Retro Club - 8 & 16-bit puzzlers
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JonB wrote:I like a bit of Magic Sword, and Black Tiger, the arcade version at least. I tried Hagane for the first time recently and found it horribly frustrating. Awkward controls and unfair deaths.
Hagane's a tough one that's for sure but it never felt that unfair to me.
The likes of Double Dragon and Final Fight were a laugh in the arcade - especially with 2 players and that's really how they should be experienced.
I think there's a King Arthur themed one on the Capcom collection that I credit fed through with the kids (it's 3 or 4 player if I remember).Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
That'll be Knights of the Round probably. -
I played the first few levels of Two Crude Dudes in the arcade on Sunday. Standard stuff, but plenty of fun in two player.
I'm looking to play one I remember from an arcade in the early 90s, though in all likelihood it was an older cabinet. There's not much point in me trying to describe it to jog someone's memory - all I can remember is there were three or four playable characters, one possibly had a mohawk and one of the earlier levels was set in a scrapyard. I'll look for a complete genre list online, see if I can spot it. It wasn't much more advanced than Final Fight visually. -
I actually found it. *Pats internet on head*
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No-one championing the Konami Batman Returns game? Loved that when I was a kid.
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I was just playing SoR2, up to the level 6. Got to the end of level 5 on the first credit, then had to continue to get passed the boss. I think it's still about as good as this genre gets - the largest moveset and range of attacking styles, different enemies and generally fair and balanced gameplay. Lovely big sprites too.
It wasn't until towards the end that I remembered the double tap forward plus punch move though, and then remembered that's it's a beast with Axel. A little too spammable perhaps. Took care of the 5th boss pretty quickly after I was getting trounced as Blaze.
I never did play SoR3, as I heard it wasn't as good. Is that the case? -
Also, one other game I forgot earlier. An arcade game called Growl - pretty standard stuff but based around the theme of rescuing animals from poachers, so something a little different in that respect.
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Moot_Geeza wrote:I played the first few levels of Two Crude Dudes in the arcade on Sunday. Standard stuff, but plenty of fun in two player. I'm looking to play one I remember from an arcade in the early 90s, though in all likelihood it was an older cabinet. There's not much point in me trying to describe it to jog someone's memory - all I can remember is there were three or four playable characters, one possibly had a mohawk and one of the earlier levels was set in a scrapyard. I'll look for a complete genre list online, see if I can spot it. It wasn't much more advanced than Final Fight visually.
I was literally coming into the thread to ask if someone was going to play this! Did you clock it?He could've just said they came from another planet but seems keen to convince people with his bullshit pseudoscience that he knows stuff. I wouldn't trust him with my lunch. - SG -
Two Crude Dudes? Nope, we only had three credits between two of us, got to the end of level two I think. We needed all our coins for cider. I never played it on the Megadrive, but always wanted it.
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JonB wrote:It wasn't until towards the end that I remembered the double tap forward plus punch move though, and then remembered that's it's a beast with Axel. A little too spammable perhaps. Took care of the 5th boss pretty quickly after I was getting trounced as Blaze. I never did play SoR3, as I heard it wasn't as good. Is that the case?
The double tap flaming uppercut makes Axel ever so slightly unbalanced because he's by far the most useful character if you use it all the time. It's better than his A-button specials, and doesn't drain energy.
I've only ever played SOR3 a few times, completed it once on a compilation. It's decent, but nowhere near as good as 2. It has the team-up moves for two player, which is just about the only thing that would have improved the second one, but the characters feel lightweight, the graphics aren't as good, and the music is mostly a bit of a mess. 2>1>3 for me. -
@Funkstain forgot about Batman Returns. It is very good but suffers from only being 1Player. These games are always best played with friends.オレノナハ エラー ダ
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That move is absolutely killer. That SFX that go with it are forever burnt into my skull.JonB wrote:It wasn't until towards the end that I remembered the double tap forward plus punch move though, and then remembered that's it's a beast with Axel. A little too spammable perhaps
I played through the Streets of Rage Remake the other day with my brother. A simply amazing project...
SOR3 wasn't as good as SOR2, Jon, not by a long shot, though it had some interesting set pieces. SOR2 is the absolute pinnacle of the genre in my eyes. The soundtrack is simply fantastic.Spoiler: -
Ack, that's a right mess. Just look here if you want to read about it...
http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_project/ -
Is this is?
3mins39secs - team-up moves!
I think I'd rather play that than anything next gen I've seen so far. Except Crimson Dragon. -
So I thought I might as well try SoR3 anyway. Yeah, it's not as good. Just feels slightly off and uninspired. It's also much tougher on Normal, as they've given the basic grunts some different moves and a bit of AI. Just seemed to make it more frustrating though. Only played the first level, which went on forever anyway, but doubt I'll bother carrying on.
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Playable characters inc. Axel, Adam, Blaze, Skates, Max, Zan, Shiva, Roo... um, and more. Pretty sure you can unlock Mr X. as well.
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Always wanted to play as Shiva, was the main thing tempting me to buy no.3.
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Completed SOR2 last night. I agree with Jon, it's the best example of the genre. One of the most polished games I've ever played, endlessly replayable, and although this always gets mentioned, that music is exceptional (although marginally worse than some of the tunes in the first game, for me). It does a great job of gradually introuducing new enemies - not just bosses - throughout the first few levels, and by the end of the game you're being attacked by a vast array of different grunts and sub-sub-bosses.
If I had to find fault it would be that the two player team-up moves were obviously intended for inclusion. It would have made the two player mode far more enjoyable. This has a knock-on effect against computer controlled characters, as when they grab you from behind, instead of being able to attack from the full nelson a la SOR1 & 3, you just stand there limply waiting to be attacked. There aren't any holes to chuck your mate down if he accidentally/purposefully hits you this time around either, but I guess that should never have happened in the first place.
Shiva is still the greatest right hand man in 16-bit gaming, even if he does seem to shout 'wino-grass' in a drunken geriatric fashion during his slide attack. I still can't hear anything else, 20 years on.
94%. Add a whole two points if they'd had time/memory to include the co-op moves. -
I played through Vendetta. Good fun actually, well above average with lots of nice little touches and stuff to throw about. The main annoyance is that you often get hit multiple times in a row without being able to do much about it. Not a problem with infinite credits of course.
One thing I'd forgotten was how similar the enemies are in a lot of these games. Ok, fair enough there are a lot of 'punks' of various kinds, but the odd one is how there always seems to be whip wielding dominatrices in there, as if they're also quite a common form of street criminal. I dunno, it's too much to be a coincidence. -
Moot_Geeza wrote:This has a knock-on effect against computer controlled characters, as when they grab you from behind, instead of being able to attack from the full nelson a la SOR1 & 3, you just stand there limply waiting to be attacked.
Not so! You can kick out, and once you have kicked out at least once, you can throw the holder over your shoulder. -
Funkstain wrote:
Not so! You can kick out, and once you have kicked out at least once, you can throw the holder over your shoulder.This has a knock-on effect against computer controlled characters, as when they grab you from behind, instead of being able to attack from the full nelson a la SOR1 & 3, you just stand there limply waiting to be attacked.
I just replayed up to level two on hard, because I think the Legion of Doom lookalike biker guys are the first characters that can grab you, and I think I'm still correct in saying you can only do anything whilst grabbed in the first and third games. Pressing the C button in this situation in the original game made you rise up to shoulder height with a double footed kick, and pressing the direction you're facing + B used to do the shoulder throw you mention, but unless I'm doing it wrong neither of these moves are in no.2. -
For real. You have to use the jump button whilst held, which allows you to kick out in front of you. Then you can use the attack button, which precipitates the over-shoulder throw.
But if you try the attack button before the jump button, nothing happens. I thought it could be a bug perhaps. -
Funk, I want you to be right, but I've got a console running the ROM on the desk in front of me as I type (save state: in the back of the truck whilst fighting four biker thugs), and the jump button isn't doing anything when I'm grabbed. I've tried with Blaze, Max and Skate this evening, and I played through the main game with Axel earlier in the week.
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I thought I should try some Double Dragon as it's kind of the daddy of this format. The original is still decent, although clearly aged, and a bit fiddly. Then I tried Double Dragon 3 for about 5 minutes and it turns out it's amazingly bad. Really it's worth trying just because it's so unintentionally funny, especially the animation and the running belly flop move.
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JonB wrote:I played through Vendetta. Good fun actually, well above average with lots of nice little touches and stuff to throw about. The main annoyance is that you often get hit multiple times in a row without being able to do much about it. Not a problem with infinite credits of course. One thing I'd forgotten was how similar the enemies are in a lot of these games. Ok, fair enough there are a lot of 'punks' of various kinds, but the odd one is how there always seems to be whip wielding dominatrices in there, as if they're also quite a common form of street criminal. I dunno, it's too much to be a coincidence.
Just finished this myself. A few thoughts:
1. It's definitely the game I remember playing, I remember the guy with the mohawk's ridiculous flying headbutt special, and the character clearly based on Hulk Hogan.
2. The baseball bat feels nice and weighty. I especially like the way it splats enemies into the back wall
3. The boss screams as they die are hilarious
4. The enemy design is pretty questionable. One enemy type is a gay man in leathers, who walks around limp wristed and literally tries to dry hump you if they get hold of you. This happened: at one point one of them fucked a lamppost, and died from a falling bulb. Even the dogs try to hump you in later stages.
It's a pretty decent game, and although your moves repertoire isn't as advanced as SOR2 etc, it was a fun half hour.
Next up, Vigilante. -
SoR2 finished. Just about made it on the 3 credits and 3 lives on Normal without save states. Come to think of it, it was one of those games best played on Hard from the off.
I stand by it being the best of its kind, just because the controls, moveset and enemy 'AI' are all just right. Being hypercritical, I could say that there aren't enough new enemy types in the later levels, which makes it a bit repetitive, and they could have made the backgrounds more interesting and interactive.
It was always clear that SoR was a response first to Final Fight being on SNES and then in the sequel to the success of Street Fighter 2 - thus the special moves. But it really took everything in the genre and polished it beyond previous levels, especially in 2, even if it remained a little derivative. A 9/10 for sure. -
Vigilante completed, Madonna rescued, ginger-haired skinheads defeated.
I enjoyed this on the Master System (borrowed it a few times, as a kid, had a few odd glitches), and played the TurboGrafx version on the Virtual Console quite a bit, but this was my first experience of the arcade version. Unsurprisingly, it seemed far less forgiving. The last boss in particular would have cost me around £3 in 20ps, as I couldn't work out an effective way of hitting him - I just had to gradually wear him down and hope certain moves connected. Good though, but sadly not as good as I remembered - perhaps the home versions were better.
75% -
Moot_Geeza wrote:Vigilante completed, Madonna rescued, ginger-haired skinheads defeated.
I enjoyed this on the Master System (borrowed it a few times, as a kid, had a few odd glitches), and played the TurboGrafx version on the Virtual Console quite a bit, but this was my first experience of the arcade version. Unsurprisingly, it seemed far less forgiving. The last boss in particular would have cost me around £3 in 20ps, as I couldn't work out an effective way of hitting him - I just had to gradually wear him down and hope certain moves connected. Good though, but sadly not as good as I remembered - perhaps the home versions were better.75%
I think a lot of home versions of old arcade games were better on consoles, even the humble 8Bits. Those arcade games were designed to make you pump money in.オレノナハ エラー ダ -
Had a few minutes on the X-Men arcade game yesterday, which is still decent. Also played the original Turtles game, which I adored as a kid. It's still fun, but the bosses are pretty cheap.
I wanted to play an Asterix beat 'em up I liked the look of many years ago, but I don't seem to have the ROM (or possibly it's too advanced for my version of MAME), so I think I'll play Maximum Carnage or The Punisher next. I wish I'd set two weeks aside for this, it turns out I still love the genre.
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