RF Generation.  The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.RF Generation.  The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases.




Posted on Apr 2nd 2010 at 03:25:47 AM by (Chaos Punk sXe)
Posted under systems, games

About two weeks have gone by since my last post, but I finally have new systems, one of which I'm very excited for. Took a trip to a local Goodwill as many of you have suggested, and I'm glad I did. Scored two systems and 3 games. I found an original Playstation for 5 bucks, no cords, controllers or games, but I'll get those elsewhere. The next thing I'm very excited for, a first generation Sega Genisis with the power cord (no RF cord yet)! It has no controllers, but again, I'll get them eventually. A little more digging and I found Sonic The Hedghog 2 and 3 and Sonic and Knuckles, arguably the best games for the system. Even though I can't play them, I'm very satisfied with my findings, there's another Goodwill in my town, I'll check it out when I get a chance.



Posted on Apr 1st 2010 at 12:55:14 AM by (slackur)
Posted under General, Snatcher, Hideo Kojima, video games

I finally got a working copy of Snatcher on Sega CD this week (I've owned the import Playstation version for a long time but can't read Japanese) and went through it mostly in one sitting.

Wow.

It is quite remarkable, coming from someone who went through the entirety of American Metal Gear games first, to go back and see what is essentially the prototype CD-ROM narrative of Hideo's work.  Every major facet Hideo is known for is present in Snatcher, and since both the man's ideas and the technology were both so relatively new at the time, to go back and review it seems to almost distill what makes a Kojima project into its very essence. 

The heavy clash of anime and western influences.  The repeated fourth-wall breaks and humor.  The obsession with humanizing technology while showing the isolating effects.  The noir style.  The jazz overtones in the drama scenes.  The overcooked dialogue and emoting.  The crazy plotting and pacing.  The stretched out to ridiculousness monologues.  The romantic entanglements and hero worship.  Humanity needs a savior from outside of humanity mantras.  Tons of hidden or easy-to-miss easter eggs and secrets.  Walking robots. 

***MGS3 and Snatcher spoilers ahead alerts !!!***

Heck, huge chunks of Metal Gear Solid 3, my personal favorite of that series, seems lifted right out of Snatcher, including Cold War east-west tensions, genetic manipulation, father/son legacy issues with elements of patricide, secret government WMDs that fell into private hands, impossible resurrections, double agents, I could go on and on.  I was amazed over and over at the copied elements.

The technical elements were very similar in many ways as well.  Both Snatcher and every MGS title were known to push technological limits of the hardware at the time; while Snatcher doesn't expand the Sega CD into new territory like the MGS games did with Sony's hardware, the use of the then new CD storage was put to justified use. 

Snatcher has lots of voice-overs, CD-quality music, a rather lengthy story, and it's own in-game accessible historical database of game fiction to dig into.  It was one of the first Sega CD games that simply could not have been as engrossing on a cart.

It also has almost no gameplay.  And I love it for that.

What?

When I wrote earlier that I went though all the American Metal Gear games, that's true, from a certain point of view.  I myself completed MGS and over half of MGS2.  But the gameplay mechanics began to really frustrate me in 2, feeling overly complicated and unintuitive.  All the immersive factors in the world are lost to me when after four hours of play I still fumble with the controls.  I don't know exactly why.  But I played MSG 3 and 4 and felt the same way. 

Thankfully, my buddy Arkyst is a real MGS nut and doesn't have the same hang ups, so he took me through all of MGS 2,3, and 4 and even showed me all of the little tricks and secrets.  I love those games, I just can't play them well.

But Snatcher is a different animal all-together.  The closest it comes to a traditional video game is the arcade-like shooting scenes, where you use the d-pad and select a quadrant (the screen is divided into a 3 X 3 grid) and press a button to shoot.  They get fast-paced, but out of an eight hour experience there are perhaps around half a dozen times you do this (and few other times the game requires you to shoot once or twice.)

The rest of the gameplay is simply selecting from menus, using the look and investigate commands on the same selections of each area repeatedly.  It may sound boring, but it turns the experience into more of an interactive graphic novel, or better yet an electronic choose-your-own-adventure book.  The story is good enough (and the voice acting and writing tolerable enough) that you want to solve the mystery, and the game's universe consistent and well thought out enough that everything makes sense in the context of the well developed background.  Most things in Snatcher reach around to get full circle in a way that even good novels often miss the mark, not to mention the hack job that often passes for a video game narrative.

Unlike MGS 2 and up, I could play Snatcher, and it almost never got in the way.  That is, until the very end, in which the shooting sequence took a Mount Everest sized spike in difficulty that saw me getting out the Genesis Justifier light gun to get past, as the d-pad went from passable to yeah-right.  This end bit was admittedly a klaxon in a symphony.  There has to be a better way to ratchet up the tension at the end.

For a game that requires little more than for you to stay awake and occasionally solve an obtuse puzzle for 98% of the time, you are suddenly expected to have cat-like reflexes for the rest of the 2% of gameplay.  Imagine getting through a Zelda game, reaching Ganon, and suddenly you have to play through a Battletoads 3rd stage hyperbike scene with no recourse in order to see the ending.  That's comparatively what Snatcher pulled, and while I finished it, it was jarring.

Nonetheless, overall it was a refreshing experience, and now I desperately want to go through the spiritual-successor follow up, Policenauts.  Unfortunately that never made it over here in the States, and I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try a patch method.  Ah, who am I kidding.  One day I'll try.

Snatcher was a great experience that made me briefly re-evaluate what a game is, and somewhat surprised me (even more so than the MGS games) into remembering that for all the critics of cut-scenes over gameplay, everyone's understanding of interactivity is a little different.  I enjoyed 'playing' Snatcher more than the MGS games not because it controlled better, but because the 'gameplay' fit like a glove for the format (until the very end) and I could sit back and enjoy it instead of being hampered by gameplay choices that I might not overcome.  I doubt I'd have ever experienced the rest of the MGS saga if it weren't for Arkyst (I put many, many hours into MGS 4, I really tried) and it would be a shame if that happened to Snatcher as well.

So, even though it is still pricey, I HIGHLY recommend Snatcher if:

a) you are a Hideo Kojima fan and want to see how much his early stuff fits in with the rest

b) you like Blade Runner (of which the story is 85% derivative of)

c) you are a fan of Cyber Punk and Sci-Fi

d) you enjoy the type of gameplay found in the likes of Hotel Dusk, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, and the Carmen Sandiego series

e) you want to see a game that really needed an M rating for violence, blood and gore (if only for a few scenes)

f) you are collecting Sega CD games and want something to flush the taste of 'Lawnmower Man' down

g) you want to see an inventive and eclectic puzzle design (seriously, the Oleen puzzle was nifty after you recheck your inventory and know what it wants, but the extra letter at the end of the real answer made it a bit too unnecessarily abstract for me.)

h) you want to see a club in a video game that contains people dressed up like the Contra guys, Goeman, Dracula, Simon Belmont, and Sparkster (that scene was so cool!)

i) Dude, you should number lists if they're gonna hit 'I'

j) Seriously, you made it to 'J'?



But enough talk.  Have at you!








(Yes, I know the difference between Hideo and IGA.  But both the title and end references are from Konami and the title fit.  Hush.)



Posted on Mar 30th 2010 at 03:17:56 AM by (noiseredux)
Posted under Phantasy Star, Game Boy Advance

[img width=300 height=300]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OSzQ8nX6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img]

If you've been following this blog at all then you're probably aware of the Together Retro game club that I follow that's curated by the folks over at http://www.racketboy.com. The game for March was the original Phantasy Star, a game that I never got the chance to play prior. Thankfully a cart containing the first three games of the series was released for the GBA in 2002. Though I did have a Sega Master System years ago, I didn't adopt it until around the time that the Genesis was released and toy stores threw Master Systems into a bargain bin. Unfortunately, Phantasy Star was never one of the games that found its way into the same bins. I do remember trying Phantasy Star II on the Genesis for a short time, but  the entire series was one that I was always aware of -- and mildly interested in -- but just never found myself curious enough to give it a go. And I had no idea just what I was missing out on.

[img width=300 height=200]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/news/12/11/phantasy_screen007.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/news/12/11/phantasy_screen008.jpg[/img]

What immediately became apparent to me was that Phantasy Star was a game that was far ahead of its time, bearing in mind that its contemporaries were Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the NES. Of course those two titles tend to epitomize what we think of as 8-bit RPG classics -- and they're the first two RPG's I ever played myself -- they actually come off as quite shallow in comparison to Phantasy Star.

The game begins with our main character, Alis as she slowly ventures out from one little town and grinds (for at least an hour!) until she can venture to the next. Pretty basic stuff. But over time you will pick up three more varied characters to add to your party and explore not only the planet that you started out on -- but two others as well!

[img width=300 height=200]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/news/12/11/phantasy_screen010.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/news/12/11/phantasy_screen009.jpg[/img]

Indeed the world of Phantasy Star soon becomes amazingly large and complex. There are deserts and tundras; robots and slimes; hovercrafts and landrovers! There's elements of Star Wars, Dune, and Greek Mythology. It was truly a game that was ambitious in its scope in every department -- be it the story, visuals, or music.

Unfortunately, one such ambition also leads to the games one true detriment -- its absolutely brutal-to-navigate 3D dungeons. My understanding is that upon its initial release in 1988, the Master System cartridge of Phantasy Star sold for $80. To put that it into perspective, it cost nearly as much as the Master System itself. I suppose that perhaps the 3D dungeons were a way to force the player to stretch a lot more gameplay out of the already enormous game, forcing you to eventually resort to making your own maps (or if you're playing it today instead of 1988 simply finding some online, which is exactly what I resorted to midway through my own playthrough). Of course as frustrating as the dungeons may be, they are certainly interesting and well... ballsy for a game of its time.

[img width=300 height=200]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/news/12/11/phantasy_screen011.jpg[/img] [img width=300 height=200]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/gba/psc/psc_screen011.jpg[/img]

After spending the month grinding, and exploring and cussing my way through Phantasy Star, I can firmly say that the series has gained a new fan.





Posted on Mar 29th 2010 at 07:55:11 PM by (CKsGallery)
Posted under Treasure Hunt, Yard Sale, Flea Market

This is my first entry, but I am going to try to make this a weekly thing.
There are two big flea markets around my area that open every Sunday.
There are always different people selling their old merchandise.
Here is what I found this week.
As soon as I went to the first person at the flea market, I picked up my first score.
3 Strategy Guides, and an Art Book. Final Fantasy VII, Fable, Final Fantasy X,
and Final Fantasy XII Art Book. ($4.00)
[img width=455 height=432]http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d163/focusricerocket/IMG_6402.jpg[/img]

The second score was a little later, after thinking the guides may be my only
pick up of the day. Someone had a giant box that said everything $1.00, I was going to just
keep going, but I saw a few cd cases peeking out, so I decided to stop.
Im glad I did.
Picked up:
Playstation: Tekken (with case and back art), Theme Park (with case & back art), D (disk only).
Sega Cd: Kids on Site (New Still Sealed), Jeopardy (New Still Sealed), Who Shot Johnny Rock? (CIB), Cliffhanger (New Still Sealed), Sol Feace (CB), Sewer Shark (Disk and front of instructions).
Sega Genesis: Hardball (CIB), Power Plug (CIB)
SNES: Madden 96, (Instructions, 2 posters, and other paperwork)
Sega Gamegear: Sonic 2 (New Still Sealed)
and 7 random instruction booklets laying in the bottom.
Picked it all up for $10.
[img width=617 height=432]http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d163/focusricerocket/IMG_6403.jpg[/img]

Found these in the Harball Case, 10 video game cards. Thought they were cool and never saw them before.
[img width=444 height=432]http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d163/focusricerocket/IMG_6404.jpg[/img]

After the flea market, stopped at a local game store, traded in 20 DVDs I no longer watch, and got:
N64: Doom 64, NES: Tombs and Treasure, A Boy and His Blob, SNES: Street Fighter II, Eye of the Beholder, and Sim City, PS2: Tatio Legends 2, and D1 Drifting GP.
[img width=545 height=432]http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d163/focusricerocket/IMG_6405.jpg[/img]

And thats this weekends wrap-up.
Hopefully have more to report next weekend.



Posted on Mar 28th 2010 at 07:57:41 PM by (gamepopper101)
Posted under Sega Mega CD, Collecting, Collector, Sonic, Import

Hey everyone, I'm a bit busy since I'm studying for A-Levels (god help me). But here are the four Mega CD games I got in the last few weeks.

[img width=500 height=375]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2756/4470233508_8ab954fed1.jpg[/img]

Left to right
Top: Psychic Detective Volume 3: Aya and Theme Park
Bottom: WWF Rage in the Cage and Paws of Fury

There is a Domark title, not a great one, I bet it's no different to a Mega Drive version with the poor quality opening. The odd thing is that the Paws of Fury's front cover, manual and CD are the German release Paws of Fury, but back cover is the European BRUTAL: Paws of Fury. Isn't that strange, I've checked they are both authentic covers, how could that happen? Did the seller swap two cases and forgot to check? To prove my point:


In other news, went to my local carboot Sunday morning and bought this:

[img width=500 height=375]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2735/4469456497_0e23a880ce.jpg[/img]

A SWEET ASS SONIC HELMET!

Amount Paid:
WWF Rage in the Cage 10.75
Theme Park 25
Paws of Fury 20
Psychic Detective Series 3: AYA 0.99



Posted on Mar 28th 2010 at 06:38:31 PM by (bickman2k)
Posted under Finds, comics, art, Hulk

Planet Comicon http://www.planetcomicon.com is in town this weekend. There were plenty of comics, movies, and collectibles to be had as well as many artists showcasing their talent. Here's what we picked up yesterday.

All of my pictures are links because it appears that the links are broken when I try to directly link to them from Picasa. If I get it figured out, I'll get it changed.


Continue reading Planet Comicon 2010



Posted on Mar 23rd 2010 at 04:45:05 PM by (Crabmaster2000)
Posted under Off The Shelf, Banjo Kazooie, Platforming, Adventure, N64, Last One

[img width=656 height=450]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/banjotitle.jpg[/img]




Like many of the games we've played here this one needs very little introduction. Its one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful games released for the N64. Banjo Kazooie plays quite simliar to Super Mario 64, but with a much heavier emphasise on collecting items and battling enemies.

So your fellow rfgenners and I in April to play one of the best games the N64 had to offer!

[img width=320 height=240]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk189/Crabmaster2000/banjoscreenshot.jpg[/img]


IMPORTANT - Because of a general lack of interest and participation this will be the last month we do an Off The Shelf. If your ever looking to have someone to discuss a game with as you play it, and that game is in my collection, feel free to PM me so we can get to it. Thanks for gaming with me these last few months those of you that have. It was fun!!



Posted on Mar 22nd 2010 at 10:37:47 PM by (NES_Rules)
Posted under Treasure Hunt Chronicles, Collecting, Trophies, Treasure, Deals, Finds

It's been a long and cold winter. Four months have passed since I last posted some treasure hunting finds, but I am pleased to announce that the wait is over. The record snowfall that buried most of the country in February has mostly all melted now thanks to a couple of weeks with temps in the 60's and 70's. And that melted snow has shown at least one treasure hiding under it. The warmer temperatures will be getting people into the "spring cleaning" mood, and soon they will be parting with junk they haven't seen in decades. Soon, the garage sales will start to pop up on weekends following the days of unseasonably warm weather and soon enough, flea markets will start opening their gates and the garage sales will be open almost every day of the week.

Fortunately, for me, I've already found a couple treasures this year, without having gone to a single garage sale! Finding my first treasure of the year is a tale of mystery, hard work, more mystery, and a lot of cleaning.


Continue reading Treasure Hunt Chronicles 2010 - #1



Posted on Mar 22nd 2010 at 12:32:20 AM by (cverz2)
Posted under Scores, Craigslist Nintendo NES finds

Well this is a little late, but better late than never huh.

So, 2009 was a very interesting year for me.  I finally got weekends off at work, so I thought that I would be going to alot of yard sales and flea markets.   But unfortunatly that was not the case, as my money was going to other things, and my weekends were spent on having quality time with my wife and kids.   So most of my finds were from craigslist.  And although I didn't have very many scores, most of them were quality scores.

My first score of the year was from Craigslist,  they had a bunch of gameboy and gba games for 3.00 a piece. So here is what I picked up.

Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3  $3.00 apiece

Super Mario Land 1, 2, 3 $3.00 apiece

Super Mario Advance 1 & 2 , Wario Land  $3.00 apiece

Castlevania & Frogger  $3.00 apiece

My second score was actually given to me for free.  He told me to keep what I needed and sell the rest on Ebay for him.  So I kept the CIB games, Controller, and system box. and sold the rest of it for him.

SNES Score FREE

My third score was my best score ever.  A guy posted an ad on craigslist for boxed Nintendo games, he had 88 total games and I got 63 of them.  They were minty fresh and all CIB.   The first 10 I got for 5.00 a piece, the rest were 4.00 a piece.

Mint NES Score. $50.00

$40 CIB Nes games

$40 CIB NES Games

NES Score Minty 2

NES Score Minty

Minty Nes score

Minty Nes score 4 dollars a piece


My next few scores were OK.  Nothing too exciting.  Double Dragon (PC) was at goodwill for I think 3.00.    The three playstation games were 2.00 a piece.

Double Dragon II: The Revenge for PC

2.00 each


My next score came from craigslist, and I was extremely happy to get Chiller CIB.  I got these for 3.00 a piece.

Chiller, Laser Invasion 3.00 each


The next score came from a church rummage sale.  Sealed for 3.00 I think.

Roger Clemens MVP Baseball Sealed


Next was my birthday presents from my wife and 2 toddlers.

Birthday gifts  FREE


My next score came from a pawnshop that I used to frequent.  But don't really go to that part of the metro area anymore.  I think I paid 10.00 total for all three.

Swamp Thing NES, Where's Waldo NES,  FF Tatics  Pawn shop 10.00


Next was a purchase from Tynstar here on RFGeneration.

Duck Hunt, Golf

Gyromite, Pro Wrestling


And last but not least another craigslist ad for a total of 15.00.   I drove late at night into the middle of nowhere to get this lot but it was worth the drive just for the Adventure Island 3 CIB.

$15.00




So like the title said, It was a SLOW but QUALITY or PRODUCTIVE year.  I doubled my CIB NES collection in one year.

2010 has started even slower but I believe I will be hitting more yard sales this year.



Posted on Mar 21st 2010 at 01:06:10 AM by (noiseredux)
Posted under Game Boy, Books

[img width=391 height=600]http://assets2.blurb.com/images/uploads/catalog/16/679116/692873-322be7ee527964d9043c55996c7dd3fa.jpg[/img]

GameSpite Quarterly No. 1: (Game Boy) x (20 Years) = Retrospective

If you are not aware of http://www.gamespite.net, then I suggest you put on your reading glasses, direct your browser in that general direction and set aside a serious amount of time to think about retro-games. It's a fantastic website that offers thoughtful, funny, brainy, and at time brutally honest essays on games of yore. What's even more wonderful is that in the Spring of 2009, GameSpite began a quarterly campaign to compile their website essays into journals that share a common theme. And the premier issue was dedicated to our friend, the Game Boy.

Now in theory, you can read pretty much the entire contents right on the website (save for a handful of the bonus essays that were only included in the more expensive hardcover edition). However, holding this little book in your hand is really something special. You see, this is the first time I've seen a claim to condense the Game Boy's 20 year history into a single tome something of a reality. What makes the book work so well is that it doesn't allow nostalgia to distort the history into something it wasn't. In fact, there are are essays on all of the Game Boy's primary threats and they are completely forthcoming about the Game Boy's hardware inferiority in each case. Likewise, it is not just the "classic" games that are mentioned, nor is it the "overlooked gems"-only; there are chapters about games that we may all remember playing or that seemed important at the time that are total duds.

Each essay is generally short (usually less than 5 pages) and covers a specific topic: be it a game, accessory or competitor. But the book as a whole works both as a brisk primer for those just getting into Game Boy collecting and as a wonderful recollection for those of us that have been interested for the past 20 years.

Games picked apart:

Baseball
Battletoads
Bionic Commando
Castlevania: The Adventure
Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge
Daedalian Opus
Donkey Kong '94
Final Fantasy Adventure
Final Fantasy Legend II
Final Fantasy Legend III
Gargoyle's Quest
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault
Heiankyo Alien
Kid Icarus: Of Myths And Monsters
Kirby's Dream Land
The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Mega Man (series)
Metal Gear Solid
Metroid II
Nemesis
Ninja Gaiden Shadow
Operation C
Picross
Pokemon Red/Blue
Street Fighter II
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins
Tennis
Tetris
Wario Land II


The book also includes essays on the Game Shark and Game Boy Camera as well as competing hardware such as Atari's Lynx, Sega's Game Gear, SNK's Neo Geo Pocket and Bandai's WonderSwan. All in all, it's a fantastic read. Highly recommended.




Posted on Mar 17th 2010 at 10:55:42 AM by (Boshamp)
Posted under Milestones

I knew it would happen eventually, and it is here. Smiley 1,000 unique software titles in my collection! The 1,000th title added was "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time w/Master Quest" for Gamecube, one of the more rare titles I had been looking to add to my collection. Smiley



Posted on Mar 15th 2010 at 01:43:13 AM by (noiseredux)
Posted under Game Boy, Skate Or Die, Konami

[img width=297 height=294]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/8/585898_38715_front.jpg[/img]

One of the main reasons I love collecting Game Boy games is that it gives me an excuse to relive my youth. Truly, many of the games that are highest on my wishlist aren't what you would consider classics. And in some cases they might not even be considered great games. But when you're young and your only source of games is what happens to be in stock the at the toy store the day your parents decide to get you a new one, you learn to love an ordinarily overlooked game because you can either spend some serious time with it, or just do your homework instead.

One such title that fits into this description is the 1990 Konami release Skate Or Die: Bad 'N Rad. This is a title I played the hell out of in my pre-teens based mostly on the merits of the NES Skate Or Die titles, along with the promise of an experience that would be equally bad AND rad -- two very enticing words to adolescents of the the 1990's.

This Game Boy sequel bares very little resemblance to the first NES game. The original game focused more on open-ended skating and the ultimate goal of becoming a skateboarding champion. Or at least shutting up that mohawked jerk at the skate shop. Bad 'N Rad on the other hand plays out like an adventure game. On a skateboard.  You must skate through each level and dodge lots of spikes, rats, thugs, and for some reason people in life rafts with tridents.



Similarly to what Konami did with their Game Boy Contra games, they decided to split up the levels in Bad 'N Rad between sidescrolling levels and overhead levels. This seemingly offers a challenge to gamers that are better than one or the other, which ultimately probably helped make the game last a bit longer. Unfortunately the other thing that made the game last so long was the extreme cheapness of the obstacles! You might land in water and get hit by it twice. Or a rat might run at you from a two pixel buffer zone between you and the end of the screen. And there are a lot of spikes in the town this skater lives in. But none of this really stops the game from being fun. It instead calls for a certain blend of eye-hand coordination along with level memorization which is somewhat similar to the approach that Konami took with their early Castlevania games.

[img width=256 height=144]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/8272/816993-1106408385_00_screen_large.png[/img] [img width=256 height=144]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/8272/816992-1106408344_00_screen_large.png[/img] [img width=256 height=144]http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/8272/816994-1106408425_00_screen_large.png[/img]

Like most of Konami's early releases for Game Boy, they put an awful lot of detail into the graphical details as well as the music. In fact, the music in this game is certainly on par with the original NES release. The sound effects are few, but good when they do pop up. Most importantly the gameplay is stellar. Left and right will make your skater coast appropriately with enough control over speed; A jumps and B crouches which is a great touch when you use it to go through large pipes and other interesting tricks.

Later Konami released a Game Boy sequel titled Tour De Thrash which I never got the chance to play. And though I won't try to say that Bad 'N Rad is a completely unheralded classic, it's certainly classic to my own gaming memories. And it's definitely worth picking up if you happen upon it.



Posted on Mar 12th 2010 at 08:32:11 PM by (bombatomba)
Posted under Clash at Demonhead

Thought I'd try something new:  Write medium length essays (which I love) about things other people might like, but have them be about something I like.  Make sense?  Sorry about the name, though.  Got it caught in my head while I was on the can and couldn't shake it (sorry about the pun, also).

     Whenever a top ten (or twenty) list of all time favorite games is started on the Internet, or during podcasts when gamers talk about gaming innovation, design, or just a fond childhood remembrance, Clash at Demonhead (CaD) is usually mentioned.  Now I'm not calling it revisionist history or anything, but things weren't always like that.
     In the halcyon years of my youth (and yours, no doubt), the NES was the talk of the playgrounds.  Until junior high, video games would be the object of most serious talks, with the NES being at the forefront of many of these discussions.  Strategies for Mario and Zelda were oft debated seriously, with secret tricks and special moves being coveted and closely guarded by their creators.  However, in 1989, there was no talk of CaD.  At this time, the gameplay (what Wikipedia calls an open platformer) was unique.  Castlevania 3, which would become the closest comparison for gameplay was over a year away from release.  The only proof that this game was real consisted of a small (in it even existed) two-sided flap at Toys R Us, and a small preview in Nintendo Power, but when you are sharing shelf (and page) space with games like TMNT and Ninja Gaiden, this effort was not enough to garner much attention.
     As some of you know (the database says , the CaD is a wonderful game, and one of the many elements that made the game so enjoyable was its size.  There were many other games that featured hubs (hubs being screens connected together to form a continuous world, with the ability to traverse backwards or forwards at will), but none that also featured exploratory gameplay elements last featured in Metroid.  Nearly any body of water, lava, or a seemingly bottomless pit contained more screens.  Simply buy a jetpack, scuba gear, or a lava suit from the merchant and you can traverse anywhere.  And that brings about the items.  While there certainly isn't a multitude, there were enough to keep a gamer satisfied throughout the length of the game.  Mix in the afore mentioned suits and jetpack with three different weapons, a shield, power boots (for jumping), a few potions, and three special powers (earned after reaching certain parts of the game) and you have a real winner.  If that wasn't enough, there are tons of enemies, with a larger than average amount of bosses to fight.  The visual style of the game is definitely anime, with many of the enemies giving off a serious Mega Man feel.  The main character, Bang, looks like he was lifted directly from an anime cartoon, and will even shout over his shoulder (at the player, maybe?) if you don't move him constantly.  Really, there is just so much fun here, you even mine for gold at one point.  Well, you shoot the wall, but you still get gold!
     But as in any game there are a few cons.  The first and foremost is that it is not always apparent that you are doing damage to a boss.  Most have hitting animations, but they also sometimes look the same as a weapon having no effect at all.  Also Bang's main weapon fires a small bullet, and since many of the enemies in CaD are moving through the air, timing can sometimes be difficult to hit them.  While the game can be completed very quickly, the real fun lies in exploring every nook and cranny, and that is where the last complaint comes from.  In order to get a password (unfortunately, CaD had no battery), you had to buy a Microrecorder, which is only available to buy in the Shop (though you start off with one).  At the Shop you also have the opportunity to purchase portable Calls, which will summon the Shop should you need it.  So what is the problem, you ask?  There are only a few physical Shop locations in the game, and it is entirely possible for you to be out of microrecorders and in desperate need to leave the game.  While this was a serious problem when we were young (and would have to leave the NES on; a dangerous prospect), it is alleviated some with the popularity of emulation (especially NDS and PSP emulation).  But if you have some moral issues with emulators then...
     In conclusion this is just a great game that every serious platformer fan or retrogamer should play.  If you don't have it then eBay is a viable option (I notice that 4 of you have the game on their wishlist), but maybe you'll find it on a Hunt this year, and then you'll be in for a treat.  With a game as good (and criminally overlooked) as CaD, there is a good chance that you may discover it for the first time, and that is something I think we can all be a little envious of.



Posted on Mar 12th 2010 at 10:39:41 AM by (Chaos Punk sXe)
Posted under set up, gaming

No new toys lately Sad so I thought I'd just post my current gaming set up.
[img width=700 height=525]http://i41.tinypic.com/macghf.jpg[/img]
Not very impressive, I know. It's only temporarey, I don't have any shelves yet, so everything is kinda shmushed together. I keep all the controllers and accessories in the drawers below, the only reason the 64 controllers are out is because me and my friends play ALOT of 64, so I keep it on easy access. The TV only has one HD input, and it only goes up to 480p, it's kinda old. My Wii is hacked, so I can play games off of an external harddrive. I have to use an A/V switcher just to hook up everything, I have 4 systems and a cable box, the TV only has 3 total inputs, one being HD. I'll update when i get to work on my real gaming room.



Posted on Mar 11th 2010 at 10:31:05 AM by (slackur)
Posted under Sony Move, Gaming, PS3, More reasons gamers are single

Slackur, you most certainly didn't ask, what are your opinions of Sony's newly announced (er, named) 'Move' motion controller?

*stares blankly at Dance Dance mats, Wii balance board, Rock Band drum kit, Playstation Eye, Playstation Eyetoy, Gamecube bongos, various plastic guitars, Odyssey 2's The Voice, Virtual Boy, NES Power Pad, Zapper (new and old), various Wii remotes, nunchucks, and classic controllers, Beatmania controllers, Dreamcast mics and keyboards, Taiko drum master, 360 live vision camera, various console mice, SNES Super Scope, Genesis Menacer, Master system 3d glasses, and the Xbox Silent Scope Sniper Rifle literally littering the space between my living room and utility closet*

Eh.  Good for them.  I'll try it after a price drop or on sale. 

Now I'm not a motion control hater, or one of those 'Wii doesn't count as a next generation console' fanboys.  I may hate waggle, but the Wii reintroduced light gun games to the mainstream, one of my favorite genres.  I still enjoy the challenging and competitive simplicity of Wii Sports and Resort.  Raving Rabbids and Wario showed how hilariously fun well done multiplayer party games can be with motion control.  Despite being a port, Okami showed worthwhile gameplay enhancements.  Metroid Prime Trilogy, Dead Space: Extraction, Trauma Center, and Silent Hill used intuitive and immersive controls that helped develop atmosphere.

My vote for the best use of the Wii remote? 

Boom Blox.   An incredibly fun single and multiplayer experience that completely requires Wii's (previously unique) controller.  This critical darling failed at retail, yet it was the best case to me for what Nintendo was going for; experiences unachievable by conventional controller methods, while leveling the playing field so anyone could learn to play with ease.

Not shaking my stupid plastic wand to jump or hit something.

I love my Wii for those exclusive experiences, along with around twenty or so others that don't rely so much on new control methods.  But the Wii has been on the market for several years now, and there are very few games that pull off the requirement of motion control to sell the experience like Boom Blox or even Wii Sports.

The Move has more accuracy, better graphics, and a cool color-changing snowcone controller.  But to what end?  The Wii's biggest fault for me is not the absence of these things (though I'd rather have the rainbow snowcone than better graphics.)  The problem is that the Wii has more proof-of-concepts than new gameplay experiences.  I don't want the same light-gun, pull-the-bow-and-arrow, and steering wheel in space experiences I've done all those many times already.  Prettier pictures and more responsiveness aren't going to justify the presence of another set of sticks my kids think change the TV channel.

Oh, I'll see some games I'll want to play eventually.  Nothing they've shown so far looks very breakthrough to me, but I know I'm a sucker.  I buy everything with the word 'Halo' in it despite knowing exactly what I'm getting; an experience whose core hasn't changed much since Wolfenstein 3D.  I still enjoy them. 

(btw.  When purchasing everything with the word Halo in it, you don't end up with as many religious books as you'd think.  You even end up with some Nine Inch Nails.)

If Sony wants to sell me on its new "forget we shipped without rumble, made fun of you for wanting it, then shipped with it after we settled our lawsuits" technique, they have to show me what new thing they are doing with it.

I actually have to give MS credit here, because the Milo demo showed me a new and interesting direction for motion control (Seaman and Hey You! Pikachu mixed with EyePet through a hype-mode Molyneux filter.)  There are rumors that the protos have lag issues, but even if the final product ships requiring one to douse themselves in molasses so the HAL electronic eyes can keep up , if there is something new to experience beyond popping virtual bubbles and pretend-punching the screen, I'm in.




But if Sony, and later Microsoft with Natal, are going to go anywhere with these newfangled air-guitar imitators, we need to see why we NEED them in the first place.




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
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