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

[Leon Retro]

Just got the CDI out of the loft. Finished Mutant Rampage, it clocked in at well over 3 hours

That's a really long time for a beat 'em up. Looks like one of the better CD-i games.

Finally I tried out Dark Castle. Dark Castle is an absolute chode, don’t play it.

A truly terrible game on all the systems it plagued.

[phillv85]

Yeah Mutant Rampage is the best CDI exclusive I’ve played (not saying much). It’s actually a reasonably good beat ‘em up. It has a save feature, so you can come back to it at least.

Dark Castle is one of the worst games I think I’ve ever played. Makes Double Dragon 3 on the MD look like Streets of Rage.

[Cepp]

Stranglehold is amazing but man, the FOV gives me a headache, even with a mod installed to increase it.

Balls to the wall action but very claustrophobic.

[fallenangle]

Tomb Raider 1 again but this time on an original Xbox thanks to OpenLara.

Tomb Raider 2 & 3 have also been ported but in their present state many problems and barely playable beyond the first level of either.

[Cepp]

Booted up Quake II to play through it for the first time. Cranked the volume up for that beast soundtrack.

[CAPCOM]

Streetfighter Alpha 3 Arcade Version and X-Men Children of the Atom Arcade Version

[CMcK]

Been on a bit of a MVS kick this week. Thought I’d try games I haven’t really looked at before. Played Zupapa which has a kind of Snow Bros. vibe. Not bad. Also tried Zed Blade how did I miss this before? It’s a fairly standard hori shmup with a total 90s banging techno soundtrack. Really enjoyed it. Last up was Eight Man, now this really does epitomize early 90s arcade games. It has that colorful arcade aesthetic with big sprites and loads of parallax. Ok it’s no Final Fight but offers variety between levels with different styles like the forced scrolling levels to break up the normal fighting action. Bit of a hidden gem IMHO.

[Cepp]

Quake II is ridiculous with how good it is. Must have been mind blowing when it came out. My FPS experience was basically SNES DOOM > Goldeneye > Half Life and although I played a ton of games that used the Quake II engine after that, I never put more than 5 minutes into the actual game until now.

[Cepp]

Put some time into Rollcage Redux which is a modern port of the first game by one of the old devs. It looks like they also had a hand in GRIP which is a fantastic spiritual successor.

http://www.codemonkey.me.uk/rollcage_redux.php

Making my way through the leagues on Easy (which is the default difficulty) wasn't too bad but the next step up is Hard and the AI just slaps me around the track.

[wakka]

I've been playing Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father on SCUMMVM.

Never played a Gabriel Knight before, but I've played a few points and clicks here and there over the years.

There's a lot to like here. The setting and atmosphere are excellent, and the script and voice acting are strong and often quite funny.

It does have that problem I have with almost all point and clicks though, where the logic is just bizarre. I can see why so many of the most revered are humorous, like Monkey Island, because it's easier to fit the silliness of the gameplay into a world which is already quite off the wall.

In something that's supposedly more serious, like this, when it feels arbitrary, I find it disengaging. Sometimes I feel like I'm just trying items on people to get other items on people so I can use those items on something else, without any connection to the actual logic of the story. Other times, the actions fit together well and I feel like I'm working to crack the case.

But swapping a gift certificate for a hot dog to give to a breakdancing kid so he can crawl through some railings to get me a piece of paper that blew away from an artist's easel? It's vintage Sierra point and click action, but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense!

I'm using a guide when I get stuck for that reason.

All that said, I am enjoying it though. It's very relaxing to play, and a pleasant story to follow

[phillv85]

The wife and I have been playing some Super Famicom 2 player Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss in head to head Tetris mode. We're quite evenly matched so it makes for some fun (and sweary) games.

[CAPCOM]

Sonic - Megadrive, still genius and SF Alpha 2 coin op and Carrier Airwing old favourites... this week.

[phillv85]

Bit of 3rd Strike and Espgaluda 2.

[Leon Retro]

The wife and I have been playing some Super Famicom 2 player Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss in head to head Tetris mode. We're quite evenly matched so it makes for some fun (and sweary) games.

Bombliss is such a great Tetris variant -- I used to play it all the time with friends and family back in the '90s.

Bit of 3rd Strike and Espgaluda 2.

Feel jealous....

[samanosuke]

Bit of 3rd Strike and Espgaluda 2.

Fancy a game on Fightcade 2 some time?