VideoGame_Discussion

A single level in isolation doesn't get all that frustrating. It's having to beat a chunk of them at a time and being afraid to lose lives because of the limited continues.

It's a gorgeous game, though. Once I got past that first band level, which is where I got stuck last time I attempted the game, I really started.to appreciate all the world building.

I think I'm going to give up on getting all the Electoons I can as I go and just work on completing levels until I have all my abilities. I'm going to need to run through almost all the levels again at the end, so there's no point in stressing about missing them.

Thats a great strategy actually. I think having everything available
all at once in any given game takes away from learning how to implement
each thing as you go along anyways. I’m mostly thinking of a game
like Hollow Knight when I say that though. But surprisingly enough that
is how this game works too.

I’ve only sat and played for maybe an hour each time and only have the first two abilities.
The world we live in now is far more demanding of our time than it was when this game
first came out though so it doesnt surprise me that its harder for people to get into it these days.

If my posts sounded like I wasn't enjoying the game, that wasn't intended. It certainly is from a different era and has different goals - you're meant to revisit all or most levels after earning more abilities and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but that tactic has largely gone away in modern titles, unless they're Metroidvanias and those generally are larger maps vs. individual levels. It is really great looking and unique. I've had digital copies of several later Rayman games and have been interested in playing them, so once I complete this I think I'll push a little towards playing the later titles as well.

Rayman is hard as hell. I tried to conquer it a couple of years ago but gave up when I realized you had to 100% the game in order to finish it. It is one of the most challenging games I've attempted.

I put another session in tonight and changed up my approach, didn't follow the YT walkthrough and just made progression, a few sections were tough, but I reached and beat the next boss, the stone dude - he was a little annoying as even though I got his pattern down, he evolved a bit and some attacks were still hard to dodge. Based on looking at some info about the game, the power I got after him seems to be the final one, so I went back and got all 6 cages now on the first 4 levels and I actually got all 6 on I think the stone-dude's one, so I feel like I made solid progress. I still have 4 levels that I need a few cages yet, as well as 2 that I've gained access to but haven't played yet. There's also several levels that I've not exposed yet either.

I largely enjoyed that session, especially since I made some good progress and didn't feel like I cheated by using the walkthrough so heavily.

Put a good bit of time into this today and man as a kid in the 90's I'm not sure how you'd know where some of the cages were or how to trigger them. I've completed all of the first 6 zones and got 6 cages per stage. My hands are sore from some of the platforming required. The saxophone and pirate bosses were relatively easy, but the washing machine lady can suck it.
It's been interesting watching the YT vid I found that's noted as being captured on the while I've been playing the port - there are several differences with enemy and blue orb placements, backgrounds of levels, and more - I do wonder if some of my differences could be from emulation, but I don't think too much is.
Been largely enjoying this, it's challenging but I'm mitigating some of that thanks to the YT video and save states. I've oscillated btwn 2 approaches of either playing out ahead of the YT video and have found a good number of the cages and such on my own; OR I'll jump ahead by 5 secs at a time on the video until I see them find a cage, checkpoint or exit the level - then I play and 'catch up' basically only having seen the general path forward and to know what to look for next. I'm sure it's still cheating to some and that's fine. I don't want to miss a cage and have to replay sections/levels if I don't have to. Looks like I've got 1 area and only a handful of levels left. Whomever recommended this, I'm glad they did.

I've done it, I've saved the world!
Game was fun but yeah without save states I could see myself getting frustrated with some things. The final few bosses were actually pretty easy once you saw their attack patterns and could react accordingly. The final area was pretty cool too with a few unique things mixed in. I all but abandoned my YT walkthrough in my final session and I got 5/6 cages before having to check against it. I didn't use it at all after that.
#beatIt picture upload:
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I'm a little behind on OP updates and posts in general - I've been getting killed at work these past two weeks, and don't even have my PC plugged in - but I'll catch up this weekend.

Once I catch my breath, I'll start making progress in Rayman and Golden Sun again.

The last weeks of May are upon us. Before we start prepping for BBQs, let's look at who has led a pile of disconnected body parts to victory this month:

Kommie {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/77BtpHO.gif 89 66{imgt} Slickriven {imgt}https://i.imgur.com/77BtpHO.gif 89 66{imgt}

Many thanks to everyone who's taking a shot at Rayman this month. It's brutal, but it's also gorgeous and overflowing with personality, so give it a look if you haven't already.

Let's take some nominations for the June Game of the Month. Since the summer concert season is upon us, nominate some games with soundtracks you love. Be it an epic orchestral monster, some incredible chiptunes, or just the best damn licensed soundtrack ever, give us all something to pump out of our Bluetooth speakers.

We'll start voting on May 26 and call the winner on June 1.

Let's hear some nominees!

I nominate Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

I mean if we are talking about soundtracks then we have to have a nomination for Daytona USA

My second nomination is Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The piano there is too darn good to ignore. If I’m only allowed one, Epic Yarn it is.

SupremeSarna wrote:

We've been able to nominate more than one for a few months now. Go ahead.

I’d gleefully nominate LocoRoco also, if both 1 and 2 could count for it. I just finished 1, so I wouldn’t play that one again so soon.

June was supposed to be “amazing” but clearly we need more nominations
With good music.

I’ll nominate some stuff I’ve prolly nominated before like


GTA San Andreas (PS2, Xbox and many other rereleases)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (original Xbox)

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 (playstation 1, Dreamcast other rereleases and remakes)



And one I may not have,


Wu Tang Shaolin Style (playstation 1)


Hopefully other people will also nominate more games with good music.
Nothing I nominated this month is easy or short. Great music though, mostly anyways.

PaRappa the Rapper

Kommie wrote:

I thought about that one too, but having never played it much I couldn't recommend it.

Plus I watched some music videos from Um Jammer and …. Well I didnt like that music.
I only hope they used better vocalists in PaRappa. Imma check some veedjos for it 🎵

Edit: I checked and the music is SO much better than Um Jammer 🎵😃

BleedingViolet wrote:

Was this the game that they turned Thrill Kill into?

Renaissance2K wrote:

Absolutely yes sir, but I’ve played both and Wu Tang is definitely its own game.
They added a ton of cool stuff to Wu Tang and the fighting within is way more fair
and complex. Every character has a ten hit combo at least and each character
has a lot of personality all their own. Method Man and or Old Dirty Bastard
are my favorites prolly but they are all worth playing with. Its alot of fun and
a pretty cool party type of game.

I had a copy of Thrill Kill on playstation classic mini. They used to sell these rom collections
that I wasn’t sure was legit or not but I bought the fighting pack mostly for that game.
I let a friend borrow it so now that I’m not friends with her anymore I won’t ever get it back.
But i did play through with at least one character and its not anywhere near as fleshed out
as Wu Tang Shaolin Style, they said Thrill Kill was basically a finished product but there’s
way more available content in the Wu Tang game. I been wanting to buy another copy anyways.
It’s nowhere near as violent as any of the recent Mortal Kombat games anyways so
the gore factor shouldnt be a problem for anyone. Definitely not too much for me.
Its a pretty cool game that I would recommend even if its not game of the month.
If even one person here checked it out and really liked it I would be happy 😃

I'm posting just to say that these eraser levels are harder than diamond-encrusted balls, knowing full well how brutal the next worlds will probably be.

This is like when you finally beat the dam level in TMNT on the NES, only to learn that everything that follows is a million times worse.

Yeah I’m currently goofing around in those levels too.

I don't know if I’ll finish it this month but im still trying. Im only at like just over
50 percent but I got some rotten news today so I have been playing like trash
ever since then. I can’t concentrate at all.

BleedingViolet wrote:

I’m sorry to hear that. Stay strong, sir!

Renaissance2K wrote:

It kind of annoys me that the dam level has sort of become the epitome of the "hard retro level". Whenever I see people mention it as one of the hardest levels ever, I'm just thinking "you never beat that one, huh?"

what system is everyone playing Rayman on?

I just got in Saturn version but it's a bit too late into the month, I'll try to beat it another time.

I beat the Saturn version, @lunar and watched a guy playing the PS1 version to help me in some places, they are a little different. I thought the Saturn version, emulated, was decent.

I'm playing the Jaguar version. I'm trying to use a PlayStation walkthrough with it, but there are enough differences between the two that it's not always helpful.

I've heard feedback that that PS1/Saturn versions have better controls, but the Jaguar version seems to control fine. The only time I ran into issue is on that level that opens with the room where you can't stop bouncing. Got some serious d-pad cramps from that place.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Well they killed my cat so idk if strength of any kind will cut it but thank you for saying that!

As far as Rayman goes im not using guides but I am watching videos of stuff after the fact.
Im playing it on Playstation 1 but the graphics from Jaguar videos look more fluid.
Maybe my PS1 is just old …. And sad and tired. Like me 😉

BleedingViolet wrote:

That truly is difficult to hear. I was in the same position no too long ago, so I can empathize with the pain. All you can do now is honor your feline’s life and remember the good times. May your sorrow pass swiftly.

Thank you 🐱

@BleedingViolet I'm really sorry to hear that. I'm sure you gave them a wonderful life and hope you find comfort in the memories.

People give pet grievers such a hard time because "it's just a cat" but I never understood why you have to shut your life down when you lose some distant aunt you haven't spoken to since the Bush administration, but losing the soul who sleeps in your bed, who keeps you company every day, and who takes you as you are is just a clerical note.

/end non-gaming rant

I feel the same way about our little friends, they are people too just shaped a little differently.
I think its the way our society and most societies worldwide are based on things like money
and power. They are literally our family members except that we choose each other.
I know he's at least not suffering anymore but that barely helps since I’ll never
get to say goodbye now.

I tried to play some more Rayman but im still stuck on the first Pencil level.
I’m sure I will get it done again eventually but there isn’t much time this month.
Unless i start using guides or whatever. Maybe I’ll spend more time on it this week.

Losing a pet stinks, especially in how you defined it; I'm sorry for your loss. About 18 months ago my wife was doing just about everything she could to keep her cat going but his time was ending. We both got covid and the cat needed a lot of assistance and her mom eventually came and the three of them went to the vet... and put him down. I wasn't expecting that and was shocked that he didn't come home with them. It really sucked for my wife and even me. He was a special cat, very affectionate. Life hasn't been the same since, so I sympathize fully with you BleedingViolet since I didn't get my goodbyes in either.

Made it through the last unlocked world in Rayman with 75% of pickups. Time to go back and do clean-up. Oy.

Last day to nominate a game with a banger soundtrack. We have quite a few nominees so far, but I'd be happy to see some more.

Here are the nine nominees for June 2023's Game of the Month:

Nominees
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Daytona USA
Kirby's Epic Yarn
LocoRoco franchise
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Wu Tang: Shaolin Style
Parappa the Rapper

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 June 2023 GOTM.

Here are my votes:

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - 5 Daytona USA - 4 Kirby's Epic Yarn - 4 LocoRoco franchise - 2 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - 3 Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise- 5 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - 4 Wu Tang: Shaolin Style - 2 Parappa the Rapper - 4

Vogt!

This is an unfortunate case where I can't play any of the games I didn't suggest without piracy, which is something I don't do. So I vote...
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - 5
Kirby's Epic Yarn - 5
LocoRoco franchise - 3

Kirby 64 - 5

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - 3
Daytona USA - 5
Kirby's Epic Yarn - 3
LocoRoco franchise - 4

If I still had my ngage I would totally vote for Tony Hawk even though I don't really like it, just to have an Ngage game be the GOTM

@Renaissance2K don't forget the Xbox 360/ps3 ports of Daytona

Renaissance2K wrote:

I actually nominated the first Buffy game not Chaos Bleeds. Most people
prefer the original even though they are both great and I prefer Chaos Bleeds
because of all the playable Characters especially Faith, Tara and Willow.

But maybe we could have both nominated? Idk. Either way I’m good.

Edit: I nominated the first “Xbox Buffy game”.

Daytona USA - 5

BleedingViolet wrote:

Sorry about that. I didn't realize there was a second one.

We'll make it the Buffy franchise.