GCN version is harder and better. The game is also uniquely balanced for the GCN controller and doesn’t play like a traditional FPS at all.
I don’t think the Wii version is as cool, even though the game has perfect mouse and pointer-like like controls with the Wii remote. Either way, you’re getting a cool game. But the GCN version is extra special.
Also, some graphical effects were cut in the Wii version due to the added arm cannon movement.
Almost 10 years old for the JPN release, which is the version I played, so almost retro!
Uncharted Golden Abyss
Pretty fun game, but the launch forced Vita controls kind of get in the way. I bounced off the first Uncharted on PS3 back in the day but I think I will return to it now and make my way through the series.
Asterix on the Master System!
@Suteneko told me I should try it out, and I’m glad he did. Cool little platformer, if a little frustrating at times. The levels are different depending if you play it with Asterix or Obelix. The two characters have different power ups and sightly different mechanics, and it makes the game quite replayable.
Nice platformer for sure.
I have one-lifed Super R-Type!
An odd chapter in Irem’s storied series of phallic imagery-simulators, Super R-Type is R-Type II except not really. Not quite a remake and not quite a port, Super R-Type take three of R-Type II’s stages and most of its graphic assets and gameplay systems with a fair heaping of new content and some tweaked game balance. Riddled with slowdowns and inexplicably lacking mid-stage checkpoints, it is overshadowed by the prettier and superficially more accessible R-Type III, and has become emblematic of the SNES’s struggle with the STG genre.
To which I say bollocks because far from the janky R-Type II port it’s often dismissed as, Super R-Type is a STG masterpiece, a better and more refined R-Type II who will reward those who will put up with its (not inconsiderable) idiosyncracies.
-The soundtrack is a straight improvement over R-Type II. Overly harsh and samey-sounding synths vs smooth space funk.
-The grey and green weapons are tweaked to be actually viable.
-The new stages are good and it skips the worst stage of R-Type II. Dareisay it has the funnest battleship in the series because of how many destroyable bits there are.
-Graphics are an almost-perfect recreation of the arcade game and are actually improved in spots by livening up the predominantly burgundy and grey pallete with more colours.
Yeah, I really like Super R-Type! It’s more R-Type II, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
Holy crap dude. That is a brutally hard game, congrats!
Finished Kirby’s Dream Land 3.
I’ve wanted to play this for a while now because I loved Dream Land 1 & 2 and Adventure as a kid, so this one was a blind spot for the longest time (especially as it wasn’t released in Europe back then).
Such a pretty game! It’s definitely more “laid-back” than Kirby’s Fun Pak but I didn’t mind at all. If you don’t expect a game like that and want more of a relaxed experience, you’ll enjoy this one.
I wish I could find a gif of Nago’s rock ability animation, it’s hilarious.
I also loved the Metroid cameos! 
Anyway, just wanted to gush about this game for a bit. 
Just beat Actraiser! Had a good time with it too, even though i eventually discovered the JP version i played is known for having a much harder difficulty than the western versions. The main offender has to be the one hit kill spikes!
The action sections have their moments of bullshit but you end up pretty well equiped to get through. I ended up loving the 6 boss gauntlet before the final as well; seemed impossible at first but in my clear, i made it through all 6 on the one life, leaving me a couple to attempt the final. Love that feeling of having mastered them all.
The god segments were fun enough and they really do make for a nice break and get you eager to reach the next action segment. Not very hard though, i used a guide to cover the japanese but there really wasnt much to stump you after understanding the icons.
Shame i waited so long to play it (as a kid i didnt really understand what the god mode would be like which turned me off of getting it), but better late than never!
I actually never played this one. It always sounded interesting to me though. I really should change that someday.
I’m still unclear about the god sections. Is it RTS?
It’s complicated.
In the remake they are sort of like an RTS where you need to periodically defend the civilisation below from an onslaught by directing heroes around the map and also deploying gatehouses.
In the original game it’s more like a city building game like Sim City.
I really need to get back to playing the original game. I prefer it over Renaissance for a number of reasons, but Renaissance is still this very interesting juxtaposition of god game and side scrolling action
Here’s a review from a magazine I had as a kid. It was a compendium of Super Pro UK reviews. I haven’t read it in ages but back in the day, it was always scouring through, deciding what games to ask my parents for. Its one of the few magazines I’ve kept with me all these years!
I’ve beaten Rushing Beat (aka: Rival Turf)!
One of the many games following up in Final Fight’s wake, Rushing Beat is a belt scroller set in a not-too distant future although if its sequels didn’t exist, you wouldn’t really tell. You get to pick between “Extremely generic beat’em up protagonist” Norton and his buddy Bild, who can kicks people in the nuts. Beside offering two players co-op when the SNES port of Final Fight didn’t, its big gimmick is “Angry mode”, a superpowered state that makes you invincible and extra-powerful for a limited time if you’ve taken one too many hits, although this is inexplicably turned off by default in the western versions. It’s a cute gimmick and probably the only reason I’ve even managed to beat this game.
Usually I append some bragging like “I one-lifed [game]” in my posts in here but for Rushing Beat, I’m quite content in merely beating the game within the default allotment of lives and continues because, quite simply, it’s a bit broken. The first problem is that your default punch string is mostly useless for one of the protagonist, and entirely worthless for the other one. It’s weak, short-ranged and most enemies can break it and punish you hard. While Norton can still use it on lower-tier enemy and some bosses, Bild’s is far too slow and thus completely unusable, which makes him majorly disadvantage for one mid-game boss that punish you heavily for trying to grab him. This means the best way to play Rushing Beat is by running like you’re on crack (mercifully this is assigned to the shoulder buttons) and repeatedly throwing and suplexing enemies ASAP rather than anything you’d expect from a sane beat’em up. It does lend the game quite a frantic feel.
You sort-of have a crowd control attack but instead of being drawn for your health, you get one use for every 11 enemies killed and while powerful, the attacks are brief and have weird hitboxes.
Another problem is that damage values are somewhat fucked up. The “Stick” enemy has a long-ranged and instant kick that kills you in four hit, and he’s one of the most commonly-encoutered enemies. Another enemy, the short fat guys, can take out more than half of your lifebar with one of their attacks. Health refills are very rare (typically one per level) and there’s no way to earn extra lives during gameplay so it’s quite punishing. Speaking of damage, both your and enemie’s health bar take a weirdly long time to reflect attacks. This lead to a weird quirk where you’ll sometimes grab enemies immediately after having attacked them, and in doing, ignore the damage you did on your first attack!
Oh and the western release removes the ability to set difficulty and lives in the option menu and make some other gameplay tweaks that are mostly to your disadvantage. Not good.
Despite having the major jank and thrown-together feel most of Jaleco’s non-shmup games do, there are legitimately some things to like about Rushing Beat
-The graphics are quite nice! While the characters are nothing to write home about in terms of design or animation, the backgrounds are very nicely drawn and quite varied. The first stage, for instance, has you start in the streets, then you board a crowded bus, and end outside a baseball stadium. This is something a lot of belt scrollers didn’t really bother with (including the first Streets of Rage, a game that’s otherwise superior to Rushing Beat in every way) so that they bothered here is appreciated.
-Playing as Bild is fun because they genuinely nailed the feel of impact from his moves. Suplexing sods is as fun as the 11110th time as it is the first.
-You can kick people in the nuts (but only in Japan!)
There are videos of brazilian players one-crediting and two-crediting the game so clearly it’s possible to be one with the jank. I don’t have the patience for that, but I found Rushing Beat is fun enough if you don’t take it seriously.
I remember this cover always catching my attention at Blockbuster on Friday nights as a kid:
I finally rented it and it was way too difficult unfortunately.
Beat Warriors of Fate (Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle version) a few days ago.
Also, I’ve just found out that there’s a special ending if you beat the game with one credit (like that’s ever gonna happen):
Finished Valis IV on the PC Engine today. This is a very different game compared to the SFC version.
Got my arcade stick working with all DB9 systems like SMS, Genesis, Amiga, C64, Atari etc… and my initial test run was Scramble Spirits for the Master System, because that’s the cart that happened to be in there.
Pretty fun little shooter, and I ended up sitting there and competing it. One continue though, will have to go back and 1CC later.
Played some MAME with a friend this weekend at a LAN party that another friend hosts a couple times a year.
We ended up playing through Golden Axe and Sunset Riders. Not 1cc though. I didn’t get a shot of Golden Axe unfortunately.
Finished and 100%'d Banjo Tooie for the first time. Took me way too long as the first game is one of my favorites. I finished about 70-80% of it back in 2013 but I started it up again this year and got everything and saw the final sequence for the first time. First game is still slightly better for me though, but I love this game.
Sounds like fun!
Little bit of an unusual one!
Portal… For the Commodore 64! It’s a really competent little game! You use WASD to move, E to Use, and the mouse to shoot your blue/orange portals. There are only 20 levels, so it’s quite short, but it’s a really fun little experience.
The ending music is sublime.
It also emulates really well if anyone wants to check it out .
