Together Retro: Eighties' Ladies' Night

[BoneSnapDeez]

I guess I should mention I've been playing lots of stuff this month... but with little time (and little skill) I haven't actually finished much. I may go for a sure-fire pick (like Metroid) next, we'll see.

Speaking of girls, my daughter has taken a liking to Attack Animal Gakuen, which is a Space Harrier type game with a female protagonist. I'm horrible at this type of game -- I just don't "get" the perspective at all.

[MrPopo]

Speaking of the grind, I do have a question about leveling in Phantasy Star. Or maybe a couple. Experience is shared, but I don't know if it's even (as in, if you get 4 XP from a battle, is that 4 for each character?). And clearly each character must have different XP limits for each level, right? Because I've had Rolf and Nei since the beginning of the game, and Nei just hit level 20 where as Rolf is like half that. Anyway, my real real question is that right now I just keep Amy defending in battles because I'm scared of getting her killed (she's at ~50HP when everyone else is at 75-100. She also only has scalpels to fight with...). I'm curious if she gets the same amount of XP for just being in a battle that she would for like... doing something? Basically right now I'm just trying to keep her alive until she becomes a badass lifesaver.

Progress-wise, I just went to the Bio Lab and got the Recorder.

Man, you've been playing too many modern games if you think party members exp gain is based on what they do in battle

I don't remember if the experience reported is given to each character or to the party and then divvied up by number of characters. It is easy to test, obviously; record your exp, get into battle, look at the post battle exp and do the math.

You are correct that every character has a different exp table, and Nei's is hyperactive. Also, be aware that in PSII only characters in the active party get experience; anyone left back at base don't get any. So you will want to settle on a party pretty quickly and stick with it, otherwise you'll have a bunch of characters behind the curve and require even more grinding then the game already does.

[pierrot]

I have three games that I intend to give some time to over the weekend (and it's very likely I won't succeed in beating any of them, but--). So, I'll break out the Famicom, and try to get further than I usually have in Madoola no Tsubasa, Dragon Slayer IV, and Majou Densetsu II. All three games are absurdly difficult, but I'm going to hopefully give each one my most earnest effort. I suppose I'll start with Madoola, but it's kind of noticeably Sunsoft, in that I usually get to a certain point in the game where all the enemies jump high into the air, and descend upon me, beating me into a pulp within a matter of seconds.

I don't have high hopes for this weekend, but if all else fails, I could go back to my languishing FF II save file, I suppose.

[laurenhiya21]

I haven't been able to participate in this month yet (other than just reading everyone's posts), but once I finish my finals next week I should be able to finally participate Still need to figure out what I want to play though haha.

[Exhuminator]

Madoola no Tsubasa

This game is pretty stupid tough right out the gate. I tried it the other day, and the first enemies were damage sponges to a ludicrous degree. I really want to like the game because of its aesthetics and developer, but DAMN.

I haven't been able to participate in this month yet (other than just reading everyone's posts), but once I finish my finals next week I should be able to finally participate Still need to figure out what I want to play though haha.

Since (as far as I know) you are the only female gamer participating in ELN, it will be doubly interesting to see your take on all this. Your opinion on the state of female protagonists via '80s gaming would be exclusively valuable and appreciated.

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As for me, now that I've got Titanic Mystery behind me, I've been dabbling in Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead on PCE. I'm impressed with it so far. Hopefully I can knock it out over the weekend. Depends on how long it is.

[pierrot]

Madoola no Tsubasa

This game is pretty stupid tough right out the gate. I tried it the other day, and the first enemies were damage sponges to a ludicrous degree. I really want to like the game because of its aesthetics and developer, but DAMN.

Yeah, for sure. I've tried to get anywhere in the game a few times before, and after some practice, the first few stages aren't too bad. There's this stage with some waterfalls (I think), and a couple different platform altitudes, where I remember the jumping enemies starting to really beat me into the ground. I agree totally: It seems like a very cool game, but I've been brutalized by it quite a few times.

As for me, now that I've got Titanic Mystery behind me, I've been dabbling in Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead on PCE. I'm impressed with it so far. Hopefully I can knock it out over the weekend. Depends on how long it is.

A while back, this game was at the top of my list of games to buy, but I ended up trying it on the Everdrive, and didn't fall in love with it as instantly as I had hoped to. I'll be interested in reading more of your thoughts about it.

[pierrot]

Double posting for Great Justice!

Madoora no Tsubasa: I've dived into this game tonight, and I am happy to say that it is actually extra legit. I was confusing my early issues with the game: I had not seen past Stage 2 before, and my nightmare was (and still is) the flying purple goo monsters that are constantly harassing me in the mountain summit stages. However, the little flee/goblin things that jump around all over the place are also extra annoying.

So, I'm about halfway through the game, and that is due in large part to reflecting on my training with Arino Kachou: After tormenting myself for a while, constantly dying on the Stage 3, and starting again from Stage 1 after each death, I remembered that some old Famicom games let you continue by hitting some funky button combos at the start screen. For Madoora, hitting start while holding select allows you to select any of the levels you've already been through. The caveat being that if you just hit start, and die on the first stage, for instance, hitting select+start will only give the first stage as an option to continue from. In essence, though, there are unlimited continues--which is good, because this game is still ball bustingly hard. I really enjoy it, though. Yeah, the programming is a little fast and loose--jumping is not perfectly responsive, and hit detection is pretty dire--but that just means you have to do everything wrong before you can do it right. In particular, I like searching for upgrades to swords, magic swords, movement, other magic abilities, and all manner of health and mana boosting items. There's some fairly nice exploration elements in the gameplay--mostly in the cave and tower/castle stages--which is a nice change of pace from all the running away from things that I do in the outdoor stages (which are mostly linear stages).

I like the graphics, and colors, even if they won't set the world on fire. Also, while the soundtrack is a bit limited, I quite enjoy the tracks that it does have; Especially the the bgm for the tower/castle stages.


Side note: I realized that Marusa no Onna was released in 1989, so I'm putting that one on the docket, as well. I hope it's at least as good as the Jinguuji Saburo games I've played so far.

Also, was anyone thinking of doing a Sypha run in Akumajou Densetsu?

[PartridgeSenpai]

I got a bit farther in Dragon Quest II. I got the second party member, Kain, and it is SO nice to have healing spells. It's a bit toss that he comes in at just level 1, but I immediately bought him all the gear he needed (I had exactly enough cash) and he's a lot better now. I've just gotten though the Southern cave and am in the middle-ish continent's first town. I'm approaching the part where a lady joins us all the time!

[alienjesus]

I finished up The Legend of Zelda starring Zelda yesterday. There was something quite special about rescuing Link and getting the message "ZELDA! YOU ARE THE HERO OF HYRULE".

I decided to keep up my 8 bit adventure kick by jumping straight into Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. Obvious I chose to play as Wonder Girl, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the game's late title card actually read 'Wonder Girl: The Dragon's Trap' instead of the usual too.

I'm up to the Lion Man/Lion Woman section of the game, so I should be able to finish Wonder Boy next time I play. In the meantime I plan to try and get going on Earthbound Beginnings.

[Exhuminator]

I finished up The Legend of Zelda starring Zelda yesterday. There was something quite special about rescuing Link and getting the message "ZELDA! YOU ARE THE HERO OF HYRULE".

Playing through The Legend of Zelda as actual ZELDA makes the namesake seem more legitimate. I always thought for the second quest after you beat the first, Nintendo should have swapped it where Zelda has to rescue Link. In that regard I'm glad this hack exists.

I decided to keep up my 8 bit adventure kick by jumping straight into Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. Obvious I chose to play as Wonder Girl

At first I was confused; "Wonder GIRL?!" Then I looked it up and realized you're playing the 2017 remake of the 1989 game. It's nicely inclusive that Lizardcube put an alternate female protagonist into the remake.

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Yesterday I read a lot about Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead, trying to give myself a frame of reference before diving into it. Now I understand the plot and mechanics, so today I will start playing it proper. I was going to start playing it last night, but my daughter and her boyfriend suckered me into two hours of co-op'ing this mobile game with them.