Summer Games Challenge 2016

[CFFJR]

Wonder Boy is done. It was not fun.

I'm honestly impressed you were able to tolerate that music for the length of the game. Good lord is it ever annoying.

---

So Contra is taking a bit of getting used to, but I'm also quickly getting better at it. It doesn't seem like it's a ball buster at all (versus, say, Hard Corps, which I've never come close to beating), so just a bit of practice will certainly do it.

I'd like to finish it on one credit if I can.

Also, I finally decided to swap Commander Keen for Unreal Gold.

I think it was a good choice. Played a bit, reached level 4 and it's quite fun so far.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Once you get in the groove you'll take down Contra easily. It's a very fair and fluid game.

I played a bit of OutRun last night. Master System port. I didn't realize that this version predated the Genesis one by four years. Anyhow, I did better than I ever have in the past. Didn't realize there was a trick to shifting to help maximize acceleration. I got very close to the end, I may beat it this evening. I'll try the Genesis port after. I also have the game on Commodore 64 buuuuutttt yeah I don't wanna play that one again.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Once you get in the groove you'll take down Contra easily. It's a very fair and fluid game.

I played a bit of OutRun last night. Master System port. I didn't realize that this version predated the Genesis one by four years. Anyhow, I did better than I ever have in the past. Didn't realize there was a trick to shifting to help maximize acceleration. I got very close to the end, I may beat it this evening. I'll try the Genesis port after. I also have the game on Commodore 64 buuuuutttt yeah I don't wanna play that one again.

Great game. The 3DS version is simply amazing, and the GBA version is incredibly close to the arcade as well.

[BoneSnapDeez]

^ I don't have any of those versions unfortunately.

I did finish the SMS game last night with literally about 1 second to spare. Moving on to Genesis this evening...

[alienjesus]

So I intended to start my Summer Challenge this weekend with one of my summer games on console, but due to an unplanned trip to visit family, I ended up starting my only portable title on the list instead: Mystic Quest (AKA Final Fantasy Adventure)

So far I've started my journey, found a girl, had the girl kidnapped, and rescued her from a Vampire. I have found some useful weapons, including a scythe that cuts down foliage and a chain that lets me whip across gaps.

I'm liking the game a lot so far. The music is fun, the game keeps moving at a fairly brisk pace and it's all been a lot of fun so far. I'm glad I picked it up!

[BoneSnapDeez]

Akumajō Dracula (Famicom Disk System)
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi (Famicom)
Guardian Heroes (Saturn)
Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami (Famicom Disk System)
Moon Patrol (various)
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
OutRun (various)
Super C (NES)
Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
Zaxxon (various)

I'm callin' it a day for OutRun. I've completed it on both SMS and Genesis. I have mixed feelings about this one. I'll write more in Games Beaten later.

Here's the most heartbreaking screenshot I've ever taken:


I'm rearranging my game room so not all of my consoles are presently hooked up. The Retron 5 is though, so I'm going to continue playing compatible games. That means either Ninja Gaiden or Fire Emblem is next.

[pierrot]

Here's the most heartbreaking screenshot I've ever taken:

You mean most beautiful? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBg8O0rVkps

Really should have played the Saturn version, or just emulated the arcade version, but nice work.

I'm liking the game a lot so far. The music is fun, the game keeps moving at a fairly brisk pace and it's all been a lot of fun so far. I'm glad I picked it up!

In middle school, a friend and I used to talk about this game all the time. I was probably more into it than Link's Awakening, which I also played around that time. It's a bit more rudimentary, but I still like it more than SoM--although I actually like everything else I've played in the SD series better than SoM.
I was thinking about playing Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana) recently, but there seem to be some graphical glitches when playing it with my EZ Flash on the Game Boy Player, that kind of bother me.

[Ack]

Well folks, the universities around me have all let out for the summer, so I figured it's time I got started on this stuff. I've chosen to go with a pool of 25 to pull my games from for this year:

Alone in the Dark
Broken Sword
Call of Duty 2
Castlevania
Crusader: No Remorse
Dragon Warrior
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
Magic Carpet
Might & Magic III
Mortal Kombat 3
NBA Jam
Sanitarium
Silent Hill
SimCity 2000
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash
SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Super Punch-Out
Super Star Wars
System Shock
Thief Gold
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Ultima II
Ultima IV

To kick things off, over the weekend I went ahead and spun the Wheel of Chance to make my first selection. I am now playing...



I'm loving the speed of this. So far I've run through the first three levels and have blasted through some hordes of nasty enemies. But I missed one of the keys in level 2 and the piece of the Chronoscepter in level 3, so I'll have to return via the hub system. There are a lot of secrets to seek out and discover, and the game feels nice and old school in its approach, though there is a surprising amount of platforming as well. There are also unlockable cheat codes apparently; I obtained one from maxing out my lives in the third level. Now I'm curious how to unlock the rest. Either way, I'm having a blast. Though we'll see how I feel if I keep missing single objects in each level.

[Exhuminator]

>Alone in the Dark
>I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream
>Silent Hill
>Super Punch-Out
>System Shock
>Thief Gold

Looking super forward to your reviews of all these, especially Thief Gold. I know I've mentioned more than once that Thief is my all time favorite game ever. But for someone like Ack, who enjoys sneaking around and being a psychotic predatory nightmare, he should really get a kick outta it.

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Alright folks, now that I finished Everblue up, I'm getting back on the SGC for a minute. Do you guys want me to review The Scheme or Shadow Tower next?

[Ack]

Shadow Tower is what I'd prefer, Exhum. It has me much more curious.