Moot_Geeza wrote:

I wonder how many times I would have sat through that Wonderman video for the snippets of Sonic 3 footage if I'd had it on VHS before the game launched.  Probably dozens.  I was thinking about it today, and I reckon Sonic 3 was the most I've ever looked forward to a game - I certainly bought a record number of mags in one month to read about it (all of them).  A fuller list of the games I've gone a bit mad for leading up to their release: Sonic The Hedgehog (MS), SFII: Special Championship Edition, Sonic 3, Landstalker, Virtua Fighter II, Dark Savior, Zelda OOT, Shenmue, Ecco DC, Halo 3 and Trials Evolution.

It is a spectacular looking game - can only imagine the impact it had back in the day. I felt the same way about Yoshi's Island when the blurb hit the press.

I can also remember being really stoked for New Tetris on N64 for some reason - and it took ages to come out - delay after delay.

davyK wrote:

I felt the same way about Yoshi's Island when the blurb hit the press.

Yoshi's Island is next week's game - I'm charging the GB Micro as I type.  I was terribly jealous of it as a Megadrive owner. 

I was keen on an American multiformat magazine called Diehard Gamefan that my local newsagent stocked, which was infectiously enthusiastic about pretty much everything.  Their review system was the old-school percentages style, but they gave each game three scores, from three different reviewers, Famitsu style.  A few years ago I could still remember the scores most mags gave many 16-bit titles, but my memory is fading....I can remember that at least one of their reviewers gave Yoshi's Island 100% though (Landstalker and Streetfighter Alpha are the only other games I remember receiving a perfect score from any of their staff), which turned me into a spotty little green eyed monster. 

The GBA was like my first retro machine, in a way, which is why I'm so fond of the console.  It was my first access to the many of the classic titles: Mario 3, Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Super Ghouls n Ghosts, DKC, Zelda: LttP etc.  Yoshi's Island is one of the best games I've ever played.

I 100 pointed every level in it. Amazing game, definitely one of the all time best 2D platformers.

Back to Sonic 3 - superb stuff.

It's slowly starting to pull me in. I'm now on Launch Base Zone. How far am I into the game? Have I done the Sonic 3 levels yet or am I on Knuckles?

retroking1981 wrote:

Back to Sonic 3 - superb stuff. It's slowly starting to pull me in. I'm now on Launch Base Zone. How far am I into the game? Have I done the Sonic 3 levels yet or am I on Knuckles?

Launch Base is the last level of Sonic 3, barring end of game boss stuff.

The Megadrive Sonic games are my most cherished of gaming memories. Some of the music in those games is damn incredible and the spritework is glorious.

The first two are particularly fucking mindblowing.

Flying Battery is so beast.

It's still a toss up between Yoshi's Island and Super Mario World for me ... YI is a bit more linear than SMW - that over world map is a thing of beauty - though YI's level design and goals are a bit more imaginative in places.

Is it ok to play YI on the ambassador 3ds version? Is it different to the snes version or a direct port? Will start tonight.

good shit, then i'll be doing my first properly play through starting this evening. 

Any tips? I think I started the game once and played a level or two but never continued.

yes, i remember egg firing and it being a bit fiddly no?

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Retro - do you want me to let Sonic run for another week? I'm not fussed, might as well give you time to finish it as you're halfway through.

If so, I'll probably use this week to play Sonic 2 on the Master System, which I always disliked but I'm told isn't bad at all.

Na just stick with the schedule, thanks anyway. People here seem ready for YI and I don't want to stand in the way of that. I played that to death back in the day.

I'll try and finish Sonic tonight and will play some YI with everyone else.

@mk64 the GBA YI only really suffers from 2 face buttons instead of the 4 on the SNES. SNES is definitely the better version but you won't lose much playing the handheld port.

Oh go on then:

Proper 2D Sonic games: Sonic 2 (MD), Sonic 1 (MS), Sonic 3+Knuckles (MD), Sonic 1 (MD), Sonic Advance 2 (GBA), Sonic Advance (GBA), Sonic Rush (DS), Sonic 4 (XBLA).

Only listing the ones I've finished. Never played Sonic CD. I possibly didn't finish Rush though, as my overriding memory of it is of the bastard hard final boss.

Wouldn't mind giving it a go. Remember I've still got that sealed copy of Generations though....

Secrets in Sonic were a bit tame tbh. The odd extra life or hidden shield in walls, nothing fantastic, and no hidden levels. Sonic 3 had more hidden areas because you actually had to find the hidden giant rings to enter the bonus stages (Sonic 1 on MS also had emeralds hidden in the levels rather than bonus stages).

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Secrets in Sonic were a bit tame tbh. The odd extra life or hidden shield in walls, nothing fantastic, and no hidden levels. Sonic 3 had more hidden areas because you actually had to find the hidden giant rings to enter the bonus stages (Sonic 1 on MS also had emeralds hidden in the levels rather than bonus stages).

I'm really not keen on this, I much prefer the way you get them in 1 and 2.