March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

[inDheart]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

botw is like a cross-genre remake of super mario sunshine where all the bosses are the sand bird and most of the equippable items are the watermelon

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

Nuclear take here, but botw isn't actually that great of a game. The story is told in a super unique way, and it's actually pretty good imho. That's about what it has going for it, other than the art style and music direction being about as on-point as it could be.

Collecting all the korrock seeds and Spirit Orbs, is not really all that interesting? Unless you're playing the game in such short bursts it doesn't have time to get stale, and you hopefully don't have a nasty case of ADHD.

The missions to get on the beasts are... Not that great IMHO. And motion controlled puzzles can actually blow me in a dark alleyway. I'd still pick it up before a few other games (Skyward sword, zelda 2, even TP and WW for the moment - haven't played them yet to be fair though. I only just got my WiiU back.)

I have no idea what's the nuclear take here, or what you are replying to, or what you are saying in general.

If you don't like playing the majority of the game, just run up to ganon after you finish the tutorial and be done with it.

Yeah, you could litterally do that. I mean, I gave it a fair shot, like I said on a previous day, I tend to commit whenever I start a game no matter if I like it or not, so personally I wasn't gonna do that. But yeah lol.

botw is like a cross-genre remake of super mario sunshine where all the bosses are the sand bird and most of the equippable items are the watermelon

This is hilarious.

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge



March 11th

Today's challenge is: “Why do I like this?”

Today is pretty interesting, because I hardly have anything to say about the game itself, but a lot more about the circumstances behind the game. Sort of like how it was with day 5. The game I'll be talking about today is The Yakyuken Special, which I own on the 3DO.

So what is this game? It's a strip rock-paper-scissor FMV game. You pick your desired partner among the featured Japanese women, and play a best-of-9 set with her. When you win, she removes an article of clothing. You don't have to strip down if you lose (duh). However, if she wins 5 games first, then you'll have to replay the set if you wish to see the girl wearing less clothes. If you're wondering, they all do strip to their birthday suit, so yes, definitely an adult game. Every round comes with a song and dance in the girl's current attire, and often she looks like she's being held at gunpoint, which can be very disturbing.



Now, I know. What the fuck, right? Well, here's the thing: I don't really care for the game itself, nor did I ever look for it specifically. However, this game has grown to be quite special to me and a lot of other people, so now, it's time for Story Time.

Every year, I host a party with other FFR folks (we haven't done it this year because of Covid, but we typically do it in January otherwise). A few days before our first annual meetup, I saw an ad on one of the game collecting groups I follow about 3DO demo discs, the guy had 4 of those and was selling them for 10 bucks each, and had a bundle deal of 25$ if someone took everything off his hands. I contacted him since I wanted them, and he asked if I was interested in a 3DO “Japanese porn game” as a free bonus. I obviously said yes.



I got those discs on the day before the meetup, and after playing a bunch of other games with the guys, I decided to give Yakyuken Special a try, and none of us knew what we were getting into, or what the game was even called. Thankfully, it was very easy to figure out, and we ended up getting quite a bit into it, especially the little song and dance bits. We were cheering for whoever was using the controller as though we were watching a damn sports game. I probably have a video or something of that moment, I'd have to look.

It has become a staple of our little meetups, and honestly everyone seems to cherish it, and yes, even the girls (who we'd usually have using the controller as we discussed our "epic winning strats"), which makes it even more awesome. And to answer the question written in today's theme, I guess we can all agree the game sucks, but why is it such a successful title to boot up while partying? I think our shared love of irony is the biggest factor. Could also be the absolute power of women's T&A. Could be both.



Apparently there's a sequel, and I now need it. Otherwise, the game is available on 3DO, PS1 and SEGA Saturn.

(For those of you wondering, here's the song (from the Saturn version). No dance though, but I'm sure those of you curious enough can find it easily)

[flashflash account]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

Nuclear take here, but botw isn't actually that great of a game. The story is told in a super unique way, and it's actually pretty good imho. That's about what it has going for it, other than the art style and music direction being about as on-point as it could be.

Collecting all the korrock seeds and Spirit Orbs, is not really all that interesting? Unless you're playing the game in such short bursts it doesn't have time to get stale, and you hopefully don't have a nasty case of ADHD.

The missions to get on the beasts are... Not that great IMHO. And motion controlled puzzles can actually blow me in a dark alleyway. I'd still pick it up before a few other games (Skyward sword, zelda 2, even TP and WW for the moment - haven't played them yet to be fair though. I only just got my WiiU back.)

as a huge zelda fan I hate botw for what it does to traditional zelda
I love wind waker though it's the best give it a shot

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

as a huge zelda fan I hate botw for what it does to traditional zelda
I love wind waker though it's the best give it a shot

I know people who argue this is the first 3D Zelda that tries to replicate how the first 3 worked.

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge



March 12th

Today's challenge is: Game you always come back to.

Halfway point of the original challenge image! And another tough one.

I had no problem coming up with games I “always come back to”, but when factoring in some of my personal rules, it becomes considerably harder. An obvious answer could be Stepmania/Flashflashrevolution, but I'm hoping to avoid resorting to games that never had a physical release. Then you have some of the classics I kept playing here and there either from a young age or since their release, like Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 or Super Smash Brothers (Melee or 64), but I find those to be extremely disappointing picks, as there's not much to say about those games anymore. There's another game I could name that would work fine, but it's a little too recent, and there are already 5 tiles it would have to go in, and I'm already having issues deciding where it's gonna go (can't spoil it yet!)... So I need to pick a title I keep coming back to, that there's something to say about it, and that saw a physical release. I'm finding out that there aren't that many obvious ones then.

Anyway, under these circumstances, the best one I could think of is Wild Guns, for the SNES. I played it for the first time as a kid during daycare (and played it quite a bit), then played it on emulators during most of my high school and early college days out of nostalgia, then it became the first game I've ever bought online on the Wii's virtual console, then bought a reproduction cart online as an adult (after finding out that it costs a fucking fortune nowadays), then bought the remastered version on PS4 as one of the first games I bought for that system, and I still played it recently on the Switch's SNES emulator. Therefore, I think it ticks all checkmarks.



So what is Wild Guns? Well, it's something that I'd classify as a Gallery Shooter. It's not quite a shmup or a rail shooter, because the screen is static, though it does feature similar mechanics. You must also control your character while also controlling the reticle. You can jump, double jump, roll and walk left and right. If you've played Contra on the NES, it kinda works like the middle sections where you see your guy from the back. Oh, and it supports simultaneous two-players mode!

The game is made by Natsume, which in my opinion are by far the best 3rd party developers on the system. They haven't made a ton of games, but holy fuck are all of their products amazing. Gundam Wing, Wild Guns, both Pocky and Rocky games, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Ninja Warriors, there's some really good arcade stuff here. But let's focus on Wild Guns a bit more.



There are 2 playable characters in the game, and 4 in the remastered version, though I don't like the new ones. Those characters are Annie and Clint, and despite what you'd think, Annie is actually the main character. She's setting out to avenge the massacre of her loved ones by the goons of a big time crime boss. Early on her journey, she meets Clint, a bounty hunter, who offers a hand since he's after his “wanted: dead or alive” bounty anyway, and she agrees to let him tag along so long as he stays the fuck out of her way.



Wild Guns is also Spaghetti Western themed, with a special twist in that it also features futuristic robots, cyborgs and other machines coming straight out of Japanese sci-fi, which is a really odd mix that actually works really well. You also have infinite ammo when firing your old school rifle, but you can also pick up a few power ups along the way. Once you get them, your firearm is replaced by the “stronger” one until you run out of ammo. These are the grenade launcher, the shotgun and the heavy machine gun (in the original version at least, there are a few more weapons in the remastered version). There is also the peashooter, which does no damage, but you still have to go through its ammo in order to be able to hurt things again. Lastly, you can also obtain the mighty Vulcan gun, which is a damn minigun. It has infinite ammo and renders you invincible for a while, and you can get it by fully charging a gauge that's powered by intercepting enemy bullets with your own projectiles. You still have other means of attacking however! You have your laser lasso (which freezes enemies for a while, which you can then shoot down safely), you have the butt of your firearm, which you can use as a melee attack, you can also throw back the dynamite sticks enemies throw at you, and you can also use a screenwide attack, which you have a limited number of. Clint's screenwide attack is a TNT box that blows up everything, and Annie uses an overpowered mortar to achieve the same result. In the remastered version however, Annie's mortar attack covers only half of the screen, to balance out the fact that she's been buffed a lot over Clint with her movement.



The game isn't very long, and a playthrough consists of 6 levels total. A playthrough takes about half an hour to complete. The first one is Carson City, then you can do the next 4 in any order you want (Megaman style, and bonus stages will be triggered after beating 2 and 4 of these stages respectively, so long as their respective criterias are met), then the final stage. The remastered version has different stages available depending on what difficulty you are playing on, but still has only 6 stages per playthrough.



Last but not the least, the music and visuals are simply mindblowing, both in the original and remastered versions. Like I said before, the two themes going on are a little unrelated to each others, but they managed to blend the two perfectly in the more aesthetical department. I still don't know if I prefer the remastered style or the original game. I'm playing both versions of Carson City and they're both perfect efforts. I might like the original a bit more because, well, it's the original and its music is, in my opinion, hands down the best there is on the console, but the optional remastered music and the way the first boss blows up in the remastered version also gives me the manliest of boners.



As a bonus last note, I'd like to say that this is one of VERY FEW games where I'll occasionally play the dude instead of the girl. Their playstyles are only very marginally different, so the change is mostly in their appearance.

I'm likely to keep coming back to this one until the end of time, on whatever platform it's available on. The original version is exclusive to the SNES, virtual console versions are available on the Wii, Wii U and Switch, and the remastered version is available on PS4, Switch and PC.

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

I love wind waker though it's the best give it a shot

Oh god I read this wrong the first time

Hell no man, I really didn't like this one. The only 3D one I haven't done is Skyward Sword, but I'll absolutely get the Switch version, but still, I really can't deal with WW. I tried to get into it a few times for completion's sake, but, I lose all motivation a few hours in. Maybe with a guide on my knees, I could grind through to the end, but until then, fuck that one.

I'd honestly rather play the CD-i ones again (except Zelda's Adventure, that one is horrendous)

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

Oh look, it's a game I know nothing about and neither the background behind it, so I'll opt out today.

I mean, that's part of the plan. You get to discuss those you know, and to discover new games.

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge



March 13th

Today's challenge is: That atmosphere...

Today's challenge was kind of a revelation to me. I feel like my gaming experience is severely lacking in the “atmospheric” department, to a point where I almost wanted to troll and pick an aircraft game (specifically, I was gonna pick Ace Combat 7, and even more specifically, its VR mode, since it's amazing), because of the possible meaning of “atmosphere” being of Earth's actual physical atmosphere.

Anyway, while I do play a bunch of games with a great atmosphere, they're never or at least extremely rarely the reason I play them. You can argue there are several rhythm games like Rez or Thumper that I play and love with a really strong emphasis on ambiance, but I really just want to test my reflexes with hand-eye coordination challenges, and the rest is just random flavor to me. On the other hand, I would associate the concept with horror games, and I've played far too few of those to be able to say something about it. Lastly, I could talk about games with an upbeat and overblown atmosphere, since I'm a much bigger fan of those in general, but it felt like cheating. I wanted to pick a game that has a much heavier feel rather than an uplifting one.

I remembered Felix making me play Super Metroid for that reason, and that wasn't gonna cut it. But it made me think of another game he recommended me after asking about if he knew a shmup and platformer hybrid, and that's how I thought of Air Fortress, made by HAL (the Kirby and Smash folks!) for the NES.



After being gifted the game by a friend (giftwrapped with airplane lolis, thanks Phil!), I got to play it. Air fortress is exactly what I wanted Felix to suggest me. You control some guy trying to defeat an incoming army of “space fortresses” by destroying them from the inside. First, you have to fly through and past an enemy defense fleet into the main structure, then carry on by foot in order to find the core and force the whole thing to self destruct.

The game is very simple, and there isn't so much of a strong atmosphere up to that point. But then, you actually have to escape the fortress in order to move on to the next one, and honestly that part is absolutely crazy. There's no timer or anything like that, but you just know that you should probably hurry up. As you progress (and as time passes), the structure starts shaking more and more, and after around 2 minutes, if you haven't made it out, you will die with the structure itself.



I didn't play this game for this moment, I didn't even know it was gonna be a thing, but now that I know about this, I often boot the game just to go die there. I think it's fascinating, how the atmosphere changes after activating the self destruction protocol, and on NES on top of that. This was wayyyyyy ahead of its time. Sure, there were Metroid and Zillion before that, but those had simple countdowns, so nothing like what Air Fortress did in its escape sequences.



Oh, and some quick googling told me that after the last fortress, the player finds out he is the last fortress, and has to kill himself. That shocks me, I'm pretty sure the ending mentions no such thing.

The game is exclusive to the NES!

[flashflash account]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

I know people who argue this is the first 3D Zelda that tries to replicate how the first 3 worked.

people who say that haven't actually played Zelda 1

but if you would rather play the CDi games over wind waker I'm very concerned that you may have gotten a bootleg copy or something

[the sun fan]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

how the fuck is the character the last fortress that doesn't make any sense at all

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

I'm pretty sure HAL reused the "fly inside to get to ze core" part from this for the later parts of 'Help & Kill Marx' in 'Kirby Games that don't Deserve Individual Releases', maybe the atmosphere too for the whole series, but it's "sugar-coated" in an attempt to possibly, just maybe make the game seem more "innocent" on a superficial level.

That's a hell of a take for very different games, not sure if I can see any of it

people who say that haven't actually played Zelda 1

but if you would rather play the CDi games over wind waker I'm very concerned that you may have gotten a bootleg copy or something

I can confirm that everyone I know who says that has played Zelda 1, but honestly I think it's a little far fetched. You can counter each argument fairly simply, like the free roaming and little to no guidance, or so I feel.

And no. Obviously WW is a higher quality game, but it falls in the boring territory. Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon are hilarious and honestly both in the top 5 on the console unironically. They're not solid or anything, but with the proper setup, they're quite unique and interesting, and the painted backgrounds are beautiful, even if they are a bit confusing. They're also rare and some of my most expensive games too, so the collector's pride does factor in.

how the fuck is the character the last fortress that doesn't make any sense at all

That's what I thought when I read that, but upon further examination, I do think that's complete BS. The wikipedia paragraph on the topic doesn't have any references, and I can't find one on my own.

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge



March 14th

Today's challenge is: Bad Day Cure

If I'm having a bad day, and want to cure it with videogames, I know exactly what I want. I want an uplifting game with great controls and with moderate to intense difficulty. The idea is to have a game that can resist me, but that gives me a way to vent my frustration without adding to the reasons why I may feel down. At first, I thought of Super Punch Out since it does all of the above really well, but I thought of something much better.

That game is Dragonball Advanced Adventure, on the GBA. It's pretty interesting that, considering how many games there are about Dragonball Z, there are very, very few games about Dragonball. And this one might possibly be the best of them all! It's a 2D sidescrolling beat 'em up for most of the game, with some shmup stages as well, and it sometimes becomes a 2D fighter with a completely different control scheme. And, oh, by the way, I consider this game to be the best Game Boy Advance game ever made, but for very subjective reasons for the most part, as there are plenty of other great games on the system that people might feel more drawn to.



The platformer stages cover some of the most iconic adventures in the original Dragonball saga, but taking a lot of liberties to enhance the experience. There are also a lot of hidden items to find. You can use either Goku or Krillin in the main story (each having their own routes, and it pretty much plays by itself. Everything you can and want to do comes out so fucking fast, as you'd expect of a Dragonball game. It's really fun! And this nails the Kamehameha like no other Dragonball free roaming action game.

The fighter stages are a little more interesting, as the way they work is very unique. You usually have to find a way to jump on your opponent, and trade hits with them. It does no damage, and you don't receive or deal hitstun. There's a small stamina gauge, and the first one to empty the other player's stamina bar, gets to do a combo on them (which deals damage), aerial or ground based, which may then be followed up by a launch attack or a special move. This may sound weird, but honestly it makes you feel like you are playing the anime most of the time. And this is where I would get to vent most of my frustration. I also think this is one of the most underrated “fighting games” of all time. And, cherry on top, you can use a lot of characters in this mode.



There are also bonus modes, which are mostly unlocked by unlocking every collectible. In these modes, you can use ANYONE. Down to the shittiests grunt in the game. It's not that unique, but they've made them all play really well.

The music and art are sublime. The former is actually not taken from the anime, but mostly arrangements inspired by the show's OST, and it works super well. I wouldn't listen to it on its own, and honestly it's not the same without the sound effects, but it's incredibly satisfying. The artwork did take some liberties here and there, but it does a great effort of doing justice to the source material.



If I had any complaint about this game, it's that it didn't cover the 23rd world's martial arts tournament (at least, not by a whole lot, only cyborg tao is in there), but other than that, it's fucking amazing, and it can be quite hard too!

It's only available on the GBA, and it's a must have title, Dragonball fan or not. And fun fact, I personally own a PAL copy, which features different artwork on the cover of the box. I prefer the NTSC goku look, but the one I have doesn't have a DBZ Goku in the back, so I like it a bit more.

[the sun fan]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

honestly looks fucking incredible

[Hateandhatred]

Re: March 2021: 31 days game review challenge

honestly looks fucking incredible

It is, pls try it