Summer Games Challenge 2025 - GET EQUIPPED

[MrPopo]

The Cradle fight has a quirk to it; Trevelyn can't take damage when he's running, and he starts running the second he takes damage. So the intent is that you keep hitting him until he's low enough and then he'll run to the bottom and then you kill him and can trigger the end cutscene. However, due to how explosions work you can kill him with a grenade much earlier, and then you are left wondering what to do, as you still need to get to the bottom to trigger the end. That actually happened to me the first time I beat the level.

[Ack]

You know, I didn't know that. I always wondered why it took so long to kill him when I was emptying magazines I to his fleeing behind.

[Key-Glyph]

However, due to how explosions work you can kill him with a grenade much earlier, and then you are left wondering what to do, as you still need to get to the bottom to trigger the end. That actually happened to me the first time I beat the level.

That's fascinating. What happens if you kill him with a grenade too early? Does he still show up and the bottom like "HAH! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN I'M SEAN BEAN, BOND!!"?

What I noticed as I played the level multiple times was that I could measure my progress through his dialog -- that doing enough (maybe any?) damage triggered new responses, which came sooner and sooner as I got better at tracking his paths and ambush spots. But like Ack, I didn't realize he didn't take damage while running. Based on how long some of my early attempts were without the dialog advancing much, he definitely also runs if you simply get too close (and maybe also if you open fire and miss?), which then costs you that window of lowering his HP and leads to endless donuts around the course.

I lost that window a lot at first because I didn't even know I was chasing him until a few attempts in; it took a few tries before I even triggered his initial piece of dialog, I think, which means I wasn't hitting him when first appeared. Either that or his dialog was always there but I was too distracted to notice.

Eventually I learned to distinguish him and all, but yeah, visibility was a real problem for me in this game. In terms of visuals I mostly relied on movement to make sense of what I was seeing (wavering pixels = an enemy or object, etcetera). To be fair, this is a problem with me in many games that aren't cartoony enough or don't have big style distinctions between characters and backgrounds, interactable platforms and set pieces for show, and so on. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I struggled with Donkey Kong Country, for example. Just could not tell what things I should or shouldn't attack, could or couldn't jump on. I also struggle with Mode 7 in things like Mario Kart. In contrast I never had an issue with Mario 64, but I think part of that is the boldness and another that basically everything is interactable/substantial in that game unless it's clearly a part of the Truman Show dome around the level.

Cradle was real fun, though, seriously. Really ended things on a high note.

[MrPopo]

If he dies early you just gotta run to the very bottom and the cutscene will trigger as soon as you hit the trigger zone.

[Ack]

Is GoldenEye the greatest Sean Bean death?

[pierrot]

Pretty sure this was the point in the game where I started to actually look up maps. On the plus side, it's my favorite BGM from the game,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoZNL6f ... X&index=14 (FM version).
Can't forget about the remix, either:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pioIQ ... ioIQLRfzuw

The Medusa's Tower is quite confusing with different paths that lead to nowhere and a lot of empty or useless chests! I agree that the background music for that dungeon is amazing, I liked it a lot too and I think it might be my favorite of the game so far as well. I'm playing the original US release which only contains the PSG sound. However, the FM version sounds amazing.

Thanks for sharing the FM version and the remix. The remix sounds great too. Did it actually appear in PSO or was it just on a CD soundtrack? I don't recall hearing it in the game.

Yeah, I played it with PSG sound via the Mega Drive version, and that version of Medusa's Tower is still great, but I prefer the FM version for just listening to.

Tricktrack part 2 is VR Space Ship in Ep II, but plays when fighting stuff, so I could understand not really recognizing it from being distracted by combat. Here's the normal exploration version (doesn't have the Medusa's Tower motif):
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hLUDz ... GasxGxGlSU

While on the subject of Phantasy Star music, the Crater stage BGM from Ep IV uses the title screen music from Phantasy Star III in places:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKUy ... tNLOaIx-0M (Most apparent at 2:13).

[bmoc]

Clock Tower Rewind (PS5)
Alien Isolation (PS4)
Capcom Fighting Collection (Switch)
Nier (PS3)
Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
Luigi's Mansion (GameCube)
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance (GameCube)
F-Zero GX (GameCube)
Convention Pickup 1 (TBD)
Convention Pickup 2 (TBD)

F-Zero GX

I'd describe myself as a very casual racing game fan. I pumped a lot of quarters into Pole Position in the 80's and I have an affinity for 90's arcade racers. Beyond that, I don't play many racing games other than Mario Kart. The only other F-Zero game I have played is the original for the Super Nintendo. I don't recall being particularly good at it, but I was fairly young when it came out. I remember falling off the course a lot.

I went into F-Zero GX with two preconceptions. I knew it was made by Sega and that it was considered difficult, especially story mode. I've since learned that F-Zero GX was the first major collaboration between the former rivals - Nintendo and Sega. Having lived through that fierce rivalry, it is still strange to see them getting along, much less working together.

Regarding the game's difficulty, it is not very forgiving. I jumped in blind to the Grand Prix and promptly got my ass handed to me. Once I figured out how energy worked and how to replenish it, I was able to make some progression. But once the tracks started having areas where you could fall off the course, I most certainly did fall off - often. Memorizing the turns of each track plays a big part of your success. The speed at which you are going doesn't leave much time to course correct. Not to mention that some tracks have poor visibility on the turns (they may be at the crest of a hill for example). Familiarity with your racer plays another big part because they vary wildly in how they handle. I mostly stuck to Captain Falcon. I tried a few others but found them too unwieldy after practicing with Captain Falcon. I did complete the Grand Prix on Novice and have since learned that you can unlock the Diamond Cup if you complete it on Standard or higher.

Story mode, unfortunately, was too much for me. I didn't make it very far before giving up. Maybe I could have done it if I really abused save states, but the difficulty was so high that it was unfun. I did enjoy the cutscenes for their cheesiness and mostly non-existent attempts at lip-syncing the dub. I'll probably watch the whole thing on YouTube eventually.

The visuals are top-notch especially for the era. The courses are varied, vibrant and challenging. There are lots of customization options to unlock which will keep some players engaged. As far as futuristic high-speed racers go, F-Zero GX is not bad if you are willing to put a lot of time into it. I think I'm going to stick to Wipeout to get my futurist racer fix.

[MrPopo]

Story mode is extremely mean in GX. With the GPs you can at least kill some racers and take advantage of the fact that the enemy racers tend to finish all over the place, so you can win on points even if you never come in first. With story you have to be able to pull off the various goals pretty honestly, and all the requirements are super tight.

[prfsnl_gmr]

That mirrors my experience with the game exactly. I noped out after just a few races into story mode, and as much as I wanted to love the game, the crushing difficulty just killed it for me.

[o.pwuaioc]

Cradle was real fun, though, seriously. Really ended things on a high note.

By coincidence I had started playing GoldenEye out of the blue just a couple days ago. I read through all your posts and kid me got excited all over again. I deleted my last save and started over. Finally beat it (can't marathon games like I used to---even if I had the time). Half the fun is over, though. Now you get some friends and go in 4-player deathmatch. Or if you get through some levels fast enough, you can unlock cheats and replay them. Then you can compare times with your buds.

Of course, I'm sure you have other games to play this summer, but for a while, this was all we played (aside from board/card games).

Also, you don't need knives on Bunker 2. Just gotta be sneaky.