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5 more games to slate your NES thirst this time around, and they are a little all over the place again.
My friend lent me several seasons of the fantastic TV show The Wire recently. So I thought I might as well play something mindless and time consuming while watching. Enter Bases Loaded II. 75 games need to be won in your season to enter the World Series and then a best of 7 game series must be won to beat the game. Needless to say I finished 4 out of 5 seasons of The Wire while playing this game. They fixed a few glitches from the first game and made the game much faster paced, but at its core its nearly identical as its predecessor.
After that I decided it was time to explore the world of 8-bit pool for the first time in my life and booted up my copy of Break Time: The National Pool Tour. The tournament mode consists of playing a best of 3 match of 9-ball against 5 different computer opponents. The AI is savage right off the bat. You cant afford to make mistakes against even the first couple challengers. Luckily your given a password save after beating each opponent. Due to the level of difficulty, if you watch my video (when I get around to editing the pieces together and uploading it) you'll find that many of my victories are rather flukey. I take what I can get though. I did find a few of the computer players to have very amusing pornstar-esque names. Gems like Betty Bank Shot or Hot Shot Harry.
Next up I revisited a game that kicked my ass a few years back, Rainbow Islands. This time I had more drive and determination and am arguably at the peak of my NES skill so I made sure nothing was going to stop me this time around. Even as early as level 3 this game starts getting pretty tough. Level 4, 6 and 8 in particular though are pretty brutal. Good thing they load you up with unlimited continues!
After finishing off the last boss you get to choose 1 of 3 options and are rewarded with an ending. Friendship is the "true" ending as with any of the Bubble Bobble games, but I decided to use my wish to force a celebrity to marry me instead. Who can resist the allure of Cutey Cutey?
On Bomba's recommendation I tried out Conquest of the Crystal Palace. After getting used to the massive kickback that your prone to when getting hit by an enemy I was on my way. Very cool game with a few pretty unique aspects to it. I think Bomba did a pretty good job of describing it so check it out here if you havnt already.
And finally I played a game that is the epitome of vanilla, Peter Pan And The Pirates. Its so bland in nearly every way. At least it was short though. Check out level 2 for instance where EVERYTHING is green. Blah.
NES Games Finished In 2012
(click on a title to view the video)
Silver Surfer
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
Ghosts n Goblins
Tetris
Pro Wrestling
Gradius
Zanac
Adventure Island
Karnov
Trojan
Excitebike
Baseball
Spy Hunter
Adventure Island II
Tennis
Battletoads
Shadowgate
Battletoads/Double Dragon
Pinball Quest
Section Z
Godzilla
Hydlide
Marble Madness
Back to the Future
Darkman
Terminator 2
Robocop
Total Recall
Predator
Robocop 2
Robocop 3
Hudson Hawk
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Batman Returns
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters
Die Hard
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Krion Conquest
Adventures of Dino Riki
Ultima: Exodus
Legacy of the Wizard
Air Fortress
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
Darkwing Duck
Ultima: Warriors of Destiny
Legends of the Diamond
Pro Sports Hockey
Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball
Yoshi's Cookie
Kick Master
Zombie Nation
Stadium Events
Super Jeopardy!
Joust
Yoshi
Dance Aerobics
Adventures of Bayou Billy
Pipe Dreams
Ski or Die
Werewolf: The Last Warrior
Simpsons: Bart vs The Space Mutants
City Connection
American Gladiators
Roundball 2-on-2 Challenge
720
Athletic World
Super Team Games
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Gumshoe
Bases Loaded
The Addams Family Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
Kings of the Beach
The Blues Brothers
Volley Ball
Lode Runner
3D World Runner
Twin Eagle
Dragon's Lair
The Adventures of Rad Gravity
Break Time: The National Pool Tour
Bases Loaded II
Rainbow Islands
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Peter Pan And The Pirates
BONUS GAME -
Assimilate
Future Plans - Nothing in particular in mind at the moment. I'll probably try and knock off another 1 or 2 shorter titles before I leave town on Thursday and then when I return home early next week I can dig into something more time consuming.
When I found my Sega Genesis sign while cleaning up my basement I thought to put it in the "Small Scores" thread. I eventually decided against it, reasoning that since I had technically already scored it didn't belong (though I didn't think anyone would object). Now I'm really glad I abstained after finding my second (and final, likely) bunch of stuff. Starting off we have...
A box full of Zip disks? Yep, for some reason I had collected a big box full of Zip disks. For the most part they are unopened and are mixed between the 100MB and 250MB variants (much more 100MB though). What am I doing with a box of largely unopened Zip disks? No idea. I'll Ebay them, I think. This is boring, I know. Next we have:
A Xbox action replay disc. Like the Zip Disks, not really exciting, but what also was found (not in the pic, though) is my Xbox Action Replay USB interface, which means I can soft-mod my second Xbox (once I obtain a copy of the first Splinter Cell) so I can play Morrowind the way it was meant to be played: With less than 60 second loading times!
A strange light gun. Going by the connector (a DB9) it is either for the Atari VCS or the Sega Genesis, with the more likely choice being the VCS. Now I know that some of you already recognize it, but I had to do a bit of research. I ended up finding that the controller goes for a game called Spitfire Attack. I immediately noticed the missing parts (the massive sight and when I compared it with the pics on Atari Age, which kind of sucks but then I don't have the game either so does it matter? Hmm. I need to find some "C" batteries to see if it works. Next is:
Two Turbografx-16 with power bricks and controllers. One of the controllers appears to be broken, while I'm not sure about the other one. Will have to test on Keith Courage (crossover!).
One of those water-hoop/ball games from a simpler time. I actually do remember buying this at a local thrift store. I originally thought it to be defective, as it was missing the plug in the bottom (or so it appeared), but it works fine anyways. I love these things. For my final find:
This one is very personal. It is an old binder that I used to store maps, cuttings from magazines, and codes for video games. Flipping through this was a ton of fun. Hmm. Somehow I think suspect those Metroid codes won't work...
In the binder is a ton of strange crap. Pack in slips that came with my original T-16 and a invite to my local mall where Nintendo set up a ton of SNES demos as well as a dedicated Super Scope range.
Maps I drew of Lagoon for SNES (a gift from my Cool Aunt) and a crazy map of the Hundra Mountain section of a game (Crystalis?).
Well, that's it. I can go back to pushing through Ironsword for my Summer Game Challenge. Yikes, and summer is nearly over!
As some of you may (or may not) be aware, I recently acquired a 5200. Now that I have one, I've come to a decision: I'm going to build a complete 5200 Library. Easy, right? Don't count on it! While there's less than 100 Games (69 to be exact), and while most of them are cheap and really common, there are a few rare ones which command premium prices. Needless to say, when the time comes to get those games, I may have to resort to reproductions. Why? Well, money is tight these days, and as long as a physical cartridge is in my hand, I consider it a part of my collection, even though many wouldn't. Besides, it's obvious that the majority of my collection would be the real thing. Also, the way I see it, if I could get 100 NES Games, then I can certainly get 69 Atari 5200 Games. 
Games Owned: 7 out of 69
The great video game crash of NOW!!!
I love collecting as much as everyone on this site, but a trend is happening that is scary.
As each new generation of gamer's is born a previous generation of games are forgotten. I was born in 1987 and I owned a Atari and a Nintendo when I was a kid but I am most familur with the Super Nintendo til what is out currently. When I collect I really enjoy picking up new titles for snes and N64 and what not. I do still pick up games for my atari and Nintendo but it is never a top priority. I have been using the price chart http://videogames.pricecharting.com to keep track of value on games and stuff and I have noticed a trend of Atari games being pretty much worthless now Nintendo games slowly dropping and super Nintendo is on top right now.
I feel as each new generation of collectors come out there main priority is going to be there childhood, whether it was PS1 or PS2, each of the previous consoles will slowly fall in value and there will be the other breed of collectors that will be able to pick from the rubble. Super Nintendo games are at a all time high right now as far as I know and it completely makes sense, all of the generation from late 80's early 90's that really grew up on that system are old enough to have jobs and have the cash flow to do so. Give it another 10 years alot of those gamers will be moving on due to marriage or trying to buy a house or whatever the case, the generation that played those games will slowly move on and the next generation wont care as much because it was not there child hood.
How do you guys feel on this Topic? Am I dead wrong or am I on to something.
When I first started this summer challenge I came had two simple goals:
1) Clear out my backlog
2) Play owned games I haven't touched before
The really expected to not have much fun with this. See, I'm a very chaotic person by nature, and I usually don't equate "fun-time" with structure. Structure is for the world of Information Assurance and Network Security, not free gaming time. With that in mind:
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Simply put, I love this game. Of all the NES games I've played in my life, very few have elicited a response that I would call "joyous." I've enjoyed many of them, but I only return to a select few. From this moment on, Conquest of the Crystal Palace (CCP) will be added to this list, right next to Clash at Demonhead, Final Fantasy, and Super Mario Bros. 3.
A quick look tells me that only about 5% of us actually own the game. I wonder just how many have played it...
At a glance CCP doesn't stand out too much. From screenshots and advertising videos one can see that it is a action/platformer in the vein of - well many other NES games. The hero has a sword and a companion dog. Shades of Mega Man? Not really. The difference, as they say, is in the details. Like many successful NES games, action is mixed up just enough to make it interesting. Each level offers some sort of time-limited weapon drop and generally (but not always) some sort of healing item. These will drop from certain enemies only, making it just enough predictable. Along with that, every enemy drops varying amounts of money that can be used to buy healing items and magic-style weapons (all time-limited) from Kim, a pink-clothed anime character. Bosses are, for the most part, creative, but not overly so, and even in some of the stages falling down a pit will send you to the last "checkpoint" instead of killing you. Also, unlimited continues. It was almost as if the creators intentionally made a game that most NES gamers of the NES era could pick up, play, and conquer. In fact, the game difficulty only ramped up during one portion of the game: the maze-like section before the final boss.
Humor (be it intentional or otherwise) is present in small doses, from the faux news reports that Kim does to the goofy Russian dance the main character does after a boss fight. But there are also touches of horror. Stage 3 sees the hero in a very horrible hell-like place, where the background, made up of grotesque arms and faces, constantly writhes and screams silently in pain. Although any horror at this is tempered by the strange frog-creatures that spin around of what appear to be stripper poles. Yep.
Overall this was quite nice of an experience, and one that I would recommend to anyone looking for an excellent action/platformer to beat in a few days. So, here it is (my LCD monitor is annoyingly reflective):
Tip time. Yay!
- Don't forget you have a dog companion! You can select him (and the other items) by holding down and pressing "A". Just keep in mind that he has a finite amount of energy and if "killed" you will need to buy energy items for him at Kim's store.
- Having trouble with the some of the bosses? I played using my Advantage the second time through using Turbo. Made a world of difference. First game in a while I played through in one sitting (about an hour).
- There is a cheat available. Don't use it. Not that I have anything against that, but the game is easy enough without cheats.
- After you finish the game it starts you over in an "hard mode." Shades of Ghosts and Goblins? Who knows.
Next I think I'll tackle Ironsword. Despite the criticism I was a huge fan of the first Wizards and Warriors. Although Rare ditched the "super-contrast' color scheme in Ironsword and adopted Fabio as their mascot, I'm still curious. About the game, not Fabio.
For this entry
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Ironsword
Dr. Chaos
Total Recall
Ultimate Stuntman
Tombs and Treasures
Swords and Serpents
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Driver: San Francisco
When we last left off, our brave hero had ended his second run with 1,463,900 points with 3 lives remaining. On the following night, 7/23/12 I began a third run and ended with 2,208,300 points and only 2 lives remaining. After a solid first run, costly mistakes and an increase in enemy forces had caused my lives to dwindle down and I was at the edge of having to start over. It wasn't long into my 4th attempt, that I lost my remaining lives and finished with a score of 2,259,200..........to make things worse, I died at that damn waterfall stage.
Not to be discouraged, took a break for the rest of the night and came back on Tuesday to do a few practice runs and get a better feel for the game, to memorize unroaming enemy locations, and to get a better strategy for the final boss fight (where I was losing a few lives sometimes). I learned that I had a lot of success in keeping a spread gun and had learned where to locate one in almost every board. I also found a better route in the Energy Zone and pretty much mastered the level by slowing down a little more and being a bit more patient around the flamethrowers.
Tonight (7/25), I sat down in my gaming chair and decided that my opening strategy was to attempt a "no death" run on the first run through and try to do my best to stockpile lives, since the game gets harder. Though I had to reset the first time after losing a life on Stage 2, I lost only one life on my first full run. I was a little miffed (the perfectionist in me), but decided that this was fine since I had accumulated 746,00 points and started my second run with 11 lives (stockpiling  . The second run also went pretty well. I lost a few lives on silly mistakes, popping up too early in bases and a knucklehead jump at the Waterfall boss; however, I managed to get through it with 1,497,300 points and 15 lives (stockpiling an additional 4). I'll take it.
Though I was getting a little fatigued, I decided to give it another go. My third run started off pretty well; there were some deaths that couldn't be prevented (i.e. crouching under fire, while roaming enemies run up behind you), but I was playing pretty solid and made it through the Snow Field, Energy Zone, and Hangar with no deaths. I made it to the end of the Alien's Lair without dying, but lost a life in the battle pretty early and lost my spread. I tried to gain a foothold, but lost 3 lives total in that fight, which was a bit discouraging. However, at the end of the run, I had accumulated 2,242,300 points and now have 18 lives (banking an additional 3).
I'm always skeptical about pausing, since I never know if I'll reenter the game with the same attention to detail as I had before. Since it's my only copy of the game, I can't really warm up on another TV and I can only hope to be as sharp was I was tonight. It might be beneficial to watch some end boss strategies, since I am still losing a few lives there and could possibly stockpile a few more with better play.
I finally got around to uploading my video tour of the Video Game Museum that I shot at Classic Gaming Expo 2010. I had originally intended to do screen grabs of the interesting parts, so a lot of the items are shot briefly, but it is HD so you can pause to take a longer look at anything you like.
It was pretty neat to see some items that I had only ever heard about or seen pics in magazines or online. I think my personal favorite had to be the SEGA Neptune mock-up. They should really make molds of it and recreate the shell for sale.
I hope that any of you that may be interested enjoy it!
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/kBaLcK1ZLxI&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/kBaLcK1ZLxI&rel=0</a>]]>
Today, I present to you Keith Courage In Alpha Zones for the TurboGrafx-16. This game, hated by many, is a Platformer that looks like it's straight out of a Saturday Morning Cartoon. I can't really figure out why people hate it though. It's a decent game with a good challenge. Enough about that though. Here's some more info on this game.
It's called Mashin Eiyuden Wataru in Japan, and it's adapted from an Anime Series called Spirit Hero Wataru. It was released in 1988 in Japan, and in 1989 in the US. Basically, it's about a Kid (A Young Adult in the US Version) who is a member of a group called NICE, and he's trying to save his World from a group called BAD. (Hey, I didn't write this stuff.  )
As I mentioned earlier, this is a Platformer. You know, go left and right, kill enemies with whatever means given to you (In this case, a Sword and a Mecha), collect stuff, and so on. Keith is aided on his Adventure by his four friends, who have been renamed in the US Version. As copied from Wikipedia:
Himiko Shinobibe / Nurse Nancy - Nancy heals Keith for a price.
Shibaraku Tsurugibe / Weapons Master - Weapons Master sells weapons to Keith.
The Prophet - The Prophet warns Keith of danger.
Wise Wizard - Wise Wizard sells bolt bombs to Keith.
Supposedly, here in the US, a Comic was distributed with the game, but I couldn't find much information on it, other than one line of text about it on Wikipedia.
All things considered, this really is a good game. Maybe people didn't like it because it's too generic or something, which even I'll admit that it kind of is. Still, if you like Platformers, you should try it.
Awhile back Mr Shadow introduced me to http://www.pricecharting.com/
It is a website which automatically tracks prices of games from across the web. Seemingly it pulls most of it's info from ebay and amazon. I think it is fun to look at the range of prices for a particular console. I recently got a Sega Saturn and can now quickly find which games are normally the more spendy ones and which ones don't cost too much. If a person was into reselling games they could easily look up, say, the copy of Shinobi Legions they found for cheap. They would see that for the last couple of years it sells about 1 per week for $20 to $30ish.
I have been trying to complete an Odyssey^2 collection, so I have been using Price Charting to see about what I should expect to pay for certain games. The thing about the O^2 system is, its not a popular seller. Most of the games sell in the low single digits...per year.
When I decided to have a concerted effort to go after a complete O^2 collection I figured I needed a plan. I needed to keep track of what I had, what I needed and what the normal prices were.
With a freshly printed out checklist from RFGeneration, I highlighted all the games I had left to buy and proceeded to pricecharting.com. Most of the O^2 games sell for just a couple of bucks, even with the box. But a few are more costly. I expected Power Lords! and Atlantis to be near the top but a couple of them surprised me. Who knew that Demon Attack or Nimble Numbers Ned! were in the $20 range? I was pretty surprised to see that S.I.D. The Spellbinder! had been increasing in price over the last year. It never came up in my research as a expensive O^2 game. The last one to sell was at $56.
S.I.D. The Spellbinder! is not unavailable on ebay. I've seen several of them for auction or buy it now. There was a CIB copy with a buy it now for $20 which was a serious consideration. Boxed copies are nice but I'm okay with loose and with a little experience of watching ebay, I knew a cheaper loose copy would come up, regardless of pricechartings $56.
The other day I bought S.I.D. The Spellbinder!, loose, for $2.99 plus S&H. It didn't show up for a little while but you can see here the difference I made on the site:
So pricecharting.com isn't perfect in all situations but I still think it is pretty neat. I'm going to keep using it. I just need to keep in mind that low volume sellers may not be too accurate. Having a service like this would be of great use to a reseller, I think many of us on this site come across such great deals in our hunt we might pick up if we knew there was a good market for them at many times the price we found them for.
I'm hoping the person who paid $56 got a mint sealed copy. Unfortunately pricecharting.com doesn't keep any record of condition, which has a big affect on value. It was kinda fun to have a negative 95% affect on the value of S.I.D. The Spellbinder!
What are your thoughts of the site? Do any of you have a similar experience? Let us know!
Tonight I had some extra time on my hands, the kids were asleep and the wife had gone to a "Dirty Dancing" 25th Anniversary party.....yeah, I'll never understand women, and why bother now? Anyway, I cranked up the ole NES2 and begin playing pretty loosely through a few levels to get my bearings and a feel for where all of the enemies were laid out. As most of you know who have played Contra, the boss battles aren't really difficult and it seems that you lose most of your lives to petty gunfire, or stray enemies bouncing onto the screen.
Though most of Contra is a side scroller, one particular level, The Waterfall, scrolls up and is filled with jumps and random enemies that spring from both sides of the screen. I noticed that in my second run through, the enemy foot soldiers were a little more plentiful than they were in the first; a trend I imagine will continue. In some areas, you are forced to the far left or right of the screen to advance and this really poses a problem with limited lives. After several runs, I found that I lost the majority of my lives on this stage and needed to be a little more careful by spraying the sides of screens with bullets before I proceeded upwards. On a good note, I found that I was particularly efficient on the "Snow Field" tonight and lost only one life on about 6 runs through it. I had similar success in "The Hanger," but the "Energy Field" gave me quite the headache on my final run of the night. It was quite the evening of up and downs.
After about 4 runs through the game, I decided to give a go at a solid attempt. The first run through was solid and I ended up with a total of 7 extra lives at the end. One particular thing I noted was that you average earning about one extra life per stage. My strategy/hope was to accumulate a comfortable amount of extra lives, as I had done through the first run, but my second run, was filled with several silly and costly mistakes, which I attribute a little to tiredness as the night wore on. At one point, I lost three men to the flamethrowers in the Energy Field. Not that this section of the game was tougher than it had been on the first run, I just found myself becoming a little impatient and trying to run through some of the flames with the initial invincibility at the start of each new life. After the Energy Field, I sailed through The Hanger and Alien's Lair with ease and ended the second run with 1,463,900 points and 3 lives remaining. My hope is that I don't come into my restart rusty and can finish a few stages untouched to build up my surplus of lives again. I'm also contending with a few nasty storms in the area and a dog who likes to lie a little too close to my NES, both of which threaten to reset my game.
Until next time, "Nobody puts Contra in the corner!"
I have a basement, and like most people who live in Michigan who have one, it inevitably becomes a storage area for crap. Fixing this has problem has been on my honey-do list for many years now, but there is a problem: My videogames are in the basement. Still, I do manage to get a bit of organizing/storing/throwing away when I am down there, and when I went down there last night after the kids went to bed I intended nothing but that. Instead I found something quite awesome that I completely forgot was there.
As you can see from the pictures (or maybe you can't as I cannot seem to get a good pic of this thing) it is a sign made for advertising the Sega Genesis. My old roommate pilfered it from a closing Children's Palace back in '90 or '91 and stuck it into his garage, where about fifteen years later he gave it to me. The sign actually was originally attached to the front of a "light box" (a square MDF box with fluorescent lights on the inside) and hung suspended above the videogame department. The box had long ago rotted away, but the "front" part of the sign had remained preserved.
It's actually three pieces, the front being a layer of plexiglass, the second being the actual sign, and the back a heavy-than-it-looks piece of translucent white plastic meant to diffuse the light from the fluorescent. While I don't have anything to light this properly, the diffusing plastic works very well. Maybe I can get my son to hold it up in the window tomorrow for a better pic. Also, despite the use of fluorescent lights there is no noticeable fading.
It may be hard to tell from the crappy pic (for some reason my camera has disappeared), but there is a Sega logo (with "restricted" sign) and the art at 2 o'clock is from the cover of Phantasy Star II. There is a tiny bit of wear at the bottom and two small holes drilled through on either side, but other than that it's in pretty good condition.
I have no idea what to do with this thing. It is too large to fit on one of my walls (there would also be lighting issues) so my first thought was to sell or trade it. While I think the picture portion of it could be rolled up and shipped in a large poster tube, but one would loose out completely on the plexiglass cover and diffuser.
UPDATE: I found my camera.
Shortly after my last Summer Game Challenge I had a decision to make. Which game next? The most logical choice was to finally mop up X3: Terran Conflict. After all, I had well over two-hundred hours on it before I transferred it to Steam, spending most of my time accumulating money and ships with only minimal storyline progression. With the three M6 Corvette class ships I had at my disposal it really wasn't that difficult finishing the main storyline. Now now, I know this game isn't in my list, but after reading Pauly3433's forum post regarding the 10 year game of Civ II, I thought it might be time to bite the bullet and finished it.
The next game I chose was also fairly easy to pick, as Crabmaster2000 had expressed interest in it. I had also learned at some point that it was likely a PC-style dungeon crawl (someone let slip about a requirement for graphing paper), so it just seemed natural. With no reservations (and a pad of graphing paper) I started Swords and Serpents.
About twenty hours later I can safely say that this is a good game. Not a great game, mind you, but really and truly not bad at all. It is in fact a PC-style first-person view dungeon crawl but with a Japanese slant that simultaneously makes it feel unique and keeps it from becoming a great game.
The first thing you notice after starting the game (most people just use the pre-rolled party initially) is the automap that appears on the upper-right part of the screen, much like the NES version of Bard's Tale, though unlike that game the random encounters do not kick you to a separate screen for the battle, which I must say is very nice considering the amount of grinding in this game (more on that later). Also the pictures used for enemies are quite large and very detailed (especially the zombie variants). Battles run super quick: You just the B button until the end, though when you start the second level you will need to think more strategically. The menu system is a freaking mess, though, and the password system makes me want to cry (a password for the game and four more for each party member). Yikes.
The game plays as thus: You move around the level, fighting random battles and occasionally meeting NPCs (whom are tied to a specific spot on the map), buying and selling equipment, and that is about it. There is a story, which is progressed using NPCs spread throughout any given level, but it really doesn't seem important, partially due to the static nature of the NPCs (who will only appear after entering a spot then disappear after leaving), but also because it seems king of silly. If you are going to find any kind of enjoyment here it will be in the grind. And boy does it have a grind. Sixteen level, that is what you have to face, and despite the ease of the first level the enemy strength ramps up quite a bit around the middle of level two. Despite this the game isn't overly hard, not once you learn that age RPG tactic (level, level, level; don't forget to run) applies here as well.
I like this game. While there are much better choices available, it's still a great title. It hits a lot of enjoyable spots, and while there are a few annoying features (super grindy, annoying menu structure) I know that I will be revisiting this again in the future, just maybe not for the whole sixteen levels. That and I'll emulate it and take advantage of save states (five passwords be damned!).
Now, for those of you wanting to attempt the dark dungeons of SaS, I have a few pointers (this will be especially useful to those without instruction booklets):
1) Make your own party! While the structure of the pre-rolled party is fine, they start off weak and need better stats (basic attributes do not increase with level!). Rolling your own will keep you from starting over from the beginning (I had to do this).
2) Pressing the directional pad during combat will allow you to aim your attacks. Some enemies are more vulnerable to certain directions.
3) If you have a good head for directions I doubt you'll need a map, though one will doubtless help with remembering landmarks. The first thing you mark on your new maps? The location of the temple. There are only three in the entire game!
4) While I do not condone playing emulated games over physical ones (missing that tactile experience and all) you might want to do it for this game. Having to write down five passwords to save a game gets annoying quickly (and in an RPG, too), especially if you are a pick-up-and-set-down player like I am. If you are able to just leave the NES running that will work too, one of my kids managed to bump my idle NES twice during this playthrough.
5) Don't forget to run!
I think I'll try one of the more action oriented titles on my list now. While I am playing Ultimate Stuntman (and really liking it), I crave something more traditional (maybe Conquest or Ironsword).
For this entry
Conquest of the Crystal Palace
Ironsword
Dr. Chaos
Total Recall
Ultimate Stuntman
Tombs and Treasures
Swords and Serpents
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Driver: San Francisco
Its been a while since my last blog, but dont fret I've been hard at play. My internet connection at work has become very unreliable lately so my online time (aka blogging time) has been cut down considerably until we can solve our problem.
During that time I beat 4 more games and surprisingly enough I actually really enjoyed each of them. The first of this batch was The 3D Adventures of World Runner. And I have to say if you havnt played it definitely check it out. Its one of the most unique platforming games on the NES. It takes a back to front scrolling view as opposed to the very familiar side scrolling look. During the last 3 levels it can be a bit challenging, but the music is so freakin happy its nearly impossible to get frustrated. The bosses are all the same and very boring and repetitive, but the rest of the game is tons of fun straight through.
Had a second adventure after that one with my buddy Rad Gravity. Its a platformer with lots of puzzle elements tossed in. Each level has items that give you access to new areas on your map. So you've got to figure out what your new equipment does and where to use it to find yet more new equipment. Eventually you'll resurrect an alien bent on world universal destruction to fight with. It takes a lot longer than your typical platformer, but there are tons of secrets and enjoyable puzzles to keep you going.
Followed up my adventures with a nice little shmup called Twin Eagle. I had overlooked it because the box art kind of sucks, but it was still on the list of games yet to be completed over at nintendoage so I got around to it. Nothing to write home about, but it was solid. I like my shmups to be fairly plain and it definitely fit into that category. Kind of a step above something like Sky Shark, but waaaay behind something like Zanac. If love shumps I doubt Twin Eagle will do much for you, but if havnt played the really good ones yet it might hit the spot.
Lastly I was able to beat quite possibly the hardest game I've come across yet, Dragon's Lair. What made Dragon's Lair so challenging was one small part of the game, the final boss Singe. The rest of the game I really enjoyed and thought it felt as much like a traditional Dragon's Lair game as a platformer possibly could. Lots of memorization and following patterns like in the original, 5 lives to start you off like in the original, same story and some of the same characters as the original and pretty much EVERYTHING in the game will instantly kill you...... like in the original. Lots of the complaints I hear are about Dirk's sluggish controls. I think they played perfectly into the feel of the series though. With tighter controls the game would have played more like an action platformer. Because of the slowed down movements though you had to rely on memorization like in the other Dragon's Lair games. It felt right to me in every way, until I reached Singe. Everything moving at you during that fight is an instant kill and the speed of his attacks combined with Dirk's molasses-like movements made it nearly impossible. I said nearly. I ended up fighting him somewhere around 4 dozen times, by which time the rest of the game because increasingly easy, until I got a lucky round on him. By lucky I mean he shot a high puff of smoke every time a baby dragon appeared on screen during the fight. I find it incredibly difficult to kill the baby dragons when forced to jump the low puffs. He may have tried to give me a round like that much earlier, but I often made the mistake of jumping into a high puff because of the quick response time required to dodge them. Finally I was victorious though and I have to say, it was one of the most satisfying games I've beaten yet.
NES Games Finished In 2012
(click on a title to view the video)
Silver Surfer
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones
Ghosts n Goblins
Tetris
Pro Wrestling
Gradius
Zanac
Adventure Island
Karnov
Trojan
Excitebike
Baseball
Spy Hunter
Adventure Island II
Tennis
Battletoads
Shadowgate
Battletoads/Double Dragon
Pinball Quest
Section Z
Godzilla
Hydlide
Marble Madness
Back to the Future
Darkman
Terminator 2
Robocop
Total Recall
Predator
Robocop 2
Robocop 3
Hudson Hawk
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Batman Returns
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters
Die Hard
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Krion Conquest
Adventures of Dino Riki
Ultima: Exodus
Legacy of the Wizard
Air Fortress
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar
Darkwing Duck
Ultima: Warriors of Destiny
Legends of the Diamond
Pro Sports Hockey
Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball
Yoshi's Cookie
Kick Master
Zombie Nation
Stadium Events
Super Jeopardy!
Joust
Yoshi
Dance Aerobics
Adventures of Bayou Billy
Pipe Dreams
Ski or Die
Werewolf: The Last Warrior
Simpsons: Bart vs The Space Mutants
City Connection
American Gladiators
Roundball 2-on-2 Challenge
720
Athletic World
Super Team Games
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Gumshoe
Bases Loaded
The Addams Family Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
Kings of the Beach
The Blues Brothers
Volley Ball
Lode Runner
3D World Runner
Twin Eagle
Dragon's Lair
The Adventures of Rad Gravity
BONUS GAME -
Assimilate
Future Plans - A buddy lent me a couple seasons of The Wire to watch so I needed something long and mindless to play while I watched. So I started Bases Loaded II!!
One of the games I remember most fondly from my childhood is Contra for the Nintendo Entertainment System. One of the first great shooters on the NES, it's a game that is a must for anyone's collection.
A friend of mine was having trouble with his NES cutting off during the middle of game play and I suggested he purchase a 72 pin connector and offered to install it for him. After completing minor surgery on his system the other night, I put in a copy of Contra to test it out. I figured a full run would be long enough to ensure that the pins were install correctly and that my friend's issue with his system was corrected. I consider myself a pretty good Contra player and typically never use the code unless playing with a friend (or on the rare occasion, my wife). Anyway, I ran through the game with ease the first time and began a second run with 5 men. I quickly finished the 2nd run and again, had more men than I started with (I estimate 8 or 9) and a score somewhere just over 1 million.
I started thinking.....how high does this game score and is it possible to roll it over? Well, after a quick Google search, I discovered an article on a guy who scored 6,553,500 points. Hmmm.... After two quick runs and what seemed to be no increase in difficulty, I thought that surely I could beat this score if I put the time in. My next move was to take it to the source and check Twin Galaxies. Wouldn't you know it, there are 15 other people with the same score..... With the impossibility of 15 people reaching an endgame with the same score, I figure that the game's score is cut off at this amount.
Though disappointed, I figure why not still give it a shot. Hopefully, I'll be posting this score soon, stay tuned.
Excuse the weird title. I was trying to pull a Crabmaster2000 and make a unique title out of what I've played. Heh. Anyway...
That game is Robot Block, better known as Stack-Up in the US. I recently acquired this ultra-rare title, and all I gotta say is this: "I don't get it". I've gotta say, I've played some...well, "different" games in my time, but this one takes the Trophy for Different. Even with a FAQ, I couldn't figure it out. None the less, what I have here is certainly unique. It even has some Voice Clips! So, yeah. Not much to say about this one.
As you can see, that's Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention for the PS Vita. This Strategy RPG is about a Demon Kid who is mad at his Dad for crushing his "Slaystation Portable" by accident. (Do I REALLY need to tell you where the name Slaystation comes from? I didn't think so.)
Anyway, the Demon Kid in question, Mao, is trying to kill his Dad for the injustice. Mao, (Voiced by the extremely talented Vic Mignogna, of DBZ "Broly" and DNAngel "Dark Mousy" fame) is a really immature and bratty kid with an EQ (Evil Quotient) of 1.8 Million. He attends a Demon School where things like skipping class are considered good, so he's an Honor Student.
The point is, this is one funny game, and if you like Strategy RPGs, you should seriously try this game. Don't have a Vita? There's a Version with less content for the PS3! 
That is the Xbox 360 Edition of Minecraft. Basically, it's a stripped down version of Minecraft for the PC, with updates from the PC Version coming to it slowly. Your probably thinking "Why should I play it then?". Well, there's no cheats or mods for one thing, so actually playing the game (It's better with a friend on the couch beside you. Yes, it has split screen Co-Op.) is rewarding. Plus, if your the kind of person who likes Achievements, this game is an easy way to get them.
Well, that's what I've been playing lately. Check back later for a new entry. Also, don't expect a new PGGS for a while. My sensors broke. Sorry about that.
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