VideoGame_Discussion

@Slickriven I missed that part. If you haven't actually gotten to the end, it isn't really beaten, is it? Update me when you've finished it adequately.

SupremeSarna wrote:

10-4 we won't count it yet, will keep working and update you once done. But let's count Burgertime, on Mame

Slickriven wrote:

Just tried again with pink Caddy lady and beat the 2 remaining graveyard region ones. I already had the 1st beat, so only the 3x swamp and 3x space flag rush events remain.

Now I've completed Cel Damage on the
I played a little after coming home from dinner and with the pink Caddy lady was able to beat the swamp arena #1 after a longer event. Then I tried swamp #2 and shockingly beat it fast, again with her. Took a break to watch some TV with the wife and when I went back to it, I continued with the Caddy lady and tried swamp #3 and had 4 flags 3 times and once even reached the goal but got cheated (it felt like) when a sink hole was placed inside the goal and that killed me. Another time I had them all and blew the 2nd part of a 2 gap jump/platform over a lava river and fell into that - gah. So after being so close and losing both attempts I switched to the space #1 and that stunk, but thankfully after a good while I scored the chopper weapon pickup (that lets you rise above the fray and has guns) just as I grabbed my 4th flag, so I could fly over the battlefield and score that win. The space #2 was next and it's layout was an open area and I couldn't see the goal initially, but there was this tube/tunnel that I recalled from racing in that arena that didn't open right away. I got 4 flags early but tunnel wasn't open and lost them, but before too much longer it opened and I grabbed 2, then a 3rd as I entered the tunnel and hoped that a stray flag would be down there and thankfully it was and boom that was done.
Next up was space #3 which I figured would be tough as it was in the race and smack events. It took a while and I had 4 flags at least a few times before finally getting them and thankfully making it through a passage way that could get bombarded with asteroids to reach the goal. Now all that was left was swamp #3 again and with the space all done, I unlocked the brain-tank dude so I tried him and lost his first attempt, but the 2nd worked out and I've now completed all 36 events.
I didn't get the credits, but could trigger them from the main menu. I also found short intro clips for the 6 main characters and watched them. There was a checklist in the menu for each character with all 36 events shown. There I could see that the pink Caddy lady was my top selection with a full 50% of the events won with her. Next was the 30's era duck at 6, 5 with the dozer dude, 5 with the little demon and 1 each with the unlocked tractor bull and brain-tank. I didn't really use 2 main characters: the punk girl or nerdy hovercraft kid, nor the unlocked vampire or the final unlocked dinosaur. On that screen the 6 mains had a scene that could be unlocked, possibly if you won all events with them... yeah not going to bother with that.

I'm glad to be done with this, it was rather frustrating at times, but I wouldn't say it was unfair, it was just as chaotic of a game that I've ever played. 21 consoles down, I'll take a piece of that Sarna

This was #7 of Aug, #62 overall and earns me that Mass Destruction badge with Wreckfest. Also don't miss my claim for Burgertime.

I will be updating the OP on Saturday night/Sunday this time. We don't have too many clears to post this time, and I've got an internship interview that will take most of my attention the next few days.

Good luck with your interview Sarna

I beat Doctor Who Lonely Assassins in one sitting on Switch...Man, I need to beat a game on something besides Switch before the year ends!

Good luck with your interview!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Six new arcade games from Arcade August to add to the pile.

Number: 43
Full Title: RayForce
Platform Played: Arcade
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: Destroy the Core (already earned)

This space shoot 'em up was the Retro Talkshop Thread Game of the Month back before I joined the group. The big gimmick in this game is a secondary fire that lets you lock on to multiple targets below your field of view before they get into attack range. The mechanic was fun in the early, slower-paced levels, but as the game progressed, I had a harder time juggling multiple layers of targets on top of all the bullets and debris that filled the screen. I used this game as an excuse to dust off my Taito Egret II Mini, which has an adjustable screen for vertical shooters like this one, though I didn't get to fully take advantage since I played/captured to a desktop screen.

Number: 44
Full Title: The Astyanax
Platform Played: EverCade
Collection: Jaleco Arcade Collection 1
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: N/A

Another game from the pre-R2K Retro Talkshop Thread era, I played The Astyanax on the Evercade VS on one of its early arcade collections. The game reminds me of Golden Axe, if it was a straight-up sidescroller without the additional degrees of movement. The game is surprisingly forgiving for an action game - your character has health bars, and screen clearing attacks are quite plentiful - but the various levels make up for this by throwing an insane amount of respawning enemies at you at any given time. It also discourages attack spamming by giving your axe a rechargeable power meter (with a neat flaming effect when it's at full power). Not bad, but not especially memorable.

Number: 45
Full Title: Ninja Gaiden
Platform Played: Arcade
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: Pile Drivin' (already earned)

Ninja Gaiden for the NES is a celebrated, polished action game that I found quite difficult despite the extreme difficulty, but the arcade original on which it was based is a different story entirely. The game is clunky, has unforgiving hitboxes (that pair terribly with the AI's unfair reaction time), features truly annoying bosses, and doesn't have any of the cinematic charm that made its console port so unique. I limped my way through the majority of the game, surviving a few unfair swinging sequences that require touching a button that seems inert otherwise, only to hit a brick wall at the game's final level, which abruptly stops being generous with checkpoints. If you can abuse the game's Neck Throw move to keep from getting hit, especially against bosses, you might stand a chance, but I question if it's worth it.

Number: 46
Full Title: Altered Beast
Platform Played: Arcade
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: Pile Drivin' (already earned)

I played through every version of Altered Beast that I could get my hands on back in 2019, but that was in the very early days of the MiSTer project, before I owned one and before the various Sega arcade systems were supported. Times have changed, and Arcade August gave me an excuse to boot up the MiSTer port of the game and play through it, this time on accurate hardware with a real arcade stick. It's still Altered Beast, warts and all, but there are few better ways to play the arcade original these days if you don't have access to a cabinet.

Number: 47
Full Title: Super Dodge Ball
Platform Played: Switch
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: Bo Knows (1/2)?

After decades of Bionic Commando fandom, playing through the famed NES release for the first time last month was like taking the last bite of a delicious meal that I had been saving. After decades of Super Dodge Ball fandom, however, playing through the arcade original - which I didn't even realize existed until this month - yielded the complete opposite effect. Only one player on your team can use special throws, the opposing team is clearly doping, and you're severely outnumbered when you factor in the other team's access to subs. And the "suddenly switch control away from the player about to get beaned" bug/feature/mechanic is going in the Hall of Shame. At least the soundtrack is the same. I'd complain about the lack of a Shadow Team match, but it'd probably be impossible to win anyway.

Number: 48
Full Title: Arcade Archives: Sunset Riders
Platform Played: Switch
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Arcade
Original Platforms: Arcade
Applicable Badge: Heavy Machine Gun (already earned)

I played Sunset Riders on MAME back in 2020 for the Retro Talkshop Thread. Since the MAME version defaults to the 4-player cabinet, which doesn't let you switch characters without a lot of config juggling, I picked up the Switch version from Arcade Archives and played through the game with Bob, who uses a shotgun with a bigger spread. The firing rate is supposed to be lower, but especially after grabbing a power-up, the wider range made it especially easy to avoid bullets and take out multiple enemies at once. This game is still a blast, and I really appreciated the animation and cartoony style during my second run.

Still making slow progress in Final Fantasy XVI between blasts of arcade games. We'll see how far I can take that by the end of August.

just started crisis core on Switch. Wow it looks great on the OLED. feels like it gives us a sneak peak on what games will look like on Switch 2.

I passed my interview! I’m now a part of the team at an independent publication. A low rank, of course, but you gotta start somewhere!

SupremeSarna wrote:
🎉

Number: 20
Full Title: Flying Shark (Sky Shark)
Platform Played:
Collection: Toaplan Arcade Garage: Hishou Same! Same! Same!
Native Platform:
Original Platform:
Applicable Badge: N/A

image

It's hard to beat the combination of M2 and the Flip Grip to make the seemingly impossible reality. Granted, the Joy Cons are uncomfortable, but thankfully the game is also short. Taking a break between runs I was able to play through this Toaplan classic in portable mode.

And speaking of celebrations, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve beaten my 100th game of the year! And what a fitting one to claim the honor:

Pikmin 4
[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F3267J6asAA614b?format...[/imgt]
Pikmin 4 was a faint idea in the minds of fans for years. Shigeru Miyamoto said that Pikmin 4 was nearly done back in 2015 (which turned out to be Hey! Pikmin for 3DS). His comment misled everyone into thinking he was talking about an unannounced Pikmin 4, not the very-different spin-off that Hey! was. After Hey! Pikmin released, Miyamoto said that Pikmin 4 was a separate game that they couldn’t fit into any development schedule. So there was hope… and then years of silence. Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Switch also underperformed in 2020–a rarity for 1st-party Switch games—making fans pessimistic.

Then in September 2022, Miyamoto made a glorious announcement: It was on its way for real. We got a logo, a few animations, a screenshot, a $30 T-shirt for some reason, and a promise of a 2023 release date! It was glorious! I hadn’t played a full Pikmin game, and even I was elated by the news.

This year, I made it my mission to play all three main Pikmin games in anticipation. I sweated out the 30-day time limit in Pikmin 1, fled from the terrifying Waterwraith in Pikmin 2, and managed a crew of three newbies in Pikmin 3. I enjoyed each one (give or take Pikmin 2) and learned what made the series tick. It’s about real-time strategy and keeping your entire plant armada moving, while fighting big creatures with elemental strengths and weaknesses. Make sure you gather your Pikmin before nightfall!

But now for the main event: Pikmin 4. You create your own Rescue Corps character and crash on the distant planet PNF-404, where you must rescue your crew mates, Captain Olimar, and as many castaways as you want. Collected treasure powers your ship to unlock new areas. You get a real boost to your arsenal in this entry: the Rescue Pup, Oatchi.

Oatchi is a major helper on this mission. At the start, he can carry loads and attack like Pikmin. You can charge him up and have him rush to smash pots and strike foes. He quickly gains the ability to carry you like a steed and swim, and you can further upgrade him to be ridiculously overpowered. He’ll eventually become immune to all elements, be able to stun foes with the charge, carry 100-weight objects, and much more. It severely reduces the difficulty of the adventure, but there’s a joy to be found in upgrading him bit by bit. The postgame also expects you have him fully upgraded, so you should do it as much as possible.

The AI in Pikmin 4 is excellent. The game knows when you’re attempting to perform certain actions and will automatically assist you in QOL ways. If you aim at a blob of power-up nectar, the Pikmin that you throw will all be the powered-down ones (until you run out of them for that Pikmin variety). If a Pikmin is carrying something and you whistle it, it will stop in place and wait for you to whistle a second time, just to make sure you really want it to abandon its mission. When you rapidly throw Pikmin at an object, the game will cut you off after you’ve thrown the right number to carry it, but let you continue to throw more if you feel the need. These make the journey extra slick and need to stay for future games.

There are now mostly-optional night raids, where you defend a structure or two from enraged enemies until morning arrives or you destroy them all. These provide a nice break from the usual gameplay and can get pretty rigorous. You use Glow Pikmin, which are immune to most elements and can’t really be killed in this mode, and they teleport back to you after completing a task. This makes the mode more fun that it would’ve been under standard Pikmin rules.

The dreaded caves from Pikmin 2 return, but they’re good this time! Instead of letting the CPU randomize elements of each floor, they’re all intentionally-designed and thoughtfully made. You can now choose which sublevel you want to start on if you return to a cave, and you can flee to the surface at any time. Most caves are short, too—they’re 3-4 sublevels deep on average. Perfect length.

Speaking of caves, there are some similar-looking hatches that lead to “Dandori” (strategy) challenges and battles. These are pretty similar to Pikmin 3’s DLC maps and Bingo Battles. Dandori Challenges task you with collecting as much treasure/enemy carcasses as you can in the time limit. These get really hard later in the game, but are far more manageable than 3’s overall. Dandori Battles can be played against the CPU or a second player, and task you with collecting more stuff than your opponent under a time limit. You can attack each other and steal items, too, which makes them more frantic! I personally preferred the Challenges to the Battles by a country mile, but that’s just me.

Pikmin 4 is awesome, but it’s not perfect. For one thing, it very quickly retcons the entirety of Pikmin 1 (and maybe 2?) by claiming that this was the adventure where Olimar discovered the Pikmin and a dog named Moss. There’s even a mode that mimics Pikmin 1’s scenario but is set in this game’s areas, as if they wanted to scrub the first game away completely. That… doesn’t sit right with me. They later imply that Pikmin 3 comes after this game, which seems weird given this game’s title.

There’s a strange focus on human structures and activity here. The previous games were all about nature—you were engulfed in a forest or stream or tundra, with the only evidence of humanity being the litter they left behind. This game contrasts that by having you walk through a garden, a sandcastle, a picnic area, and even a well-maintained house. It feels a little more Chibi-Robo! than Pikmin sometimes. These areas are well-crafted for this game, but the clash in theme is noticeable.

There are a few other things that were underwhelming, too. The character customizer is super limited, giving you six whole choices per category. There are 50 forgettable NPCs with mostly terrible designs, too, and some of them give you side quests that never officially end. The enemies have all been nerfed pretty majorly, too—that menacing Waterwraith from Pikmin 2 that would gleefully steamroll your army is now pretty aimless and doesn’t have his rush move, making him easy to avoid. My Pikmin loss count was a little over 300 here, compared to 800 in Pikmin 1 and similarly-high numbers in the others (though to be fair, I did have some deaths that I simply undid with occasional time-reversing). I was a little bothered that the amazing Pikmin 3 bosses didn’t show up with Pikmin 1&2’s, but that’s a me-problem.

All in all, this game is excellent, but not my favorite in the series. I highly recommend playing it—It’s absolutely worth the price and provides dozens of hours of fun exploration!

SupremeSarna wrote:

I also beat Club Nintendo Picross Plus, another Japan-exclusive 3DS game distributed through the hSho—I mean, Club Nintendo rewards program! Nintendo bias aside, this is the best Picross 3DS game I’ve played yet. It has a fantastic presentation and all three modes (picross, mega picross, micross) with modern rules. In fact, the mega picross puzzles are all pulled straight from Club Nintendo Picross, making that game pretty much obsolete.

And for Nintendo fans out there, tell me: Have you ever wanted to complete puzzles based on Nintendoji and Pushmo, or the 64DD and Satellaview systems? Because this game cuts deep into Nintendo history.

Congrats!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Oh Sarna... the is all mine now, system #22 complete
8th in Aug, 63rd overall, 1st
TimeSplitters Future Perfect

I recently bought the digital copies of both TimeSplitters 2 and FP and didn't look into the series, so I thought FP was the first game instead of the 3rd. I therefore started with FP and enjoyed the first 3ish levels before looking into the series more and learning I was on the 3rd title. I also read that the first was not all that great nor easy to procure a copy of but I still wanted to try 2 out. Trying 2 left me not finding it as enjoyable with the controls not jelling for me. I decided to stick with FP and wrapped it up today. Was a good bit of fun and humous. I did technically beat this on my XSX but this is the OGXbox game, just with some graphical improvements to run and look better on bigger/wider TVs - I don't have any of my old consoles setup anywhere.

Game was enjoyable enough that I will for sure try to revisit 2 and I actually think I had found a better control setup before I stopped playing, so hopefully going back to it will be easier.

@Slickriven :
[imgt w=280 h=166]https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FailingLikelyEwe-max-1mb...[/imgt]

Sarna:
[imgt w=300 h=169]https://nihonnerd.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/o9eb...[/imgt]

OP updated! Keep on going, everyone. ( @Renaissance2K , you gotta start beating games for all your consoles so Slicky loses his cake.)

Slickriven wrote:

'Sall good, bud. Happy gaming.

Hahaha @SupremeSarna Ren2k could surely pass me up and if I recall he got into the 30s last year and to his credit seems to play more games actually on those systems, where as I've used Back-Compatibility and a good number of ROMs myself. Eh, I'll enjoy the while I can.

Hold up. If we’re counting ROMs, then I can add Sega Master System, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance to my completed systems.

Slickriven wrote:

Too many long-ass games to play this year, but we'll see what happens.

Slickriven wrote:

image

love and hate long games. I'll keep chipping at my backlog.

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

When Antipop and I ran this, I believe his policy, that I adopted, was ROMs counted but only for the systems you also owned. Example: I own a console but only like 3 games, so I beat a ROM for that and counted as GB. Alternatively I don't and never owned a so when I beat Rondo of Blood recently, I also used a ROM but counted that as a PC game.
It's up to Sarna since it's his thread now.

@Bleed_DukeBlue @Slickriven My general rule of thumb is that the game counts for whatever system you were playing it on (i.e. beating Super Mario Advance while playing it on a DS counts as a DS clear), but I'm also willing to allow you to count it for its original system--but you can only choose one of those for that game. Would you like me to start filling in other systems you've cleared? If so, send me a short list of them all, preferably with a game for each.

I was mostly joking, but sounds good! Thanks! Can we count them this way then?:

-Game Boy- Golf (instead of Evercade)

-Game Boy Advance- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! (instead of PC)

-Nintendo- Final Fantasy (instead of PS3–I’ll beat another PS3 game later this year)

-Sega Master System- Alex Kidd in Miracle World (instead of Evercade)

-Super Famicom: Jesus: The Terrifying Bio-Monster (instead of PC)

-Super Nintendo- The Death and Return of Superman (instead of Evercade)

SupremeSarna wrote:

Guess I shouldn't get used to holding onto that cake then...

@Slickriven I assumed you were going to start busting out obscure system ROMs :)

Slickriven wrote:

#69: Super Mario World on SNES- I hadn’t played this in many years, and, to be honest, I’m not a fan of 2-D platformers or Mario games typically, but I have to admit that this is a great game. The level variety, secret paths, puzzles that are tricky but not insurmountable without a guide, and a genuinely fun final boss battle with Bowser are all highlights.

Slickriven wrote:

[imgt w=498 h=194]https://media.tenor.com/pHmbaCBc-zgAAAAC/star-wars...[/imgt]
Lol

I beat Super Return of the Jedi (originally GB).
[imgt w=1536 h=2048]https://i.imgur.com/2Rg1AVw.jpg[/imgt]
It's like the SNES version, but obviously downgraded. It does make a few smart changes, like allowing infinite continues without having the reenter the password, and removing some weak/infuriating stages the GB couldn't handle. They also turned the Rancor Pit level into a single boss fight that functions better than the SNES version. But sadly, the Shield Generator stage still stinks.

SupremeSarna wrote:

I like it the way it is. The general guideline is you should own a version of the actual system. This method actually encouraged me to buy a couple more systems and I love it. The "SNES" games I play on my retroid emulator are counted as "mame/retroid" or something like that. And when I play an xbox one game on my Xbox series X it's still counted as since that's what I played it on. I think though if you have an xbox one stored somewhere in your house you could count it toward THAT system.

I like Sarna’s new version. It’s encouraging me to play games on systems I would never buy. I have enough stuff on my shelves as it is.

ErickRPG wrote:

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

Nope. The rule/guideline that I've followed and will stick to is that I need to own a system to count playing a ROM for it as a clear for that system. That is the case for any ROM I've played the last few years for this thread. My list of consoles aligns with the actual hardware I could pull out of storage and play. I also own a few systems with a very few games for them, like N64 I have 4, DC I have 5 and GB: 4 - most of which I've either already beat or don't care to.

That said, this is @SupremeSarna's show now, so if he wants to do things differently I generally don't care, was just having a little fun with my comment. This was a topic of discussion back when Antipop ran it and just last year too. The original goal of the thread was to push folks to dig out their disused consoles and beat a game for them all, possibly only reporting the first game beat on a given console. That has morphed into folks seeking to beat and report hundreds of games. I beat 120 one year, so I'm to blame here too. As much as it maybe shouldn't be a competition, it is one and really that's fine.
My personal view on where to claim games in part comes from the Back-Compat features of the Xbox (my main go to family of systems). Example being that I recently purchased those 2 TimeSplitter games digitally. I can't take those digital copies onto the original hardware and play them, but they're 100% the old games. So I played on my and claimed for the original console because I do in fact own several old Xboxes.

As far as ROM libraries go, I have a larger collection for some systems I don't own like , and - but I haven't got into playing any as of yet, but if I did, they would get listed like how Evercade often are with the () notation.
To be honest, I didn't expect to hold onto the for very long, I pushed some to take it from Sarna b/c I wanted to annoy him. But I also have beat 90-100% of my listed consoles every year for this thread as that's a personal goal of mine and has little bearing on earning that cake icon or not. One year I pushed to beat 2 games on every system and fell like 1 system short, so it's just my personal preference/goal.

Oh I know :). I was just joking because of our history of competition in this thread in previous years (although I've never seriously competed on systems, as there are people with way more than me on here, and I'm definitely not buying more retro systems).

Slickriven wrote:

@SupremeSarna you have us tied with 17 badges but I counted 18 when I was looking at your list.

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

What is sarna's new method? I've never heard.

It’s in Post #268. Basically, he said that you can count a game for the system you play it on or for its original system (but you can’t count it for both).

ErickRPG wrote: