Incline Revisiting Old Games (Again)

[Falksi]

Actraiser - SNES

Well we started the thread with it's toss sequel, so let's head back to this bad boy and see if it's as glorious as I remember.

Yes, fuck YES. Jesus Christ this was when gaming was good, what an absolute masterpiece of gaming design. Where to start? Everything about the game is just fucking brilliant. A superb blend of action & RPG elements fuse together wonderfully to make a lush experience.

Don't get me wrong, it's simple. Both the platforming & creation sections are very consoley/arcadey, and the RPG elements are smatterings at best. But it just works SO well that it doesn't require any extra depth. The platforming sections are way more challenging than the creation ones, but it's all balanced & paced great to work well together, and moves at this sweet fast-but-considered speed.

The music, ye gads that fucking booming music. It's sex wee straight in the ears. The graphics, just rich, lush environments full of variety & splendour. The level design is awesome, learning as you go but never so unfair that you can't stop & try & guess what's coming. There's even the odd section where you can choose to travel a different route, and plenty of secrets.

The boss fights are full of character & individuality, the challenge needs you to be precise in execution of your moves and the gameplay is weighted in such a way to allow that but also punish you if you fail (not quite Dark Souls, but hints of that philosophy). The whole package is a mastercrafted bit of gaming history.

This is the type of game which you enjoy playing so much it makes you hold a shit in for hours until you simply cannot hold it in any longer.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Go replay Warhammer Dark Omen it is one of greatest games from the past, and stop saying Fallout 3 is better than Fallout 2 please young man, it's not. Fallout 1 & 2 belong to sacred hall of everlasting incline and contain's best moments of gaming life of milions of players , including me, who are struggling now with their prostate, circulation, joints pain , overweight, smoking , work, families, etc. You are too young or belong to another universe where great games will never be understood. Replaying old games is not the same as playing them when they were just released and you still was living with your parents and going to school.

 

[Falksi]

Burning Force - Megadrive

After the wonderful Actraiser playthrough, I decided to go for something I'd not played before. So here we have Burning Force, a clear Space Harrier rip off that I had heard of in the day, but never got around to playing as I was a bit of a Space Harrier fanboy, and this looked a bit shit anyway.

Well, looks can be deceiving, but in this case, they weren't. Burning Force is indeed shit. Now it's not woeful or unplayable by any means, it does a fair few things right, notably giving you some variety by switching between a grounded, speed controlled bike and a spaceship which allows you to fly.

But the problems start with the fact that, like Space Harrier, everything's just a bit too samey. Yeah the enemies all look at bit different, but nothing really forces you to change your approach. Which is odd, because theoretically it should. However the main problem is that it's just a bit of a mess. The enemies are choppy and seem to jump all over the screen, you're lucky if you see enemy bullets half the time, and yet it still remains easy & un-engaging.

It's like a someone's taken Space Harrier, had 10pints of ale, & then traced over it whilst trying to have a wank with the other hand. Poor.

 

[Pablosdog]

what the fuck even is this thread lol

 

[Falksi]

what the fuck even is this thread lol

It's mostly me posting bollocks about how I feel playing old games now. Feel free to join in.

 

[Chaosdwarft]

Well thank you for reminding me to play some SNES classics (although my backlog of PC Games is still pretty huge) that I never got to experience. Any other good pre-N64 games I should play on an emulator?

Cheers!

 

[Falksi]

Well thank you for reminding me to play some SNES classics (although my backlog of PC Games is still pretty huge) that I never got to experience. Any other good pre-N64 games I should play on an emulator?

Cheers!

Plenty chap, plenty. Swat this thread on your "watched" list and I'll keep updating it. I'm pretty housebound and working from home at the mo, so will be going through as many old games as I can time allowing. SNES & Megadrive seem to have naturally featured more simply because that was really my "boom" era of gaming, and their just so quick & easy to jump in & out of around real life. I suffer from numerous health issues too, so they're perfect for me playing for 10-20min, then having a lie down if I need to etc.

Plus the rest of the site has the PC stuff well covered. How many millions of threads can you read about Baldurs Gate in? So no real point me posting too much stuff about owt that well known (I did the Fallout 2 one because it was alternate to most opinions)

 

[Falksi]

Street Fighter 2 Turbo - SNES

Now if ever a game influenced my life as a whole, this was the one. It's impact on my social circles as a kid was umongi. Aged 12 it became THE game to play, and me & my mates would all pile down to the Cashade in Mansfield to await our turn against the 16-18 year old "king gamers" who you couldn't get off the fucking thing. It was mint, not only were you fighting them on screen, but very often that spilled over into real life with regular dead arms & elbows being dished out as you played. Half the fun was winding the fuck out of the older kids when you managed to get topside of them. Our entire social routine changed because of this game.

Anyway, when this bad boy came to the SNES it was game on. The bigger lads at the arcade hogged the machine as much as possible, but now us kids who couldn't get on it as much could practice our asses off at home to kick their's in the arcade. And we did. The second this came out on import I begged, borrowed & stole to raise the £68 needed to purchase it on release day. When it arrived I faked illness so I could have the week off school, and sharpen my skills big time. Into that week went a boy, from it emerged a Street Fighting man ready to conquer the world. OK, so maybe not, but I did dish out some good beatings amongst the locals.

Going back to it now it's still good. It's great to play a Street Fighter game without the bullshit gimmicky power bar, and with the more weighty, deliberate feel. Fights are way more tit for tat than on some of the modern games, and they feel way more volatile too. Kicks & punches really connect and feel crunchy, and that core gameplay which so many sequels have been built upon still holds strong today.

However, it does feel a bit basic & slow compared to some of the more modern versions too. Back then I remember thinking how many different moves & options I had. Now it feels as if I employ the same 3 or 4 tactics in most fights. The controls are also a tad too unforgiving at times with the special moves. Not by much, but timing does have to be spot on.

To say this is so old it's aged incredibly well, and wouldn't feel out of place if modern day arcades still existed, as it still has those core explosive & exciting elements which make that arcade experience. Sadly though, it has definitely been bettered and, even though you can enjoy playing it, you can't help getting the urge to play a more modern incarnation at some points too.

 

[Falksi]

Alcahest - SNES

Never played this before. One of those RPGs that never made it to these shores, it's now had a translation and so time to give it a go.

On initially playing I thought this was gonna be brilliant. It's so easy to pick up, and combat feels very satisfy. There's companions straight from the off, good graphics, and it's tightly woven.

But withing an hour or so it soon becomes chore-like. The main problem being that enemies respawn constantly, and so when you're exploring it starts to feel as if it's taking you ages to just do basics like look around a room. Some enemies can take 7 or 8 hits to kill, then within a few steps they re-appear. It REALLY drags things down.

The dungeons are fairly repetitive too, all very basic in terms of visuals & content. You pickup items to progress, but you don't actually "use" them, they just stay in your inventory and just change a condition.

So I wouldn't really bother with it tbh. You might want to try it to see if you can bare with it's flaws, but I couldn't and it soon got binned off.

 

[Falksi]

Another World - Amiga

Ah, a 90's look into the future.

Cinematic games are a weird breed aren't they? Another World is probably one of the better ones out there but, no matter how many I play, I just can't shake that feeling of the game playing itself.

Sure you action the actions, and to be fair to Another World there is a certain room for variance in there too. But the railroaded trial & error nature of the game soon becomes tiresome, and even though the nostalgic aesthetics are charming, I got fed up around 2/3rds of the way through and left it to gather dust.

Worth checking out if you like that type of game & have fond memories of it, it's a cinematic game done well, but not for me.

 

[Falksi]

Alien 3 - SNES

In an era full of high octane arcade thrills & spills, and deep, substance-full cRPGs, we get Alien 3 - a game WAY ahead of it's time in that it has neither the excitement of the popamole games, nor the depth of the old era either.

See it plays steady enough, and the 8 way directional shooting is cool, but the actual game itself is as dull as shagging an unsalted bag of chips. Most of the time is spent walking, the aliens are more of an annoyance than a threat, and even then it's usually easier just to jump over them than shoot them (esp as it's a game with respawns & ammo). By the time you've done a handful of missions you've done them all, and once the novelty of the Alien vibe has worn off there's little else to enjoy.

Not an unplayable game by any means, but it grows tedious quickly, and is soon forgotten.

 

[Falksi]

Alien 3 - Megadrive

After playing the SNES version I had an Alien itch to scratch, so jumped back to the Megadrive and played that one.

Meh. S'Ok. Better than the SNES one for sure. Get's a real nice balance of tension going between the timer, the ammo, the alien placements & level layouts. Killing the aliens feel very satisfying, pulse rifle in particular, they have that spot on. Way more colourful & interesting vibe than the Snes one too.

Where it slips up is having the aliens often charge at you from out the screen, so - depending on where you are placed - they're often unavoidable. Again, depending on where you're placed, it can also be quite awkward to shoot them too.

Success more or less boils down to trial & error, & memorizing where everything is. No bad thing in itself, but it rarely deviates from that, and soon gets a bit tedious. Similarly to the SNES version, level after level of the same rigmarole doesn't help matters either.

Still, worth a go, especially for those into the franchize. Many a worse game Alien out there.

 

[Falksi]

Batman Returns - SNES

Interesting little game this. One I remember liking, but strangely enough I don't remember that much about it, nor actually playing that much either.

Turns out there's a reason why. It's one of those games which gets the simplicity & playability spot on, but once you've seen it all, you've seen it all. And that point hits around halfway through the game. There's enough to carry you through until the end, but it does feel like one of those games which blows it's load then you need to sleep it off.

It's strengths lie in the faithfulness to the movie & enemy variety. There's lots of quotes, scenes, and characters featured in the movie incorporated here, and each bad guy attacks (and can often be disposed of) in ways more unique than you'll find in most beat 'em ups. The action switches from traditional BEU 8-way affair, to a slightly Castlevania-esq side scrolling section with platform elements. And it works well. There's even 1 level where you drive the Batmobile. It's pretty shit, but it's something different at least. Sadly, it's boss fights are a bit lacking and that repetition soon sets in once you have the enemy attack patterns down.

It's definitely worth a go, and if someone were to say to me "I think it's ace!" I can see plenty to like and why they might think that. But I won't be returning to it any time soon.

 

[Falksi]

Alien Soldier - Megadrive

Hailed by many as an underrated, under appreciated 16-bit gem I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. Had a few blasts at it before, but never really tried to put any real effort or time into it, so lets give it another go.

Firstly, fuckinghell, what an absolute bollocks intro. You're ears are bombarded with awful music, and the biggest, nonsensical blurb to scroll up a screen since the Phantom Menace's opening crawl. Not a good start.

Then it comes to playing it. It doesn't get any better. In fact it embodies the start of decline as we know it. See it's all flashy & loud & explosive, which is great, but it plays like fucking shit. The introduction of ammunition for a game of this ilk is a bad choice alone, but the controls to switch between weapons is stupidly over-fiddly. You have to stand there and cycle through your choices until you get the one you want. Not only does this feel counter-intuitive, but it roots you to the spot defenseless whilst enemies still attack.

There's rarely room to maneuver, so you constantly rely on a move which zips you across screen. Again, great to look at, but saps a lot of fun out the game because it's no longer about you avoiding enemies, instead it's about just spamming this move. And the game is structured so that it's a constant wave of boss fights, which may appeal to some, but to me it totally devalued them as the game felt saturated with them.

No idea what the fuss is about, probably one of the worst shooters I've played on the system. Total bag of wank. Gets a point for the graphics and meaty sound effects.

 

[Falksi]

Biometal - SNES

I distinctly remember the first time I played this. Round a mates house he had a SNES game copier called a "UFO", and this was one of the first games I tried on it. Smashed me like a ton of bricks in the face, I had no idea that you had a shield which could protect against bullets, and instead played through dodging everything. What a rush. Probably the best I've ever played a game first off as I somehow managed to dodge almost everything and complete the first level losing only 1 life. If you've played this, you'll know that's no mean feat. So returning to it know I braced for impact and fuck me that first level. What an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, head first dive into bullet hell.

It's your standard side scrolling shooter fair in terms of gameplay & power ups, but it adds several extra elements. Firstly, it is bullet hell, and I mean absolute bullet hell. Barely any room to breath and the regular screen slowdown is often welcome. But you're also given a shield to help out here, and said shield can be used in several different way as a weapon (launched at the enemy, spread round as a mini smart "bomb", or just used to smash into things). It's surprising just how much extra depth & fun this adds, but it really does. You're forever weighing up the pros & cons of turning your shield on/off to reserve it's charge, and it makes for some very tense moments. But it's also done incredibly well, so that you can still focus on the action too. Brilliant stuff.

And let's get to the music. The European version actually feature the totally wank 2-Unlimited "No Limit" track, which I find utterly bizarre as the original music is fucking stunning. Very atomospheric stuff. So if you get the opportunity play the Jap version.

Anyway, the enemies are cool with some very unique HR-Giger esq designs, as is are the level deigns themselves, the boss fights nice enough, and overall it's a mint little package. It does lack a tiny bit of variance in terms of backdrop graphics, and there's more "crunchy" shoot em ups out there, but it's still a hell of a blast.

I personally love it, but it won't be for everyone as it can be frustratingly hard at times.

 

[Falksi]

Alisa Dragoon - Megadrive

This one I talked a mate of mine with big tits into buying coz I didn't have the cash to get it at the time, & she was after a new game. She hated it, so I borrowed it off her for about 2 years.

It's a departure from most games of this ilk as you don't direct you're weapon, instead it targets automatically. You're also supported by several different breeds of dragons, each with their own specialty, so there's a very slight tactical element to it too. In fact, when it all comes down to it the game is more about surviving than killing, and said survival is hugely dependent on locating power ups too. I once played through to Stage 3 without boosting my lightening attack, and everything to an AGE to kill. Exploration is the most important element of getting through this.

It's weird. A very strange mish-mash of genres with odd enemy setups, and an absolute ton of instances where you're caught blind. What's really fucking annoying about the game is how the enemies appear out of nowhere all the time. It just doesn't feel right. And the sound FX are very weak, often leaving it unclear if you're getting hit or not.

The whole thing is an "acquired taste" that's for sure. It's not bad, it's just not satisfying or particularly fun either. I guess it's a thinking man's "shooter", but the blend of elements it has just doesn't work for me.

 

[Lilura]

I'm nostalgic for Another World on the Amiga, but I have to admit it's a shit game.

Prince of Persia and Flashback had much better game-play.

 

[Falksi]

I'm nostalgic for Another World on the Amiga, but I have to admit it's a shit game.

Prince of Persia and Flashback had much better game-play.

Aye, agreed. Funnily enough I'm just playing through Interplay's Blackthorne now too.

 

[Falksi]

Blackthorne - PC/SNES/MEGADRIVE

Another Interplay "adventure" game, Blackthorne refines & futurizes Prince of Persia to create it's own little action-adventure romp, full of long haired men playing with their tools in murky caves. Over in Prince of Persia it's sunny & spicy, whilst back in Blackthorne it's dark & moody.

One of those games which should be brilliant, but is only OK. It does almost everything right. It controls well, the levels are layed out well, it's combat is fairly fun, it's interesting from an aesthetic & story perspective, and it's got loads going for it. The difficulty curve is spot on, and each level just gets that little bit trickier than the next. A potential classic in the making.

But it's fundamental flaw lies in the fact that it's 17 levels of the same thing over & over & over. Yes it forces you to think differently as the game progresses, but I got to around level 8 when I started thinking "fuckinghell, this is getting a bit samey".

Sometimes you just need a break of pace, and I was craving for that around half way through. It's a good game, and if someone were to say to me "fucking hell Falksi you soft twat, it's brilliant!" I would totally get where they're coming from. But for me it's just OK.

 

[DalekFlay]

Not saying this in a mean way at all, but are you on the right forum for spending all your time playing retro console games? I feel like there are places that would much more enjoy these posts. Maybe you're copying and pasting though.

 

[Swigen]

I think it’s a good thread. I grew up with Genesis and all this is pretty nostalgic for me. Just haven’t contributed ‘cause there are so many other gaems I gotta play before revisiting old ones. Sheeeeiiit, even Lilura posted in it without saying something like “Console trash for shit-tier retards, enablers of decline etc. etc..” , if that’s not a codex seal of approval I don’t know what is.

 

[Falksi]

Not saying this in a mean way at all, but are you on the right forum for spending all your time playing retro console games? I feel like there are places that would much more enjoy these posts. Maybe you're copying and pasting though.

It's a fair point point mate, no offence taken at all

Originally I intended to play a lot more PC games, but my health's not great at the mo and I'm finding the pick up & play nature of the console games much easier to manage, having a 30-60min blast a day. Plus PC games are covered massively on here. It's a brill place with brill taste, but the same old games get recycled day in day out in various threads (Fallout, Jagged Allience, BG etc.) So I thought it'd make sense to do a thread from another angle. And finally I also want to leave space for others to chuck in if they feel the need to as well, which leaves more PC games out there for others to have their say about.

Also, even though this is primarily a PC place, I come here for the banter & humour. I'm definitely not a casual gamer, but out of all the Codex posters I will be one of the most casual. But that doesn't stop it from being a funny as fuck forum where, and this is the thing I like the most, you can speak your mind. This forum is like the world used to be and should be. I can be racist, I can be sexist, I can post filth, I can talk about violence, I can be honest. I wouldn't have got the "Falksi's Mom" review at the start of the thread anywhere else. That to me is magic and I feel at one with the universe here. So, even though it's not a console place, it's just a place I enjoy posting. I hadn't put these thoughts anywhere else, but I might. Good suggestion.

If folk just ignore the posts fine, I'm not looking to be in any spotlight, I'm just enjoying expressing my thoughts about a few old games

 

[DalekFlay]

I'm here for the free expression as well, along with my RPG focus, so brofist for that. I also like modern games more than most people here. I just like being in a place where I can tell people to fuck off, really.

 

[Falksi]

I'm here for the free expression as well, along with my RPG focus, so brofist for that. I also like modern games more than most people here. I just like being in a place where I can tell people to fuck off, really.

Especially if they're black

 

[rusty_shackleford]

play Lagoon next
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagoon_(video_game)