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

[randombs]

Paperboy 2 (MD)

It’s a perfect game for winding down at night because it’s slow-paced and fun. However, it has that one-more-go factor which makes it less than ideal for winding down at night

[Anpanman]

Currently enjoying Blazing Star on PSP emulating a Neo Geo.

[Colin]

I've been trying my hardest to fight through Gitaroo Man Lives on PSP, but don't know if I have the reflexes to be able to see everything the game has to offer. Which would be a shame as the tunes have been great, but I knew I was in for a challenge when just beating the first two stages took me more attempts than I'd probably like to mention. I'll keep plugging away though!

[Baseley09]

New found appreciation of Golden Axe III. Seeing it badly reviews in Gamefan when it came out has tarnished my opinion, and the odd times I've put it on over the years seemed dated and the graphics bland....still true to a point but play a little further and its as good as any other home Golden Axe out there, some of the music is superb later on, don't let anyone tell you it's crap, it's excellent

[Ghost]

Just finished off Super Mario Advanced and started playing Pokémon Fire Red, the game has lost none of its charm or addictiveness, ended up playing for an hour straight and only stopped because my pocket’s battery ran out.

[Hirst]

I've been messing around with a Game Gear that my missus gave me to clean and generally test. The machine is in great working order and has had all the capacitors done, but I've needed to play games to make sure it all works alright. It's a tough job, but...

By sheer chance, the first cartridge I had to hand was Psychic World, a cut down port of an MSX2 game (Psycho World at that point) developed by Hertz and one of their few original games before the company moved onto handling ports. The GG version wasn't their work though, it was ported by Sanritsu because one of the developers there was a big fan of the MSX2 version and approached them directly.

It's a weird little game, an action platformer where you play as a girl with ESP and equip different types of powers to defeat enemies. It feels a little bit like Wonderboy in Monster Land albeit more linear and simplified, it's quite well presented with nice artwork and little opening cinemas to the stages. It's a bit clunky sometimes but it's been a pleasant game so far. It's made me interested to see what the MSX2 version is like, as the GG one has a lot of cutbacks in terms of stages and level design.

[fallenangle]

Just started American McGee's Scrapland on the original Xbox. Definitely no 'hidden gem'.

Not awful, just mediocre and charmless. Given the reviews at the time say pretty much the same I don't think I can be bothered any more with it.

EDIT

Having given up on Scrapland I was looking for something very different in my large unplayed library and I decided to have a go at PS2 Naval Ops: Commander.

Its a sort of naval equivalent of Ace Combat complete with fake nations at war with one another and, eventually, a mix of conventional and, later sci-fi weaponry and other equipment.

Its effectively the second game in the Naval Ops: Warship Gunner series. I'd played the first a long time ago and the NTSC only third game: Warship Gunner 2 later as well, one of the few PS2 NTSC games I've imported. But I've been saving this as they'd made some gameplay changes which were not well received by some fans of the other two games.

Quite enjoying it but its less involving than the other two because of those gameplay changes: essentially a swap from a ship level third and first person view to a more RTS, angled down 'god' view. That often just does not work very well because identifying your ship and your allies (over whom you have some, limited, squad control) in the melee of a fight involving more than a dozen units is sometimes difficult.

Where the gameplay does succeed, like the two others, is in the optional ship building element involved. You can buy an off the peg ship but you're missing out on the best part of the game if you do.

The idea is to custom build a ship from parts you've salvaged or bought and pimp it out to become the most dangerous ship in the fleet. There are all sorts of things which affect the performance of your ship. Just like the garage element of games like Gran Turismo or Forza, criteria you have to meet which controls your available choices. Its all about balancing Defence, Firepower and Speed.

Whilst the GUI is a bit clunky it works well enough and this inspirational idea raises the game and series in general well above where it would be if it hadn't been included.

[Cepp]

Started Pokemon Silver. I usually go for a fire type starter but Tododile has the best looking evolutions so I picked him.

I played Red and Yellow so many times back in the day I burnt myself out and never tried gen 2. Enjoying it so far.

[wakka]

Gen 2 blew my nuts off back in the day. Although I remember being disappointed by the Pokégear. Magazines hyped that up way too much and it didn't do a whole lot.

It's one of the many GB and GBA games that I'd like to play but I'm holding off on until I receive my Analogue Pocket (sometime around first of never).

[Cepp]

I was the same way, could have played it on my SP but help off. Well worth the wait

-edit-
The battery's dead, lost my save ;_;

[CMcK]

The MiSTer project just keeps on giving. Battle Barkraid is every bit as good as I remember it being.

[dataDave]

I've been trying my hardest to fight through Gitaroo Man Lives on PSP, but don't know if I have the reflexes to be able to see everything the game has to offer. Which would be a shame as the tunes have been great, but I knew I was in for a challenge when just beating the first two stages took me more attempts than I'd probably like to mention. I'll keep plugging away though!

The drum and bass track where you only have to use the buttons is a real spike. I remember it being plain sailing after that.

It’s massively cut down compared to the PS2 version. That was rock.

[Atticus]

A change of TV in our snug halted my time with Silent Hill 2 unfortunately so my PS2 kicks are now coming from my PS3 ... and what better game to revisit than the masterpiece that is Manhunt. This harks back to the days when a game could come along and actually surprise you. It wasn't even on my radar when it first came out and a mate said I needed to come over and see it. The small amount I saw/played was the chapter in the zoo where I found myself stalking and running and hiding and generally having a lot of fun. Couldn't believe how cinematic the game was. Felt just like a Walter Hill film or Bronx Warriors or something. I purposefully didn't see too much and bought my own copy. The whole game just blew my mind ... the stealth, the atmosphere in Carcer City, the grisly set-up and violence ... all so tight and perfectly formed. Then the unexpected flip of the script that tooled you up with firepower and pulled you out of the shadows.

The level of violence was always going to shine a light on it for the wrong reasons but it is a shame because it's so much more that a Thrill Kill style release. Playing it again the game still looks amazing. The atmosphere is just as I remember. The PS3 makes it look good enough on a modern tv without robbing any of the grain and grime. Still a joy to play too ... if only it had full camera control on that right analogue stick ... but that might make it a little too comfy.

[fallenangle]

Still on PS2 Naval Ops: Commander - very repetitive and the annoying variable difficulty and questionable gameplay decisions when going for the highest 'S' rank are other negatives. I've also maxed out the 'Tech' tree (paid for research which gives you new tech; similar in gameplay concept to a typical RTS) long before I've even finished the game.

But in small doses it is it good fun and, as said previously, like the others in the series its USP is the great idea of being able to design your own ship from those 'captured', researched, bought or awarded parts.

[QualityChimp]

Still trying to figure out why the buttons aren't right on my Miyoo Mini after upgrading to Onion OS, but I tested it with Rolling Thunder and ended up getting really distracted. I love that game.