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Post by Fickle81 on Dec 31, 2007 19:16:56 GMT -5
SURPRISE BONUS SIDESCROLLER ENTRY!Metal StormPublisher:Irem Platform:NES Release Date:February 1991Yes,this is the game that was taken out back when the idea for the event was a sexilogy before it became a quintilogy. Picture this:You're the Japanese video game developer and publisher known as Irem in September of 1987 (American date). You've just licensed and released what will become one of the most unfuckingplayable games in existence for the NES (thankfully it's not that well known). What game you might ask? Spelunker is the name of this game,and its fucking godawful (however,unbelievably,it has fans! Bunch of fucking idiots)...but thats not where it ends. You've now also just licensed and released what will become one of the most infamously well known bad games of all time on the NES in the same month and year (American date). What game might THIS be? Yep...Deadly Towers. So far,as far as the NES is concerned,your track record ain't lookin too good. Sure you released R-Type in the arcades in the same year,but thats not the NES now is it? No,it will take till 1991 for you to finally deliver something good and worthwhile on the NES,which you thankfully decide to develop and publish yourself... This is Metal Storm...the one good game Irem delivered on the NES. Unfortunatly however,you won't get the prase you deserve for it because it will become very obscure near instantly...which is unfortunate,because quite frankly,it's actually a very innovative game. Here is the storyline according to a Gamefaqs FAQ of it: www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/587450/31571However,unlike Shatterhand and Whomp Em,the game itself doesn't even offer up an ambiguous cutscene or sequence,so once again,theres really no room for disappointment in how the storyline develops. Ok,so this is the game. Basically you're going around as this mech in a sidescrolling platformer setting,shooting and killing enemies while trying to get to the end of the level where you'll fight a boss. In addition to shooting left or right like normal depending on where you're facing,you can also shoot up while holding the up button on the D pad. When you hold down the down button on the D pad,you duck...however,rather than simply shooting across while ducking,you'll shoot directly down. At first this seems really retarded as you can't simply duck on a higher platform in order to take out an enemy thats right below you,but later on you'll realise why they made it this way. Now I said this game was innovative,and now I've reached the point in which I'm gonna cover that. This game has a mechanic that allows you to change the gravity of the stage at will,making you able to walk upside down. At this moment you're probably thinking that thats nothing new,seeing as how one of the games I covered in the quintilogy did this,not to mention another certain well known game... Well allow me to set the record straight about a couple of things. As far as Shatterhand goes,they both came out in the same year,but Metal Storm came out a lot earlier (February of 91 to be exact)...and besides,Shatterhand only allows you to do it in 2 levels and only at certain parts of said levels and not whenever you want like this game. As for MC Kids,it didn't come out in the US till 1992 (granted,it came out in Europe in 91,but again,Metal Storm came out very early in the year so it probably predates this as well)...and again,you have to do something special in certain parts of the levels to be able to walk upside down. And on top of all of this,when you change gravity in Metal Storm,many other things change as well...such as enemies being able to walk on the cieling/ground as well,not to mention certain enemy patterns (I'll cover that a little later). Not to mention that you sometimes NEED to use the gravity shift in order to progress through certain levels (I'll cover that in a moment as well) So yea,this game should get the credit for being the first in which you can mess with the gravity of the levels to be able to platform upside down,not to mention the pratical puzzle solving applications this mechanic serves. Even with the ability to change gravity however,I'll tell you right now...this game is HARD AS FUCK! I'll go into greater detail why in a moment,but one of the reasons for this is due to the fact that under normal circumstances,one hit kills you. Thats one thing in this game that I have a problem with...I mean cmon,you're in a fucking mech that weighs over a ton,and you can die by one hit?! Anyways,during the game you'll come across different powerups that will somewhat help you out (though barely). Probably the most important is the armor powerup,which allows you to take one free hit without dying...unfortunatly,even if you pick up one when you already picked up another and hadn't taken any hits,you still only get one hit. Another really important item is the power beam,which greatly increases your weapon's strengh. You can also pick up a sheild,which personally,I think isn't really worth a fuck. Finally,you can also pick up a powerup called the "gravity fireball" which I must say is pretty cool indeed. It changes your normal gravity change flip into a damaging weapon... However,unfortunatly,therein lies another flaw. The game is really screwy with the item system. For example,lets say you pick up the power beam...then later on in the level,you pick up the gravity fireball. It sure would be nice to have increased shot power as well as making your gravity switch move a weapon itself,right? Well,in this game that is a pipe dream...cause when you pick up that gravity fireball,you LOSE the power beam. I guess this is the game's way of balancing things out,but cmon...the game is already hard enough,throw me a fuckin bone here! I suppose this is also done for strategic purposes,but still it's fucking annoying. So overall,the first level is pretty easy. At least the game gives you a free level to learn the mechanics of the game and get your barrings. The first boss is pretty easy to,but don't underestimate it cause it CAN and WILL kill you if you're not careful... I should tell you at this point that pretty much every level in the game has at least 2 stages to it (not including boss fights). Anyways,level 2 is definatly a little harder and can be tricky if you don't know what to expect,but still bareable compared with whats in store for you later. This is also the first instance where you'll encounter parts where you need to use the gravity switch in order to make your way past an obsticle in order to progress through the level... And just so you know,if you touch those moving platforms while they're going down or up,your ass is dead. Part of why this game is so tough,aside from the fact that it only takes one hit to kill you,is the level designs are quite brutal (trust me,you're gonna know all too well what I mean here in a minute). So then you come up to the second level boss. Definatly a lot harder than the first level boss. All of those heads will shoot this long ass energy beam that you can only avoid by jumping up to the above platform...and as you can see,it starts you off right in front of one of these heads,so you gotta kill it immediatly. This fight is all about proper timing and VERY LIGHT jumping,cause if you press that jump button the tiniest bit too hard,you'll wind up on the above platform face to face with one of those things,and it will likely kill you. The gravity switch is useless here,so don't bother using it. If you manage to beat that,level 3 is officially where the game stops fucking around... Yes,those cars on the track that come towards you constintly will kill you if they touch you,and there are moments where you won't have a choice but to be right in their direct path. However,thankfully you can destroy them by shooting them. This is also a level where you're gonna have to make calculated use of the gravity switch because it will get to the point where pretty much all of the ground level will be nothing but spikes,which will destroy you instantly. If you are able to get past that,it's another moderatly challenging boss right. Just like with the level 2 boss,this battle is all about proper timing. Those 2 blue things surrounding the boss act as shields that will deflect your shots (and if you touch em,you die). The boss will only stay in one spot for a brief amount of time before moving to where you are. On top of this,you have those blue laser beams that go up and across constintly,creating a very small window in which to manuever through in order to get to the other side or onto the ceiling when the boss is moving towards you. So if you manage to beat that,level 4 is where the fun REALLY begins... This is without a doubt the most tediously difficult level in the entire game (as hard as the last level is,I'd say this is even harder). You're enclosed in this small square space that acts like an elevator,with many different enemies and obsticles bombarding down on your ass like no tomorrow,and some of them can't even be destroyed (like those green orbs in the picture above). And if it wasn't hard enough,this is the only level in the game that has a sub boss (which I won't show) AS WELL AS an end boss. Thankfully though,this boss is actually pretty easy compared to the bosses of levels 2 and 3 if you know exactly what to do. Just take out the bottom laser blaster immediatly,then the top right afterwards. After that,the floaty red bot is a piece of cake. Now it's onto level 5,which thankfully takes it a bit easier on you,but not by much. Those 2 green things you see in the pic,pointed up and down respectivly,fire laser beams in timed bursts,so you have to wait until they cease before you can destroy them. You'll encounter a bunch of these things during this level,some of them are so bunched together that it can be tricky to avoid their laser blasts. And as you can also see in the pic above,you've also got this large blue wave of energy barring down on you from behind. On top of all this,theres a section in the level where you'll encounter these little flying kamikaze ships,that appear to be really harmless and avoidable...untill they die and leave this long pulsar wave in its wake that can come at you from any direction,depending on where it crashes. What comes after all this? You guessed it...a boss fight. This is probably the toughest boss fight up to this point (although,not the toughest...thats level 6's boss,which I'll cover in a sec). This particular boss has 3 seperate forms (which,unlike the Magic Forest boss from Whomp Em,I'm not gonna show all 3). What you're looking at is its first form,which will fire a pair of diagonal lasers that will bounce of the ceiling and the ground. Out of all the projectiles this boss throws at you,these are probably the hardest to avoid. Then once it makes a couple of rounds up and down the screen,it will change to a red form,which once again fires a pair of small laser beams...except one of them swerves downwards when it's directly above you to try to hit wherever you're standing while the other heads up at the point that it's directly above you. Then after a certain amount of time,it will switch to its third green form,which will fire off long vertical energy waves that can also be difficult fo avoid if your timing sucks. After you've dealt the boss enough damage,it will begin to switch between the 3 forms constintly after fireing only one of the form's respective projectiles,and this is where things can get a little hectic. But if your timing skills are well oiled and refined to a point,you shouldn't have too much trouble with it. So then its onto level 6,which is an interesting level indeed... ...Interesting enough to almost induce vertigo sickness. Yea,things can get a tad confusing here due to not knowing which way is up or down. And as you can see from the image,the firing patterns of those fire blasters change when you switch gravity,but don't think that just because they aren't spewing fire that you're safe from them,cause you can just as easily change gravity at the wrong time and run right into one of them,which will damage or flat ot kill you. In addition to these blasters,you also have to contend with mounted guns firing at you,but thankfully unlike the fire blasters,they can be destroyed...and if you happen to make it through the level without feeling woozy,get ready for the most tediously difficult boss fight in the entire game... No,your eyes are not decieving you. Those constintly moving platforms ARE INDEED the boss of the 6th level. Why is this boss so difficult? Well,you see those white orange red energy waves at the top and bottom? Yea,those kill you...and as you can see from the top platform,they get close enough to the top to ram your ass right into that top energy wave. So whatdaya gotta do? You gotta fall or jump from platform to platform CONSTINTLY WHILE trying to fire at them when they're able to take damage (when their "brains" are exposed,like in the picture above). This is also difficult because it's really easy to miscalculate a timed fall or jump and end up either running right into the side of a platform or falling onto the energy wave,both of which will damage or flat out kill you. You're in danger's way all the time during this boss fight. And if thats not bad enough,each platform turns red when they are on their last legs,which means one more hit to a red platform will destroy it...and if you destroy both of the platforms you're NOT standing on too late,such as when you're really close to the top,you're fucked cause you won't have time to destroy the one you're standing on and you won't have any other platforms to fall onto to save your ass...not to mention getting confused in the hecticness of the battle and accidentally destroying the platform you're standing on before having the chance to shoot at and destroy the other 2,which will also most likely fuck you over. Until you get your timing and calculation down to an exact fine point,expect to die during this battle...a lot... Then after that,you find yourself at level 7,which is the final level of the game. First you'll find yourself in a small area with no enemies containing many different powerups (such as armor and power beam) in case you didn't have them already,and trust me,you're gonna need em...cause when you leave that area,you then proceed to fight all 6 of the level bosses you fought already all over again ONE AFTER ANOTHER! And if you die and continue,you start all the way back at the beginning of the level. If by some miracle you get through all those bosses again,thankfully the "final boss" is really just a minor obsticle...a formality if you will...kinda like Yu Yevon from Final Fantasy 10,however unlike that "battle",it IS possible to die during this final showdown if you don't destroy the obsticle before the time runs out (you've got 30 seconds to do so). And thats it,you've beaten the game. Trust me,it's a hard motherfucker...one of the hardest NES games I've ever played in fact. Even with save states,it's STILL difficult,so I couldn't imagine what hell gamers would be put through if they played it on the console itself. Yea,theres passwords and seemingly unlimited continues,but really those don't help all that much. If this game were to have been included if the event were a sexilogy,this would have been the hardest game by a light year...Shatterhand doesn't even fucking come close. And get this,if you think it's over after you beat the game once,think again...cause after you beat the game,you unlock its second quest (also called its hard mode...wait,what I was playing wasn't hard?!)...and let me fucking tell you somethin,if you thought the game was hard during the first playthrough,get ready for a rude fucking awakening. Lets just say that it's very appropriate that the game contains exactly 7 levels...because they may have been hard during the first quest,but during the second they pratically become the 7 layers of NES sidescroller hell! For one thing,unlike the regular mode,normal enemies that didn't have the ability to shoot at you in normal mode have this ability in this mode...and thats just the beginning...bosses are extra tough (one of the first bosses projectile rings follows you,homing style!),certain enemies that were able to be destroyed in certain levels in the regular mode can't here (the cars in the third level as well as the timed laser shooters in the 5th level)...hell,even entire level patterns are changed completely (the image I took of level 4 of me dying is actually from the second quest...it's completely different in the first). Theres no question that this definatly adds replay value to the game,but Jesus Lapdancing Christ if the game wasn't hard enough already,it pratically becomes fucking impossible in the second quest! For all its flaws and its steep challenge level,don't think for a second that this isn't a good game. Yes granted,you being able to die with only one hit when you're an armored mech is retarded,but then it wouldn't be as challenging...and to be perfectly honest with you,the challenge actually adds to this game's charm. Even with the at times frustrating challenge,theres still the smooth gameplay,unique level design,and the innovation of changing gravity at will in order to get past some of the levels. Check it out and give it the dues it deserves...or if you don't wanna do that,you can just,like,go fuck yourself and stuff. And with that,I'm gonna be taking a long vacation from the Underapreciated Video Games list. I'll return to it when I damn well feel like it.
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Post by Fickle81 on Jul 29, 2008 17:59:42 GMT -5
Metal WarriorsPublisher:Konami Platform:SNES Release Date:April 1995It's games like this that are the very reason why I created this Underapreciated Video Games List thread. This isn't just an underapreciated video game...this is an underapreciated masterpiece. Unlike most of the games I've covered on here (with the exception of the Mutant League games and Tecmo's Deception),this is actually a game thats somewhat known (although not as well known as,once again,the Mutant League games and Tecmo's Deception) and has a small cult following (based on all the high reviews for it over on Gamefaqs)...this is a game that is so good that it should have gone on to produce a long running prestigious game franchise (contrary to popular belief,it is NOT related to the SNES game Cybernator)...but instead,it became destined to semi obscurity and minor cult status. As you're told in the scrolling text intro,the United Earth government is on the defensive in their 3 year war with the nefarious Dark Axis empire,led by a dictator named Venkar Amon,in the year 2102. Dark Axis has struck a near crippling blow to the forces of the United Earth Government to the point where only a select few of elite warriors,armed with the latest models of armored fighter mechs,are left to defend Earth. These,as the scrolling credits leading into the main menu screen reveals,are the Metal Warriors. Now before you dive right in to the game,you can go into the options mode and change the name of your character if you so choose. If not,or after you get done,it's time to start the game. Take a look at the first thing you see: Yea...a Super Nintendo game with cutscenes almost on par with the Sony Playstation...ok,that might be a huge exaggeration...so lets go with Sega CD caliber instead. It's not really something you'd expect on a 16 bit system either way. While there are cutscenes before the start of each level,that act as a briefing for the next mission,none of them are of the quality caliber of this first sequence. So after this cutscene ends,the game officially begins... Basically,you're piloting a large mech,in a hybrid of run and gun shooting and platforming,with many different weapons (some of which you pick up as powerups...more on that later) and other features such as sheilds (yes,you sometimes have more than one...more on that in a sec) and jump/flight boosters at your disposal...however,the mech you see in the pic above is NOT the only one you'll get to opperate,as you'll sometimes be able to find others during certain missions and sometimes even start out in different mechs other than the one seen above,each with their own strenghs,weaknesses,and unique features. Here is the list of all the different types of mechs found in the game and their features. Nitro:The standard mech you start out with that you see in the pic above. It's equipped with a standard rapid fire gun for its main weapon and a badass lightsaber as it's melee weapon. It also has 2 kinds of sheilds...a standard one and a placeable laser sheield that will temporarally deflect attacks and stop enemy pursuit. But the best part of all about it is its flight jets that allow you to fly as high as you choose. Definatly the most balanced of all the mechs,and also my personal favorite. Havoc:Similar to the standard mech Nitro,but not as good. It has a weaker rapid fire gun that fires bullets rather than plasma rounds,a chain whip instead of a lightsaber,and jump boosters that will allow a limited high jump rather than free flight. The only thing this machine has over the Nitro is a stronger standard sheild and a dash booster. All in all,it's a good mech but the Nitro is a lot better. Spider:Just as the name implies,this is a mech that looks like and has the characteristics of a spider. It has a rapid fire plasma gun similar to the Nitro,a projectile web sheild that will temporarally stop enemies in their tracks,a stinger attack for a melee weapon,and an invisable cloaking device. In addition to these features,it also has the ability to walk on any solid ground,which includes ceilings...but this is where the vehicle falls short because on any place other than the actual ground,the mech in a pain in the ass to control (the movement controls get swapped...left moves right and vice versa). This combined with the ho hum features when compared to the other mechs (it's still easy to get spotted when using the cloaking device) makes this the weak link of all the mechs for me. Prometheus:The powerhouse of the bunch. It's equipped with a mega cannon for its main weapon,and a flame cannon as its melee weapon. Because it has the best armour of the group,instead of having 2 different sheilds,it has aerial mines in place of the specialty sheild. The bad thing about this behemoth is that it's pretty slow moving and since its big in size,it has no jumping or flight ability,but is makes up for this by having a bridge maker which drops one square block at a time so you're able to still walk across high areas without falling through large holes and being stuck at wherever you land. Ballistic:A mech in the form of a rolling ball that expands when it draws its weapon (think the battle droids from the Star Wars prequels...it's a dead ringer). It has a rifle and a plasma gun (that can be charged),can jump about the same height as the Havoc mech,and has a "power spin" move that will spring the ball in whatever direction you choose that can be used either as an accelerated straight vertical jump or a charge rebound attack. The only real flaw with this mech is that when you draw either of your firing weapons,you won't be able to move. If you can get used to this,you'll find that the mech is actually quite useful. Drache:This is strictly a flying mech. It has no other weapons other than its one gun,that you have to use the lettered buttons to fire in corresponding directions,unlike other mechs where you aim with the up and down arrows which are used to fly this mech. Also unlike other mechs in the game,it doesn't have any sheilding ability whatsoever. It does however,have a power dive attack that swoops directly down. Other than its free flight ability,this mech isn't very good. Along with whatever weapons and abilities the mech you're piloting has at its disposal,you can also pick up items that will increase the power of your main firing weapon,give your main firing weapon different types of ammo (such as bouncing bullets),or give you a "sub weapon" to attach to your mech's sholder (such as missles). Most levels also have a port that will give out health pick ups in timed intervals,so if ever your mech has taken a significant amount of damage (indicated by the color of the mech becoming darker),you can backtrack to the level's port and it will always let you replenish your health. One thing really noteable about this game is that you use pretty much every single button on the controller,INCLUDING the select button which is used to eject from your mech to take control your small human character. Not only do you do this to take control of a different mech,you'll also have to do this at certain points in order to complete a mission,such as the end of level 2 where you'll have to enter an area too small for your mech to fit in order to take over the control room,and at the end of level 3 where you take control of a massive ship (after eliminating all enemies on the roof and inside) and pilot it to a loading dock. Whatever you do though,make sure you do NOT eject from your mech near enemy human personel,otherwise THIS is pretty much guaranteed to happen: The level designs in this game have a vast feel to them,as if there are multiple branch points that lead to the same thing. There are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore in just about every level of the game,some of which will be secretive areas that may contain another mech or powerups. The levels are so vast in their design,there is even at least one point in the game where you can go the opposite direction of your starting point of the level and be treated to a whole new pretty vast area...this particular instance I'm referring to is the start of level 3...observe: Although the story kinda seems to take a backseat to everything else,you've got awsome graphics,fantastic varied and challenging gameplay,deep level designs,and a pretty kickass soundtrack...pretty much everything you could ask for in a single player game...but if you think thats where it ends,you're dead wrong...cause guess what? The game even has a cool ass head to head mode! Yep,thats right...you and another player choose 1 of the 6 different mechs to start out with and wage war against each other in a split screen verses mode,in the same kind of vast levels that contain both powerups,health ports,and even other mechs. Because each mech is so vastly different from each other and because of a big level designs,there is a lot of strategy involved with how to deal with an opponet. Its only real flaw is that the game doesn't let you pick what level to do battle on,but rather randomly selects a level for you...and depending on what mech you choose and you unfamiliarity with a level,you may find yourself up shit creek without a paddle (example...you choose Prometheus and get stuck in an area you can't get out of,making you a sitting duck). With all this great stuff to offer,it truly is a shame that this game didn't sell to well and went completely under the radar,but thats what happens when attention is given to new consoles getting ready to come out (in particular,the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation). If you have an SNES emulator,do yourself a favour and get this game to give it the attention it deserves. Consider youselves briefed...End transmission...
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Post by Fickle81 on Aug 7, 2008 18:10:45 GMT -5
Revelations:PersonaPublisher:Atlus Platform:Playstation Release Date:1996I have a confession to make...eventhough my username denotes that I'm a big turn based RPG fan,there was a time in my life (when I was young) when I thought turn based RPGs were boring,bland,and monontonous dispite having very little experience with them...yes,I'm admitting right now that I was once a mouth breathing mongoloid,and I'm definatly not proud of it. Thankfully in my mid teen years,I experienced an awakening. One day I went to a little place called Video Games Express (a place that unfortunatly is no longer in my area),looking for a game to rent. Unfortunatly,all the hot titles I was interested in were all checked out,so I only had 2 options...rent something I already rented before or take a chance on something that may not sound interesting intially. I saw this game on the shelf,noticed that it was avaliable,and really liked the cover...but when I turned it over to look at the back,I got a bad taste in my mouth...because it was another one of those "wretched turn based RPGs." Unfortunatly it was the only game avaliable that I hadn't already played/rented,and I really didn't want to waste the time and money renting something I already played before (even if it was really good),and I most certainly didn't want to go home empty handed. So I busted a move and decided "what the fuck" and to give it a try. Perhaps it was destiny that allowed for that to be the only unplayed game left for me to take home for a few days,because I ended up being very happy with my decision. Persona is the first game in one of the many spin off series of Atlus' long running Megami Tensei Japanese RPG franchise,and to my knowledge,it is the first of any of these games to be ported to North America. Like Tecmo's Deception,it became whats known as a sleeper hit,which if you remember,is a game that recieves all its attention from word of mouth alone...a game that doesn't quite become a big enough hit for everybody to know about or remember,but still made enough of an impact to warrent a franchise (it spawned 2 sequels,with a third coming out December 9th). Here is a description of the story copied from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelations:_PersonaNow that we've covered the story,lets talk about some of the basic game mechanics. There are a total of 9 characters that you can recruit into your party...HOWEVER,unlike a lot of other RPGs of this type,you CANNOT recruit them all...and no I don't mean not being able to have all of your characters on battlefields during fights and being able to switch which characters are in your fighting group...I mean some of these characters won't be able to tag along with your group AT ALL depending on the choices you make in recruiting others. This adds a level of replay value some RPGs don't have as you may feel compelled to recruit different characters in each replay of the game. For a mildly detailed list of these characters and their abilities (along with other minor characters that appear in the game),go here.Next is walking in both the overworld and buildings/forrests/any other enclosed areas (this game's version of dungeons/mazes). When you're walking around in a vast area big enough to be considered an overworld (those reading this that are familiar with turn based RPGs should know what the term overworld means...if you don't,you should get the basic idea here in a sec),you and your party are represented by a green cone shaped object with an arrow pointing directly in front of the direction you're going with the perspective being from an aerial view. However,when you're wandering around any interior structure or any other area that can be considered enclosed (even a forrest),you'll switch to a scrolling first person view,and when you enter any rooms found in a building,it switches again to a third person view. If you've noticed in all the pictures used so far,the game tells you the current in game phase of the moon,and it's not there just for display as it has a few pertinent uses. Not only does it indicate how much in game time has passed,but it also has an affect on the mood of most demons,which basically means that you can only obtain certain spell cards from them at certain times (more on these cards and how you get them coming up). And now the moment you've been waiting for...the REAL meat of the game...the battle system/battle mechanics. Basically,all battles take places on a slanted 3D grid in third person perspective. When the battle first starts,you have the following options (NOT in this exact order): Analyze:This checks all the stats of enemies including level,type/name,current and max hit/spell points,strengh,vitality,technique,agility,luck,main spell magic types,magic strengths/weaknesses,current condition,and spells known. Auto:Lets the computer decide what action to take for you Form:Used to re-align your character's battle formation,but takes one full turn from said character moved. Escape:Pretty self explainatory. Contact:This is what seperates this particular game,along with the rest of the games in the Megami Tensei series,from other RPGs. Extensive coverage after the final option below. Fight:Not surprisingly,the main option. Extensive coverage after the Contact coverage. By now you may be thinking what the purpose of communicating with enemies is. Well,I'll explain it to you...each character has their own set of different contact options in which to communicate with an enemy in an attempt to engage 1 or more of their 4 senses...anger (red),fear (blue),interest (yellow),and joy (green). If you anger an enemy,it will get the first attack on your party. If you instill fear or joy in them,they'll leave the battle. Now heres the interesting part...if you instill interest in them,you'll get 3 choices...get the enemy to leave the battle,get the enemy to leave the battle while leaving you something (experience,money,gems,etc),or you may ask to get an enemy's spell card (also known as their contact card...it's not always a guarantee that you'll get one though)...I'll go into greatest detail about these cards in a bit. To instill a certain emotion in an enemy,you have to increase its portion of the meter 3 or 4 times to the point where it covers the entire meter and pulsates. It's possible to get more than one emotion to the pulsating level without either taking up the entire meter,and when that happens,you may get an entirly different affect from the ones already mentioned...HOWEVER,if "interest" is one of the 2 emotions at pulsating level,no matter what other emotion is at that level at the same time,the interest always wins and you'll get the 3 choices. Here are the different types of communication options for each character: Main (you):Persuade,Provoke,Recruit,and Sing. Nate:Bribe,Speech,Yell,and Sarcasm. Mark:Dance,Provoke,Stare,and Lie. Yuki:Tease,Preach,Scold,and Ignore. Ellen:Story,Sing,Spoil,and Tempt. Alana:Put Down,Tempt,Beg,and Threaten. Mary:Ask,Flatter,Waste Time,and Shudder. Brad:Pickup,Tell Jokes,Gossip,and Surprise Chris:Ignore,Threaten,Scream,and Magic. There are also times when an enemy will ask for something (an item,a small chunk of your hit/magic points,etc) in order for a particular emotion to reach critical mass. You'll just have to experiment or consult an FAQ that tells you what affect each character's contact options has on them. It should also be pointed out that some of the dialogue spouted from particular character's communication with enemies is rather humorous (one of the female characters with the "tempt" ability,I believe it to be Alana,asks an enemy if it would "like some milk"). Here is a sample to show you how the communication system works. Now we come to the fighting system. When you select the fight option,you are given 6 different sub options to choose from. Here they are in no certain order: Defend (DEF):Selected character will assume a defensive position to try to soften an enemy blow. Item:Allows you to use an item from your inventory and target who to use it on. Sword:Close range hand to hand melee attack. Eventhough it says the word "sword",not every character's melee weapon is a sword. Gun:Long range projectile attack. Persona:An entity you use to cast spells. Personas also level up from experience like the players do which allows them to learn new magic spells,but the majority of personas can only aquire 7 spells. Choose which spell you want your persona to cast and what target to cast it on. Persona Change (PRS-CHG):Switches to one of the selected character's "sub personas" other than your main one. Pretty simple really. During battle,certain instances that happen in other turn based RPGs will happen here,such as the possibility of you or an enemy missing with an attack and the possibility of you or an enemy accidentally healing the other/hurting themselves with a magic spell. Heres a sample of the battle system in action with the first boss battle of the game: With that out of the way,lets get back to the cards. Spell cards obtained by enemies are used for 2 purposes...you can either use one to make an enemy of the same type as the one you got the card from leave (as the enemy will recognise that the card belongs to its "friend")...however,this will make you lose said card and you'll have to get a new one. The other more important purpose it serves is for the creation of new personas for your character to use. This is done in a place called "The Velvet Room" (most likely inspired by Twin Peaks),where you combine 2 seperate enemy spell cards in an attempt to create a new persona. It kinda has a "Monster Rancher" type of system,where compatibility becomes an issue. This is indicated in the "Fusion Menu" with colors,like the enemy contact meter. Red means that the 2 cards are incompatable and are in danger of resulting in a failed fusion,white means average compatibility,and blue means that they're very compatable. Sometimes though,a failed fusion will result in something called a "Fool Persona" or a "Jellyman Persona". Fool Personas are very rare and have enhanced abilities not found in other personas. On the other end,Jellyman personas lose abilities rather than gain any new ones. Like with the communication system,this requires experimentation in order to get the kind of desired result you'd like. Heres a sample of a velvet room session to show you how its done. However,even with all this great stuff to offer,there are some flaws. For one,if you haven't noticed from the videos already,there are a lot of instances of load time...in particular,before and after battles. They're really not that big of a deal as they aren't that long,but most other RPGs of its type were able to avoid load times like this altogether,so whats this game's excuse? Also,it has been established that some of the English translation in the game is sloppy and a sizeable chunk of the dialogue doesn't make any sense...although,there are also certain pieces of dialogue that are hilarious. It should also be noted that the U.S. version of the game lacks one major element found in the original game...the famed "Snow Queen Quest". Now,you may be thinking that this is an average sidequest like in other RPGs of this nature,but you are grossly mistaken...the Snow Queen Quest isn't a sidequest at all...it's an entirly different main quest altogether...a main quest within a main quest in the same game,complete with its own exclusive characters,that takes 50-60 hours to complete just like the regular quest. Apparently the quest CAN be accessed in the U.S. version with a Game Shark (the 32 bit version of the Game Genie),but the text is all garbled up to the point where its really not worth playing anyway. I never did get very far in this game due to my inexperience with turn based RPGs at that time,but the fun I had with the battle system opened my eyes and convinced me to expand my horizons by giving other turn based RPGs a chance...and I did,as the next turn based RPG I played after Persona was this: And as you could probably imagine,that was pretty much all she wrote...I was officially hooked to the point of going on a turn based RPG binge...Ogre Battle (Limited Edition),Star Ocean The Second Story,Tales of Destiny,Final Fantasy Tactics,Legend of Legaia,Final Fantasy V and VI (in the form of Final Fantasy Anthology...the latter obviously would become my all time favorite turn based RPG and argubly my all time favorite game),Final Fantasy VIII,and Final Fantasy IX were all a part of this binge,along with several more in which I can no longer remember (or some I choose to purposefully forget...like Aidyn Chronicles The First Mage for Nintendo 64...goddamnit,I remembered it...). I had a new gaming muse,and I owe it all to this underrated gem of a game known as Revelations Persona. I leave you with one final video sample that includes a combination of wandering,fighting,and more communicating.
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Post by Fickle81 on Aug 29, 2008 18:01:31 GMT -5
Kefka's Underapreciated Video Games: The Western Trilogy
Act 1: Sunset RidersPublisher:Konami Platform:Arcade (also SNES and Genesis) Release Date:September 4,1991 (arcade version),March 3 1992 (Genesis port),August 6 1993 (SNES port)I'm starting with this one not only because it's probably the most well known of the 3 games,but also because it was mentioned in a BD thread made to convienently talk about the "Most unappreciated game"...yea,I know I'm breaking my month plus long silence about anything BD related,so sue me...besides,I've still got a long way to go before I match the amount of times they've mentioned/talked about ME out of the clear blue air...however,their thread is more about just listing underapreciated games while mine is about writting detailed articles about each one...but anyways,this one was mentioned and I wholeheartedly agree...while as I said,it's definatly the most well known of the 3,but in this day and age complex 3D photorealistic graphics,it's been kinda forgotten about,smitted,and set aside...although as evidenced in BD's version of underapreciated video games,at least SOME people are still playing it. It started out as an arcade game in 1991,before being ported over to the Genesis a year later,followed by the SNES the year after said Genesis port. Since I don't have MAME and for some bizarre reason every Genesis emulator I get causes my computer's fan to wail in pain (eventhough SNES' graphics and sound are far superior),I'll be covering the SNES version. Aside from the basic plot of a group of bounty hunters going after big name criminals to claim rewards,there really is no real storyline in the game. So as you can clearly see above,you get to choose 1 of 4 bounty hunters to play as. Me personally though,outside of making the game more challenging,I don't see any point in picking either of the first 2 selectable characters,as they both use pistols while the latter 2 use rifles and shotguns...they've both got the range,spread,and power over the first 2...because of that extra difficulty factor,having the first 2 guys as selectable characters is only slightly better than Top Gun's stupid missile quantity select system. Once you have selected your character,you get an image of the big time criminal you're going after before the level starts in the form of a sterotypical "Dead or Alive" wanted poster. In case you might be wondering,you'll always bring em in dead... So basically the game is an arcade style run and gun shooter...kinda like Contra with a Western motif and just a pinch of elements from a sidescroller brawler game like Turtles in Time (such as bosses who blink rapidly when they're nearing death). You basically shoot criminals,rack up points (in the form of cash),and pick up powerups (if they're avaliable). A lot of levels also have upper levels that you can jump onto to either avoid enemy fire or to smoke enemies on said upper levels...although doing the latter isn't always nessasary,seeing as how you can just point you're gun in their direction from the ground below (straight up or upper diagonal both ways). There are also occations where you will be able to run into buildings to collect powerups rather than killing enemies for them. Ahh,shagging whores to recieve powerups...now thats just good game design right there. Lets talk about the powerups. The main ones you want to be concerned with are the badges,to wit there are 2 types...the silver and gold (like the one in the pic above) ones. The silver badges gives you dual guns,which means more bullets to fire at enemies...the gold badges make your gun or guns rapidfire (which also changes the color of your bullets). You usually get one of these whenever you go into the buildings,however if you already have both badges when you go in,you just get the money pile item. You'll also come across a turkey in some of the stages,but unfortunatly all it gives you is money and not something logical like a free hit without dying. You can also pick up any sticks of dynamite that certain enemies throw or drop when they get killed,but be sure to get rid of it quickly,cause when you see the exclaimation mark,that means the sucker is getting ready to go off and it will kill anybody within its vacinity (you OR enemies). There are certain occations though when you get a slight break from the running and gunning in order to avoid certain obsticles. Like in the first level,there are 2 instances where you have to get passed a stampede of bulls. Since all you have to do in the first instances is jump onto the platform above,I captured the second instances where you're in a wide open field. Yea,I know the quality of the image is shit because my screen capturing tool can't handle that kind of scrolling,but you get the idea. Finally,at the end of each level,you fight the boss advertised in the wanted posters before the start of said levels. Each of them usually have something interesting and/or funny to say before the start of the battle and as they are dying at the end of it. Heres the first boss: Hmmmm...umkay,what is the purpose of being buried with your money? I don't think being buried with your money will allow you to take said money with you wherever you go when you die,so whats the deal? Talk about being dilusionally greedy...but if you think thats bad,and please excuse me for going non linear here,but check out the third level boss. Man...the homosexual overtones here are astounding...he looks like the guy The Village People SHOULD have gotten to be the cowboy of the group...and if thats not bad enough... Not only is he flaming and flamboyently gay looking,but he appears to be mentally handicapped as well...nice... Theres also the occational bonus stage in between a level or 2 thats in a first person view,where you need to use your directional pad and firing button to gun down crooks that quickly appear and disappear on screen,kinda in the format of Whack A Mole. It's stupidly easy at first (to the point that the only thing thats been scientifically proven to be easier is trolling Paul Fetch),but towards the end,you've pratically gotta be a pure reflex virtuoso with the direction and fire buttons in order to get everybody. Finally,there are 2 levels where you won't be on foot,but rather,on a horse. Again,I realise the quality of the image sucks and my apologies for it,but I think you get the drift. You have to really be careful in these levels. While it certainly looks simple,there are certain points in these levels that are rather cheap (like an enemy on a horse being able to kill you before he even fully gets on screen) and if you don't have your shit down pat,you'll have the potential to lose all of your lives in 30 seconds flat. Well,thats pretty much all I'm gonna show,not only because I don't want to ruin the rest of the game,but also admittingly,I've yet to get past those damn Smith Brothers in level 4 (I suck,I know)...and from what I hear,the rest of the bosses in the game are EVEN HARDER. In any case,it's definatly a game you should check out if you've never played it. On that note BD members of the Most unappreciated game thread,I see your Sunset Riders and raise you 2 more Western shooter games not mentioned by any of you in an effort to prove my superior underrated game knowledge (eventhough it's kinda already been proven seeing as how the majority of my list hasn't been mentioned).
Act 2: Gun.SmokePublisher:Capcom Platform:NES Release Date:1988Contrary to popular belief,Gun Smoke (AKA Gun.Smoke AKA Gun Dot Smoke AKA Gun Period Smoke) isn't related to the famous TV series of the same name in the slightest...however,due to trademark/copyright issues,the dot/period was placed in between the 2 words in the game's title. Like Sunset Riders,this started out as an arcade game before it was ported to MANY other home systems,including the NES. Since the NES version differs so radically from the other versions,and also due to the same reasons I stated for not covering the arcade version of Sunset Riders,the NES version will be getting the coverage. One of the radical differences between the NES version and all the others is the inclusion of a very basic plotline. Here is a slightly altered quote (you'll see why it's altered in a sec) from the demo screen intro of the game: Hicksville...how inspiringly stereotypical...anyways,continuing with the quote: Couple of things...one,your character (the lone gunman) is apparently named Billy Bob eventhough the intro doesn't say his name...and second,that huge gramatical error near the end is not my doing,as thats how it really is in the game. Yea,minor slip up in translation,so it's nothing to riot over...and it damn sure isn't as legendary as "A Winner Is You" or "All Your Base Are Belong To Us". So before the level begins,you'll see a wanted poster of the main enemy you're after,just like in Sunset Riders... Once thats out of the way,the game officially begins... This is the best visual representation of what the game is like...for the third time,kind of a shitty quality in the image above,but you get the point. It's basically a vertical scrolling shooter thats like a cross between Commando (another Capcom game) and Galaga (some of the enemies have those kinds of patterns). You use the A button (the one on the right) to fire in the right direction,the B button (the one on the left) to fire in the left direction,and you press both of them at the same time to fire straight. The object is to kill lots of enemies to get points (which in this game is the same as money,which you'll actually need and use...more on that later). As you can also see from the image above,you'll have to destroy barrels in order to get items/powerups,as well as sometimes getting them from killed enemies. Besides killing enemies,you also collect points by picking up bags of money. The boots the character gets in the pic above increases your character's speed (your speed maxes out when you get 4 of them). Besides these items you'll also pick up a rifle which increases your gun's range (like the boots,your range maxes out with 4 rifles pickups),ammunition for your alternate weapons (more on that in a sec),a "POW" powerup which kills all enemies immediatly on the screen,2 rare items called Yashichis (one red and one blue...the red one gives you an extra life while the blue one gives you temporary invincibility),and more. You can also pick up the dynamite sticks dropped by certain enemies in order to increase your ammount of points,and unlike Sunset Riders,you don't have to throw it immediatly or die. Along with walking on foot,you'll also be able to get your horse when you get the horse powerup (there are usually 2 ways to get it). Getting the horse allows you to take 2-4 bullet hits before going back on foot as opposed to being killed in one hit while on foot. Now,during your quest in each level,you'll come across 2 different "shops". The first one is in the form of a woman. This woman sells you all your alternate weapons besides your main gun. Is it just me or does the prospect of the terrorised inhabitants of a town in desperate need of help charging YOU,the individual who has come to save said town,money for items that will help you save the endangered town and its population seem a little odd? I guess even in a time of great crisis,people still gots to get paid. You can access your weapon inventory as well as switch to a certain weapon by pressing select,which brings you to the inventory menu...this and the shops in general kinda add an RPG like element to the game. The second shop is in the form of a dude. This dude sells you some miscellaneous items,including one in particular that makes this game rather unique when it comes to vertical scrolling shooters. You see the wanted sign item on the bottom in the image above? Yea,you need that in order to get to and fight the boss. If you don't get that,the level will just continue to loop forever with you killing the same enemies over and over again. You won't be able to go to the next level until you kill the boss,which requires you to get the wanted sign. This adds a unique twist that isn't found in any other game of its kind. Now,this is definatly nitpicking on my part,but I find this very peculiar,so answer me this...why do you have to pay money to the townspeople to post a wanted sign for one of the major criminals terrorising said town? I guess Alonzo from Training Day was right when he said,and I quote..."Nothins free in this world,not even arrest warrents." But wait,did I not see the wanted sign of the criminal in question BEFORE the start of the level? So why do you have to pay for this sign when you know who you're going after? Yea,it doesn't really make much sense,but I wouldn't say it detracts from the fun factor of the game (in fact,it makes it more challenging in a good way),so I'll let it go at that. He also sells you your horse powerup,but since you can also get it for free in one of the barrels in the level,buying it seems kinda pointless So finally when you're able to earn enough points to precure the wanted sign,you'll be able to reach and fight the boss of the level. And as you can also see in the pic above,thats what happens when you lose your horse...I love how very matter of fact the game is when it comes to your horse getting gunned down. Anyways,that red square on top is the bosses' health bar (he starts with 4),and yes,there are general enemies along with him to make it harder and potentially further fuck your shit up. Once you've beaten a boss,you see the wanted poster again unlike in Sunset Riders...also unlike Sunset Riders,this is where you put a exclaimation point on the boss you just wasted and the level you just completed. And it basically just continues on like that for the rest of the game. There are a total of 6 levels in the NES version (as opposed to 10 levels in the arcade version)...however,the NES version is the only version that has the basic storyline,the name for your character,the endless scrolling until you get the wanted sign for the level's boss,and the ability to buy weapons and items from shops...so,I'd say this extra depth makes the NES version of the game the superior one. Play it or die ya yellow bellied sidewinder...now then,onto the third and final game.
Act 3: Wild GunsPublisher:Natsume Platform:SNES Release Date:1994Now we come to the most unknown game of the Western trilogy,which is truly a shame because I believe it's the most fun of the three and therefore my favorite (and thus,most underapcreciated). It's a science fiction western (evident by the presense of robots ad well as people) that while the game makes no allusions to it,there apparently is a very basic plotline. Here is the storyline posted in IGN's page for the game: The reason why I'm not linking to the IGN page is because it spoils some of the elements of the game that I'm gonna be covering here. Now then,the gameplay is that of a fixed third person view shooter. Anybody thats played the arcade/NES game known as Cabal (seen in the image below)... ...should have a good idea of what the game plays like. The player controls both the movement of the target cursor and the character at the same time with the same directional buttons...the left and right buttons moves your character along with the targeting recticule when pressing the left or right buttons on the D pad,and the cursor moves up and down when pressing the respective buttons on the D pad while your character remains stationary. This style of gameplay takes some getting used to,but once you're passed that,it becomes second nature. While Cabal is pretty underrated in its own right,Wild Guns looks and plays 10 times better,so its the one getting the attention. How much better? See for yourself...I give you one of the game's demo modes (there are several). Seriously,does that not look like some truly illin and ballin shit right there? Yea I know,sorry about the Chad Warden-esque outburst,but I think you get my point about the amount of awsomeness in this game. Lots of shooting,destructable enviornments,dealing with close range enemies,dealing with robotic enemies...good stuff. As you can also clearly see,you have several advanced techniques at your disposal in order to deal with the enemies and their gunfire,such as jumping,rolling,and double jumping...with more techniques yet to be covered. However,since the demo mode doesn't have any of the small little elements that the real game has,I'll have to show an actual shot of the in game mode...but before I do that,here is the character select screen. No,that is not some trick I applied to the image to make it interesting...the game actually does allow you to pick different colored costumes for each character. Now,as hot as Annie and her legs look in her dress,I'm gonna go with my boy Clint for all the shots and footage...and I'm also gonna go ahead and use the third costume variation since it kinda makes him look pale and zombified. Now then,back to the real business at hand. So ok,basically the goal is to survive until the timer runs out (we'll cover what happens when the timer runs out in a moment). You have more than just your gun and your dodging techniques at your disposal...you see those little purple circles at the bottom? Those are the amount of special bombs you have,which when activated,pretty much annihilates everything on the screen...you'll sometimes be able to precure more bombs by either killing certain enemies or shooting a floating powerup (more on that in a second). In addition to this,your character also has a lasso,which you start to swing by rapidly pressing the fire button (the Y button),and releasing it when you stop tapping it. The lasso freezes the affected enemies in their tracks for a moment...I personally recommend that you only use this on bosses and NOT average enemies. In addition to THAT,you can also pick up dynamite certain enemies throw at you,and throw it back at them before they detonate. Along with your main gun,you can get other guns through powerups that you pickup by shooting them,either left by dead enemies (they also leave money,which increases points) or the floating powerups I mentioned a second ago,with the type of gun indicated by a letter. However,unlike your default weapon,the other weapons don't have infinate ammo and most of them are more powerful. Here is the list of the weapons you can get: Shotgun (S):The shot power is about the same as your default gun along with having a slower rate of fire,but to make up for this,its got a firing spread like a motherfucker. Machine Gun (M):Basically the reverse of the shotgun,where the power is the same as the main weapon without the spread,but the firing rate is off the charts. Grenade Launcher (G):This powerhouse lacks the firing rate,but has a mean spread and packs a punch in the power department. Pop Gun (P):A fucking joke gun designed to further fuck your shit up. If you so happen to get this gun,deplete its ammo as fast as humanly possible,cause you're not gonna be able to actually damage ANY enemy in the game with it,let alone kill them. This gun is an epic fucking failure of epic magnitude and epic proportions. Oh but thats not all...you see that meter towards the bottom of the gameplay screen above? Well,when that fills up all the way,which apparently slowly fills each time you fire your gun,you'll get the grand daddy of weapons in this game...the vulcan cannon. It's got a great firing rate and its spread and power are off the charts...and on top of that,its got infinate ammo...only problem is you'll only have it until the meter is completely depleted,which starts right when you get the weapon...it only lasts a brief moment,so be sure to make the best of it by shreading the crap out of everything and everybody on screen. So when the timer finally runs out during a particular stage,in which most levels have 3 of,any enemy left on screen dies and the boss of the stage (mini boss of the level) comes out and the fight begins. And the cycle repeats itself in the next stage... Then when you get to the third and final stage of the level,the major boss appears... Whoa...yea,imposing look aside,the boss is pretty easy...I mean,it IS the first level boss,so what do ya expect? He has 2 main attacks...his gattling gun and firing missiles in timed bursts. Although the boss is pretty simple,the fight still has an epic feel to it due to how much rolling you have to do in order to dodge its gattling gunfire. If you were smart like I am,you'd save all of your bombs to be able to make short work of him...well,enough of my rambling,lets take this fucker down to Chinatown... Once the first boss and first level are out of the way,the game goes nonlinear by allowing you to pick which stage you'll tackle next... And thats where I'm gonna leave that. Even with all the techniques and weapons at your disposal,the game is still challenging as fuck,but still hella fun at the same time. You can play this game solo or with a buddy as the demo screen shows...and as if that wasn't awstastic enough,guess what? The game even has a vs. mode...whoa, deja vu...In addition to the barrels and miners,you also shoot rocks,which just so happen to be the main targets of the stage... Basically you try to shoot the most number of targetsmindicated by the counter in the upper left and right corners of the screen,as well as try to get the money powerups sometimes left by dead enemies,before the timer runs out. When the timer runs out,you progress to the next stage and it continues on like that until all 3 stages have been completed. The one with the most points at the end wins. Simple enough. With all this joygasmic awsomeness in one package,it's truly criminal that only a handful of people have even HEARD of this game,let alone played it. Hell,even the fucking soundtrack is great. This may very well be one of the greatest games nobody has played. If you don't track this one down even in rom form and give it some much needed and long overdue TLC,as far as I'm concerned,your official gamer card and status is officially revoked.
FIN
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Post by Fickle81 on Sept 28, 2008 2:14:54 GMT -5
EhrgeizPublisher:Square EA Platform:Playstation Release Date:April 30,1999All things considering,this is probably the most controversial game to appear on the list so far based on just how well known it is. However,I've come to realise that there is a rather sizeable portion of the overall amount of people who have played it that really don't like this game,and for the life of me,I can't figure out why...not to mention that it never got a sequel,when I think it damn sure deserved one. Sure it wears its Tekken influence on its sleave (one of the character's last names is "Mishima",not to mention that the game has its own version of Bruce from Tekken 2 and Hwoarang from Tekken 3),but it has enough of its own thing going on to set itself apart...not to mention the fantastic value of the game's overall package (more on that later). Ehrgeiz is a fighting game developed by DreamFactory,the company behind the also underrated Tobal No. 1. It started out as an arcade game ironically published by Namco,the company behind the Tekken series,and was then ported over to the Playstation which was published by Square EA. Since that is the version I played the most,not to mention the version that has the most value,it will be the one covered here in this article. One thing to make note of is that finding actual hard CD copies of the game is apparently rare seeing as how it never made the Greatest Hits list. Anyways,just like a lot of Playstation games of the time,we are treated to a rather badass opening FMV sequence. Or,if you let the game cycle through without pressing start and accessing the main menu,you get treatedt to a second alternate opening FMV sequence... Not bad,eh? Basically the overall premise is that theres this legendary weapon known as "EHRGEIZ" (yes,the title of the game...how original),a powerful yet broken sword with a mysterious stone embedded in its handle,which is awarded to the winner of a yearly tournament as a way of recognition of the strongest fighter in the world (Koji Masuda,one of the selectable characters,is the current possessor of the weapon). At the same time,a secret organization known as "Red Scorpion" are responsible for a secret excavation of a desert ruin site somewhere in the Middle East,where they uncover a locked door that requires a special key to open it. Apparently on the same day the door was discovered,the stone within EHRGEIZ suddenly sprung to life,radiating and pulsating,hinting that the sword may in fact be the key to unlocking the door found at the ruins. Before you know it,a new tournament for EHRGEIZ is announed,with much higher stakes this time around. Anyways,lets take a look at the main menu screen... As you can see,you've got the regular game,a side game,and several other mini games. We'll focus on all the other games later,but for now,lets stick to the main game. It's basically your average fighting game structure,picking a character and fighting the rest of the characters one at a time,then fighting and beating a final boss or even a sub boss before the final boss (this game does the latter). This video example should give you a taste of what to expect. Now,I picked this video to show for more than the reason of giving readers a taste of what the game is like...I also picked it to further show why I chose this game to write an Underapreciated Video Games entry aryicle on...it all comes back to the notion that a sizeable chunk of people who have played this don't like it...because if you click on the video,go to the actual YouTube page that hosts it and read the video description,you'll see that the person who made and uploaded the video even says that the game sucks and the only reason why they have it is because Cloud and Sephiroth are playable characters (which is what earned this game the nickname of "Final Fantasy Fighter"). I dunno what the fuck that individual is smoking,but the game is perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned. While the video showed off some of the more obvious fighting techniques,like the "weapon/ability/super move meter",it only really scratched the surface of the intricatcies of the fighting system...for one thing,there are 5 different counters...one for countering throws or grabs,one for grabbing and countering weapon swings (this WAS shown in the above video),one for interrupting combos,one for dodging projectiles (unlike other fighting games,you can't block projectiles,which is something I've always had a bit of a problem with in other fighting games),and one for safely landing on the ground after being knocked into the air and avoiding further damage from ground impact...some say that these techniques add a wrestling vibe to the fighting mechanics,and I kinda agree. In addition to all this,there are boxes throughout all of the stages that contain extra weapons,power ups (particularly,medicines to refill your energy and special meters),and items that give you bonus points...however,you have to turn boxes on in the options mode to be able to allow boxes to be in the game. It also allows full 3D free character movement,like Tobal No. 1 before it and Power Stone after it,which is something not often seen in fighting games. Finally,theres the final boss fight. If you think you're just gonna be able to batter the final boss until its energy meter runs out like every other fighting game,go right ahead...just don't be surprised if you end up putting in all that wasted effort only to lose,cause for one thing,the final boss HAS NO energy meter...another thing is that during the final boss battle,the end credits scroll by and said end credits act as a timer,and when that timer runs out,game fucking over...so you're working against a short clock and you can't damage the thing by traditional fighting game means...so what do you do? Well,you see those crates in the backround? They contain special swords that you need to get to throw at the final boss...2 sword hits kill it,and I believe there are 4 crates in order to give you 2 addtional error shots,cause hitting the thing isn't that easy...just be sure to actually hit the thing with 2 swords,cause if you miss 3 times,you lose...period. So thats the fighting game portion in a nutshell...now lets move onto the quest mode which is titled The Forsaken Dungeon. It's basically your typical dungeon crawling action RPG with a few minor noteworthy elements. You get to choose between 2 characters (one at a time),a male and a female (I won't devulge their names) each with their own strenghs and weaknesses. Here is the story word for word according to a particular FAQ on Gamefaqs:You start out in the village,particularly a hotel which is a place you can often return to to store collected money and rest and regain lost health (by switching characters). Theres also a grocery store where you can buy and sell various food items,a merchant's shop where you buy and sell various weapon and armour equipment,a blacksmith that will repair weapons as well as transfer "Guardians" at the cost of wine or beer,a resturant where you exchange recipe books found in the dungeon for beer as well as play a stock marget type of game where you buy and sell shares of certain types of win/beer in increase funds,and finally the magic shop where you buy magic stones used to cast magic spells with the various Materia found in the dungeon. As for the dungeon itself,one thing of interest to note is that theres 3 ways to get into it,each taking you to a specific portion of the 21 levels...the top entrance which takes you to the start of the dungeon,the middle entrance which takes you to around level 7,and for the bold and daring (or suicidal) the well entrance which drops you off at level 13. Then theres the basic character/gameplay mechanics...there are exactly 11 catagories of weapons your player can equip...gloves/knuckles,rods/staffs,daggers/knives,special daggers/swords,swords,two-handed swords,katanas,spears,two-handed spears,axes,and two-handed axes...in addition to each weapon differing in attributes,2 handed weapons requires you to sacrifice equiping a shield,as well as only certain characters can equip certain weapons (only the female can equip Special Daggers/Swords and Rods/Staffs and only the male can equip Two-handed Swords,Katanas,Two-Handed Spears,and Two-Handed Axes). Your characters also have satchels that can only hold 30 items at once,each taking up 1 slot in the satchel (100 gil takes up a slot,as does 50 magic stones),so in order to make room for other more priority items you come across along the way,you may need to disguard certain items. One thing you have to be aware of is the meter right below the health bar...in the fighting game it was the special moves meter,but here it is your "hunger meter"...yes,you have to keep yourself satiated all throughout the quest,and if you don't and that meter runs empty,you start to gradually lose health...in addition to that,you have a nutrition stats that you have to pay attention to to make sure you have a balanced character...you alter these stats and satiate yourself by consuming food which falls into 5 different catagories...Protein (affects physical attack stat),Vitamins (affects magical attack stat),Carbohydrates (affects defense stat),Lipids (affects speed stat),and Minerals (affects dexterity stat). You'll also sometimes come across certain weapons and armour that has a bracket with a word after the name. Checking the status of said weapon or armour,you'll find a name of something called a "Guardian" multiplied by a number. This means that the weapon or armour contains an element that will affect your character stats. There are good and evil guardians...good guardians will increase certain character stats while evil guardians will increase the stats they are supposed to,but cause a decrease in all other stats. In the dungeon,you'll find rooms called "Altars" that will be inhabited by a random guardian (what guardian being in what alter constintly changes at random),which allows you to sacrifice items to whatever guardian inhabits the alter to try to increase the level of said guardian...sometimes it works,sometimes it doesn't. I could go on and on further into detail about every aspect of the game such as the different magic materia you can pick up as well,the recipe books,the names of each guardian and what stats they increase,transfering guardians from one piece of equipment to another,the different types of armour,various items (in particular,the dragon wing),dungeon traps,the stock market/wine trading mino game,and the fighting game like special moves for each character...but I think you get the point. It's a great alternative to the fighting game in the same package that definatly increases the replay value tremendously...and as if THAT wasn't enough,it also has 4 seperate minigames. The first is called "Infinity Battles",which is your common survival mode where you see how many different opponets you can beat in a row...nothing all that special or unique,but one thing to note is that you have 2 heart symbols below your health and special move bars,each fills up and gives you an extra full health and special move bars whenever you achieve a perfect (beating your opponet without getting hit once). You also only have 45 seconds to win each match,or else you lose. The second minigame is a quirky competitive game called "Battle Beach",which consists of 3 seperate sport like events on a beach...Battle Dash,Battle Flag,and Battle Hurdle. Battle Dash is a rapid button tapping sprint race much like something found in Track and Field for the NES...Battle Flag is kinda the same thing only you have to press an action button at a very precise time to be the first to grab the flag,not to mention you start off lying in the prone position facing away from the flag which means you need precise timing to get up before your opponet does to make a mad dash for the flag...finally,Battle Hurdle is basically exactly like Battle Dash except you also have to jump over various logs,and if you miss a jump,you lose precious seconds and give your opponet a bigger advantage, The next minigame is called Battle Runner,and it's basically a lap track race,with 3 different tracks to choose,with an opponet (with no button tapping...here you control the character's run with the d pad). One cool thing about this game is that you get to attack your opponet with moves much like you would in the arcade mode,which means once you knock them out,they are out of comission until their HP fills back up. You can also pick up 3 seperate powerups...a yellow star which makes you speed up,a blue star which swaps your HP amount with your opponet,and the red star which swaps your remaining laps with that of your opponet as well as causes one of you to have to run in the opposite direction. Finally,the game is always competitive and keeps you on your toes,because if you or your opponet falls significantly behind in a race,the lagging person's running speed increases to super fast. The third and final minigame is called Battle Panel,and it is my personal favorite of the 3. It's basically a speedy Reversi or Othello where the object is to convert the most number of tiles to your color before time runs out...player 1 is red while player 2 is blue. In addition,random black panels appear that are neutral and either block your way or allow you to convert to your color if you convert the tiles surrounding it...you can also tackle your opponet to prevent them from getting a particular panel. If you win about 10 Battle Panel games in a row and hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 when selecting the Battle Panel game,you access the hidden alternate Battle Panel called Evil Panel. It's basically just like Battle Panel except you can attack and incapasitate your opponet just like in the Arcade,Infinity Battle,and Battle Runner games. With all this fun in one package,it's amazing to me that this game would get ANY hate whatsoever,let alone the mixed critical reception bag it has now. Sure it's not perfect,but it's still damn good enough that nobody should outright hate it. Another reason why I decided to dedicate an Underapreciated Video Games entry to it is that apparently,finding an original PSone disc of it is quite rare due to it not getting enough sales to warrent making it part of the "Greatest Games" list (a crime in itself) as well as not being re-released in any disc form. However,it has been released on the Playstation Network as of July 9 of 08...I'm unsure if this download contains the entire package of the disc version covered in this article,but if it does,you'd best get that fucker cause it's a damn fun good time game. Now to make up for the fact that this game is actually quite well known,the next few entries are gonna get REAL fucking obscure,so stay tuned...until then...Kefka...OUT!
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Post by Fickle81 on Oct 9, 2008 18:22:35 GMT -5
SOSPublisher:Vic Tokai Platform:SNES Release Date:April 1994Back in 1994,there weren't too many games that were directly structured after specific motion picture formulas,let alone even tell stories in a cinematic way. While there were a few exceptions,for the most part,the only games that even attempted to convey a story with cinematic elements were the FMV games on the CD based consoles (Sega CD,3DO,CD-I,ect)...and we all know how THOSE turned out. So when a regular game that was rather cinematic came out at that time,it was considered a breath of fresh air. However,there is a particular SNES game that exists that not only argubly tells a story in the most cinematic way at that time without being FMV based,but is also directly based on a film subgenre (the disaster movie),and for the most part it was completely ignored and not many people know about it. This game is called SOS...hell,the game is even refered to as a FILM in the opening credit sequence. Directly inspired by The Poseidon Adventure,SOS tells the story of the doomed voyage of the luxury cruise ship known as Lady Crithania in september of 1921. The ship gets caught in a vicious storm with some 2300 passengers on board. When you start the game,you can pick one of 4 characters: Capris Wisher:A young male architect who is on the ship with his sick sister Amy,whose caretaking as a result of her sickness has become an intense burden for Capris to the point of having resentment towards his beloved sister. Redwin Gardner:A middle aged male counselor who has brought his wife,their 2 kids Harry and Stella,and his nephew Jack (eventhough the somewhat badly written text in the beginning of the game implies that Redwin isn't related to any of them) Luke Haines:A male crew member of the ship who tries to warn the rest of the crew that the storm is starting to take its toll on the ship,only to have his warnings fall on deaf ears. Jeffrey Howell:A male doctor in his 60s on board with his wife Adela. Once you pick your character,theres is a brief scene that sets up a little bit of their backstory pertaining to the cruise,along with introducing other significant characters they are involved with. Once thats over,there is a brief moment where your character can walk around and explore the ship,opening doors and going in rooms,as well as talk to people that you run into. However,soon the ship starts to violently shake before the screen fades to black...when it fades back,it shows EXACTLY what has caused the disturbance on the ship. The ship gets hit by a monsterously gigantic tidal wave which has caused the ship to start capsizing. When your character wakes up,he discovers that the ship has been completely turned upside down and that many of the crew and passengers have died. The goal of the game then becomes exploring the ship to find any other survivours,particularly any and all characters directly related to the character you're playing as,and to safely escape the ship in 1 hour before it sinks entirly. The game plays like a more polished and refined Prince of Persia. It has most of the gameplay elements and mechanics of Prince of Persia,most importantly the jumping and dangling/climbing on ledges...however,it's more polished and refined like I said because the controls are more fluid and there is no delay factor in them at all like there is in Prince of Persia. During the game,you'll surely find yourself experiencing a very innovative element...random instances where the ship will tilt/rotate at a certain angle,made possible by the Mode 7 rendering. These random tilts/rotations that only get more severe as time goes on gives the game a very realistic feel,like you're really experiencing a cruise ship disaster. Theres also moments where these tilts/rotations actually work to your advantage,as they can help you reach certain areas that you can't when the ship is level. However this innovation,like a lot of other elements in the game that I'll talk about,is a double edged sword because it can make the experience seem TOO real and at times too challenging because these rotations/tilts often come at the worst possible times,like when you're trying to get to an area thats unreachable thanks to the tilt/rotations (the EXACT opposite of the instances I mentioned where it helps)...or when you're exploring a long hallway where a slight jump could cause you to plummet several feet and cause injury...or in the most amusing while also extremely annoying case of all,when guiding fellow survivours in an area that requires them to jump yet is dangerous due to the height of the area,causing them to fall from too high of a distance and getting killed because of it. So when going around the ship,jumping on ledges and exploring rooms (some of which the lights will go out in at certain points of the game) and levels of the ship,you're bound to run into some survivours. While finding and rescuing these people is not a requirement in the game,as you can just head straight for the exit when the game officially starts,it's HIGHLY recommended because the more people you rescue,the better the ending...and each and every combination of people rescued results in a different ending...like say you rescue all but one person on the ship and get a certain ending,then play again and rescue that person you didn't rescue before but end up leaving behind just one of the individuals you DID rescue in the previous game...yep,entirly different ending...and the endings are different for each and every one of those scenarios,and since there are 4 characters to choose from each with their own story arc,there are litterally hundreds of different endings which definatly jacks up the replay value quite a bit (as it should,cause the game is rather short as is). However,more flaws arise with this element. For starters,you have to repeatedly engage in conversation with characters either to the point where they start repeating the last thing they said or they decide to tag along (some of which won't tag along until you fulfill a prerequisite,like finding another character related to the other). Now,I understand that there are certain instances where this is nessasary,such as engaging in scripted scenarios involving 2 characters at once,but having to continue a conversation with one person by pressing the action button every time a brief exchange stops is quite annoying and completely unnessasary...there is no reason whatsoever why the conversation couldn't go all the way through in one act of engagement. Secondly,the rescued characters don't automatically follow you wherever you go...you have to guide and call them using the L and R buttons,which causes an arror to mark the spot in which you called them which is where they walk towards and stop at. Not only is having to do this repeatedly quite tedious and cumbersome,but the AI for these characters is quite dumb...example: Uh huh,see? The AI is not smart enough to walk those few extra inches in order to be able to grab the top of the platform and climb up...now you might think it's just because of the tilt of the ship,but you're wrong...you'll see stuff like this happen even with the ship is completely level. This makes an already cumbersome prospect even more tiresome,but wait it doesn't end there...as I alluded to already,if you fuck up and cause a follower to fall from too great of height or they touch fire,instead of simply getting injured like you do,they die and thus takes points off from your potential ending...and if YOU fall victim to this and not them,sometimes the followers will disappear and you'll often times be left uncertain if you can find them again. Which leads me to my next point...while there is no health bar of any kind to be found in the game,your character can still get hurt. This happens if you fall from too high of depth,touch fire,or get hit with falling debris. When any of these happen,your character will let out a scream and fall on his back before the screen fades to black. It fades back into a screen that tells you that you have lost 5 minutes along with telling you how much time out of the hour is left before the ship sinks...this is another problem in the game because this is the only clear way to know how much time is left...you can get a general idea from the additional screens of the ship's sinking proccess that occationally shows up,but there is no other way of knowing EXACTLY how much time is left other than injuring yourself. Another problem in this area is the fire...it's damn near impossible to navigate around (IE jump over) and sometimes when you go into a room thats right next to a blaze of fire and then come back out,the fire somehow gets you eventhough you didn't touch it when going into the room and the fire hasn't moved closer to the door. Theres one more problem in this game. When you press select during the game,you can look at the ship's map...but would you REALLY want to? Seriously,take a look at this map (the blue spot is your character): Yea...some fucking map...I understand that the game takes place in the early 1900s and thus a detailed map by today's standards would be unrealistic and therefore out of the question,but jesus lapdancing christ in the champagne room,does it have to be so goddamn vague? And sometimes the blue dot that indicates your position doesn't even appear. The ship is absolutly ginormous and it's extremely easy to get lost as is,but with a map thats vague as hell that doesn't tell you what rooms/levels are what (like,most importantly,the fucking way off the ship) makes it even easier,and with about 35 minutes to find other survivours and get off the ship,getting lost really fucks shit up,like everything in the game works against you...and yes,I'm aware that I wrote 35 minutes instead of an hour...cause while you technically have an hour to escape,once you see THIS at around the 25 minute warning mark... ...You can pretty much abandon all hope of JUST YOU making it off the ship alive,LET ALONE with other survivours,cause the ships tilting/rotating will become so severe and in much shorter intervals that successfully navigating even simple halls will be a ridiculously challenging endevour...and when the hour is up,the game doesn't automatically end...cause then the task will be to avoid the incoming flood of water in order to simply briefly delay the inevitable...unless of course you injure yourself with 5 minutes or less on the clock,in which case the game DOES automatically end. Wow,I honestly didn't expect the article to be so focused on the negative aspects of the game,making it probably the most negative piece in the entire underapreciated games list...it almost sounds like I'm showing just how big of a piece of shit it is,but it really isn't. Even with all its flaws,it's still a very unique and fun game most of the time,and I haven't even gotten into other positive aspects of the game like its awsome soundtrack. This is one of those titles where you'll either be able to overlook the flaws and enjoy it,or you won't and hate it. I personally,as well as the very few reviews found on gamefaqs,lean towards the former instead of the latter...it really is a one of a kind game that still to this day hasn't really been replicated (except maybe in the Japanese only Playstation sequel,but I don't know anything about that so I can't say). Flaws or no flaws,it's definatly worth checking out...once you've throughly done so,THEN you can decide where you stand,if you end up dispising it,it's certainly understandable.
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Post by Fickle81 on Nov 2, 2008 18:38:02 GMT -5
Isolated WarriorPublisher:NTVIC Platform:NES Release Date:February 1991Isolated Warrior is a reletivly obscure vertical scrolling shooter platform hybrid. Although scrolling vertical shooters of this type where you control characters rather than ships or any other vehicles had been done before in and around the time of this game (like for example Gunsmoke,one of the 3 games I covered in my western triple feature),very few if any integrated traditional platforming elements like this did...at least none that I'm aware of...feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken. Anyway...you play as Max Maverick,captain of the army of the planet Pan,a planet located outside the Milky Way galaxy. One day the planet is caught off guard by a sudden attack from a mysterious and hostile alien race,who quickly take over the planet with their ability to consume anything and everything,including buildings. The higher ups order an immediate evacuation of the planet for citizens and soldiers alike...however,Max refuses to leave. Instead he saddles up in his battle suit and deploys to engage the enemy head on all by his lonesome in a suicidal fashion for any normal warrior in an attempt to reclaim the planet for his people...hence why the game is called Isolated Warrior. So basically the game is shown from a slightly tilted top down shooter perspective,and as I said before,a vertical shooter is essentially what it is. There are many interesting things to note here though...first and foremost,you don't start out with full health like in most other games...your health,as well as your weapons,all get upgraded by picking up powerups either already on the screen or as a result of killing enemies (either certain ones or a bunch of em in a row). Speaking of the weapons,your character has 2 different guns...the straight beam and spread beam,that increase in power,speed,and features when you pick up upgrade powerups and fill the weapon meter all the way to increase the level of the weapon...in addition,your character also has a certain amount of bombs he can use to take out hordes of enemies or do major damage to bosses,which also has upgradable levels like your guns have. Since I've already brought them up while talking about the weapons,here are the different powerups you can get and what they do: W:Increases level of the spread beam. L:Increases the level of the straight beam. B:Increases the level of the bomb. Bullet:This powerup is in the shape of a purple rock. Picking this up gives you one extra bomb. !:Gives you 1000 points. S Emblem:Increases Max's speed. This pickup is only dropped by electric enemies. (O):Replenishes Max's life bar. Only the purple hopping enemies drop these. Shield:This powerup is the shape of a ball surrounded by 2 layers of parenthesis. Picking this up puts a shield around Max that will allow him to get hit 5 times without losing life points before disappearing. Now that we've covered the shooting portion of things,lets talk about the platforming. In most levels,you're slowly walking in an upward direction in a scrolling fashion,and in most of these levels,you'll encounter many different obsticles,such as pits,that need to be navigating. This is where your jump comes into play. Now the interesting thing is that theres 3 types of jumping. Theres the regular jump,which happens when you tap the jump button once. If you press and hold the jump button,you do a longer forward backflip jump. If you tap the jump button twice,you throw one of your bombs. One thing you've got to remember though is since this is essentially in the vertical scrolling shooter format,the timing is different from other platformers. If you try to be a hotshot and attempt to jump over pitfalls before enough of the top part of the screen has loaded for you to land on,you'll be in a world of shit. It would be in your best interest to keep that in mind at all times when playing this. However,there will be a couple of opportunities where you don't have to worry about this,because in levels 2 and 7 (the final level) you're flying via a jetpack...in level 4 you're riding on a motorcycle,but since you have the ability to jump with it,you'll still have to worry about jumping obsticles. As standard fare,there is a boss at the end of every level,and sometimes there is even a midway sub boss. Also in between levels are small cutscenes that either shows how the current story is progressing and some of which even try to develop Max as a character by showing his thoughts and reminiscences about his life. In my personal opinion,this is the game's biggest flaw as they really aren't nessasary and don't deliver any real plot substance...they really come off as useless filler between stages...and the ending is also quite weak as well. Well,I guess thats pretty much it. Nothing all that much to the game other than what I listed...this ended up being one of the shortest of these articles that I've done in awhile in terms of lengh and visual aids. I guess one other interesting thing to mention is that if you have both of your guns upgraded to a high level and you die,the only gun that downgrades is the one you were using when you died,so I suppose there can be some strategic elements as far as that goes. Since this article was kinda lacking in the visual aids department,I'll go ahead and leave you with a real clear example of what the gameplay is truly like in the form of a YouTube video. This is somebody playing through level 3 of the game. Enjoy and peace out,bean sprout.
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