Snickerd00dle's Summer Challenge 2012 - how is it going?

[noiseredux]

last week was really busy, and this week is... well probably busier. But I did find an hour or so to get back into Cthulhu tonight. Grinded a bit and beat Dagon. Thought the game was over (because it said so), but it was actually a fake ending and now I presume I'm in the real final dungeon. Still thinking this game is excellent.

[SpaceBooger]

Classics
1. Shatterhand (NES)
2. Sonic CD (PS3) - COMPLETE 7/9
3. Final Fight (PS3 or Mame) COMPLETE 6/24
4. Cave Story (DSI) COMPLETE 6/12
5. Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox) this is replacing Shadow of the Ninja
6. Jet Grind Radio (DC or PSN when released)
7. Beneath a Steel Sky (PC)

Not Classics that I want to beat before summer ends
8. Clash of Heroes (DS) COMPLETE 5/31
9. Captain America: Super Soldier (PS3) COMPLETE 7/8
10. Ben There Dan That & Time Gentlemen Please (PC) started but now have a new PC and no save file
11. Conan (PS3 2007) COMPLETE 7/7
12. Batman the Brave and the Bold (DS)

I started Sonic CD when it was first released on PSN and spent a lot of time making sure that I went to the past and completed each level, until the Wacky Workbench stage. A couple months ago I was stuck trying to fix the future in the Wacky Workbench zone and was struggling, so I gave up for a while. Last night after beating Captain America on the PS3 I decided to boot up Sonic CD since it was also on my summer list of games to beat. I finally beat the Wacky Workbench zone 1 and decided to keep going for a bit, but when I got to the Stardust Speedway I accidentally zoomed past the "goal" without fixing the future. With that error, and the game automatically saving, I decided to finish the game anyway even though I wouldn't "complete" it.

Tonight I zoomed through the rest of the levels and lost about 20 or so lives on the last boss. Technically I didn't lose any lives since there is an extra life at the beginning of the stage and technically the boss only killed me three times, the other 17 deaths were from just trying to get to the boss. The path to get to the final boss was a pain. Even though I died often on this last stage, the platforming element of this game really separated it from the other Sonic games. These platforming elements made this game the most enjoyable of the 16bit Sonic games in my opinion (Generations is my favorite Sonic game).

Since the PS3 version of the game automatically saves after each level is completed I was not able to "complete" the game. I am content for now with just "beating" it, but I vow to go back and play it again to complete it since it was one of the best Sonic games I have played.

[alienjesus]

So I spent the morning playing (and finishing) Grim Fandango, and I have to say, although I wasn't really into it much a few days ago, the last two years have somewhat turned me around, and I think it's a great game. On the other hand, it isn't the pinnacle of the genre many claim it to be, at least in my opinion.

The first year had a rough learning curve with the controls, which I must admit still caused me problems once or twice since. The game controls with the movement keys and tank controls, which was ok, but sometimes Manny liked to enter doorways or go up ladders I didn't want him to, and other times he refused to go through said doorways and I had to back up and try again. The inventory system could be confusing when you have lots of items, as you often do in year 1 and 2, because it only displays one item at once. keys 2-9 work as shortcuts to the inventory, but as you cant sort it, accessing items 9+ takes a little mor effort than I'd like. Year 2 was the biggest sore spot for me - the town of Rubacava where it takes place is just WAAAAAAAYYYY to big, and it takes AGES to get around. There were also one or two puzzles in that year that I thought were just unfairly difficult. There were a few problem puzzles in every year of the game actually, and I used a hint guide quite a few times. Many of the troublesome puzzles involved having to look at specific places - one puzzle that took me a while involved me trying to open the safe door. The handle, safe wheel and lock were all seperate items to interact with, but it was hard to see any indication of that.

One thing I can't fault though is the story and characters. Manny and Glottis were likeable all the way through, and many of the other characters (who return throughout the story, even the most minor characters) were also really likeable and fun. The villains were a bit generically evil, but it did the job, and the film noir aspects were fairly well done. The humour, whilst not as much at the forefront as the likes of Sam and Max, was spot on in its timing. The story had the odd pacing problem, particularly in Year 2, but I do wonder if that is a symptom of the puzzles and exploration taking longer in that year more than anything else. Overall, its a fun game, I'd recommend it to genre fans. I think I'll be taking an Adventure game break now though, until I try my luck at either Monkey Island or Discworld later in the year.

Next up: Time to finish Resi 4 and Oracle of Ages. The I'll get started on something else. Undecided between Duck Tales, Rogue Squadron, or Panzer Dragoon Orta next.

[CFFJR]

Little update:

I've been playing both Half-Life and Ecco on and off over the past couple of weeks.

I'm only 4 or 5 levels into Ecco, though its already had its difficult moments. I understand it only gets harder, which I suppose is traditional for the Ecco games, but it also means I play in spurts. It is fun when I do play though, and the environments are beautiful.

I've been playing Half-Life more, and I'm currently on Surface Tension, level 11 of 17. Its good stuff, but I've been experiencing some obnoxious glitches. I've lost count of how many times I've become completely stuck in an object (usually the floor) and been forced to reload. The truly annoying thing is that this tends to happen when the game is loading an area. I'll literally be walking along, doing nothing else, hit a loading spot and suddenly find myself jammed into the ground and immobile.

Still, I'm having fun with it, and there are some great moments to be had. Obliterating the huge monster in Blast Pit was truly satisfying.

Also, I have still been playing JSRF, and I'm on my way to 100%. Its proving to be easier than I expected, but I'm not complaining.

[sabrage]

Still, I'm having fun with it, and there are some great moments to be had. Obliterating the huge monster in Blast Pit was truly satisfying.

I got halfway through your post and thought "Oooh, a Half-Life virgin? Wonder what he thought about Blast Pit." I love that level to pieces. I re-installed HL the other day, but got distracted by a couple of other games. I do intend to re-play it soon, since I haven't since around the time The Orange Box came out.

[BoringSupreez]

Still, I'm having fun with it, and there are some great moments to be had. Obliterating the huge monster in Blast Pit was truly satisfying.

I got halfway through your post and thought "Oooh, a Half-Life virgin? Wonder what he thought about Blast Pit." I love that level to pieces. I re-installed HL the other day, but got distracted by a couple of other games. I do intend to re-play it soon, since I haven't since around the time The Orange Box came out.

Half Life is one of those rare FPS games that is still a blast to play despite being over 10 years old. I'd say we get an FPS like that once per year on average, or maybe even less. I can't count the number of times I've played through it, so good.

Something that testifies to the timelessness of Half Life 1 is that I have this high an opinion of it, even though I played it for the first time in 2006. It can't be nostalgia glasses speaking here. I'd say the game's only major flaw is the sound quality of the voice acting. They used super-low-quality recording methods or something.

[sabrage]

It speaks volumes about Valve's capacity as a developer, doesn't it? I had a similar reaction to Blast Pit in Portal 2: finding the old Aperture Laboratories, scaling the rickety scaffolding, all the time in awe at the detail they devoted to the underlying skeleton of their world. It may have been a strictly on-rails romp, but Valve sure made it feel big.

[Hobie-wan]

Its good stuff, but I've been experiencing some obnoxious glitches. I've lost count of how many times I've become completely stuck in an object (usually the floor) and been forced to reload.

If you're playing an install from disc as opposed to a Steam copy, are you all patched up? There were a fair number of patches back in the day. I originally played my friend's copy which was version 1.00, or very nearly that and had to run 3 or 4 patches to be up to date. I don't think I had to worry about patches when I played the collection disc that came with both expansions though. I don't really remember getting stuck unless I was fooling around.

[alienjesus]

I'm only 4 or 5 levels into Ecco, though its already had its difficult moments. I understand it only gets harder, which I suppose is traditional for the Ecco games, but it also means I play in spurts. It is fun when I do play though, and the environments are beautiful.

Whilst it DOES get harder, I do think that the first few levels can be some of the roughest in the game, especially the Undercaves. However, the hardest levels are probably Dark Water (about level 13 or so?) and the Machine (the final level). Those are torturous.

Are you playing on Mega Drive/Genesis or Sega/Mega CD? The game is significantly easier for the most part on the latter due to checkpoints, although they added in new levels making it even longer. The last level, The Machine is also unmodified, meaning it's still probably the hardest level in anything ever.

[CFFJR]

I got halfway through your post and thought "Oooh, a Half-Life virgin? Wonder what he thought about Blast Pit." I love that level to pieces. I re-installed HL the other day, but got distracted by a couple of other games. I do intend to re-play it soon, since I haven't since around the time The Orange Box came out.

It's definitely a fun one. I really enjoyed Residue Processing (I liked the "obstacle course" nature of it) and Questionable Ethics as well.

If you're playing an install from disc as opposed to a Steam copy, are you all patched up? There were a fair number of patches back in the day. I originally played my friend's copy which was version 1.00, or very nearly that and had to run 3 or 4 patches to be up to date. I don't think I had to worry about patches when I played the collection disc that came with both expansions though. I don't really remember getting stuck unless I was fooling around.

I'm running the Steam copy, so I don't really know what to make of it.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is though. I've definitely gotten stuck when screwing around, which is a given, but I'm not kidding when I say I've been stuck just passing a loading area, or just pushing some boxes around.

I save a lot, so it hasn't been more than an annoyance, but there it is.

Whilst it DOES get harder, I do think that the first few levels can be some of the roughest in the game, especially the Undercaves. However, the hardest levels are probably Dark Water (about level 13 or so?) and the Machine (the final level). Those are torturous.

Are you playing on Mega Drive/Genesis or Sega/Mega CD? The game is significantly easier for the most part on the latter due to checkpoints, although they added in new levels making it even longer. The last level, The Machine is also unmodified, meaning it's still probably the hardest level in anything ever.

I'm actually playing the Dreamcast game, Defender of the Future. I should have specified that, sorry. While we're on the subject though, I did beat the original Genesis Ecco, and Tides of Time, some years ago. The Machine is definitely a nightmare come to life. I've never played the Sega CD versions though, and I didn't know they added checkpoints. It seems cruel to leave checkpoints out of The Machine. I do want to try them though, for the different music at the least.

I've read in a few places around the web that claimed DotF was harder in some ways than the Genesis games. I can't say that myself yet, but we'll see. Have you played it?