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Post by pocketpocket on Aug 3, 2017 21:20:58 GMT
Power Drift is an incredibly impressive feat for a 2D scaler game, one of the most convincing 3D effects done with only 2D sprites I think I've ever seen, but I find it kind of a pain to actually play. Turns can come up very suddenly since it's hard to make things out far in the distance due to how grainy everything is (or sometimes they're not even in view until far too late like when you go down a ramp and then immediately have a hard turn right in front of you), and the constant screen tilting adds to the disorientation. It's a shame, I love the way the game looks but it's graphics are also it's biggest downfall for me.
Haven't played Street Racer, but between Power Drift and Outrun I'd give it to Outrun. I love the branching path and the visuals are a lot less chaotic than Power Drift making the game more playable.
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Post by pocketpocket on Jul 17, 2017 14:02:10 GMT
I remember really wanting to try Scorcher back when I first got my Saturn, never did get around to it though. It does look impressively fluid and fast.
Sonic R isn't awful honestly, but I don't think it's very good either. Impressive technical feat for the Saturn for sure, but nothing really comes together cohesively with that game. The collecting aspect of finding Chaos Emeralds and medals doesn't really gel well with the racing at all, and I swear that they made the AI worse to compensate for that, so that you actually have time to explore the levels, get everything you need and then win. You can easily come in first even when you're constantly bouncing off walls and having no idea how the controls work, and then Super Sonic completely breaks the game in half. I don't really feel like the game has much longevity since it can be easily 100%ed in one sitting and once you've done that there's not really anything to go back for other than time trials, because the AI isn't going to put up any more of a fight with Super Sonic, unless the AI itself picks Super Sonic in which case god help you. As for the divisive soundtrack, I honestly dunno what to make of it. I don't hate it or love it, I'm just baffled by it mainly and how unfitting it feels. I'd probably actually lean towards liking it more than disliking it just for the sheer bizarreness of it.
Between two that I've actually played, WipEout 2097 is definitely the superior game. While I generally prefer F-Zero when it comes to futuristic racers for the more twitch arcade style controls as opposed to WipEout's more heavy and weighted feel, it definitely nails that style that it's going for, and that weighted and more realistic style is a plus as it helps it differentiate itself from F-Zero with it's vehicles that feel like papercraft, to the point that I can appreciate WipEout as it's own thing as opposed to just feeling like I'm playing an F-Zero imitation.
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Post by pocketpocket on Jun 22, 2017 1:16:51 GMT
I'd have to go with Street Fighter Collection. This is based on Alpha 2 alone as I don't actually have the full collection mind you, but I still feel it's the most polished and balanced game out of the lot. King of Fighters I never liked on the Saturn for the mid-battle load times and SNK's cheap final bosses pretty much always end up souring my opinion on their games by the end, although '95 at least has the shortest load times thanks to the ROM cartridge. Fighters Megamix is just a hilarious mess. Funny for sure with it's ridiculous unlockable characters and how stupidly unbalanced it is, but a good game? Not even close. It's hard to work up any kind of enthusiasm to get better at the game when just staying on the opposite side of the arena as Janet and repeatedly firing your gun works just as well, if not better.
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Post by pocketpocket on Jun 22, 2017 1:07:11 GMT
Silhouette Mirage is great from what I've played but I haven't really played enough of it to feel like I could give it my vote. Regardless it's hard to go wrong with Treasure and I've always loved their platformers (Dynamite Headdy and Mischief Makers being two of my favourite games of all time). I feel like it would be the most likely winner though.
Astal I also haven't played much of, but unlike Silhouette Mirage I don't feel any desire to go back at all. I tried a couple of times but the entire game felt really off. Is it a platformer? Not really, platforming is minimal and you're mainly just going along a straight line avoiding hazards and beating up enemies with any actual platforming being minimal and simplistic. Is it a beat-em-up then? I don't think so either because the attacks are all really floaty and unsatisfying. I hated how your primary attack was throwing enemies behind you since as I mentioned before it gave the game a very floaty feel, but also because it felt like such a missed opportunity. Why not give me control over where I can throw so then I can throw enemies into each other to do more damage? I get the vibe that the idea behind Astal's attacks was to have a wide range of situational moves for different enemy formations, but when none of them are fun or satisfying to use it's pretty much for naught and just makes the game feel a lot more limited when it's clear that the game wants you to use a different specific attack for each enemy formation. I feel like I didn't give it much of a chance and it could get better, but it didn't give me much of a reason to want to continue and given how short the game is anyway I don't think it would of had much more of a chance to impress me.
Keio I still really want to play to this day, have never owned it. I dunno if it would top Silhouette but it looks charming and fun regardless.
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Post by pocketpocket on Jun 12, 2017 21:23:11 GMT
Rayman is nightmarishly hard and being forced to get 100% completion to beat the game is bullshit, but I still think it's the best out of the lot by far. Nostalgia might play a part, but I'd be hard pressed to name another platformer on the Saturn that feels as expansive as it is. Tons of levels, branching paths, a moveset that's constantly expanding which then increase your mobility and allow you to explore even further, it's a huge game. The game's difficulty swings back and forward between tough but fair and completely unpredictable cheap shots, but the controls are super tight which makes it at least possible. There's a great level of imagination in the game as well with quite a few unique and memorable setpieces, which the Rayman series has always been great for.
Earthworm Jim I actually also love, but I'll also admit that I love it mainly just for it's personality and humour as opposed to the actual gameplay which is, well, just alright if you ask me. Earthworm Jim 2 I also felt was the weaker out of the first two Earthworm Jim games due to the constant genre shifts suddenly throwing entirely new control schemes and mechanics on you out of nowhere with barely any explanation to let you know what you're even doing (Flying King is the worst for this). The things I like and dislike about the game are actually very similar to how I feel about Mr Bones.
Gex, eh, never been a fan of the series. Can't stand the character at all, completely witless and unfunny references is all he has going for him apart from in Gex 3 where they added even less funny innuendos on top of that. Despite that the first game isn't really BAD, but still hardly great thanks to the jerky controls. None of his games are awful, really, Gex 3 is actually pretty decent, but I personally find the series far too unlikeable to care. Might be a bit of bias with me saying that it's the worst game of the lot because of that.
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Post by pocketpocket on Jun 7, 2017 7:21:57 GMT
If you ask me, NiGHTS can't be put into a genre. That's what I like about it so much. It shows what happens when you completely go against every single convention and make something completely original and incomparable. There's surprisingly few games out there that are purely "genre-defying" like NiGHTS is.
NiGHTS is my favourite game on the entire system so this isn't a hard choice for me, however I haven't played Dragon Force yet. Panzer Dragoon Zwei IS an excellent game too however, although not really my thing. I've never been at all into these kind of rail shooters other than Lylat Wars, and while I love Panzer Dragoon Zwei's atmosphere, world and visuals, but it's gameplay I'm very indifferent to. I can still enjoy it, but can't really love it.
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Post by pocketpocket on Jun 6, 2017 2:23:23 GMT
It's between Croc and Burning Rangers for me, although I have only played Croc on PS1. I have no issue with Croc's controls personally. They take some getting used to for sure, but compared to Tomb Raider it's easily the more fluid and responsive game. The levels are small and the game's short if you just rush through them, but 100% completion is far more interesting with the constant hidden rooms and secrets that every level is full of. The music is also great and the presentation is adorable (which will either be a positive or negative depending on who you ask, but I appreciate it). On the PS1 it hardly compares to the likes of Crash Bandicoot Warped or Ape Escape, but since the Saturn is more lacking in 3D platformers I feel like Croc can stand up as a respectable 3D platformer effort, though not a mindblowing one.
Burning Rangers is cool, that's the best word I can think of for it. Playing as a futuristic firefighter rescuing civilians in a building that's slowly turning to ashes and falling apart, it's such an awesome setup for a game and leaves me wishing that there were more firefighting games like this out there. I do however think it's very much a style over substance kind of game. It's a VERY simple and short game. Enter a room, use your water pistol from a safe distance to clear out the fire, check for any civilians to rescue, enter the next room and repeat the process. Thankfully it's got a good amount of replay value and the style is strong enough that it's still a pretty great game, but it definitely could of been fleshed out more. I didn't have an issue with the camera in Burning Rangers personally, though the controls felt very floaty and imprecise when it came to jumping. Thankfully due to the jet pack allowing you to correct yourself mid-air I didn't think it was too much of an issue.
Tomb Raider is a game I WANT to love, but could never really get into myself. A 3D action platforming game with a focus on exploration and puzzles really sounds like my kind of thing, but the controls make it a bit of a slog for me. Even when you get used to it and can control Lara well, it doesn't change the fact that she just isn't a fun character to control. Everything feels sluggish and moves far too slow. Even when solving puzzles which don't require quick reaction times it's not satisfying when you have to perfectly line yourself up with a switch to pull it or slowly push a block square by square. I plan to give it another shot down the line (partially due to it having a bit more novelty on the Saturn where 3D action adventure games are such a rarity), but personally I feel like I got what I wanted out of Tomb Raider by playing Soul Reaver on the Dreamcast.
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Post by pocketpocket on May 30, 2017 10:31:56 GMT
Mr Bones is the only one I've played out of the lot. In my opinion it's the best out of the Saturn-exclusive platformers I've played. It's still not perfect, but it's pretty good for sure. I actually think the game's a bit worse when you judge it as a platformer since it tends to shift genres level by level a lot and the core platforming gameplay there is simplistic at best and clunky at worst. Mr Bones biggest strength is it's variety, quirky personality, often surreal and psychedelic style and sense of humour. Definitely worth at least one playthrough just to experience it's unique style, but I find it's not super replayable since a big part of the fun during your first playthrough is how unpredictable the game is.
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Post by pocketpocket on May 30, 2017 3:29:35 GMT
I'm torn on this one. Virtua Cop 1 & 2 are great and a huge step forward for the light gun genre, but I find them a bit vanilla and uninteresting today. It's personality kind of starts and ends with "light gun game", in the same way Virtua Fighter's entire personality is basically just "fighting game" with stereotypical characters that represent their fighting style as opposed to being distinct unique characters.
So I like House of the Dead a lot more, because with the hilariously awful dialogue and voice acting, as well as the stupidly over the top gore that's more hilarious than disturbing due to how cartoonish it is (coming from someone who is usually pretty squeamish with graphic violence), I find it a lot more entertaining. The only thing holding me back from saying it's the better game is, as others have said, the port. Virtua Cop 2 is a much more polished and technically impressive game on the Saturn, runs smoother, looks better, all of that. Also this is arguably a nitpick, but I was really disappointed that House of the Dead doesn't support the Saturn mouse like Virtua Cop 2 does, since that was such a fun way to play that game and an excellent workaround for playing the game on an HDTV. I've tried several times to get the mouse to work with my NTSC-J copy of House of the Dead and no luck.
So, Virtua Cop 2 is the best light gun game on the Saturn for sure. But personally I like House of the Dead a lot more and if we were going off the arcade versions of these games I'd be saying that House of the Dead is easily the best.
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Post by pocketpocket on May 21, 2017 10:19:58 GMT
Baku Baku's controls killed that game for me (the jerky left and right movement of falling blocks constantly threw me off) and while Puzzle Bobble is fun, I always felt it was a bit shallow. I still enjoy it for sure though, it's a relaxing and chill kinda game if nothing else.
I haven't played Puzzle Fighter yet, but looking at video footage I really think it would be my favourite easily. It's exactly what I wanted out of Baku Baku, fixing the issues I had with the controls, and with more appealing visuals and audio to boot. Looks like something I'd enjoy a lot. Won't vote until I've actually played Puzzle Fighter, but currently Puzzle Bobble is my favourite out of the games that I have played on the poll, but I feel like I'd like Puzzle Fighter the most when I actually play it.
My actual favourite Saturn puzzle games aren't in the poll however. Magical Drop III and Puyo Puyo Tsuu are my personal favourites by far!
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Post by pocketpocket on May 21, 2017 10:12:14 GMT
The Clockwork Knight games are both too generic and unambitious in my eyes. Plenty of Megadrive platformers are far longer, more imaginative and unique than Clockwork Knight I do believe them being short has something to do with them being split into 2 games, I think there is a Japan only release where both the games are combined into one, and the game as a whole feels less half baked apparently (bug/graphical fixes, CK 1 running on 2's refined engine). But yeah Clockwork Knight is quite dull. I remember playing it at this retro gaming event at a museum a few years back and thinking it was boring. Apparently the 2nd one is slightly better so if I find it cheap enough I may give it a try. If I still don't like it I can always sell it. I actually first experienced Clockwork Knight through that Japanese compilation version. It was nice to have both games in the same place, but I was disappointed that it didn't go the Sonic 3 & Knuckles route of actually combining both into a seamless single game. You still select to play either Clockwork Knight 1 & 2 from the menu and they are treated as completely separate games. I think it would of been neat if it was just one game and once you beat all the Clockwork Knight levels it carries on straight into the Clockwork Knight 2 levels just like S3&K, and maybe also like S3&K it could introduce more elements of Clockwork Knight 2 into the first Clockwork Knight. S3&K made Knuckles playable, so what if Clockwork Knight introduced the collectable cards into the Clockwork Knight 1's levels? The game would definitely need a save feature if it was going to be this long, but I feel like that should of been in both games anyway. Maybe that's just me wishing for it to be something that it was never aiming to be, but it's common to hear people say that Clockwork Knight 1 & 2 work best when played as one complete game on the compilation, and I never really got that feeling from it. Still, it's definitely the best way to play the series for sure, if only for being able to play Clockwork Knight 1 on a far superior engine.
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Post by pocketpocket on May 20, 2017 11:56:20 GMT
I honestly don't personally think that any of them are particularly good, but I can still say that I personally enjoy the Bug games.
The Clockwork Knight games are both too generic and unambitious in my eyes. Plenty of Megadrive platformers are far longer, more imaginative and unique than Clockwork Knight, which doesn't feel much more advanced than an NES platformer. It doesn't do anything particularly wrong, but nothing especially well either. I consider them some of the most average games I've played, and not average as in necessarily bad, but just that they are about as middle-of-the-road games I can think of.
Honestly, Clockwork Knight 2 is probably a better game than Bug Too which can be incredibly unpolished and has extremely obnoxious voice overs, but I admire it more for being something unique. The semi-3D style makes it stand out unlike any other platformer preventing it from feeling generic and in the case of the first Bug game which came out before Mario 64, was actually pretty advanced.
Pandemonium I haven't played in years, but it never really clicked with me and I didn't get far. I vaguely remember having an issue with the camera often moving in weird awkward angles that result in you getting blindsided by enemies.
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Post by pocketpocket on May 19, 2017 0:57:15 GMT
Surprised that Virtua Fighter 2 is in last place, I thought it was widely considered the Saturn's killer app!
I'd lean towards Fighting Vipers as well though. Just a bit faster and with a crazier roster. Virtual On I never really got to grips with, it really throws you in the deep end and doesn't explain itself too well, I struggle to defeat even Stage 3 and 4, and Stage 5 just isn't happening any time soon. I'm not going to vote yet because I want to give Virtual On a bit more of a chance (preferably with the twin sticks because those look amazing), but until then Fighting Vipers is my favourite.
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Post by pocketpocket on May 3, 2017 0:48:39 GMT
I won't vote since I haven't played the Saturn ports of Duke 3D and Quake, so I'm basing this post off the PC versions of Duke and Quake, and the Saturn version of Seireki 1999
Quake is actually my least favourite of the lot. The arsenal is super limited with nearly half of the weapons just being powered up versions of the same guns and the amount of rusty brown castles is both unappealing to look at and just makes the game extremely repetitive to the point that it feels like you've seen everything the game has to offer by the first chapter. I was amazed when I reached the level which has the graveyard in it just because it was the first memorable and visually distinct area I had seen in the game in ages. The core gameplay is solid enough that it's still a great game, but I generally find I get bored with FPSs fast due to how repetitive they can get, and Quake is about as repetitive as they come.
Duke 3D's an odd one. Duke Nukem is such an atrocious character in retrospect. People often bring up how funny Duke 3D was but honestly, the entire game is nothing but references with no actual jokes attached to them. Despite that, I fricking love Duke 3D. It's the complete opposite of the issue I had with Quake, every level is distinct and memorable and filled with unique assets. Finding secrets is even more fun since even they often have their own unique assets that you wouldn't see anywhere else. The levels are super fun to explore and the arsenal you have is super fun and very creative. The game is also super fast moving which makes it all the more intense. It's probably my favourite of the lot.
Seireki 1999 is super close though. The Metroidvania style is really cool and way ahead of it's time considering that this was before Prime. There's more of a focus on the level navigation as opposed to the shooting as a result which I actually really like, and the way the levels connect to each other and have multiple routes that take you to different levels is really neat. The shooting is still pretty good too with some more really creative weapons. It's biggest weakness is the enemy variety though, especially at the start of the game.
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Post by pocketpocket on Apr 17, 2017 9:39:36 GMT
NiGHTS and Baku Baku are dirt cheap for the NTSC-J version, and while Baku Baku has a fair amount of text to be fair (but doesn't impact gameplay at all), NiGHTS is almost entirely dialogue-free (hell, the instructions for how to unlock multiplayer in the Japanese version are even in English) so the region makes no difference.
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