Together Retro: Eighties' Ladies' Night

[alienjesus]

The worst part of Phantasy Star in my opinions were the old-school battle mechanics - not being able to tagret a specific enemy when there were multiple, and more importantly, the crazy variable damage where you'll do 50 damage one turn and 1 damage the next

I did enjoy my time with Phantasy star overall though. The worst part was the starting grind, but I don't remember needing to go out of my way to grind once I recruited Myau and Odin.

[Sload Soap]

Yeah, the targeting was irritating earlier on but now I've got the laser gun it's been mitigated somewhat. It's a pretty barebones system in all honesty, magic seems a bit undervalued.

[Exhuminator]

magic seems a bit undervalued

Do you have Mizerith Lutz Iysa Lanai (AKA Noah) in your party yet? He gets some very useful spells at higher levels like Thun and Rise. In the PlayStation 2 remake he gets a lot more stuff:

Considering the sci-fi slant of PS, it's likely offensive magic is downplayed in favor of technology like the Needle Gun, Laser Gun, Ceramic Sword, Light Saber, etc. Trying to sell the theme as it were.

Metroid wasn't the first of its kind either.

Can you name some pre-Metroid games that have a closely similar design ethos? I'd be interested in that.

seems like very few platform adventure games from before 1987 or so are worth going back to.

I can think of at least one that is: https://www.mobygames.com/game/below-th ... creenshots

[Sload Soap]

Yeah, got Noah and he (she) has all the spells they can get. Wind and Thunder are good on bosses but use too much MP to be efficient in dungeons. I have this issue with a lot of JRPGs to be honest, especially earlier ones where characters are locked in set classes. It's not a major thing, it just means that unlike Myau, Noah spends most of the time whiffing attacks and just generally hanging out.

[Exhuminator]

he (she)

Noah's androgynous nature strikes again. My cousin and I used to argue about Noah's gender when we were kids. But, Lutz/Noah has been confirmed as a dude.

"Lutz has an androgynous character design and thus was mistaken as being female for the US version of Phantasy Star. However, the brief animation of a shirtless Lutz awakening in Phantasy Star II, the updated PS2 animation, the official concept art and various other sources confirms that Lutz is indeed male." ( http://phantasystar.wikia.com/wiki/Lutz )

Anyway, looking forward to your overall consensus of the experience once you complete it.

[Exhuminator]

*lots of interesting games*

First I want to thank you for that list, at some point when I have time I'll research them all. I'd heard of a few of them, but many were new to me. It's quite possible Metroid took various bits of inspiration from some of those sources.

Secondly, I don't see any games in your list that seem as similar to Metroid as Layla and Space Hunter are. That is to say a lone space heroine travels to remote alien planets, navigating maze-like environs via equipment upgrades, to destroy space bases and escape unharmed. That particular concept in and of itself seems unique to Metroid upon its release. And Metroid released before both Layla and Space Hunter, both of which mimic the exact thematic concept. That's why IMO Layla and Space Hunter are clearly aping Metroid particularly. Space Hunter really seemed like something a couple dudes could make in a week or two.

Have you written a review for Below the Root?

I have played BtR quite a bit (on C64). Enough that I think it's extraordinarily impressive, unique, and forward thinking for its time. I have not completed BtR however, so no review as of yet.

[Exhuminator]

By the way, this is a very comprehensive list of games with a female protagonist only:
http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/pro ... 900/so,1d/

That is a killer link for this TR. Nice job. I'll have to add it to the OP.

[noiseredux]

alright, so my cold is finally starting to break up enough that I'm not falling asleep right after dinner. So I was able to get back to Phantasy Star II last night. There's no denying the super grindy nature of this game. But I'm also playing it pretty safe as far as grinding for levels and mesata for new gear goes. At any rate, I now have Amy in party so we're 50% Ladies Night now. I've only got her to level 3 right now, and basically just keep her defending herself while the others try to boost her level. So, I'll probably be doing this for another hour or so before I can really continue on.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Damn Valkyrie no Bouken is rough. A glance at YouTube footage confirms my suspicions. The game has about 45-60 minutes of "content" padded with hours of leveling up. Poor hit detection, tedious combat... it just isn't much fun. The game's a sunk cost at this point. I may finish it, but only because I started it. Or I may abandon it for awhile in favor of something else, or quit altogether. We'll see! Just wish I hadn't started the month off with this one...

[Nemoide]

I started Metroid tonight.
I had played a bit of this before, but never made a really serious attempt at it and am not afraid to look at a walkthrough to guide my path! I was instantly drawn into this game. I got a bunch of powerups, got the hang of farming health to keep it up by the maximum, and have a general idea of some places I'd like to go in my next session!