Racketboy forums’ Summer Games Challenge 2019

[pook99]

Decided to play thunderforce 3 and absolutely hated it. The guns are beyond weak, enemies are too bullet spongey, and the some of the levels are absurdly cheap. The cave level in particular is one of the most poorly designed levels I have ever played in my life and is nothing more than rote trial and error. I can't believe such a shitty game has such a strong reputation.

So far my progress:

1) Mario Rpg (amazing)
2) Guardian legend (disliked it)
3) Luigis mansion (still have to finish it)
4) Thunderforce 3 (hated it, perhaps more than I have ever hated a schmup)

so yeah, the summer challenge is going really well for me.

[marurun]

If you want a Thunderforce-style shooter that's legendary, try Gate of Thunder for TG SuperCD. After Thunderforce 3 a bunch of the staff left Technosoft to form CAP Productions, and they developed Gate of Thunder, Lord of Thunder, and Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire for Hudson.

[pierrot]

Decided to play thunderforce 3 and absolutely hated it. The guns are beyond weak, enemies are too bullet spongey, and the some of the levels are absurdly cheap. The cave level in particular is one of the most poorly designed levels I have ever played in my life and is nothing more than rote trial and error. I can't believe such a shitty game has such a strong reputation.

Sorry to hear it didn't go well with TF3, pook. By "cave level" do you mean the fire one, or the regular one? Gorgon, the fire stage, is a continual source of frustration for me, with Thunder Force III. I actually kind of hate that stage. Most shmups are really about repeated trial and error, though. Thunder Force III, in particular is really a memorizer, in the vein of R-Type, but a lot faster. That can be tricky, and I don't think the game is as easy as it's often said to be, aside from it being fairly easy to credit feed through with the available continues. You might want to just give Thunder Force IV a shot. It's harder, but it might feel a little tighter to you. The weapons aren't necessarily underpowered, although I get where you're coming from. It's really a matter of using the right weapon on the right enemies. Of course, that also means still having all of those weapons, and if you're getting blown up by a bunch of pillars of flame, and molten rocks, that doesn't sound like useful advice.

If you happen to give it another shot, the intended route is really the default route: Hydra (forest) -> Gorgon (fire) -> Seiren (water) -> Hades (rock) -> Ellis (ice). The game takes over from there with the last few stages. Hades is probably the most memory intensive. Gorgon is usually where I do the worst, even though I pretty much know it like the back of my hand. Be on the look out for all the 1ups and shields. The upgraded main weapon is usually going to be the strongest. You really have to know when you'll need to use the two-way and three-way shots. They're both fairly strong, but also very specific in their utility. Wave isn't that powerful, but will hit almost everything in front of you. Hunter is also not very powerful (probably even less so than Wave), but at least homes in on enemies.

1. F.E.A.R. 2
2. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
3. Ultima III: Exodus
4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
5. Far Cry 2

Way to be a stone cold killer, Ack. Nicely done.

I love Zelda II. No, really, I do. I tend to replay it every few years. It was a love-hate-love relationship, but it's stuck on love now.

It would make more sense to me if the progression were hate-love-hate. As it is, it sounds like it could just be Stockholm Syndrome.

The fact that the hammer tidbit is in the manual actually lessens the sting, if you can believe it, but it's still kind of unforgivable that it's not even hinted at within the context of the game, and doesn't really make sense even on its face.

Anyway, I did finish Zelda II last night. It sucked. I hated it. I was able to beat the fire throwing dick without much trouble, after a number of failed attempts while figuring out its pattern, but then Shadow 'Dink' had to show up, and be a complete asshat. I looked up the cheese strat to beat him. He really doesn't even deserve to be fought straight up.

Also,

What the fuck is that midget thing with the triforce? I saw something that suggested it was the King of Hyrule. If that's true, what the fuck is he doing? What is the point of any of this? Because it sure seems like there was no fucking point. Where the fuck is Ganon! This is bullshit!

Yeah, I don't like Zelda II.


1. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
2. Thunder Force IV (Saturn)
3. Sorcerian (MD)
4. Actraiser (SFC)
5. Torneko no Daibouken (SFC)

Well, that's one, anyway. I'm going to be starting Xanadu, for le streams, whenever I finish Elnard. That could kind of take the place of Sorcerian, if I happened to actually finish it, which seems unlikely, but who knows. I didn't really expect that I would finish Thunder Force IV, even when I halfheartedly made this list, but I might take another stab at Actraiser. That's something I could probably finish before the end of the month, at least.

[MrPopo]

Where the fuck is Ganon!

You ever game over? The whole point is that you do well and he not show up.

[pierrot]

No, I'm saying if he actually showed up, it might make the quest feel meaningful. As it stands, it feels like a really contrived errand. Also I don't, and have absolutely no reason to, care about Zelda. She can sleep her whole life away for all I care. What's that even got to do with Ganon, or the Triforce, or for that matter, Link.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Ok

I think the way pierrot feels about Zelda II is the way I'm feeling about Kid Icarus.

If there's one game that doesn't deserve to be called a "classic" it's this one. My God.

[pierrot]

Bone, you gotta ask your kids for more Rakyboy time, so you can embrace the hate, and let it flow through you, into the keyboard. I need to know why it's terrible.

I remember that I had a roommate, many moons ago, who bought Kid Icarus on the Virtual Console when the Wii came out. Seemed to have some personal attachment to the game, but I can't remember why. It looked almost playable.

[pook99]

@pierot: yeah, I think I mean Hades as the cave level, the annoying level where the walls randomnly move every which way and if your not in the right spot you die instantly.

I also think you hit on another sore spot for me...every place I read about the game talks about how easy it is and I just don't see it. I am not a master of schmups but I'm decent at them and this "easy" game keeps killing me which makes me feel inept and angry. I think if I didn't go in with that expectation it may not frustrate me as much as it does.

I may give it another shot at a point in my life where I'm less angsty then I am now, but for the time being I'm giving it a rest.

[pook99]

Ok

I think the way pierrot feels about Zelda II is the way I'm feeling about Kid Icarus.

If there's one game that doesn't deserve to be called a "classic" it's this one. My God.

Even though I enjoy it, I totally get why someone would hate this game.

Backwards difficulty curve, stupid labyrinth levels with samey looking rooms, the eggplant wizard, an angel who instantly dies if they fall off the screen...even if there is a platform right there, obscenely long passwords, there really is a lot to hate and if not for nostalgia I probably would not enjoy the game as much as I do.

[Key-Glyph]

All this recent activity is amazing.

pook99, I'm so sorry you had a bad time with Thunder Force III, and I'm sorry I fed into the "it's easy!" narrative. I've only played three shmups for any length of time (TFIII, Parodius Da!, and Life Force), so I don't really have a good basis of comparison. I also tend to underestimate how much my personal enjoyment of a game contributes to how I perceive its difficulty. I just loved the heck out of TFIII, so I was motivated to keep at it. I probably sank more time into it than I remember as I went about memorizing things, you know what I mean? Anyways, I do apologize for encouraging you to play something you wound up disliking so much.

Bone, I am super intrigued that you dislike Kid Icarus, because I seem to remember someone specifically recommending it to both of us some summers ago, thinking we in particular would love it. What's the deal?

And thanks for the Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis and Mini-Land Mayhem recommendations, folks! Those will be interesting to look into.

And grats, Ack! You did it. You and AJ are an inspiration to us all. o7