Hidden Gems of PC Games: GOG Edition

[Tanooki]

There is one floating around. Years ago before the SDD1 was figured out on an emulation side of things some dude(s) decompressed all the games data and put it up for download. When this occurred bsnes and snes9x added support for the game, but you had to have the ROM in your rom directory then an added /sfa2 subdirectory with the files in it, and with that, it worked.

I'm sure it's out there somewhere still, good luck with that though.

[Gunstar Green]

Glad to see Terra Nova in there. That game was absolutely amazing for its time. It was pretty revolutionary for a game that's so rarely talked about, there was literally nothing else like it. Instead of the corridor mazes of other FPS games you were leading a squad in huge outdoor spaces. It heavily influenced Starsiege Tribes and of course laid down the DNA for the squad based shooter.

It was also chock full of cheesy 90's FMV which I adore. It's a classic that was never adored nearly as much as it deserved.

[MrPopo]

If first heard about it on an episode of Ancient DOS Games and it seemed really neat, so I picked up a cheap copy off of Amazon. Then I played through and loved every minute of it. So when we came up with the idea for a hidden gems article I knew that was going to be my gem.

[samsonlonghair]

Neat to see a new article on the front page. I may have to give Alpha 2 a try.

Can I make a suggestion for a future article? Haw about Mac gaming? There's lots of great stuff on OS9 and more than a few hidden gems on OSX. Many modern indie games get OSX ports that no one seems to hear about.

[chupon]

Why is SFA2 better than SFA3?

Is Karin in SFA2? By far she's my fav SF character.

[Tanooki]

SFA2 vs 3...personal taste I think, or because they kind of really bloated out the roster and tried to go with multiple fighting styles to kind of compete with what SNK was doing like in the Samurai Shodown games among others. The games also handle differently, one and two are far more similar than 3 is to either, it's kind of its own animal. I've tried to like 3, but I just don't, 2 is my thing followed by 1. Amusingly 1 actually is on a Nintendo system and plays well given the limits -- Gameboy Color surprisingly.

Karin is not on SFA2 either. You can read how the roster grew from SFA1 to 2, then 3 and the expansions off that one. http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/Str ... pha_series SFA2 just added 5 characters (1 from Final Fight, 3 from earlier SF games, and 1 unique (Sakura.))

[nightrnr]

I also kind of prefer SFA2 to SFA3. A lot of that comes from being introduced to the game on the Saturn (and it's magical D-pad). Alpha 2 was a staple for the system while Alpha 3 wasn't easily accessible to most US gamers (and still isn't really).
But I also feel like it's both a little more refined and a little more simple.
SFA3 I have to decide between 3 (or more) styles of play and I'm not convinced that the roster is as balanced as the 18 fighters of Alpha 2. Alpha 2 I can jump right in and feel comfortable and confident. It's a good pair of Sneakers.

Also, (and others before me have said as much), it's really nice to have access to Custom Combos AND Super Combos at any time.

But yeah, preference and all that.

Amusingly 1 actually is on a Nintendo system and plays well given the limits -- Gameboy Color surprisingly.

Heh, all 3 Alphas had odd but impressive ports on Nintendo systems.
The GBC game is quite the marvel, I agree.
And the GBA port of SFA3 Upper, while disappointing in some areas (sound and no World Tour or unique endings...most of them, etc), crammed a ton of well playing fighters in an average sized 64Mbit rom. Just think of how much better it could have been as a 128Mbit cart.

Sorry if I'm perpetuating off-topic-ness .
Hidden Gems for GOG is like half the catalog IMHO. Can't wait to see it expanded one day .

[fastbilly1]

And the GBA port of SFA3 Upper, while disappointing in some areas (sound and no World Tour or unique endings...most of them, etc), crammed a ton of well playing fighters in an average sized 64Mbit rom. Just think of how much better it could have been as a 128Mbit cart.

It still blows my mind how competent of a fighter that is. Back in the day this was a very popular mod to be brought up in the GBA scene and I always wanted to build one:


But there is no reason to with the Gameboy Player, modern emulation, and quality arcade components.

Sorry if I'm perpetuating off-topic-ness .
Hidden Gems for GOG is like half the catalog IMHO. Can't wait to see it expanded one day .

Wait till the next article hits. The gameplan is to do an overall, then break it down by genres. So FPS, RPG, TBS, RTS, Sim, Sim builder, Puzzle, Point and Click, etc. Then when GOG is done move onto Steam, then unported/unavailable, then significant titles for genres, etc.

[Tanooki]

Oooh fun. I think it would be fun to do a write up for that as it really gets good awareness of fun titles.

By the way I did some poking around, there's a newer version of the game 3 days old on their forum 2.50.2 if anyone follows the game.

I downloaded it as I'm curious how it has progressed, curious to see if the original Zelda or more is there cloned as a backbone. I know the idea is DIY but I haven't the time or interest, but maybe someone made some nice stand alone games or conversions of later stuff like the 3D titles into 2D like Ocarina or Wind Waker -- WW would be awesome in 2D.

[nightrnr]

By the way I did some poking around, there's a newer version of the game 3 days old on their forum 2.50.2 if anyone follows the game.

I downloaded it as I'm curious how it has progressed, curious to see if the original Zelda or more is there cloned as a backbone. I know the idea is DIY but I haven't the time or interest, but maybe someone made some nice stand alone games or conversions of later stuff like the 3D titles into 2D like Ocarina or Wind Waker -- WW would be awesome in 2D.

Do Tell what game you are referring to... A Zelda-maker does exist, but I doubt that is what you are talking about.

Wait till the next article hits. The gameplan is to do an overall, then break it down by genres. So FPS, RPG, TBS, RTS, Sim, Sim builder, Puzzle, Point and Click, etc. Then when GOG is done move onto Steam, then unported/unavailable, then significant titles for genres, etc.

Awesome !
Articles like these are what 1st summoned me here... then I found the forums .
It's a rebirth of fresh coverage (not that this place ever gets stale IMHO ).