Summer Games Challenge 2014

[Retrogamer0001]

I honestly can't even remember what Steiner's Trance does (Other than making him look badass)

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Badass is right! Steiner definitely has the coolest trance animation (though a blonde Dagger is also very nice) and he really reminded me of something out of Dark Souls.

[Sload Soap]

I played through FFIX recently and had similar misgivings as well, though I think I enjoyed it more than you overall.

It's bizarre how worthless Trance is, but more bizarre is how it becomes a plot point later on. When Kuja enters his Trance you're like "yeah, ok" since all it does is make him look more fabulous than usual.

The tents thing was double annoying because it did the little animation everytime. Such a weird fob to the earlier games. And I might get some hate for this, but after hearing for ages how FFIX has such an amazing soundtrack I have to say I was a little disappointed. Nothing has really stuck with me since beside "You are not alone".

OT: I'll be moving onto Golvellius next, a game most would agree is definitely one of the best in its genre and a Master System classic.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Alien Syndrome
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Dragon's Curse
Exile
Final Fight
Mega Man
Metroid
Ristar
Super C
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Halfway there!

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Well this was an interesting one.

I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. It's completely different from any other Zelda game. Not just because it's a sidescroller, but because the combat is much more involved. Simply hacking at enemies while avoiding their attacks isn't going to cut it. Learning the patterns and idiosyncrasies of Link's many foes is a must. This is where the game's challenge comes from. Oh, and there are holes too. And - you guessed it - Link gets knocked back when hit. I was having flashbacks of all my Ninja Gaiden eagle-induced deaths...

Like the first game, Link travels to several dungeons (technically "palaces" in Zelda II) to collect a treasure and defeat a boss. The dungeons themselves are well-designed and emanate a tense atmosphere throughout. The stakes are high, because any Game Over in a dungeon transports Link back the game's "starting point" on the overworld, not to the entrance of said dungeon. Bosses are big and gruesome, but typically much easier than traversing the dungeon itself. Unfortunately, the overworld is incredibly blocky and ugly - it's a step back from the first game. And to quote James Rolfe, Link on the overworld looks like "a little gnarled green turd."

Zelda II has a leveling system, and is thus the only game in the series (I think?) that can be considered an action-RPG. Like Ys, there's a level cap here. I found it very easy to level-grind in the middle sections of the game, which made dungeons 4, 5, and 6 an absolute breeze. For me the game was hardest at the beginning (before I knew what the hell I was doing) and end (the final dungeon will kick you ass even if you reach the level cap well before entering).

The music is decent. Much like Zelda I, the title theme is arguably the most impressive track in the game.

I enjoyed Zelda II. It gets overshadowed quite a bit, mainly because it's a "good" game sandwiched between two absolutely brilliant ones.

For those who still haven't finished it - give it a shot. The difficulty is vastly overstated and I suppose I could even offer a few pointers now.

-------------------------------------------

Metroid is next, on the GBA. I've played a little bit. Like Zelda II, it's a direct NES port with just a few minor touch-ups. You can save now, but it's not the Zelda-style three-save-slot system the original FDS game had. There's only one save slot in this version. Well, technically it still uses passwords but the game saves your passwords. Looking forward to finally getting through this one too.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Nice work!

The "road" to the final palace is a beast, and I used to get very frustrated just trying to get to the hardest dungeon in the game. Eventually, I discovered the secret to the final dungeon:

Keep walking to the right.

and I was able to complete the game. After I completed it, my respect for it grew, and I have really enjoyed subsequent playthroughs.

.....

Reviewing the rest of your list - and in light of the fact that you beat Zelda II - I think that only Mega Man will give you any trouble. (If possible, you should play the port included in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection. The ability to "save" your progress makes it much less frustrating than the NES original.)

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yeah the road to the dungeon sucked!

I thought I was a badass because I saved most of the Link dolls until the end of the game. When I started "the road" I had 7 lives. Lost 3 on the way to the dungeon and then my remaining four in the dungeon within a span of about 15 minutes!

Thankfully I had a map in my old NES Game Atlas so I knew to keep walking to the right. The final dungeon in Zelda II reminds me of the final dungeon in Dragon Warrior. If you go off and try to explore you'll waste time and just end up getting slaughtered.

[alienjesus]

2 more runs of Double Dragon, my best ones yet. Made it to Willy (the penultimate boss) on the first run only to lose just before finishing him off.

2nd run I made it to Willy with one life intact, won with 2 hit points remaining, and had Jimmy on the ropes before he jump kicked my last health bar away.

If I can just get past those fucking awful walls at the start of stage 4 without losing too much health then I'll have this. I can beat everything up to that point without losing a life easily, and other than the final two bosses, not much threatens me after them either. Both of these runs though I lost 2 lives out of my because of those fucking things.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Double Dragon is pretty rough around the edges.

I have it on NES and C64 and have beaten neither.

I got the NES game at a hardware store, of all places.

[ExedExes]

AJ, is that Double Dragon on the NES? If you can beat it, you're far better than me at it. I've only made it to Mission 4 *ONCE*. No continues. You gotta 1cc it to clear it

I still have my NES Game Atlas. Pages are falling out, but damn if that isn't one of the best guides Nintendo ever put out.

[darsparx]

AJ, is that Double Dragon on the NES? If you can beat it, you're far better than me at it. I've only made it to Mission 4 *ONCE*. No continues. You gotta 1cc it to clear it

I still have my NES Game Atlas. Pages are falling out, but damn if that isn't one of the best guides Nintendo ever put out.

Now you're really making me want to go grab that, even though I did find this: http://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/NES/

Really half tempted to switch one of my games for the original zelda(wii vc) since I keep meaning to play and beat it since I have it ha ha

[alienjesus]

AJ, is that Double Dragon on the NES? If you can beat it, you're far better than me at it. I've only made it to Mission 4 *ONCE*. No continues. You gotta 1cc it to clear it

I still have my NES Game Atlas. Pages are falling out, but damn if that isn't one of the best guides Nintendo ever put out.

Sure is. I actually find level 1 and 2 to be incredibly easy, and whilst 3 was a challenge at first, it's pretty simple now.

In fact, stage 4 is mostly easy too. The only issue is the walls at the start (can easily cost you all 3 lives, average abou 1 and 2/3rds of my lives gone on these - normally meaning I lose a 2nd on the regular enemies after.

Double Dragon seems to be about 3 things when it comes to beating it - 1. Knowing exactly how far each kick can go. 2. Knowing which moves you get at which star level - some are a liability, so you want to avoid activating them once you reach that level, and some are essential, so you want to get them ASAP. The hair pull (5th star) is your bread and butter for the weaker enemy types, and the elbow smash (6th star) absolutely trashes Abobo and the Karate guys. The 3rd factor is luck - there's not a lot of skill involved in those fucking walls, and Willy seems a bit hard to strategise against too. I'll get all 3 to align soon enough!




Anyhow, Symphony of the Night:

I'm 8 hours and 10 minutes in according to the game's clock. I resumed from the inverted catacombs from before, right before the fight against Garamoth.

Fuck Garamoth.

He was BY FAR the hardest fight I've encountered so far. Even constantly buffing with all my shield rod combos, switching from the Combat Knife to the Alucard shield for more power and range and making use of the Soul Steal spell for healing he killed me about 3 times. In the end I got through it whilst chugging 2 elixirs by having a fairy familiar for extra healing and spamming the Alucard Swords teleport stab move which it uses when you make a hadouken motion - ranged attacking plus momentary invulnerability.

After that I explored more. Had an unlucky game over to a laser beam shooting skeleton, but smooth sailing from there. Killed Beelzebub (awesome but easy, the poison fog move wrecked him) and Akban II or whatever his name is - the Mummy. He was an absolute joke, and died in about 15 seconds.

I still have a Medusa to fight, and at least 2 more boss rooms to check out, so probably another boss somehwere too. I've been mostly everywhere in the castle now - I have to explore a little bit more of the inverted marble gallery and orlox's quarters, all of the colosseum and the bell tower sections of the church area. Considering I did about 40%+ of the inverted castle in 2 hours today, I reckon I'll be done with this game next time I play.

Alucard level 48
653 HP, 238 MP, 279 Heart
181.5% completion
Equipment: Alucard Sword, Alucard Shield, Dragon Helm, Alucard Mail, Twilight Cloak, Mystic Pendant (improved MP regen), Ring of Arcana (higher rare item drop rate)
Other noteworthy stuff I use a lot: Shield Rod, lots of shields (particularly Leather (for def + buff), Knight (for att+ buff), Shaman (for Int+), Herald (Thunder & fire resist buff) and Goddess (dark resist buff)), Kings stone (Att+10)

All relics apart from one piece of Dracula I've found from what I gather. I do have 2 more slots free after that though, so perhaps I'm missing a few more.