It’s an interesting game, but not a particularly great one. Once the novelty of “the late 90’s pc deathmatch experience as filtered through the lens of Japanese arcade game developer” wear off, you’re left with a TPS/FPS with tiny, terrible maps, a lackluster suite of single player modes, lousy controls (unless you played with a mouse, which I did), and mechanics that do basically nothing better than the games it clearly based itself on, with massively unbalanced weapons and non-existent movement mechanics. It’s not a bad game, but it’s really not an hidden gem either.
Crossing this off my bucket list. I beat Secret of Mana for the first time. It’s my second game in the franchise, the first being Legend of Mana on PS1 which is in my top 10 RPGs of all time.
While the translation was super basic, I really dug this game even if it didn’t hit the same highs as Legend of Mana. It kept me engaged throughout and was a consistently fun experience. In many ways, the real time battle system feels like the progenitor of what would come later in games like Xenoblade.
It has excellent music, fairly decent graphics, and really unique boss fights.
This morning, after beating the game, I began Trials of Mana for the first time on SNES and MY WORD, only an hour into it and it’s clear that it’s going to be one of my favorites ever. The graphics are incredible and the battle system feels so right. And the music is even better than the previous game so far. I’m not sure how this is a Super Famicom game. Feels like a mid-gen PS1 game or something. The jump on quality between these two titles is incredible to see.
Not only that, the branching class system and different characters you can play as seem like it’s going to add a tremendous amount of replay value. Plus it has a day night cycle and day of the week cycle too because… why not?
Finally finished the AGES version of Phantasy Star Took me a quite a while due to other games and life stuff getting in the way, but I always came back to it.
The QoL changes are amazing, especially the Automap and fast-forward features (I love how fast-forward doesn’t speed up the music!). This was my “comfort food” game for the past months.
Started PSII now, hope it won’t be too hard without all the AGES features. I’ve already had to grind quite a bit because the monsters in the beginning area kicked my butt. This wouldn’t have bothered me in the past, but I don’t have much time to play these days. We’ll see how it goes
Kinda a shame that they stopped the AGES releases. That is definitely the best way to play Phantasy Star 1 though. As ahead of it’s time it was the original release is rough to go back to.
Yeah, it’s just sad. I wonder if a single collection would have been more successful for them than individual releases. Or maybe it was just the choice of games that didn’t resonate with people.
So I finally got all of the 100 coin stars in Mario 64. I’d never gotten all 120 stars and this was something I wanted to cross off my list. It remains an incredible game, I played through the entire thing on a Wavebird using the Raphnet GC to N64 adapter and it played like a dream.
I missed a lot of N64 titles as a kid and I’m on a bit of a platformer binge at the moment, so I think I might move on to something completely different like Chameleon Twist.
Just finished Pilotwings 64, which I never played up until now.
I was a bit disappointed at first because the early islands were rather dull coming from Pilotwings Resort’s Wuhu Island. But I warmed to it by the end thanks to its kooky atmosphere. Maybe not enough to go back and get golds and perfects on everything though.
I can see how the game was blowing minds in 1996, the environments stretch out for miles into the distance, and the birdman levels offer unparalleled freedom for the time. But even the physics have a lot of nuance to them which you just didn’t find in a lot of home releases, or even at the arcade where games tended to be faster and less sim-like.
Yup, it would have been mind blowing at launch for sure.
I do still feel like playing it but not in an obsessive way like I had with Pilotwings Resort.
Scoring highly on many missions depends too much on a perfect landing at the end, which makes replaying rather dull. And unlockable modes like cannon ball are really just an exercise of trial and error. Skydiving is fun but again, boring to replay once you’ve figured out the controls.
I was working on finishing it last night… 3rd attempt.
First one ended at 7-1 after my son reset the system.
Second one ended at 9-4, the “fake” ending. You have to collect 36 dolls throughout the playthrough, or you don’t get the “good” ending. I missed one doll in the first stages and didn’t think much of it, because there are 40 in the game. However, it turns out the game ends 4 levels early if you don’t get the “real” ending, meaning there are only 36. You can’t miss a single one! The ending is very anti-climactic, and it just displays some text and kicks you back to the title screen.
Okay, another attempt then! This time I made sure to collect all 36 dolls throughout the playthrough, and instead of ending at 9-4, it takes you to 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, and 10-4.
Then, once you get to 10-4 and beat the final boss, THE ENDING IS NO DIFFERENT WTF.
Fun game, one of my favourites as a kid, I’m sure happy to be able to finally complete it!
I’ve never played the game in its original form (with a 2nd screen in the scope of the gun) and while I’m sure it’s something special, Silent Scope at home tremendous fun, a game that knows exactly what is and wastes no time, and that if you play it “seriously”, is really more of a race agains the clock than a shooting gallery.
The Dreamcast version doesn’t have the “YES” when you clear a section with 100% accuracy or the fractured skull graphics when you brain a boss on the first bullet. I have no idea if those were extra flourishes added to the subsequent xbox and ps2 ports or stuff that was inexplicably removed in the porting process (none of the vids I managed to find of the arcade version manage either - boo)
I’ve beaten all 3 loops of Air Assault (aka: Fire Barrel)!
A modest closer to Irem’s mid run of vertical shmup, Air Assault is a thoroughsly derivative riff on the Raiden formula with all the sniper tank, colour-switching power up… ing action you’ll ever need. It’s also shockingly easy for an arcade game: enemies and bosses alike fall victim to your unrelenting firepower in seconds (the final boss can’t even get a shot off if you’re fully powered-up) and a generous quantity of instant-exploding, powerful bombs give you plenty of leeways.
That being said, Air Assault dispenses enough good graphics and shor thrills to justify its existence as an arcade game. The game loops twice before giving you the true ending and it’s rather unfortunate the subsequent loops only make subtle tweaks to the enemy place instead of increasing the strenght of your enemies and the speed of projectiles. A solid “best of the mediocre Raiden clones”/10.
Finally finished Ninja Warriors once again (or whatever it is called in your region). Does that count as retro?
TBH, I didn’t really enjoy it that much. Even did it once more to unlock the big Raiden robot. And still don’t find it too fun. If I had a physical copy to sell, I’d happily sell it.
Took me a quite a while due to other games and life stuff getting in the way, but I always came back to it.
