I really like the progression from dude being kicked and making a face to “THE END”
Looks gorgeous on that display! First time I’ve seen the game off a CRT actually.
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Thanks. It’s a 32-inch FV310. I love it.
I beat Dragon Warrior on NES!!! That last boss was tough and took a few hours of grinding.
I am going to grab DW2 on NES and keep this train rolling. I really want to see how this series evolved.
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What would you estimate your total playtime?
Honestly, no clue. Maybe 20 hours?
Most of the time was grinding. Maybe it was 30 at the most. I’d say 4 hours of it were focused on trying to take down the final boss.
That’s awesome… it’s on my short list of ones to dive into soon, along with the 1st Phantasy Star
Shovel Knight: Spectre of Torment (3DS)
Not quite retro, but pretty much only 2 or 3 intermediate colours, no sprite limit, and polyphony away from a vintage Konami VRC-6 Famicom game.
This prequel scenario has you playing Spectre Knight, who is much more agile than the titular blue Knight.
His abilities get pretty over-powered, but I rarely used them.
Amazing sprite work throughout, great use of the 3D effect, and the soundtrack is steller.
I had the headphone jack plugged into my stereo for the last few levels. The extra bass from dedicated speakers was rather nice.
Again, most of my deaths were in the final stages. The difficulty can seem quite brutal sometimes, but the checkpoints are frequent, and money is optional for upgrading abilities and gear.
I’m not sure if the King of Cards update is coming to 3DS. It’s been a while since I used it frequently.
I’m playing on custom firmware, but with an Australian release cart.
I haven’t beaten Plaguuuu Knight yet, so I’ll see where it’s at when I get there.
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One of the best 3D effects in the whole 3DS library, despite the game being 2D. King of Cards has been out for 3DS since December I think, I have to play that soon enough as I already beat the other 3 games on a New 3DS XL and they are all top-tier games. I haven’t found any of them particularly hard, maybe that optional tower climb in Spectre Knight was a bit of a stretch, but nothing NES-tier difficult (or unfair).
Honestly more people should play these games on 3DS as they’re by far the “definitive editions” on that console.
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Yes, the native 240p look works amazingly well with sprites and artwork designed around that aesthetic.
I looked into the PC version for a ‘home console’ option I could try to get working on a crt. But I think I’ll just go back to the 3DS with the audio out onto the stereo again.
Side note, I was really enjoying the music in Radiant Historia. Maybe this is the mode of operation to get me back into it.
On King of cards, I enabled wifi to see if I would be prompted by an update for the game. But no dice.
Maybe I’ll log in the the eshop, and do a system update to see if that helps.
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I agree with you that the 3DS versions are the definitive ways to play Shovel a Knight games.
Played through Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on GBA for the first time. Pretty smooth sailing till I got to the end. I have been trying to beat Dracula for weeks now! FINALLY! DIE! DIE you diseased blood sucker! Actually at the end he didn’t even die, just ran away.
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Finished NES Blaster Master on the Switch - it’s really good! I had never played this before but it seemed to have a cult following and now I can see why.
[+]
-Good and occasionally great music
-Great atmosphere, especially the later levels
-Responsive controls (until you get the last ability for your tank that is)
-Excellent visuals
[-]
-On-foot missions could have been better
-The difficulty is a bit frustrating, the crab boss in particular can eat shit and die
-The last tank ability (wall climbing) is just badly implemented and makes the controls frustratingly difficult IMO
-No save feature, not even a password system!
Anyway, I had a good time with this! What are some other good games in the series? I take it the one for Mega Drive is garbage? 
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Well Blaster Master Zero is a pretty easy thing to recommend since it is basically Blaster Master +. Think there is a demo on switch for it.
I got my Saturn RAD2X today… and managed to get my first no-deaths run of Thunder Force III on video! While not considered a very difficult game by hardcore shmup players, it does have some dickish and demanding parts so I was happy to get it.
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Been meaning to play through Crimson Shroud again over the past seven or so years since I originally finished it.
Finally made some time for it and to my surprise a second, fresh (not New Game Plus) playthrough clocked in at five hours. Matsuno certainly delivered on his promises in making an RPG that was like sitting down and reading a short story, one aimed at adult players who didn’t want to make a massive time investment.
The game’s as good as I remember it, with a superb atmosphere driven by a less-is-more approach to visual design (it’s all portrayed with dungeons-and-dragons style figures with dice rolls for RNG moments) and terse-yet-descriptive storytelling with the bare minimum of exposition.
I miss Matsuno, as I understand it he hasn’t shipped a game since.
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Thanks for the reminder about that game. I loved it in 2012 and it’s short enough that I should replay it soon.
There’s more rooms to explore in the palace on New Game+, and a new ending, but I ended up replaying the game anew, as I wanted to revisit the ending’s twist that I had forgotten.
Shockingly little information is available about the game online - not even playthroughs on YouTube. Have to wonder how the international release did for Level-5.
I put off buying that game for years, hoping for some sort of physical release or just being too busy with other stuff, but guess now is as good a time as any. Thanks for reminding me about it.
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Careful with that NES filter. It has been known to get pixels stuck on certain displays due to the way it activates them to create the faux blur effect:
Also, glad to hear you liked the game. It’s one I’ve been meaning to check out lately due to posts like yours. I’m on an NES binge right now and it seems like the perfect next game to seek out.