Summer Games Challenge 2014

[dsheinem]

I applaud whoever is still playing Mary Kate and Ashley.

That would be mjmr if i'm correct

Luke, if he was serious about his list at all...

[alienjesus]

Chugging through Symphony some more.

There will be spoilers ahead, so don't read if you're gonna play this and don't know the games big spoiler.



So I'm exploring more of the inverted castle. The difficulty in some sections is ramped up (the witches in the catacombs and the roses in the waterway are bastards) but exploration is very quick and easy because I already know the map pretty well and I have most of the powers already. I haven't found a single place I need to backtrack to later in the ivnerted castle yet.

I'm doing the inverted castle in a spiral - I beat the Giant Bat and explored through the upside-down clock tower, outer wall, library (love that the enemies here are the tin man, lion and scarecrow XD), some of the marble gallery, some of the waterways, and now I'm clearing out the catacombs. I'll work round in a sprial till I reach the clock room area, where I think Dracula probably is (he's clearly not at the top or bottom of the castle!)

Along with the giant bat I've also killed The Creature, Doppelganger 40 (why 40?) and Death (who was an absolute pushover with the shield rod boosts). With the Giant Bat, The Creature and Death as bosses here, I'm guessing I'll also be encountering the Mummy, Medusa and Shaft -they sure love referencing those Castlevania 1 bosses.

[scarper]

1. Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
2. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
3. Mega Man 2 (NES)
4. Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn)
5. Wave Race 64 (N64)
6. F-Zero GX (GC)
7. Shantae (GBC via 3DS)
8. Virtual Boy Wario Land (VB)
9. Sonic and Knuckles (Genesis)
10. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

Whelp. I'm honestly surprised this was the first game I beat. Especially considering how busy my week was, and that I started it a few days ago. Wow.

So it was fun, and I still had that big sense of adrenaline release after beating the final boss (the kind of feeling you get when you have an orgasm, but except its after beating a final boss. Very common in shmup players.)

But as a Mega Man player who started out with Mega Man and Bass, this was way too easy. Maybe it was because I got metal blade first. But even the boss fights felt too easy. Even Wiley only took me a few lives to beat. I think my grand total play time was under four hours.

But the final stages were insanely great. Wiley's castle might be the best set of final stages I've ever played in a Mega Man game so far. Had a lot of fun with that.

My only two issues, (and these may be just me) it was too easy, and felt over rated. It's a good game, but its just not hard enough. Metal blade ruins it in the long run. Shit, I even tried the hard mode and I blew through metal man with no power ups in one life. Beat two more master bots, still the same life, and I'm like, "I WANT TO GET KILLED, AND I WANT TO GET KILLED A LOT. ITS MEGA MAN. HOLY MOTHER OF CHRIST IN A BIRCH BARK CANOE."

I don't even think this game is good for beginners who have never played mega man. It gives the wrong idea of what the series is like. Especially with metal blade. No clue why this is considered "the best" by a lot of people.

I know it sounds like I hated it, but the honest thought is that I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it quite a bit. But for me, the easieness was a let down. Frequent Mega Man players who have not played 2 should play it on hard. I want to try playing this without using metal blade at all. That may change my experience/opinion by a lot.

Tl;dr: mega 2 easy, but still mega alright.

EDIT: spelling

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm moving slowly through Zelda II. Haven't had much time to play lately. Three palaces down, four to go.

Okay make that five down, two to go.

Rolling through the game now.

[prfsnl_gmr]

It also made me curious about both Strider 2 (PS1) and the recently released reboot. Anyone have thoughts on those compared to the original?

Strider 2 is very, very fast-paced; very, very fun; and very, very easy. If you attempt it, you should limit yourself to just a few credits. (Even then, you will probably get through it very quickly.)

These games were foolishly played anyway, so the player learned their lesson the hard way:
-Jumping Flash! 2

Good game, but...yeah...not a classic.

I'm moving slowly through Zelda II. Haven't had much time to play lately. Three palaces down, four to go.

Don't worry...you will hit a wall of difficulty pretty soon.

.....

I have almost four hours invested in R-Type Delta, and I can make it a good distance into the fourth stage (which scrolls vertically despite the fact that R-Type is a horizontal shmup...). I can also get through the first two stages without dying on a consistent basis. I should be able to do this with the third stage soon. The real "fun times" will begin when I unlock unlimited credits and push through the game, however.

Oh...and also...this is a great shmup. I think it may be the best on the PS1. I can't wait to see what it has in store for me in the final stages.

[darsparx]

FF1 update: Finally picked it up again today(after forgetting where I put the psp) and made it to elfheim. Currently grinding the heck out of the ogres east of there for gil for spells and supplies(especially some antidotes since I know from prior times where I've played up to this point that I will need them)

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm moving slowly through Zelda II. Haven't had much time to play lately. Three palaces down, four to go.

Don't worry...you will hit a wall of difficulty pretty soon.

Did you see my last post? I also finished palaces 4 and 5.

I've found that the game has actually gotten easier as I continue to play. For starters, my skills have improved and I can take down the tougher enemies like ironknuckles with no issues.

And now that Link has more abilities I always feel like I can get out of a tough situation by using a fairy spell, jump spell, or a downward thrust to bounce off and beyond any particularly challenging foe.

Also, having those red potions drop from statues at the beginning of most dungeons gives Link a place to refill his health at any time. In the last dungeon I went straight for the special item, then worked my way back to the top, used the life spell, refilled my magic with the red potion, and then made a beeline straight towards the boss.

Haven't had a Game Over since Death Mountain and all of my recent deaths have been due to being knocked in holes rather than my life bar running out (reminds me of Ninja Gaiden...).

My levels are maxed out and most 1-ups remain on the overworld. Saving them for the final dungeon.

That said, if this is like any other Zelda game I'm sure the final dungeon will be a real kick in the ass.

[Luke]

I applaud whoever is still playing Mary Kate and Ashley.

That would be mjmr if i'm correct

Luke, if he was serious about his list at all...

Serious. But it's not looking good.

My PS2 disc drive isn't doing too hot, and my oxbox disc drive won't open. At all.

Going to work on the oxbox today. In fact, will work on it in just a few minutes.

[alienjesus]

Been spending the afternoon sucking it up at Double Dragon.

Took a while to get into the swing of things, but I can consistently reach stage 4 now. My most recent run I got to stage 4 with all my lives intact. The stupid outside platforming bit screwed me over though - for some reason you can fall through the floors here if knocked down, resulting in instant death.

The key to the game seems to be to get the elbow smash and hair pull moves ASAP and spam them depending on the enemy.

Now if I can just consistently get those stupid walls at the start of stage 4 down, I might have this soon...


EDIT: Urgh, those fucking walls...

[noiseredux]

gave Metal Slug 3 a shot today. Wow. Balls hard. I made it to mission 3, but I went through a lot of continues. I don't remember how many credits the Steam version gives you, but it was a lot. Like... a lot.