VideoGame_Discussion

Topic   Retro Talkshop Thread - Game of the Month Super Nintendo Final Fantasy VI

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 11-Aug-2016(#1)
This topic had many older posts which were moved here:
http://gametz.com/VideoGame_Discussion/retro-talks...



Let's Play Together! Game of the Month
Every month, RTT gets together and brainstorms choices to vote as the Let's Play Together! Game of the Month.
Upon completion of the GotM, you will be rewarded with an Achievement Icon!
Let's play some awesome games together!

Game of the Month Captain: Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews

Retro Talkshop Thread Founder & CEO: Lunar GameTZ Subscriber 950 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (8)


February 2023

Super Nintendo Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI - released as Final Fantasy III in North America - was originally released for the Super Famicom Super Famicom and Super Nintendo Super Nintendo. The game's legacy as the last old-guard Final Fantasy game is massive, and it's still celebrated for its memorable characters, unique antagonist, and robust soundtrack.

Play it on
Super Nintendo Super Nintendo
PlayStation PlayStation (Final Fantasy Anthology)
Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance (Final Fantasy VI Advance)
Nintendo Wii Wii Virtual Console
Super Nintendo SNES Classic Mini
Android Android
Apple iOS
PC / Windows PC

Play the Pixel Remaster on
Android Android
Apple iOS
PC / Windows PC

Beat Final Fantasy VI or any of its re-releases to earn the Kefka badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/wCPZEqH.gif 64 96{imgt}


Monthly Leaderboard
You open the chest and find nothing. Perhaps you should have waited until the World of Ruin.


2023 Annual Franchise Challenge

Sega Shining

Shining is a Sega role-playing game franchise that originated back in 1991 on the Sega Genesis & Mega Drive. Over the years, the games have adopted different modalities and mechanics - including turn-based RPG, strategy, and dungeon crawler - though many games share common character threads and a fantasy aesthetic. Most Shining games take an average of about 20 hours to complete, with later generation titles being longer and portable titles being shorter.

Suggested Games
Sega Genesis Shining in the Darkness
Sega Genesis Shining Force
Sega Genesis Shining Force II
Sega CD Shining Force CD
Sega Saturn Shining Force III
Sega Saturn Shining Wisdom
Sega Saturn Shining the Holy Ark
Game Gear Shining Force Gaiden
Game Gear Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya
Game Gear Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict
Game Boy Advance Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon
Game Boy Advance Shining Soul
Game Boy Advance Shining Soul II
PlayStation 2 Shining Force Neo
PlayStation 2 Shining Force Exa
PlayStation 2 Shining Tears
PlayStation 2 Shining Wind

Beat any game in the Shining franchise in 2023 to earn the {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/lh1uA37.gif 15 18{imgt} Max icon which will appear to your username everywhere in the Retro Talkshop Thread.


2023 Recap

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January 2023 Edition - Nintendo 64 Doom 64

Doom 64 was released as a brand new Doom campaign for the Nintendo 64 Nintendo 64, set after the events of Final Doom. While not extremely successful or lauded upon its release, the game has become somewhat of a cult classic over the years for its difficulty and atmosphere, in part due to a spooky ambient soundtrack from Aubrey Hodges. The game's sleeper status peaked in recent years when Bethesda dropped a remaster of the game in 2020 for modern platforms at a bargain price.
Beat Doom 64 or its remaster to earn a badge.

image



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Nintendo Switch Switch Friend Codes

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2022 Recap

January Amiga Another World / Out of this World
February Nintendo 64 Banjo-Kazooie
March coin NBA Jam
April Super Nintendo Kirby Super Star
May Sega Genesis Alien Soldier
June MSX Valis: The Fantasm Soldier
July Nintendo Entertainment System Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
August Super Nintendo Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
September Sega Dreamcast Dynamite Cop
October love Castlevania franchise
November Game Boy Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins & Sega CD Robo Aleste
December Super Nintendo Mega Man 7
Annual Franchise Challenge Nall Lunar


Icons

December 2022 Edition - Super Nintendo Mega Man 7
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/BP4SNn0.gif 63 70{imgt}


November 2022 Edition - Game Boy Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins & Sega CD Robo Aleste
image
image


October 2022 Edition - love Castlevania franchise
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XK9V5HR.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/TP1ixYP.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JSRtjCD.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/W6rldfv.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/q4nf0PI.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/YjPr39N.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/WPvL9Rq.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/X1s3ul8.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/7gywoM2.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/K1GPyNA.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tXv5KGy.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/F9sl5DX.png 79 75{imgt}

Beat Castlevania: Bloodlines to earn either the John Morris badge and/or the Eric Lecarde badge - both of which first debuted in June 2019.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt}

Beat Castlevania: Rondo of Blood to earn the Grand Cross badge, debuting this month for the first time.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/niqVzCH.gif 128 75{imgt}


September 2002 Edition - Sega Dreamcast Dynamite Cop
Beat Mission 1 of Dynamite Cop to earn the Pool Jump badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt}

Beat Mission 2 of Dynamite Cop to earn the Flying Kick badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tBHTydW.gif 100 75{imgt}

Beat Mission 3 of Dynamite Cop to earn the "Pardon Me" badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/18ZWrRj.gif 100 75{imgt}


August 2002 Edition - Super Nintendo Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/aux88T7.gif 75 75{imgt}


July 2002 Edition - Nintendo Entertainment System Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/KxMPR6B.gif 94 75{imgt}


June 2022 Edition - MSX Valis: The Fantasm Soldier
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/0h893qZ.gif 120 106{imgt}


May 2022 Edition - Sega Genesis Alien Soldier
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/YVDjI1B.gif 139 150{imgt}


April 2022 Edition - Super Nintendo Kirby Super Star
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Wd6GtNd.gif 207 150{imgt}


March 2022 Edition - coin NBA Jam
Beat any release of NBA Jam on any platform before to earn a roster badge for each team you use.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/ChNyT5i.jpg 182 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/gQK3o3G.jpg 182 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/5rSZO8k.jpg 182 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/bSQIeTa.jpg 183 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Mx0RtCX.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/aJd715x.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/HqgCiqP.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/8zwA7OZ.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/BhaFXnj.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/lvbcVqW.png 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/sEchblN.png 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/ITyo7cB.png 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/SimWlNs.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/5Sh225z.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/79ZtjJS.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xH6Lx4q.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/mvuMski.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/dw03wv9.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/qhG3wEO.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/e9Aabkv.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XYJbVvS.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/9SLQOHy.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/QTZfZSj.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/wbd419Z.jpg 184 115{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/twsShNf.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/BKyQJgj.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/IfHbTMC.jpg 184 114{imgt}

Complete the NBA Jam: Tournament Edition challenge and beat every available team to earn the Jam-pionship Badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/aTOCuVs.png 116 179{imgt}


February 2022 Edition - Nintendo 64 Banjo-Kazooie
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/mvRRTui.gif 60 75{imgt}


January 2022 Edition - Amiga Another World / Out of this World
Beat Another World on any platform to earn the Lester badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/0FGL4hD.gif 105 75{imgt}

Beat Another World on a second platform to earn the This F###ing Worm badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/z1A1ESO.gif 120 75{imgt}



Leaderboard

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BloodPuppetX 400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
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ErickRPG GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
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Foxhack 350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
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Kommie 250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
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razeak Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 9 Reviews
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Nall Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
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Scott GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/mvRRTui.gif 60 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/KxMPR6B.gif 94 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}

Slickriven GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/gQK3o3G.jpg 182 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/5rSZO8k.jpg 182 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/bSQIeTa.jpg 183 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Mx0RtCX.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/aJd715x.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/HqgCiqP.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/8zwA7OZ.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/BhaFXnj.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/lvbcVqW.png 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/sEchblN.png 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/ITyo7cB.png 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/SimWlNs.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/5Sh225z.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/79ZtjJS.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/ChNyT5i.jpg 182 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xH6Lx4q.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/mvuMski.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/dw03wv9.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/qhG3wEO.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/e9Aabkv.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XYJbVvS.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/9SLQOHy.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/QTZfZSj.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/wbd419Z.jpg 184 115{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/twsShNf.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/BKyQJgj.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/IfHbTMC.jpg 184 114{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/aTOCuVs.png 116 179{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Wd6GtNd.gif 207 150{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/KxMPR6B.gif 94 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tBHTydW.gif 100 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt} image

Snappy Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
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SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/K1GPyNA.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XK9V5HR.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/7gywoM2.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JSRtjCD.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/niqVzCH.gif 128 75{imgt} image image

Technos GameTZ Subscriber Triple Gold Good Trader
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2021 Recap

January Nintendo Entertainment System Jackal
February Super Nintendo Super Turrican
March coin Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
April Neo Geo Metal Slug X
May coin Strider
June coin Darkstalkers 3
July Game Boy Color Shantae
August PlayStation Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
September Super Nintendo Super Mario Kart
October coin Splatterhouse & PlayStation Silent Hill
November Nintendo 64 Yoshi's Story
December Super Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past


Icons

December 2021 Edition - Super Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/hwz3R13.gif 75 75{imgt}


November 2021 Edition - Nintendo 64 Yoshi's Story
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/FNB4RDJ.gif 100 75{imgt}


October 2021 Edition - coin Splatterhouse & PlayStation Silent Hill
Beat Splatterhouse on any platform to earn the Rick badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/9mJFHFK.gif 136 94{imgt}

Beat Silent Hill or its fogless remaster to earn the Silent Hill badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/fht9Ml8.gif 130 75{imgt}


September 2021 Edition - Super Nintendo Super Mario Kart
Beat the 100GP or 150GP Special Cup in the original Super Mario Kart to roll the
credits before October 1 to earn the Mario Kart badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/VvcNsiC.gif 75 75{imgt}

Beat the 100GP or 150GP Extra Special Cup in Mario Kart: Super Circuit to earn
the Yoshi Kart badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/heRUkFA.gif 79 75{imgt}


August 2021 Edition - PlayStation Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2
Play through Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2's career with any of its releases, ports, or remasters to earn a badge for the character you used.

image image image image image image image image image image image image image image image


July 2021 Edition - Game Boy Color Shantae
Play through the original Shantae on any platform to earn the 8-Bit
Shantae
badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/oVoq8e9.gif 71 75{imgt}

Play through Shantae: Risky's Revenge - or its Director's Cut - on any platform
to earn the More Than 8-Bit Shantae badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/gYBgeET.gif 86 75{imgt}


June 2021 Edition - PlayStation Darkstalkers 3
Play through Darkstalkers 3 on any platform to earn a badge for the
character you used. The game has 18 playable characters, plus two secret characters
in some ports. Gotta catch 'em all!


imageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimageimage


May 2021 Edition - Sega Genesis Strider
Play through Strider on any platform to earn the Strider, standing
still and looking cool
badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/dA7ovCx.gif 43 75{imgt}
Play it on two platforms to earn the Strider, vertical slash badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/9HjCWfh.gif 137 75{imgt}
Play it on three platforms to earn the Strider, legion badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/1ybr4F5.gif 196 75{imgt}


April 2021 Edition - Neo Geo Metal Slug X
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JrlYysp.gif 75 75{imgt}


March 2021 Edition - Super Nintendo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Play through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV on one platform - the arcade original,
the famed Super Nintendo port, one of the maligned 3D remakes, or another version
I've missed - to earn the Leonardo badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/84g4Ulp.gif 75 75{imgt}
Play through the game on an additional platform before the deadline to earn the
Donatello badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/APLsn13.gif 75 75{imgt}


February 2021 Edition - Super Nintendo Super Turrican
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/r65ITnG.gif 128 140{imgt}


January 2021 Edition - Nintendo Entertainment System Jackal
Play through Jackal on one platform to earn the Jackal Squad
badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/A65l9z4.png 96 96{imgt}
If you decide to play through a second time on a different platform, you'll also
earn the Medium Tank badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/pIuY45m.png 96 96{imgt}
For each platform you play through beyond the second (third, fourth, etc.), you'll earn a Heavy Tank badge.
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/29iQUzM.png 96 96{imgt}



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2020 Recap

January Super Nintendo Sega Genesis Sunset Riders
February Nintendo Switch Sega Saturn PlayStation Strikers 1945
March Nintendo Entertainment System Super Mario Bros.
April Nintendo Entertainment System Super Dodge Ball
May Neo Geo Metal Slug
June NEC PC Engine NEC PC Engine Duo-RCastlevania: Rondo of Blood
July Nintendo Entertainment System Renegade
August Game Boy Advance Metroid Fusion
September Super Nintendo Super Metroid
October Super Nintendo Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
November Sega CD Sonic CD
December Nintendo DS The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Icons



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image Scott




2019 Recap

Games
January Nintendo Entertainment System The Adventures of Lolo
February Nintendo Entertainment System Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
March Game Boy The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
April Nintendo Entertainment System Blaster Master
May Sega Genesis Beyond Oasis
June Sega Genesis Castlevania: Bloodlines
July PlayStation 2 Microsoft Xbox PlayStation 4 Microsoft Xbox One Nintendo Switch Steam Onimusha: Warlords
August PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 Ico
September Nintendo Entertainment System Ninja Gaiden
October Nintendo 64 Super Mario 64
November Super Nintendo Sega CD Final Fight
December Sega Master System Sega Genesis Altered Beast

Icons

December 2019 Edition
Sega Master System Sega Genesis Altered Beast

image image

image image

image image

image image


November 2019 Edition
Super Nintendo Sega CD Final Fight image

Bonus:
Super Nintendo Final Fight 2
Super Nintendo Final Fight 3


October 2019 Edition
Nintendo 64 Super Mario 64


September 2019 Edition
Nintendo Entertainment System Ninja Gaiden


August 2019 Edition
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 Ico


July 2019 Edition
PlayStation 2 Microsoft Xbox PlayStation 4 Microsoft Xbox One Nintendo Switch Steam Onimusha: Warlords image


June 2019 Edition
Sega Genesis Castlevania: Bloodlines image image


May 2019 Edition
Sega Genesis Beyond Oasis image


April 2019 Edition
Nintendo Entertainment System Blaster Master image


March 2019 Edition
Game Boy The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening image


February 2019 Edition
Nintendo Entertainment System Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
image - Beat the game
image - Beat RR1 with a buddy OR Beat RR2


January 2019 Edition
Nintendo Entertainment System The Adventures of Lolo image
Bonus: Sega Genesis Sega Saturn Outrun image


Leaderboard

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image image image image image image Nintendo 64 image image DefaultGen
image image image image image image image image image image image image Forgotten_Freshness
image Foxhack
image Gypsy
image image image image image image image jsoncip38
image image image Lunar
image image image image image Nintendo 64 image image image image image image image image image Renaissance2K
image image RobotVM
image sharif
image image image Shawn
image Slickriven
image image image SSA
image Tad
image tonymack21
image Wheels617
image image image WithinTemptation




2018 Recap

Games
January Sega Genesis Streets of Rage
February NEC TurboGrafx-16 Neutopia
March Sega Saturn Galactic Attack
April Nintendo Entertainment System Astyanax
May Nintendo Entertainment System Maniac Mansion
June Sega Genesis Arrow Flash
July Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog 3
August Sega CD Popful Mail
September PlayStation Crash Bandicoot
October PlayStation Resident Evil 2
November Nintendo Entertainment System Mega Man 3
December Sega Genesis Outrun

Icons

January 2018 Edition - Sega Genesis Streets of Rage
image


Leaderboard


Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
11-Sep-2022(#2)
@BleedingViolet I don't think it even took 45 mins per Mission. The first one took me longer to get the hang of things, but it felt like I breezed through as the 2 guys with a little more comfort vs. my first run. I did skip the 1 cut scene by accident, but they're equally campy and hilarious - and also only like 6-10 seconds long.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
12-Sep-2022(#3)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Renaissance2K wrote:
>> BleedingViolet wrote:
> |>> Nice! How long did it take you? I gotta a copy on its way,
> |>> Should be here on Tuesday.
>>
>> Each mission took roughly a half hour, and you only need one to make the credits
>> roll. It's a quick romp of insanity.
>>
>>
>>
> Sounds fun, are we only going for one badge this month?

If you want one badge for each mission, I'll make them.

Not for Missions 4-6, though, because (a) they're just harder versions of the first three, and (b) I suck too much to play through them.


BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
12-Sep-2022(#4)
Lol only whatever you feel like doing, I figure for a game like this it’s nice to have more
since more people will be inclined to play through if they can find a way to play it.

I still gotta work on Super Ghouls and Ghosts some more. I haven’t touched it this month.
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
12-Sep-2022(#5)
If you make the 3 badges, then I will 100% HAVE to make sure I beat Mission 3 since I fell just short.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
12-Sep-2022(#6)
Well maybe not... I tried 2 more times just now and was going good for the first few areas, taking little damage but 2 sections (the sea-life boss being 1) ate up my health and I failed to even reach the final boss on the first run. Then I tried as the black guy and did a little better and made it to the final boss but with zero continues and barely got anywhere in the fight. It's crummy that the first 2 Missions are apparently a LOT easier or they give you more credits? Or did I somehow earn more credits in the regular playthrough of M1/2? I dunno, but I was enjoying the game until failing now 3 times on M3...

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
12-Sep-2022(#7)
Mission 1 has infinite credits. Mission 2 has ~7. Mission 3 has ~3. I think there is a difficulty ramp as well, independent of credit count. I did fairly well against the Kraken in Mission 1 once I figured out how to deal damage, but the same strategy turned me turned me into ground beef in Mission 3.

Mission 4, 5, and 6 spikes the difficulty again, and I believe you only have a single credit for each of them. No thanks.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
12-Sep-2022(#8)
Ah that makes sense. I know I got a little better as I learned, but the credit limit in Mission 3 stunk. I for sure push to attack most of the time and that can be foolish, might try M3 again and see if I can use some save states to limit effective damage taken. As well as seek to be a bit more cautious.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
12-Sep-2022(#9)
I GIVE UP... tried yet again on M3. Took zero damage through the first couple of fights and was doing pretty good overall until the stupid chef. I knew about the apples and tried to get them only to take more damage from his grenades vs. the little health they provided. Then the lifeboat fight against the 2 sword F*k's ate another continue. Giant squid also sucked, then I foolishly forgot to strive to stay away from the next to last fight guy after knocking him down and went into the final boss with near full health but none of my 4 credits left. Not shockingly his BS cheap spinning teleport-to-shoot your butt attack was employed a good 4 times to end my run.
I 'get' the ramp up in difficulty, but it sort of ruins an otherwise largely enjoyable game... oh well.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
15-Sep-2022(#10)
Badges are created, and OP is updated.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
23-Sep-2022(#11)
Hey, everyone.

I'm vacationing right now and don't have access to my usual monthly post templates, but this is right around the time that I'd be soliciting game nominations for October.

Since I don't have the appetite for managing a spreadsheet from my phone and since October is usually our spooky games month, I'm slamming down the executive hammer and saying October's Game of the Month is any game from the Castlevania franchise.

We haven't played a Castlevania game as a thread since 2020, and I'm sure we can all find one or two we want to pick up. Each game will have its own badge. Play one, play many... or play none at all. I'm a nerd, not a cop.

In the meantime, seven more days to finish Dynamite Cop while it's still cool.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
23-Sep-2022(#12)
Yeah I think I just beat Dynamite Cop with Jean on mission 1.

It was fun. I’ll prolly play some more before the end of the month.
I wanna try out the other two characters.
Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
23-Sep-2022(#13)
Does:

Wallachia: Reign of Dracula count?
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
* 24-Sep-2022(#14)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Since I don't have the appetite for managing a spreadsheet from my phone and since
> October is usually our spooky games month, I'm slamming down the executive hammer
> and saying October's Game of the Month is any game from the Castlevania franchise.

First!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails...

Edit: I'm also gonna try to beat the original Dracula X (if I can figure out PCE CD emulation) and the SNES version (also in CV Collection.)
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 24-Sep-2022(#15)
Kommie wrote:
> Does:
>
> Wallachia: Reign of Dracula count?

image

Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
25-Sep-2022(#16)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Is this too new to count?
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
25-Sep-2022(#17)
Kommie wrote:
> Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Is this too new to count?

Ooh good one. I need to get back to it. And 2.
Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
25-Sep-2022(#18)
2 sucks. 1 was great though.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 25-Sep-2022(#19)
Kommie wrote:
> Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Is this too new to count?

image


Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
25-Sep-2022(#20)
OK. Well I don't see anyone else nominating anything else!
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
* 25-Sep-2022(#21)
He did say any game from the franchise would count. And the game is already 12 years old.
Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
25-Sep-2022(#22)
Ohhh. We're just playing something from Castlevania. Not nominating. Maybe I'll be a rebel and play Lords of Shadow anyway.
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
25-Sep-2022(#23)
I've been meaning to replay LoS as it was great and I finally got the DLC like gosh 2 years ago now and tried it but it had been SO long since I played the game I felt like replaying. Plus I have 2 and figured I could follow on with it, even though I know 2 is mediocre. So I might do LoS as well, either that or one of the GBA ones I haven't made time for yet, or Rondo or X, heh I wanted to play a number of them in '20 after getting back into the franchise, so I'm not short on options.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
26-Sep-2022(#24)
Foxhack wrote:
> He did say any game from the franchise would count. And the game is already 12 years
> old.

My interpretation of the meme was "Yes," the game is too new, "but actually no," go ahead and play it. I think the retro cutoff is when consoles got digital output (2005) but I'd rather have people playing games that are past that threshold than skipping a month.

In any case, I'm back from vacation, so time to properly highlight the Bruce Willis' (Willi?) in training that finished Dynamite Cop so far:

Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt}

Slickriven GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tBHTydW.gif 100 75{imgt}

You can earn a badge at any time, but earning it during the first month gets you a special GameTZ NFT badge. You can't see it or add it to a wallet, but trust me, it's as real as all the other NFTs out there...

As I announced in the last post, start thinking about what Castlevania games you want to play in October. If you need some inspiration, check out this Wikipedia page or this YouTube video to check out some options.

Castlevania month will start on October 1.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
26-Sep-2022(#25)
I already beat CV1... and I was bored last night so I did a full CV3 run, Trevor only. I suck. XD
Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
26-Sep-2022(#26)
Lords of Shadow is back on the menu boys!
DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
26-Sep-2022(#27)
Unironically not even that bad. I need to give the follow-up a better shot at some point, but most of the jazzy exclamation points are done in the first game.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
26-Sep-2022(#28)
I already beat Dynamite Cop once, on the first mission.

I just haven’t played it since that night yet.

Also we can literally play through ANY Castlevania game so hopefully
there will be multiple icons or whatever. I’m happy either way,
but does this mean we aren’t allowed to nominate anymore Castlevania
games after this? It’s literally one of my favorite series.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
27-Sep-2022(#29)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Also we can literally play through ANY Castlevania game so hopefully
> there will be multiple icons or whatever. I’m happy either way,
> but does this mean we aren’t allowed to nominate anymore Castlevania
> games after this? It’s literally one of my favorite series.

There will be one badge per game, but nothing too crazy; probably just cover art based, like Tony Hawk and NBA Jam were.

I don't have any plans to restrict Castlevania nominations moving forward. Feel free to nominate specific games, and the game will get a specific animated badge.

Heck, I don't care if you repeat nominate any game, for that matter. If enough people are willing to play it and vote for it multiple times, who am I to stop them?

Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 30-Sep-2022(#30)
Beat it on the Caribbean Pirates mode with a pal. Game is awesome fun.
image
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 1-Oct-2022(#31)
Dynamite Cop sailed off into the horizon on the back of a kraken. Here are all the badges we earned this month:
BleedingViolet GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt}
Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tBHTydW.gif 100 75{imgt}
Slickriven GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tBHTydW.gif 100 75{imgt}
Snappy Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/b7RJ6LF.gif 100 75{imgt}

Many thanks to everyone who experienced this beautiful monstrosity. If you happen to finish later on, feel free to ping me in this thread, and we'll add the appropriate badge to your total.

As announced last week, to get psyched for Halloween, we're playing games in the Castlevania franchise.

Castlevania got its start in 1986 with an action platformer for the Famicom Disk System and has been spanning generations ever since. The formulas changed a lot over the years - starting out as a series of tough-as-nails platformer, but morphing into one of the namesakes of the Metroidvania genre - but most games can promise a good challenge, some awesome weaponry, and a whole mess of gothic monsters to take down along the way.

Beat any game in the Castlevania franchise to earn a new badge based on the game's cover art.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/WPvL9Rq.png 79 75{imgt}

Beat Castlevania: Bloodlines to earn either the John Morris badge and/or the Eric Lecarde badge - both of which first debuted in June 2019.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt}

Beat Castlevania: Rondo of Blood to earn the Grand Cross badge, debuting this month for the first time.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/niqVzCH.gif 128 75{imgt}

Don't keep Dracula waiting. Once you whip it good, feel free to post a #BeatIt screenshot.

Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
1-Oct-2022(#32)
I will be playing Lords of Shadow and you can't stop me!
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
1-Oct-2022(#33)
So... do backlogged games played last week count? XD

I ended up beating CV1, CV3 and the craptacular 1st Castlevania Game Boy game. I wish Konami would acknowledge CV Legends...
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 1-Oct-2022(#34)
Foxhack wrote:
> So... do backlogged games played last week count? XD
>
> I ended up beating CV1, CV3 and the craptacular 1st Castlevania Game Boy game.

I suppose.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/TP1ixYP.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/W6rldfv.png 79 75{imgt}

I didn't realize this, but October is also Castlevania month in the MiSTer Discord, if you feel like doubling up on Internet points.
https://twitter.com/MiSTerFPGABot/status/157608634...

I was going to start off the month with Symphony of the Night on Saturn because (a) it's probably time that I check Symphony of the Night out, and (b) I'm a weirdo that likes playing games on odd platforms, but in a turn of events that could only happen to somebody with too many modded consoles, I sold my Pseudo Saturn cartridge and my Satiator, and I flat-out can't find my Saturn's MODE, so I have no way to play the game. I'm going to start with the 8-bit titles instead.

Edit: Found it.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
* 1-Oct-2022(#35)
I just started the second GB game and it is SUCH an improvement over the first one. GB CV1 plays like it were the jankiest, pixel hunting platformer released for the ZX Spectrum. The player's collision boxes are godawful, you have to step like half a body off a platform to be able to make a ton of those impossible jumps. You need some serious TAS skills to beat this game legitimately. Konami allowing a game in such poor shape to ship in that condition is bonkers.

GB CV2 feels like a mix between Simon's Quest and Dracula's Curse. It's very playable, but not unfair. I'd actually place it just under Dracula's Curse in playability.
DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
* 1-Oct-2022(#36)
Honestly, if the frame issues in the first one were addressed I'd like it a lot more, but yeah, overall CV2 is like going to the moon whereas CV1's like walking through Brooklyn. Both really good, both have really hard encounters but pacing, music, general stage design much much better in the second. Drac was tough in both games. Second game has what I think may be the first handheld jump scare spooky moment.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
1-Oct-2022(#37)
I might play through the first GB title again since I have it in a compilation digitally anyways.
It really is pretty awful though. Most Gameboy games are anymore.
I’ll prolly start with the first NES title though since I always love playing through that one.
If only there were an extra badge for playing through the second time on hard mode
or whatever it’s called 😉 (mostly kidding unless it’s an easy badge to make 😃)
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
1-Oct-2022(#38)
The first Game Boy game is really short, so at least you're not suffering for long.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
1-Oct-2022(#39)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> The first Game Boy game is really short, so at least you're not suffering for long.
>
>

Oh I know plus I thought you could use save states on the digital Xbox version which helps
especially for some of those lame af platform jumps that had to be kinda perfect.
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
1-Oct-2022(#40)
The compilation has savestates on all platforms, which is a blessing. That game fudging blows. Savescumming is the only way I could beat it.
ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
1-Oct-2022(#41)
If I get my Trimui with a week or more left in OCT I will probably beat one of the GBA ones. The Trimui is a small emulator with a screen almost as small as the micro.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 1-Oct-2022(#42)
Add me to the Wall of Shame.

image

Edit: It turns out Europe got a colorized version of the game in a Konami collection. It's still pretty janky, but hey, you can see everything better.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
* 1-Oct-2022(#43)
Oh wow, that's cool, I didn't know they released all four sets in Europe!
dunno001
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
1-Oct-2022(#44)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> I was going to start off the month with Symphony of the Night on Saturn because

Because it's the best way to play the game. *glares annoyingly at the 18 thousand PS remakes with nary a Saturn one*
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
1-Oct-2022(#45)
The Saturn version has better content but the PlayStation version has better tech, if I'm understanding correctly.

Of course, they could re-release the Saturn version on the PlayStation engine, but that would require, you know, effort.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
1-Oct-2022(#46)
They can't even be bothered to release Dracula X and SOTN on PCs. Konami won't spend a dime on these things.

I'd KILL for a third CV collection with those two games.
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
2-Oct-2022(#47)
Foxhack wrote:
> They can't even be bothered to release Dracula X and SOTN on PCs. Konami won't spend
> a dime on these things.
>
> I'd KILL for a third CV collection with those two games.

Dracula X is included on the Advance Collection, if that helps.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
* 2-Oct-2022(#48)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Foxhack wrote:
>> They can't even be bothered to release Dracula X and SOTN on PCs. Konami won't
> spend
>> a dime on these things.
>>
>> I'd KILL for a third CV collection with those two games.
>
> Dracula X is included on the Advance Collection, if that helps.

... I meant the REAL Dracula X, Chi no Rondo from the PCE CD, not the passable, but still mostly redone, SNES version. :P
ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
2-Oct-2022(#49)
Foxhack wrote:
> SupremeSarna wrote:
>> Foxhack wrote:
> |>> They can't even be bothered to release Dracula X and SOTN on PCs. Konami won't
>> spend
> |>> a dime on these things.
> |>>
> |>> I'd KILL for a third CV collection with those two games.
>>
>> Dracula X is included on the Advance Collection, if that helps.
>
> ... I meant the REAL Dracula X, Chi no Rondo from the PCE CD, not the passable, but
> still mostly redone, SNES version. :P

The one that got an English Tranlsation for PC Engine CD, Rondo of Blood? I have that on my emulation portable, might be playing that. I have a huge list of games I want to beat for Spooktober.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
2-Oct-2022(#50)
Yep, that one. I have nothing against emulators or fan translations, what with me being involved with both for more than twenty years, I just want a legal release available to all instead of a mini console that didn't get a huge run.

Also I still don't quite understand how to emulate the system, haha XD
ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
2-Oct-2022(#51)
Foxhack wrote:
> Yep, that one. I have nothing against emulators or fan translations, what with me
> being involved with both for more than twenty years, I just want a legal release
> available to all instead of a mini console that didn't get a huge run.
>
> Also I still don't quite understand how to emulate the system, haha XD

Yeah I had lots of trouble at first. I am using retroid pocket 2+ that uses retroarch. The big thing I was missing is I didn't put the PC Engine CD and Turbographx BIOS in the retroarch bios folder. Once I did that, and converted all of the .iso's and extra files into one .chd. My emulator detected them and ran them perfectly. It's pretty exciting because I've always wanted to play those turbo cd games like Valis, dragon slayer, rondo, ect. . Now I can.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
2-Oct-2022(#52)
I decided to start with Bloodlines as I knew it was shorter and I started on it via my Sega Genesis mini not too long ago. Well I wasn't as far along as I first hoped and my trying to avoid (almost) all damage is stupid as it's causing very slow overall progress and abusing the reset and save-states of that console.
I need to stop trying for 'perfection' and just make progress. I'm now into stage 4, so here's hoping I can do that.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
2-Oct-2022(#53)
If you’re perfect do you get a special ending or something?
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
2-Oct-2022(#54)
You do not. But with the ease of save states some find it hard to resist

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
2-Oct-2022(#55)
Yeah I was in no way doing it b/c I thought it was going to get my a special ending or anything, it's the allure of those save states as I have at times saved with too low of health later on and then been effectively screwed against a boss or section where I die.
It's dumb and is all on my and my foolish approach. Seeing my health restored to full at the end of stage 3 was a reminder to me that it was dumb to try that...

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
2-Oct-2022(#56)
Protip: USE YOUR SUBWEAPONS

YOU DON'T NEED TO HOLD ONTO ALL THOSE HEARTS

USE THEM
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
2-Oct-2022(#57)
The only other thing I was thinking was maybe cutting a bunch of perfect video clips together
To make one of those YouTube no damage playthroughs.

I would totally watch one of those of Slay the Spire though.
I’m so obsessed with that game lol.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
3-Oct-2022(#58)
Finished Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge on Konami GB Collection, Volume 4. An incredible improvement over the original just in terms of how much smoother it is to control and to look at, but not all that different mechanically. There are a few tougher platforming segments that are tough in their own right, not because of the controls you're fighting.

image

I spent an hour this afternoon trying to get one of the patched versions of Symphony of the Night to work on my Saturn, even going as far as to take my Saturn apart (again) to move the disc images to different devices. The newest fan patch won't get past the first load screen, the full English translation freezes on the first relic pickup, and the Internet says the older patch isn't even worth trying. So, I've switched to the PlayStation version like the basic dog that I am.

And yeah, it rocks. I got my ass kicked by that big jumping demon dude in Marble Gallery more than I'd care to admit, but this plays like a juiced up 16-bit platformer, and I love it for that.

More badges added to the OP as a preview. Including Lords of Shadow.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
3-Oct-2022(#59)
Bloodlines has been on my to-play list for a while. I guess this month would be a good time to finally get around to playing it.
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
* 4-Oct-2022(#60)
#BeatIt
None of you are brave enough to play Castlevania 64 (no offense).
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://i.imgur.com/4qlimdS.jpg[/imgt]
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://i.imgur.com/GydcjbB.jpg[/imgt]

I wanted to like this game. I hadn't played it before, but it was given to me with my N64 from a friend I haven't seen in years. I was hoping it'd be a hidden gem that everyone was too critical towards. Sadly, it's a clunky mess with uninspired music (composed by Kirby's Epic Yarn's Tomoya Tomita? How?!) and a lot of cheap deaths. You get one life, and then you can continue from your last save point or restart the stage entirely. The Stages 1 and 2 had potential, and Stage 6 is decent, but Stages 3-5 are aggravating. Stage 4 in particular is such a slog, it's basically a full third of the game all on its own! You've got a nasty mineshaft to traverse, a puzzle to decipher, rooms of enemies you must defeat any time you pass through them, bombs to detonate (twice, and one requires a lengthy detour where you can't take any damage), two bosses in close proximity to each other, and an elevator to repower! That's too darn much!

The characters were nice, though. I got a real kick out of Reinhardt's blantant Catholicism, especially during THAT scene with Rosa. Renon and Vincent were amusing to meet, and I liked the Grim Reaper. There are things to like here, but it's rough and annoying too much of the time.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
4-Oct-2022(#61)
Even when it was brand new, that game sucked. I can't imagine trying to play it now.
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
4-Oct-2022(#62)
Didn't it get an updated version or something?
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
5-Oct-2022(#63)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> #BeatIt
> None of you are brave enough to play Castlevania 64 (no offense).

I'll totally try it if I run out of 8-bit Castlevanias.

In the meantime, welcome to the leaderboard.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/K1GPyNA.png 79 75{imgt}


ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
5-Oct-2022(#64)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> SupremeSarna wrote:
>> #BeatIt
>> None of you are brave enough to play Castlevania 64 (no offense).
>
> I'll totally try it if I run out of 8-bit Castlevanias.
>
> In the meantime, welcome to the leaderboard.
>

I'll be playing it purely for nostalgia reasons. It's on my N64 to play list once I get my ayaneo I can finally start playing some N64 games.


Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
5-Oct-2022(#65)
I love the smell of hemoglobin in the morning...

image

Finished the Game Boy trilogy.

Admiral
Gold Global Trader (7) Has Written 1 Review
(abandoned)
5-Oct-2022(#66)
Put your hand up if you actually love Castlevania 2 shake
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
5-Oct-2022(#67)
I like a lot about it, but it definitely has some serious flaws too. I wish they'd take another stab at a Castlevania game like it.
DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
* 5-Oct-2022(#68)
I liked it until it came to being a question of "Would I complete it", the answer is no. I'd play through CV1/3 before I ever considered a playthrough of CV2. The other two games are hard but respect my time, you can't overcome skillgap in CV2, the game hold you back until it's time to move you forward. It reminds me a lot of the way AC went, actually, after Origins
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
5-Oct-2022(#69)
I actually really liked Castlevania 64. I certainly have fonder memories of it than SOTN or Super Castlevania which
Y’all seem to swear are the best. I’d play it if I had a copy or could find a cheap copy.

Castlevania 2 was fine back in the day but I prolly haven’t played it in like 30 years. Maybe I wouldn’t like it anymore?
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
5-Oct-2022(#70)
Admiral wrote:
> Put your hand up if you actually love Castlevania 2 shake

Get a silk bag from the graveyard duck to live longer
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
5-Oct-2022(#71)
Simon's Quest is the only Castlevania game I have some history with back in the actual NES days. I borrowed it from a friend and found it absolutely incomprehensible.

I'm going to play it next after I finish Symphony of the Night. It's going to be interesting, given all the terrible feedback I've heard about it and the little nuggets of nostalgia I vaguely remember.

Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
5-Oct-2022(#72)
I remember playing Simon's Quest as a kid with no clue what to do.
DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
5-Oct-2022(#73)
You should have been subscribed to Nintendo Power!
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
6-Oct-2022(#74)
DarkFact wrote:
> You should have been subscribed to Nintendo Power!
Or call the Nintendo Hotline, only $1.50 per minute!

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
6-Oct-2022(#75)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> DarkFact wrote:
>> You should have been subscribed to Nintendo Power!
> Or call the Nintendo Hotline, only $1.50 per minute!
>
>

Hence why the internet had to happen.
What a crapty way to rip off kids back in the day!
(The hotline not the magazine, the magazine was actually a pretty solid deal)
DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
6-Oct-2022(#76)
They gave me Zelda CE for Gamecube for subscribing one year! Remember when crap was cool?
BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
6-Oct-2022(#77)
DarkFact wrote:
> They gave me Zelda CE for Gamecube for subscribing one year! Remember when crap
> was cool?

Yep, only reason I subscribed to that magazine.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
6-Oct-2022(#78)
If you're going to play Simon's Quest today, just use a guide.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
8-Oct-2022(#79)
Lots of love for this unreleased Legend of Zelda NES box art.

https://twitter.com/martinlindell/status/157878954...

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
10-Oct-2022(#80)
#BeatIt
I beat Castlevania Bloodlines with Eric. I'll do John Morris later.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
11-Oct-2022(#81)
I'm just about to beat Bloodlines as well @SupremeSarna
I've been playing on my Gen mini and took down Elizabeth Bartley last night - she was very easy (after I figured out her pattern) especially after fighting the mini boss-rush and Death just prior. I took on Drac after just once before calling it a night. I'm playing as John since it's a Castlevania game so you HAVE to use the Vampire Killer, but I watched a little gameplay from Eric and think I might have enjoyed his Alucard Spear more and might play as him next/soon.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
11-Oct-2022(#82)
I need to get around to playing Bloodlines already, this month is flying by.
BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
11-Oct-2022(#83)
I finished Dracula X:

image
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
11-Oct-2022(#84)
I finished the Original Castlevania (the NES version not the Arcade version)
I’m working on the second time through (I guess it’s the hard version).
It’s still fun but the second time through is pretty cheap sometimes.
Only on stage 29 right now.
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
* 11-Oct-2022(#85)
Beat Castlevania Bloodlines - proof: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bNzM3AGbmoPr3uSH6
Ending was swift, after I took that pic a word or more appeared on screen and boom off to credits.
I beat it as John as I said recently, might try with Eric. Game wasn't too bad and had some unique ideas and such.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
13-Oct-2022(#86)
OP is updated with new badges.

Richter is definitely flipping us the bird in the Dracula X cover art.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
13-Oct-2022(#87)
Finally started Bloodlines yesterday. I've only beaten the first stage, but I'm not yet seeing why this one is so highly regarded. It's just ok (for a Castlevania game) so far.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
13-Oct-2022(#88)
While people tend to give franchise one-offs on Genesis a bit of a leg up, the game does some really cool stuff with graphics and level design later on.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
13-Oct-2022(#89)
Ok, I just beat Stage 2 and my opinion immediately changed, this game is pretty awesome! The graphics are great, I really liked the first section of Stage 2 where everything is reflected in the water. I'm loving the interactive environments too, hitting things with your whip to knock pillars over/create new platforms, etc. The two water sections were really cool too, first trying to escape the rising water, then later being careful not to fall in as the water slowly drops. I played the first section of Stage 3 just to check it out and it was really cool how those minotaur looking enemies rip pillars out of the ground to use as weapons!
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
13-Oct-2022(#90)
Some of the stuff it does in the final stage was trippy, won't spoil them but they were unique and I'm not sure I've ever played a level like at least the 1 part and the next part while thankfully short, was pretty rare in games that I've played.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
13-Oct-2022(#91)
Scott wrote:
> hitting things with your whip to knock pillars over/create new platforms, etc.
Thththththth... BWOWM!

Yeah, the enemies are funnier in this than any other game. I like how bone-chucking skeletons will rip off their arms and then their skulls to throw more projectiles. The pillar-wielding minotaurs are a riot as well. There are even some skeletons that hide inside steel drums later on, thinking they're so clever. The fourth boss is also... interesting.


BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
13-Oct-2022(#92)
I finished Bloodlines with Lecarde. (Did it with the other guy the first time I played.) Also finished Kid Dracula, the only game on the Anniversary Collection I didn’t beat when I first bought it a couple years ago. I’m not sure if the latter counts or not.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
13-Oct-2022(#93)
I been playing a few of the NES and SNES Castlevania games today. Just to get them started,
I’m maybe halfway through Super Castlevania 4 and while there are some really cool things there
are just as many annoying gimmicks. Did Nintendo seriously go to every developer and say
“You have to utilize mode 7 or your game will never be on Super Nintendo!”

Idk, it’s maybe better than I remembered maybe worse. It was both of my foster brothers
favorite games that we had so that’s a good memory. And it’s more “challenging” than
I used to think it was but I played platformers so often back then maybe I’m just out of practice
since I play so many other types of games more often now?

But Simons Quest is cooler than I remembered. And Castlevania 3 is prolly the most fun
but I only played an hour or two of those. I’ll try to finish SC4 first.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
13-Oct-2022(#94)
I have really great memories of SCIV, but it's been a really long time since I played it. I'm hoping to get to that one this month too.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
13-Oct-2022(#95)
Scott wrote:
> I have really great memories of SCIV, but it's been a really long time since I played
> it. I'm hoping to get to that one this month too.

I hope you have time to, I finally got to the stage I have some of my best memories from with all the gold everywhere.
I’m pretty close to the end I think. I guess back in the day I must have just used passwords whenever I did
play so I could play my favorite levels over and over again.

I’m starting to get back into it again 😃
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
14-Oct-2022(#96)
Alright I just finished Super Castlevania IV and I even got an achievement!

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
14-Oct-2022(#97)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> I been playing a few of the NES and SNES Castlevania games today. Just to get them
> started,
> I’m maybe halfway through Super Castlevania 4 and while there are some really cool
> things there
> are just as many annoying gimmicks. Did Nintendo seriously go to every developer
> and say
> “You have to utilize mode 7 or your game will never be on Super Nintendo!”
>
> Idk, it’s maybe better than I remembered maybe worse. It was both of my foster brothers
> favorite games that we had so that’s a good memory. And it’s more “challenging” than
>
> I used to think it was but I played platformers so often back then maybe I’m just
> out of practice
> since I play so many other types of games more often now?
>
> But Simons Quest is cooler than I remembered. And Castlevania 3 is prolly the most
> fun
> but I only played an hour or two of those. I’ll try to finish SC4 first.

Konami loved to abuse the hell outta any features present in the hardware they used at the time. You should see the amount of scaling and rotation they used in their arcade games those days...
DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
14-Oct-2022(#98)
Scott wrote:
> Ok, I just beat Stage 2 and my opinion immediately changed, this game is pretty awesome!

Yeah, That’s when most people come around if they haven’t already. I’d already started playing with the Spaniard and liked the jams by stage one but by design I think that’s supposed to sorta ease you in and set you up for being very impressed with stage 2, and almost everyone is. Amazing, beautiful score, fantastic special effects (arguably more impressive than mode 7 fudgeery in Super CV4), just good crap.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
14-Oct-2022(#99)
Foxhack wrote:
> BleedingViolet wrote:
>> I been playing a few of the NES and SNES Castlevania games today. Just to get
> them
>> started,
>> I’m maybe halfway through Super Castlevania 4 and while there are some really
> cool
>> things there
>> are just as many annoying gimmicks. Did Nintendo seriously go to every developer
>> and say
>> “You have to utilize mode 7 or your game will never be on Super Nintendo!”
>>
>> Idk, it’s maybe better than I remembered maybe worse. It was both of my foster
> brothers
>> favorite games that we had so that’s a good memory. And it’s more “challenging”
> than
>>
>> I used to think it was but I played platformers so often back then maybe I’m just
>> out of practice
>> since I play so many other types of games more often now?
>>
>> But Simons Quest is cooler than I remembered. And Castlevania 3 is prolly the
> most
>> fun
>> but I only played an hour or two of those. I’ll try to finish SC4 first.
>
> Konami loved to abuse the hell outta any features present in the hardware they used
> at the time. You should see the amount of scaling and rotation they used in their
> arcade games those days...

Well I have finally played the original Castlevania arcade game since the last time I played SCIV
And it does seem like they finally got to get more of that original look and feel in there
with this SNES offering than was possible on the NES games.

I think the best additions for the series in this game were the freedoms of movement
though. Not necessarily any graphical or sound upgrades. Moreso the jumping
than the whip flailing. Both of which are super cool. I started goofing around
in Bloodlines right after I finished SC4 and was immediately wanting to whip things directly above me
while jumping. It would not work lol. At least I got to finish the first boss before I saved so I could sleep.
Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 14-Oct-2022(#100)
Beat Rondo of Blood remake in Dracula X Chronicles via the Vita. Think I got one of the weak sauce endings.

image
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
14-Oct-2022(#101)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Scott wrote:
>> I have really great memories of SCIV, but it's been a really long time since I
> played
>> it. I'm hoping to get to that one this month too.
>
> I hope you have time to, I finally got to the stage I have some of my best memories
> from with all the gold everywhere.
> I’m pretty close to the end I think. I guess back in the day I must have just used
> passwords whenever I did
> play so I could play my favorite levels over and over again.
>
> I’m starting to get back into it again 😃

Cool! I'm definitely going to try to play it soon yes
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
14-Oct-2022(#102)
DarkFact wrote:
> Scott wrote:
>> Ok, I just beat Stage 2 and my opinion immediately changed, this game is pretty
> awesome!
>
> Yeah, That’s when most people come around if they haven’t already. I’d already started
> playing with the Spaniard and liked the jams by stage one but by design I think that’s
> supposed to sorta ease you in and set you up for being very impressed with stage
> 2, and almost everyone is. Amazing, beautiful score, fantastic special effects (arguably
> more impressive than mode 7 fudgeery in Super CV4), just good crap.

Yeah, it's not like Stage 1 was bad or anything. It was just ok, which surprised me after having heard such good things about the game. But I'm totally fine with the first stage easing you in, and then the game really picking up in the following stage.
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
14-Oct-2022(#103)
I beat Bloodlines with John Morris, and my run was extremely impressive until Stage 5. That one's not great...

DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
14-Oct-2022(#104)
Spear's a much better option later on in the game. I did go ahead and beat it with John once I'd finished it with Eric, doable but definitely harder! Love the angles you get with the whip tho.
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
17-Oct-2022(#105)
#BeatIt
I beat Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
20-Oct-2022(#106)
I beat Castlevania Bloodlines today. Stage 2 was incredible, but honestly, the game kinda went back to mediocre (for a CV game) after that, at least IMO. There were some cool things here and there, but idk, overall it just felt kinda blah. I did like that the Dracula fight wasn't excruciatingly difficult though like it is in many CV games, that was refreshing.

I'm hoping to start SCIV tonight.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
21-Oct-2022(#107)
Scott wrote:
> I beat Castlevania Bloodlines today. Stage 2 was incredible, but honestly, the game
> kinda went back to mediocre (for a CV game) after that, at least IMO. There were
> some cool things here and there, but idk, overall it just felt kinda blah. I did
> like that the Dracula fight wasn't excruciatingly difficult though like it is in
> many CV games, that was refreshing.
>
> I'm hoping to start SCIV tonight.

Who'd you beat Bloodlines with?

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
21-Oct-2022(#108)
John Morris
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
22-Oct-2022(#109)
Beat Symphony of the Night this morning, in a manner of speaking.

image

Probably the most fun I've had playing a Castlevania game. Everything is just so polished. The amount of content and secrets squeezed into the game is extraordinary, and I didn't even bother with the Inverted Castle yet.

I'm planning on coming back and doing that next, but I've been dying to pick up the NES Castlevanias, so I'm going to start on those this afternoon.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
22-Oct-2022(#110)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> I'm planning on coming back and doing that next, but I've been dying to pick up the
> NES Castlevanias, so I'm going to start on those this afternoon.

Castlevania 64 calls to you… Know my pain. laughing out loud

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
22-Oct-2022(#111)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Beat Symphony of the Night this morning, in a manner of speaking.
>
> {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/UwzsXrC.png 1920 1080{imgt}
>
> Probably the most fun I've had playing a Castlevania game. Everything is just so
> polished. The amount of content and secrets squeezed into the game is extraordinary,
> and I didn't even bother with the Inverted Castle yet.
>
> I'm planning on coming back and doing that next, but I've been dying to pick up the
> NES Castlevanias, so I'm going to start on those this afternoon.
>
>

Happy Birthday Sir! 🎂🎃🍰
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
22-Oct-2022(#112)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Renaissance2K wrote:
>> I'm planning on coming back and doing that next, but I've been dying to pick up
> the
>> NES Castlevanias, so I'm going to start on those this afternoon.
>
> Castlevania 64 calls to you… Know my pain. laughing out loud

My queue is II > I > III > IV > 64, so we'll see.


Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
23-Oct-2022(#113)
Simon's Quest is done.

image

This was the only Castlevania game I played during the actual NES era. It was positively impenetrable for a seven-year-old, and not much better for a full grown adult with all the false floors, breakable walls, and NPCs giving bad advice. It isn't bad with a guide, though.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
23-Oct-2022(#114)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Simon's Quest is done.
>
> {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/7EcNKuL.png 1280 720{imgt}
>
> This was the only Castlevania game I played during the actual NES era. It was positively
> impenetrable for a seven-year-old, and not much better for a full grown adult with
> all the false floors, breakable walls, and NPCs giving bad advice. It isn't bad with
> a guide, though.

It was my favorite in high school because of its low difficulty, coupled with a motivation to clear it quickly for the best ending (which ironically is the worst ending). I knew all the tricky stuff from childhood, so getting that tornado at Deborah Cliff was second-nature. I've since grown to appreciate challenge more, so it's dropped a bit since then.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Oct-2022(#115)
As much as I don't like being lost and backtracking, I do like that you have options to deal with the difficulty of the Metroidvania games. The straight-up platforming titles just have to be muscled through, but the quest games let you grind for levels and resources, plus the special items.

Speaking of straight-up platforming titles, I took a detour from Circle of the Moon to play through The Dracula X Chronicles on PSP.

image

This feels clunkier and foggier than the original Rondo of Blood, but it definitely plays decent tribute to that game. At release, this must have been an incredible offering, considering it comes with unlockable versions of Symphony of the Night and a translated version of the original Rondo of Blood.

benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
24-Oct-2022(#116)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> As much as I don't like being lost and backtracking, I do like that you have options
> to deal with the difficulty of the Metroidvania games. The straight-up platforming
> titles just have to be muscled through, but the quest games let you grind for levels
> and resources, plus the special items.

I kinda feel the opposite. Sure, "letting you grind" sounds fair enough, but my experience is often that you are practically forced to grind to level up in order to have any kind of chance in some areas.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Oct-2022(#117)
That's a fair point.

Just finished the Famicom version of the original Castlevania.

image

I think the most interesting part of doing everything wildly out of order is learning how many enemies and concepts actually started with the really early games.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
24-Oct-2022(#118)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> That's a fair point.
>
> Just finished the Famicom version of the original Castlevania.
>
> {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/mAMKoHY.png 1280 720{imgt}
>
> I think the most interesting part of doing everything wildly out of order is learning
> how many enemies and concepts actually started with the really early games.
>
>

Were there any real differences between this and the American release?
Prolly my fave Castlevania but idk there’s so many good things
in almost all the games. Perhaps not the first Gameboy game
but when I originally played it as a child it seemed much better to me.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Oct-2022(#119)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Renaissance2K wrote:
>> That's a fair point.
>>
>> Just finished the Famicom version of the original Castlevania.
>>
>> {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/mAMKoHY.png 1280 720{imgt}
>>
>> I think the most interesting part of doing everything wildly out of order is learning
>> how many enemies and concepts actually started with the really early games.
>>
>>
>
> Were there any real differences between this and the American release?

Quite a few.

Finished off Castlevania III, and the last of the NES games.

image

Bruce, what did we think of it?

image

Thanks, Bruce.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
25-Oct-2022(#120)
Pretty cool, I’ll try and play through it before the end of the month.
I never got to finish “hard mode” in Castlevania 1 since the
game froze. The Xbox itself didn’t, just Castlevania.
It was the second time that game froze.
I hadn’t been doing save states except right before
Dracula in the first play through. So I stopped for that night
and instead started playing the other games the next times
I started again.
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
* 25-Oct-2022(#121)
If anyone's looking for a legal PC copy of the GBA games and SNES Dracula X, here's the set for a bit over $8.50: https://uk.gamesplanet.com/game/castlevania-advanc...

And the original Castlevania Anniversary Collection for $3.15: https://uk.gamesplanet.com/game/castlevania-annive...

The keys work in the USA, they're just not available in the US store for some reason. If you have a US Gamesplanet account, your credentials work there too.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
25-Oct-2022(#122)
We've had a Hell of a month! Here's a look at all the badges we've earned in October as we played through Castlevania games:

BleedingViolet GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JSRtjCD.png 79 75{imgt}

BloodPuppetX 400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/7gywoM2.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt}

Foxhack 350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/TP1ixYP.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/W6rldfv.png 79 75{imgt}

Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/W6rldfv.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/q4nf0PI.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/YjPr39N.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/WPvL9Rq.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XK9V5HR.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tXv5KGy.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/TP1ixYP.png 79 75{imgt}

Scott GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt}

Slickriven GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt}

Snappy Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tXv5KGy.png 79 75{imgt}

SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/K1GPyNA.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XK9V5HR.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt}

There's a little less than a week left to defeat some Dracula reincarnations while it's still en vogue. Keep posting your kills in this thread.

Let's start taking nominations for the November Game of the Month. No themes or executive decisions this month. Post the name of a retro game you want to play as a group during the month of November.

When we hit five nominations (or October 29), we'll start voting.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
25-Oct-2022(#123)
@Renaissance2K I beat bloodlines with John, not Eric.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
25-Oct-2022(#124)
I'm on stage VII of SCIV. It's actually very different than how I remembered it. I only played it once, when I was fairly young, and did manage to beat it. My memory of the game was pretty fuzzy though, there were just specific levels/sections I remembered, and that's it. It's a lot harder than I expected. I was thinking this was one of the easier ones. At least it has unlimited continues, that's nice. It seems heavier on tricky platforming than any of the Castlevania games I've played, often to an annoying degree. I'm really enjoying it overall though.

Are y'all using save states, or are you all just amazing at Castlevania? Some of you are just cranking out game after game. I'm trying to beat these legit, but it's taking me a lot of tries.
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
25-Oct-2022(#125)
I used savestates. CV1 is too unfair :P
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
25-Oct-2022(#126)
I'm most definitely using save states.

Slickriven wrote:
> @Renaissance2K I beat bloodlines with John, not Eric.

I honestly don't remember who is who, lol

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
25-Oct-2022(#127)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> I'm most definitely using save states.
>
> Slickriven wrote:
>> @Renaissance2K I beat bloodlines with John, not Eric.
>
> I honestly don't remember who is who, lol
>

No worries, but I used John mainly bc he uses the Vampire Killer whip. I wasn't even aware there were 2 different characters until I dove into it.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
25-Oct-2022(#128)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> I'm most definitely using save states.
>
> Slickriven wrote:
>> @Renaissance2K I beat bloodlines with John, not Eric.
>
> I honestly don't remember who is who, lol
>

John has the whip.

I'd like to nominate Super Mario Land II: Six Golden Coins Game Boy for November.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
25-Oct-2022(#129)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> I'd like to nominate Super Mario Land II: Six Golden Coins Game Boy for November.

We're off to a good start...

Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 25-Oct-2022(#130)
I'd like to nominate SOS (NOT to be confused with S.O.S. Save our Ship) for SNES - very original and fun game IMO. "Each character has approximately four or five main endings, depending on how many survivors you’ve rescued"

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/sos/#:~:text=Each...
BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 25-Oct-2022(#131)
With the Genesis Mini 2 out soon, I’ll nominate Robo Aleste (Sega CD).
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
25-Oct-2022(#132)
I will nominate

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

I’ve never really played any of them besides this one anyways
and I’ve never finished it. I want a fun adventure.
This was always one of my favorite games with my friends.
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
26-Oct-2022(#133)
... know what? I'd like GTA SA too.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
26-Oct-2022(#134)
I beat the original famicom Castlevania 1

It wasn’t much different. I did beat it way faster though, and I played it
on the normal setting not easy and I’m not playing through hard either.
I’d say it took me just under 2 hours but maybe it was less than that.

You really only need save states around Dracula 🧛‍♂️ maybe before
Frankenstein and the Grim Reaper too but I think I passed the whole
Grim Reaper stage without dying since I had the Holy Water x 3 all the way
through it. That was the only stage I didn’t die on tonight besides the 1st stage though.
It was pretty fun too.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
27-Oct-2022(#135)
Finished Super Castlevania IV this morning, after spending way too long being pelted by seemingly-unavoidable purple fireballs.

image

Didn't enjoy it as much as I expected it to. It feels a whole lot slower, and the soundtrack didn't make the transition to 16-bit as gracefully as I would have liked. Still a solid game, and I actually like circling the d-pad to swing your whip.

I was going to pick up Castlevania 64 next, but I doubt I'll finish that before Monday, so I'm going to start Castlevania Chronicles instead. I've had that game in my PSN library since the mid-2000s and never played it, and I can't figure out how to do anything productive in the MiSTer X68000 core, so now seems as good a time as any to play it.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
27-Oct-2022(#136)
I'm enjoying SCIV a lot overall, but I definitely have some gripes about it. It's not holding up quite as well as I'd hoped.

These are the non-3D Castlevania games I still haven't beaten:

Castlevania Chronicles
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

Hopefully I can finish up SCIV in the next day or two and at least start up one of these before the month is over. I've been wanting to finish beating all of the Castlevania games for a while now but kept putting it off for other games, so I'm glad this thread finally got me back into it.

I'm still not really clear on what Harmony of Despair is like. I know it has online multiplayer, but is playing it solo an option?
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
27-Oct-2022(#137)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> I was going to pick up Castlevania 64 next, but I doubt I'll finish that before Monday,
> so I'm going to start Castlevania Chronicles instead.

I'd still recommend playing 64 sometime before the year's end. It'll put hair on your chest, that's for sure.


Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 27-Oct-2022(#138)
Me and my three chest hairs are fine with our current growth rate, thank you very much.

Still waiting on two more nominations for November's GOTM, if anyone has any ideas.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
28-Oct-2022(#139)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Me and my three chest hairs are fine with our current growth rate, thank you very
> much.
>
> Still waiting on two more nominations for November's GOTM, if anyone has any ideas.
>
>

Are we doing six nominations this month?
That would be pretty cool.

Also I concur about Castlevania 64 being way better than people
will ever give it credit for. Sure I haven’t played it in 20 years
but when I did I loved it and I always enjoyed it more than
more conventionally popular releases like SOTN and Super Castlevania.

Obviously it’s in 3D so if you can’t even with that then it’s not going
to make it any easier with a Castlevania game, which I don’t
Remember it being all that hard but it’s been awhile.
If I had not given my copy to my friend I would have started playing
it already. As it is I did start on the first Gameboy game and for
some reason these games that played fine on Xbox One are
really glitchy on my Series S. The Gameboy game has a ton of slowdown
which makes an unplayable game even less playable. Utter nonsense.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#140)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Renaissance2K wrote:
>> Me and my three chest hairs are fine with our current growth rate, thank you very
>> much.
>>
>> Still waiting on two more nominations for November's GOTM, if anyone has any ideas.
>
> Are we doing six nominations this month?
> That would be pretty cool.

I missed the Robo Aleste post. We only need one more.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
28-Oct-2022(#141)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> BleedingViolet wrote:
>> Renaissance2K wrote:
> |>> Me and my three chest hairs are fine with our current growth rate, thank you
> very
> |>> much.
> |>>
> |>> Still waiting on two more nominations for November's GOTM, if anyone has any
> ideas.
>>
>> Are we doing six nominations this month?
>> That would be pretty cool.
>
> I missed the Robo Aleste post. We only need one more.
>
>

Why not 6 though? More people have been participating anyways,
The more the merrier 😃
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#142)
I'll nominate Pokemon X/Y.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#143)
Scott wrote:
> I'll nominate Pokemon X/Y.

image

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#144)
k
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#145)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Renaissance2K wrote:
>> BleedingViolet wrote:
> |>> Renaissance2K wrote:
>> |>> Me and my three chest hairs are fine with our current growth rate, thank you
>> very
>> |>> much.
>> |>>
>> |>> Still waiting on two more nominations for November's GOTM, if anyone has any
>> ideas.
> |>>
> |>> Are we doing six nominations this month?
> |>> That would be pretty cool.
>>
>> I missed the Robo Aleste post. We only need one more.
>>
>>
>
> Why not 6 though? More people have been participating anyways,
> The more the merrier 😃

I mean, sure, we can do six, if you want. But we need to hit five first, lol


Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#146)
I guess Pokemon X/Y isn't quite as old as I was thinking. What is the cut off for this thread anyway? You could have just told me that, instead of an unclear gif and then mocking it in another post.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Oct-2022(#147)
Scott wrote:
> I guess Pokemon X/Y isn't quite as old as I was thinking. What is the cut off for
> this thread anyway? You could have just told me that, instead of an unclear gif and
> then mocking it in another post.

Was just trying to be silly. I'm not sure what post sounded like mocking, but the GIF is the only response I intended to be for the Pokemon suggestion. Sorry, either way.

Generally Speaking™, I've been treating the 360/PS3/DS/PSP generation as the first non-retro consoles. Exceptionally, we've played two DS games - The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Shantae: Risky's Revenge (bonus game for Shantae month) - and allowed modern remakes of retro games (the N-Sane Trilogy version of Crash Bandicoot, Turtles in Time Re-shelled, The Dracula X Chronicles, etc.). There's also the Lords of Shadow discussion we had earlier in the month.

I've said this before, but just to reiterate: I'm less in favor of strict rules and more in favor of anything that makes people want to play along. Historically, that seems to be short (4 hours or less) games that are easily accessible, especially for modern hardware, with no restrictions on things like cheats, save states, walkthroughs, etc. We have nominations and voting to boost the games that more people are interested in, but there's not much correlation between a vote of "5" yielding an actual playthrough, and two of the more "popular" or successful months we've had were this month and Darkstalkers 3 month, where I just said, "Screw it, we're playing X." That could be a badge thing, though, since both months potentially offered dozens of different badges.

But if expanding things to the 360/PS3 era would get more people to play along, I'd be fine with it, "true retro" or otherwise.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
28-Oct-2022(#148)
I beat Castlevania: Rondo of Blood Nintendo Wii (originally NEC TurboGrafx-16 ).
[imgt]https://i.imgur.com/V6HErt9_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sh...[/imgt]
Game looks and sounds great, with plenty of secrets and strong enemies to keep you on your toes. I found the journey a little too hard with Richter, with stages 4 and 5 being a serious pain. But you gain satisfaction through hardship, and blazing through such frustrating stages as Maria afterward is cathartic. Love the inclusion of her—she really adds some weird quirkiness to the Castlevania universe, with her cute animal companions and modern candy power-ups.

I’d still say Castlevania III or maybe Bloodlines are the best in the series, but this one’s definitely in the top 5.

razeak
Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 9 Reviews
* 28-Oct-2022(#149)
I just finished Super Castlevania IV less than an hour a go. It was pretty good and the score got to kicking the last few levels.

Castlevania III is my pick for best of the series.

Also, I finished Simons Quest when I was 9 or 10, about 1990. It was grueling. I had a friend that also had it and we shared discoveries and eventually I figured it out.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 29-Oct-2022(#150)
We're running out of November, so let's start voting.

Here are our five six nominees, including one from me and one that's wearing a red hoodie and saying, "Hello, fellow retro games!":

Nominees
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins Game Boy
SOS Super Nintendo
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PlayStation 2 Microsoft Xbox PC / Windows
Robo Aleste Sega CD
Battletoads Nintendo Entertainment System Amiga Sega Genesis Game Gear Game Boy
Pokemon X/Y Nintendo 3DS

Either publicly in this thread or privately in a PM to me, give each nominee 0-5 points. Omitting a nominee is equivalent to giving it a vote of 0. The game with the highest score by the end of the month will be the November 2022 GOTM.

Here are my votes:
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - 5
SOS - 2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 3
Robo Aleste - 4
Battletoads - 3
Pokemon X/Y - 2

Vote!

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
29-Oct-2022(#151)
Robo Aleste 5
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
29-Oct-2022(#152)
Super Mario Land 2 - 5
Not really interested in emulating the others or starting another RPG.

Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
29-Oct-2022(#153)
SOS - 5
Battletoads - 4
Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
30-Oct-2022(#154)
GTA San Andreas 5
Maril Land 2 4

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
30-Oct-2022(#155)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Was just trying to be silly. I'm not sure what post sounded like mocking, but the
> GIF is the only response I intended to be for the Pokemon suggestion. Sorry, either
> way.

I guess I was just being too sensitive the other day, sorry about that. Thanks for clearing it up yes
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
30-Oct-2022(#156)
Pokemon X/Y - 5
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
30-Oct-2022(#157)
Robo Alest - 5
SOS - 5
BattleToads - 2

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
30-Oct-2022(#158)
Probably the last one of the month, but I finished Castlevania Chronicles on PlayStation.

image

This plays like Rondo of Blood with the 8-bit Castlevanias' sensibilities, or an 8-bit Castlevania with Rondo of Blood's aesthetics. Either way, it was a lot better than I expected and a lot closer to what I was expecting/wanting from Super Castlevania.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
31-Oct-2022(#159)
Last day to vote! Get your votes in, if you haven't already.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
31-Oct-2022(#160)
GTA San Andreas - 5
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
31-Oct-2022(#161)
Everything except GTA - 5
GTA - 0

Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
31-Oct-2022(#162)
GTA - 5
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
31-Oct-2022(#163)
I for sure don't have 30+ hours to dedicate to GTA...

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
31-Oct-2022(#164)
You can earn badges after the GOTM is over, but it'd probably spread out the discussion a bit more than a game you can finish in a month.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
31-Oct-2022(#165)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> You can earn badges after the GOTM is over, but it'd probably spread out the discussion
> a bit more than a game you can finish in a month.
>

Yeah I know, I prefer to attempt to beat it in the selected month though, if possible.

Foxhack
350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
1-Nov-2022(#166)
Kind of a shame the unfinished Game.com version of Symphony of the Night was not released earlier. I would've liked to play that. XD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBoNuqaSuzk
ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 1-Nov-2022(#167)
Foxhack wrote:
> Kind of a shame the unfinished Game.com version of Symphony of the Night was not
> released earlier. I would've liked to play that. XD
>

I was going to bid on a mint copy for the PlayStation and was right there at work, and just kinda forgot. (I did buy 4 other games from him and they were super mint). It went for $132 which is like, not bad. But then I found out the Castlevania Chronicles for PlayStation Portable is much cheaper and has rondo remake + SOTN anyway. So I'm probably gonna go with that.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 1-Nov-2022(#168)
Castlevania has disintegrated into the twilight, not to be seen again for another century. Here are all the badges we earned this month:
BleedingViolet GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JSRtjCD.png 79 75{imgt}

BloodPuppetX 400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/7gywoM2.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt}

Foxhack 350 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/TP1ixYP.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/W6rldfv.png 79 75{imgt}

razeak Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 9 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JSRtjCD.png 79 75{imgt}

Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/W6rldfv.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/q4nf0PI.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/YjPr39N.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/WPvL9Rq.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XK9V5HR.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tXv5KGy.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/TP1ixYP.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/JSRtjCD.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/X1s3ul8.png 79 75{imgt}

Scott GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt}

Slickriven GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt}

Snappy Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/tXv5KGy.png 79 75{imgt}

SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/K1GPyNA.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/xPNy1ed.png 79 75{imgt}{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/XK9V5HR.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/7gywoM2.png 79 75{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/zU6EeKH.png 56 72{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/Xr6ckht.png 91 43{imgt} {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/niqVzCH.gif 128 75{imgt}

We had an awesome month with a total of thirty badges earned across thirteen different games. Many thanks to everyone who made this month so much fun. If anyone happens to cross paths with Dracula again in the future, feel free to announce it in this thread to continue to earn badges.

This month's vote was so close, I had to do a recount. Here are the results for November's Games of the Month... of which there happen to be two:

1. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - 19 votes
1. Robo Aleste - 19 votes
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 18 votes
4. SOS - 17 votes
5. Battletoads - 14 votes
6. Pokemon X/Y - 12 votes

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is the follow up to the original Super Mario Land for the Game Boy, throwing Mario in a new world even more twisted than the first. Backed by some beautiful sprite work and with one of the franchise's earwormiest main themes, Mario Land 2 forever impacted Mario canon by introducing the universe to Wario, the portly, greedy antagonist to grace multiple Mario games in the future and spawn a spin-off franchise of his own. The game has never been remade or ported to other platforms, but it made an appearance as one of the first Game Boy games on the 3DS Virtual Console.

Beat Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins to earn the Mario badge.

Coming soon...

Robo Aleste is the lesser known Sega CD Sega CD follow-up to MUSHA for the Genesis and the sixth game in the Aleste franchise. The game builds upon its predecessor by offering up more powerful versions of its classic subweapons. The game is looked back on as an underappreciated cult classic, though its recent inclusion on the Sega Genesis Mini 2 hopes to bring it to a new audience.

Beat Robo Aleste to earn the Robo Aleste badge.

Coming soon...

Whether you're flying with rabbit ears or mechanized warships, don't hesitate to post a #BeatIt screenshot to celebrate your victory.

I don't know anything about Robo Aleste, but Super Mario Land 2 is probably my favorite Game Boy game. I've played it quite a few times over the years and am looking forward to playing through it again. Those of us with access to an emulator or flash cartridge may want to check out the Super Mario Land 2 DX patch to play the game in color.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
1-Nov-2022(#169)
I'm impressed Mario Land 2 topped the vote (with Robo Aleste, of course). I figured GTA was a shoe-in. Will definitely whip out my GBA SP this month!

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
1-Nov-2022(#170)
I #BeatIt

[imgt]https://i.imgur.com/rkN28al_d.webp?maxwidth=640&sh...[/imgt]
I bought this for $5 in 2013, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve beaten it. It’s got such unique world themes, like a stage inside a whale, a stage where you swim through tree sap, a world inside a giant house, and a world inside a giant Mario robot! (The “ball” stage is inside his stomach, not his crotch. Get it right, YouTubers.) The Rabbit Ears are great for hovering through stages, and Wario’s stage is a tricky gauntlet. This is my favorite 2D Mario game by far.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
2-Nov-2022(#171)
I love the unique world/level themes, but I don't care for the level design. I would love to see a new 2D Mario game that brings Mario out of the Mushroom Kingdom and uses more unique world themes like Super Mario Land 1 & 2. I've said it a hundred times but I'll say it again: a 2D Mario Odyssey could be amazing.
BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
2-Nov-2022(#172)
I’m on stage 3 of Robo Aleste. Tough game, even with save states on “Easy” difficulty.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
2-Nov-2022(#173)
BloodPuppetX wrote:
> I’m on stage 3 of Robo Aleste. Tough game, even with save states on “Easy” difficulty.

It might just be me picking on the Genesis, but I feel like the limited color depth is making it really hard to parse what's happening on screen. Power-ups, enemies, bullets, and those weird point capsules that look like bombs all look dangerous.

I made it to Stage 3 on the MiSTer, largely due to that yellow power-up that seems to home in on targets. I got stuck on the final boss and couldn't figure out how to do a decent amount of damage. I ended up starting over on the Genesis Mini 2 so I could use save states, and it's still royally kicking my ass.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
3-Nov-2022(#174)
Finished Super Mario Land 2.

image

I just played through this two years ago, so I targeted a 100% run this time around, getting all the game's secret exits and finishing the levels that they lead to. Either I'd completely forgotten about all these levels back in the original Game Boy days, or this is actually my first time taking the time to unlock them.

DarkFact
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews This user is on the site NOW (2 minutes ago)
3-Nov-2022(#175)
that's such a nice screen. I wanna get my hands on one at least once, but I'm not going on a waiting list. raspberry
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
4-Nov-2022(#176)
image

That was hard as balls.

ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
4-Nov-2022(#177)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Finished Super Mario Land 2.
>
> {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/aOd3bjy.jpg 3072 4080{imgt}

Pixels! I love me my yummy pixels. Part of the reason I'm really going after PS2 games lately after getting that retrolink. Love it! Having a small screen, CRT, or CRT filter really helps these old games just shine.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
4-Nov-2022(#178)
The Pocket gets a special pat-on-the-back for simulating the actual sub-pixels on a GBC screen. The effect is pretty cool.

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
4-Nov-2022(#179)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> That was hard as balls.

I’m at stage 7. I’ll make sure you’re not the only one to clear Robo Aleste this month.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
16-Nov-2022(#181)
I beat Castlevania (NES). Next up on my Castlevania to-play list was Chronicles, but since it's a remake I decided I'd replay the original first. I only played the original once, around 2006. I remembered it being much harder, but I breezed through most of it this time. The long hallway leading up to the Death fight was a section that stood out in my memory as being particularly difficult, but I really didn't have much trouble with it this time. I only had to go through it 3 times before beating Death, and by the 2nd and 3rd attempt I was able to make it through without taking any damage. I also remembered the Dracula fight being much more difficult, but I think I was approaching it differently last time.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
* 16-Nov-2022(#182)
I was going to start up Castlevania Adventure since I can play it on my Switch at work on my lunch break. But, I just learned that there's a 2nd quest in Castlevania, so now I'm going after that. It's hard, but should be pretty do-able. The biggest change is that every hit now does 4 damage, meaning 4 hits kills you. This can be rough, but, the final level is like this so if you just beat the game, you should be used to it. There's also supposed to be a larger number of enemies, but I don't know the game well enough to have noticed a difference so far.

Edit: Ok, I'm on the second level (stages 4-6) and I'm really seeing the difference now. They added Medusa Heads pretty much throughout the entire stages. Apparently they had added bats to stages 1-3 as well, I couldn't remember for sure if they had been there in the first quest or not so I had to look it up. 1-3 weren't too bad, but I'm really seeing the difficulty spike in 4-6. This is gonna be a real challenge.
Otaku100
Gold Good Trader
16-Nov-2022(#183)
The 2nd loop on the original Castlevania doesn't end up being much harder than a regular playthrough; the first half definitely feels a bit harder, but the second half barely feels different.

If you want a truly brutal experience, try the 2nd loop of Castlevania 3 with Trevor only, and take the lower path...
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
16-Nov-2022(#184)
Otaku100 wrote:
> If you want a truly brutal experience, try the 2nd loop of Castlevania 3 with Trevor
> only, and take the lower path...

How about with Alucard only? dead face


Otaku100
Gold Good Trader
16-Nov-2022(#185)
That might be interesting. You do start a 2nd loop with whatever side character you finished the 1st loop with, if I remember correctly.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
17-Nov-2022(#186)
Otaku100 wrote:
> The 2nd loop on the original Castlevania doesn't end up being much harder than a
> regular playthrough; the first half definitely feels a bit harder, but the second
> half barely feels different.

Apparently, they only added enemies to the first 3 levels. Bats, medusa heads, then bats again. Level 6 already had the increased damage on the first loop, so nothing different there. 4 and 5 will just have the increased damage, which shouldn't be too bad.

> If you want a truly brutal experience, try the 2nd loop of Castlevania 3 with Trevor
> only, and take the lower path...

Castlevania 3 is on my list to replay after I finish the rest of the 2D Castlevania games I've never played. I only played it once, and just did 1 path. I'm excited to re-visit it and check out more of what it has to offer. Although, I'm a bit overwhelmed by all of the paths and characters, I'm not sure what would be the best way to experience everything.
Otaku100
Gold Good Trader
17-Nov-2022(#187)
If you have access to the Japanese version of 3, you may want to play that version, as it has better music. It may be easiest to look up passwords to return to splits, after you finish a path.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
17-Nov-2022(#188)
Otaku100 wrote:
> If you have access to the Japanese version of 3,
> you may want to play that version, as it has better music.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll be sure to do that yes

> It may be easiest to look up passwords to return to splits, after you finish a path.

Good idea!
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
17-Nov-2022(#189)
Otaku100 wrote:
> If you have access to the Japanese version of 3, you may want to play that version,
> as it has better music. It may be easiest to look up passwords to return to splits,
> after you finish a path.

I agree with this. The soundtrack is pretty advanced for NES/Famicom hardware because of extra chips that Konami included.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
17-Nov-2022(#190)
Looks like I can play the Japanese version on the Anniversary Collection yes
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
23-Nov-2022(#191)
Just beat Castlevania (NES) second quest. There were definitely some challenging parts, but it wasn't too bad overall with unlimited continues. I'm really looking forward to replaying Castlevania III now. I was going to replay it after finishing up the rest of the Castlevania games I still need to beat, but after replaying the original, I kinda want to just jump straight into III...
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Nov-2022(#192)
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Here's a look at all the badges we've earned in November:

benstylus GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews image
Nall Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews image image
Scott GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}
SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader image

When you're done digesting turkey or tofurky, there's still about a week left to finish off Super Mario Land 2 or Robo Aleste while it's still en vogue.

Let's start taking nominations for the December Game of the Month. Post the name of a retro game you want to play as a group during the month of December.

Let's party like it's 2023 and drop the nomination limit. Nominate as many games as you want, and we'll vote on them all. Because of the long holiday weekend, we'll start voting on November 29 and call the winner on December 2.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
24-Nov-2022(#193)
Wait each person can nominate more than one game or just as many people as possible can nominate one game each?

Either way I like it, but I’m still just going to nominate one game for now.
I gotta see if one of my OG Xboxes works too 😉

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare_Before...
Gypsy
GameTZ Subscriber 250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally This user is on the site NOW (7 minutes ago)
24-Nov-2022(#194)
Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving. love
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
24-Nov-2022(#195)
I voted for this, so I needed to play it, just beat SML2: 6 Golden Coins
I think I actually own this cart, well my wife did as a kid and I messed with it years ago on her, or my, GB. Never beat I don't believe, but I just pushed through it tonight in ~2 hours. Only 2 things tripped me up, the 3-pigs boss from Mario's area and the final castle from the door to the boss, who was relatively easy. I was also stumped on the 1 coin and had to look up what area I was missing.
I used save states but almost 100% before levels started and at the checkpoints and I surely created more saves vs. loading from them as the game wasn't difficult.
Proof: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eVsCB1p1P9tkSGAc7

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Nov-2022(#196)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> Wait each person can nominate more than one game or just as many people as possible
> can nominate one game each?

Everyone can nominate as many games as they want.


SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
25-Nov-2022(#197)
I nominate Mega Man 7 Super Nintendo .

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
26-Nov-2022(#198)
I’ll nominate Bonk’s Adventure. Going to try to beat Robo Aleste today.
BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 26-Nov-2022(#199)
I just rolled the credits on Robo Aleste, @Renaissance2K. I got the final boss’s patterns down, so I might load up my last save again tonight to get a screenshot.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Nov-2022(#200)
OP should be up-to-date now with this month's badges. As for December...

image

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
28-Nov-2022(#201)
What is that, a ninja turtle?

Anyways okay fine I’ll nominate a couple more.

Diddy Kong Racing (N64 and Nintendo DS)

And

Mortal Kombat 2

That’s at least 5 but maybe some people will nominate some more.
ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 28-Nov-2022(#202)
Can I nominate Call of Duty (any campaign)? Or is that too loose?

I could say Call of Duty Ghosts Campaign (1, 2, or 3), if so. But having a much bigger pool to pick from could give people options.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
28-Nov-2022(#203)
I nominate:

Pokemon X/Y
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Nov-2022(#204)
BleedingViolet wrote:
> What is that, a ninja turtle?

It's the "come on, do something" meme guy. I don't have much information about his species.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
28-Nov-2022(#205)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> BleedingViolet wrote:
>> What is that, a ninja turtle?
>
> It's the "come on, do something" meme guy. I don't have much information about his
> species.
>
>

Lol I’m not as savvy with all the internet stuff as some of the rest of y’all are 😂
I’m also not as tech savvy but I still try sometimes 😉
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 28-Nov-2022(#206)
Edit: Wrong thread!
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
28-Nov-2022(#207)
Can I still earn a Castlevania badge? Because I beat Super Castlevania IV a few days ago.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
28-Nov-2022(#208)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Can I still earn a Castlevania badge? Because I beat Super Castlevania IV a few days
> ago.
>

Yes, you can earn badges whenever. I'll update your entry.


Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
29-Nov-2022(#209)
It's November 29! Let's vote!

Here are our eight nominees, including some familiar faces:

Nominees
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge PlayStation 2 Microsoft Xbox
Mega Man 7 Super Nintendo
Bonk's Adventure NEC TurboGrafx-16 Nintendo Entertainment System Game Boy Amiga *arcade*
Diddy Kong Racing Nintendo 64 Nintendo DS
Mortal Kombat II coin Super Nintendo *gen* *gg* Game Boy Sega 32X Amiga Sega Master System PC / Windows Sega Saturn PlayStation
Call of Duty franchise PC / Windows Nintendo GameCube PlayStation 2 Microsoft Xbox Nintendo Wii
Pokemon X/Y Nintendo 3DS
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Nintendo GameCube Nintendo Wii

Either publicly in this thread or privately in a PM to me, give each nominee 0-5 points. Omitting a nominee is equivalent to giving it a vote of 0. The game with the highest score by the end of the month will be the November 2022 GOTM.

Here are my votes:
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge - 2
Mega Man 7 - 5
Bonk's Adventure - 3
Diddy Kong Racing - 3
Mortal Kombat II - 3
Call of Duty franchise - 2
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 2


Vote!

ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
29-Nov-2022(#210)
My vote

Call of Duty Franchise - 5
Diddy Kong Racing - 3
Mortal Kombat 2 - 5
Mega Man 7 - 3
Bonk's Adventure - 5

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
29-Nov-2022(#211)
Bonk’s Adventure 5
Mega Mega 7 2
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
29-Nov-2022(#212)
I probably won't play Call of Duty, but we need to get an old school FPS in here at some point. Maybe next month I'll try to remember to nominate one.

ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
29-Nov-2022(#213)
benstylus wrote:
> I probably won't play Call of Duty, but we need to get an old school FPS in here
> at some point. Maybe next month I'll try to remember to nominate one.

yes indeed.

Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
29-Nov-2022(#214)
Mortal Kombat II - 1
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 5
Pokemon X/Y - 5
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
29-Nov-2022(#215)
Mega Man 7 - 5
Twilight Princess - 1
The rest I don’t own.

Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
29-Nov-2022(#216)
Rock Man 7 - 5
Lunar
GameTZ Subscriber 950 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (8)
29-Nov-2022(#217)
Twilight Princess - 5

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
29-Nov-2022(#218)
benstylus wrote:
> I probably won't play Call of Duty, but we need to get an old school FPS in here
> at some point. Maybe next month I'll try to remember to nominate one.
>

Sounds good. January 2023 will be a month for FPS nominations only.


benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
* 29-Nov-2022(#219)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> benstylus wrote:
>> I probably won't play Call of Duty, but we need to get an old school FPS in here
>> at some point. Maybe next month I'll try to remember to nominate one.
>>
>
> Sounds good. January 2023 will be a month for FPS nominations only.
>
>

Catacombs 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Doom
Blake Stone Aliens of Gold
Quake
Duke Nukem 3D
Halo
Goldeneye
Faceball 2000

The list goes on and on...

So many classics to choose from! And also Blake Stone.

These aren't nominations yet obviously, just reminiscing

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
29-Nov-2022(#220)
Question: If I’ve already made progress on the game that ends up as GOTM, do I have to restart to get the badge?

Frank
GameTZ Subscriber 800 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (13) Has Written 11 Reviews Secret Santa
29-Nov-2022(#221)
Man, I really need to keep up with this thread. I JUST did my yearly playthrough of Super Mario Land.

Had I seen SML2 as this month's RTT I'd have gotten a move on and played through that as well. raspberry

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
29-Nov-2022(#222)
Frank wrote:
> Man, I really need to keep up with this thread. I JUST did my yearly playthrough
> of Super Mario Land.
>
> Had I seen SML2 as this month's RTT I'd have gotten a move on and played through
> that as well. raspberry

You’ve still got a full day to beat it. It’s only 3 hours long if you want to beat every stage, including optional ones.


Frank
GameTZ Subscriber 800 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (13) Has Written 11 Reviews Secret Santa
29-Nov-2022(#223)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Frank wrote:
>> Man, I really need to keep up with this thread. I JUST did my yearly playthrough
>> of Super Mario Land.
>>
>> Had I seen SML2 as this month's RTT I'd have gotten a move on and played through
>> that as well. raspberry
>
> YouÂ've still got a full day to beat it. ItÂ's only 3 hours long if you want to beat
> every stage, including optional ones.
>
>
>

I always rush SML. My last playthrough was just under a half hour. I don't know if I want to rush SML2, but we'll see. I've been needing an excuse to try out the DX patch grin


Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
29-Nov-2022(#224)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> benstylus wrote:
>> I probably won't play Call of Duty, but we need to get an old school FPS in here
>> at some point. Maybe next month I'll try to remember to nominate one.
>>
>
> Sounds good. January 2023 will be a month for FPS nominations only.

yes
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
29-Nov-2022(#225)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Question: If I’ve already made progress on the game that ends up as GOTM, do I have
> to restart to get the badge?

It's up to you. Any amount of "play the damn game" is good in my book.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
29-Nov-2022(#226)
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge - 1
Mega Man 7 - 2
Bonk's Adventure - 2
Diddy Kong Racing - 4
Mortal Kombat II - 5
Call of Duty franchise - 3
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 3

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
30-Nov-2022(#227)
Nightmare before Christmas - 3
Diddy Kong Racing - 4
Mortal Kombat 2 - 5
Call of duty - 2
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
1-Dec-2022(#228)
Last day for December GOTM votes!

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
2-Dec-2022(#229)
Super Mario Land 2 is using the Carrot power-up to float off into the horizon, while Robo Aleste sits in the corner, curled up in the fetal position, complaining that life is too hard. Here are all the badges we earned this month:
benstylus GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews image
BloodPuppetX 400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally image
Nall Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews image image
Scott GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/iKZyry3.png 79 75{imgt}
Slickriven GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review image
SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader image image

Many thanks to those of you that took shots at the Games of the Month, and also took the opportunity to take a few more parting shots at Dracula. If you happen to beat either of November's games later on, feel free to post here to get your badge.

Coming from a list of eight nominees, here are the results for December's Game of the Month:

1. Mega Man 7 - 22 votes
2. Mortal Kombat II - 19 votes
3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 16 votes
4. Bonk's Adventure - 15 votes
5. Diddy Kong Racing - 14 votes
6. Call of Duty franchise - 12 votes
7. The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge - 6 votes
8. Pokemon X/Y - 5 votes

Released hot on the heels of the edgier Mega Man X, Mega Man 7 is the Blue Bomber's second outing on the Super Nintendo Super Nintendo. The game largely follows the formula of its predecessors but borrows the concept of an item shot from Mega Man's portable outings, and also serves as the franchise's introduction to Bass and Treble. The game saw a number of re-releases as part of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, and has been featured on a few of Nintendo's Virtual Console offerings.

Beat Mega Man 7 to earn the Mega Man badge.

{imgt}https://i.imgur.com/BP4SNn0.gif 125 140{imgt}

If you manage to show Dr. Wily who has the bigger bolts, share a #BeatIt screenshot.

ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
2-Dec-2022(#230)
Ready for this one. I think MM7 is even already on my retroid pocket 2 +. Woot!

Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
2-Dec-2022(#231)
I'm looking to buy/trade for a nicer copy of MM7 if anyone wants to deal. :D
Kommie
250 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader
2-Dec-2022(#232)
Is this on any Steam Collections at all?
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
2-Dec-2022(#233)
I've tried a couple different times to play the Mega Man games on NES and they just haven't hooked me. Maybe it's time to finally give the ones on SNES a chance.
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
2-Dec-2022(#234)
Kommie wrote:
> Is this on any Steam Collections at all?

This one

https://store.steampowered.com/app/495050/Mega_Man...

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
2-Dec-2022(#235)
I'm early to the party with one finished Mega Man 7. #BeatIt
[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FjAdGZyakAAQCyd?format...[/imgt]
Great game with detailed graphics, fun bosses, and entertaining characters. But it sadly kneecaps itself at the 11th hour with the final boss: Wily Capsule 7. I'll give all you guys a tip for fighting him: Though he isn't weak to it, the electric weapon you get from Cloud Man can shock him momentarily, making him cancel his projectile spreadshot. You still have to dodge some sparks he sends along the floor, and you'll need to hit him with other weapons to actually hurt him, but this will help you avoid heavy damage whenever you can pull it off successfully.

I wanna see different screenshots for all the victories, people! Keep 'em creative. cool smile

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
5-Dec-2022(#236)
I attempted a playthrough of Mega Man 7 back when I was binging the Anniversary Collection for PS2 many moons ago. After breezing through the first six games, I made it to the Wily Stages of 7 before something I remember as a "beast-like monster bot" stopped me in my tracks. Couldn't adjust to their movement patterns, couldn't find a weapon weakness, and even with save states, couldn't deal enough damage to make it past them.

I'm pretty sure that boss was the one I've just hit in Wily Stage 2, and just like before, I'm completely stuck. Although now I know that there are a ton of optional items scattered around the Robot Master stages that I didn't know about originally, and having played through Mega Man 9 and 10, I know that those bolts I keep finding can be exchanged for power-up items and refill items.

I'm taking a break to farm some of those optional items in hopes that it will make the going a little easier, though SupremeSarna's post about the final boss makes me nervous.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
5-Dec-2022(#237)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> I attempted a playthrough of Mega Man 7 back when I was binging the Anniversary Collection
> for PS2 many moons ago. After breezing through the first six games, I made it to
> the Wily Stages of 7 before something I remember as a "beast-like monster bot" stopped
> me in my tracks. Couldn't adjust to their movement patterns, couldn't find a weapon
> weakness, and even with save states, couldn't deal enough damage to make it past
> them.
>
> I'm pretty sure that boss was the one I've just hit in Wily Stage 2, and just like
> before, I'm completely stuck. Although now I know that there are a ton of optional
> items scattered around the Robot Master stages that I didn't know about originally,
> and having played through Mega Man 9 and 10, I know that those bolts I keep finding
> can be exchanged for power-up items and refill items.
>
> I'm taking a break to farm some of those optional items in hopes that it will make
> the going a little easier, though SupremeSarna's post about the final boss makes
> me nervous.

Sounds like Turtlerizer. He’s weak to the charged Wild Coil, but I suggest just charging Mega Buster shots and blasting his face whenever you can. Make sure you master that slide! You can deal with the mini turtles using Danger Wrap or charged Buster shots.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
7-Dec-2022(#238)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> I'm early to the party with one finished Mega Man 7. #BeatIt
> Great game with detailed graphics, fun bosses, and entertaining characters. But it
> sadly kneecaps itself at the 11th hour with the final boss: Wily Capsule 7. I'll
> give all you guys a tip for fighting him: Though he isn't weak to it, the electric
> weapon you get from Cloud Man can shock him momentarily, making him cancel his projectile
> spreadshot. You still have to dodge some sparks he sends along the floor, and you'll
> need to hit him with other weapons to actually hurt him, but this will help you avoid
> heavy damage whenever you can pull it off successfully.
>
> I wanna see different screenshots for all the victories, people! Keep 'em creative.
> cool smile

Just reached Wily Capsule 7, and yeah, he sucks. Really wish it didn't mean repeating the first three stages, but I think I'm going to need to start over again tomorrow, save all my E cans, and see if I can make a dent in him using your shock tip.


SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
7-Dec-2022(#239)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> SupremeSarna wrote:
>> I'm early to the party with one finished Mega Man 7. #BeatIt
>> Great game with detailed graphics, fun bosses, and entertaining characters. But
> it
>> sadly kneecaps itself at the 11th hour with the final boss: Wily Capsule 7. I'll
>> give all you guys a tip for fighting him: Though he isn't weak to it, the electric
>> weapon you get from Cloud Man can shock him momentarily, making him cancel his
> projectile
>> spreadshot. You still have to dodge some sparks he sends along the floor, and
> you'll
>> need to hit him with other weapons to actually hurt him, but this will help you
> avoid
>> heavy damage whenever you can pull it off successfully.
>>
>> I wanna see different screenshots for all the victories, people! Keep 'em creative.
>> cool smile
>
> Just reached Wily Capsule 7, and yeah, he sucks. Really wish it didn't mean repeating
> the first three stages, but I think I'm going to need to start over again tomorrow,
> save all my E cans, and see if I can make a dent in him using your shock tip.

Rejoice: You don’t have to redo any Wily stages if you leave and play a different stage! 7 is nice like that.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
7-Dec-2022(#240)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Rejoice: You don’t have to redo any Wily stages if you leave and play a different
> stage! 7 is nice like that.

That's cool for farming and such, but me and my tiny play windows just don't want to have to do the whole thing in one sitting.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
8-Dec-2022(#241)
image

Credit for this clear, without a doubt, goes to @SupremeSarna. There's no way I would have survived that final fight without knowing Wily could be stunned. Even then, it still took me multiple attempts and more E-cans than I'd care to admit before Wily took pity on me and started spawning low enough to be hit with a Coil/Shock combo.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
8-Dec-2022(#242)
@Renaissance2K Happy to help!

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
13-Dec-2022(#243)
I beat Mega Man 7

image
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 16-Dec-2022(#244)
Meta post time! Let's talk about ways we can do things in 2023.

Nominations & Voting
I like the idea of allowing any number of nominations during a voting month. It reminds me of when the Oscars increased the Best Picture category to ten; in theory, it allows for a broader range of options and lets more people participate.

I can't think of any downside except that - if we stick to the usual at T-minus 7 days - it doesn't leave a lot of time for either nominating or voting. It used to take a few days to reach five nominees which gave us plenty of time for everyone to weigh in who wanted to, but giving threeish days to nominate and threeish days to vote isn't a ton of time, especially if one of those blocks falls on a weekend where people seem to be less active.

Does anybody else have a problem with removing the nominations cap? If we stick with that plan, maybe we can start the process at T-minus 10 days instead of 7?

Annual Franchise Challenge
I started the Annual Franchise Challenge this year as a bit of a side quest, since GOTMs tend to favor shorter titles, which means a lot of retro titles with longer campaigns are going to be overlooked. As a trial run, I picked Lunar because of the franchise's obvious connection to the origins of this thread and the game club, offering up a "permabadge" of sorts as the reward.

As far as I know, I'm the only person that played a Lunar game this year. I don't know if this is because people don't like the concept of the quest, don't like Lunar, or didn't realize this was actually a thing that we were doing. (It's underneath the GOTM details, so it's not difficult to miss.)

Should we try again next year with a franchise that gets voted in, or should we K.I.S.S. and just do monthly games?

O Captain, My Captain
I've been thread "captain" for two years now, and I'm having a lot of fun. I've played through a ton of great games, some of which were on my radar and some of which weren't, and I've especially enjoyed when we pick a game or a franchise that stirs up a lot of clears and discussion.

I'm content with keeping things rolling through 2023, but I wanted to reach out in case someone among you has been quietly wishing you could take the reigns, either because it sounds like fun or because you want to do things differently.

Basically, the "duties" include the following:
- Keeping the OP updated with objectives and results each month
- Running the nomination and voting process
- Producing badges for GOTMs
- Coming up with themes (spooky games, sixth gen games, FPS, etc.) or "executive picks" (Darkstalkers 3, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Castlevania franchise, etc.) for some months
- Stirring up discussion about retro topics (I've been slacking a bit here, especially in the second half of the year when I get busy with RL stuff)

Again, I'm happy to keep things going as is. I just don't want to selfishly keep it all to myself if there are people out there that wanted to take over.

Thanks. Hope everybody's having fun this month.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
16-Dec-2022(#245)
All I know is that my goal next year is to play the entire Pikmin series (give or take Hey! Pikmin).

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
17-Dec-2022(#246)
@Renaissance2K unless you’re tired of all the duties or are just too busy I’d prefer to see you or @Lunar
Keep running this. Neither one of you seems biased and you both let everyone speak and be heard.
There have been arguments in the past over really dumb and or petty crap and you have never seemed
to engage in any of it. I know I’ve been in plenty of dumb arguments here and plenty of them were because
of my (or someone else) overreacting to things that don’t really matter.

I like the idea of more nominations too. And having more time to nominate and vote might
be cool too. Also why not do the regular GOTM plus one bonus game of your own
choosing so even if one person is really annoyed by a GOTM they have at least one
other game to try to play through instead? It might get more people participating.

I’ve always wanted us to play more rpgs so of course I’m on board with certain games or
series being more spread out over the year where people don’t feel forced into
speedrunning through a giant RPG with tons of different paths in one month.
Most people intentionally vote AGAINST games like that. I’ve personally never played the
Lunar games but the series started when I had less money for games and couldn’t just
buy something whenever I wanted. So I stuck more to games and systems I knew and
had already.

Anyways that’s my thoughts about everything.
Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
19-Dec-2022(#247)
I like the idea of removing the nominations cap. However, I don't know that it should be unlimited. Maybe we should have a per-person cap at least, like 3?

I somehow missed the Annual Franchise Challenge and knew nothing about it. I'd say it's fine to keep, but honestly, I'm not very likely to go out of my comfort zone and try a brand new franchise. However, if a franchise I like is selected, I'm very likely to fit in 1 of its games over the course of the year.

You've been doing a great job and I have no interest in taking over running this.
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
19-Dec-2022(#248)
Is it time to nominate already? We are doing a FPS for January, right?

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
19-Dec-2022(#249)
I was going to call for nominations tomorrow, but feel free to post yours if you have some in mind.

benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
19-Dec-2022(#250)
I nominate the Catacombs 3D series. It's the first texture mapped FPS as far as I am aware.

Catacomb Abyss is free shareware so you don't even have to buy it. If you like it, the whole series being available on Gog for a pittance.

https://www.gog.com/en/game/catacombs_pack

Hah - it's even on sale for 20% off! The whole series (four 3d games plus the two earlier 2d games) for under $5 total. Easy to play on any pc that uses dosbox. And all of them are short enough to not become a slog.

That game is where my current avatar comes from.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
20-Dec-2022(#251)
As the end of the year and the holidays approach, let's look at all the badges we've earned in December:

BloodPuppetX 400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally image
Nall Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews image
SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader image

Dr. Wily deserves as many smackdowns as we can muster, and there's still time to be a cool kid and finish Mega Man 7 before the ball drops on 2023.

Let's start taking nominations for the January Game of the Month. The theme for January, as suggested by @benstylus, is first-person shooters. Nominate some games or franchises that fit the theme, and we'll play through them as a group in January.

We'll start voting on December 26 and call the winner on January 1.

Ben has already nominated the Catacomb franchise. Since we're not capping nominations anymore, I'm going to throw my hat in the ring and nominate the Unreal franchise, especially considering Epic is about to turn off their servers next month.

Let's hear some nominees!

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
22-Dec-2022(#252)
I will nominate two games

Star Wars: Dark Forces (playstation 1 and pc)

And

Hexen (playstation 1, PC, Saturn and N64)

Both of these games may be available other places and of course I wanted to nominate
Doom or Final Doom or Doom 64 (you get the idea) but I can’t see no one else nominating it
AND the other two games are really cool and not as well known I don’t think.
There’s also insanely cool looking remakes of Dark Forces with graphics that just weren’t possible
when it was released almost 30 years ago. Worth checking out on YouTube just to see what’s different
and new. I’m not sure if there are playable builds of it anywhere but I was mostly just looking
for the original PS1 game. I never played through Hexen and always wanted to, I DID play through
Dark Forces I’m pretty sure and it was just great 😃 both games are still not crazy expensive
on PS1 so I figured they were both worth nominating.
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
22-Dec-2022(#253)
I tried playing through Hexen when it was a new release, but there was so much backtracking I eventually gave up. I don't think I would want to try it again.

Here's another nom:

Powerslave/Exhumed
Got a great Saturn port and a remaster was recently released on Switch (and I'm assuming other current gen consoles).

Lunar
GameTZ Subscriber 950 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (8)
22-Dec-2022(#254)
I think GOG got a release. Not sure about Steam.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
22-Dec-2022(#255)
Steam has both the DOS version and the re-released Saturn port.

benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
22-Dec-2022(#256)
Gog has both as well, and they are currently on sale for $6.99 for the Dos version (regularly 9.99) and $14.99 for the remaster (regularly 19.99).

Can't beat free for Catacomb Abyss though smile

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
25-Dec-2022(#257)
Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates.

Anybody else have any classic FPSs or franchises they want to nominate? We'll start voting on the 26th.

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
25-Dec-2022(#258)
I’ll nominate Doom 64.
ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
25-Dec-2022(#259)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates.
>
> Anybody else have any classic FPSs or franchises they want to nominate? We'll start
> voting on the 26th.
>
>

Sure I'll nominate any Duke Nukem game (since my PS1 is working again and I have Time to Kill!)

Lunar
GameTZ Subscriber 950 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (8)
25-Dec-2022(#260)
Disruptor

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
26-Dec-2022(#261)
Happy Boxing Day! Let's unbox which of our nominees will be the January 2023 Game of the Month!

Nominees
Catacomb franchise PC / Windows
Unreal franchise PC / Windows Sega Dreamcast PlayStation 2 Microsoft Xbox
Star Wars: Dark Forces PC / Windows PlayStation
Hexen: Beyond Heretic PC / Windows PlayStation Sega Saturn PlayStation Nintendo 64
Powerslave / Exhumed PC / Windows Sega Saturn PlayStation
Doom 64 Nintendo 64 PC / Windows
Duke Nukem 3D series PC / Windows Sega Saturn PlayStation Nintendo 64 Sega Genesis
Disruptor PlayStation

Either publicly in this thread or privately in a PM to me, give each nominee 0-5 points. Omitting a nominee is equivalent to giving it a vote of 0. The game with the highest score by the end of the month will be the January 2023 GOTM.

I'm not going to vote because, honestly, I really want to play nearly every one of the games we nominated, and giving everything a 5 doesn't really change much. Looking forward to seeing the results, so git yer votes in.

BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
26-Dec-2022(#262)
Doom 64 - 5
Duke Nukem - 3
benstylus
GameTZ Subscriber GameTZ Full Moderator 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (9) Has Written 26 Reviews
26-Dec-2022(#263)

> Catacomb franchise 5
> Star Wars: Dark Forces 3
> Powerslave / Exhumed 4
> Disruptor 3
|
SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
26-Dec-2022(#264)
Is it too late to nominate Perfect Dark Zero?

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
26-Dec-2022(#265)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> Is it too late to nominate Perfect Dark Zero?
>
Yeah, people have already started voting. Nominate it next month!


Scott
GameTZ Subscriber Global Trader - willing to trade internationally Has Written 2 Reviews
29-Dec-2022(#266)
Doom 64 - 5

This is the only one I actually might play.
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
29-Dec-2022(#267)
I beat Doom 64 last year, so I'm not looking to play that, don't want to crush Scott's vote, so:
Unreal franchise 3
Hexen: Beyond Heretic 2
Powerslave / Exhumed 2
Duke Nukem 3D series 3

ErickRPG
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
30-Dec-2022(#268)
Duke Nukem - 5

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
30-Dec-2022(#269)
Dark Forces - 5
Unreal - 5
Hexen - 4
Doom 64 - 4

I really already like all these games, and normally I don’t like giving
Different games the same scores but to me they all deserve to be played.
Hopefully everyone has a fun time with whichever game wins this month.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
31-Dec-2022(#270)
Last day for votes! I'm really excited to see what we'll be playing next month.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
31-Dec-2022(#271)
Still playing Mega Man 7 and I’m west coast so I still got 4 more hours to beat the final (?) boss.
This game is kinda annoying tho so who tf knows? But at least I’m trying I guess.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 31-Dec-2022(#272)
You can still earn a badge after the month is over. We all* will just silently judge you for it.








* nobody, actually

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
31-Dec-2022(#273)
Oh I am feeling the judgement from myself already, I wish I had decided to play this much earlier in the month.
Definitely not the most “fun” entry in the series due to how annoying it is. If I had played earlier I would have
given up already though since I had so much to do in the real.
BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
1-Jan-2023(#274)
At 11:17 pm I finished Mega Man 7 and got the achievement too. Now I just need my RTT badge.
They ruined that game by making that boss so stupid cheap. Even though one could technically
Beat the final boss without taking damage I’m pretty sure that is almost impossible.
Happy New Years everyone! I been drinking most of the day but now I can finally enjoy it 😃
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 1-Jan-2023(#275)
Mega Man 7 has returned to the garage to drink lubricant margaritas with Roll and Auto. Here are all the badges we earned this month:
BleedingViolet GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader image
BloodPuppetX 400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally image
Nall Renaissance2K GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews image
SupremeSarna Silver Good Trader image

Many thanks to those of you that averted Dr. Wily's first 16-bit shenanegans. Feel free to post an update later on to get your badge.

These four Mega Man badges are a subset of the 99 badges we earned as a thread this year, playing through 26 different games, 14 of which were Castlevania titles. With 35 badges, @Slickriven took home more than anyone else in the thread, largely thanks to our NBA Jam challenge to play through the game with each available team.

To kick off 2023, here are the results for January's Game of the Month:

1. Doom 64 - 19 votes
2. Duke Nukem 3D series - 16 votes
3. Unreal franchise - 13 votes
3. Star Wars: Dark Forces - 13 votes
5. Hexen: Beyond Heretic - 11 votes
5. Powerslave / Exhumed - 11 votes
7. Catacomb franchise - 10 votes
8. Disruptor - 8 votes

Doom 64 was released as a brand new Doom campaign for the Nintendo 64 Nintendo 64, set after the events of Final Doom. While not extremely successful or lauded upon its release, the game has become somewhat of a cult classic over the years for its difficulty and atmosphere, in part due to a spooky ambient soundtrack from Aubrey Hodges. The game's sleeper status peaked in recent years when Bethesda dropped a remaster of the game in 2020 for modern platforms at a bargain price.

Beat Doom 64 or its remaster to earn a badge.

Badge coming soon...

Whether you're too young to die or death incarnate, feel free to post a #BeatIt screenshot here to celebrate your achievement.

Yoshi
GameTZ Subscriber 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (11)
1-Jan-2023(#276)
My apologies, as I am sure this is covered somewhere, but are submissions accepted after the month is over? I'm playing a lot of vintage games, but I am pretty particular about the order, so it'll be a miracle if I happen to play something at the right time.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
1-Jan-2023(#277)
You can any game we've played since 2018 to earn a badge. Its just nice to play them the month thereof because we're all likely discussing it, reviewing it, and urging each other on.

But if you suddenly decide to pick up the original Outrun this month, you can earn the Outrun badge.

Yoshi
GameTZ Subscriber 550 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Gold Global Trader (11)
1-Jan-2023(#278)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> You can any game we've played since 2018 to earn a badge. Its just nice to play them
> the month thereof because we're all likely discussing it, reviewing it, and urging
> each other on.
>
> But if you suddenly decide to pick up the original Outrun this month, you can earn
> the Outrun badge.
>
>

Got it. Thank you. I think the only one I can prove so far is Castlevania:

https://steamcommunity.com/id/yossydesune/screensh...
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
2-Jan-2023(#279)
OP has been flipped over for 2023. Check out the 2022 section for a recap of how everyone did this year.

We'll vote on the franchise challenge for 2023 (or decide we don't want to do it) on January 20, alongside the February GOTM vote. In the meantime, start Doom 64'ing!

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
2-Jan-2023(#280)
Oh I already started 😃 it turns out imma need a new series S controller though since the right bumper is
integral to this game. (My RB stopped working) Otherwise I woulda at least gotten past level 2. I still can I just can’t pick up the berserk
item since I can’t switch out of hand to hand back to shotgun or anything else.

Btw if you don’t know Doom 64 is “free” ish on Gamepass. It also looks really good and is smooth af.
This is such a good way to kick off the year 💜
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
20-Jan-2023(#281)
I finally put some time in with Doom 64 last night. I've heard the game is dark, but is it supposed to be this dark? I've never had to turn the in-game brightness up all the way for a game before.

I like that they're doing some cool stuff with scripting and in-game events. The Terraformer had a few of these, like when the eponymous machine finally activates. It already feels pretty brutal, though, beyond the usual "there's way too many demons here" challenge. I can't imagine what it turns into if my palms are already starting to sweat.

This is the point in the month where I'd call out everyone that's earned a badge so far. It doesn't sound like anybody's there yet, though a few of us have started. My January has been pretty crazy and I haven't been doing much cheerleading, so that's on me. Heck, I haven't even made a badge yet. I should probably get around to that...

image

There we go. Keep shooting demons, and we'll check back in at the end of the month.

Let's start taking nominations for the February Game of the Month. No themes next month; we're looking for any retro game that y'all want to play.

Also, if you want to nominate a game series for the Annual Franchise Challenge, feel free to do so at the same time. We're looking for classic retro games or series, probably on the longer side, that reward a permanent badge next to your name when completed.

We'll start voting on January 26 and call the winners on February. Let's hear what everyone wants to play!

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
20-Jan-2023(#282)
I nominate Final Fantasy VI. On SNES, DS, Pixel Remaster, the works.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
20-Jan-2023(#283)
I’m only on stage 14 of Doom 64 so far.

Some levels early on are the kind that make you never wanna play it again though.
Maybe higher brightness would have helped but there’s 3D platform elements that
Almost don’t belong in a Doom game EVER at least not a “classic” Doom.
Especially not without a dedicated jump button.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
20-Jan-2023(#284)
Yeah, I was stunned to see all the gaps that you have to run across in the second level. That'll make your hands shake.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
20-Jan-2023(#285)
Level 6 is the worst so far with the platformer nonsense, but yeah after the first level basically it stops being “just a classic Doom game”.
After the first “set” of levels and it kinda starts over the game becomes much more enjoyable for awhile.
I really gotta get back onto 14 again so I can slog through that one. (The monsters are more difficult with way
less ammo than you need to move forward easily, it’s almost like a puzzle with your health and ammo
to get through levels like this).

It is still a good game it’s just not as free flowing as one would hope for. It’s definitely less
“intentionally annoying” than Mega Man 7 was but there are still plenty of places to get stuck
for awhile.
BloodPuppetX
400 Trade Quintuple Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
20-Jan-2023(#286)
I'll nominate Super Mario Galaxy.
razeak
Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 9 Reviews
20-Jan-2023(#287)

I loved this game when I played through a few years ago.
Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
21-Jan-2023(#288)
For Feb. I’ll nominate Wizards & Warriors NES.
Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
22-Jan-2023(#289)
I'm unlikely to play Doom64 b/c I beat it in '21, the PC port, so I don't recall it being overly dark when I played it. I like the vibrant colors of the tweaked enemies. I don't know that I would classify it as 'classic' Doom, but it was close, certainly closer than Doom 3.

BleedingViolet
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader
22-Jan-2023(#290)
Yeah I never got into Doom 3. I know I have at least rented or owned a copy.
Maybe I still do have a copy idk it’s just not my thing. I don’t really like any
modern fps games either.

There are spots in Doom 64 (the remake at least)
that are way too dark, and you’re basically blind in
a couple of spots which is a really messed up gameplay “mechanic” to make the
game harder or more annoying or whatever. I’m thinking of a spot in stage 2 I think
And another in stage 6 in particular with this complaint.
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Jan-2023(#291)
Just spent 45 minutes on Level 6 and still haven't beaten it.

Got pretty far in it with one attempt, but then I fell down the bottomless pit filled with those invisible enemies, and couldn't figure out how to get out. If there is even a way out.

Every other time, I just did a terrible time of strafing to avoid the Hell Knights. Having a hard time juggling the shoulder buttons and the rear trigger on the N64 controller.

How many levels are in this game? *checks* Hoo boy, this might take a while.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
24-Jan-2023(#292)
Pretty sure there's a way to

jump, look for hidden platforms

out of that pit.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
24-Jan-2023(#293)
Us diurnal mammals prefer light sources when we look for things.

Slickriven
GameTZ Subscriber Double Gold Good Trader Has Written 1 Review
* 24-Jan-2023(#294)
Yeah I recall that pit was annoying even in the tweaked PC version that apparently has better lighting in sections.

Snappy
Double Gold Good Trader Global Trader - willing to trade internationally
* 25-Jan-2023(#295)
Snappy wrote:
> For Feb. I’ll nominate Wizards & Warriors NES.

I would like to retract this nomination and instead nominate Sword of Sodan Sega Genesis. A game that is pretty terrible, but in a way that we can all enjoy and commiserate about? Maybe??.. and it will be like super props to anyone that actually beats it. :D
Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
* 25-Jan-2023(#296)
Snappy wrote:
> I would like to retract this nomination and instead nominate Sword of Sodan Sega Genesis.
> A game that is pretty terrible, but in a way that we can all enjoy and commiserate
> about? Maybe??.. and it will be like super props to anyone that actually beats it.
> :D

I added it as an additional nomination. Today's our last day to nominate, and we haven't hit the minimum of five yet.

Psst... Nominate some more games!

So, I tweaked my button profile and switched A to "Shoot" and B to "Use", moving the weapon switching to the C pad. This made strafing a whole lot easier and was the nudge I needed to get through Level 6. Made it to Level 8 last night and died at the final ambush. Oh whelp. Keep on truckin'.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
* 25-Jan-2023(#297)
I nominate Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!, any Mario vs. Donkey Kong game, any Harvest Moon game, Pikmin 2, Tetris 99, and Chip's Challenge. Though I already nominated Final Fantasy VI, so you can ignore those if you have to. =]

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
25-Jan-2023(#298)
Other than Tetris 99, those all sound fine.

Can you finish Harvest Moon? I thought it was like Animal Crossing and you just take care of your farm forever.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
25-Jan-2023(#299)
Renaissance2K wrote:
> Can you finish Harvest Moon? I thought it was like Animal Crossing and you just take
> care of your farm forever.

I’ve never played one, so I don’t know myself. I’m sure there’s a fan-established “end point” where nothing new happens anymore or the credits roll before letting you go back to the farm. I’ll look into it.

SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
25-Jan-2023(#300)
@Renaissance2K I’ve asked around and it seems most of the Harvest Moon games do have credits rolls or an end goal to reach. Most of them let you play indefinitely if you have the willpower, but in some cases, you have to set your own realistic goal and declare the game done after that’s reached. The SNES one does have multiple definitive endings, and the N64 one has a 3-year evaluation that you build up to (not three years IRT). The subreddit believes most Harvest Moons are feasible to beat in a month. Hope that helps.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
26-Jan-2023(#301)
SupremeSarna wrote:
> @Renaissance2K I’ve asked around and it seems most of the Harvest Moon games do have
> credits rolls or an end goal to reach. Most of them let you play indefinitely if
> you have the willpower, but in some cases, you have to set your own realistic goal
> and declare the game done after that’s reached. The SNES one does have multiple definitive
> endings, and the N64 one has a 3-year evaluation that you build up to (not three
> years IRT). The subreddit believes most Harvest Moons are feasible to beat in a month.
> Hope that helps.

Works for me!


SupremeSarna
Silver Good Trader
26-Jan-2023(#302)
Also, I nominate Donkey Kong for the Annual Franchise Challenge. Doesn't look like there are any competing franchises right now.

Renaissance2K
GameTZ Subscriber Quadruple Gold Good Trader Has Written 4 Reviews
26-Jan-2023(#303)
This topic has new posts which were moved here:

http://gametz.com/VideoGame_Discussion/retro-talks...

Topic   Retro Talkshop Thread - Game of the Month Super Nintendo Final Fantasy VI