Ninja Gaiden [NES] + R2RKMF: Scrolling Action Monogatari

[__SKYe]

The corridor is an absolute meatgrinder - that was where all my casual credits would typically end, too. The Right Arms are utterly lethal if not properly shut down, and if you get pincered, hoo boy. O'hara and Bobo take a bit of figuring out too, thanks to the single plane.

Yeah, got the game over right on the first two enemies. After they knock you down, they will continue to mercilessly beat you to a pulp. Really brutal stuff.

NB though - the ceiling is actually harmless, despite its menacingly spiky appearance. Deliberately whacking your head, then uppercutting/kneeing is totally viable. Personally though, I find it way more interesting and satisfying to play that section as if the ceiling does hurt - instead I use KKP knockdowns to soften up the Right Arms, while keeping out of their pincer attack, and try to tag the followup O'hara with PPP-PPP started from just outside his range. He'll often just flatten you on approach - but then you've got the perfect excuse to uppercut the shit out of him and get in close. Either way, once he's down he's done. Just like DD1's Abobos, he's extremely vulnerable to pointblank attack, so just hammer away until he's dead.

Haha, I know, I've hit my poor character's head against the ceiling so many times, he'd be quite dead otherwise.
I guess I'll have to start using more punches/back-kicks to beat them, as my usual spinkick+uppercut tactic doesn't work here.

This goes for DD2's Abobos, too! Technically called "Bolo," but cmon Bobo, you ain't fooling me with that dimestore rug! An easy way to deal with M4's Bobo is to ensure you're right at the end of the corridor when the last Williams dies - Bobo will spawn on top of you (that felt wrong to type ), ready for an unstoppable beating.

I've once tried to use the small vertical opening in this section, to perform a neutral jump+spinkick+uppercut, but it doesn't quite work, since the moment you do the spinkick, the enemy(ies) will stop and duck, and you'll never hit them (nor with the uppercut). And if you don't use the spinkick, so that they'll continue to march towards you, you'll most likely get hit by a punch before you can land and uppercut them. You really need the forward momentum for this.

Forward + AB, just as you go from kneeling to standing (after a jump, a ledge drop, or a knockdown - the game doesn't distinguish). The timing is cruelly tight... I get maybe 90% accuracy from jump-setup ones, but I find recoveries harder since I don't get that nice (Jump) (Wait) (Kneel) (BLAOW) rhythm.

Ah, so that's it, a harder variation of the Uppercut's input.
On Normal, I mostly used either Jump+Uppercut or Jump+Spinkick+Uppercut, but on Difficult, the one without the spinkick will mostly make you get hit instead (as the enemies are more aggressive), and you won't have the time to reach the ground, for the Uppercut.
So now I mostly do the J+S+U variation, as doing the spinkick makes them duck, which in turn gives me enough time to reach the ground and perform the uppercut.

Once again, I think I'll have to start relying more on the standard punch/kick to prevail on Difficult.
It's easy to pretty much go through the game on Normal with spinkicks/uppercuts alone, but I'm honestly happy that the harder difficulty somewhat forces you to rely on the other methods of attack.

A great game indeed.

I find it hard to pull off (and remember) combos in beat 'em ups for some reason. It's really weird, because I have no problem studying them and cranking them out in 1-on-1 fighting games. I'm a Street Fighter whore and I love to study that game and learn combos (not just actual special moves. but real-deal COMBOS. as in "sequences of moves/special moves that can't be countered once the sequence is successfully started).

Maybe it's because I don't feel like studying/putting in the work for beat 'em ups? Or didn't play said games enough? Or maybe it's because having multiple enemies on-screen make it impossible for my shit attention span to focus? haha

It really is a weird phenomenon...

I know what you mean, but I think beat-em-ups just rely much more on bread-and-butter combos, rather than big damaging one like in fighting games.

Of course it depends on the specific game (beat-em-up) you're playing, but for most of them, there are always several enemies on screen at once, which discourages spending too much time on any single one of them, instead the emphasis being on crowd control and doing as much damage as possible to as many enemies at once as you can.

While fighting games ask of you to maximize the damage you inflict, for each opurtunity you have (hence the usefulness of combos), I believe beat-em-ups rely much more on performing simple (or comparatively simpler) moves/combos over and over again.

The other moves, I haven't bothered to implement in my gameplay... see first half of my post
Combos, I haven't studied/implemented in my game yet

I'm pretty much like that too. If I find a tactic/combo that works, I won't bother to implement other combos until the necessity to do so arises, just like playing DD2 on Difficult now, and this is why I enjoy when playing a game's higher difficulty makes me rethink the strategies I've been using so far, and implement new ones.

[BIL]

The corridor Right Arm battle is one of the few parts of the game where I follow a set-in-stone plan; it's just too vicious not to. Basically:

1) the instant you exit the elevator, hit the rightmost Right Arm with KKP; this'll knock him down. Let him recover, then KKK - this will, again, knock him down, while sending him flying a tad further. This'll free up vital seconds to deal with his pal on the left.

2) immediately hit the leftmost Right Arm, who'll be about halfway across the screen by now, with KKP. Get the fuck across him, to defuse the pincer, and prepare to hold the middle of the screen.

3) keep it up. Once you land two of the aforementioned combos, you'll be able to grapple them, which will expedite things. I like to land a couple elbows then punt 'em into the roof, feels good.

4) when one dies, the third will enter. Since you're at the screen center, you shouldn't have any problem working around this.

*) with two RA's onscreen, one will often get "stuck" shuffling in place. Ignore it; he'll unstick when his buddy dies, and he'll belt you as normal if you approach. If for some reason you need him unstuck, whacking your head on the ceiling will do it. ;3

**) Even on NES Hard, you can only ever face two RAs. It's three on FC.

If I somehow screw up (typically botching those first two knockdowns), I just restart. It's entirely possible to bludgeon them back with uppercuts or knees, but either way, it's gonna look ugly as all hell.

Right Arms are in a class of their own for absolute vicious aggression. Some of my favourite "bruiser" enemies ever. They and Chins share the strongmens' stun resistance (you need twice the damage to stun 'em: PPP-PPP or KK), but where Chins are rather wimpy on offense, and just as vulnerable to pointblanking as their DD1 predecessors, RA's are brutality incarnate. Note that they're highly vulnerable to a jumped-in uppercut; land on top of 'em and they'll get hit every time.

Also I always thought they were supposed to be sporting jeans and jackets, but these latest sessions have me thinking they're wearing the oldschool kung-fu tunic. Bad muhfuckas either way!

[FinalBaton]

I'm pretty much like that too. If I find a tactic/combo that works, I won't bother to implement other combos until the necessity to do so arises, just like playing DD2 on Difficult now, and this is why I enjoy when playing a game's higher difficulty makes me rethink the strategies I've been using so far, and implement new ones.

That's exactly how I roll. Until I get challenged, I keep with what works and is fun for me to input. what's already in my muscle memory and quickly got there. After I get a couple moves and setups in my muscle memory(just enough to get me through with a certain ease), I immediatly shift my focus and energy on clearing the game; I stop practicing combos and getting them into my muscle memory entirely.

Also that's a great point you make a the end. I myself certainly appreciate a well-tuned Hard mode that forces you to implement new strategies/setups in your play. Whenever you've mastered Normal mode, just crank that shit up and elevate your game and become an even more badass warrior

I know what you mean, but I think beat-em-ups just rely much more on bread-and-butter combos, rather than big damaging one like in fighting games.

Of course it depends on the specific game (beat-em-up) you're playing, but for most of them, there are always several enemies on screen at once, which discourages spending too much time on any single one of them, instead the emphasis being on crowd control and doing as much damage as possible to as many enemies at once as you can.

I think you're right, and you just made me realize that maybe I just flat out don't need the flashy combos. Maybe I just need to focus on crowd control (which is what I'm currently doing. with pretty decent results in Streets Of Rage 2). I mean if you can sneak in cool moves and cool combos and cool setups then that's great, but before then one should learn how to manage the game's crowds of villains with ease first, and then if you want then add the moves

[__SKYe]

The corridor Right Arm battle is one of the few parts of the game where I follow a set-in-stone plan; it's just too vicious not to....

I'll try to employ that tactic when I play, thanks.
If there's yet another unique feature of (some of) Technos' games, is that they don't quite go full beat-em-up, instead they blend standard beat-em-up action (with the depth plane), then switch to single plane brawling, and even throw platforming elements in the mix.
Whether you love them or not, one has to admit that they really spruce their games up.

That's exactly how I roll. Until I get challenged, I keep with what works and is fun for me to input. what's already in my muscle memory and quickly got there. After I get a couple moves and setups in my muscle memory(just enough to get me through with a certain ease), I immediatly shift my focus and energy on clearing the game; I stop practicing combos and getting them into my muscle memory entirely.

Yeah, playing in a way that is fun is also important, in my opinion, and is one of the primary reasons I stopped doing jump kicks all the time (this was when I started playing SOR1 properly), because it got very boring very fast. I mean, yes, you can progress through the game, perhaps, in a more safe manner, but damn if it isn't boring.
I also go through a couple phases when playing a fresh game. At first, I just do what works, and what is relatively safe (I tend to play more defensively/reserved when playing a new game), and as I get better/more comfortable with the game, I start to play more 'elegantly', that is, either doing better combos/moves so that enemies die faster, or simply for the fun of it (like you said, introducing a few flashy moves here and there).
I guess this is where we, as players, go from simply playing to beat the game, to actually dominating it. Or at least that's the goal.

Also that's a great point you make a the end. I myself certainly appreciate a well-tuned Hard mode that forces you to implement new strategies/setups in your play. Whenever you've mastered Normal mode, just crank that shit up and elevate your game and become an even more badass warrior

Right? Even though sometimes a simple ramp in enemy HP/damage does make you play more cleanly/reliably (since you can't afford to take as many hits), I really enjoy, and respect, when a harder difficulty makes you change/adapt your play style, or at least forces you to start using other moves in your character's moveset, that you never used before, because you never had a reason to.
I had a such an experience a while back with Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun, when mounting enemies became paramount to actually being able to beat the levels, which I never did when playing on Easy, because I didn't have a need to (though it feels pretty awesome to do so).

I think you're right, and you just made me realize that maybe I just flat out don't need the flashy combos. Maybe I just need to focus on crowd control (which is what I'm currently doing. with pretty decent results in Streets Of Rage 2). I mean if you can sneak in cool moves and cool combos and cool setups then that's great, but before then one should learn how to manage the game's crowds of villains with ease first, and then if you want then add the moves

Yeah, it's fun to do some flashy stuff, if you're comfortable enough playing the game. It's what gives that bit of "class" to a good player as compared to someone just doing the necessary to get the clear (not that just clearing it is bad in any way, though).
I like to think of it as the natural progression, for someone who can already clear a game, and where simply clearing it isn't enough anymore, so these flashy (or cheeky at times, but in a good way ) moves/combos serve as an added challenge, so that the player not only clears it, but clears it with style.

And sidetracking a bit, but I just recalled the somewhat common opinion, I'd say, that beat-em-up's are boring, as you just do the same thing over and over again, and just how unappreciated doing the simplest of combos consistently (and I mean hundreds of times, in a single playthrough) is.

BIL's last post is a fine example of that, in my opinion, as someone (unfamiliar with beat-em-ups, at least as a player) simply watching a good player go through Mission 4, would likely dismiss it as just another beat-em-up section, where you beat the snot of yet another group of thugs, and would never be able to comprehend just how much skill goes into performing that stuff properly, and more importantly, consistently. After all, just being able to deal with some thugs once isn't enough, you'll need to do so over and over again.

[FinalBaton]

Yeah, playing in a way that is fun is also important

Absolutely. They're games after all, they need to be fun to go through!

And I was selling myself short a bit earlier I think; I do crank out some fun and elegant moves/setups in all my playthroughs. Just not a metric ton of them. And they're not always super-duper impressive, just fun or smooth little ways to move around enemies or attack them.

[BurlyHeart]

So who has played Matterfall? The review are not bad but not great, although many are complaining about how short it is(!) (Though I'm worried more about it being too long for this type of game).

Would love to hear some opinions.

[Sumez]

Mine's still in wrapping >_>

[BIL]

Recorded an okayish Double Dragon II FC Hard (aka XTREEM Master) one life clear. Not entirely happy with the squabbly, tradey battles in Missions 5-7, but then, I wanted to showcase the aggression and durability of FC Hard's enemies... so maybe it's not the worst thing. Also as always I'm a lazy bugger. ;3

Apologies for the crummy attempts at recovering knees in a few spots during the aforementioned rumbles. I can nail 'em from a jump 95% of the time now, but something about executing from a knockdown really eludes me. I could almost swear the timing is different... don't believe so though. Eh. Tricky move to pull off, but again, so goddamn satisfying sending enemies flying. I find it really helps to use a controller with easy-activating buttons. My well-worn USB pad died, and I had to record this with a cannibalised, literally half-empty old Xbox 360 pad with much stiffer buttons (using the analogue stick too ). Threw my timing way off for like a week.

I've more to comment on DDII but must crash so will leave it for now. I was gonna upload my NES run but I deleted the goddamn file! Will give that a go sometime, just for comparison's sake.

[mycophobia]

Has anyone here cleared Mystic Warriors? How do I not get my ass handed to me by the stage 6 boss (train guy)? Hardest boss in the game, no doubt.

[soprano1]

BIL, just finished watching your Double Dragon II FC clear. Seems brutal as fuck!

[BIL]

Has anyone here cleared Mystic Warriors? How do I not get my ass handed to me by the stage 6 boss (train guy)? Hardest boss in the game, no doubt.

I've yet to play MW much, unfortunately, but I remember Ghegs and Vludi briefly discussing that boss a while back.

BIL, just finished watching your Double Dragon II FC clear. Seems brutal as fuck!

It most definitely is. Classic Technos body smasher with severely angry AI to match. They had an uncanny gift for conveying freight train impacts via a colourful, artfully stubby FC aesthetic.

edit: GRR! I was gonna go watch VanDammeFan's shaweet DDII/Double Impact video to relax, but they seem to be gone. Imma look around a bit. For now, at least the first in the series is still around. Required watching.

[mycophobia]

Has anyone here cleared Mystic Warriors? How do I not get my ass handed to me by the stage 6 boss (train guy)? Hardest boss in the game, no doubt.

I've yet to play MW much, unfortunately, but I remember Ghegs and Vludi briefly discussing that boss a while back.

Indeed....man, what a pain in the ass. Every other part of the game I'm confident I can eventually get a handle on, but that train boss is just pure chaos. On another note, this game really could use a dedicated slide button; I feel like they give you too many abilities for just eight directions+two buttons. I absolutely love this game but there's just a couple of really irritating aspects to it that almost make me want to quit going for the 1CC.

[BIL]

Oh thank goodness, VanDammeFan2009 didn't get his channel axed. D: Says he's reuploading his stuff in higher res. I hope so, those DDII videos were golden! FML. Always save cool stuff kids!

[Ghegs]

Has anyone here cleared Mystic Warriors? How do I not get my ass handed to me by the stage 6 boss (train guy)? Hardest boss in the game, no doubt.

I've yet to play MW much, unfortunately, but I remember Ghegs and Vludi briefly discussing that boss a while back.

Indeed....man, what a pain in the ass. Every other part of the game I'm confident I can eventually get a handle on, but that train boss is just pure chaos. On another note, this game really could use a dedicated slide button; I feel like they give you too many abilities for just eight directions+two buttons. I absolutely love this game but there's just a couple of really irritating aspects to it that almost make me want to quit going for the 1CC.

BIL has an amazing memory.

When I was working on a 1CC for the game, I could consistently get to the train boss without too much trouble, and then would be equally consistently massacred. I went to emulate the game to practice the fight with save states, and I still couldn't reliably beat it. When looking for videos, I only found a single 1CC run and even that ended the fight with only one hitpoint left. I ended up abandoning the quest for 1CC, hope you fare better.

[Vludi]

The JP version of Mystic Warriors is somewhat easier, you could try that.

[mycophobia]

I'm already playing it lol :(

[BIL]

BIL has an amazing memory.

Talk of formidable bosses always pricks me ears right up >:3 (I consider this my Most Soulful Post Evar Written in pain!)

[Ghegs]

BIL, I watched through your DDII XTREEM Master run, which surprised me since brawlers aren't quite my thing, but your skill with the game was mesmerizing. Good show.

And right after stating brawlers aren't my thing, I'll continue saying I've been playing Battletoads lately. Not that I would really qualify it as a brawler since it varies its gameplay every so often, but people often seem to lump the game into that genre.

I've had the FC Battletoads for a good while now and I decided to get the NES version as well for the added challenge. Having so far made it to Stage 5 on a credit the only part I've had any real trouble on is a single jump in Stage 4 where you're more likely to bump the ceiling and end up in spikes rather than crossing the gap. Not a very interesting way of making a game difficult, in my opinion. In the FC version the ceiling is higher so it's easier to make the jump.

I have a feeling criticism of NES Battletoads will be met with "GIT GUD SKRUB" -types of comments in some circles, but the Famicom version does feel more balanced and fairly designed. My theory is that Rare purposely made the western release more difficult because renting games was popular, especially in the US, and a hard game would be unlikely to be beaten quickly, requiring it to be rented several times. While in Japan renting games is/was illegal so there was no need for it to be quite as ball-busting. Rare does have a history of making their games more difficult solely for monetary reasons, in this interview in Xbox 360's Rare Replay they state that the final boss of the Battletoads arcade game doesn't take any damage for the first 45 seconds (but it looks like he does), just so players would have to put in a few more coins.

I also got the NES version of Battletoads & Double Dragon for MEGA AMPHIBIAN PUNCH POWER (feat. Bimmy and Jimmy). Very fun game as well, though it lacks the edge the original game has.

[FinalBaton]

I agree with you Ghegs re: those US titles that are harder than their JP counterpart : I too think it is a fruit or the rental culture

[__SKYe]

BIL, just watched the run and what can I say, pretty damn good playing.

Overall it was pretty much what I expected from an expert play (even with the occasional knee-miss on wake up), though there were some points where I was especially impressed.
First of all, the damn continuous knee strikes were really cool. I mean, I know you can string together these attacks after each landing, but since I very seldom use the knee strikes, it was really fun to see you perform them like that.
And enemies do seem to trade blows quite a bit on Hard, and they even seem to escape grabs sometimes, if I'm not mistaken?
Very clean work on the start of Mission 4 (where I got the game over), something I really need to start doing, if I don't want to end up losing there (or at least taking big damage, those guys are bastards especially after they knock you down).

And of course, what is a proper run without the obligatory cheeky moment, at 8:22. Poor guy, he just thought that if he had the knife things would go his way, but alas, Billy was ready.

Really good work on the final boss (and the previous one, your clone/shadow/etc), I usually have much more trouble wwith him, but you took him out pretty cleanly.

But most of all, I was really impressed with how you dealt with the ninjas (before the two final bosses). Thos guys are usually my biggest pain in the ass (even on Normal), but you really did short work of them. Very nice.

Overall, pretty smooth playing, and a good amount of quick kills by kneeing enemies offscreen/off platforms as well.

...using the analogue stick too ...

Haha, at first I was gonna say "I'm disappoint", but I, for one, can't play anything on an analog stick, so that's actually pretty impressive.

I agree with you Ghegs re: those US titles that are harder than their JP counterpart : I too think it is a fruit or the rental culture

Don't forget Streets Of Rage 3, which got a much harder US version, and a shortened Easy mode.

[BIL]

BIL, I watched through your DDII XTREEM Master run, which surprised me since brawlers aren't quite my thing, but your skill with the game was mesmerizing. Good show.

BIL, just watched the run and what can I say, pretty damn good playing.

Thanks guys.

First of all, the damn continuous knee strikes were really cool. I mean, I know you can string together these attacks after each landing, but since I very seldom use the knee strikes, it was really fun to see you perform them like that.

Nothing satisfies like a protracted, screen-length knee rampage. The one I pulled off against the Right Arms in Mission 8 was as much for survival as style - I try to be on my best form in that stage. Very easy to have three or four blocks of health ebb away en route to Phantom, who'll suddenly have a real chance of killing you by attrition with his painful trades (his fireball and possession attacks are actually quite negligible... his superhumanly-executed uppercuts, knees and sidekicks, OTOH, aren't to be trifled with).

I actually find chained knees far easier to execute than recovering ones (which I'll call REVENGE KNEES from now on). The jump/kneel/BLAOW rhythm is pretty interchangeable with BLAOW/kneel/BLAOW (by design, I'd guess). Snapping from lying flat to kneeling with an enemy waiting to stuff your response still flummoxes me a bit. I should've really backed off on the revenge knees during Missions 5-7, and landed some bread & butter strikes+grapples.

And enemies do seem to trade blows quite a bit on Hard, and they even seem to escape grabs sometimes, if I'm not mistaken?

They do trade relentlessly - FC Hard's enemy reaction speed and attack frequency is brutal. You can largely mitigate this with very precise zoning and timing (I catch quite a few baddies in their startup frames), but it's pretty tight AFAIK. It's certainly beyond my current ability to consistently nail safe knees.

As for grapple escapes, yup! Ropers and Right Arms only gain enough HP to do this around Mission 7 on NES Hard. Here it's their starting level, and it makes dealing with them considerably trickier. Mission 4's corridor battle and Mission 7's bridge especially (the latter's Ropers have freakishly high HP).

And of course, what is a proper run without the obligatory cheeky moment, at 8:22. Poor guy, he just thought that if he had the knife things would go his way, but alas, Billy was ready.

He got the knife, shame he didn't have the guts to look me in the eye while he used it. Whenever you see a Williams or Roper backing away like that, it's a dead giveaway they're about to launch a knife/bola - and they'll refuse to attack until they've got their distance. That's your cue to get all up in they bidness! In this case, I really wanted to be on the far right when Abobo arrived.

Really good work on the final boss (and the previous one, your clone/shadow/etc), I usually have much more trouble wwith him, but you took him out pretty cleanly.

I've had a few really nasty downfalls at the last boss - discovering how vulnerable he is to kicks was a lifesaver. I immediately noticed his gullibility to empty retreating jumps, and had a good high-damage strategy sorted out... 1) wait until he follows your jump (rather than backflipping away), 2) nail him with the knee, and 3) chase him down to land more. The problem is his flying clothesline, which he'll reliably punish you with for 45% HP if step 1 fails.

The kick replaced the risky (and frankly kinda lame-feeling) retreating jump; stun him with a couple boots, spinkick or uppercut to floor him while doing some quality damage, then blast him with repeated knees (it's when there's distance between you that the dreaded clothesline will launch - note the one I sidestep early on).

I actually prefer to PK him for the stun - much more cinematic! As with DD1FC Jimmy, I like a real scrap. I've had some rather epic clashes in practice sessions. Unfortunately he stuffed all my attempts with his own flurry combo this time around (not too damaging, but very hard to stop). Once you're down to 4HP he can sudden-death you, so I had to settle for the safer KK->special route. I was surprised and a little disappointed when he died before I could vanquish him in heroic JCVD-style slowmo.

But most of all, I was really impressed with how you dealt with the ninjas (before the two final bosses). Thos guys are usually my biggest pain in the ass (even on Normal), but you really did short work of them. Very nice.

I was happy with how that fight turned out - it's possible to shut them down systematically, just repeating the spinkick knockdown, but it's riskier and cooler to go for a couple knees. If they get loose, chaos will inevitably reign for a bit as they flip around and shuriken-snipe. The trick is to spot their vulnerable phases (dashing in, or the "stand and stare" counter stance), then nail 'em with a spinkick - it'll connect every time due to their fatal flaw, a total inability to duck. Shoulda taught 'em that at their fancy-ass ninja school.

Overall, pretty smooth playing, and a good amount of quick kills by kneeing enemies offscreen/off platforms as well.

I was toying with the notion of a kill counter for those, glad they were appreciated. ;3 Remember, it's not just about power strikes - oftentimes a boot in the gut and a fistfull of hair is all you need to send a miscreant off into the wild blue yonder! ("Or perhaps he's wondering why someone would elbow a man repeatedly in the back of the head before throwing him out of a plane? Er, helicopter?")

[mycophobia]

Managed to record a skin-of-my-teeth 1CC of Shinobi this afternoon. I haven't seriously played it in over two years so it's a pretty sloppy run. I played about six or seven credits to get the clear and I still don't really know what I'm doing in 3-1...

[mycophobia]

I wonder if anyone's ever beaten Mandara on one life without glitching through. It seems downright impossible to do it legit without dying on it first, which makes the statues take less hits.

[WelshMegalodon]

Defeated Rubeus on one credit as Minako and proceeded to use a continue in the middle of Stage 4, scraping by with a 2CC of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R. I've found a legitimate use for the projectile attack, too - it's useful in keeping both the whirling enemies and the Droids off of you in the second half of Stage 3, since they always try to line up with you.

While the Heavy Shades remain pests throughout Stage 4, I consider the Jaamanen to be the most dangerous enemy types for their damage output alone. At times one feels the health-draining special is the only thing stopping them from grabbing you and doing... that.

[Sumez]

I have a feeling criticism of NES Battletoads will be met with "GIT GUD SKRUB" -types of comments in some circles, but the Famicom version does feel more balanced and fairly designed. My theory is that Rare purposely made the western release more difficult because renting games was popular, especially in the US, and a hard game would be unlikely to be beaten quickly, requiring it to be rented several times.

While I agree that Battletoads is probably harder than it should be, I don't feel that it is ever unfairly so. The game takes time to learn, but once you do it's not hard to get far on one credit. Where it breaks for me is around Volkmire's Inferno, which is by far the most memorization heavy stage in the game. It helps to know what to do in the snake pit, but Volkmire's will kill you if you don't know exactly where the gaps in the barriers are before they appear. And there's really no intuitive way to remember where you are, since every barrier is identical.

[mycophobia]

I've nearly got Mystic Warriors down to a 2CC. I think if I get to the train boss with full health I can bring him down without dying. He'll actually stop shooting at you for a few seconds if you get hit or pick up an item, so for me it'll come down to using those gaps to deal a lot of damage. I also managed to get through stage 8 without taking a single hit on my last run which was really nice.

The stage 7 boss (the two ninja guys and the big ball and chain dude) I'm still inexplicably really bad at, I'll generally take two hits during that fight just because I did something stupid like jumping up or down a level too late, etc. I have similar troubles with the stage 3 boss. But overall I've almost hit the 20 hour mark with this game and I love it; despite its slight mechanical annoyances it's just a brilliant looking and sounding game.

[__SKYe]

Decided to finally get my X68000 emulator running properly, to basically play Akumajou Dracula (X68000), and ended up getting the 1CC (or more accuratelly, a 1-ALL).



Got on my first (and only, so far) playthrough, and this marks my first classic Castlevania clear (that is, pre-Metroidvania).

I've read a bit about the game (before playing, primarily found it by reading that Castlevania Chronicles was an extended port of this game), and I've read from several sources that the game is pretty hard.
I found it quite easy, though, so I'm assuming that the reported difficulty is based around beating all 6 loops? Or is the PSX version just harder than this one?
Either way, I really liked this game. It looks fantastic, sounds even better (especially if with the optional MIDI out) and just plainly ups the classic Castlevania's gameplay quite a few notches.

I loved the improved whipping speed (or so it seemed to me, defeating the skullbones' projectiles is easier than in the original), being able to move mid-jump (while not attacking, like in the Metroidvania titles) and the ability to whip downwards (and diagonally downwards too).

Really enjoyed the new levels, but also the remixed original levels. Bosses are great as well, and the game has some very nice little details spread all over the levels.

Some of them are the horde of Hunchbacks that appear where you'd find the meat in the first level (by destroying the wall on the screen just before the mermans' section), the boss fight against the wolfman/girl, where, in between throwing rocks at you, he/she throws the clock's numerals, the dolls with actual speech (a pretty nice touch, in my opinion) and the enemies incased in ice, among others.

Also, being someone who came from playing the Metroidvania games before the classics, really liked to see some of the enemies that would later appear in those games, like the Persephones (really liked these, especially when they go haywire and throw blue hadoken-like projectiles), the Necromancer, the big ant/spider thing that retreats when you hit it, and you have to eventually duck and let it get past you, etc.

Anyway, had a really fun time and will definitely go back to it. Also quite happy to finally get a 1CC/1-ALL from a classic Castlevania.

[FinalBaton]

BIL you motherfucker... you've done it again :O

Your DD2 talk got me hyped for some Tecnos fun so I got meself an NES copy of Double Dragon(bought it on ebay in a lil bundle with Shadowgate and Street Fighter 2010 for $20 CAD. Not bad, I wanted Shadowgate anyway).

Fired up the game and HOLY CRAP this is fun. I hadn't played that one since I was a kid so I had forgotten how addicting it is. I have DD2 here and I can flat out say : I like the first game even MORE. You move around the screen really quickly which I love, and the enemy variety and AI is a ton of fun. Just lots of subtleties in that last aspect which I didn't expect to see in an NES game.

I'm really, really liking KKP so far. As quick as any 3 hit combo and you get a sweet uppercut at the end. It will work great on those shirtless dudes with mopy hairs too(contrary to KKK since they duck under the final roundhouse kick. and KKP is quicker too). There are enemies who get destroed by KKK though so I still use that sometimes. Love me some headbutts in close quarter combat, too

Am I crazy in thinking that the damage scale varies on a per enemy-type basis? Some enemies like the gray shirt/blue pants/black hair guys get anihilated by a throw but otherwise they take quite a bit of kicks/punches to get finished. While other baddies cn take a couple of throws... maybe I'm just imagining things haha

And how satisfying is it to do a grab + KKKK + throw You throw enemies fucking far too, lol. it's great. Of course grab + KKKKK is great too.

There's an album by german trash metal torch bearers Kreator called "EXTREME AGGRESSION" and that's exactly with these two words that I'd describe the game's feel. From the oh-so-short but gripping(read : visceral) intro sequence and the song that kicks in next, it's an adrenaline-fueled run filled with satisfying agression and mayhem.

Played a couple of times and made it to the green Abobo in the cave so far. Will be playing again in the next days for sure.

[mycophobia]

Decided to finally get my X68000 emulator running properly, to basically play Akumajou Dracula (X68000), and ended up getting the 1CC (or more accuratelly, a 1-ALL).



Got on my first (and only, so far) playthrough, and this marks my first classic Castlevania clear (that is, pre-Metroidvania).

I've read a bit about the game (before playing, primarily found it by reading that Castlevania Chronicles was an extended port of this game), and I've read from several sources that the game is pretty hard.
I found it quite easy, though, so I'm assuming that the reported difficulty is based around beating all 6 loops? Or is the PSX version just harder than this one?
Either way, I really liked this game. It looks fantastic, sounds even better (especially if with the optional MIDI out) and just plainly ups the classic Castlevania's gameplay quite a few notches.

I loved the improved whipping speed (or so it seemed to me, defeating the skullbones' projectiles is easier than in the original), being able to move mid-jump (while not attacking, like in the Metroidvania titles) and the ability to whip downwards (and diagonally downwards too).

Really enjoyed the new levels, but also the remixed original levels. Bosses are great as well, and the game has some very nice little details spread all over the levels.

Some of them are the horde of Hunchbacks that appear where you'd find the meat in the first level (by destroying the wall on the screen just before the mermans' section), the boss fight against the wolfman/girl, where, in between throwing rocks at you, he/she throws the clock's numerals, the dolls with actual speech (a pretty nice touch, in my opinion) and the enemies incased in ice, among others.

Also, being someone who came from playing the Metroidvania games before the classics, really liked to see some of the enemies that would later appear in those games, like the Persephones (really liked these, especially when they go haywire and throw blue hadoken-like projectiles), the Necromancer, the big ant/spider thing that retreats when you hit it, and you have to eventually duck and let it get past you, etc.

Anyway, had a really fun time and will definitely go back to it. Also quite happy to finally get a 1CC/1-ALL from a classic Castlevania.

Congrats! I haven't played it yet but I looked up some video and it looks really interesting.

As far as classic Castlevania goes I've 1CC'd Castlevania (NES) and Akumajou Dracula (Arcade), the latter of which has really weirdly uneven difficulty, in that stage 4 is way harder than the two stages that follow IMO. Kind of ugly too. But it's still a lot of fun and it has great music; stage 2 in particular rocks, as does stage 3 (Bloody Tears, naturally). Whenever I finally get done with Mystic Warriors I'm thinking of going for Vampire Killer next, which seems favorable to SNES IV's glacial pace.

[__SKYe]

Played another (still ongoing) run, and got a 2-ALL.



The increase in difficulty comes mainly from faster enemies (faster ghouls/zombies, very fast bats, etc), more enemies, faster rate for medusa heads spawning (I believe, but not sure) and some enemies fire more projectiles (like the crossbow armors in the last stage).
The damage you deal (and enemy HP) and the damage enemies deal remains the same, though.

You only lose 1HP for any kind of hit (be it a bat, or a boss or environmental damage), and always deal 2HP per hit to the bosses. There's a few instant death spots apart from falling from a platform to the bottom of the screen/water.

Overall, and while the 2nd loop does get more difficult, it's not much of a difference, and so far I still think the game's pretty easy.

There are some pretty annoying spots, like the doll tower, with a ridiculous amount of them (in loop 2) and a boat load of stairs/holes for you to fall through (and they will respawn if you do fall) or the increased bats in some places where there are instant death spikes, so you have to look before you leap.

The one thing I find annoying in the gameplay itself, is that if you touch any ceiling/platform when jumping, your character will come to a complete halt, and drop straight down. I don't recall if the other games are like this too, but this one has such good controls/mechanics overall, that I think they could have implemented this in a different way.

You also get a big amount of lives during the game (I ended the 2nd loop with 8, and lost about 8~9 until that point, so you get the picture).

I can only assume that this is going to be a Contra-style looping, in that the initial loops are moderately easy, but things pick up after loop 3~4, and also that the extends will stop at some point.

Looking forward to it, and had to record a savestate to take a break, because each loop is pretty long (about an hour I think?), and will continue later to play the 3rd loop.

Congrats! I haven't played it yet but I looked up some video and it looks really interesting.

As far as classic Castlevania goes I've 1CC'd Castlevania (NES) and Akumajou Dracula (Arcade), the latter of which has really weirdly uneven difficulty, in that stage 4 is way harder than the two stages that follow IMO. Kind of ugly too. But it's still a lot of fun and it has great music; stage 2 in particular rocks, as does stage 3 (Bloody Tears, naturally). Whenever I finally get done with Mystic Warriors I'm thinking of going for Vampire Killer next, which seems favorable to SNES IV's glacial pace.

Thanks, it really is a great game, and you won't regret whenever you give it a try.

The arcade Akumajou Dracula (Haunted Castle) is damn tough indeed, so you did a pretty good job there. The other Castlevania I've played far enough, was the first on the NES, and so far reached Death, but never got past him.

Good luck with your Mystic Warriors endeavor, by the way.