Summer Games Challenge 2017 - Begin when ready!

[dsheinem]

Ok, I am getting off to a slow start this year...at this point I suppose I will wait until the official start of Summer/end of Summer (June 21st-September 22nd). I am also going to modify my list for what is hopefully the last time after sampling a few of the games on the last list already and being sorta about them. Also, since there won't be a July Jabberwocky Challenge now, that modifies my list a tad.

Beyond Oasis (GEN)
Far Cry (PC)
Parasite Eve II (PS1)
Ratchet & Clank (remaster - Vita)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Star Wars Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight (PC)
Star Wars Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire (PC)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (remaster - Wii U)
Twinkle Star Sprites (Arcade)
Wario World (GCN)

[prfsnl_gmr]

Now, I am playing The Guardian Legend. It is one of the NES's best shmups, best overhead shooters, and best "Zelda" games rolled into one. It is also very tough, and I understand why I did not like it much when I was younger. I like it know, though, and I suspect I will be working through it for a few more days.

Oh man you picked some cool games. Dunno how I missed your list earlier.

I begin on Thursday!

Awesome! Welcome to the party!

I beat The Guardian Legend this morning. It was awesome, and I loved it. (The password system is terrible, but since I played it on my PSP, I could just hibernate the system when I needed to put it down. No save states for me!) It is, basically, one of the NES's best adventure games, overhead shooters, and shmups rolled into one. The difficulty ebbs and flows, and it definitely would have been to hard for me when I was younger. Now that I am better at video games, however, and now that I have more of an appreciation for the shmup genre, I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't recommend it highly enough. It may be Compile's masterpiece, and it makes me think that, in a better world, another company would have invented Puyo Puyo (so that Compile would still be making shmups today).

Also...fun fact...The Guardian Legend's predecessor, Guardic (MSX) is available in the App Store for $1!

Up next...Landstalker!

[BoneSnapDeez]

I beat The Guardian Legend this morning. It was awesome, and I loved it. (The password system is terrible, but since I played it on my PSP, I could just hibernate the system when I needed to put it down. No save states for me!)

That's similar to how I beat Zelda II for the first time. Played on a phat DS, which I put to sleep periodically. Never had to deal with the terrible save system.

The Guardian Legend certainly rules. Golvellius is worth a play too.

I started Scramble today (I'm trying to do things chronologically). For the uninitiated, this is one of the first - if not the first - scrolling shmup. Shooting games released prior were fixed shooters à la Space Invaders - movement restricted along a horizontal axis. This one's a horizontal scroller, with two weapon types: bullets (horizontal) and bombs (downward arc). I'm impressed by how intense and fast the game is. I'm playing the arcade original via Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced. I'm very close to beating the game; I just need to survive for 30 more seconds or so. But damn is that final stretch tough. I also picked up the Vectrex port a few days ago so I'll check that out as well.

[Ack]

I'm now at the beginning of level 15 in Descent 2. That puts me halfway through the ice-themed levels and means I have only 10 levels to go to beat the game. I'm glad I'm over halfway, and I welcome the challenge of the remaining fights. I also have three boss fights left to go...but if they're anything like the previous boss fights, then I know what to expect.

So far all the bosses have ultimately operated the same, they just teleport to different locations, and if you shoot them in the teleport process, they spawn enemies. The ideal situation is to back up far enough away that they don't attack or flee when I unload on them. Unfortunately this doesn't always prevent things from taking a turn, and they're starting to employ locking missiles. I have to keep my eyes and ears open while fighting them.

In the meantime, the ice levels have some interesting layouts, full of large rooms of ice, force fields, and many secrets. Far more secrets than the original game had. Descent 2 feels considerably more complex than the original, and I still feel it's an improvement on the base game in nearly every way. They kept what worked, fixed what didn't, and amped everything up to 11. Let's see how I feel by the time I knock this one out.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Scramble
BurgerTime
Pole Position
Kung-Fu Master
Hikari Shinwa: Palutena no Kagami / Kid Icarus
Life Force
Wonder Boy in Monster Land
Bloody Wolf
Lords of Thunder
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Got through Scramble on my 20th attempt or so. The final stretch of the game features no enemies but requires a lot of tricky maneuvering around obstacles. And it feels like there's this weird gravitational pull on the ship that makes things even harder.

Vectrex port is a no-go as my Vectrex console joins my 3DO in the "Needs Repair" club. Sad!

BurgerTime is next. This one has given me trouble in the past, due to the unrelenting enemy AI. I own no less than five variations of the game so I should hopefully be able to find one I can push through.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Burgertime consistently kicks my ass. Good luck, Bone!

[o.pwuaioc]

Got through Scramble on my 20th attempt or so. The final stretch of the game features no enemies but requires a lot of tricky maneuvering around obstacles. And it feels like there's this weird gravitational pull on the ship that makes things even harder.

AtariAge sells a very nice port of Scramble for the 7800, which I highly recommend, especially if you have a nicer joystick for the system.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Burgertime consistently kicks my ass. Good luck, Bone!

I find the arcade original and NES port to be extremely difficult. I do have three second gen ports, and I'm hoping those are "easy" in comparison due to more simplistic and downgraded gameplay.

Got through Scramble on my 20th attempt or so. The final stretch of the game features no enemies but requires a lot of tricky maneuvering around obstacles. And it feels like there's this weird gravitational pull on the ship that makes things even harder.

AtariAge sells a very nice port of Scramble for the 7800, which I highly recommend, especially if you have a nicer joystick for the system.

Yeah I've seen that. It looks awesome.

[Jmustang1968]

I still need to solidify my list as well, so think I had a solid 7 and will flesh it out with 3 more soon.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I need to replace RBI Baseball and Landstalker since they aren't working on my PSP. I am thinking Baseball Stars (NES) and Shadowrun (GEN). Any objections?