Summer Games Challenge 2018 - begin when ready!

[lordb0rb4]

At thist point i have lost all hope and motivation to go through my list of game as it is mainly by mindless grind or raw dificulty, is it too late to start anew?

[Ack]

At thist point i have lost all hope and motivation to go through my list of game as it is mainly by mindless grind or raw dificulty, is it too late to start anew?

Well, seeing as summer doesn't technically start in the northern hemisphere until tomorrow...yeah, I think you have time to start over.

[lordb0rb4]

So here's my new list:
Beaten:

Max Payne
Castlevania Chronicles
Mafia


Sonic Adventure 2 Beat the first one recently and after beating Super Mario 3d Land yesterday i'm in a mood to start another 3d platformer, i'm (re)starting my summer challenge with this one today.
Metal Slug 4 I L O V E the first metal slug and although i'm not a fan of the second, X and specially 3 i quite liked XX on PSP, so i'm picking the series where i left.
Fatal Fury
Art of Fighting
Huge 2d fighting fan and since i've never visited some of the SNK heavy hitters i'm starting by these two origins.
Turbo OutRun
Altered Beast
Sonic The Hedgehog

I was never a Mega Drive guy back in the day, in fact, owing a SNES made me a bit of a hater and it's time i make this right, i'm playing the AMAZING M2's 3DS version of these.
Ridge Racer V This and Rage Racer are my least played RR games and after seeing this on DF's Retro i was more than inclined to play it properly.
OutRun 2 SP I have Outrun 2006 C2C on my steam for AGES and since i'm playing one of the arcade games of the series i thought why not check how's the series evolved into 3D.
Mega Man X4

[alienjesus]

So here's my new list:
Beaten:

Max Payne
Castlevania Chronicles
Mafia


Sonic Adventure 2 Beat the first one recently and after beating Super Mario 3d Land yesterday i'm in a mood to start another 3d platformer, i'm (re)starting my summer challenge with this one today.
Metal Slug 4 I L O V E the first metal slug and although i'm not a fan of the second, X and specially 3 i quite liked XX on PSP, so i'm picking the series where i left.
Fatal Fury
Art of Fighting
Huge 2d fighting fan and since i've never visited some of the SNK heavy hitters i'm starting by these two origins.
Turbo OutRun
Altered Beast
Sonic The Hedgehog

I was never a Mega Drive guy back in the day, in fact, owing a SNES made me a bit of a hater and it's time i make this right, i'm playing the AMAZING M2's 3DS version of these.
Ridge Racer V This and Rage Racer are my least played RR games and after seeing this on DF's Retro i was more than inclined to play it properly.
OutRun 2 SP I have Outrun 2006 C2C on my steam for AGES and since i'm playing one of the arcade games of the series i thought why not check how's the series evolved into 3D.
Mega Man X4

I think a lot of this list is better than your old list anyhow.

Also, if OutRun is the 3DS version, it's just OutRun. Turbo OutRun is a different game.

[lordb0rb4]

So here's my new list:
Beaten:

Max Payne
Castlevania Chronicles
Mafia


Sonic Adventure 2 Beat the first one recently and after beating Super Mario 3d Land yesterday i'm in a mood to start another 3d platformer, i'm (re)starting my summer challenge with this one today.
Metal Slug 4 I L O V E the first metal slug and although i'm not a fan of the second, X and specially 3 i quite liked XX on PSP, so i'm picking the series where i left.
Fatal Fury
Art of Fighting
Huge 2d fighting fan and since i've never visited some of the SNK heavy hitters i'm starting by these two origins.
Turbo OutRun
Altered Beast
Sonic The Hedgehog

I was never a Mega Drive guy back in the day, in fact, owing a SNES made me a bit of a hater and it's time i make this right, i'm playing the AMAZING M2's 3DS version of these.
Ridge Racer V This and Rage Racer are my least played RR games and after seeing this on DF's Retro i was more than inclined to play it properly.
OutRun 2 SP I have Outrun 2006 C2C on my steam for AGES and since i'm playing one of the arcade games of the series i thought why not check how's the series evolved into 3D.
Mega Man X4

I think a lot of this list is better than your old list anyhow.

Also, if OutRun is the 3DS version, it's just OutRun. Turbo OutRun is a different game.

Thank you AJ, i'm more pleased with this one as well, it's more Classic Challenge than Wish-i-have-patience-to-finish-list.
And yes, it is indeed Turbo Outrun:
https://nintendoeverything.com/learn-ab ... ery/page/2
I'm currently enjoying the perks of a modded 3DS
Outrun on 3DS is another awesome beast that i'd the pleasure to check when it launched.
GAME ON

Edit: Both Summer Challenge and Together Retro made me realise how strict and bottlenecked my gaming habits made me as a gamer, i mean, how can't i have finished Sonic on genesis until now? And even more, Sonic for the master system was my FIRST videogame ever and until this day i'm yet to finish it as well

[alienjesus]

Nice. I need to mod my 3DS sometime so I can pick up a few Japanese exclusives I'd like too, including the two Sega collections we didn't get.

[lordb0rb4]

Nice. I need to mod my 3DS sometime so I can pick up a few Japanese exclusives I'd like too, including the two Sega collections we didn't get.

It is not as simple as on PSP but it was worthy for sure.

[Key-Glyph]

At thist point i have lost all hope and motivation to go through my list of game as it is mainly by mindless grind or raw dificulty, is it too late to start anew?

Well, seeing as summer doesn't technically start in the northern hemisphere until tomorrow...yeah, I think you have time to start over.

That, and the Summer Games Challenge is such a flexible thing anyway. You could change your list all summer long. Not to mention that your new lineup is so freakin' summery! You're going to have such a blast, b0rb!

I just crossed my next game off the list about a half hour ago:

• The Last Express (DOS)
  StarTropics (NES)
  Lemmings (GEN)
  Metroid Fusion (GBA)
  LOOM (ScummVM)
  Tetris (GB)
  Resident Evil: Code Veronica (PS2)
  Ultima III: Exodus (NES)
  Where in America's Past is Carmen Sandiego? (DOS)
  
  Maniac Mansion (NES)

So something I didn't actually know from my previous attempts at Maniac Mansion is that the different kids' unique skills are used to solve the endgame. For example, Michael -- who was my main character -- is a photographer, so he knows how to operate film developing equipment. Following through on that talent will set up a particular sequence leading to the ending. I think that is so cool! Up until now I'd thought the kids' bio blurbs were just flavor text, you know? Of course, I was aware that only certain kids could do certain things, but I'd thought those differences were more along the lines of wacky antics; the fact that they lead to different finale setups is really special in my book.

It also gives the game some serious replay value, because now I'm intrigued as to how each character resolves the story. I was making my way towards Wendy's conclusion at the same time I was pursuing Michael's, and I really want to see how hers plays out.

But that said, when I replay the game, I am definitely doing it in its easter egg form within Day of the Tentacle. Although the NES version of Maniac Mansion is surprisingly playable, I still felt like I had my hands strapped behind my back. There's no LOOK AT or WHAT IS function, which is so integral to the point-and-click experience that I was constantly feeling the void of its absence in my soul. Without having a surefire way to identify my items or get character reaction chatter with subtle hints, things got frustrating. It took me a little while to realize I could use the READ function to find out what was on a vinyl record, for example -- or that I specifically needed to READ signs and not USE them. In other point-and-clicks, LOOK AT would work just fine in both of those scenarios, preventing me from concluding that certain objects couldn't be interacted with or didn't have descriptions.

And of course, having to move the cursor with the d-pad is tough. It wasn't unbearable in this case, but it was still aggravating when I felt I couldn't scan a room quickly enough or cycle through verbs fast enough to pull off some weird maneuver before I was captured.

All in all, the NES port of Maniac Mansion is pretty fun. It's highly censored and obviously clunkier than other versions, but if you simply must play it on console for the righteous tunes, or someone gives it to you for a gift, or you find it in a bargain bin for a dollar, it's a fun romp. Otherwise, play it on PC somehow. It's a weird, silly send-up of the horror genre, and the successful ending I got actually made me laugh. I say "successful" because I twice ended the game in other ways that were uh... much more catastrophic.

But yeah, with this I've met my yearly Summer goal of finishing at least five games of my ten. This is way ahead of schedule for me! I'm gonna keep plugging away. The Last Express is next and I am so psyched.

[alienjesus]

Today has been designated as Summer Games Saturday (it's my first weekend at home in a while) and I'm going to spend it progressing as much as possible. I figure I'll update my progress throughout the day with a mini-diary of sorts, so here goes.

NOTE: EXPECT SPOILERS

Midday- finally sat down and started playing Ecco: The Tides of Time.

At the start of the game, I chose hard difficulty. I hear you miss out on a few levels if you don't. I will likely regret that.

Stage 1 - Some weird teleporter section has me swimming into the screen space harrier style. It really sucks because you have to jump through rings in the air but the scrolling isn't smooth enough to know how far away they are, and the surface of the water obscures them to boot.

Stage 2 - Nice and simple this one, just had to push some crystals to a spot - if the whole game is this easy, it'll be great. I suspect it won't be.

Stage 3 - This one was simple enough too. Had to shove a rock into some other rocks to break them (as usual with ecco, there's no explanation for why this works, you just have to guess). Near the end of the level Ecco's powers from the first game were taken away. Until now I had infinite air supply, but now it's back to the finding air pockets to breathe of Ecco 1.

Stage 4 - Turns out the Asterite is dead. He was this weird double helix made of orbs that gave ecco his powers in the first game. That explains why my powers are gone. This level was kind of hard for so early in the game - not only is it a bit of a trick level (you need to use the same key stone twice) but it also features new mechanics which are taught to you deep underwater without a way to resupply air, so that sucks. In this case I can charge turtles to make them go into their shell, then swim down with them to swim through strong water currents. I also found a new thing that makes my sonar kill enemies and shoot in 4 directions, so that's nice, but it's only temporary for the level. At the end a dolphin with wings arrived and told me he was my ancestor from the future and transported me through time. As you do.


EDIT:
1pm

More Ecco!:

Stage 5 - I'm in the future! This one required me to get a lift from some flying dolphins, which is cool. There was also some water ways which stretched into the sky which seemed cool but was merely an omen of what was to come. Anyhow, this level wasn't too bad, and I actually skipped some of it - the exit is blocked by a glyph but I accidentally jumped out of the water way above the glyph and it counted as level beat!

Stage 6 - This level is entirely in the waterways in the sky. It's an auto-scroller and it goes really fast with Ecco's dodgy momentum controls, so it's a bit of a pain. I got really good at it eventually though. Let me tell you why...

Stage 7 - More waterways in the sky, and this time they don't autoscroll. But unlike last time, there are enemies here - giant flying jellyfish that grab you, fly around and then launch you flying. Being that most of the level is devoid of water and it's in the sky, you can see the problem - I was thrown back to Earth many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many times. The jellyfish seem to move and throw randomly and you are forced to go past them in tiny corridors where it's impossible to go round. However, there's a bigger reason that sucks - unlike the previous level, where falling just kills you and restarts the level, falling here sends you back to level 5. As in, the level before the auto-scroller. I have beaten the sky tides in stage 6, on my estimate, at least 14 times now. Fuck that shit. Worst level in the game, and my new least favourite stage of all time, replacing my previous vote of Welcome To The Machine from Ecco 1. And this is only stage 7, of what I understand to be about 30 stages. Fuck me.

Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7.... Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7...

Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7... Stage 8!

Finally, I can move on! More updates soon.

EDIT:

2pm - we're still playing Ecco 2

Stage 8 - another bloody swimming through a sky tube level. It's not too bad though, no jellyfish and dying only makes me restart this level instead of sending me back.

Stage 9 - I drop out of the sky into water finally, what a relief. Looking around I speak to a flying dolphin. "You must ascend". Fuck. Anyhow, I spend a fun 20 minutes bouncing off of bubbles in the sky. The physics are wonky and half the time it makes me fall down to the start of the level. Whoever decided to put sky levels as the early stuff in Ecco 2 is a total asshole.

Stage 10 - After struggling through 4 sky based levels, here's one with plenty of water. The game transforms me into a bird. Why only now? Anyhow, it's an easy enough stage, just fly over some barriers and leave.

Stage 11 - more bird based shenanigans. I turn into a bird and fly all the way left avoiding obstacles (one hit drops you back into the water and turns you into a dolphin) to clear a high wall. I get a key glyph I need, turn back into a bird and fly all the way right avoiding obsctles to clear another high wall, where I remove the barrier glyph and leave. Yawn.

Stage 12 - Asterites cave! Well, here's my objective here in the future. This level is simple enough - repair some broken glyphs to move on. Had a confusing bit where I needed to remove some rocks and it turns out you need to use sonar to shoot some random worm enemy into them. There is nothing to indicate this is a thing, but whatever. At the end I need to swim through the Asterite to leave, which isn't hard but is tense as I'm low on air and if I mess up I have to start over. I make it and leave the future. According to a look at a level list I'm maybe 1/3rd through now? This is longer than expected!

[lordb0rb4]

Nice log AJ!
Will post some impressions from my TR thread:

3D Altered Beast
As i said before, having played Altered Beast in both original and 3ds's exclusive random transformation mode i firmly believe Altered Beast is a classic and really underrated game as a genesis launch game as well as an arcade port.
In Altered Beast you take control of a roman centurion that must rescue Athena, daughter of none less than Zeus, in a world of myth and beasts from the evil grips of Neff.
One of the most striking feature and the selling point of the game is the ability to transform into super powered animal-like beasts that grant the centurion with awesome powers.
The other amazing achievement of Altered Beast is without doubt it's THUNDEROUS sound department, from the iconic and crystal-clear Zeus' shout "RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!" to the desolation of the tracks as you go deeper into the underworld itself!
I'm happy for both finally playing and beating the game as well killing the impression that i had about the game.

Max Payne
Castlevania Chronicles
Mafia
Altered Beast


Sonic Adventure 2
Turbo Outrun
Fatal Fury
Metal Slug 4
Sonic The Hedgehog
Outrun 2006 C2C
Art of Fighting
Ridge Racer V
Mega Man X4