(Retro) What have you been playing this week? Vol.2

[wakka]

I finished Super Mario Sunshine at the weekend.

Just the minimum viable product pretty much, I didn't get all 120 Shines or anything.

I kind of came into the game pretty negatively. The controls aren't as on point and precise as other entries, there's a bunch of frustrating objectives, Yoshi is a sham of a creature who makes everything he's involved with a thousand times more difficult, and the shine (ho ho) has really come off the cleaning of paint motif now that it's now longer revolutionary graphical technology.

But here's the thing - the more I played, the more the game turned my opinion around. Yes, it's the weakest of the mainline 3D Mario games. Yes, it's unpolished, and yes, it feels a bit unfinished in places.

But it's still a mainline 3D Mario and by God that means it's still more fun to this day than 99% of other games out there.

There are some terrific bits of level design, and I actually felt like some of the later stages were some of the best. In particular there is a 'Find the 8 red coins' level - usually the most uninteresting objective - on Pianta Village that had some brilliantly creative hiding places. It was a wonderful level, a real consummation of the central 3D Mario concept that each level should be a playground, rather than an assault course.

Speaking of assault courses, I must give mention to the 'Secret of...' levels, where you're stripped of the FLUDD and given an abstract platforming challenge. These are great and pitched very well in difficulty. Thank goodness they give you 1UP mushrooms on them though, because it would have been infuriating to keep finding my way back to their entrances after dying repeatedly.

I love the setting, too. It feels unique to me in that it has this single cohesive setting. I don't recall any other Mario game really having that. It's a very cool idea. Even Bowser's on holiday - you fight him in a hot tub that he's relaxing in, and he complains that you're ruining his vacation! What a fun idea.

It also hews away from the traditional platforming settings. Lava world, jungle world, and of course as legally mandated for all platform games, slippy slidey ice world. You won't find them here. The hotel level in particular I thought was very interesting, a spin on the traditional Mario ghost houses that still feels fresh in 2021. It gave me Gregory Horror Show vibes a little bit.

Anyway, I'm rambling. It's a lot of fun. Well worth playing.

[Atticus]

You definitely made me want to give Sunshine another go there [MENTION=5490]wakka[/MENTION]. I've tried it a couple of times over the years but it never got hold of me. Thinking back I think it's the tedious navigation of the hub world that made it feel like a chore (might not have helped playing the Japanese version). I do have fond memories of those harbour-fresh settings though.

[wakka]

I have two tips for you. Firstly, I would just focus on the 8 core Shine objectives within each level, and not bother too much with the stuff in the hub world. Most of the hidden shines and blue coins there I found a chore, and ended up ignoring most of them. In fact sack off the blue coins entirely, they're only of interest if seeking 100% completion.

Secondly, I struggled with navigating the world at first. It felt slower and more cumbersome than other Mario games. But by diving with B and then jumping with A, you can move forwards quickly. You can also spray water ahead of you while running, then jump onto it with B and slide quickly on your belly like a Slip 'n' Slide.

Using both of those in concert you can get around much more quickly and it's much more satisfying (a bit like when you master Cappy in Odyssey, although not as good as that).

One other thing - all stages are not made equal in the game. Ricco Harbour, Sirena Beach and Noki Bay were the highlights for me, so maybe focus on those first. Might even be worth looking up a guide on opening those levels up just to get out of the hub faster.

[randombs]

Timesplitters 2 (Xbox BC)

I bought this after MS added it to their BC and was super excited to play it.

Unfortunately, it’s super sensitive and I’m just not enjoying the aiming. It doesn’t have any sensitivity options I can see.

I didn’t have this trouble playing it on PCSX2 but I doubt anything will be done about this Xbox version.

Such a shame

[fallenangle]

The aiming in TS2 was a major problem which was addressed in Timesplitters: Future Perfect. For some reason TS2 they used an extra 'wrist' articulation for most, not all, weapons which makes things like circle strafing and use of a sniper rifle in particular stupidly hard because you're fighting the spring loading on the right stick. Just a little too much left or right pressure and the weapon flicks outwards or inwards depending on your movement direction.

With pistols/single handed weapons the extra articulation sort of make sense in terms of realism but when applied to two handed weapons, like the sniper rifle, it makes no sense at all. There's a challenge task to pop water-melons carried by monkeys with the sniper rifle and that extra articulation just makes it bonkers tough to do and quickly sucks the fun out of the challenge.

TS2 is a much harder game than Future Perfect to get the Gold let alone the Platinum arcade mission awards and much of that difficulty is because of this control issue.

By complete coincidence yesterday I actually started replaying the Story mode of Xbox Timesplitters: Future Perfect for the first time in at least 10 years. I play several sessions of the Arcade mode very regularly most weeks so my main profile play time is measured in days not hours but I think I've only replayed the Story mode twice since my first run through.

[chopemon]

I put Code Vein into my PS5 to install (always on the hunt for a Japanese 6/10 that is actually a secret banger) and fired up Ikaruga while I waited for the install. Spent all night on that instead. Been ages since I properly sat with Ikaruga and had a wonderful time. Set it to no continues and loved pushing forward getting a bit further each new game. I love shooters but I'm not good at them and Ikaruga is such a treat to look at and play.

[wakka]

Just finished GTA III. The OG PC game, rebuilt via re3 to support 4K resolution and a couple of other niceties like instant restarting of missions upon failure, plus a freecam mapped to the right stick and a map in the start menu.

It held up much, much better than I thought it would. In many ways it's the progenitor of the design of so many of the biggest blockbusters now, and I thought it might feel too basic now. After all, the novelty of exploring an open world in 3D has well and truly worn off in 2021.

But to my surprise, it's still a hell of a lot of fun. In fact, it captured my imagination so much that I've been playing it pretty much non-stop every chance I get.

I'm not sure how long it's taken me to beat it, but according to HLTB, probably somewhere between 15 and 25 hours. It flew by - there's something about the short, punchy missions, the zippy handling and the compact map that make this still eminently playable.

The biggest issue that the game has is the combat. It wasn't great then, and it's downright poor by today's standards. You basically need to do everything you can to avoid an all-out firefight - whether that's sniping enemies from a distance, ramraiding them in a vehicle, or lobbing enough grenades before you enter an area that most of them will be wiped out by the time you get in there.

The flipside of this is that they absolutely nailed the handling of the cars. Since you probably spend somewhere around 90% of your in-game time driving, this is clearly where they devoted much of their time, and it was well worth it. The cars are just twitchy enough, the roads just wide enough and the traffic just thin enough that with practise you can dodge and weave in the fastest vehicles from one side of the map to the other. It's hugely satisfying.

Special mention to the map design also. While GTA III was impactful in large part because we simply hadn't had anything quite like it before, it was also quite simply well executed. The map is very small by today's standards, but it's always fun to navigate. Because it's more compact, you really get to know it, too - you're not just staring at the minimap the entire time, following a dotted line. You actually learn where stuff is and navigate there by memory.

I rate it. Tons of fun to play to this day.

Looking forward to replaying Vice City soon, although I think I'll be taking a break from GTA first - I've OD'd in the past week or so!

[Hirst]

The thing I'll always love about GTA3 is that it gives you the task to do, but (within limits) it lets you complete it however you like. I hated that the subsequent games made the missions more and more linear in order that it could try to tell a very exact story and have it so players were all broadly having the same experience. I wish they'd bring it back to that. None of this "get back on the motorbike because otherwise OG Loc won't be able to have his bit of dialogue that relies on you being on a motorbike".

[wakka]

Totally agree. Especially when the complexity of the missions ramps up in the last few levels, you actually need to be quite creative and think laterally about how you could beat it. And when you do, you know that was just one way of doing it, not the only way. I really love that about it.

[randombs]

The aiming in TS2 was a major problem which was addressed in Timesplitters: Future Perfect. For some reason TS2 they used an extra 'wrist' articulation for most, not all, weapons which makes things like circle strafing and use of a sniper rifle in particular stupidly hard because you're fighting the spring loading on the right stick. Just a little too much left or right pressure and the weapon flicks outwards or inwards depending on your movement direction.

Thanks! Good to know the game is just like that(or is it??). I’ll just try and get used to it or let the auto aim do its thang

[chopemon]

Cursing the fact that I'm back at work on Monday morning and not playing The World Ends With You instead. A few hours in and loving it. Playing the DS version and the touchscreen controls for Neku aren't great and not being able to consistently activate specific attacks because it gets confused is frustrating. Now I'm a few hours in and getting bombarded with fewer tutorials, I can properly soak in it and experiment with different pins and food etc. Great game.

[fallenangle]

Finished the Story mode of Xbox Timesplitters: Future Perfect - really enjoyed the replay. On HARD a decent challenge but doable ie. not frustratingly, unfairly tough, at least not for any reasonably experienced FPS player. Good script and voice acting too. Really nothing to dislike and a lot to like.

There are the Challenges and Arcade modes to redo as well. Also multi-player for those interested too.

Still a great, fun game to play.

[fuse]

Been playing Aria of Sorrow via the Castlevania Advance Collection by M2. Don't think I've revisited it since I played it first time around on the GBA version's release, but it's still excellent and the port is lovely too. I'd kind of forgotten that it's not that long - about 5/6 hours - which is very welcome. Lots of classic CV visuals with some neat effects and bosses (Balore being a particular highlight), but I think I forgot that some of the music is... not up to usual series highs.

[wakka]

Continuing my recent retro action, I spent some of the weekend playing Resi Code Veronica.

My history with this is that I have never properly played it, merely dabbled at the very beginning many years ago. But I love old school Resi and was enchanted over the last couple of years by the RE2 and RE3 remakes, and had had CV at the back of my mind as one I hadn't yet explored.

The complete 'X' version of the game on Dreamcast has now received a fan hack to English language, which was released earlier this year, so that provided the impetus to finally give it a go, as this is considered pretty definitive (and superior to the PS3/360 HD rerelease).

And...it's great! I'm really enjoying this entry. You can fully see how this is the true RE3 and that Nemesis is almost more of an expansion package for 2. It feels much denser and more satisfyingly complex. They were really in their stride with the classic item puzzles by this point. There is something for me so infinitely umami about getting item A which unlocks item D which you can combine with item C to get item B (which allows you get item E). Love that ****.

In terms of combat and controls it's a mixed one. On the one hand it's got the classic tank controls, but on the other it relinquishes pre-rendered backgrounds, so there is some additional dynamism in the camera. It's an odd duck, although it all works well enough. The combat is strangely enjoyable, stilted though it is. Although shooting the bats with any degree of accuracy is damn near impossible. They are evil ammo thieves.

I'm playing through an emulator at ~4K, which makes everything look ultra pin sharp, which is nice. It's sort of like using the ultimate VGA cable. But one thing I would say on the visuals side is that the game can be a little plain in places. The opening segment of the prison, in particular, is a very brown and uninteresting environment.

So while I like the real time backgrounds for the additional camera movement, I'm not sure if I wouldn't have preferred something more intricate and pre-rendered for the room backdrops in places. It also makes me feel the game is an absolutely prime candidate for the REmake treatment. Honestly, that could be something really special if real care was taken to reimagine how the environments might look.

So, very enjoyable. I've just finished disc 1 and am now proceeding into the second environment of the game. Looking forward to playing more.

[randombs]

Nice! I started RE:CV a few weeks back on my day off but haven’t been back(it’s always been my RE curse to play one of them for a bit, stop halfway through, forget everything and never finish).

I’m in Halo fever mode trying to play through Halo 5 before Infinite hits next week but I do want to get back into CV because it was great fun remembering cutscenes and stuff.

“I have no idea what you’re babbling about!”