(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[Cauterize]

got space station silicon valley (gameboy) today, not a clue what im supposed to do though, it said get a energy bar and a sheep, so i did both but it didn't want to do much else?

Haha, oh the memories! I remember saving up pocket money to buy a new GBC game and heading down to the shops to choose one. Unfortunately my silly child self decided this was the game for me...
I have vague memories of nearly getting Dragon Warrior Monsters which would have been a very wise move.

What a waste... I traded it in for another game within a week if i remember correctly.

[Leon Retro]

I'm with you on this one. I'v ranted about it on here before. Rayman is one of a breed of really ****ty attempts to making 'mascot characters' and I really would rather stick my honey coated cock in a Beehive than have to see him and his charmless fizzog near any of my consoles.

...and that goes for Croc to.

Rayman does have a few moments of graphical niceness - but.. I fail to understand why it was such a big hit - and sold well for years.

Sony, back then.. said 2D was dead. It's very ironic that Rayman( a very simple 2D platformer ) happens to be one of the best selling PS1 games.

I remember playing it.. and thinking "The visuals are nice" .. but then the game became boring; like one of those lame Zool type Amiga platformers.

I'd much rather play Mr Nutz, which is also a simple, nothing amazing platformer, but.. at least I enjoy it.

[Leon Retro]

Keio Flying Squadron - click to visit blog post.

An extremely nice blog. You've got the colour scheme and feel just right. It has that relaxing cool Japanese feel to it; rather than being in-ya-face and over-the-top. Your pics are great - as are your interesting musings.

I can't agree about the Neo Pocket Colour, though , as it was a major disappointment to me. ... No backlight, weak visuals that lack colour and detail, and the actual machine feels cheap. Why the visuals couldn't have been at least MegaDrive quality is a mystery I'll never know. I expected much more from SNK.

[samanosuke]

Keio Flying Squadron - click to visit blog post.

Nice blog but what no 60hz switch? It's a piece o' piss to fit, much like the MD1, with no chip legs to lift unlike the MD2. The only problem I had was where to put the switch, so I just bored out the little hole at the back using an engineers' set of files. I also widened the cart slot. Apologies for the terrible state of my MultiMega:

http://www.mypicx.com/02102009/Multimega_Mods/

Edit: By the way, can you guess which game I've been playing lately? I only just completed it for the first time last night.

[elektronhjarnan]

I've been trying to make sense of the two Transformers games for the C64. The British one (developed by Denton Designs, published by Ocean) seemed daunting at first, but once I'd managed to collect the four pieces of the Energon cube and realised that it just loops endlessly with the same incredibly boring level design, I lost interest.

The American take - Battle to Save the Earth (designed by David Crane, published by Activision) was more intriguing. It features an extremely silly plot with giant hippos and plutonium-powered dinosaurs, but appeared to be a nice (if basic) mix of real-time strategy and shoot-'em-up. Alas, that giant hippo proved to be my undoing. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get past it. The Decepticons win every time. A lost opportunity, it seems.

[egparadigm]

Just been playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the Master System after modding my console. Having never played on a Master System before, it reminds me a lot of a GameBoy game in terms of graphics and sound; particularly Mario Land 1.

The game can be a little harsh at points. The second boss who kills you with just one touch of his fireballs; and the Jungle zone especially. There's a level in the Jungle zone where you die if you hit the bottom of the screen. Whilst this is quite usual in the game, it seems unfair in a situation where you are climbing vertically. If you jump up a little bit you can take the ground out from under your own feet.

I reckon I can beat the game if I learn the levels; that's if I can be bothered.

I've also been having a stab at Chuck Rock. I'm up to the third area and it's starting to get a bit hectic with all the enemies. Can be difficult thanks to what seem like weak attacks (enemies need to get quite close before you can hit them).

Also had a go at Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle again. It really is a beatiful game. Not really my thing, though, so I'm not sure if I'll play much more.

I think I'm beginning to see the benefit of reading FAQs. I really like experiencing this stuff, but I'm often a bit crap at retro games or don't have the patience for them. This tactic helped me get into The Terminator.

[teenagewasteland]

Have just picked up R-type for the first time. I'm carp lol. :P

[ShadowDancer]

Been playing Son Son II on PC-Engine last 2 weeks, up to the last stage, can't quite beat it yet. Must be one of the best action platformers of all time, fantastic.

[JazzFunk]

Wow, forgot this thread even existed, good to see it resurface.

Been playing Castlevania: Circle Of The Moon on GBA, via my Lite. Not sure if a 2001 GBA game counts as retro (???) but it's the most retro Castlevania I've played in recent times (thank god I didn't buy the stunning-looking Order of Ecclesia a few weeks back!)

Graphics look well undernourished compared to later GBA incarnations, and are positively anorexic compared to the DS ones, looking a bit like a latter-day Master System/early MD game (so far) with grainy sprites and slightly lacking backgrounds, but the gameplay is - again - bewilderingly addictive, and I know I'll play it for days, conquer it to the very death.

[BigDeadFreak]

I've been playing Lunar: the Silver Star on the Mega CD thanks to a Chaoticjelly multi bios chip.

I like it but I'm not quite as blown away as I hoped I'd be. The graphics are very average as are the sound effects although the music is pretty good. the cut scenes are nice but I just wish there were more of them.

As for actual gameplay the battles are pretty poor. There is almost no challenge at all and few, if any, tactics are required. Basically you can sleep walk through them all.

I know Lunar is supposed to be all about the characters and characterisation and I was really getting into this aspect of it but then I didn't play it for a couple of days and when I went back to it it just wasn't the same. I'll still keep playing it because it's not a bad game but I feel as though I'm missing out.

[egparadigm]

I've given Chuck Rock a good go now. I can't quite bring myself to attempt the whole game from beginning to end, but I managed to complete each stage without getting the game over screen (I used a cheat code to select levels). Managed to develop some effective strategies against the harder bosses, but you have to be very disciplined to defeat them. Especially the underwater baddie.

It does feel to a certain extent that the developers went out of their way to put in as many obstacles to completion as they could muster. Although, having spent some time with it I think I could just about master it. You have to go very slow and methodically. The underwater and ice levels made this particularly difficult, though, with all the slipping and sliding around.

I still wish the attacks had a little more reach...

Kinda given up on Sonic now, after reaching the Labyrinth. Oh, and there was a power cut during my last attempt.

[teenagewasteland]

Playing Ranger X and Super Hang On on the MD. I had them both as a kid and it was our first console. I never was very good at SHO lol. I quite like Ranger X as well.

[samanosuke]

Chrono Trigger for the SNES. Got a bit stuck in the "Tata and the Frog" scenario and had to use GameFAQs though.

[Skull Commander]

I've been playing the Dungeons and Dragons collection on the Saturn. Despite playing scrolling fighters as long as I can remember this one is tough. I know it was a coin op but even so, it's solid. I did play it in the arcade many years ago, but only the once so I don't remember it all that well.

The RPG elements in it are a nice additon, and the second game in the pack (Shadows Over Mystara) is very acomplished in it's combat. The japanese can be a pain in trying to figure out what every spell and item does, but I'm slowly figuring it out.

I'm guessing Capcom lost the licence to this, as I can't think of any other reason why this game has been lost in the mists of time.

[egparadigm]

Finished Sonic on MS yesterday. Really enjoyed this one. You really have to grind away with platformers of this ilk, learning the level layouts and finding safe spots/attack patterns with the bosses. It can be very demoralising when you've made it all the way up to the final boss with nary a life lost and keep dying the same way each time.

It's a nice little game; nothing like Sonic on the MD, though – much slower and more considered. Prefer it that way, TBH. I think it's only the third or fourth 2D platformer I've actually completed. The others being Mario Land and Ristar; Chuck Rock if that counts.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I've been playing Super Shinobi and a chinese pirate copy of Shadow Dancer. The latter is much more impressive, but I've been trying to get to the random unlicensed bosses like Terminator and Spidey in the former. Unfortunately, the double jump is needlessly difficult to pull off. I can't count the number of times I've fallen to my death on stage 2-1.