racketboy.com

I dunno if I even mentioned it but I went through Double Dragon (arcade, on Switch) the other night. This is a weird one for me. Objectively I recognize that it's well-made and I respect its legacy but gameplay-wise it starts to feel tedious very very fast. I almost universally hate Technōs' character designs too.

Gonna hit Ninja Combat tonight, and would like to get through Wizard Fire within the next few days. Will try to write detailed posts about them in Games Beaten before the month is over as well. Ambitious, but possible!

BoneSnapDeez wrote:I dunno if I even mentioned it but I went through Double Dragon (arcade, on Switch) the other night. This is a weird one for me. Objectively I recognize that it's well-made and I respect its legacy but gameplay-wise it starts to feel tedious very very fast. I almost universally hate Technōs' character designs too.

Never, ever play Double Dragon III. It is horrid.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:IGonna hit Ninja Combat tonight, and would like to get through Wizard Fire within the next few days.

If you haven't played it yet, consider playing Dark Seal AKA Gate of Doom before Wizard Fire. Wizard Fire is the sequel. (Unless you don't care about the continuity aspect.) You might also like The Lost Castle in Darkmist.

As for ninja games, I don't think I've seen anyone play Shadow Force here yet? If so I missed it.

Somebody has to play Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa and/or Ninja Clowns before the end of this TR. I'd do it, but I already beat both years ago!

Bro...
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 0#p1132882

I played Shadow Force somewhat recently. It's pretty decent, actually. I can't seem to find my comments on it at the time, though.

EDIT: Ah, I briefly blurbed about it over on Talking Time. End of 2015.

Beat a pretty obscure Technos arcade game called Shadow Force. Just happened to see it pop up in the random articles on HG101, and figured I'd give it a shot. The spritework is really, really nice. The game is... not as balanced or as Double Dragon-ish as I would have liked. It's closer to a fighting game, where you've got two punches, two kicks, a jump, and a move that lets you possess an enemy. I didn't use it much, mainly because Tengu's spinning lariat move proved to be really effective.

I didn't assign a score at the time.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Bro...
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=51854&hilit=games+beaten+2018&start=960#p1132882

Sorry I don't really keep up with that thread anymore. Glad you liked it!

Sengoku 2 has been beaten! This time just playing carefully let me breeze through that final stage on easy difficulty. I feel like I ought to sink more time in this game and really learn how to optimize character-changes.
BUT INSTEAD: MOVING ON TO THE NEXT GAME! SENGOKU 3!
I just tried it out with the default settings and not continuing. This game seems totally different! Also a huge visual upgrade: graphically this is in the TOP-TIER NEO GEO with style and pretty-points. It's almost hard to believe that it's designed for the same hardware as the original Sengoku. It appears that the character-changing mechanic is gone (as is the ninja dog) but instead you get to select your character like a more standard beat-em-up. It also seems to be a little less all-over-the-place in terms of story and setting, but no matter. This game seems like one that's worth my time! More tomorrow!

Was lazy and essentially credit-fed Ninja Combat and Wizard Fire last night.

Ninja Combat is alright. I like the huge spites, ally recruitment aspect, and projectile-based combat, but the level design is kind of blah. Has that typical "cheap" Neo Geo feel and is probably 100 times more fun with a second player. On a strange note, I was able to beat a couple of bosses without taking any damage, including the final boss, by staying mostly stationary in a "safe zone" -- felt like a semi-glitch straight out of the NES era.

Wizard Fire is a huge step up from Gate of Doom aesthetically. The music is actually really catchy, the character designs are awesome, and I love some of the stage layouts (especially the opening town). The game's way too hard though. It's designed to be a blatant quarter-muncher. The screen is constantly littered with enemies, many of whom are tough to hit, bosses take forever to kill, and status effects basically equal instant-death. Also, one life per credit. It sucks cuz when a game is this hard I lose all incentive to get good and play legitimately.

I'll write some more detailed stuff, with my own screenshots, in Game Beaten later, if you're into that sort of thing.

Anyway, probably done for the month. Made it through five games which is more than I anticipated, all on the Switch!

Gate of Doom
Bad Dudes
Double Dragon
Ninja Combat
Wizard Fire

Speaking of the Switch, this is out tomorrow:
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/a ... ade-switch

Burned through Knights of the Round again. Great game, although I've more recently started to cotton to King of Dragons more. Still an 8.5/10 experience. Speaking of experience, I once again came up just shy of maxing my level. Doh! That is super frustrating; I don't know if I've ever achieved the highest level in my runs.

Emulation seemed pretty solid on PSP (via Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded), but I likely wouldn't spot differences between the real McCoy anyway.

Played through Robo Army this evening.



Robo Army is a 2D sci-fi belt-scrolling beat-'em-up developed and released by SNK for arcades (running Neo Geo MVS hardware) on October 30, 1991. Set in the future, players control two cyborgs (Maxima and Rocky) sent to counter an army of robots invading Neo-Detroit.

+Above average graphics for the time.
+Fighting engine feels tight with good hit boxes.
+Hot robot on robot action (beat robots up with their own arms).
+Boss battles are great.
+Transform into a car and run over all things.

-Enemy variety ceases halfway, just palette swaps the whole back half.
-Could have used more stage variety (like bombs, pits, or other hazards).
-Boss rush at the end was kinda meh.
-Perhaps a little too short.

Robo Army was decent, could have used more variety, but it was short and sweet. Ex's rating: 7/10

---

And that's it for me folks, I'm finished with this TR. Here's what I beat in the order I beat them:

1. The Bouncer (PlayStation 2) 6/10
2. Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (PlayStation 2) 7/10
3. Urban Reign (PlayStation 2) 8/10
4. Final Fight: Streetwise (PlayStation 2) 4/10
5. Guardian Heroes (Sega Saturn/360) 7/10
6. Armored Warriors (Arcade) 8/10
7. God Hand (PlayStation 2) 8.5/10
8. Wizard Fire (Arcade) 6/10
9. Hook (Arcade) 6/10
10. Robo Army (Arcade) 7/10

Total time invested in this TR: 50 hours 46 minutes

Good times Sarge, thanks for the theme.