a little classic this one was! at least in my opinion. i feel like the abrupt and brutal deaths in this game put a lot of people off from investing more wholeheartedly into it, but it's quite forgiving in letting you restart from any stage you want to practice. a little diligence pays off a lot, here, and i feel like this game is more accessible to the highly casual purveyor than it tends to get pegged.

i bought a little miniature of alice from the game, as well as a resin kit that's on the way in the next shipment for pretty much pennies (my first time ever buying one of these - my miniature painting days are waaaaaay behind me, but i just wanted a neat little toy that related to this game). there's a pin & shopping bag that keep getting relisted on yahoo auctions right now (please no one snipe this from me! i might not be bidding again for months!) that i keep strongly considering.

i don't know, i sorta fell in love with this game.

it could be a bit more polished, sure, but i really think this is a pce classic that deserves to be in a higher echelon of recommendation by the general consensus.

and, yeah, uploads of the pce version that aren't clearly tool-assisted by tourists are pretty hard to come by. i think my run of final blaster is the only no miss on youtube that isn't tool-assisted, and my run of marchen maze is one of very few or the only that isn't, as well. gah, i hate how often people record themselves playing and don't mention they cheated, or even lie about it. it's very misleading for people watching to not be told that what they're watching is amateur play, and it frustrates me that i constantly run into it when looking to glean a bit of play strategy off other players for myself. there are so many channels of perpetually tool-assisted tourists that get dozens of comments about how great the player is that drive me up a wall.

I completed a 1cc of Trip World not too long ago and was wondering if you could elaborate on the scoring and maybe the meaning of the flower powerup, so to speak. I did read your writeup, but it doesn't explain the ending.

scoring is mostly done to urge the player away from considering every encounter violent, imho. it's not a score-focused game, and you could theoretically milk the score to a full cap just by repeatedly grabbing flower power-ups and hitting enemies hundreds of times with a seed. i feel like score exists in the game at all for players who would already be predisposed to noticing how scoring works realizing that attacking basic enemies is an action that isn't rewarded by the game, but causing them to be temporarily peaceful by use of the good flower power-up is. you also get points for beating bosses, which i think is supposed to further illustrate the regular enemies of the game as simply creatures occupying their homes. even the aggressive ones are characterized as curious, scared, or reacting to your violence (there are several enemies that don't attack you until you've attacked them). one of my favorite dichotomies in the game is with the big cat in the ruins, who adores seeing you and wants to play but will not harm you, and the smaller kittens that strongly resemble the bigger cat in the castle, who will hurt you but are similarly playful.

a friend of mine was looking to get the manual translated, but it's never been fully done, as far as i know. there are a few bits and pieces of talking about it around the net that you'll see, though, which might be taken from the european release. iirc, the king becomes possessed by this evil flower placed on his head that sows discord, and seeks out another particularly dangerous flower that is guarded by yacopu's grandfather, who he lives on the mountain with. he kills the grandfather to procure the flower, and then yacopu goes on an adventure to secure peace and put the flowers back where they belong. i thiiiiink the evil flower has a name and is described to cause chaos, which is why other parts of the kingdom start acting up and why the bosses are being rude.

i feel like the story doesn't need too much explaining and is pretty well contained by the opening and ending cutscenes, which are wordless. king is influenced by a bad flower, you gotta stop the flower. the more important narrative is the one you craft by your play. i messaged very briefly with tomomi sakai, and described at as a game meant to be peaceful - to which he responded that i understood him well and was "very thoughtful and attentive." he could have been responding to my praise of his work, in general, but i think he was nodding that i understood the design ethos of the games he works on. i didn't want to bug him further to find out, it was a short and highly pleasant exchange and i preferred to leave it at that. i had accidentally directed someone else to comment on his blog, and i think he found their questions a little exhausting, but was still responding in english to them.

also, did you happen to find the stage 4 secret area?

it's perhaps the most obtusely hidden in the entire game, and features the most difficult encounter with the little parasol guy. even the vg atlas map page does not have this secret discovered, though there is a curious blank spot on the map where it would fit right in.

= - = - = - = - = - =

also, gosh, thanks for all the welcoming back, everyone!

i didn't realize my posts were so appreciated.

[Sumez]

I missed the Majyuu Ou talk...

I like that game. It's not really that great, and once you learn the stages and the few bosses that are in the game, it's really easy. Especially if you allow yourself to abuse the most powerful forms you can take.

But I love how it feels like an NES/Famicom game on the SNES/SFC. Especially the first part where you're the correctly sprite-sized gentleman with a gun who's not trying to impress you with the SNES's fantastic abilities to show huge sprites with lush colors. I wish there were more 16 bit games like this.





I'm also overjoyed to see Kitten back, but I'm already dreading falling so far behind on the thread again that I won't get to read a fraction of the longs posts that are gonna show up

[__SKYe]

One particularly famous example. I can't confirm, but rumor has it the new Wolfenstein game has this same problem. If true, that'd be pretty funny.

It's important to notice that Wolfenstein was (and still is) a special case in Germany, because Nazi symbolism is illegal outside of "art or science, research or teaching", and games do not qualify for any of these categories.
So perhaps when licensing games like these in Europe publishers just went with the full censorship throughout all of Europe.

The new Wolfenstein was equally censored with the usual Nazi stuff (or lack of thereof), along with Hitler's mustache. You can read a bit about it here.

yeah! it's pretty surprising given konami's other popular beu's (like the turtles games, or simpsons arcade) that this one would be as much like final fight as it is. it's even got them really satisfying, crunchy sound effects and hyper-fast jabbing. batman plays a bit like a combination of haggar and cody, i feel.

the side-scrolling stuff is a bit weak, but yeah, i think it makes for a fun shift of pace. that is, with the exception of the first penguin boss, who i think is maybe the least enjoyable part of the entire game.

Those thin clowns on the very first stage, actually remind me of the sparsely animated enemies from the Natsume's Power Ranger BEU for the SFC (which you posted about a while back).
It's a decent game though, and a fresh departure from Konami's standard BEUs.

i really, really wanted to also pick up a copy of tough given how frequently people praise that one, but it sadly eluded me on this auction-spree. i do, however, have the entire rushing beat trilogy and both sonic blast man games on the way along with those two final fight games, so i'm hardly going to be in need of more beat 'em up action any time too soon. i've also got sailor moon r on the way, at your behest - nearly picked up the first one, instead, oops!

Haha, you really got plenty of BEU material to last a while.
FF Though is cool, but I still prefer the first 2. Take your time with FF2, and if you enjoy that one, then you can be reassured that you'll enjoy FF3 as well, since it is more or less the same.

if you still need advice for the final boss after watching my video, let me know. i think it's pretty instructive on how to trivialize each stage, though iirc i flub a bit on the 2nd "phase" of the 2nd of the 3 bosses, which is perhaps the trickiest part of the whole affair and what might be giving you the trouble.

Did you post the video already? The hard part was really just the very final boss, not the preceding ones, so I'll be sure to check it.

[Sumez]

So perhaps when licensing games like these in Europe publishers just went with the full censorship throughout all of Europe.

Not so. That's definitely only a Germany thing. I've never seen it before, but at the same time I'm not surprised. I mean, you can't really blame them. I actually thought Wolfenstein simply wasn't being sold there.

[__SKYe]

Not so. That's definitely only a Germany thing. I've never seen it before, but at the same time I'm not surprised. I mean, you can't really blame them.

I'm not referring just to Nazi imagery (that's a special case), but rather the overall censorship.
I mean, if a publisher had (or intended) to censor because of some country (in Europe), I'd think they would go with the lowest common denominator when releasing games for all of Europe, at least back in the day.

Mind you, I'm not claiming this is the case, it is just my opinion, but were there cases of versions of games released for specific countries (that are not made in these countries) back n the 8-bit era? I think I recall some from the 16-bit era, but I don't think they were that common, and probably only for high-profile titles.

I actually thought Wolfenstein simply wasn't being sold there.

I recall reading in Masters Of Doom, that when id Software started shipping copies of Wolfenstein 3D to Germany, they would just get sent back, because of the Nazi stuff, and to circunvent it, they started shipping the game in nondescript packages.
it's a great read, by the way.

[kitten]

I missed the Majyuu Ou talk...

I like that game. It's not really that great, and once you learn the stages and the few bosses that are in the game, it's really easy. Especially if you allow yourself to abuse the most powerful forms you can take.

But I love how it feels like an NES/Famicom game on the SNES/SFC. Especially the first part where you're the correctly sprite-sized gentleman with a gun who's not trying to impress you with the SNES's fantastic abilities to show huge sprites with lush colors. I wish there were more 16 bit games like this.

have you managed to pull off a nomiss where you don't lose the fairy on hard? i feel it's how the game best shines, as it is definitely pitifully easy to do a 1cc, esp on normal. i'd honestly prefer hard mode still had a tad more of a bite, but when played under those restrictions, i feel it's a better action game than it is given credit for. i don't think i've even seen people other than me mention the hard mode, come to think of it - but yes, there is an options menu accessed by the select button on the title screen.

and, yes, very fc or maybe even pce in its design mindset. makes it an instant winner, in my case.

I'm also overjoyed to see Kitten back, but I'm already dreading falling so far behind on the thread again that I won't get to read a fraction of the longs posts that are gonna show up

danke, danke! seriously, i'm shocked at how many welcome backs i'm getting.

Haha, you really got plenty of BEU material to last a while.
FF Though is cool, but I still prefer the first 2. Take your time with FF2, and if you enjoy that one, then you can be reassured that you'll enjoy FF3 as well, since it is more or less the same.

2 was dirt cheap :O under 1k yen for a complete copy. grabbed a boxed (no manual) copy of mighty final fight for under 2k, too. made them really easy pick-ups, so i'll be fine if i somehow don't like them. i'm excited to play both! everyone says 2 is much better than the first.

tough is... expensive as heck, tho. goes for around 10k and up, loose, though i was trying to get one for under 9k. i know that i could probably get a copy of 3 from eBay easier, but i'd rather have the jp cart and its way cooler title screen.

fuck getting a complete copy, though too expensive and a kind of unimpressive boxart

each of the rushing beat and sonic blast man games were grabbed loose, too - either wasn't impressed with the boxes or felt they were too expensive and games i wouldn't love so much i felt i needed to have them. i'm particularly excited to try shura and sbm 2.

Did you post the video already? The hard part was really just the very final boss, not the preceding ones, so I'll be sure to check it.

ah, when i meant "stage," i meant "of the boss gauntlet." the recording won't be up until thursday or friday due to needing my roommate to encode it. if you are having trouble with the absolute final boss, literally just jump on his head, and then go down to quickly kick him before retreating back up there. makes him a joke. a very important thing to consider in trip world is that many enemies and bosses do not have contact damage - you're very much meant to get physical.

also, i'm officially recommending you try out pirates of dark water, so let me know if you give it a shot! just be buckled in for a really long session due to its length.

[__SKYe]

Ah, something I forgot: it is entirely possible (and perhaps even more likely) that any censorship present in the PAL games is there, because they were based on the US version, which were the ones censored by Nintendo Of America.
It's just a guess though, so don't take it as gospel.

2 was dirt cheap :O under 1k yen for a complete copy. grabbed a boxed (no manual) copy of mighty final fight for under 2k, too. made them really easy pick-ups, so i'll be fine if i somehow don't like them. i'm excited to play both! everyone says 2 is much better than the first.

tough is... expensive as heck, tho. goes for around 10k and up, loose, though i was trying to get one for under 9k. i know that i could probably get a copy of 3 from eBay easier, but i'd rather have the jp cart and its way cooler title screen.

That's cool, both those games are pretty good, so I think you'll get a run for your money.
But 10k for FF3... I'm not too familiar with used games' prices, but I'd say that it is too much to pay for it, since it's not that much of a different game from FF2. Perhaps just wait it out, and maybe someday you'll find a copy cheaper?

ah, when i meant "stage," i meant "of the boss gauntlet." the recording won't be up until thursday or friday due to needing my roommate to encode it. if you are having trouble with the absolute final boss, literally just jump on his head, and then go down to quickly kick him before retreating back up there. makes him a joke. a very important thing to consider in trip world is that many enemies and bosses do not have contact damage - you're very much meant to get physical.

That's what I think I did when I won, but I'm not really sure anymore. Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the video.

also, i'm officially recommending you try out pirates of dark water, so let me know if you give it a shot! just be buckled in for a really long session due to its length.

Duly noted, I'll give it a try.

[BIL]

a 1cc of marchen mace for the pce

given the free-scrolling nature of this game, i think it semi-qualifies for this thread.

Definitely on topic - the thread's scope has expanded slightly in recent months. See the moderately updated OP.