(Retro) What have you been playing this week?

[Leon Retro]

It is indeed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpcegDx5EBA

I think it's actually "tah-ih-toh", if you want to get really picky, but "tyto" is a better approximation than "tayto" anyway.

I hear so many different pronunciations for Taito, Ubisoft, Sega, Sony, it does my head in.

I've got used to saying Tayto - after years of saying Tyto, so I'm sticking with the new one. Or maybe I'll change back?

[Goemon]

Yep, you were correct originally with tyto (tie-to)
I had a Japanese friend who I was speaking to and when I said Tayto he looked at me blankly and then said "Ah you mean Tyto".

It's the whole Ninja Gay-den Gy-den thing again. I think this is a whole JPN/western thing.

This happens quite a lot...

For instance Goemon is pronounced Goy-mon, not Go-mon or Go-ee-mon as people normally say.

I did actually think about starting a specific thread about this in general gaming as there are loads of things I'm not sure how to pronounce

[Wil]

For instance Goemon is pronounced Goy-mon, not Go-mon or Go-ee-mon as people normally say.

You mean it's not GEO-MAN!

Damn those early 90s classified ads in C&VG

[elektronhjarnan]

It's the whole Ninja Gay-den Gy-den thing again. I think this is a whole JPN/western thing.

This happens quite a lot...

More of a JPN/English thing, I think... the "normal" English pronounciation of vowels (if there is such a thing, it's hardly a language known for its concise orthography ) differs a fair bit from the intended pronounciation of romanised japanese.

Ask a native German speaker though and you'd probably get pronounciations that are quite close to the Japanese ones, although most likely with some stressed syllables where there shouldn't actually be any.

[Leon Retro]

Marry o - or Mar rio ?

The Americans love saying "Mar rio!" ... I even started saying it like that.

I don't mind what people say - as long as it's close. My bloody name gets pronounced by some people as "Lay on" ... which isn't what I like, it's "Lee on
"

I did see an episode of 'Grumpy Old Men' and some guy was moaning about this sort of thing. He convinced me that you should pronounce things as they would be in said your language, because it makes sense. Otherwise, you get all sorts of headaches.

News presenters are hilarious - the way they change their accent to pronounce a foreign name: such as turning french to say the french prime minster's name. Madness.

[Champloo]

I've been playing through Actraiser. I have to admit to being stuck on the last string of bosses. I really like the sim bits (did they take them out of the sequel?), and the action elements are decent enough.

I've also been playing DoReMi Fantasy on the SFC today. It's immense to say the least. Not my first time through, but it's been a few years since the last, so it feels fresh. One of the prettiest games on the console, and it controls perfectly.

[Leon Retro]

I've been playing through Actraiser. I have to admit to being stuck on the last string of bosses. I really like the sim bits (did they take them out of the sequel?), and the action elements are decent enough.

The sequel has a great start-up sequence - which makes you think the game is going to be great, but.. sadly it's rubbish.

The sprites are small, the action sluggish. There isn't a sim section; it's all action.

I was playing Actraiser the other day; the visuals and sound are still stunning. I bought the American version with my first SuperFamicom.

[egparadigm]

There's a lot of love for that game in retro magazines and such. I had a quick go once but couldn't work out what you were meant to be doing. On the platformy bits I just got stuck.

[Champloo]

The sequel has a great start-up sequence - which makes you think the game is going to be great, but.. sadly it's rubbish.

The sprites are small, the action sluggish. There isn't a sim section; it's all action.

I was playing Actraiser the other day; the visuals and sound are still stunning. I bought the American version with my first SuperFamicom.

Yeah, I haven't heard anything good about the sequel, which is a shame, as they could have made a great game by expanding on some of the better areas of the original.

[Leon Retro]

There's a lot of love for that game in retro magazines and such. I had a quick go once but couldn't work out what you were meant to be doing. On the platformy bits I just got stuck.

You start with the birds-eye bits. You do what your followers ask of you: basically killing monsters, burning trees etc...

When you accomplish those tasks, you descend from the clouds to a level and the action starts. The action sections are hack-'n-slash; so just run along killing and then the boss.

Once you complete the game - you have the option to just do the action bits.

Yeah, I haven't heard anything good about the sequel, which is a shame, as they could have made a great game by expanding on some of the better areas of the original.

Yep, it was madness to change things so drastically. The original was a hit - so it was stupid to change the formula and visual style.

They could have expanded the game - to add more depth. The visual style was great - and could have been even better with a few more frames of animation. A 16-24mb cartridge would have allowed for much more substance.

I remember hearing rumours of a third game for the Playstation, but sadly.. it never materialised.

[Champloo]

Yep, it was madness to change things so drastically. The original was a hit - so it was stupid to change the formula and visual style.

I assumed it would have sold badly, but obviously not. I guess it was an early release.

I still haven't got around to doing the last section.

->Open Spoiler<-

I got away with just spamming the same magic on all the bosses first time around, but obviously that doesn't work when you have to fight them all in a row.

[Leon Retro]

I assumed it would have sold badly, but obviously not. I guess it was an early release.

I still haven't got around to doing the last section.

->Open Spoiler<-

I got away with just spamming the same magic on all the bosses first time around, but obviously that doesn't work when you have to fight them all in a row.

There weren't many quality games for the system when Actraiser appeared on the scene - and with it's amazing visuals and sound, it was popular.

It probably didn't sell in huge numbers, due to the small user base at first, but.. it did become a respected title.

I haven't completed the game for a long long time. I have vague memories of the last section with the all the bosses. These day, with game guides on the net, you should be able to find the best advice to succeed.

[JazzFunk]

I remember playing through a fully-Jap ActRaiser in early '93 and didn't have that many probs with it, once I'd worked out what to do in the Sims-type bit. Great game, with a fab atmosphere and wonderful music - my only main problem I had with it was the stance of the main character, he always looked a bit skewiff and overly rigid. The sequel was appalling - craply designed levels, dull (yet detailed) graphics, a weak 'feel' with an atmosphere akin to dishwater. It was as bad as stuff done by US publishers of the time yet the intricate visuals seemed to blind people to its true level of mediocrity.

Anyways, I'm playing Wario Land 4 and it's bloody brilliant. I don't know if a 7-year old GBA game classifies as 'retro' but this feels like a golden age SNES game and the use of shiny, solid-looking purples and yellows is well-intoxicating.

[Leon Retro]

I remember playing through a fully-Jap ActRaiser in early '93 and didn't have that many probs with it, once I'd worked out what to do in the Sims-type bit. Great game, with a fab atmosphere and wonderful music - my only main problem I had with it was the stance of the main character, he always looked a bit skewiff and overly rigid. The sequel was appalling - craply designed levels, dull (yet detailed) graphics, a weak 'feel' with an atmosphere akin to dishwater. It was as bad as stuff done by US publishers of the time yet the intricate visuals seemed to blind people to its true level of mediocrity.

Anyways, I'm playing Wario Land 4 and it's bloody brilliant. I don't know if a 7-year old GBA game classifies as 'retro' but this feels like a golden age SNES game and the use of shiny, solid-looking purples and yellows is well-intoxicating.

Yeah.. the main sprite in Actraiser, whilst looking good, is very wooden. As I said, a sequel with the style of visuals, but better animation would have been good. The game is 8mb - and games soon went up to 16-24mb, then 32mb. 16mb would have been sufficent to enable a lot more substance in all areas.

The sequel is dire - despite the artists putting a lot of effort in. It's simply far too sluggish - and unsatisfying.

I think I played Wario4 once, I'm not sure. I buy the odd GBA title - so I'll look out for it, because I like platform games; and shiny snes style visuals are very enticing.

[Wil]

Actraiser 2 was designed by music maestro Yuzo Koshiro. Not good.