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alienjesus
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by alienjesus Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:03 pm

"Hi, I'm Rayman, and I'm a fun 2D platformer for the Sega Saturn!" says Rayman.

"I have beautiful levels!" says Rayman, as it makes you die over and over again so you can see the graphics many times.

"I have interesting level variety" says Rayman, as it drags out each level on and on so that you can't wait to be finished with them.

"I have a variety of fun power-ups to use" says Rayman, as it makes sure that it gives you each one directly after the level it would have been most beneficial, and forces you to replay it for missing stuff. And ensures all the power ups control a little bit shit, for good measure.

"There's so many secrets to find", says Rayman, as it forces you down less fun routes full of bullshit enemies who spawn on top of you as you search for it's mandatory hidden stuff.

"There's smooth and stylish animation" it says, as Rayman flails his limbs around at every opportunity, making his hitbox inconsistent and unclear, and as he splays his feet out on each jump so you're never sure where they'll be when you land.

"Rayman has so much content to enjoy" says Rayman, as it implements a limited lives and continues system with a level of difficulty designed to ensure you never see it.

"Rayman is one of the premiere platformers of the 5th Generations" says Rayman, as it kicks you in the nuts over and over again. "It's so much fun"

"Rayman is a an all-time classic, and you should appreciate it as the masterpiece it is" says Rayman, as it makes out with your wife and pisses on your carpet.

"This is the game that put Ubisoft on the map" says Rayman, as it sets fire to your car and vomits on your dog.

"Hi, I'm Rayman, and I'm a fun 2D platformer for the Sega Saturn!"
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by o.pwuaioc Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:24 pm

But the dog gets a free lunch, so silver linings, eh? Did you end up finishing it or are you calling it a day?

For my part, I fired up Clockwork Knight, but I find it kind of boring. It's not that hard (miles easier than Rayman), but it feels rather flat and one-sided. I know some people really love how cute and quirky it is, but I found the graphics more distracting than entertaining, The level layout is a mess, without any real reason for placement. The game could have used more planning and level design.

I bet the real reason people bought this was because there were precious few Saturn titles.

Big thumbs down for me on this one. Astal too I ended up not liking. So what good Saturn platformers are there? I can think of only SotN and Metal Slug, neither of which saw a US release.
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by prfsnl_gmr Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:39 pm

Bug? Gex? Croc? Johnny Bazookatone?

The platforming option on the Saturn are pretty dire…Norse by Norsewest: The Return of the Lost Vikings is probably your best bet.
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by marurun Wed Oct 06, 2021 7:15 pm

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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by Nemoide Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:52 am

Earthworm Jim 2 is a good Saturn platformer; not as good as the first one, but still fun IMO. Too bad EWJ's creator is trash and of course you can play the same game on SNES or Genesis...
I've heard that Clockwork Knight 2 is a huge improvement over the first one, but I found the first one so dull that I was never really inspired to check out its sequel.

I'm up to 11 stars in Super Mario 64 and I've fought Bowser once. I think the game is pretty good; Mario can perform a lot of actions and the game seems very well-designed to allow you to take advantage of the 3D space and experience what the N64 can offer. I'm not completely wild about the star collecting and would have preferred just playing through each stage once or twice to progress rather than playing the same levels over and over again. At least I'm doing different things each time, so it doesn't get TOO repetitive. The controls are very slippery, but that's part of what makes Mario Mario and is clearly a consciously designed part of the challenge so I'm not minding it.

It's interesting to me that at the start of the game, the princess signs her letter to Mario "Princess Toadstool - Peach." It reminds me of how Sonic Adventure would establish "Eggman" as a nickname for Robotnik, not fully committing to one name or the other.
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by SpaceBooger Sun Oct 10, 2021 9:56 am

So, the N64 is probably my least favorite console that I own or have played. With this month's topic, I decided to try some games: Banjo Kazooie, DK64, and SM64. I can not get into any of them. I spent the most time with BK, but the different button combinations to traverse different landscapes took away from the game to me. SM64 was the most fun to play, but I have not and still did not get into it enough to continue playing it.

I have had more fun playing Croc on the PS1 with the horrible controls than any of the N64 games.
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alienjesus
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by alienjesus Sun Oct 10, 2021 7:08 pm

That's a shame that you haven't gelled with any of those games SpaceBooger. They're all amongst my favourites. I'm a big fan of the N64 personally.


What I'm not a big fan of is Rayman for the Sega Saturn, which I beat a few days back (with some liberal use of the 20 lives cheat code to save on grinding the first level for lives).

Whilst the game had a few moments where I would say I was having fun, the general experience was just so miserable that I would whole-heartedly recommend everyone stay away.

Rayman looks and sounds great, has a lot of charm and some interesting and varied level ideas. But Rayman hates the player and is determined to take all of that positive stuff and invalidate it with the most mean-spirited level designs and mechanics I've seen in a video game in a long time. It's neither the worst game I've ever played (in many ways it's pretty good) nor is it the hardest (it's up there, but it's no Ecco the Dolphin) but I'd definitely say it was one of the least fun and it's a contender for my least favourite game I've ever beaten - alongside the likes of Kid Chameleon on Mega Drive, and TMNT for NES.
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by prfsnl_gmr Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:47 pm

For this month’s TR, I played Robbit Mon Dieu (PS1). Released exclusively in Japan in 1999, Robbit Mon Dieu is the third game in the Jumping Flash series. I loved the first two games, and I was had high hoped for the third. Unfortunately, however, my hopes were disappointed.

All games in the Jumping Flash series are first person platformers in which you play as a giant robotic rabbit (named Robbit). Originally playable using only the PS1’s d-pad and face buttons, the controls in each game are a bit awkward to people accustomed onto modern FPS control schemes. There is no strafing, and you can’t turn and move forward at the same time. That said, you can jump into the stratosphere, and the perspective shifts downward as you descend allowing you to use your shadow to land on platforms and enemies. (Unlike other first-person platformers, this game lets you stomp on your enemies like a game from the 8-bit era.). Despite the blocky, primitive graphics and awkward controls, the first two games are tremendous fun and, in my opinion, some of the best platformers of the fifth generation.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the third game. Instead of the sprawling levels found in the first two games, Robbit Mon Dieu consists of a series of short platforming challenges, many of which can be completed in a minute or two, often on the first attempt. This means that, in many instances, playing through a level takes less time than watching the cutscenes and loading screens bookending it.

Speaking of which…the first two games were strange, but Robbit Mon Dieu is absolutely in love with its weirdness. Admittedly, the game is completely in Japanese, and since there is no fan translation, I had no idea what’s going on. That said, I’m pretty sure it’s still really weird regardless of language, but unlike other strange Japanese games like Vib Ribbon, Parappa the Rapper, Space Channel 5, etc., it’s never charming. Rather, it just has really long cut scenes and really pointless collectibles (i.e., trading cards of everyday objects) that, ostensibly, provide an incentive to revisit levels. The levels, with the exception of an excellent final boss, just aren’t compelling enough to justify replaying them. They’re also pretty easy, and you’ll probably receive the highest ranking on at least half of them the first time you play them.

I hate to criticize the game so harshly. The basic mechanics remain sound, and I’d love to see a new Jumping Flash game with modern graphics and controls. I was so excited when I learned there was a third Jumping Flash games, though, and Robbit Mon Dieu was just such a disappointment. Accordingly, and while I’ll always recommend Jumping Flash and Jumping Flash 2, I think even fans of the series can skip Robbit Mon Dieu.
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by PartridgeSenpai Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:22 am

I played through Clockwork Knight the other day! A near-launch title for the Saturn in Japan and a genuine launch title in the rest of the world, it's one of the few platformers that are not both rare and expensive on the system over here in Japan, and one I've been meaning to play for a long time.

It's a pretty okay time! Pretty short, only taking me 80 minutes to finish, but it's a tough one, especially in the last world. It was a pretty fun time with some great music, and I think I'm gonna eventually pick up the 2nd one to play through as well (at least if they still have it at the resale mall the next time I go ^^;)
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Nemoide
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Re: Together Retro October 2021: 5th Generation Platformers

by Nemoide Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:56 am

I've got over 50 stars in Super Mario 64, I'm feeling confident that I'll beat the game before the end of the month.
I still have kind of mixed feelings about how much of the game involves replaying the same levels over and over again. I actually like doing different things, saying to myself "I'll just get *one* more star before stopping" over and over until I've gotten 10. But it also feels like a bit arbitrary to have a door that won't open until you've gotten X number of stars and there's a part of me that doesn't like it. Thankfully in the era of the modern internet, I can easily find how to get stars and don't need to experiment endlessly based on the sometime-vague clues: If I was playing this game as an adult with limited free time back in 1996, I'd probably lose interest.

I don't really like the N64 controller and sometimes Mario's slippery controls make for some annoying mistakes. But overall, I'm having a good time with the game! It's not something I'd consider a favorite, but it's fun and I see why it is a favorite of many people, especially those who played it when it was new.

I think it's kind of interesting how when I was a kid, platformers were THE genre of video games. Other types of games seemed kind of strange and niche and definitely didn't appeal to me the same way (with the exception of beat'em-ups, which were kind of like platformers with platforming). But nowadays, it's definitely the genre I seek out the least and I'm usually looking for other kinds of gaming experiences.
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