Currently playing...

[megamixer]

After finally getting my PS3 working again, I nabbed a bunch of PS1 goodness from the store before they are gone for good or locked behind the new PS5 streaming subcription gumph that I won't be bothering with.

 

Resi 1-3, Wild Arms, Vagrant Story, Grandia, and Front Mission 3...where to start with that lot lol. Obviously I completed the Resi's years ago but I sold my disc copies once they got expensive and fancied playing the originals again.

 

As for the RPGs, I owned them all physically at one point (other than Wild Arms) but - again - I sold them once they became decent money. Nice to have them in the "collection" again even if they are digital.

[Goemon]

Based on the chat in the Megadrive thread I’m currently playing Contra Hard Corps.

 

Man, I don’t know why I waited so long to play this. This is another MD game (like Rocket Knight) that I knew in my head would be ‘good’ but on playing it I’m blown away.

 

It’s another game absolutely bursting with action! There’s so many ideas on display, it’s crazy. The game has 5 different endings depending on the route you take and I feel like this was born out of the fact that they had a tonne of ideas for levels and finales so rather than picking one, they decided to put them all in!

 

EDIT: Took out the part about Treasure as it’s completely untrue!

 

I’ve been right through to the final area on a legit run and have quick saved all the routes for the endings (playing the anniversary collection). The game is tough for sure, but definitely doable with one hit death (although there is some RnG bits where you might feel a bit stiffed). I’m actually keen to play super contra now and see how the difficulty compares as I don’t remember it being easy but no one ever complained about difficulty.

 

So, yea, another game makes it into my top MD games.

 

I thought about this recently and unless you’ve played and finished every game on a system you can’t give a legitimate ‘best’ games on the system. Probably why every YT video I’ve ever watched that does this is always missing something.

[Quest]

59 minutes ago, Goemon said:

Thinking about it, it was such a smart move to have Treasure make a Contra game. All Treasure’s games are over the top, weird aliens, giant robots etc. I like Treasure games but I’m not always 100% sold on the world where they exist, however Contra suits their ideas PERFECTLY, it’s an amazing marriage.

 

Treasure made Hard Corps?

[Goemon]

40 minutes ago, Quest said:

 

Treasure made Hard Corps?

Ah I thought they did…? Have I been grossly misinformed?

[beakbeak]

So contra is 1994 and treasure was set up in 93. Due to treasure being made up of ex Konami staff, there might have been a lot of crossover of ideas, or depending on how long it was in production for, maybe some of the exiting staff did work on contra. 
 

anyway, just goes to show what a loss to gaming Konamis exit from games was. 

 

i also remember reading that gradius V is treasure and that game stinks of treasure too! 

[Camel]

Difference there is that Gradius V is credited as such. 

[Goemon]

Well every day’s a school day. Not sure where I picked that up from…!?

 

I guess it’s based on Treasure consisting of ex Konami employees so the people who worked on this potentially left to join Treasure.

 

The fact that this was straight Konami does show they were a force back in the day. 

[Goemon]

Finished Contra HC!

 

Man, what a rush! Was absolutely buzzing when I beat the last boss. Completed Route B, which is going to the lab and fighting until the end. I think is one of the longer routes but it’s the one I practiced the most.

 

I also went through Contra 3 a couple of times as a comparison. Have to say, I think HC wins, which is something I never thought I’d say. People who think HC is hard due to the one hit death need to go back and play Contra 3. Some bits are SUPER tough and right up there with anything HC throws at you IMO (probably more so TBH) AND you have to play the game on hard to get the ending. 
 

I actually consider the hit points of the JPN version to be quite the anomaly and not sure why they did it TBH.

My negatives on HC are super minor. I think the run along, kill normal enemies sections could have been in a bit more abundance and a minor niggle of the game automatically switching your weapon when you pick a new one up. This can be annoying when you get a drop in a fire fight and all of a sudden you’re firing a different weapon that isn’t giving you what you need and can lead to death.

 

Like I mentioned I played the anniversary collection but now I absolutely need the original MD version for the collection. What a game!

 

[Yasawas]

Well played! I'm actually working backwards through the Anniversary Collection. I was making progress in Hard Corps when I decided I should give Contra III another chance as a warm-up (having previously save-stated my way through it on the SNES Classic) and then enjoyed my initial goes of that enough to say "fuck it, let's try to do them all." So I'm halfway through Contra (NES) 

[Goemon]

1 hour ago, Yasawas said:

Well played! I'm actually working backwards through the Anniversary Collection. I was making progress in Hard Corps when I decided I should give Contra III another chance as a warm-up (having previously save-stated my way through it on the SNES Classic) and then enjoyed my initial goes of that enough to say "fuck it, let's try to do them all." So I'm halfway through Contra (NES) 

Nice! How far did you get on Contra 3?

 

I’ve been playing through the set too. Wasn’t keen on Super Contra Arcade, just felt like it was designed to take your money, your character is so slow and the fighting is really awkward.

[Yasawas]

36 minutes ago, Goemon said:

Nice! How far did you get on Contra 3?

 

 

I only played up to the end of STage 3 I think it was, with the Iron Maiden-esque boss. I was really enjoying it but my natural inclination is to play through series in order so back in time I went!

 

I felt the same about the arcade ones hence skipping them. It's quite sad going back to a lot of older arcade titles as a cynical old man and being able to plainly see the coin-guzzling bullshit they were pulling constantly 

[Goemon]

Coming off the amazing Contra HC, I started playing Gunstar Heroes, which I know is similar.

 

This makes the top of many people’s MD lists so was keen to really get into it. Have to say, I’m struggling a little bit…

 

I think my biggest dislike is the taking damage. You seem to be invincible for a fraction of a second and there’s times where things sit right on top of you (literally) and you get  completely stuck being hit spammed, while all the time you’re just trying to get to safety. I also question some of the reactions you’re expected to have. I know I have old man reactions but I doesn’t stop it getting annoying when you just can’t get out of the way of something in time.

 

This is only some of my initial impressions and I do need to play it more. I do recognise why some people would like it, there’s some great action in there from what I’ve seen  but it generally isn’t long before one of the above things occurs and I’m left feeling salty. The above may get less as I learn more and more how to avoid stuff but I feel the health and damage has been implemented this way as a plaster because they expected this type of thing to happen.

 

Interested to hear from anyone that considers the game to be one of the top games on the system.

[JamesC]

After reading the comic recently, I fancied a little session on Virgin's Robocop vs Terminator on the Megadrive yesterday.

I think this is supposed to follow the story of the comic but it doesn't really. The comic isn't exactly heavy on plot, so it doesn't matter (no one's playing this one for the story anyway).

Gameplay is pretty good - it's sort of a run 'n' gun but as Robocop isn't the most agile protagonist, it's more of a walk 'n' gun with a little bit of jumping. It's all good fun though, with really satifying blasting action. Most enemies splatter into pools of bloody goo as you shoot them and there's a decent variety of weapons to collect. The level design is pretty good too and it actually takes a bit of strategy to get through levels without taking too many hits. There are some shortcuts and secret areas too. The graphics and sound are really good too, with things both looking and sounding suitably chunky. As with many Euorpean developed Megadrive games, there's a definite Amiga vibe to things. I'm sure some of the programmers must have come from that scene.

I'm tempted to try a full playthrough of this. I reckon it should be pretty doable with a bit of practice and memorisation.

 

Incidentally, there's a SNES version of this but it was developed by someone else (still published by Virgin) and is a completely different game that's supposed to be terrible. So if you fancy giving it a go, make sure you choose the MD version.

[beakbeak]

4 hours ago, Goemon said:

Coming off the amazing Contra HC, I started playing Gunstar Heroes, which I know is similar.

 

This makes the top of many people’s MD lists so was keen to really get into it. Have to say, I’m struggling a little bit…

 

I think my biggest dislike is the taking damage. You seem to be invincible for a fraction of a second and there’s times where things sit right on top of you (literally) and you get  completely stuck being hit spammed, while all the time you’re just trying to get to safety. I also question some of the reactions you’re expected to have. I know I have old man reactions but I doesn’t stop it getting annoying when you just can’t get out of the way of something in time.

 

This is only some of my initial impressions and I do need to play it more. I do recognise why some people would like it, there’s some great action in there from what I’ve seen  but it generally isn’t long before one of the above things occurs and I’m left feeling salty. The above may get less as I learn more and more how to avoid stuff but I feel the health and damage has been implemented this way as a plaster because they expected this type of thing to happen.

 

Interested to hear from anyone that considers the game to be one of the top games on the system.

I’ve always felt the same about gunstar heroes. I don’t get it. The controls feel a little wooly (especially after playing HC which is about as tight as you can get). 
i find the energy metre a bit odd too. I know where I stand with being shot and dying. That makes sense to me. 
 

i think as beloved as treasure are, old school Konami were just miles better. Everything they made felt solid and refined.

[JamesC]

It took a while for Gunstar Heroes to click with me but once it did, I absolutely loved it. I was trying to play it like a Contra game, without getting hit, but it's just too hectic for that. i tend to go through levels in a big ruck, with enemies flying all over the place. You can get hit a lot but can usually deal much more damage  than you take and there are plenty of health pick ups. It's the bosses you really have to watch out for, and the bosses are great! 

[beakbeak]

I have been playing the 32x modded version of doom. It’s pretty incredible and light years ahead of the original 32x version.

 

playing doom in 2022, you realise how incredibly ahead of the curve that game was and playing it on the 32x is kind of weirdly awesome too. 

[beakbeak]

1 hour ago, JamesC said:

It took a while for Gunstar Heroes to click with me but once it did, I absolutely loved it. I was trying to play it like a Contra game, without getting hit, but it's just too hectic for that. i tend to go through levels in a big ruck, with enemies flying all over the place. You can get hit a lot but can usually deal much more damage  than you take and there are plenty of health pick ups. It's the bosses you really have to watch out for, and the bosses are great! 

I’ll give it a go and try and reset my contra brain before I embark 

[megamixer]

5 hours ago, JamesC said:

After reading the comic recently, I fancied a little session on Virgin's Robocop vs Terminator on the Megadrive yesterday.

I think this is supposed to follow the story of the comic but it doesn't really. The comic isn't exactly heavy on plot, so it doesn't matter (no one's playing this one for the story anyway).

Gameplay is pretty good - it's sort of a run 'n' gun but as Robocop isn't the most agile protagonist, it's more of a walk 'n' gun with a little bit of jumping. It's all good fun though, with really satifying blasting action. Most enemies splatter into pools of bloody goo as you shoot them and there's a decent variety of weapons to collect. The level design is pretty good too and it actually takes a bit of strategy to get through levels without taking too many hits. There are some shortcuts and secret areas too. The graphics and sound are really good too, with things both looking and sounding suitably chunky. As with many Euorpean developed Megadrive games, there's a definite Amiga vibe to things. I'm sure some of the programmers must have come from that scene.

I'm tempted to try a full playthrough of this. I reckon it should be pretty doable with a bit of practice and memorisation.

 

Incidentally, there's a SNES version of this but it was developed by someone else (still published by Virgin) and is a completely different game that's supposed to be terrible. So if you fancy giving it a go, make sure you choose the MD version.

I used to really enjoy this on the MD. Spent ages learning the game and trying to beat it but that last stage always crushed me (I think it was the last one anyway - basically a nasty gauntlet of terminators and countless other hazards).

 

Used to love getting the ED-209 gun!

[JamesC]

Robocop 2 always costs me a few lives. I have to find a way of beating him without getting it. 

[Yasawas]

22 hours ago, Goemon said:

Coming off the amazing Contra HC, I started playing Gunstar Heroes, which I know is similar.

 

This makes the top of many people’s MD lists so was keen to really get into it. Have to say, I’m struggling a little bit…

 

Funnily enough my recent Contra reawakening was off the back of another attempt to love this, and failing. I like it, I like Treasure, but I agree with the above criticism. It's good fun but no classic for me. I also love the board game level which everyone else seems to moan about, I'm a proper outlier 

 

I'm into SD F1 Grand Prix (SNES) a bit at the moment. I forget who receommended it on this forum years ago but it's still the only mention I've seen of it anywhere and I'm still surprised at how under the radar it seems to be. So much fun, and the sheer oddness of it being licensed and yet adapting the drivers to be cute animals instead still baffles and delights in a very 90s Japanese game way.

 

Also started Land of Illusion after finding my modded 3DS again. My dad had a Game Gear but I've never played one since - it's a library I've never looked into beyond the obvious games he had (Sonic, Castle of Illusion, Lemmings I think) and this seemed like a safe starting point.

[rafaqat]

Playing Zelda A Link To the Past via Wii U.   I never completed it on the SNES.   I've loved it right up until I got to the Moldorm boss.  Kept getting knocked off the platform and having to restart. You have to hit his tail 6 times.  Was stuck on that for weeks. Finally managed to kill him last night.  Onwards to get the master sword!

[Sprite Machine]

Terranigma (SNES). The last of the big SNES era RPGs that I've wanted to play for years. After bouncing hard off Trials of Mana, I'm hoping this is more enjoyable.

 

Late 1996 / early '97 PAL release, blimey!

[Alexlotl]

I remember going into the big London Hamleys in the late 1990s, after the point when I had already played Terranigma on Snes9x or ZSNES, and seeing that they had tens of copies of it sitting in a neglected corner of their games section at £60 each, which is presumably what it cost new.

 

The whole Soul Blazer trilogy is pretty great, although the bit in Illusion of Gaia where

Spoiler

the girl's pet pig sacrifices itself on a fire to prevent the party being eaten by cannibals, then turns out to contain the soul of her dead mother

is the most hilariously misguided attempt at pathos in video gaming, up there with the dissolving granny scene in Dante's Peak.

[megamixer]

Tried Mindjack (PS3). I know it isn't retro but it also seems too old to be brought up in the main Discussion, let alone have a topic created for it.

 

Bloody hell, what a load of depressing, boring bollocks. Horrible to look at and brain-numbing to play. The fact that you can just ignore all of the game's hacking to just headshot everybody with the default handgun is one thing. Another is that the game is essentially just rooms/enclosed spaces that need clearing out. No variety, no exploration, no secrets/collectables - nothing.

 

Poor, poor game. I gave it a few hours (sure that there HAD to be more than just shoot-outs connected by corridors) but no. Well and truly binned.

[spanky debrest]

Finally at the point where I can consistently complete Double Dragon Advance on Normal using only a couple of credits (via the GameCube Game Boy Player), and am waiting for a 3D printed fan shroud to arrive so I can put a silent fan there at the same time as installing that new Picoboot modchip. 

 

I actually hate the shitty performance of the GBP but I can adjust to huge input lag okay with brawlers, so a magnificent game like DDA is still a lot of fun but obviously once the GC is modded I'll be rocking the lower-lag Game Boy Interface software and things will be better.

 

So anyway, after many many years, it was finally time for Final Fight CD. 

 

I'd been putting off a proper playthrough of this game because despite nostalgia for the arcade cabinet and rinsing the okay SNES port back in the day it's never exactly been a favourite brawler of mine, even when it was new, despite it being an instant genre defining classic and template for most that followed.

 

I was surprised to eventually make it to the final stage (Uptown), but didn't last too long there, playing as Cody because of his ability to punch thrown knives out of the air. Took me all available 4 credits though, and a few close scrapes with death averted by BBQ Steaks. 

 

Two sections really were cheap though, and I was dreading them: The level with flames rising put of the floor, and Rolento's spraying of grenades with unpredictable movement patterns while darting about invincibly. I think I lost probably two thirds of my entire stock of lives just on those sections. I mean, would it have been so bad to tone those bits down considering there's no credit-feeding here in this home port..? There's obviously a trick or two with these bits that I didn't work out during my session but still, they do take the shine off for me.

 

The only other section that was a bit OTT was fighting Abigail, because he can grab you from a hell of a distance and remove a third of your life bar instantly with a throw.. something easily done when regular enemies keep getting added the fight.

 

Not sure if I'm done with Final Fight CD yet. Legendary game and brilliant port but its rougher sections are rough.

 

Thinking of possibly giving that Atomiswave to Dreamcast conversion 'Demolish Fist' a proper spin, as that only received a little but super enjoyable test go when it was newly released.

[megamixer]

Been playing G-Darius via the Switch port. Interestingly, an update adds in Ver.2 and "For Consumer" (Japanese Playstation port) for free which was pretty cool.

 

I am absolutely woeful at shmups so infinite credits are always a god-send. First stage of G-Darius I am decent with but beyond there, it all goes to shit. I genuinely don't understand how you are supposed to slip through the multitude of different bullets, lasers, and missiles all being spewed out at once by the bosses in particular. Maybe I'm just getting old...

 

The thing with Darius games though is that I love them for the haunting music, and the amazing mecha fish boss designs. It makes the suffering worthwhile.

 

Darius Gaiden is my favourite in the series. Burst on the PSP was amazing and a bit easier I thought.

[bumclasshero]

I've been playing Virtua Tennis on the Dreamcast again with a mate on Saturday evenings. It's still ridiculously playable, you can get some epic rallies going. Graphically it still looks really nice for a 22 year old game, except for the player faces. My word, zombie Tim Henman, Yikes.

[churchhawk]

I've been playing Donkey Kong on the Gameboy ( well my RG351V )

 

I cant believe I've never played this before, think I've skipped it thinking it was just the old Donkey Kong game, but this has lots of levels/maps bonus games, reminds me a bit of Mario V Donkey Kong on the GBA.

 

Looks good as well for a Gameboy game, I'm really enjoying it. 

[Camel]

Mario vs Donkey Kong is the sequel.

[Isaac Azimuth]

MW ULTRA on the CBM64.  I have clocked up just over 8 hours play so far.

https://www.protovision.games/games/mwultra.php?language=en

YouTube