Retro Club - 8 & 16-bit puzzlers - The Bear and Badger

Moot_Geeza

Let's do it the easy way - we take turns picking games, with a bit of waffle about why we like it, and whoever fancies playing it plays it.

1. Retroking - 8th May
2. Eric - 22nd May
3. JonB - 5th June
4. Davyk - 19th June
5. Nick - 3rd July*
6. Moot - 17th July

*Placeholder

davyK

I'm up for that.
Found this.But I don't think this covers everything we have tried.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Full business - all previous games:
Week one (03/09): Ristar (Megadrive)
Week two (10/09): Sunset Riders (Arcade, SNES, Megadrive)
Week (fortnight) three (17/09): James pond 2: Robocod (various)
Week four (01/10): Castlevania: Bloodlines (Megadrive).
Week five (08/10): Duck Tales (NES)
Week six (15/10): Strider (Arcade, Megadrive)
Week seven (22/10): Plok (SNES)
Week eight (29/10): *Play Your Illusion* (take your pick from Sega's excellent Illusion series)
Week nine (05/11): Snake, Rattle 'N Roll (NES)
Week ten (12/11): Flashback (Amiga, Megadrive, SNES)
Week eleven (19/11): Gynoug (Megadrive)
Week twelve (26/11): Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose (SNES)
Week thirteen (03/12): Super Aleste (SNES)
Week fourteen (10/12): Back to the Future III (Megadrive)
Week fifteen (17/12): Sub-Terrania (Megadrive)
Week sixteen (24/12): Christmas break
Week seventeen (31/12): UN Squadron (SNES)
Week eighteen (14/01): Zero Tolerance (Megadrive)
Week nineteen (21/01): Out To Lunch (SNES, Amiga)
Week twenty (28/01): Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine, Virtual Console)
Week twenty one (04/02): Rocket Knight Adventures (Megadrive)
Week twenty two (11/02): Star Parodier (PC Engine/Virtual Console)
Week twenty three (18/02): Legendary Axe (PC Engine/Virtual Console)
Fortnight twenty four (04/03): Atari 2600
week Fortnight twenty five (18/03): Cybernator (SNES)
Fortnight twenty six (01/04): Sonic & Knuckles + Sonic 3 LOCK-ON! (Megadrive)
Twenty seven (15/04): Yoshi's Island (SNES, GBA, Downloads)
Twenty eight (29/04, fortnight): Midnight Resistance (arcade, Megadrive, Amiga etc) (
13/05, fortnight): Super Metroid (SNES, VC, eshop) (
27/05, week): Rub Your Own Rhubarb: free choice Retro Batman week (03/06, week): Battletoads (NES) (
10/06, week): Budget Master System Week - Action Fighter, Teddy Boy and The Ninja
(17/06, week): Toki (various) (01/07, fortnight): Castlevania IV (SNES)
(15/07. fortnight): Free choice Parodius
(29/07, week): Scrolling Beat 'em up free choice
(05/08, fortnight): El Viento (Megadrive)
(19/08, fortnight): Yoshi's Story (N64)
(02/09, week): Rollergames (NES)
(09/09, fortnight): Actraiser (SNES, VC)
(23/09, fortnight): Grand Theft Auto (PS, PC)
(07/10, week): New Zealand story (various)
(14/10, week): Bitmap Bros free choice
(21/10, week) Vectorman (MD, compilations) Fantasy Zone Free Choice - Various
(03/03) Super Punch-Out! - SNES (
10/03) Jurassic Park Free Choice - Various
(24/03) Atari 2600 High Score Week Returns
(31/03) The Firemen - SNES
(07/04) Powerdrive - Various
(21/04) Obscure NES Month, 5 games
(05/05) Wildcard Week
(02/06)Cool Spot - Various
(09/06)We've done bits and pieces since, including Dragon's/Mrs.Moot's Fury, but this was back when we were on a game every couple of weeks or so.

retroking1981

Yep, that sounds like a good idea to me.

acemuzzy

I'm maybe in. But I'm also perhaps not in. So arguably out.

Moot_Geeza

Good find Davy. That's definitely not all of them but it's as close as we're likely to get.

Moot_Geeza

1. Retroking - 8th May
2. Eric - 22nd May
3. JonB - 5th June
4. Davyk - 19th June
5. Nick - 3rd July*
6. acemuzzy - 17th July**
7. Moot - 31st July

*Placeholder
**Moron

retroking1981

We definitely did Aladdin as I can't see that there unfortunately.

Might be an idea to tidy that up, just list the games, alphabetise them and whack em in the OP for quick reference.

nick_md

I'll definitely pick a game, just how much time I find to play is the question. Will try not to let the side down.

retroking1981

Robocop (NES) 1988

Borrowed this off of a friend/neighbour back in the early 90s. I completed it and remember liking it but haven't played it since, so I'm interested to see how it stands up today.

It came out on tons of platforms which was common back in the day. I can't find much info on this on the net unfortunately but like the 16Bit Aladdin games there was a few different games across various platforms, so its the NES game specifically I'm picking.

During the eBay boom of the early 2000s I picked up a ton of 80s/90s games, a proper binge to get everything I wanted as a kid. This is one of them and other than powering it up to check it worked I haven't touched it. This is gonna be a common thing with my picks, especially NES/SNES as I have close to 300 games across the two, 2/3s of which fall into this 5mins of play category.

Eric

Nice. I played the C64 big box version to death as a kid and it looks like the NES version was the definitive version so looking forward to this one to see how it compares!

JonB

I'll try and give it a go. I used to like the arcade game quite a bit. Also the Gameboy version of Robocop 2.

Moot_Geeza

I loved the arcade game, especially the opening level. Played through it a couple of years ago, aside from the over-use of ED-209 as a boss (two ED-209's!) is still holds up as a good 20p guzzler.

davyK

I always avoided licenced games as I always suspected them to be lazy efforts. So it means anything like this will be of interest in retrospect.

JonB

I downloaded a NES emulator and the game. First impressions aren't good and I gave up at the end of level 1. Robocop himself just seems a bit crap.

I'll try one more time tomorrow to see if I can get the hang of it, but will give it a miss if not.

Moot_Geeza

I just played a chunk of it. It's certainly not great, the way certain enemies attack make it feel like it's missing a jump button. Going up/down stairs is unnecessarily irritating, as is the harsh time limit. Only regenerating a slither of life between stages is also odd (often leaving you with a big ol' fat chance of further progression, as too many hits are close to unavoidable), although the continue option appears to be infinite. I managed to beat ED-209, which felt like a fair bossfight, and I've moved on to the Boddicker hangout area. I'll probably finish it this week or next, as I doubt there's long left, but I'd imagine it'll end up a [5] for me. Would've found a way to enjoy it as a 9yr old, but there are far better Robocop games out there. Cutscenes are reasonably neato, and the graphics are mostly okay.

retroking1981

Got mixed feelings about this one, I've just beat ED-209 so I'm guessing I'm at the same point as moot unless he's played more.

I agree with the stairs comment, the sweet point/pixel for getting on them is unnecessarily narrow. The lack of a jump was odd at first but I got used to it, although there is that weird fly kicking enemy that you have to duck under and hit from behind instead of jumping up a bit to shot in the face.

Not quite what the point of being banned from using your firearms at certain times is? Seems a bit random and pointless.

Will finish up soon - whens the deadline?

nick_md

What's this on, nes? Imma dl now

retroking1981

Yes mate, NES.

It was released on a lot of consoles/computers at the time but I'm not sure if they're completely different games like 16-Bit Aladdin games, so I just stipulated the NES version in my pick.

Moot_Geeza

retroking1981 wrote:

Will finish up soon - whens the deadline?

Eric takes over on the 22nd.

With regards to the gun/no gun thing, they were probably just mimicking the arcade game to an extent, although only the opening stretch that was fists only (which is a shame, as they made a great thumping sound). I seem to have a rapid fire button on this one using the Retro Pi, which is handy for the fat enemies, but presumably not in the original game on proper HW.

Moot_Geeza

Opening. Stretch. Fists only.

I'll keep Nick interested, nae probs.

retroking1981

It would make sense if there were members of the public running around at certain points, it's well odd having to disarm in a storage building surround by bad guys.

JonB

OK, I'm done with this. Got the hang of it a bit and did the first boss, but the second level is just more boring and annoying. Eventually gave up at the second boss after a couple of goes when I couldn't figure out what to do. For something with such clunky controls it wants you to act with far too much precision and speed. Not fun.

retroking1981

Yeah its not very good, looks like I'll have a game for my cull pile straight away.

Eric

I'm on with this. Only just realised there is an pummel button. It took me about 12 times to beat first boss because of it!

Controls are terrible, there is no real control over the 8 way shooting which has caused a few issues when I just want to duck and shoot.

I'm still going to soldier on. Reminds me of a bad version of Green Beret / Rush n Attack

retroking1981

Or Conta/Probotector when it comes to the 8 way shooting.

Everything's a bit stiff and like JonB said clunky.

Moot_Geeza

I took to Youtube for the last couple of stages, couldn't face playing it again. I'll change my [5] to a 56%, there were worse games around at the time that I enjoyed. Its poorness has been exacerbated by unkind time, but it's not irredeemably bobbins.

@Eric Time Approaches. Can you have one ready for Monday if poss?

davyK

I checked it out on youtube and it looked dire - exactly the sort of licenced tripe I avoided back then. I'll try and make time over the weekend to take a look at it though.

Eric

I'm on with my choice. Currently between two.

Eric

OK choice was between Scurge: Hive or CT Special Forces 3 BioTerror both on the GBA

Opted for the former, released late on the GBAs life and released on the DS too plays out like an isometric Metroid or Alien Breed. I picked a copy up purely by chance in an big eBay bundle and having never heard of it put it on my Retron. It's gorgeous, beautifully animated, cracking soundtrack, great bosses and tactical weapon usage. There's a bit of Metroid backtracking, aiming can be a bit tricky at first and I think it's quite tough (most things are now for) but would be interested to see what you guys think.

I think the GBA version is actually better than the DS version if you are looking to emulate.

Moot_Geeza

I played that last week, it's a stunner. Had a little trouble with the controls, which may be because my Micro d-pad is a touch iffy unfortunately. Will happily go back to it. Bizarrely, I've been looking for CT Special Forces on Ebay too, after watching a few vids on Youtube.

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