Played another one-sitting SG-1000 game: Champion Boxing. Apparently this is the first thing Yu Suzuki worked on.
It's bad. Though ostensibly a sports game, the side-view has me likening this one to the earliest of fighting games: Urban Champion, Karate Champ, Street Fighter. And Champion Boxing has the same issues as those games. There's supposedly some "nuance" to the controls, but good luck figuring it out. Just mash buttons until a match ends. For fans of Shenmue III.
Together Retro February 2020 - Not For YoU.S.A
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BoneSnapDeez
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Together Retro February 2020 - Not For YoU.S.A
PretentiousHipster wrote:Planned on playing more but I'm not sure I can even beat Kuru Kuru Kururin on time. It's definitely a great game, but almost overwhelming with how difficult the levels are getting.
Really, really tough. If you want to see something insane, check out a speed run of that game sometime. The levels, while incredibly difficult, can be beaten in a few seconds, and extremely skilled players can get through the whole game in minutes. The speed and grace with which they execute a run is astounding.
Re: Together Retro February 2020 - Not For YoU.S.A
Just played through Super Fantasy Zone on the Sega Genesis Mini. It's a really good game and lives up to its title! That said, even with save states, it's HARD (as should be expected from a Fantasy Zone game).
I was able to beat it, but definitely got pretty frustrated at times. Oddly enough, the bosses seemed reasonably easy (since I'd load up a save to keep upgrades after dying) but it was random enemies on various stages that would really get to me. I think it was level 5 that had enemies appear in a circle around you, shoot you, then move inwards with a lot of their time on screen matching Opa-Opa's speed/movements to stay in the same position relative to you. That's always been one of my complaints about Fantasy Zone, that enemy movements can be so sudden and hard to predict. I can't imagine setting the difficulty to hard and then playing through the game, but I guess with enough practice it might be doable.
But wow, compared to the Sega Master System versions of the game, it's pretty amazing. The graphics are beautifully bright & colorful, the music is light & cheery, some stages have gimmicks that might cause you to lose a life, but add some fun when you figure them out (eg electrified floor in one stage, a stage that's dark). I can understand why the US didn't get this game, even though it's a great entry in a Sega series, by this point, the Genesis was pivoting towards being EXTRA-EDGY and this colorful throughback to an older game probably wouldn't have appealed to the target Genesis demographic. But it's a shame because I suspect that it would have found an audience among people who liked the Fantasy Zone games on SMS.
Afterwards I watched the episode of GameCenter CX (aka Retro Game Master) which focuses on the game. (I own the DVD set, but if anyone wants to watch it, it's streaming free on YouTube.) I really appreciated watching Arino struggle with the game while my own struggles were still fresh.
I was able to beat it, but definitely got pretty frustrated at times. Oddly enough, the bosses seemed reasonably easy (since I'd load up a save to keep upgrades after dying) but it was random enemies on various stages that would really get to me. I think it was level 5 that had enemies appear in a circle around you, shoot you, then move inwards with a lot of their time on screen matching Opa-Opa's speed/movements to stay in the same position relative to you. That's always been one of my complaints about Fantasy Zone, that enemy movements can be so sudden and hard to predict. I can't imagine setting the difficulty to hard and then playing through the game, but I guess with enough practice it might be doable.
But wow, compared to the Sega Master System versions of the game, it's pretty amazing. The graphics are beautifully bright & colorful, the music is light & cheery, some stages have gimmicks that might cause you to lose a life, but add some fun when you figure them out (eg electrified floor in one stage, a stage that's dark). I can understand why the US didn't get this game, even though it's a great entry in a Sega series, by this point, the Genesis was pivoting towards being EXTRA-EDGY and this colorful throughback to an older game probably wouldn't have appealed to the target Genesis demographic. But it's a shame because I suspect that it would have found an audience among people who liked the Fantasy Zone games on SMS.
Afterwards I watched the episode of GameCenter CX (aka Retro Game Master) which focuses on the game. (I own the DVD set, but if anyone wants to watch it, it's streaming free on YouTube.) I really appreciated watching Arino struggle with the game while my own struggles were still fresh.
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prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Together Retro February 2020 - Not For YoU.S.A
Super Fantasy Zone is great, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. IMO, it is one of the best looking Mega Drive games, and it’s a shame we didn’t get it in the US. With regard to the difficulty, I think you would find that subsequent playthroughs are much easier. That was my experience with the Fantasy Zone series last year.