Post a screenshot of the retro game you just finished!

1st time finally beating it, as a non-shuriken run as well.

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Finally reached an ending on Umihara Kawase Shun (second edition). Hadn’t realised until now that there’s an easier exit after stage 29 which takes you to stage 30, and then the end.

Before I kept losing my lives reaching the other exit, which I’m still not quite good enough to pull off. You’ve got to pull down a block, then swing up and run past before the block returns to its original position.

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Well done indeed.

My SNES version, with guidebooks and playthrough DVD, is a cherished possession.

Thank you! I’m going to go for the later exits later, probably on the DS port when I get round to picking it up, or the PC version which introduced continues as an unlockable.

Do you happen to have any photos of the guidebooks and DVD for the first game? I bet they have some fascinating illustrations of the control mechanisms!

They’re deep in storage but I’ll try to get them out over Christmas.

According to my Gmail archive, I bought the “Umihara Kawase Soundtrack CD + Super Play DVD” set pretty much exactly 10 years ago, December 2008. The for sale thread is still online. More info at http://kawasefan.net/umihara-kawase-media

Sadly my purchase of the guidebook and SNES and PS1 games pre-date Gmail so my records no longer exist.


Just finished smb3 super quickly on the switch. It was my first time using the Nintendo classics feature that comes with Nintendo Online so I figured I might as well go with playing my fav game on the service.

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Great game. It’s amazing how hard that game seemed to me as a kid and how easy it is for me now. People who say that Mario games used to be harder on NES should really go back to this one and revisit it.

Having revisted them a lot over the years, I think the most challenging of the Mario games (other than Lost Levels and some poorly made portions of Sunshine) were actually the Galaxy games.

Revisiting them reveals some pretty tight platforming sections that gradually got harder throughout the experience. It was non of this “easy main game, difficult post game” stuff we’ve been getting since 3D Land. Galaxy games just had a statisfying difficulty curve throughout. I was actually surprised by that when recently replaying them.

Just played through Shock Troopers on CMVS. Fun game! Some awesome sprites!

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Congrats, I still need to play that game!

Me too. It looks so cool!

I remember Galaxy 2 being particularly brutal at times in the run up to the credits, especially so given the addition of the Comet coins. Do you think Galaxy 1 ramps up the difficulty evenly because of the relatively short length of its stars? I seem to remember always having a lot of choice as far as picking stars went, and the further into a particular level you got the harder it could be. Great games.

Thanks for the links! I’m guessing the $60 back then would be a lot dearer today, haha. I need to get round to seriously tackling the Super Famicom game. The bosses make my blood boil though! I love how Umihara Kawase Shun subverts that first tadpole boss fight in its stage 9.

Just got another ending in Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition: Floor 43. Like the best 2D platformers this game is not only all killer, no filler, but endlessly replayable. It’s those irresistible physics and controls putting the player first. They open up endless ways to approach every platform, or to create fun while doing so.

I also found some time to try and 1cc The Adventure of Little Ralph. The furthest I got was 4-1, but I am happy to have scored over 1 million points now. Going to have to practice playing those later levels…

I love how his ninja brassiere is all cracked up. Hard as nails game that I just started up again. And it’s amazing how the no shuriken mode feels like a completely different game.

Wish shinobi 3 had an official nonshuriken mode.

I consider Galaxy to have a near perfect difficulty curve for every gamer, especially if you just want to beat the game rather than get all the stars. Galaxy 2 is a touch less forgiving, but more satisfying to me personally.

Regardless, you can be stimulated and challenged prior to the end of those games even as a seasoned gamer. And that was great. The sheer absence of that in 3D World in particular was such a bummer for me.

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Same here. I felt a bit let down by 3D World, especially coming from 3D Land which I still return to every now and then.

The developers’ confidence in players being able to bop enemies in mid-air thanks to the 3D effect gave way to some fun and tricky level layouts. And the shorter stages meant those special worlds came by a lot sooner.

I was late to 3D Land due to its inconsistent framerate, which put me off enough for me to shelve it. A later 3DS firmware update increased graphical performance of all games so I went back to it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’ve definitely finished Galaxy. Not sure about Galaxy 2, I’d have to check my save. I really enjoyed 3D World and am sure I finished that. I put aside Odyssey, long story, but I fully intend to go back to that at some point soon.

The problem I have is that I’m drawn to collect all the stars, whilst I have more fun just racing through - the two playing a constant tug of war in my psyche.

Finished Lucifer Ring, a Japan-only PS1 best-em-up. Pretty mindless game overall, but I dug the low poly visuals. You can unlock something with a 2nd playthrough, but the game doesn’t warrant it.

I really enjoyed 3D Land. Maybe it was the pickup and play aspect of it that made it appealing. Galaxy 1 & 2, I felt like I had to force myself to finish them. Gorgeous games with amazing soundtracks, but just couldn’t get into them. I really really need to be in the mood for a Mario game.

I don’t remember this. :thinking: