Just starting this, apologies for dragging my heels. Played through it before, it's still good. Great tunes too.

Use the missiles you pick up on the second level, he goes down easy enough.

Is this the retro thread?

Anyone know anything about MAME? I've set my Surface up to run it, and lots of the roms work perfectly but then a lot of other ones won't. Most say there are files missing. I've checked online and there are people saying something about chd files and they have to go in the right place and blah blah. I can't see any files that are chd and the files it says are missing are always something else anyway. It all sounds like gibberish to me. Anyone have a simple explanation?

I'm save stating my way through this now so any nuance is lost on me unfortunately, but it doesn't feel quite as good as it did last time I dabbled.  It's a certified 16-bit classic but it's not in the timeless category for me.  Will finish tonight.

Cybernator/Assault Suits Valken (SNES)

Went with a fan translated ROM of the Japanese version after hearing good things in the retro community. The game itself is the same, just better presentation, a better translation and one uncensored scene.

I've actually owned Cybernator for about 20 years but never played it further than the first level. It seemed ok, but it never grabbed me like I expected. Thanks again to this thread, I've uncovered another 16-Bit gem, definitely not a hidden one, but one I've ignored for far to long.

The gameplay starts off good, not amazing but it's simple and responsive. It's not Contra, it's a slower more methodical shooter, and probably the reason I never clicked with it initially.

Its the rewards of exploration and subsequent upgrades and new weapons that the game goes from being merely good to very good. Thats not to say it's a complicated game, it's still linear A-B gaming, but if you try to rush through you'll have a tougher less enjoyable time.

This is most apparent on the last level. By that time you should have at least one weapon fully powered and will cut through the waves of enemies to the final boss instead of it being a slow slog. Very rewarding if you put the effort in earlier in the game.

The music and sound are all top notch, especially the main theme which is now ingrained into my brain, great stuff.

I actually failed one mission but still progressed. I have since discovered the game has two endings, a good and a bad, I obviously got the bad. I'm not sure how many of the 7 levels have different outcomes and what the stipulations are for the good ending, but it's a big plus point for replay value.

Very good game, really enjoyed it.

4/5

My Reviews

nick_md wrote:

I like the sense of scale in the game too, levels where there are little fellas on foot shooting at you, all tiny.

Those little bastards seemed to hit me all the time, they can do a surprising about of damage to.

The fist is called the 'knucklizer' heh

It's handy for smashing the slow-moving green mechs that don't have guns in lvl1 (think it one-shots them), but aside from that, nah.

Had another run on Cybernator over the weekend, got up to what I assume is the final boss (was on the final level anyway) but died and had no continues left

Really enjoyable game, no dud levels, feels solid, weighty and chunky (in a good way) to control, sprites are top quality and the OST goes perfectly with the action.

It's a shorter game than I remember, is my main negative really, although with a game where the action is this fun I don't think it really matters all that much, plus I didn't finish the last level so I'd be coming back to it for more anyway.

I guess another slight negative is that most of the weapons don't really come into play at all, your starting Vulcan and then later the Laser are all you need. I think I used some missiles at some points for variety, but a few more areas where different weapons were needed would've been nice.

It's a high 4.5/5 from me.

I'm going to start it again I think, can't judge it properly with the way I've been going about it.  Will give it a good go tonight.

It probably gets the extra .5 because I played it a lot as a kid, so nostalgia etc.

Still a top quality title for the system though.

Pop'n TwinBee (SNES)

Decent Shoot 'em Up, not a bad game by any means but a bit under par for Konami's ridiculously high 16-Bit standards.

The ability to share health and the adaptive difficulty in which the CPU goes for the more experienced player are great additions.

I enjoyed the dual layer of enemies. Like Xevious there are land enemies that can only be shot with bombs, as oppose to the airborne ones who are taken down with the standard weapons.

I'm really not a fan of the bells for power-ups though, especially having to juggle them to change their colours. It can get a bit much when you have a screen full of enemies. I'd much prefer the standard Gradius/Parodius system.

The graphics are nice and colourful and the music is typical Konami, but it just feels a bit like it doesn't get out of second gear. There's better shoot 'em ups on the SNES and tons if you include Mega Drive and PC Engine.

It is good fun though, and gets an extra point for being co-op.

3/5

I've never really played a Castlevania so I'm up for it, I hear SotN is a good one.

Oh fuck, playstation? How's that for emu?

I've got no ps emu atm but happy to install if I can get a pointer to the resourcers.

I'd buy it if it was £5 or so but £15 seems steep.