Snickerd00dle's Summer Challenge 2012 - how is it going?

[alienjesus]

Ok, so after another attempt I actually beat DuckTales. It's a fun game and my first impressions covered most of my thoughts with it. I finished with $9,660,000 plus the secret treasures, so got the 2nd best ending (I missed the best ending by just 340,000). The biggest problem with the game was how it constantly sent you back to Transylvania, one of the 5 levels, which you visit 3 times: once to get the level's treasure, once to find the key to the African Mine level, and once for the final boss. It feels a bit lazy really, especially as the final boss is in the same room as the level boss was before, meaning you don't even have to explore more. The final boss was also pretty easy, as were most of them. It's a fun little game though, and a nice way to waste a half hour or so.

[NihonRobot]

1. Rogue Galaxy
2. P.N.03
3. Alundra - Started
4. Indigo Prophecy
5. Alan Wake - COMPLETE
6. Fear Effect 1
7. Fear Effect 2
8. Incredible Crisis! - COMPLETE
9. Brave Fencer Musashi
10. Psychonauts

Ahhhhh, this feels good! Incredible Crisis! has been in my collection for years, and I had never played past the first character. Another one knocked off the list!

I also streamed the whole thing, so anyone curious about Incredible Crisis! can watch the whole thing start to finish on my Twitch.tv account:
When I start playing Alundra tomorrow I'll also be streaming that, too.

[alienjesus]

So I got stuck in to Monster World IV this evening. First thoughts: Oh man, so gooooooodddd!

The game controls nicely (although starting running can feel a little stiff) and the main character has a nice variety of moves to use, including Zelda 2 style up and down stabs, running, jumping and attacking. With the little helper character you get, Pelegogoo (or something like that), she can use him as a platform over lava, as a shield to block falling lava, as a base for a double jump, or to glide over large gaps. The 'puzzles' have been very easy, but fun, and the bosses have been reasonably challenging. Health upgrades are obtained by searching out little tokens, with 10 giving an extra heart, which is a very fun mechanic, as they tend to be quite liberally played, but still take some thought or exploration to find. I beat the first area, then the first major dungeon, which was pretty long for a 2D sidescroller, taking me a good hour or so. There are at least 3 more of these, so it should be a reasonable length for this type of game on a 16 bit system.

The translation is ok, pretty representative of a good translation of the day (very simple, but gets the job done). The music is pretty good, but a little forgettable compared to Wonder Boy 3. The graphics are absolutely lovely, some of my favourite on the system, with bright colours, big chunky sprites, and great animation. The game has a very cutesy look to it, but it's very charming. I'm loving it so far, and it's a contender to become my favourite Wonder Boy/Monster World title atm, possibly replacing Wonder Boy 3.

[SpaceBooger]

I played some more Ninja Gaiden Black after a week and a half hiatus. I finished chapter 10 and 11.
The boss at the end of chapter 7 was by far the hardest or maybe since I finally beat her I was better at battling bosses but this game is still quite hard. I am enjoying it and love the nod to Star Wars (Vader and the Emperor more specifically after beating Doku) as the game progresses.

[lisalover1]

I'm up to 77 bananas in Donkey Kong 64, and I just opened up Fungi Forest. Things are going quite well!

[noiseredux]

I hit this same wall last year... I'm not sure why I think Summer is a good time to do this, as my Summers always end up being extremely busy. Maybe I'll start a Winter challenge for myself instead, as I don't see myself making much progress this month!

[D.D.D.]

Well, I'm 41 stars into Super Mario Galaxy 2 and damn some of those prankster comets are hard but not ridiculous.

I'll probably be done with SMG2 in a week maybe. Don't know what I'm in the mood for afterwards. Any suggestions?

[Forlorn Drifter]

Finished Portal 2 last night. I admit I feel the first was a bit better. I think they tried to introduce too many new elements without fleshing each one out as strongly as they could have. But the humor is great and I don't regret my purchase one bit. (7 games for $70!)

[SpaceBooger]

Classics
1. Shatterhand (NES)
2. Sonic CD (PS3) COMPLETE 7/9
3. Final Fight (PS3 or Mame) COMPLETE 6/24
4. Cave Story (DS) COMPLETE 6/12
5. Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox) COMPLETE 8/5
6. Jet Grind Radio (DC or PSN when released)
7. Beneath a Steel Sky (PC)

Not Classics that I want to beat before summer ends
8. Clash of Heroes (DS) COMPLETE 5/31
9. Captain America: Super Soldier (PS3) COMPLETE 7/8
10. Ben There Dan That & Time Gentlemen Please (PC) COMPLETE 7/22
11. Conan (PS3 2007) COMPLETE 7/7
12. Batman the Brave and the Bold (DS) COMPLETE 7/29

I just finished Ninja Gaiden Black and it had to be one of the most satisfying game I have ever beat. I wasted hours on the first version of Alma at the end of chapter 7, I had to do the string of bosses at the end of chapter 15 over a couple times, and the platforming before the final boss caused me a lot of trouble (13 tries). I am excited to finally finish this one and for once I feel more accomplishment than excitement. Plus this game looked great for a last gen game.

[alienjesus]

Nice SpaceBooger, it's been interesting hearing your thoughts on Ninja Gaiden. Still not sure if I want it or not myself. Your list looks pretty fun in general actually, and there's a few I've never played on there but want to, like Sonic CD & Cave Story. It's nice to see that there are still one or two of us still going too .

Anyway, game 9 of 10 is down!

1. Monster World IV (VC)
2. Duck Tales (NES)
3. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SNES)
4. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64)
5. Resident Evil 4 (GC)
6. Metroid Prime 3 (Wii)
7. Final Fantasy IV Advance (GBA)
8. Grim Fandango (PC)
9. Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBox)
10. Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages linked quest (GBC)

No picture this time, sorry!

Monster World IV was a fun and challenging little game. It was a very streamlined adventure platformer, but it really did boil it down to the essence of what made the previous entries in the series so great. The sprites looked amazing and the music was pretty nice too. Asha had a nice variety of moves, with several sword attacks (including Zelda 2 style up and down thrusts and blocking with a shield), running, climbing and more, and was nicely animated throughout. The were nice details too, such as skating along ice and balancing on moving conveyer belts. All the sprites were big and bulky and very colourful.

The translation was nothing special, but functional and true to the era the game was made, which was nice. Most people said the same thing in the main town, but they would change each time you visited, so it wasn't too repetitive. The story was very simple but effective, and even thought it wasn't much of a twist by the time it happened, the villain of the game wasn't who you'd expect when starting out, although that's true of the previous games too.

The biggest addition to the franchise was your partner, Pepelogoo, who was used to solve puzzles, double jump and glide. Normally the puzzles you solved with him were very simple, but they were fun, and the character was too cute and too useful to dislike. The game also added the ability to fast travel to the city, which was the main hub of the game, but did lock you out of places once you'd finished them, which was a shame. It felt very streamlined, but sometimes a little restrictive - especially seeing as it meant the blue drops, which give you more health, were permanently missable - and there were a lot, with 10 giving and extra heart, and at least 12 extra hearts to collect. The game has a save system, which was appreciated, but it was stingy about giving you oppurtunities todo so, which meant you had to replay a lot if you died to a boss, which were generally challenging. Some features were removed from the game too, most notably the magic system from the previous games.

The game was perhaps a bit short compared to Monster World, but was still a decent length for a Mega Drive adventure. Overall it's a contender for best in the series to me, rivalling Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap for the title. It's a brilliant game that everyone should download and I'm sad that the series is over.




So that leaves only one game to go - I just have to play through Metroid Prime 3 before the month's out to complete the challenge! Here's hoping I can plough on through!