January Together Retro: Konami Loves Genesis

[pierrot]

Did you do the "secret" ending, yet?

Who?
I found the bonus room when I was practicing the first route I played through, so I did the secret ending after clearing the game for the first time.

This weekend i'm all about Castlevania Bloodlines though.

Cool! Have you played Bloodlines at all before, or is this your first time with it, too?

[lordb0rb4]

I want to say first time as well but i'm not 100% sure.
I do have an old-ass TMNT The Hyerstone Heist cart here that i'm yet to experience it.
The thing is i was a Super Nes guy while my cousin got the Mega Drive, for MANY years i got this misconception that MD/Genesis was the lesser system and skipped almost fully (Golden Axe and Streets of Rage is part of my childhood though).

[pook99]

I want to play one of the tiny toons games since I never played either and heard generally good things, which one should I play first?

I've played most of the mainstream konami genesis games, lots of talk about bloodlines in this thread but I am of the opinion that it is one of the most over rated games of all time and probably my least favorite game in the entire series(barring the trashy game boy games). It is not a bad game but there are just lots of things about it that annoy me.

The continue system is just dumb, any game that places a limit on continues while having a password system automatically annoys me. What winds up happening is I just play through every level twice, once to learn the layout, then use the password to restart and do it again with no deaths(or 1 for some of the later stages). It is just an unnecessary annoyance that adds some artifical length to what is otherwise a very short game.

Some of the levels are cool, but there are just certain sections of the game that I hate, the last level is one of the worst in the series, the first part where your body and legs are separated just annoys me, and then the upside down level is always a chore. The fight with death is probably the worst in the series(barring castlevania 2 of course). Also, although this is nitpicky, the games music and sound effects are sub par and I miss the classic castlevania tunes which are absent from this game.

It may sound like I hate the game, but I don't. I do enjoy it for what it is, and it is a solid action platformer, I just don't think it holds up to the other greats in the series and I cringe everytime someone tries to compare it to Super Castlevania 4.

[lordb0rb4]

I want to play one of the tiny toons games since I never played either and heard generally good things, which one should I play first?

I've played most of the mainstream konami genesis games, lots of talk about bloodlines in this thread but I am of the opinion that it is one of the most over rated games of all time and probably my least favorite game in the entire series(barring the trashy game boy games). It is not a bad game but there are just lots of things about it that annoy me.

The continue system is just dumb, any game that places a limit on continues while having a password system automatically annoys me. What winds up happening is I just play through every level twice, once to learn the layout, then use the password to restart and do it again with no deaths(or 1 for some of the later stages). It is just an unnecessary annoyance that adds some artifical length to what is otherwise a very short game.

Some of the levels are cool, but there are just certain sections of the game that I hate, the last level is one of the worst in the series, the first part where your body and legs are separated just annoys me, and then the upside down level is always a chore. The fight with death is probably the worst in the series(barring castlevania 2 of course). Also, although this is nitpicky, the games music and sound effects are sub par and I miss the classic castlevania tunes which are absent from this game.

It may sound like I hate the game, but I don't. I do enjoy it for what it is, and it is a solid action platformer, I just don't think it holds up to the other greats in the series and I cringe everytime someone tries to compare it to Super Castlevania 4.

How about difficulty? I'm a baby when it comes to retro gaming that i'm not familiar with.

[pook99]

I want to play one of the tiny toons games since I never played either and heard generally good things, which one should I play first?

I've played most of the mainstream konami genesis games, lots of talk about bloodlines in this thread but I am of the opinion that it is one of the most over rated games of all time and probably my least favorite game in the entire series(barring the trashy game boy games). It is not a bad game but there are just lots of things about it that annoy me.

The continue system is just dumb, any game that places a limit on continues while having a password system automatically annoys me. What winds up happening is I just play through every level twice, once to learn the layout, then use the password to restart and do it again with no deaths(or 1 for some of the later stages). It is just an unnecessary annoyance that adds some artifical length to what is otherwise a very short game.

Some of the levels are cool, but there are just certain sections of the game that I hate, the last level is one of the worst in the series, the first part where your body and legs are separated just annoys me, and then the upside down level is always a chore. The fight with death is probably the worst in the series(barring castlevania 2 of course). Also, although this is nitpicky, the games music and sound effects are sub par and I miss the classic castlevania tunes which are absent from this game.

It may sound like I hate the game, but I don't. I do enjoy it for what it is, and it is a solid action platformer, I just don't think it holds up to the other greats in the series and I cringe everytime someone tries to compare it to Super Castlevania 4.

How about difficulty? I'm a baby when it comes to retro gaming that i'm not familiar with.

It is pretty tough, not Castlevania 3 or SNES dracula X tough, but probably harder than Castlevania 4.

I always play through with Morris, but I think Lecarde makes the game a little easier as he can stab in multiple directions, as opposed to Morris who can only whip straight ahead.

You only get 2 continues and the password system remembers how many continues you used, if you want to beat it you will probably need to replay the early levels a few times and beat them with minimal deaths so you can save your lives/continues for the later levels. There are a total of 6 stages and the first few should be pretty easy to make it through without dying once you learn them. You definitely don't want to go into the last stage with no continues as it is pretty difficult and has lots of boss fights.

On the last level alone you fight:
Death
2 of the old bosses during the death fight (the rock golem and the gear boss)
some lizard girl with 2 forms
Dracula with 3 forms, but if memory serves the first 2 forms are pretty easy.

So you don't want to undertake all this without at least 1 continue remaining.

Having said that, my perception of difficulty may be a bit skewed since I play tons of hard games and have replayed every castlevania dozens of times, but if you have beaten any of the other non-metroidvania games you should be able to beat this one with a little practice.

[pierrot]

I want to play one of the tiny toons games since I never played either and heard generally good things, which one should I play first?

I haven't played ACME all-stars at all, but I played Buster's Hidden Treasure earlier in the month, and it was pretty good. I'd keep expectations tempered, though. It's a competent game, but parts of it will really test your patience.

The continue system is just dumb

Almost every classic-vania that didn't have save files had a password system, though (not to mention most Konami games of the era having passwords). I feel like it's just sort of tradition for it to be in the game. While Bloodlines is no shorter than the original, it is a little shorter than some of the classic-vanias released around it, so even with the addition of another character, playable from the beginning, and some extra ending bits for clearing it on Expert, I can understand the limited continues. Also, limited continues are like a staple of Genesis action games. You don't usually get to just plow through them without breaking a sweat.

the first part where your body and legs are separated just annoys me, and then the upside down level is always a chore.

I actually think those are some of the coolest sections of any Castlevania game.

Also, although this is nitpicky, the games music and sound effects are sub par and I miss the classic castlevania tunes which are absent from this game.

I don't know. I feel like there's a reason Namiki Manabu used the Stage 1 theme from Bloodlines for the first stage of Rebirth, and the only piece of music he used from CV IV was its Stages Clear Theme for the All Stage Clear (15 seconds worth of music, in the entire game, which he also managed to make listenable). Bloodlines' soundtrack is pretty god tier, frankly, but that's to be expected with Yamane Michiru.

I always play through with Morris, but I think Lecarde makes the game a little easier as he can stab in multiple directions, as opposed to Morris who can only whip straight ahead.

Morris can actually whip diagonally above him, and directly below him, but only when jumping.

2 of the old bosses during the death fight (the rock golem and the gear boss)

There's also the gargoyle boss from Stage 3.

some lizard girl with 2 forms

Medusa

Anyway, I got the last ending in Hard Corps. It was a bitter sweet ending to that particular story path (I loved it), and a bitter sweet ending to my journey through Contra: Hard Corps, with Browny. The kind of unfortunate thing is that the dialogue is the same for each of the characters, but considering what a massive game it is for a run 'n' gun, that's not too surprising. I just-- I love Browny so much! I don't want my journeys with him to be over. I could of course replay the different paths, whenever, but it's not quite the same as trailblazing the game with him. I will perhaps never forget the incredible thrill of beating the game for the first time, and being rewarded with the "best" ending. Grade S game, that Hard Corps is. Total masterpiece. Good work, Kichi Guy!

[Xeogred]

Which path are you talking about?
https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/faqs/95/60395-1.jpg

7D I'm guessing, the longest and best ending. Personally I'm more fond of the 6C path though which runs into the classic alien environment in the end like the others.

Sheena was my favorite!

[pierrot]

Which path are you talking about?

Not sure which part of my Contra ramblings you meant, but the one I just beat was Path A, which I thought was pretty cool. I finished Path B earlier in the month, but it was my least favorite of the four. The one I finished first was Path D, though.

Personally I'm more fond of the 6C path though which runs into the classic alien environment in the end like the others.

Oh, the Ultimate Super Being ending? That's interesting. I thought you were like KeyGlyph, and really liked Path B, which I think she said was a lot like the last stage in NES Contra. I really like the credit animation for the Path C ending. It was the second path I beat, and when I was watching that credit sequence I was just thinking about how amazing it must have been to play it back in the day, and realizing after beating the game that there's still a whole new world of other stages and endings to it.

[lordb0rb4]

I'm positive this is the first time i've beaten Castlevania Bloodlines, did a Lecarde run on easy and i had a blast with the game.
I'm so thrilled because i've managed to get my old CRT and i won't be the guy that guy but IMO it adds A LOT to the experience.

Eric's mega jump is OP but awesome to perform, i wonder if Morris has something similar and if it's worthy to do a playthough with him?!

On the sidenote, i played some more Contra and manage to get a pretty satisfying ending with Ray, this time the evil guy was beaten and i just loved the train stage.
Contra Hard Corps maybe already my Retro GOTY this year!

[Xeogred]

Nah, Morris is kind of the "harder" version. His jump and reach aren't as good. But I played through the game with him first years ago, since he feels the most like the classic characters. I finally played through it with Eric last year and that was pretty cool.

This and Hard Corps are top notch and I just might like them more than Super CV4 and Contra 3!