VideoGame_Discussion

What is it?

If you're on GameTZ and haven't heard of Mega Man before, let me be the first to welcome you to Planet Earth. The Mega Man universe encompasses countless games and spin-offs, animated TV shows, guest appearances, merchandise, and other media instances that have cemented the Blue Bomber as one of gaming's most recognizable figures.

Mega Man's original recipe of "running, gunning, platforming, and stealing boss' powers" saw six 8-bit entries on the original Nintendo console, one 16-bit entry on the Super Nintendo, and one 32-bit entry before a long hiatus. As indie pixel art crested in popularity during gaming's seventh generation, Mega Man re-appeared with two games - Mega Man 9 and 10 - in his original 8-bit stylings, only to disappear again shortly after. Mega Man's latest outing - Mega Man 11 - attempted to reinvigorate the franchise with 3D graphics, multiple play styles, and a variety of other modern trimmings.


Why are we playing it?

I wanted the 8-bit era to have a place in this event as a callback to the console that made me a gamer in the first place, but both of my first-choice franchises to represent it - Super Dodge Ball and Bionic Commando - have already been Retro Talkshop Thread Games of the Month, the latter as recently as this past June. With other options being too obvious, too long, or too lame, Mega Man stood out as a classic, polished franchise that still remains extremely accessible today.

One of my fondest old school gaming memories is watching my friend play through Wily's Castle in Mega Man 2, only to start over from the beginning and show me how the little blue dude got all those cool weapons in the first place. Mega Man was also the subject of my first retro "binge" after picking up the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, and short of maybe Super Smash Bros. Brawl, I don't think any Wii game release excited me nearly as much as when Mega Man 9 appeared on the platform briefly as an exclusive.

Mega Man is no stranger to my YouTube channel, having been featured in both Game Music Challenge videos and a handful of longplays. The last Mega Man game I played was Mega Man 7, this past December for the Retro Talkshop Thread Game of the Month.
- 2020 Year in Review
- 2022 Year in Review
- 30-Day Game Music Challenge
- 30-Day Game Music Challenge 2022
- Mega Man 2 - Genesis longplay
- Rockman 2 Complete Works - PlayStation longplay
- Mega Man 7 - Super Nintendo longplay


How can I play it?

Mega Man 8 and the first four Complete Works versions of the first Mega Man games are still available on the PlayStation Stores for PS3 and Vita for $5.99, though the game menus for the Complete Works games are in Japanese.

Mega Man 9 and 10 can still be purchased as standalone titles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 marketplaces for $9.99. They were both offered as PlayStation Plus monthly freebees many years back.

The Mega Man Legacy Collection is still on modern digital storefronts for $14.99 and frequently goes on sale.

Loose copies of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection may be available for slightly less.


Anything else I should know?

When Mega Man defeats a robot master, he keeps their weapon for himself. Each boss weapon is another boss' weakness. As a result, nearly every Mega Man game has a canonical "boss order" that begins with him beating Boss 1, who's weak to the Mega Buster; then Boss 2, who's weak to Boss 1's weapon; and so forth. Finding and executing the correct order will make boss fights a whole lot easier.

What is it?

Before Epic Megagames was Fortniting, licensing the Unreal engine, and suing Apple, they were one of the original shareware powerhouses. One Must Fall 2097 - a one-on-one brawler with giant robots, an anime aesthetic, a deep career mode, and a booming soundtrack - was, for years, the best PC exclusive fighter in existence. The game managed to cut through all the limitations of the platform, including clunky keyboard controls, to deliver an entertaining Mortal Kombat-style fighter that lived on as a cult classic.

Developer Diversions Entertainment attempted to revive the franchise in 2002 with an over-the-shoulder 3D 1-on-1 fighter called One Must Fall: Battlegrounds. Other than featuring giant robots, however, not much of the fun or the charm carried over from the original game. A rushed, buggy release and a lack of polish caused the game to receive mixed reviews, and the franchise has since faded into obscurity.


Why are we playing it?

One Must Fall 2097 was my barometer for PC power when I was in middle school. Serious PC gamers had a copy and a machine that could run it, and everyone else had likely never heard of it. Similarly, I knew I had entered the realm of PC gaming when my family finally retired their dusty 286 in favor of a Pentium Pro-powered Gateway 2000 that could successfully send the title screen's trademark thunderclap through its beige speakers.

Through the advent of the 3D era and with the relative disappointment of its sequel, One Must Fall is still a useful tool for old school gaming testing and a great distraction when there's no work to be done. I described One Must Fall as my "endgame" for the MiSTer's ao486 core (a feat the device now handles deftly), and I booted the game dozens of times during the pandemic as I struggled getting sound to work on my retro PC's MS-DOS partition.

I played through the career mode of One Must Fall 2097 in 2020 as part of my Year of Replays. It's featured in a handful of my YouTube videos.
- 2020 Year in Review
- 30-Day Game Music Challenge
- Jean-Paul arcade mode longplay


How can I play it?

Play One Must Fall 2097 on
MS-DOS

Play One Must Fall: Battlegrounds on
Windows

One Must Fall is 2097 is honest-to-goodness freeware and runs beautifully in DOSBox. If you have any trouble setting it up, please reach out, and I'll be happy to help.


Anything else I should know?

While the CPU opponents will never use them on you, One Must Fall 2097 has two tiers of "end of match" finishing moves: one that's a simple parting blow, and one that reduces your opponent's HAR to rubble. Other than glory and points, there isn't much of a benefit to using them, but they're fun to pull off.

What is it?

Before Omicron was an infamous variant of COVID, it was humanity's last hope against the forces of Kreel, a gritty reboot of the Kool-Aid Man who's scorching the earth in search of magical fruit punch. (More or less.) The Warhawk - Strike Force Omicron's secret weapon - is a highly-maneuverable air fighter with hover capabilities, the only ship that can stand a chance against Kreel's forces. To win, you have to fly the Warhawk into six different warzones, disable or infiltrate the defenses, and retrieve the stolen payloads before Kreel - or your cranky commander back at home - finish you off.

Warhawk never received a direct sequel, and a planned PC port was cancelled. Sony released a reboot/reimagining/shameless harvest of a dormant brand called Warhawk for the PlayStation 3, but other than featuring some new models highly-maneuverable aircraft, the multiplayer-only third-person shooter - and its sequel, Starhawk - had little in common with its namesake. A more apt tribute to the game was featured in Twisted Metal Black, which included more than a few less-than-subtle nods to the Warhawk and its characters.


Why are we playing it?

My first PlayStation came with Interactive CD Sampler Pack, Volume 2 which, among other things, included a playable demo of the first level of Warhawk. Most of the other playables on the disc found a lukewarm reception in my household, but my brother and I would pass the controller back and forth replaying the entirety of Warhawk's Desert Zone level ad nauseum. Warhawk ended being the first time a demo sold me on picking up the retail version of the game, which I received for Christmas that year.

Warhawk is a moderate amount of fun, though it's repeatedly brought up in retro circles as the quintessential "didn't age well" game. It has cheesy live action cutscenes, lots of texture warping, unfair AI, and it's painfully short. Warhawk's soundtrack, on the other hand - like many/most of Singletrac's game soundtracks - knocks it out of the park. It's cinematic, well-orchestrated, and complements the action on screen perfectly. Nearly singlehandedly, Warhawk ignited my decades-long obsession with video game music.

I last played through Warhawk in 2020 as part of my Year of Replays. It's featured in a handful of my YouTube videos.
- 2020 Year in Review
- 30-Day Game Music Challenge
- PlayStation longplay


How can I play it?

Play it on
PlayStation
PlayStation 3 (psOne Classic)
PSP (psOne Classic)
*vita* PlayStation Vita (psOne Classic)

Warhawk is still available on the PlayStation Stores for PS3 and Vita for $5.99. Loose disc copies can easily be found online for less than $10.


Anything else I should know?

The manual notes that you can eject your pilots from the Warhawk by mashing all four face buttons. You lose one of your three lives as a result. Other than being the ultimate mic drop, there has to be a use for it...

What is it?

Despite a title that allegedly stands for "Murder Death Kill" and the "On a good day, only 2.5 billion people will die" billing, MDK's brooding main character and alien aesthetic is heavily spiced with the wacky antics of its cousin, Earthworm Jim. Aided by his boss Dr. Fluke Hawkings and his six-armed robotic dog Bones, protagonist Kurt uses a definitely-not-BDSM-or-anything coil suit to infiltrate six city-sized minecrawlers that are stripping the Earth of its resources and leveling civilization in the process. The suit is equipped with an arm-mounted chaingun and a head-mounted sniper rifle that allows Kurt to get the drop on enemies up to three miles away.

MDK is largely forgotten today, but critics and gamers alike praised it upon its release for its varied gameplay and environments; its quirky sense of humor; and its gorgeous graphics, which leaned heavily on sprawling, colorful environments. Bioware - yes, that Bioware - developed the aptly-titled MDK2, which turned all three of the original main characters into playable protagonists, each with a dramatically different playstyle. The sequel is much more heavy handed with humor, lore, and other modern game mechanics, but it holds its own.


Why are we playing it?

Do you know how everyone has a "can we be friends" movie that they show to dates and acquaintances as a snapshot into their personality? MDK is that, for me, in video game form. On the way to a Memorial Day picnic in 1997, I made my family detour to CompUSA to pick up a copy of MDK, which launched in a glorious embossed big box. Since then, I've played through it countless times and introduced it to any number of potential gamers that could be interested. It was actually the first game I launched on my Steam Deck after booting it for the first time. (Spoiler alert: it plays great.)

While MDK's core gameplay is solid and its sniper mode was novel at the time, the game's greatest strength is simply how silly it is. Recurring pickups include the World's Smallest Nuclear Explosion and World's Most Interesting Bomb. Enemies taunt you by shaking their butts and making wakka wakka noises. There's a brilliant, brillaint sequence in the first level involving a broken Alert Robot that I will leave unspoiled. And, if you play through the original version of the game (which is thankfully the version sold on Steam), the game ends with a French music video featuring a live action Kurt Hectic. Madcap brilliance.

I last played through MDK in 2020 as part of my Year of Replays. It's featured in a handful of my YouTube videos.
- 2020 Year in Review
- MDK - PlayStation longplay


How can I play it?

Play MDK on
DOS & Windows
PlayStation

Play MDK 2 on
Dreamcast
Windows
Wii

Play MDK 2: Armageddon on
PlayStation 2

Play MDK 2 HD on
Windows

MDK and MDK 2 are both available on Steam and GOG for $9.99.


Anything else I should know?

You have a sniper rifle on your head. Don't be afraid to go for head shots. If a larger enemy seems unfazed by a blow to the head, switch to a bigger bullet, or aim for their eyes instead.

What is it?

People of a certain age may remember the Ricochet, a remote-controlled car with wheels so large that it could effectively never be upside-down. The original commercial promised powerful, pulverizing stunts as the car would flip itself over and ride up halfpipes, always to land on its figurative feet. Developer ATB turned the concept into a futuristic combat racer (not totally unlike another game franchise that almost made an appearance this month) powered by neon, techno, and for some reason, Engrish.

Rollcage was followed up with a sequel - Rollcage: Stage II - that added more tracks, more cars, more weapons, and the puzzle-like Scramble mode, but that was the last outing before the franchise faded into relative obscurity. The game developed a quiet following in the retro gaming scene, which prompted a few of the original developers to launch a Kickstarter and bring the combat racing formula to modern consoles. The Kickstarter was abruptly pulled, but the game - called GRIP: Combat Racing - did eventually reach Early Access, followed by a full retail release. The complicated Campaign Mode and overloaded Garage reek of content bloat, but the game does a fantastic job of capturing the spirit and chaotic racing of its spiritual predecessor, provided you're playing on a platform with enough horsepower.


Why are we playing it?

Rollcage is possibly the greatest bargain bin pickup of all time. After playing the one-track demo to death, the game showed up on the local GameStop's shrinking PC shelf for $10 in its original full-size box. The game is a fruity, satisfying snack. For a while, I introduced it to people as a game so good, I couldn't help but play all the way through it every time I re-installed it following hard drive format or some other catastrophe. You can imagine my surprise and delight decades later when it turns out the game I thought nobody had heard of actually had developed a bit of a cult following, not to mention a spiritual successor.

I last played through Rollcage in 2020 as part of my Year of Replays. As of yet, that's the only one of my YouTube videos in which it's been featured.
- 2020 Year in Review


Play Rollcage or Rollcage: Stage II on
PlayStation
Windows

Play GRIP: Combat Racing on
Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Switch


What's the cheapest/easiest way to play it?

One of the original developers publicly released Rollcage Redux and Rollcage Extreme, complete patched versions of the original two titles that are more compatible with modern machines.

Loose copies of Rollcage and Stage II for PlayStation can easily be found online for less than $10. PC copies of the original used to be quite common and inexpensive as well, but they seem to be a lot rarer these days, for some reason.


Anything else I should know?

Unless you're playing GRIP, which has an actual air control mode, inertia is going to make turning during or just before airtime a really bad time. Use the lead time before a ramp to line up your trajectory so your graceful, high-speed landing doesn't turn into a bellyflop.

What is it?

For gamers that have been with the PlayStation since the very beginning, Twisted Metal needs no introduction. The franchise is remembered fondly for its perfection of the vehicular combat genre; its quirky cars and characters, most notably Sweet Tooth and his trademark ice cream truck; and for Calypso, the creator of the titular tournament and granter of wishes, most of which grab at The Monkey's Paw. Singletrac (the same developers as Warhawk above) produced two Twisted Metal games - the first taking place in the Los Angeles, and the second going all over the world - before surrendering the IP to Sony as part of their purchase by GT Interactive. Sony's 989 Studios produced two more follow-ups, but the new engine and awkward dependence on Rob Zombie failed to capture the personality of its predecessors.

The original developers rejoined with Sony as Incog Inc. and made up for lost goodwill by developing the family-friendly Twisted Metal: Small Brawl, a portable re-imagining of the world tour in Twisted Metal: Head-On, and their masterpiece, Twisted Metal Black, which leaned hard into a nighttime aesthetic and gorey, horror-inspired storylines for its rogues gallery. Vehicular combat fell out of favor as console first-person shooters took over the landscape, but Sony rebooted Twisted Metal one final time on the PlayStation 3 and took the franchise online with mixed results.

Twisted Metal's latest incarnation is as a Peacock-exclusive TV show that has cars, colorful missiles, and a big angry clown named Sweet Tooth, but not much else in common with the eponymous video game series.


Why are we playing it?

When I announced at school that I had a bought a PlayStation, the first response from one of my friends was, "Now, you need to play Twisted Metal." Twisted Metal 2 took on the role that Mario Kart did in many other friend circles. We'd waste weekend hours blasting each other halfway to the scrap heap and watching the trippy ending movies, and on my own, I'd go back and explore the levels, find new destructable Easter eggs, and appreciate the incredible soundtrack. When the Greatest Hits line was annouced with Twisted Metal as one of its inaugural entries, I didn't hestitate to pick it up, even though it's a functional subset of what you get in its sequel. I suffered through Twisted Metal III, and didn't even bother to finish Twisted Metal 4, considering Singletrac's loss of control one of my earliest examples of being screwed by corporate machinations.

Few gaming memories, therefore, can compare to booting up Twisted Metal Black for the first time. After thinking the series would never return to form, the original developers were back (albeit with a new studio) with an entry for the months-old PlayStation 2. After midnight, with all the lights off, the game booted to the opening riff of "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones; a grisly introduction to the John Doe character; and a dark, cinematic battlescape running at 60FPS. The rest is history.

I played through multiple Twisted Metal games in 2020 as part of my Year of Replays. The various playthroughs are featured in a number of YouTube videos.
- 2020 Year in Review
- Twisted Metal - Outlaw longplay on PC
- Twisted Metal - Roadkill longplay on PlayStation
- Twisted Metal 2 - Minion longplay on PlayStation
- Twisted Metal: Head-On - Spectre longplay on PlayStation 2
- Twisted Metal - PlayStation 3 longplay


How can I play it?

Play Twisted Metal or Twisted Metal II on
PlayStation
PlayStation 3 (psOne Classics)
PlayStation 4 (PlayStation Plus Classics)
PlayStation 5 (PlayStation Plus Classics)
PSP (psOne Classics)
PlayStation Vita (psOne Classics)
Windows

Play Twisted Metal III, 4, or Small Brawl on
PlayStation

Play Twisted Metal Black on
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3 (PlayStation 2 Classics)
PlayStation 4 (PlayStation 2 Classics)

Play Twisted Metal: Head-On on
PSP
PlayStation 2

Play Twisted Metal [2012] on
PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 reboot of Twisted Metal was once offered as a PlayStation Plus monthly title. The first two titles are now available for subscribers of PlayStation Plus Premium. For non-subscribers, the first two Twisted Metal games are available on the PlayStation Stores for PS3 and Vita for $5.99.

Loose copies of many console releases are extremely common and can be found online for $10-20.


Anything else I should know?

While there are exceptions, don't engage with an enemy until you have enough weapons in your arsenal to finish the job. Resist the urge to ping whatever opponent you see with whatever missiles you happen to be carrying. It'll end up being a waste if they scurry off to refill their health, or if they came prepared and blow you up instead.

I know what you're thinking. "So, R2K, this is all cool and all (and mildly self-indulgent) but I have a huge backlog, a limited amount of time, and a whole bunch of other games I could be playing next month. And I don't really care about badges."

That's fair. So, let's sweeten things with some incentives and prizes.


Game Completion Bonuses

Everyone who completes one game in our list gets one month of GameTZ subscription time.

If you complete a game from three different series in our list, you get one additional month of GameTZ subscription time plus $10 to the digital gaming store of your choosing. Eligible stores include Steam, Amazon, the Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox Store, etc. but really, any digital platform that offers digital gift cards will do.

If you complete a game from all six series in our list, you get one additional month of GameTZ subscription time plus $20 additional to the digital gaming store of your choosing. For those of us doing the math at home, that's a total of three months subtime and a $30 gift card.


Game Completion Raffle

Completing a game from each series in our list gets you one raffle ticket. Completing multiple games from the same series don't yield additional votes (sorry, Mega Man fans) but completing the objective to "gild" your birthday cake badge will double your raffle ticket for that series.

There will be a drawing with one winner for each tier of series completions. The breakdown of prizes is below:

1-Game Tier: $10 digital gift card 2-Game Tier: $20 digital gift card 3-Game Tier: $30 digital gift card 4-Game Tier: $40 digital gift card 5-Game Tier: $50 digital gift card 6-Game Tier: $60 digital gift card in lieu of a digital gift card, feel free to request a physical game of equal or lesser value that can be drop-shipped to you from a major retailer.

Raffle prizes are cumulative; winning one tier of a raffle does not make you ineligible for another. The expectation is that the pool of potential winners will get smaller as the tier gets higher, so feel free to complete more games to increase your chances of walking out with a bigger haul.

Winners will be drawn randomly using an online tool like Wheel of Names. The drawings will be recorded and posted.


The Serious Stuff

Borrowing from the Frank School of Completion Confirmation, your playthrough is counted by posting a photo of your completion - the end screen, the end credits, or some other "spoiler" shot - with your username in frame. While not many of the eligible games have achievement or trophy integration, you can link to the official achievement tracker as well.

Only established accounts can participate. Please don't create a football team of new accounts and play through Mega Man 2 fifty times to earn a decade of free subtime. I'm not going to create a hard line like "Bronze Star or higher" but common sense will reign if I smell fish.

Please don't be a jerk. Don't download a save game of the final boss fight and finish the game in five minutes. Don't enable God Mode. Don't fullscreen a longplay video and claim it as your own. The prizes are meant to be a "Thank you" for indulging in my birthday whims, not a vector for exploiting some regular dude on the Internet.

And it's not like I'm asking us all to play Superman 64 or E.T. on Atari 2600 (LIKE SOME PEOPLE)... They're all fun games, many of which have faded from the eye of the industry and are worth looking at again.

Finally: I'm pretty sure everything I'm doing is on the up-and-up, but if anything happens that makes Bill unhappy or nervous, I'll pull the plug on the prize distribution. I don't expect that to happen, though. Frank has been doing monthly raffles for quite a while now without much issue.

When you say "complete," you just mean beat the game, right? Because beating Mega Man 9 and completing it are two very different things.

@Renaissance2K love it! Your age and gaming preferences closely align with my own - Tekken, Twisted Metal and Warhawk all hold a special place in my heart, MDK and Rollcage always intrigued me but never played. Let’s see if I find the time to play some of these games. Happy b-day!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Yes, just beat the game. Beat the final boss, roll the credits, etc.

I think this is a pretty obvious state in nearly every game here, with a few exceptions. One Must Fall 2097's Tournament Mode caps with the World Championship but doesn't give you a special ending; you just need to beat that final boss. Rollcage: Stage II just gives you a title card saying you're the champion. There may be others.

I finally have a reason to bite the bullet on Twisted Metal. And I may well obtain MDK 2. I've got more Mega Man games than I know what to do with, so that'll be a breeze.

I have just about all of these LOL

I even bought the registered version of OMF 2097 back in the day. After months of playing the three-robot shareware version, I just had to play the full game and experience it all for myself. As for the end of match moves, they do serve a gameplay purpose... but I'll let you figure out what that is.

Or you can click through the Spoiler tag like a wimp.

MDK has always been a personal favorite of mine. MDK2 on the other hand, is not. I played it on the Dreamcast and the awkward control scheme and less straightforward nature of the game really detracted from the overall experience.

Mega Man really needs no commentary. For the longest time the original was my favorite game. (Mega Man X4 is now my favorite in the franchise, with Jet Set Radio taking the overall top favorite game spot.)

I never played the original Rollcage, but absolutely played the stuffing out of Rollcage Stage 2 on PlayStation. I remember being excited when I saw a PC game called Death Track Racing at Electronics Boutique that looked similar. When I bought it and installed it, I discovered the reason it looked so similar... it was the EXACT SAME game, the PC publisher of the game had just renamed it. I wasn't happy to have bought the same game twice...

Twisted Metal isn't a franchise I have played extensively. By the time I bought a PS1, it had mostly run its course. And with the PS2 being solely to blame for the early demise of the Dreamcast (because Sega was perfect and could not have possibly made any mistakes), I didn't bite the bullet on that system for a long time. I've since picked up a number of games in the series, but haven't really put any significant time into them.

Warhawk I have zero experience with. Although I did buy a longbox copy from a local comic/ toy/game shop about a month ago (August 19th according to my trusty CLZ App), I still haven't actually played it...

So @Renaissance2K which is your favorite robot in OMF2097?

Awesome idea.

This is really cool! I feel inspired to plan something like this myself down the road

The only series I'm interested in here is Mega Man, so I'll at least try to clear 1 of them. I've been putting off re-visiting the series for a while, so this seems like as good a time as any. How well do the classic Mega Man games play on the Switch? That would be my preferred platform for sure.

Scott wrote:

One must fall 2097 is a fighting game (fairly short) and it is free. Even if you didn't have any interest in it, give it a try if you have a pc or other device that can run dosbox.

https://youtu.be/l9ph0HO0N5U?si=Em8MI14NV5I2jSkC

Some classics there. I remember playing a lot of a Warhawk demo back in the day, I might need to try the full game now.

Yeah, Ben, I was twinkling my fingertips like Mr. Burns when I saw you bought a Warhawk longbox, knowing this was coming in a few weeks.

benstylus wrote:

I'm super stubborn and never really "upgraded" from the Jaguar. I looks cool, it's balanced, and I love the move where you jump over your enemy and throw them.

The first time I finished Tournament Mode, I cashed everything in and bought a Nova HAR. It was certainly powerful, but I missed the sleekness and agility of the Jag.

Scott wrote:

I've played Mega Man X, 9, and 11 on the Switch. The classic games control fine, but some games are laggier than others.

Renaissance2K wrote:

My favorite is the Shadow. Cheap hold moves are awesome. I think has the most hilarious finisher too.

Funny how neither of us really went too much for the robots that weren't in the shareware version LOL

Love the idea! Not sure I'll have time to play (or pick up) any of these, except maybe a Mega Man game.

Edit: Realized I own MDK2 on PS2, but it's sealed

The Mega Man X Legacy Collection is on sale on eShop right now for $7.99.

Scott wrote:

We're not playing Mega Man X games (to this day, the only one I've finished is Maverick Hunter X on PSP, which rocked), but both Legacy Collections for the numbered games are on sale as well.
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/mega-man-l...
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/mega-man-l...

They're on sale on Steam as well, which the original down to $5.99.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/363440/Mega_Man...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/495050/Mega_Man...

Same for PlayStation Store.
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0102...
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0102...

And the Xbox Store.
https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/mega-man-le...
https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/mega-man-le...

Oops, I thought those were included.

I've found many, many rare games in the pre-owned section at GameStop. FE Fates Special Edition, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Chibi-Robo! Park Patrol, and I think even that Club Nintendo Game & Watch Collection for DS.

Yet no matter how hard I've looked, I've never found the physical Switch cart of Mega Man Legacy Collection 1. It's fairly inexpensive on eBay if you look right, but I'm heckbent on finding it in-store with my own wit.

@Renaissance2K

Great job on that 30 day music challenge video. Good mix of music, and with time stamps.

(12:38: music you associate with frustration )

nonamesleft wrote:

I still haven't beaten that boss...

As if to help you prepare to celebrate Ren2k's birthday, MDK has gone on sale over at gog:

https://www.gog.com/game/mdk
https://www.gog.com/en/game/mdk_2

$6.99 each (regularly $9.99) so save yourself 30%

If you play Mega Man 2 first, do you automatically gild the MM series? Or are you supposed to beat two Mega Man games with one of them being 2?

Really cool of you Ren2k to do this. I turned 40 in Oct of '21 and didn't do really anything - was just another day for me, but you thing is way cooler.
Maybe by the time October rolls around I'll be nearly done with the major task that is my bathroom/laundry room remodel and I'll seek to participate. But either way, happy early 40th!

SupremeSarna wrote:

If Mega Man 2 is your Mega Man game, your badge will be gilded.

Same with the Twisted Metal series and Twisted Metal Black.

Super cool way to celebrate your 40th @Renaissance2K ! I remember hearing about MDK way back when but never played it. Might have to join in on this just for that.

I snagged Twisted Metal: Head-On for $13 at a local shop. Not the best price ever, but I was already eyeing the series, so I don't mind. I'm going back and forth on buying a cheap MDK2, since the payout from beating three games won't cover the whole venture. Doesn't help that I bought the Pikmin 1+2 game for $50 on Friday, so my wallet is feeling it ATM. I'll have to think about it further (and maybe borrow my friend's PS2 memory card). That seller is away until the end of September, so I've got time.

I ultimately bought MDK2. I figure since I was already interested in Twisted Metal, I’ll just eat the price and not think any more about it. MDK2 was 10% off, so it didn’t even reach $8.

@Renaissance2K If I’m still on here when I turn 40 and you guys aren’t pushing up the daisies, y’all are playing $150 copies of Pandora’s Tower to appease me. Let Elena rip you to pieces to gild your badge!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Deal.

@Renaissance2K How many of these do YOU intend to play before the year’s end?

SupremeSarna wrote:

Well, my intent isn't worth the breath its borne with, but I intend to play through all six next month. I have a rough list in mind:

- Mega Man 8 (never played it, except to make the teaser in the OP)
- One Must Fall: Battlegrounds (haven't played it in ages, and went through Hell getting it to run on my PCs)
- Warhawk (crossing my fingers that they do a PS4/5 release in the next month, but doubtful)
- MDK2 (started it ages ago, but never finished it)
- GRIP: Combat Racing (this is a loooooong campaign, but it plays great on the Steam Deck)
- Twisted Metal: Small Brawl (never beat the last level)

If time allows (ha!), I'll go back and follow the Path of R2K for the gold objectives. Rollcage's gold badge will probably take the most time, and it's still quite short.

Renaissance2K wrote:
"My name is Duo. I was born with the sole purpose to eliminate the evil energy from this universe."

I'm a bigger-than-average MM8 fan, since it was the only MM game I owned for several years. But I also love to mock the voice acting and sound design.

SupremeSarna wrote:

The voice acting is the best thing about the game.

benstylus wrote:

The Flash Bomb was pretty good as weapons go, and they made a swimming stage that was pretty fun. I can commend them for that. Plus, who doesn't love snowboarding?

The birthday fun begins tomorrow. Do you think you'll join in? If so, what game are you going to play first?

I was just going to go in order of the original post, but I'm itching to play some Twisted Metal, so that may be my first game out of the gate.

I got DMK2 in the mail today, so I may as well start there. I haven't looked at video footage of the game, so I'm going in completely blind!

I think Megaman 2 will be the first game I'll play. Got the legacy collection on the Switch not too long ago and this is a great reason to jump in. It's also short enough that I shouldn't have any problem finishing it.

Looks like fun. I have twisted metal and the MM collection I can play. I just completed Grip as it was free on PS+, but got removed (which is why I finally played it before it got pulled). Not really in a position to be buying games, so it will just be those two for me unless the others are on PS+/gamepass.

It's October 1. Game on, everyone!

Remember the basics:

1. Follow the Frank School of Playthrough Verification and post a photo of a "spoiler" (ending, credits, etc.) while holding up a piece of paper with your handle and the date on it. For the few games that support it, feel free to link to your achievement on the official Xbox/PlayStation site.

2. You do not need a second playthrough, if you complete the gilding objective during your first. Gilding a badge earns you an extra "ticket" in the game completion raffles.

3. All prizes will be sent out in early November and are cumulative, unless stated otherwise. No reason for this, other than it being less work to send out one three-month subscription instead of three one-month subscriptions.

Have fun!

I booted up Twisted Metal: Small Brawl last night and made it to Level 5 with Shadow. I don't remember where the bosses pop up in this game, but hoping to finish this one off soon, if I don't reach Dark Tooth levels of frustration.

How exactly is Max's jetpack supposed to work? I don't have enough to fuel to ascend the whole corridor, and now that I'm trying again, I can barely make it 1/4 of the way through. Am I doing something wrong?

I haven't played MDK2 in a while, but it sounds like there are two possibilities:

- The jetpack is supposed to be used sparingly as a booster between long jumps.

- There are fuel pickups somewhere.

Maybe I'll take a MDK2 detour tonight and see if I can figure it out. I don't remember having trouble with the game back in the day until the Dr. Fluke puzzle levels.

While I wait to progress in MDK2, I blew off some steam by beating Mega Man 2 on Difficult mode.
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F7ZJ5hlXIAA10tp?format...[/imgt]

Game's pretty great! There are some annoying bosses (cough cough Crash Bomb walls), but it definitely stands as one of the good Mega Mans. Gild me and toss 1 month of subtime on my pile!

SupremeSarna wrote:

Mega Man 2 is like frolicking through a rolling green field, and that Crash Bomb boss is like landing in a big steaming cowpie after a particularly majestic leap.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I'm up to level 4. PLEASE tell me the jetpack is used infrequently. The issue seems to be the speed at which the PS2 runs the game--sometimes it runs quickly and increases my acceleration, sometimes it moves at average speed, but othertimes it runs slowly and kills my ascension. It's a serious difference: I reached the first platform with 80 fuel on fast, 65 on average, and 40 on slow. The only way to reach the top of that segment of the shaft (there's even more afterward) is to fly to each level with fast processing, then use the last drops of fuel to land on the one outcropping that has a fuel refill. There are three outcroppings and they all look identical from underneath. So I hope you picked right, or you must descend and try again!

Then you get to do the exact same thing again. I really hope Max's levels improve, cuz I'm thoroughly over this one.

The first slices of cake are handed out. SupremeSarna gets a gold Mega Man badge for finishing Mega Man 2 and is on the way to adding a MDK one as well, if he doesn't send Max to that puppy retirement farm up north first.

As for me, I finished Twisted Metal: Small Brawl with Shadow, earned a black Twisted Metal badge, and took a game off my backlog that's been there since grad school. I'm not really sure why I didn't finish the game back then. The final fight wasn't all that tough.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/170907364...

I've started Mega Man 8, and whooooooooooooooo booooooooy, you folks weren't kidding about that voice acting. Wow.

Renaissance2K wrote:
Not fond of strawberry icing, but I'll manage.

Better, the scrapyard. Darn mutt runs on a car battery.

Reminds me of the time in high school when I gave up on Wario Land 3 at the final boss, then beat it for BaG 2021. It only takes a few tries, but I was so burnt put on it back then.

"Hey, bass, why must I fight you? We are not enemies!"
Have you reached the infamous "Docta Wahwee" cutscene yet? It's brilliant.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Not yet. I do think it's really cool that they got Barbara Walters to do the voice of Dr. Light, though.

Renaissance2K wrote:

The scream scene is underrated, IMO. Mega Man could be renamed "Lung Man" and the name would fit.

image

Mega Man 2 via Capcom Collection on Evercade EXP

Good game, but playing through Mega Man X first back in the day probably hurt more than it helped.

Whoever designed MDK2 did not know how to make fun jetpack gameplay. Who on the team thought, "Oh boy! A jetpack! I wanna use it to slowly follow a fuel canister as it winds around a giant room with a deadly floor!" ? Seems like the extent of their imagination was just having you fly straight upward through tall shafts most of the time.

And sure enough, this particular area ends with a do-or-die ascension segment that might be impossible on my copy for previously discussed reasons. Boo.

What is your stance on the use of cheat codes? I don't think there are any that would me get past this game-breaking bug--the best I could find was invincibility, which would only help me survive upon my inevitable crash landing into toxic waste. But are cheats allowed in cases where the game itself is messed up?

Are you sure its a bug? A quick Google search for MDK2 jetpack bug isn't finding anything... which version are you playing?

Maybe look at a walk through video... it's possible there is a secret fuel refill or upgrade or something.

benstylus wrote:
This is what I was going to suggest. Check out a longplay video just to make sure you're not missing anything.

I’ve been using longplay videos. They always show the player rocketing at incredible speed, making it look like a breeze. My PS2 version rarely reaches that speed. I’ve asked about it (no replies yet), read pdfs of the manual, looked at the in-game controls, but nothing is helping. Maybe I can influence the game to run faster by rapidly moving side to side before starting the flight portion, but I doubt that would affect such a long jetpacking section such as this.

There’s little I can do but pray that the game will work—that’s how I beat level 2 after several hours of attempts. Perhaps the disc needs cleaning? But it looks clean enough to me already.

That's pretty crazy that a dirty disc can affect the in-game physics. I'm super curious now.

I can mail you the disc in November if you want to experiment with it. I doubt I’ll be playing it again, anyway.

SupremeSarna wrote:

Hey, dude. I booted up Armageddon, made my way to the Jetpack in Max's level, and I think I figured it out.

I think the Jetpack uses the Dual Shock 2's pressure sensitivity functionality to control its speed. I had the same issues as you at first. Max just flew too slowly to make it to the next fuel station a lot of the time. I thought maybe it had something to do with double-jumping or trying not to bank in air or whatever.

Then, I just smashed the X button as hard as I could, and Max took off at top speed.

I don't think that's a great mechanic - in fact, both the PS2 and Dreamcast versions of the games have some serious control issues - but that might get you from point A to B without wanting to throw Max into the C.

Renaissance2K wrote:

By far the worst feature of the PS2. I know Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero uses it as well which is a great way to get hand cramps after only a short amount of play. Want to drive fast. Clench that button with all your hand strength!

On that one I swapped to a DS1 controller to play. The analog sticks don't feel as good though (less resistance) so it still wasn't a great compromise. With most racing games now using the shoulder triggers instead of face buttons I wonder if I would still even have an issue if they let you change the button layout.

I got it. @Renaissance2K Your comment was extremely helpful in prompting me to do more research on the DualShock 2’s pressure sensitivity. Turns out you need to press the button with Herculean might to fly at the proper speed. Annoying, but now I should be able to realistically beat the game.

I’m now on the bomb deactivation stage. Needless to say, I like it better.

JUMP... JUMP...

SLIDE... SLIDE...

JUMP... JUMP...

JUMP... JUMP...

Renaissance2K wrote:

“I WILL CRUSH YEU! I WILL… BEAT YEU!”
*gets hit with Flash Bomb, immediately falls to the ground and covers his face with his hands*

You feel bad for Frost Man.

@Renaissance2K Can I watch the MDK ending on YouTube to get the gild? Or do I have to play the first game and do it in-game to count?

SupremeSarna wrote:

You have to play the first game, too. If you accidentally play a version that doesn't include the music video, you can watch it on YouTube.

Steam is based on the version with the music video, and is arguably the best version of the game. Late retail releases, the GOG download, and the PlayStation port don't.

Sailorneorune and I ran a reduced version of the OMG!Con game room at Owensboro Comic & Toy Convention this weekend.

In your honor @Renaissance2K we had MDK (PS1), Mega Man 2 (through the NES Mini), Grip Combat Racing (PS4), Twisted Metal 2 (PS1) and Twisted Metal Head On (PS2) all out on the floor for people to play at various times.

Did bring Rollcage Stage 2, but didn't have it out, and didn't bring Warhawk.

We did bring One Must Fall 2097 but it is on sailorneorune's personal laptop so we didn't want just anyone fooling with it.

Had a great time exposing people to new and old games alike. I commentated both of our tournaments (Mario Kart 8DX and Tetris Battle Gaiden) as well. I was planning to be the surprise final boss for the Tetris tournament, but we were already over our scheduled time at that point so the winner got off easy

Did not make it down to the exhibit hall where all vendors were and the guests were selling autographs but I'm not much of an autograph hound, and convention price markup can sometimes be pretty ridiculous anyway.

I beat BAD2: Armageddon. I have thoughts about it.
[imgt w=1536 h=2048]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F78wBgCXMAAQTH3?format...[/imgt]

MDK2 has a good premise and presentation, drawing from the golden age of comics to deliver an amusing alien annihilation story. The voice work can be decent depending on the character, and the humor made me laugh more than once. Shwang Shwing was an intimidating baddie, and the music was tight! I found a sense of satisfaction and relief for beating each stage. All good, right? Sadly, no.

There are three stage types with three characters, and all of them are flawed in a different way. Kurt has a mini gun and a sniper rifle, but the game likes forcing you to use different gimmicky items to progress. As early as the first stage, I had to use mortar bullets to destroy shielded encampments, but the game gives you no good indication of your bullet’s arc. Despite having that effective mini gun, stage triggers and bosses require you to use the sniper—nothing’s more fun than getting pummeled by several far-off enemies as you gingerly line up one shot. Stage 7 was a gigantic slog after it introduced flying craft that destroy the platforms below you; cloaking Mysterio foes that will get back up if you don’t use headshots; and an enemy gauntlet that subjects you to eight rounds. It’s maddening.

Doc is a weird one. His stages are typically puzzle-based, but with ample combat. Stage 3 has you navigating a very confusing ship, picking up random objects, and fusing them together to make new ones. It’s extremely specific in how you’re supposed to proceed, so I used a guide to figure out what goes where. The rest of his stages aren’t really like that, though—you more or less get all your needed items in Stage 3, so there isn’t any more fusing after that. Stage 6 was my favorite stage, as hitting the right buttons under a time limit was decently engaging. Stage 9 is gruelingly long, but the puzzles were decent (ignoring the maze). His stages were the most appealing, even if they were pretty guide-heavy.

Max’s stages should be awesome, since you can pick up dozens of guns and blast aliens to smithereens. Then the devs decided that he should have a jet pack. What a promising idea! Maybe he could take to skies and gun down opponents in wide open arenas, or fly from platform to platform to hunt down fleeing aliens. Instead, the devs often just devote big portions of the stages to tedious/frustrating time wasters, like flying upward and then refueling to do it again, or following a slow-moving fuel refiller over a deadly floor. Stage 8 sees Max flying up a mammoth structure for about ten minutes, going from one far-off platform to the next, then ascending it even higher afterward. Fun, fun! And as Renaissance2K knows, I had major problems getting the jet pack to work—the only way to ascend fast enough to reach the end of some sections is to crush the button with Herculean strength, something the game and manual don’t explain. I wasted hours trying to clear Stages 2 and 5 without that knowledge. Terrible.

The game has general design problems, too. Most stages are far too long for their own good (props to Stage 7, where they have that eight-wave gauntlet and then still throw a boss after it). Each stage has a memorably terrible part that kills the fun immediately—whether it’s running through a maze full of enemies, being bombarded by infinitely respawning aliens with no clear direction, slowly walking on the outside of a spaceship as an armada shoots deadly blasts from afar, clunkily platforming over bottomless pits, or something else. The game uses tank controls for some reason despite having perfectly good analog sticks on the controller. The graphics are too dark to see things easily, especially in that Stage 8 jet pack sequence I mentioned. The checkpoint system would be nice if they didn’t save you with the exact amount of health and ammo you had. It’s a pain scraping through a tough section only to have it save you with 26 HP and 8 bullets left in your last uzi.

When I got the final cutscene, the game entered a perpetual loop of Doc nodding off and then perking back up, which is only supposed to happen once before showing a conclusion. I had to press Start to skip to the credits (I have a photo of them, too, just in case) and watch the scene proper on YouTube. What a way to cap off the experience! But I took immense pleasure in hearing the characters say “it’s over” in various ways as the credits ended. Woof.

I’m sure you have your reasons for liking this series, Ren. I respect your opinion and am happy this made a positive impression on your life. Don’t let anything I say take that away. But this has been by far the worst gaming experience I’ve had all year. At least the flawed Pikmin 2 has good controls and fun gameplay, and the frustrating parts of FF6 were sprinkled into an epic if difficult adventure.

MDK2 has its moments, sure. But the wackiness and personality aren’t enough to salvage a clunky, punishing, aneurism-inducing mess.

SupremeSarna wrote:
.SupremeSarna wrote:


Sounds like a standard bioware game

SupremeSarna wrote:

To clarify, I adore the original MDK. I love the silliness, the art design, the power-ups, the soundtrack, and to cap it all off, they ended the game with a friggin' French music video while my French nerddom was peaking. (Two years after its release, I bought the original album that the track was sourced from. In France.)

I do not feel the same way about MDK2. I limped through the demo, never ended up buying it (it was a pack-in with some hardware I bought) until my Steam hoarding days, and never finished it. I treat it like an in-law - sure, I love your relative, and you are technically part of the family, but outside of special occasions, we're probably not going to interact that much.

You've probably read some version of this refrain in the Retro Talkshop Thread before, but I'd much rather have a lot of people playing something that vaguely resembles what I'm looking for, than fewer people playing exactly what I want. That's why we're playing with six franchises and not specifically Mega Man 2, One Must Fall 2097, Warhawk, an oddly-specific release of the original MDK, Rollcage, and Twisted Metal Black. Sure, I run the risk of recreating Bionic Commando month in the RTT, where the most accessible version of the game is also the worst, but I get to hand out more cake.

Sorry you didn't enjoy MDK2. In all honesty, I'm looking less forward to playing through it after my jetpack experiment with Armageddon, but I'll be playing on PC so maybe I'll fare better. If you have three hours at some point in your gaming future, the original MDK (in my humble opinion, of course) is much better at surprising you and making you laugh without making it feel like dental surgery.

And congrats on being the first to make it to Level 2. It's... nearly the same as Level 1, but without that weird cheese smell.

Do I get anything special if I beat two MMs, two TMs, and two MDKs? My plan was to beat one each and get 3 months + $10 eShop, but I'm curious what happens if I go further in each series. There's no extra reward for doing that, is there?

No, there's no bonus for playing multiple games in the same series, aside from turning a black badge into a gold one by playing a different game. I wanted to encourage trying out multiple series instead of just plowing through ten Mega Man games.

But I appreciate your enthusiasm! And my satisfaction is its own reward. Right? Right??

I switched gears yesterday and decided to play through Twisted Metal: Black and gild my badge before my PS2s get shipped out to get PixelFX Gems installed. I picked Roadkill, who was my first character back when I picked up the game in 2001. He probably has the least out there storyline of all the characters, but his car is well-rounded and his special attack is awesome.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171196976...

After finishing the back half of the game, I still have nothing but respect for it. Yes, the game is still brutal - a few seconds of carelessness is all it takes to go from full health to scrap metal - but the levels are large enough that running away, seeking cover, and restocking are valid options. Even the final boss, which I have nightmarish memories of, went down pretty fast after I remembered the strategy for bringing down its shields. I'm already looking forward to another playthrough with some more characters, and finishing the rest of the unlocks.

And, if that wasn't enough, after many grueling attempts to thwart Dr. Wie-wee during the final boss fight, I finished Mega Man 8.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171196984...

I think I unfairly walked into this game with low expectations, largely due to my "meh" experience with Mega Man 7 last year and the pile-on from everybody about the game's voice acting (which is, indeed, atrocious in a way only mid-90s Capcom could pull off). Starting with Clown Man's stage didn't help, as both the level and the fight are gimmicky and annoying.

Beyond that, though, I had plenty of fun. Being able to equip both the Mega Buster and a boss weapon is awesome and removed the one longtime annoyance of the series' best mechanic. The upgrade shop is neat, and they're not "optional but not really" like they are in Mega Man 7. The bosses were tricky at first, but once you learn their patterns, they're pretty easy to take down. And I got a lot of practice learning those patterns after many failed attempts at the final boss, which was still pretty tough but nowhere near as bad as Mega Man 7's final fight.

Those surfing segments, though... Never again.

As if @SupremeSarna's exploration of a lackluster sequel wasn't enough, I've started One Must Fall: Battlegrounds and finished the first tournament. Honestly, I think I would have loved this game in its current form if they had simply included a truly badass remix of the OMF theme, but even that - like a lot of the other gameplay details - feels like an unpolished fan effort than a worthy sequel.

Mega Man 2 in the books. Man how I love smaller games that can be completed in a couple of sittings. Heat Man's disappearing platform section was a bit annoying. I'm pretty sure I died 50 times trying to get through that. Ended up using the rewind function to get through it.

SwiftJAB wrote:

That, and the Crash Bomb boss in Wily's Castle, are my two least favorite segments in an otherwise masterful game.

Flash Man's lasers are a close third.

I beat Mega Man: The Wily Wars (originally Genesis).
[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8S2d07bIAAWxMQ?format...[/imgt]

It's a solid remake of MM1-3, but its main appeal is the unlockable Wily Tower segment. You can choose eight weapons and three items and then fight through stages made up of hazards from the three games. There are several weird bosses, like ones based on Journey to the West. The pig boss has two health bars!

I was a little let down by Wily Tower, TBH. It's bizarrely easy, even if you don't use your weapons. It also takes too long to unlock it compared to the mode's actual length. On the bright side, you can copy save files, so I just filled out my save slots with ones that have Wily Tower unlocked from the get-go. So I can return to it whenever.

You finished all three games in The Wily Wars, and then the Wily Tower mode? Damn, nicely done.

I played through the Genesis version of Mega Man 2 a while back and want to do the same for the other two games at some point. Not looking forward to the original Mega Man in hard mode, though.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Eh, it’s not so hard if you go to [redacted]’s stage and pick up the secret [redacted] weapon. Then you can one-shot every boss and slowly auto heal!

I look forward to seeing Redacted Man in Mega Man 12.

I just started Twisted Metal: Head On. It's pretty fun. Cousin Eddy is giving me a tricky time, though--you have to attack every window on his camper, including the sunroof your missiles won't reach. I assume the napalm weapon is the key there, but he won't hold still! Not to mention my PSP is constantly turning off for no reason... that creates a bit of a roadblock.

How many story mode playthroughs are required to call the game beaten? Is it fighting game rules where you need to beat two?

SupremeSarna wrote:

I'm happy with just one. The bosses in Twisted Metal games can be serious bottlenecks.

Who are you playing as?

Renaissance2K wrote:

Mr. Grimm. I gravitated toward the skeleton man. It is spooky month, after all.

He's such a cool character, but I rarely use him because I get asploded too much.

Beat him! Now to carry on with the mayhem.

Badge #3 for me is One Must Fall, which I earned by finishing One Must Fall: Battlegrounds tonight.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171308260...

On one hand, the original One Must Fall is an obscure classic that's lucky it got a sequel at all, especially after so long. On the other hand... this is the best they could do?

It's slow. Even running on hardware that was top tier for the time, the game struggles to keep a stable frame rate, especially with some of the more exotic arenas.

It's buggy. Characters go flying through walls. HARs take damage during cutscenes. Text pop-ups are layered on top of each other so you can barely read them.

It's unpolished. Character portraits look unfinished. The single player mode is shallow and lacking, especially compared to 2097's Tournament Mode. The UI, announcer, and music all feel like afterthoughts. And the typos!

It feels like a mid-tier early Xbox Live Arcade title: rough around the edges but accessible and at a good price. Except this was marketed as a AAA title and was in development for seven years. Once you get the hang of a HAR, it has its moments, and the third-person perspective can be almost forgiven. Most of the time, though, it's the game engine or character dialogue making my eyes roll.

Continuing the trend with sequels that forgot about their predecessors, MDK 2 is next.

Uh-oh.

For my Rollcage badge, I finished GRIP: Combat Racing. And apparently, I'm now the boss.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171413356...
My first impressions of this spiritual successor to Rollcage - resurrected by a group of the original's developers - was not great. I picked it up for the Switch, since portables and racing games go together like Rice Krispies and marshmallows, but the small screen, low resolution, and laggy physics made the game borderline unplayable. I thought this was another missed opportunity for a dormant franchise and set the game aside.

All that changed when I started playing the game again on the Steam Deck years later. All my gripes with the Switch port were addressed, and GRIP ended up being a worthy successor to the Rollcage crown, albeit with a greater sense of speed, complex multi-pathed track designs, and a whole lot of customization options. The campaign is massive - Steam is telling me I spent over 13 hours on it - but with all the gears turning properly, the game is an absolute blast.

I got one and didn't love it... Rollcage beat on PS1

When I didn't fly up a wall and get hella turned around it wasn't too bad. I only beat it on the default easy difficulty and don't know if my patience could handle too much more. I used Jet and the black guy b/c they had more grip and that was key for me and my style. Really on some tracks I had to just slow down a little and flying through and getting tons of air wasn't helpful. I didn't end up using many offensive weapons, but did like the shield and the boost was at times pointless.
I can see the appeal from the late 90's of this and the sense of speed was there, but the super short wheelbases and getting spun around was a little frustrating.

Slickriven wrote:

Yay!

And yeah, you're not wrong. For an "extreme" racing game, Rollcage sure is unforgiving when it comes to crazy speeds. My method for beating the game - especially the last circuit - was to pick a high grip car (I play as Jet 90% of the time and only switch away when I unlock Yuri) and take it slow around those curves, unless there's a ceiling to carry my mistakes.

For that reason, I agree with you: Boost is pretty self-destructive until you find the one or two places on each track where they're safe to use. Shield, however, is still pretty useful as long as you don't waste it on chip damage. A full-strength shield can stop even that "Blue Shell" missile without throwing you off course, but its effectiveness depletes as you bump into walls or other cars.

GRIP might be more your style. Some of the truly wild tracks still have you cradling the brake to keep from being spaghetti stuck to a wall, but the larger, more open track layouts are better for boosting, and the Shield blocks anything if you time it right.




So, anybody want to tell me why everybody who's playing has a handle that starts with S?

Started Rollcage Redux on my PC tonight. Y'all aren't joking, the physics on this game are wild and narrow corridors need to be navigated with some break checking. Button mapping to the Xbox controller was a bit weird. I tried mapping the acceleration to the right trigger and it somehow always wanted to attach it to up on the analog stick. Ended up mapping it to A and had much better time controlling the car.

I ended up picking Leon because he seemed more well balanced with grip just a bit less than Jet but speed was better. Got through all the leagues on easy. Is it just me or does it feel like there was a big jump in difficulty when starting the Taurus league? Now on to hard, God help me.

I lost my Grip auction. Oh well.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Looks like I have Grip thanks to Amazon Games giving it away a while back, I was aware of it and after playing Rollcage I'll surely keep it on my 'list'. According to HL2B Grip has a 14 hour campaign which right now I don't have the time for... sneaking in 60ish mins for Rollcage was about the most gaming I've done in 5+ weeks. Doing a remodel of a bathroom and gutting that space completely takes time. Plus my 'staging' area/partial materials storage took over the room I was setup for gaming in, so that's still a total mess.

I like the Racing in GRIP.

Not a fan of the open area levels where you have to make crazy jumps and stunts to collect all the bits (I think those are optional?)

benstylus wrote:

Carkour? Yeah, I didn't bother with that.

Slickriven wrote:

That's in the ballpark of what it took for me to beat it. There are 11 campaign tiers, most of which contains three blocks of 3-4 races, and a 1:1 duel. The game is pretty forgiving about what it takes to qualify in an event block - a detail I realized way too late. Some difficult races took over an hour of retries in itself.

I need a new portable game to play, with GRIP out of the way. I played a level of two PSP games I've been meaning to pick back up - Mega Man Powered Up, and Twisted Metal: Head-On - and ended up having more fun with the latter, so here we go. While I beat the PS2 re-release a while back, I never finished the original.

I'm playing as Grasshopper. I'm really curious about how they resolve the story of Krista Sparks given her... uh... situation after Twisted Metal 2.

Still plugging away at MDK 2.

I didn't think anything could be worse than trying to snipe those bouncing blue balls with a mouse from 1997.

And then, I picked up the Atomic Jetpack.

I think I want to try to get a 2nd layer on my cake and I recall playing a decent amount of Twisted Metal Black in college. So I'm going to shoot for that soon.

Slickriven wrote:

Do it. I just played it with Roadkill, and I think he's a great choice if you haven't played in a while. He's got a good balance of mobility and armor, and his special is great against bosses.

Well...

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171776055...

I'll give some credit to the first half of MDK 2. Bioware was clearly trying to respond to feedback from the initial game (too short, too easy, underdeveloped narrative) while keeping some of the personality and putting their own spin on it; and while the mechanics of all three characters are a little rough around the edges, it shows potential.

And then, the game just falls off a cliff. The last four levels are all nightmares, not just because of the mechanical difficulty but because of how long, grueling, and boring each of the larger setpieces is. Dr. Hawkins' maze is twice as large as it needs to be. Kurt shoots about 12-too-many bouncing sniper balls. And Max climbing the radioactive antenna with the Atomic Jetpack may be one of my least favorite gaming sequences in history.

I don't know how anyone played through this with a gamepad back in the day. It's brutal enough aiming with a mouse.

Time to top my cake. I booted up Warhawk tonight, playing through it on a CRT for the first time since the 90s. Still looking for new ways to play through the game, I'm on a power-up hunt this time around, trying to pick up long lost weapons upgrades that I've ignored in past runs.

Renaissance2K wrote:

That was me two weeks ago.

MDK 2 is the kind of game that isn't very good, but it has elements that stick with you. I like what it attempted to do with its great music, cool comicbook aesthetic, and funny writing. A thorough remake could turn it into something awesome. Instead, it was marred by glaringly unfun game design that makes me never want to play it again. What a shame. Definitely a game I recommend watching a veteran play instead of playing yourself.

Did you play the HD version where you can actually SEE the radioactive antenna platforms?

SupremeSarna wrote:

No, I played the original PC version. I didn't have too many problems with visibility, but we've been spoiled by twenty years of smooth mouse aiming, and I got disoriented quite a few times. The worst part about that sequence, though, is the amount of time you spent floating around trying to figure out what to do.

Hell, I had the illustrated strategy guide in front of me, and I still had no clue what the objective was or where I was supposed to go.

And no remakes of MDK 2 until we get a remake/remaster of the original. I so decree.

Cake complete. Played through Warhawk this morning.

It took a bit under two hours. I moved through things a little more slowly than usual, trying to track down (and hang on to) weapons upgrades that I normally ignore. This was also the first time I've played through a game using the MiSTer core instead my actual PlayStation, and I was happy to see how well everything held up.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171799428...

I unlocked the good ending. Wrapping the screenshot and the unlock method in a spoiler for those that care.

This was a good game to end with. Despite its age and its status as an early PlayStation title, the third act is so expertly crafted with interesting levels, cool bosses, and awesome music.

We don't have much time left in the month, but I'm going to gild what I can, starting with Mega Man 2. There's a recently released SNES port with MSU-1 enhancements that I'm excited to check out.

Well, that didn't take long.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171803072...

I had a lot more trouble in Wily's Castle than in past playthroughs. I don't know if I just got overconfident, or it's differences with the actual port, but I lost to Wily's Dragon many humiliating times before I was able to advance. And Boobeam Trap gave me a lot of crap, as always.

I think we were lamenting about Boobeam Trap earlier in the thread, right? There's apparently a Wiki that collects terrible gameplay moments.

Well I tried TM:Black on easy with Roadkill and then with Junkyard Dog and died 3 times with each on the first level before eliminating the 7 opponents... so yeah I suck at it. I think I was driving around too much/fast with Roadkill and the control scheme I selected, so I went with JD as he was slower and more armored up and changed the controls and did likely worse... I recall having some fun playing it in college, but I maybe wasn't too good at it back then either.

So I tried MDK and that wasn't too bad, might seek to make that my next target instead.

Taking a real mental health day for the first time in a while ended up being productive on the Extravaganza front. With Warhawk and Mega Man 2 done, I booted the retro PC back up and started playing through Rollcage again. I managed to get all the way to Hard mode.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171814400...

I kept going until I unlocked Yuri - the driver of the black car that stalks you for most of the Hard campaign - for the golden badge. Proof and instructions in a spoiler tag for those who care.

As I was making progress in all these other games, I was playing through the Tournament Mode in One Must Fall 2097 on my Steam Deck. (Yes, it works, and the community even provided an excellent controller mapping for it.) My original plan was to put my Jaguar in storage and finally play through the career with a different bot, but in doing my research, I discovered that you can unlock battles against secret "unranked" characters that give your HAR special enhancements permanently; not raw stat increases, but awesome changes to your special move behavior.

The thought of taking my favorite bot and juicing it up was too tempting, so I started over, upped the difficulty, and grinded away. Without any equipment upgrades or training, the North American tournament was brutal. Beating the first unranked character seemed impossible, much less the boss of the tournament itself. I thought I'd be grinding away for weeks. After some persistence, stubbornness, and even abandoning the tournament itself a few times to farm more upgrade money, I got my first Jaguar enhancement.

Admittedly, I'm not enough of a fighting game expert to use the new mechanics properly, but they sure looked cool.

Things picked up after that and I started breezing through the remaining tournaments at my usual pace. I encountered more and more unranked characters - some of which are familiar faces to old DOS gaming farts like myself - and by mid-morning today, my jacked-up Jaguar was the world champion.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171830568...

So, that just leaves the original PC release of MDK to gild that badge, and my cake will be completely bedazzled. MDK is fairly short - that was one of its big criticisms on its release - but with it being Halloween weekend, I'm not sure I'll have the time to do it. We'll see what happens.

Slickriven wrote:

Black is pretty unforgiving. It's a massive speed increase from the earlier games, and all the levels have a ton of opponents to wipe out. I find that a faster car is better for running around and collecting weapons. Then, I find an opponent, hit them with everything I've got until they're gone, and then run off and do it again.

Eight half-beaten opponents are just as strong and just as difficult to manage as eight opponents with only 5% HP remaining. You gotta finish the job, or they'll regroup and take it out on you.

That all said, MDK is great and not nearly as oppressive as its sequel or some of the other games you've been trying. Hope you enjoy it.

I completed Mega Man 2 from the legacy collection on

I have that CD...

I completed Twisted Metal (Playstation Classics) on

I did the double plat for both TM1/2 last month so it was pretty familiar/easy to make a quick run again. On the last level you can just do laps around the roof and enemies will sometimes fall off. There is this hallway under the pyramid that I would just camp in and then unload when someone entered.

I completed Twisted Metal Black (Playstation 2 Classics) on

This was actually the first game I started this month after seeing this thread. Played it off and on. Game can be brutal at times but at least you can save after each level. I basically just did laps and ran away. I remember playing this a ton day 1 back on the PS2. I completed it with all characters and the Grimm run I can still remember to this day as a few levels I barely made it through. Still a great game. I wish they would remaster with modern controls and graphics.

Has anyone played Warhawk? I dont see that anyone completed it. Watched a few videos and it didnt look too bad. I think I'll try it next since its only $6 on the PS3. My only other option is Grip, but not looking to complete that in only 2 days.

Renaissance2K wrote:

That beam boss was my least favorite part of the game. Its annoying that you can only use crash bombs. I had to restart many times because of missed shots. And when the beams hit you it makes you fall off that ledge half the time.

The other part that was way harder than it needed to be for me was those 2 ladders in the first castle stage. I kept running out of room with my platforms and hitting the ceiling before reaching the other ladder.

I'm not sure if I'll get MDK wrapped up in time. I played it the last 2 nights some and it's interesting but I've been following along with a Lets Play b/c it's a bit obtuse. The LP is from a guy playing the port, while I'm playing the ROM and there are some clear differences, the PC version looks a ton nicer for 1 and levels seem to have a bit more 3D spaces/platforms/etc. His video is 2h27m long and I'm only around the 1h10m mark of progress, even though I've played longer than that. Some sections are simply not clear on what you need to do to progress.
I have cleared 3 levels and finally got the thing at the end of the post-level tube before my dang dog grabbed me. I also finally realized that the HUD's green circle is your countdown timer, duh. I failed to save the first city, but did the next 2 at least. My method has been to play it myself and use save states, but then if I get stuck or confused I'll look at the LP to see what he's done that I missed or whatever. Save states are way more for maintaining progress or if I get suck/confused, vs dying since it's generally pretty easy, though strafing with LB/RB (on my X1 controller) is different, using the dpad for movement isn't too bad. Some things are starting to click I suppose, but I've had to replay some b/c I missed objectives. Game always was 'on my radar' (recall seeing ads for it in my GamePro mags) but I never tried it, so I'm enjoying giving it a whirl, even if I maybe won't get it beat by Nov 1st - I will keep playing it and beat it soon.

WithinTemptation wrote:

Other than me, no one yet. PS3 is the way to go, though, because of the two sets of shoulder buttons.

It's old, but it's a quick play, it's fun, and it's not a hard-ass about continuing because of level passwords. Level 5 is pretty rough, though.

If you're on the East Coast, it's the last day of October.

As you're snapping buttons on your costumes, pouring candy into bowls, and taking preventative insulin boosters, it's also the last day to complete the games in our list to build your cake and earn virtual raffle tickets.

Beat that last robot master.
Earn that last Scrap Bonus.
Pick up that last canister.
Detonate one more World's Smallest Nuclear Explosion.
Defy gravity one more time.
Fire one more special weapon.

And thanks to everyone for playing.

Put some more time into MDK and level 5's difficulty ramp stunk a little. The sniper fight with the ship blew chunks... the whole level also left me really close on time as a few times my timer ran out and I didn't save that town during that fight. This was really the first time I used those save states to reload and seek to do better on time and not taking too much damage/dying. I ended up replaying that section more than I wanted, but eventually got out of there with a decent bit of life and saved the town with just moments remaining. World 6 wasn't as annoying and I'm already into the 4th area.
I got stumped on the 1 submarine boss in his turret thing and the LP I was watching didn't help as he blitzed it a way that I seemingly couldn't. So I found a text walkthrough that explained the technique that I needed... so again some things in the game are just a little lacking. I suppose the technique made sense, but with the PS1's very dark and muddy graphics it is more difficult to tell what some thing are. I've got a bunch of crap going on tomorrow so I'm REALLY hoping I can find 20-40 mins to complete it before November starts... since it's nearly 2AM... goodness why am I playing this game this late.

I'm playing Warhawk right now. So far I'm liking it. The FMV stuff was pretty cool so far. Really wish I found this game back in the day. I can see that its a game I would have played allot back then.

Took way longer than I thought it would, but I completed Warhawk (Playstation Classics) on

Game was better than I expected and I really enjoyed the FMV. The hardest part for me was the controls. I never really felt comfortable with them so it let to allot of mistakes. I also struggled on the last few missions, especially the long tunnel mission.

Got a break in meetings at work and instead of eating lunch I fed the Max-snack to Gunter to end him. The final 2 stage fight with him was actually relatively easy, especially the final phase but a minor confession I had seen a little of that from the LP video last night. I sort of wish I would've played the PC port instead as I noticed that it had some differences like 2 of the board-ridding paths allowed you to fight foes and collect bones for Max as well as generally more foes on screen in some sections that likely would've made it more challenging. I just verified that I was playing on normal, and maybe the LP I watched was on hard, I checked at the beginning and the info but it didn't say.

PS1 version also didn't have the music video at the end, so I made sure to watch all of its oddity via that LP video and some of the in-game stuff I recognized from a cutscene from the start of the game, but yeah the lead singer and her vocals (in French that I don't comprehend) were amusingly strange. I liked how she had the 4 hula-hoops on her back for a bit.
Proof:

Slickriven wrote:

Yeah, Level 5 is rough, and I always dread that sniper fight. It's not as bad as the equivalent fight in MDK 2, where the ship has a more randomized flight path and has targets on both sides, but it's still annoying. This time through, I spent less time aiming and just tried to fire off as many Homing Sniper Bullets and Bombs whenever the ship came into view, and I ended up killing it during its second flyover.

Congratulations on finishing the game. The PlayStation version has better audio and a bunch of secret mini-game rooms scattered about, but having played through both, I definitely prefer the PC version for the reasons you described. And there's no substitution for the wacky music video.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance2K/status/171937115...

I ended up having to beat Gunta four times this morning because my game has been crashing at the end of each level, but I wasn't going to start my day without my shot of BillyZeKick.

Props to @WithinTemptation as well for finishing Warhawk and getting the best ending. Glad you enjoyed it, and really happy to see both MDK and Warhawk get some attention from the crew this month.

Renaissance2K wrote:

I don't know if I didn't have homing bullets or if they weren't working right, but I also never got too comfy with the sniper sections. Especially in that fight b/c of the heightened stress of being low on time and just wanting to finish that level. I did use the sniper to take out some of the domed turrets in I believe a section not too much before that, where you get the 2nd ship. Initially I got into that 2nd ship but those turrets wrecked my day and I wasn't sure what was happening. So on my 2nd attempt (and 3rd/4th/etc) I took out the close enemies and sniped the turrets and foolishly had already called in the ship, so it flew away on it's own - oops. But with the turrets gone I didn't really need the ship, but that was slower and surely a reason I was nearly out of time in the final fight of the level.

I did notice that I caused 2 swirling things to appear and the first time I ignored it, but the 2nd I attempted to get it and got sucked into a hidden mini-game room (I believe). It was against those 'alert droids' and you needed to take them out with a sniper shot while they rushed you and kamikaze exploded in your face. That section was thankfully really short and I blew it a few times before making it through with only 1 of the 8+ getting to me. Using the select button to bring up the sniper was a strange button choice as well, and likely part of my struggles with that level 5 boss and needing to attempt to take it out swiftly.

Does the time running out have any consequences? When it happens to me, I just get a silly message ("Au revoir, Paris!") and continue on.

I have no idea @Renaissance2K - I got the same basic statement in level 1 when I didn't even know I needed to compete with a countdown timer. A quick search and it seems like the timer is irrelevant to the story/progression/ending. <shrug>

As some great* men once said...


Thanks to everybody who stumbled upon this thread, especially those who set aside their usual spooky October games to play through some of my all-time favorite games... as well as some of their wonky relatives.

I am super aware that we all play games for our own amusement and enjoyment, and that the time we spend with those games is limited. I think it's really cool that a bunch of you, with that in mind, still decided to take a detour into the dark and scary psyche of R2K and take a chance on something you may not - and in some cases, did not - enjoy. Not naming names. *cough* MDK 2 *cough cough*

Here's all the cake we've served this month:

BleedingViolet image Renaissance2K image sailorneorune image Slickriven image SwiftJAB image SupremeSarna image WithinTemptation image

A quick stats rundown:
- We collectively earned 19 badges, 14 of which were golden.
- The most popular badge was Mega Man. Everybody who participated played Mega Man 2. The cake may as well have been Mega Man flavored.
- Each badge was earned at least once by somebody other than me.

Each badge is worth either one or two virtual "tickets" for our gift card drawing. By my count, here is the breakdown of raffle tiers along with the number of tickets each participant has earned:

Tier 1

BleedingViolet (2) sailorneorune (2) Slickriven (2) SwiftJAB (2) SupremeSarna (2) WithinTemptation (2)

Tier 2

Slickriven (3) SupremeSarna (3) WithinTemptation (4)

Tier 3

Slickriven (4) SupremeSarna (4) WithinTemptation (6)

Tier 4

Slickriven (5)

Please double check that your cake is up to date, and that you're in the correct raffle tiers. I'll record the four drawings on Monday and start sending out prize messages next week.

* Greatness may vary. Past greatness is not indicative of future greatness. Please consult your physician.

Thanks for including us in your birthday celebration R2K! I wanted to play more, but October was a crazy busy month for me. I don't know if I'll go back to Rollcage Redux to finish hard mode, but I'll leave it installed on my PC just in case. The Twisted Metal and MDK series were also interests, but after reading y'alls comments, I think I'm good 😆.

Here's wishing you an amazing 41st year! 🎊 🎉 🥳

Mine looks good, I beat 4/6 and at least tried the others. Don't we get the guilded MDK badge for suffering through 2+ mins of that horrible French music video? Or did I have to play the PC version, guess it doesn't matter. Welcome to your 40s, it's not all *that* bad.
This was a fun side thread to check out some games from the past that I was familiar with a few and brand new to others. Fortunately I wasn't able to play too many other games due to some stuff in my life, so making some time for these was nice to have some games to look into playing. I mean I didn't play really anything else so thanks for giving me a reason to play something.

How did you calculate the number of tickets per tier? I can’t remember how ticket numbers are determined.

Slickriven wrote:

The intent was to play the game to achieve each objective, but since you're the only one who made it to Tier 4, I wouldn't worry too much either way.


I don't know how you'd represent this mathematically, but
1. Sort your badges so gold badges are first.
2. Look at your first n badges, where n is the tier number.
3. Calculate the number of tickets from those n badges.

It's not perfect, but it felt like a decent compromise to still give higher-tier participants an advantage without completely steamrolling those who only played a game or two.

I ham up that MDK ending a lot, but I was today years old when I learned there's a real version out there - like, full color, properly synced audio, better-than-DOS-in-1997 video quality - of the BZK music video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISFXmukrQO4

The raffle is done. Congrats to @Slickriven and @WithinTemptation for their additional prizes. Feel free to check out the drawing video here once it's finished processing.

Tier 1 - Slickriven

Tier 2 - WithinTemptation

Tier 3 - WithinTemptation

Tier 4 - Slickriven

Prizes - including the non-raffle rewards - will go out today and tomorrow.

@Slickriven, @SupremeSarna, and @WithinTemptation, feel free to send me a PM with your preferred digital store for your gift cards.

Congrats y'all!

Sorry I couldn't participate in your birthday festivities. Either way I'm glad you were able to set this up and the community had fun