Summer Games Challenge 2014

[BoneSnapDeez]

I do need to get started on the Famicom port of the first game...

[alienjesus]

Started up the 7th game of my list - Metal Gear Solid 2.

Thoughts so far:

1. The controls are mega confusing. Every button does so many things, and then loads of functions are also mapped to the vita touchscreen which I'm not fond of. Gonna take a while to figure out.

2. The camera angles can be a pain - thin corridors with fixed perspective cameras mean that it's easy to be caught by an enemy you cant see. First person view doesnt help.

3. It's still pretty fun. I've been dying a lot, and also having to wait out timers in lockers and food storage units a lot, but I've enjoyed the first hour or so I've played. That's not all the much gameplay though because...

4. Holy shit I am BAD at this game. I get caught constantly. I had to fight the first boss 3 times (turns out aiming in first person was a bad idea!). I've died about 6 times total in my first hour. I am the least stealthy person ever.

edit: BONUS THOUGHT: The camera was really really intent on focusing on Olga's hairy armpits during that first boss cutscene. Does Kojima have a fetish for fuzzier ladies?

[CFFJR]

1. Metroid Prime - GC
2. Resident Evil 2 - PS1
3. Earthbound - SNES
4. Crash Bandicoot - PS1 - Complete
5. X-men Vs. Street Fighter - Saturn - Complete
6. Wonder Boy in Monster World - Genesis
7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - PS1 - Complete
8. Wave Race 64 - N64 - Complete
9. Ico - PS2 - Complete
10.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - SNES - Complete

Well I just beat Symphony of the Night. My level at the end was 45.

Having finally completed this game, I have to say my mind hasn't really changed. I still don't really care for it.

The original style games had a slow, deliberate pace, while still keeping up the action and a healthy challenge. They always got the blood pumping.

Symphony keeps that pace, but instead has you wandering the long, repetitive halls and towers, frequently backtracking, and dealing with enemies and obstacles that are a nuisance at best. The only creature that actually puts up a damn fight is Galamoth. Even Dracula himself was no match.

Death, who was a righteous bastard in Rondo of Blood, died in seconds. I realized afterward that this was probably helped by the fact that I was using the holy sword, but that just reinforces my discomfort with the rpg elements here. They don't seem to belong.

When I first played Rondo, I was blown away. I still kind of can't believe how good that game is. That feeling of awe is not there in the sequel.

My overall point being, it just doesn't feel like Castlevania.

I know it sounds like I'm really crapping on this game, but I don't hate it. I don't think its bad. I just realize that I'm deep in the minority here. Symphony is by far the fan and critical favorite in this series, whereas I still believe it was a turn for the worse.

I'm glad to have finally beaten it and experienced it as a whole, but I'm also glad its over.

Clearly its just not for me.

Alucard is cool though.

[dsheinem]

CFF I am loving your reactions to both SOTN and Ico, two games I played the first year of the challenge. I think both are mostly "ok" and are quite overhyped as well .

And yeah, EotB is better than either of them

[Cronozilla]

People waited way too long to play Ico. It came out 12 years ago. For perspective, that'd be like playing Super Mario Bros. 1 (for America) in 1997 for the first time. Missed the boat, would be an understatement.

[Sload Soap]

I don't really agree with that. I played Ico a year after its release and didn't think too much of it outside it's audio and visuals. I gave it another go a few years later and my opinion wasn't altered.

And Super Mario Bros is what I'd consider a true classic. It's as playable today as it was the day it released.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I don't really agree with that. I played Ico a year after its release and didn't think too much of it outside it's audio and visuals. I gave it another go a few years later and my opinion wasn't altered.

And Super Mario Bros is what I'd consider a true classic. It's as playable today as it was the day it released.

Same.

Ico and SotC are vastly overrated. Decent design, but clunky and somewhat awkward to play.

As for SotN I liked it quite a bit. I generally enjoy having level-gaining RPG elements in action and beat 'em up games. I'm not a super-skilled gamer so being able to grind out of a tough situation is nice. I haven't ever beaten another Castlevania game though. Tried some Dracula X Chronicles the other night and got my ass handed to me.

[Sload Soap]

I love Symphony Of the Night. I don't like to compare it to the classic 'Vania games if I can help it. They're just completely different types of game. I wouldn't, for example, compare Wonder Boy III to Wonder Boy as there are few similarities, but rather with Metroid or Zillion.

No style is better than the other though so I can fully appreciate preferring Classic over Metroidvania.

Skies of Arcadia (DC)
Wonder Boy In Monster World (360)
Nights...Into Dreams (SS/360)
Viewtiful Joe (GC)
Super Mario Bros 3 (Snes)
Ys (PC)
Otogi 2 (xbox)
Rocket Knight Adventures (MD)
Golvellius (SMS)
Exhumed (SS)

Exhumed is down for the count. I'd put it on hold as my saturn was tucked away to avoid being painted on. Anyway, turns out I was closer to the end than I thought.

So, I can reasonably say that Exhumed is both the best FPS on the Saturn and different enough from the PS1 and PC versions to be worth hunting down. It's also by most accounts the principle version of the game.

I really really liked this game. I've played some excellent FPS games this year (Doom 64, the Metro games) and Exhumed is in that bracket. I'll admit that it's not a Goldeneye or Half-Life, but it is a reasonably innovative and excellently designed FPS with some Metroid-like exploration elements.

It was quite surprising how much backtracking you do, opening up new sections of levels with the new powers you attain along the way. It isn't one large map or anything but it does have those elements. Think NES Strider.

There is also a lot of platforming. Thankfully it is handled very well and you get a couple of power-ups that improve your jump range and one to slow your descent that is very helpful with some of the trickier sections.

There's that great Doom feel with the game as far as shooting goes. You will automatically hit targets above or below you which means the emphasis is on movement and avoiding counter fire. For some reason the game eschews having a shotgun, at least in a traditional sense, so your main weapon is a chaingun. So that's pretty badass.

As I said the enemies are egyptian themed so you get mummies and Anubis men and panther headed ladies. That is until the end when the game goes full Wonder Boy and you start shooting alien insect creatures. Cos, you know, 90's.

It ain't perfect though. Any level with lava in it tends to be a right bastard and some pits are just inescapable. There are no checkpoints either so the last few levels, which featured instant death lasers, can be a real test. There's some sneaky traps as well, though nothing as devilish as seen in Doom 64.

It also pulls that Sonic the Hedgehog bullshit by giving you a lame ending if you don't collect a bunch of hidden items. At least give me a "good" ending, not something depressing. Jeez.

Anyway, it's a great game. Definitely a Saturn classic, cult or otherwise.

[laurenhiya21]

Well I'm really liking Ys so far :3 I've done some reaally stupid things though haha... I forgot to post about it yesterday, so I'll try and keep my points brief haha
- Adolf moves super fast I'm so used to characters moving like snails... I'm still getting used to it haha

- The bump system is a little odd, and I keep on accidentally hitting enemies head-on, but I haven't gotten killed because of that so it's fine. (I'm sure I'll get used to it later as well)

- So eventually I get to the first boss, and it was brutal. I kept on dieing and dieing... Took forever to do, especially since I had trouble dodging the fireballs, but I didn't use a guide I did, however, look at one afterwards just to see what I was supposed to do and well... I went in with the worst sword, shield, and armor, and apparently I was supposed to go in with a long sword ._. I probably was way under-leveled as well since there was no way I could of bought the long sword without grinding a bunch (which I did do after). So probably the biggest stupid thing I've done so far haha.

- I leveled up Feene heehee. It's too bad I figured out you could do that by looking at the achievements though, instead of on my own but oh well.

- After rescuing Feene, it took foreeeverrr to find my way down to the next boss... And of course I was supposed to use the funny mask in a suspicious area DX To my credit I did try that, but I guess I must of not seen the hidden door the first time... So I wandered around looking everywhere for it, killing enemies as I went... So by the time I found it and the 2nd boss, I probably was over-leveled. It only took 3 hits

- The music is reaallly good :3 I'm playing with the PC98 I think?

Can't wait to get into it mooore woot

[CFFJR]

CFF I am loving your reactions to both SOTN and Ico, two games I played the first year of the challenge. I think both are mostly "ok" and are quite overhyped as well .

And yeah, EotB is better than either of them

Glad you approve! EotB is indeed the superior game.

As for SotN I liked it quite a bit. I generally enjoy having level-gaining RPG elements in action and beat 'em up games. I'm not a super-skilled gamer so being able to grind out of a tough situation is nice. I haven't ever beaten another Castlevania game though. Tried some Dracula X Chronicles the other night and got my ass handed to me.

See its funny, 'cause I often enjoy those elements too. They can be very satisfying. But it depends on the game. I can't really define what tips the scale for me from game to game either.

I think in this case I don't really like it in Castlevania because that's not what I expect from Castlevania.

I love Symphony Of the Night. I don't like to compare it to the classic 'Vania games if I can help it. They're just completely different types of game. I wouldn't, for example, compare Wonder Boy III to Wonder Boy as there are few similarities, but rather with Metroid or Zillion.

No style is better than the other though so I can fully appreciate preferring Classic over Metroidvania.

They are indeed very different. And I do love Metroid. I can't help comparing them anyway though, because the success of Symphony changed the standard. Classicvania was dropped like a bad habit in favor of metroidvania. And they just never did it as well as Metroid.

I'm not saying its wrong of course, just that I wish things had been different. It makes me wistful.