Summer Games Challenge 2025 - GET EQUIPPED

[Key-Glyph]

4. StarTropics (NES)

I forgot to mention that I'm excited about this one! I played StarTropics for the Summer Games Challenge waaaaay back in 2018 (egad) and really enjoyed it. Its unique controls are charmingly strange, and thematically it feels like the Japanese developers binge-watched every 90s Saturday morning cartoon in America, then combined them all into one story via the sleep-deprived fever dreams that followed. Also, get ready for that dungeon tune if you don't already know it, because it's incredible.

I don't think there's anything else in the game that is reliant on knowing the film.

I'm hoping this is true, but I'm stuck again! I've gotten up to Control and am now wandering aimlessly, clearly not completing some task that triggers the next event. I've left Natalya behind to do some hacking (and can't backtrack to her, it seems) and believe I've blown up all the mainframes in the areas I can currently reach: generator room, small room that connects to the control room, the room beyond with two turrets and curved staircases, the control room, and the upper control room. All the guards are gone and the place is a ghost town.

I've retraced my steps several times and just can't figure out what I'm missing. It's definitely not knives this time! But none of my objectives are considered complete and I'm at a loss. Found some body armor though, so that's pretty sweet.

I'm assuming I have to do something with the generator, but I've tried shooting/detonating mines on the pipes leading into it, as well as on the body itself, and nothing happens. I've also noticed a little crane above me on one side of the room, but can't imagine how I would interact with it. My only other thought is that perhaps there were mainframes to destroy before I split with Natalya, that now I can't get back to? I hadn't put together what they were until I was in the control room, so maybe I'm softlocked?

Oblique hints, please! Thanks for the previous one, Popo, it was perfect. And also, I ask for hints here instead of looking things up online because it replicates that childhood gaming experience, and also because I love involving you all in my adventures. Thanks for meeting me on the playground to chat again!

EDIT: So, it was a door I couldn’t see. (Of course; I was playing in the afternoon sun again). But then Natalya was mad at me for killing someone I didn’t know, who was apparently Alan Cumming, who I hadn’t even realized I’d seen. She abandoned the mission in disgust, so we started again. The second time I cleared all the objectives but then couldn’t figure out where the game wanted me to go and was eventually killed in action.

This is now my biggest struggle with the game, I feel; when I’m done with the objectives the level sometimes throws endless mooks at you, and I’m never sure if I’m supposed to fend them off, run through them, or what, and I don’t know where the exit is supposed to be. At this point I’m either going to have Nathaniel backseat and guide me around or follow walkthroughs. These levels feel like they’re getting too long and demanding of concentration just to keep dying at the finish line. (I realize this is hilarious, coming from an Ecco fan. But it is what it is. )

[pierrot]

But then Natalya was mad at me for killing [...] Alan Cumming

lol

Key, how could you--. I feel like you're becoming a Bond I don't even recognize anymore. Possibly a much more affable one. I feel like it could be fun to splice your experiences into a purely comedic retelling of the movie.
(Don't worry, I've never seen Goldeneye either.)

[Ack]

@Ack

I’ve played through none of the games on your list! No thoughts on those at all!

No worries, I'm happy to share the world of PC gaming with everyone!

__________MEDIEVAL 2: TOTAL WAR____________

Fighting a war against two enemies at once is never an easy prospect, but it is one that can be balanced if played correctly. The right moves can sink an opponent's capability to expand or potentially create new conflicts between others. The war against Spain was a little one, primarily naval, though it had the chance to spread. But France was the real enemy; they're richer, stronger, have more regions and powerful allies, and their territory presses against mine. And both France and Spain seemed upset that I had conquered Bordeaux.

Which is why I had to keep it. France made an attempt to rush in at my mainland territories, but I admit that I had sent in troops already to reinforce in preparation for my own invasion. The first step was to drive their armies from my land. First, my forces holding Bordeaux; we had pushed back on a siege attempt, but now I sent my troops into the field to confront their army. What was left was a ragged band of survivors attempting to get back to their land to resupply. I crushed them out in the open, so there was no one left to retreat.

Another French army had pressed into my territory to try and take Rennes. They came with ballistas to again attempt a siege. I confronted them with cavalry and laid waste to their second army. It took two attacks to put them down, but I did it. France had successfully been driven off of my territory. Now to make them pay.

I had prepped a general just for this in Caen. Heavy cavalry, English longbowmen, billmen heavy infantry, ballistas, further reinforced by Gaulish mercenaries; I had a full army, over 700 troops. My men marched toward Angers, meeting their army on the field. Despite having two generals and even more manpower, their forces were primarily made up of peasants. I allowed the two generals to link up, then set my ballistas and longbowmen on their peasant archers. When they did attempt an assault with a peasant force, I broke off my cavalry and hit them from the side, smashing their morale. Then I sent my billmen up on their left flank where they kept their spearmen. Once engaged, my cavalry smashed the peasant legions on the right and drove inwards, while my spearmen marched up the middle with the Gaul mercenaries to meet them. The French generals fell surrounded on all sides by English soldiers. It was a good day.

The French territory of Angers was left with practically no defenders, so I conquered it for my own as my next step. Thus a large section of French territory was carved out, and I could now see the size of the French empire's infestation. It stretches from Paris down to the Mediterranean. I began moving naval assets into place to blockade their ports while my soldiers retrained to replenish their forces and their arrows.

And then the bloody Pope decided it was time to whine. How dare we Christians fight each other! We should make peace, be friends, only threaten violence against the pagans and Muslims. My war was ordered to cease upon threat of excommunication. I decided to move quickly, but apparently any military action against the French would constitute a violation of the Pope's order. The Holy Roman Empire had sent a diplomat for peace talks when this happened. The French launched their boats and destroyed the ships I was sending for potential blockades. The Pope said nothing about this blatant act of aggression, but when I tried to counterattack, I was informed yet again of excommunication. The Pope demands I tie my hands while the French assault me. Fine. I sent armies into the field to wait near French cities. If the Pope wants me to hold off on an invasion, I can. The instant he turns a blind eye, I'll get the French forces and reduce them to half of what they were.

But the temporary halt in hostilities gave me a chance to refocus on Spain. That war had been primarily naval, some small blockade actions and skirmishes via ship. But my crafty captains watched as the Spanish from Toledo loaded troops into a craft and sent them north in the Atlantic toward Great Britain. I couldn't have that, so I called off the blockade and raced after. We battled in open water, and my English ships sank the small Spanish fleet with all hands and soldiers lost to the abyss. Spain had shot itself in the foot; my diplomats easily talked them into peace, and they allied with Portugal immediately after, which also has a limited military capability. I don't expect them to threaten my power. If they do, I'll be forced to march south for the Iberian peninsula, and I'll destroy both nations without hesitation.

For now though, we have peace. It is tenuous and will only last until the Pope blinks. And when it does, I'll slit the throat of France and cut her holdings in half. I will not stop until she is dead, regardless of what anyone in Rome in a big white hat thinks.

[Key-Glyph]

Wow. Going from one of my GoldenEye posts to one of Ack's is like a smash cut from Yackety Sax to Dies Irae right now

Key, how could you--. I feel like you're becoming a Bond I don't even recognize anymore.

How very dare you, pierrot

Listen. LISTEN. If I'm in some secret bunker/mission control-type situation where I'm getting shot at by multiple soldiers every time I open a door, any miscellaneous staff and cowardly affiliates should have the presence of mind to either 1) wear a white lab coat or 2) stand behind a desk on the periphery or something instead of being out in the middle of a room, facing me confrontationally with a camo-esque Hawaiian (??) shirt on. Our pal Boris stood out so little from the game's plethora of aggressive NPCs that when Natalya chewed me out for his death I didn't even know what she was referring to. "I saw what you did to Boris on the monitors. It wasn't very nice," she said. And I was like, "...WHO??"

But hey, check it out!

10. GoldenEye (N64)

I was much closer to the end than I thought. I suppose the final few remaining levels are only unlocked on higher difficulties? But I did it. Woo!

I will say that the game did feel more tightly designed in the first half, and (as I mentioned already) a few of the later levels did suffer from a "what am I supposed to do?" situation if you're one of the rare ones who hasn't seen the film. The final level Cradle was like this too, as I wasn't sure if I was supposed to win by dealing damage or just keeping up the chase until we reached some critical movie moment. But I deduced the answer with video game logic (it's both) and actually had a grand old time with it. The environment was really pretty and different, the level itself was smallish, and the action was legit exciting. Gotta love a final stage that is difficult yet still easier than some earlier levels, requires enough skill that you feel awesome but doesn't punish you if you're not perfect, isn't overly long, and keeps up the energy. Final bosses like this that are more a celebration of what you've learned and how far you've gotten than some kind of Super Ultimate Challenge are such a good time. It can be a better reward than the ending sequence, even -- which is also true in this case! IYKYK

Gonna move on to Pokémon Snap next, but will definitely challenge Nathaniel to a few Slaps Only!! multiplayer rounds to get the complete GoldenEye experience before packing it away for good. Oh, and I did want to go back and try it with dual controllers! I played through the whole thing on one controller to get the typical 90s experience, but seriously, dual-wielding feels so much like a modern shooter that it shocked me. I can totally see how this was a jaw-dropper for console players in 1997. Glad to experience this bit of gaming history that might actually be the most famous/ubiquitous game I'd never played.

[alienjesus]

Well done on getting through Goldeneye Key, I hope you enjoyed it overall despite some frustrations.

Pokemon Snap should be a nice quick one. It's easily beatable in a single sitting, although it's the type of game you'll want to keep playing over and over.

I have been spending the last few days working through the remaining missions in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The Sick score missions on the later levels, the gold medals on the later competitions and finding all the hidden cash icons in each level were the missions that were giving me grief. There was an excessive amount of swearing in the Alienjesus household, that's for sure. But I finally managed to crack through the last couple of missions today to 100% the run as my create-a-skater character, which unlocked Spiderman. I had a quick blast around the warehouse as my new character, before calling it quits for now.

Tony Hawks 2 was one of the best rated games of all time at the time of it's release and in all honesty, it still holds up very well for the hardware. But I find it hard to recommend because the formula has just been done better since - Tony Hawk's 3 really improved upon everything in 2 in my eyes - not only is the game more consistent with less random fumbles and clipping the edges of things, but it added new mechanics to make high score challenges more manageable, improved all the level designs making it easier to link tricks together with smooth lines, and just controls way smoother to boot. If you like the levels in the PS1 era Tony Hawk's more, there's also Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 for modern systems which remakes all the levels but adds in some refinements from later games and again, just looks and controls much better.

Next up for me on the summer challenge, I was planning on diving into Tenchu. I've never played this game before and not even seen too much about it, but I believe Note recently played through it and had a good time so I'm feeling optimistic. After that I'll probably go onto either Suikoden or Mega Man Legends, followed by the other to get through all of my PS1 selection.

[Note]

Just wanted to give a quick update on my progress in Phantasy Star (SMS).

I just cleared the Medusa's Tower and the Forgotten Tower. Found the Medusa's Tower to be pretty challenging, I didn't have enough MP or healing items to get everyone fully healed before the boss battle, but I still managed to clear it. Right after I fought the boss, a Red Dragon appeared, so I got hit with a two for one!

The Forgotten Tower wasn't as long, but there was one specific enemy that was a pain to deal with, which was the Marauder. They had an attack that would hit my party for about 35 HP each. Otherwise, the remaining enemies weren't too bad.

I'm going to grind for a bit before going on to the next section. I have a good amount of meseta at this point, but would like to gain another level or two to make things a bit easier in the next set of dungeons.

[Note]

Next up for me on the summer challenge, I was planning on diving into Tenchu. I've never played this game before and not even seen too much about it, but I believe Note recently played through it and had a good time so I'm feeling optimistic. After that I'll probably go onto either Suikoden or Mega Man Legends, followed by the other to get through all of my PS1 selection.

To confirm, I did play through Tench earlier in the year and really enjoyed it. It took me some time to get used to the controls, so I replayed the training mission a number of times to get the hang of it. But once I had the controls down, it really clicked with me.

Some levels have sections with enemies placed in tricky spots, which required some trial and error and repeated attempts to make it through. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would like to track down Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven.

[pierrot]

10. GoldenEye (N64)

Grats, Key! I feel like I always hear about Cradle every time I'm reminded about this game.
I don't remember slap fights in multiplayer, but I do remember Golden Gun only.

I just cleared the Medusa's Tower and the Forgotten Tower. Found the Medusa's Tower to be pretty challenging, I didn't have enough MP or healing items to get everyone fully healed before the boss battle, but I still managed to clear it.

Pretty sure this was the point in the game where I started to actually look up maps. On the plus side, it's my favorite BGM from the game,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoZNL6f ... X&index=14 (FM version).
Can't forget about the remix, either:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pioIQ ... ioIQLRfzuw

[Ack]

@Key

Nice work, Key! You made it through a game I loved when I was a teenager. I played through GoldenEye multiple times and even managed to unlock all the cheat codes. Some of those levels I adore, and some I still loathe even today. I'm so happy to see you enjoyed it!

@alienjesus

If you enjoy your stealth, Tenchu is a fantastic time. I sunk a lot of time into the series, particularly Wrath of Heaven on the PS2. I think you're going to have a lot of fun once you get a feel for it.

__________MEDIEVAL 2: TOTAL WAR____________

I spent some time looking into the mechanics of the game and how the Pope works. Turns out, if you're an army on foreign soil, and that country attacks you, you are still seen as the invader, so defense is totally fine. This doesn't explain why France could attack my ships without threat of excommunication, but it does explain why they suddenly attacked the armies I had on their land. Which isn't to say I didn't slaughter them mercilessly, but neither of us got excommunicated for it.

Still, France used its time under Papal protection to grind down my in-country armies until they weren't worth a damn. I was surprised they received no punishment at all; I now understand why in terms of game design, but blast it, I loathe the Pope. Even worse, I voted for the prick! He is in power because of ME! Ungrateful little snot. But his threat ended, he applauded me for bringing peace, and he stopped looking.

By now I was angry. The one force I still had in place discovered that France's force in Rheims was also being protected by foreign armies from the Holy Roman Empire, this meaning what was only 100 defenders was in fact 1000. My army at Toulouse had been wormed at until they were ineffective. So I brought generals over from England, put together an invasion force with siege forces, and I made the move that I thought would be the biggest slap in the face.

I attacked Paris.

And then I put the populace to the sword.

The Pope immediately whined about excommunication, but Paris was mine. Unfortunately, I also learned France had expanded into the Iberian peninsula at Zaragoza and allied with Portugal. While I am pushing them out, they're finding more ways to worm through. So I have begun preparing for further invasions. The French king is in Toulouse, and I want him dead.

But while this was happening, the Spanish decided to try again. They landed troops at Rennes and tried to lay siege. I slaughtered them wholeheartedly with nary a peep from the stupid Pope. From what I can tell, the Spaniards only hold two regions, Toledo and Leon. I built an army and sent it off into the North Atlantic to stop this absurdity. I'm not sure where I will hit first, but taking the Spanish territory will give me a way to put more direct pressure on the French in Zaragoza, so I'll do it.

At least finally someone else recognized my capabilities. The Byzantine Empire sent a diplomat. I now have an alliance with a power deep in the Mediterranean, one that puts pressure on France's allies in Venice. Good.

[Note]

Pretty sure this was the point in the game where I started to actually look up maps. On the plus side, it's my favorite BGM from the game,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoZNL6f ... X&index=14 (FM version).
Can't forget about the remix, either:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pioIQ ... ioIQLRfzuw

The Medusa's Tower is quite confusing with different paths that lead to nowhere and a lot of empty or useless chests! I agree that the background music for that dungeon is amazing, I liked it a lot too and I think it might be my favorite of the game so far as well. I'm playing the original US release which only contains the PSG sound. However, the FM version sounds amazing.

Thanks for sharing the FM version and the remix. The remix sounds great too. Did it actually appear in PSO or was it just on a CD soundtrack? I don't recall hearing it in the game.