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

[samanosuke]

Set Galaxy Force II up on PS2 for 480p / 16:9 on a 50" Pioneer Plasma and life couldn't get any better really, unless I had the Hori Flight stick for this!! Immense living.

Just look at all them LDs <3

[Baseley09]

Paha picked up a lot of 188 discs few days back yes it's an obsession.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Kabuki Klash:

Quite enjoying this. Not heard of it before but seems a pretty competent fighter. Will try out some more characters this week to see if it offers anythign over the usueal Neo fighters.

Massively underrated Neo fighter. I remember when my local arcade got it in and in the year or so of them having it, I was the only person who could ever 1cc it, usually with a crowd of people watching me.


I've been on a MASSIVE retro kick this week. When I upgraded my phone, O2 gave me a Purecard pre-loaded with £100, so I've topped up my PSN account and bought the following retro titles.

Sunset Riders
Ordyne
Rod Land
Legend of Valkyrie
Vigilante
Capcom Arcade Stadium 1 & Game Pack 2

Been having so much fun with these. I totally forgot how unforgiving older games are! Long gone are the days of clocking Vigilante on one life.

I think the most enjoyable titles I've played so far though, are Carrier Airwing & Varth - Operation Thunderstorm on the Capcom arcade thing. For YEARS, I've wanted a proper console version of Carrier Airwing and as soon as I saw it was on there, the £7.79 for the bundle was a no brainer. Although I'm not quite sure I need ANOTHER version of Final Fight though!

Also played a few of the Fatal Fury titles, Magical Drop 3, Renegade & a bit of Metal Slug 3 - I'm still not a fan of the series.

[QualityChimp]

Been away in Scotland, so not been on my main consoles, but put the Miyoo Mini in my pocket and snuck in a few sessions on that.

I elbowed my way to victory on Double Dragon, but that last level is really cheap with the narrow ledges and attacking scenery.
It's loads shorter than I thought. I've rinsed the Game Boy version BITD, but enjoyed playing the arcade version. I might play DDII now!


Also played a looooad of Rolling Thunder, one of my faves. In the arcades, I'd probably only get as far as the second story, so persevered to get to the end, only to find it says "Story 1 completed, starting Story 2, level 1" and goes back to the first level with some extra scenery like cages and loads of the trickier enemies floating around.
Just love this game, such a vibe. That score is one of my fave game soundtracks. So funky and spyesque.
Love the graphics too, from the gun holster on Albatross to the behooded henchmen helpfully colour-coded so you know if they're armed or take multiple hits to the little touches on the levels like spinning fans, ventilation hatches and bits of peeling wallpaper showing the bricks underneath.


I was on a scrolling shooter high, so cracked open Shinobi and was surprised at how tough it is. I put loads of virtual credits in and dies in some stupid places, but it was fun to see some of the later levels I'd never experienced in the arcade. Graphics are much cruder than Rolling Thunder, though.


Was looking at the list of Data East arcade games and remembered Sly Spy, which is a real treat to play, especially if you're a Bond fan. You start off choosing your spy code then jumping out of a plane, shooting enemies as the skydive at you, finally seeing the ground approach and you pop open your Stars and Stripes parachute.
Some lovely graphical touches like the crumpled parachute on the next level, rocking up in an F40, Bad Dudes and Karnov posters and a load of interesting bosses.

[fuse]

Been playing Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Bad Dream. Was a little surprised by it at first - the story scenes are a little poor, and after picking a 'partner' character (I thought I was picking a main!) it's right into an action-platformer blend that feels a bit more combat focused than I'd expected given the license. Didn't take long though till the fighting mechanics won me round though - even just using basic combos it feels good, and ricocheting enemies off each other is even better. The partners and special moves add some more depth, and it gets pretty challenging pretty quick. I don't know how far in I am, but I am enjoying it.

Slight aside: I remember I played the Astro Boy game from Treasure years ago and liked it, and had read that this was something of a stepping stone towards that game. I finished it before but couldn't remember much of it, and after pulling up a video on YouTube to refresh myself I am reminded just how good that is, and... sadly how much more its going on than the Tiny Toons game has. Still, I'm going to carry on with it and see if I can finish that too.

[Baseley09]

Gun Frontier on Saturn, what a wierd one. It's certainly a vibe, on one hand you may think at times, of all the arcade titles why bring this home, in parts feels super early 90s jamma in an old fashioned way, even the music has that arcade tinnyness...tho some of the music is also fantastic, looks dated but then at times has some superb graphic flourishes and dare I say beautiful moments. Odd one, I dig it for sure but gives me mixed emotions.

[CMcK]

Had a hankering for some Arkanoid so fired up Arkanoid Live on the 360. Fine game with some tunes that sound uncannily similar to music in Rez. While I had the 360 also played a bit of Twin Tiger Shark and Bejeweled 2.

[Cepp]

Been concentrating on Flatout 2. I felt like I barely had control of my car at times with the speed of everything / debris / jumps / boosts and smashing into/being smashed into by the the CPU players. Really edge of your seat stuff with a banging soundtrack. Still looks good too.

[CMcK]

The Analogue Pocket has received a WonderSwan core. Obviously I was right onto Judgement Silver Sword. Looks and plays great on the Pocket.

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Booted up Neutopia on the PS3 PC Engine Archives. Great memories of that game as it was the HuCARD I got with my first PCE - a £5 car boot buy!

[wakka]

I just finished Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel on the GBC last night.

Overall, it's a good game. It's certainly an interesting title. I remember this coming out in 2000 and really wanting it, but for whatever reason I never got hold of a copy (probably distracted by the impending release of the PS2, or too absorbed in other games).

In retrospect, it's probably a good thing I didn't have it at the time - there's no way I would have been able to finish it back then. This game is pretty tough, and certainly harder than the PS1 entry.

Story-wise it represents an non-canon alternative to the storyline followed by MGS1 and everything that came after. Just as with MGS1, it follows directly on from the events of the earlier games at Outer Heaven, where Snake defeated Big Boss and destroyed Metal Gear. But instead of being set on Shadow Moses island, Ghost Babel sees Snake returning to Outer Heaven in central Africa, where (somewhat improbably) a stolen Metal Gear has once again been stored.

Although the story is completely different to MGS1, it shares a lot of DNA with it structurally, and of every MGS game, this is easily the one that's most similar to it. Over the course of around six hours of gameplay, you progress into and through a military base, avoiding guards and clashing with bosses who are members of a ragtag band of supernatural mercenaries from a mysterious group called 'Black Chamber'. Towards the end of the game, the game ramps up tension with the threat of a nuclear strike from the stolen Metal Gear, before you're inevitably asked to take it down.

There's also a ton of gameplay ideas drawn from the PS1 game. Alert and Evasion sequences are present and correct when a guard or camera spots you, and you get pretty much the same loadout in terms of weaponry and equipment - C4, Nikita missiles, night vision goggles and even cigarettes, although they're called 'Foggers' (but Snake is clearly smoking a fag when you use them). Somewhat surprising in a game rated E for Everyone, but then it also features a suicide by self immolation and plenty of swearing, so I suspect the censors at ESRB didn't actually bother to play this one.

My enjoyment of the game had peaks and troughs. It's much more puzzle oriented than the PS1 game. Combined with less than stellar signposting, it can be easy to get stuck. But in the meaty second act, the difficulty is well pitched, and I was really enjoying how much it was taxing me while making steady progress. There is a lengthy puzzle involving coloured cardboard boxes and conveyor belts that I thought was particularly engrossing.

The boss fights are generally pretty great, too. Each is a puzzle in its own right, and there's a particularly cool one with a boss who can see in the dark. You need to deploy both thermal and night vision goggles with good timing in the fight, plus track him as he camouflages in a kind of 'Three Card Monty' card-following type mechanic. Really innovative, and it shows how the designers really gave it their all to make this a great title in its own right, rather than simply chopping down the PS1 game to something manageable for 8 bit.

Towards the end they aim to ramp up the challenge, but it becomes more frustrating than fun in some places. Nikita missiles in particular are way over-used - there are a whole bunch of sequences that are a direct lift from the bit in MGS1 when you fly the missile over the electrified floor to blow up the generator, but they're much more finicky to control in this game. The pixel perfect demands for some of these segments get tiresome after a while.

But overall, I enjoyed playing it a lot. The story is a Kojima original, and you can tell. Whether you find that charming or annoyingly nonsensical is subjective but I personally really enjoyed the script of this game, although it commits a couple of cardinal sins in terms of plotting (a key plot twist rests on two characters you never even meet, which saps its impact considerably - IMO, one should have been on the CODEC and one should have been a hostage you need to save, to help bring them to life).

It's a true blue MGS game, and it's a really interesting play for any big fans of MGS1 who haven't yet tried it. Kind of allows you to see the road untravelled - I wonder if the story for this game is adapted from early ideas for what MGS1 might have been, since it hews a lot closer to the earlier games in terms of location and storyline.

Next, I'm thinking to play more Gameboy and Color - I've loaded up Kid Dracula and the fan translation of Pokémon Trading Card Game 2. Loved the original back in the day, and I've heard this one is actually better.

[Cepp]

The Analogue Pocket has received a WonderSwan core. Obviously I was right onto Judgement Silver Sword. Looks and plays great on the Pocket.

I didn't realise this was out, have you got any game recommendations? I only know about the Final Fantasy remakes.

I just finished Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel on the GBC last night.

Overall, it's a good game. It's certainly an interesting title. I remember this coming out in 2000 and really wanting it, but for whatever reason I never got hold of a copy (probably distracted by the impending release of the PS2, or too absorbed in other games).

In retrospect, it's probably a good thing I didn't have it at the time - there's no way I would have been able to finish it back then. This game is pretty tough, and certainly harder than the PS1 entry.

Story-wise it represents an non-canon alternative to the storyline followed by MGS1 and everything that came after. Just as with MGS1, it follows directly on from the events of the earlier games at Outer Heaven, where Snake defeated Big Boss and destroyed Metal Gear. But instead of being set on Shadow Moses island, Ghost Babel sees Snake returning to Outer Heaven in central Africa, where (somewhat improbably) a stolen Metal Gear has once again been stored.

Although the story is completely different to MGS1, it shares a lot of DNA with it structurally, and of every MGS game, this is easily the one that's most similar to it. Over the course of around six hours of gameplay, you progress into and through a military base, avoiding guards and clashing with bosses who are members of a ragtag band of supernatural mercenaries from a mysterious group called 'Black Chamber'. Towards the end of the game, the game ramps up tension with the threat of a nuclear strike from the stolen Metal Gear, before you're inevitably asked to take it down.

There's also a ton of gameplay ideas drawn from the PS1 game. Alert and Evasion sequences are present and correct when a guard or camera spots you, and you get pretty much the same loadout in terms of weaponry and equipment - C4, Nikita missiles, night vision goggles and even cigarettes, although they're called 'Foggers' (but Snake is clearly smoking a fag when you use them). Somewhat surprising in a game rated E for Everyone, but then it also features a suicide by self immolation and plenty of swearing, so I suspect the censors at ESRB didn't actually bother to play this one.

My enjoyment of the game had peaks and troughs. It's much more puzzle oriented than the PS1 game. Combined with less than stellar signposting, it can be easy to get stuck. But in the meaty second act, the difficulty is well pitched, and I was really enjoying how much it was taxing me while making steady progress. There is a lengthy puzzle involving coloured cardboard boxes and conveyor belts that I thought was particularly engrossing.

The boss fights are generally pretty great, too. Each is a puzzle in its own right, and there's a particularly cool one with a boss who can see in the dark. You need to deploy both thermal and night vision goggles with good timing in the fight, plus track him as he camouflages in a kind of 'Three Card Monty' card-following type mechanic. Really innovative, and it shows how the designers really gave it their all to make this a great title in its own right, rather than simply chopping down the PS1 game to something manageable for 8 bit.

Towards the end they aim to ramp up the challenge, but it becomes more frustrating than fun in some places. Nikita missiles in particular are way over-used - there are a whole bunch of sequences that are a direct lift from the bit in MGS1 when you fly the missile over the electrified floor to blow up the generator, but they're much more finicky to control in this game. The pixel perfect demands for some of these segments get tiresome after a while.

But overall, I enjoyed playing it a lot. The story is a Kojima original, and you can tell. Whether you find that charming or annoyingly nonsensical is subjective but I personally really enjoyed the script of this game, although it commits a couple of cardinal sins in terms of plotting (a key plot twist rests on two characters you never even meet, which saps its impact considerably - IMO, one should have been on the CODEC and one should have been a hostage you need to save, to help bring them to life).

It's a true blue MGS game, and it's a really interesting play for any big fans of MGS1 who haven't yet tried it. Kind of allows you to see the road untravelled - I wonder if the story for this game is adapted from early ideas for what MGS1 might have been, since it hews a lot closer to the earlier games in terms of location and storyline.

Next, I'm thinking to play more Gameboy and Color - I've loaded up Kid Dracula and the fan translation of Pokémon Trading Card Game 2. Loved the original back in the day, and I've heard this one is actually better.

Putting that Pocket to good use I see

[wakka]

Yes indeed sank 3 and a half hours into Pokémon TCG 2 tonight. Really need to go to bed…

[CMcK]

I didn't realise this was out, have you got any game recommendations? I only know about the Final Fantasy remakes.

Have a look at Klonoa, Gunpey, Rockman EXE WS (rock hard though) and Buffers Evolution (classic WS). If you like one on one fighters there’s a couple of Guilty Gear games and a One Piece based game. There’s other stuff available elsewhere like Puyo Puyo and Pocket Fighters. I’m looking forward to trying Rainbow Islands Putty’s Party and the various rhythm action games like Rhyme Rider and Beatmania.

[Cepp]

Have a look at Klonoa, Gunpey, Rockman EXE WS (rock hard though) and Buffers Evolution (classic WS). If you like one on one fighters there’s a couple of Guilty Gear games and a One Piece based game. There’s other stuff available elsewhere like Puyo Puyo and Pocket Fighters. I’m looking forward to trying Rainbow Islands Putty’s Party and the various rhythm action games like Rhyme Rider and Beatmania.

I didn’t realise Klonoa was on there. I’ll start with that, cheers