Summer Games Challenge 2014

[BoneSnapDeez]

@laurenhiya21

Are you playing Ys on Steam?

The game is very particular about leveling. Some areas of the game are essentially impossible unless you hit a certain level first. There is a level cap as well, you'll reach that sooner than you think.

And yeah, you should head back to town every so often and get a new sword and armor.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Progress!!

Last night, I finished the main campaign in Nectaris: Military Madness (PS1). (Not counting the numerous times I surrendered to the villainous Xenon Empire, it took me just over 16 hours to get through the campaign.) In doing so, I have unlocked the original Military Madness (TG16) and am ready to make some progress on my list. (Basically, I spent 16+ hours beating a very difficult, hex-mapped, turn-based strategy game to unlock the very difficult hex-mapped, turn-based strategy game that I am playing for the challenge. )

[laurenhiya21]

@laurenhiya21

Are you playing Ys on Steam?

The game is very particular about leveling. Some areas of the game are essentially impossible unless you hit a certain level first. There is a level cap as well, you'll reach that sooner than you think.

And yeah, you should head back to town every so often and get a new sword and armor.

Yeah, Steam version.

I'll make sure to keep that in mind then... although I seem to have already bought the best gear from the shops haha. Another side effect of getting super lost in the shrine XD (I think I ended up with around 16,000G so I just bought gear with it haha)

[alienjesus]

Played a few hours more Metal Gear Solid 2. Early game spoilers ahead.

Think I'm getting the hang of this now - turns out I just playing it wrong - I thought it made sense to try and sneak past everyone, but I found myself much more effective at just strangling everyone to death instead.

I finished up the Tanker section, laughed my ass off at the 'I LIVE ON THROUGH THIS ARM' bit (no less stupid in context), laughed my ass of even more when Metal Gear RAY (a nuclear mech) roared. I have to find out what the Lalelulilo or whatever it is refers to, as well as the patriots.

I saved on the roof of Strut A of big shell as Raiden. I can already see why people didn't take to him, it certainly seems like intentional trolling on Kojima's part.

[Sload Soap]

Ugh, remembering now why it is I've never beat Viewtiful Joe. The gamecube controller is not made for games like this.

There's is something about this game that just won't click with me. I find the combat annoying, the slowdown mechanic irritating and the level design boring. I'll give it another shot but I might have to bail on this one as well.

Edit: Okay, got more of a grip on it now though I'm still not won over. There's a lot of stuff in the game that serves only to break the flow. And Joe's attack range is pathetic. The time shifting is cool though.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I have now completed eight of the sixteen maps in the original Military Madness campaign. So far, I like the original campaign much better than the main campaign in the PS1 reboot/reimagining/remake/sequel (i.e., Nectaris: Military Madness). I suspect that the last eight maps in the original campaign will take me twice as long as the first eight, but they are generally better designed and more fun than the maps in the main campaign in the PS1 reboot/reimagining/remake/sequel.

Moreover, one of my main complaints about the main campaign in Nectaris was the uneven difficulty. I would surrender multiple times on one map but complete the next map on my first attempt. In the original campaign, the difficulty scales up much more gradually, making the original maps much more enjoyable. Accordingly, if someone was interested in starting with the Military Madness series, I would - based on my experience with the original campaign so far - recommend that he or she start with the TG16 original.

[Sload Soap]

I'm done with Viewtiful Joe. I'm not having any fun and am not wasting any more of my time with it.

I hate Joe's stupid short attack range. I hate how you have to buy moves that should be standard. I hate how every boss battle becomes a slo-mo war of attrition. I hate the way the game kills any sense of flow with awkward puzzles. I hate how your performance is graded the IGN way: either amazing or shit. I hate how half the enemies in the game have moves that force you to wait and sit through their animations before you can attack, usually in slo-mo, just to really emphasize the choppiness of the action.

On top of all that there are awfully placed checkpoints. I got as far as a shmup styled level, died on a mid-boss and it wants me to start the whole thing again? Actually fuck off. The game was made in 2003 not 1983! And I find the Gamecube pad layout to be awkward at best for this type of game. Maybe I've just got too used to standard layouts and equal button sizes but I just kept fumbling with the basic controls.

I also don't like the art design. It looks really grainy and washed-out when it should be bursting with colour. The music isn't much either. Much more the Capcom of Knights of the Round than Street Fighter 2 i.e, forgettable.

I've never had such a strong reaction of dislike to a supposedly classic game before. There are games I find overrated sure, but I can still appreciate aspects of them. Golvellius I thought was just really badly/cynically designed and leaned very heavily on nostalgia for its good press. Viewtiful Joe however just rubs me up the wrong way. It's like Taylor Swift: she's a technically competent musician and pretty inoffensive but the sight or sound of her really makes my blood boil.

/TLDR: Viewtiful Joe = Taylor Swift and I hate them both.

Sorry for the rant. I suck at this challenge.

Red = Rage quit.

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)

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well I was with you until the Taylor Swift comparisons. Taylor is a goddess.

No shame in ragequitting. I thought Fantasy Zone was so shitty I kicked its ass right off the list.

[Retrogamer0001]

I'm also giving up on StarTropics...fuck that game.

[alienjesus]

You're all a bunch of quitters!

1. Double Dragon (NES)
2. Super Aleste (SNES)
3. Perfect Dark (N64)
4. Wave Race 64 (N64)
5. Shantae (GBC via 3DS VC)
6. Ristar (MD via Wii VC)
7. Bangai-O (DC)
8. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSP)
9. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
10. Metal Gear Solid 2 (Vita)

Spent the afternoon playing Ristar today. It turns out that I wasn't very far from the end when I played through years ago - I was on the last world. Apparently the game only has 6 worlds, not 8 as I thought, and the map screen seemed to suggest.

I actually enjoyed the game a lot more than I have previously on this run through. The grabbing mechanics seemed much more reponsive then I remember, and the music and graphics were pretty damn good.

The game has some weak points - particularly the weird difficulty spikes around the stage 3 boss (the mole) and the stage 4 boss (the bird) considering how easy the bosses after them were (with the exception of the final boss who was nicely challenging without feeling cheap). I probably burned twice as many lives on these two bosses as I did on the rest of the game up to the final boss. The first level of stage 6 felt pretty unfair too, and stood out as the only stage that felt too tough.

However, some of the level designs were a lot of fun, the swimming sections managed to fall on the positive side of the usual hit or miss mechanic and it varied the level mechanics frequently enough to be interesting. It's no match for Sonic the Hedgehog, but I'm glad to have given Ristar another shot.