alia
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Post by alia on Jul 2, 2016 14:51:59 GMT
Started up the Saturn version of Castlevania: SOTN on a whim, and a curious look at a version of the game I had never tried before quickly turned into a much belated replay. Forgot how much I like the game (as well as pretty much any game, Castlevania or otherwise, that follows a similar formula), and wound up blitzing it in about two or three days. ^^;; I had heard bad things about the Saturn version, and after playing it myself I agree it's the weakest version (due to a handful of technical issues and the extra content frankly being a bit crap). But ultimately it's still a totally playable version of one of the most celebrated games of its generation (that's playable with an absolutely terrific pad for 2-D games, to boot!), and I think that despite its issues, it's a great addition to the Saturn's library. Have also been playing Cross Detective Story, as it seemed to have a big cult following in Japan, and frequently appeared on "hidden gem" lists for both the PS1 and the Saturn. Not that far yet, but it seems like a really interesting little visual novel / point and click adventure. I suspect it may have had more than a little influence on the development of Phoenix Wright, too, as the investigative segments and general style of gameplay feel so, so similar (though Cross is much lighter on gameplay so far). I also really like the distinctive visual style, with its almost digitised photo backgrounds and character designs that eschew the typical anime-influenced look of the time for characters that look much more like... well... actual Japanese people. Interested to see where it goes as the story progresses. ^^ Oh, and still progressing through Tactics Ogre. Though SRPGs tend to tire me out if I play too much at a time, so taking it a battle or two at a time. Really enjoying, though. I really do like Matsuno's particular brand of high fantasy, and wish he'd go back to making projects of this scope.
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Post by thewhitefalcon on Jul 2, 2016 15:08:03 GMT
I should try a Castlevania game one of these days. Still going on Tomb Raider. Not flying through it but I made it through the second level yesterday. If you want my advice, learn the controls and learn them well.
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alia
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Post by alia on Jul 3, 2016 14:46:58 GMT
I should try a Castlevania game one of these days. Still going on Tomb Raider. Not flying through it but I made it through the second level yesterday. If you want my advice, learn the controls and learn them well. I'm by no means an expert on the series either, given that it spans countless titles across god only knows how many platforms, but I'm really fond of it all the same, and would definitely recommend! Haven't played any of the 3-D games, but 2-D wise there's loads of fun to be had in the older games if you like 2-D sidescrollers, and the Symphony of the Night-styled ones are largely good examples of a formula that I've never been able to get enough of since first playing Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap as a kid. The music and sprite work is generally fabulous too, and though the ongoing storyline is mostly nonsense (sure some longtime fans would disagree!), I totally dig the B-movie horror vibe the series has going on. Definitely worth dipping into one of the more celebrated entries in the series and seeing if it clicks for you. And I can only echo your sentiments on Tomb Raider. I remember playing the second game when I was little and finding the first two or three levels the hardest of the whole bunch, simply because the learning curve on the controls was so steep to begin with. Had loads of fun with the series once I cracked the controls, though. It's really cool to see people playing the games today, as I think there are loads of good ideas and interesting level designs in there despite the now primitive 3-D.
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martiniii
Joined: January 2010
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Post by martiniii on Jul 3, 2016 14:55:20 GMT
martiniii I agree it's simpler in ways but also requires a different kind of planning since strengths and weaknesses are not obvious as they are in fire emblem. RAIN THUNDER. Sadly the second to last battle is not a great one in my opinion. My second force was not in any position to open the dam the proper way. Penn was an unprompted level 1 and the others were weaklings too. I couldn't be bothered grinding for hours to get them near usable so I had to cheese the fight using Fynndings danse macabre on giga breaker. No need to grind for the second to last battle. Just hire the mercenaries at the bar. They kick butt. (Or alternatively, you can get your characters leveled up to speed in no time on the hero's test. But I prefer mercenaries. )
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Shinra
Saturn Player
Tom.... :/
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 122
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PSN: Goatmoon
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Post by Shinra on Jul 3, 2016 16:01:13 GMT
martiniii I agree it's simpler in ways but also requires a different kind of planning since strengths and weaknesses are not obvious as they are in fire emblem. RAIN THUNDER. Sadly the second to last battle is not a great one in my opinion. My second force was not in any position to open the dam the proper way. Penn was an unprompted level 1 and the others were weaklings too. I couldn't be bothered grinding for hours to get them near usable so I had to cheese the fight using Fynndings danse macabre on giga breaker. No need to grind for the second to last battle. Just hire the mercenaries at the bar. They kick butt. (Or alternatively, you can get your characters leveled up to speed in no time on the hero's test. But I prefer mercenaries. ) I did hire 2 mercs but they were pretty average. I couldn't hire any more as I recruited the optional characters (which really suck) like Frank, Ratchet and Penn
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Post by thewhitefalcon on Jul 3, 2016 23:40:03 GMT
I should try a Castlevania game one of these days. Still going on Tomb Raider. Not flying through it but I made it through the second level yesterday. If you want my advice, learn the controls and learn them well. I'm by no means an expert on the series either, given that it spans countless titles across god only knows how many platforms, but I'm really fond of it all the same, and would definitely recommend! Haven't played any of the 3-D games, but 2-D wise there's loads of fun to be had in the older games if you like 2-D sidescrollers, and the Symphony of the Night-styled ones are largely good examples of a formula that I've never been able to get enough of since first playing Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap as a kid. The music and sprite work is generally fabulous too, and though the ongoing storyline is mostly nonsense (sure some longtime fans would disagree!), I totally dig the B-movie horror vibe the series has going on. Definitely worth dipping into one of the more celebrated entries in the series and seeing if it clicks for you. And I can only echo your sentiments on Tomb Raider. I remember playing the second game when I was little and finding the first two or three levels the hardest of the whole bunch, simply because the learning curve on the controls was so steep to begin with. Had loads of fun with the series once I cracked the controls, though. It's really cool to see people playing the games today, as I think there are loads of good ideas and interesting level designs in there despite the now primitive 3-D. It'll probably be Bloodlines since I have my Genesis but no SNES (and my NES is packed). EDIT: maybe not, just saw the price for Bloodlines. Got through all of Peru in TR today. The first mission after that was kicking my butt so I decided to take a break for a bit. I'll probably get back to it tomorrow.
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Post by xDerekRx on Jul 4, 2016 12:56:02 GMT
Yeah Bloodlines has shot up on the Ebay if you're after physical copy. I had a Genesis/MD as a kid and loved it, played alot of great games but never played either Contra Hard Corps or Bloodlines. I was able to luckily obtain complete copies last year locally for a great price. From what I've played of both they are incredible especially Hard Corps as Im more of a Contra guy.
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danh87
Novice
Joined: June 2016
Posts: 30
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Post by danh87 on Jul 5, 2016 10:14:53 GMT
Had a good session on Drift King 97. Really like this (thanks for the recommendation whoever it was) the handling physics are really fun arcade style racer.
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fairyliar
Saturn Gamer
Joined: July 2016
Posts: 136
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Post by fairyliar on Jul 9, 2016 15:21:02 GMT
Currently testing some games I bought long time ago but never played like Toshinden Ura (great musics and graphics but the game is forgettables, moves are poorly animated, it's too fast and it's very basic) or DBZ Shin Butoden which I am giving a second chance using the turbo cheat (the game is too slow otherwise). But this DBZ is quite disappointing gameplay spoken, far from snes Saien Legend episod. The life bar is too short, duel lasts hardly a minute and most of the battle zone are not big enough for this kind of fighting. IMHO, this game doesn't deserve the status it's been given on the net. You have plenty of better VS fighting games on saturn for cheaper budget.
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Post by xDerekRx on Jul 12, 2016 21:49:51 GMT
Just gave the US version of Marvel Super Heroes a good playthrough. Again Im very much a fighter novice. Overall its a super good looking title. A lot of people have commented on its slowdown but I thought the game ran just fine. I played on Turbo on the second go around and it ran with good speed. Love the backgrounds in the game. I will have to try it with the Sega 1MB cart to see if any slight differences are there.
Biggest downfall is certainly the AI. Even on the hardest setting I could make my way through the Arcade mode. If there had at least been some challenge to the single player Id certainly rate MSH a lot higher.
As it is though it seems to be a pretty fun stop gap Capcom VS. fighter. If I remember correctly Capcom weren't sure if they should even release it on console seeing as how XmenVsf was due soon. Didn't realize til looking on wikipedia that the release dates on the two games were a mere 3-4 months apart in Japan. Either way I like playing these in order of release to see the improvements.
I will have to play it with my brother later to experience it in 2P where it seems the most value would come from.
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fairyliar
Saturn Gamer
Joined: July 2016
Posts: 136
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Post by fairyliar on Jul 12, 2016 22:19:21 GMT
Imho xmen vs Street fighter is better in every way. But i played marvel on pal si 50 hz, maybe it s making a différence. Animation seems to miss some moves i feel. The playability is a bit stiff too.
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Post by thewhitefalcon on Jul 12, 2016 22:25:13 GMT
I think the slowdown complaints came from PAL players.
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sych
"Living for the fantasy" -NIGHTS INTO DREAMS- The Classic Saturn Gem!!!
Joined: July 2009
Posts: 2,660
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Post by sych on Jul 13, 2016 0:12:04 GMT
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Post by xDerekRx on Jul 13, 2016 3:56:42 GMT
Just read your review Sync and once again we probably both agree on quite a bit.
I really disagree with NEO alot when it comes to MSH. He seems to be the games biggest critic on this board. And its fair since I take him for one of the biggest 2D fighting purists here.
However you're review hits a lot of how I feel about MSH in my short time with it.
Presentation and graphics are perfect. Everything Capcom did was well done.
The Infinity gems system is super cool. Probably my favorite feature of the game so far.
And you pointed out something that I was hoping to hear, that the 2P mode is great. I will likely give it a go with my brother and a friend sometime this week to test that part out.
Its weird that there isnt a quality hard difficulty setting. I find it odd that Capcom wouldnt have made some super hard mode for the hardcore fans.
The biggest point of argument with this game continuously seems to be with the frame rate/speed. I again find the game to run pretty darn well if not straight very good. Now I understand when compared with the later 4MB Saturn fighters, it simply isnt up to standard, but on its own I find the slowdown complaints feel a bit exaggerated. Maybe again playing the US version has something to do with it.
Anyway I look forward to getting 2P games in at some point soon. I love the gameplay overall and really want to start mastering some of the combos. Its a shame the AI is too easy to give a test. But honestly nothing wrong with a game if its strength is 2P.
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sych
"Living for the fantasy" -NIGHTS INTO DREAMS- The Classic Saturn Gem!!!
Joined: July 2009
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Post by sych on Jul 14, 2016 22:00:24 GMT
Just read your review Sync and once again we probably both agree on quite a bit. I really disagree with NEO alot when it comes to MSH. He seems to be the games biggest critic on this board. And its fair since I take him for one of the biggest 2D fighting purists here. However you're review hits a lot of how I feel about MSH in my short time with it. Presentation and graphics are perfect. Everything Capcom did was well done. The Infinity gems system is super cool. Probably my favorite feature of the game so far. And you pointed out something that I was hoping to hear, that the 2P mode is great. I will likely give it a go with my brother and a friend sometime this week to test that part out. Its weird that there isnt a quality hard difficulty setting. I find it odd that Capcom wouldnt have made some super hard mode for the hardcore fans. The biggest point of argument with this game continuously seems to be with the frame rate/speed. I again find the game to run pretty darn well if not straight very good. Now I understand when compared with the later 4MB Saturn fighters, it simply isnt up to standard, but on its own I find the slowdown complaints feel a bit exaggerated. Maybe again playing the US version has something to do with it. Anyway I look forward to getting 2P games in at some point soon. I love the gameplay overall and really want to start mastering some of the combos. Its a shame the AI is too easy to give a test. But honestly nothing wrong with a game if its strength is 2P. Cheers Derek. As another fighting games purist, I also share alot of Neo's frustrations. I suppose if you held the game up by Capcom's own standards and past offering's on the Saturn up until that point, in many ways MSH is an epic fail but still light years ahead of Streetfighter the Movie. I'm glad you enjoyed my review and agreed with alot of the points I raised. Like yourself, I've never had an issue with the games speed as I always play it in 60hz but once you've played many of Capcom's other 2D fighters on the Saturn you do notice it. At 50hz, it's slightly unbearable which is unfortunately what alot of PAL gamers had to experience unless they had the good sense to mod their consoles like I did. My main gripe will always be with the AI's intelligence as you've also picked up on. It's so frustratingly dissapointing. But the game is still light hearted fun and being able to play as Dr. Doom is really quite something. Glad you're enjoying the game. When you master the air thrust combo's and learn how to chain them with Infinity Attacks, the game truly goes up another notch.
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