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

retroking1981

I know it's on the eshop, not sure about PSN/XBL.

Moot_Geeza

PSN yes, XB not that I can see.

Moot_Geeza

Went back to ESWAT as I'm a glutton for punishment and I'm still curious. It'll take another session to get through it because I've had enough, again. It hasn't aged quite as poorly as Altered Beast but it's not far off. And while I'm on the subject of bangers that time has nerfed into duffers, Strider is shit too.

Moot_Geeza

Time_on_my_hands wrote:

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Was the MD version. It's definitely got a spot of Robocop going on. Was probably okay at the time but it's kinda horrendous now. I borrowed the MS port as a kid, which I remember finishing and quite liking, but God knows what that one's like these days.

Interesting - the consoles didn't seem to bother adapting the coin op ESWAT, instead going for a much more futuristic platform shooter. The arcade edition is a lot more Robocop and annoyed me by not allowing the player to fire more than 1 bullet at a time!

Watching a video of this. Doesn't look like a classic but it seems fun and I bet it plays miles better than the MD version.

retroking1981

I'm about half way through the arcade Strider on the Capcom Arcade Cabinet.

Gotta agree, it's not quite as good as it's reputation.

Moot_Geeza

Not played the arcade version but I booted up the MD port recently and I definitely missed the boat on that.

I wonder if the PS1 game has aged well? Or the PS4 one come to think of it - I only played to the first boss but remember liking it.

Check out the US Gold sequel on MD for a full facepalm.

Moot_Geeza

ESWAT arcade looks good actually. I want to play this now.

mk64

Strider looked so good in the magazines back in the day

Moot_Geeza

Agree. The mountain descent especially.

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Check out the US Gold sequel on MD for a full facepalm.

Already have unfortunately. Dog shit.

davyK

Never rated Strider myself.

Funkstain

What are you talking about! that amazing jump animation! The giant bosses! The actual animated ending (with a hang-glider for some reason)

Funkstain

Am I remembering a boss fight whilst handing from inter continental missiles or was that contra 3

Time_on_my_hands

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Not played the arcade version but I booted up the MD port recently and I definitely missed the boat on that.

I wonder if the PS1 game has aged well? Or the PS4 one come to think of it - I only played to the first boss but remember liking it.

Check out the US Gold sequel on MD for a full facepalm.

I've still got the PS1 Strider disk somewhere. Very different to every other version I've played - one of those 2.5D games that were in fashion at the time. Infinte credits from the off which were needed because it was completely unbalanced.

Moot_Geeza

I can't remember what paramaters I set for the topic so I'll chuck this in as a top down run & gun:

Mercs (or Senjo no Okami II, as it's known on the Capcom Arcade Stadium collection) - 30 mins

I borrowed the Megadrive version a couple of times as a kid, which was a decent port all things considered. I knew they dropped the co-op mode, which was a massive shame, but I didn't realise the original supported three players simultaneously. I'm pretty sure the MD version wasn't as long as this either, as stages 6 & 7 didn't ring a bell, so I assume they were chopped for the home port*.

It's fairly basic to revisit and feels guilty of the 'moar money please' coin-op trappings that were de rigeur at the time. It's tough to criticise an early 90s arcade game for being an early 90s arcade game though, so I was happy to just accept it. It's a shame you can't fiddle with the audio settings in the Capcom Stadium package (unless I'm missing something) as the music is too low for my liking, but the basics did the job as far as semi-mindless shooting goes.

Still has one of the best flamethrowers in town, and it'd be worth a bash with two chums for sure. Fits the screen nicely with the FlipGrip attached too. The package is 50% off at the moment, which is the lowest it's been on Switch since launch. Looking forward to choosing what to play next, as retro packages go it's very nicely put together. 84%

*It's also quite possible I didn't make it that far without the ability to drop an extra coin in whenever I fancied.

Moot_Geeza

Any recs from the run & guns on here? I've played some but not all:

1941: Counter Attack (1990)
1942 (1984)
1943: The Battle of Midway (1987)
1944: The Loop Master (2000)
19XX: The War Against Destiny (1995)
Battle Circuit (1997)
Bionic Commando (1987)
Captain Commando (1991)
Carrier Air Wing (1990)
Commando (1985)
Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness (1995)
Dynasty Wars (1989)
Final Fight (1989)
Forgotten Worlds (1988)
Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985)
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1988)
Giga Wing (1999)
Legendary Wings (1986)
Mega Twins (1990)
Pirate Ship Higemaru (1984)
Powered Gear (Japanese version of Armored Warriors, 1994)
Progear (2001)
Section Z (1985)
Senjo no Okami II (Japanese version of Mercs, 1990)
Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting (1992)
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991)
Strider (1989)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994)
Tatakai no Banka (Japanese version of Trojan, 1986)
Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (1992)
Vulgus (1984)
Warriors of Fate (1992)

retroking1981

Gotta be Strider after the talk above

Moot_Geeza

Forgotten Worlds is a shmup but I might give that a go next, never played it. Unless we did it in here at some point and I've (genuinely not intentional) forgotten.

Moot_Geeza

retroking1981 wrote:

Gotta be Strider after the talk above

Ha I guess so.

Moot_Geeza

Can you get the Data East Robocop on any retro packages? Assuming not, but I fancy playing at least level one again.

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Forgotten Worlds is a shmup but I might give that a go next, never played it. Unless we did it in here at some point and I've (genuinely not intentional) forgotten.

I reviewed I on here this year or last, I wasn't very impressed.

monkey

The flamethrower in MD Mercs really is good. Almost overpowered without actually making the game much easier.

Eric

Commando (first game I ever completed on my C64) is decent and very mercs-esqe. Fogotten Worlds is horrible, I played it recently.

I used to love Midnight Resistance on the Arcade but I'm not sure how well that's dated now.

Appreciate it's not on your list but Green Beret or Rush n Attack is still a great game and worth an outing.

Moot_Geeza

Mercs is officially Commando 2 according to the Wiki entry.

retroking1981

Eric wrote:

Appreciate it's not on your list but Green Beret or Rush n Attack is still a great game and worth an outing.

Played that recently on NES, excellent game. I think I may have spoken to you about your love for the C64 version.

retroking1981

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Mercs is officially Commando 2 according to the Wiki entry.

It is indeed, or more accurately:

Commando is Wolf of the Battlefield in Japan
Mercs is Wolf of the Battlefield 2 in Japan

There was also a Wolf of the Battlefield 3 released on PS3/360.

Eric

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Mercs is officially Commando 2 according to the Wiki entry.

Oh well that makes total sense then!

retroking1981 wrote:

Eric wrote:

Appreciate it's not on your list but Green Beret or Rush n Attack is still a great game and worth an outing.

Played that recently on NES, excellent game. I think I may have spoken to you about your love for the C64 version.

Yes! Give me any excuse for me to play that ost!

Moot_Geeza

Any interest in cranking the old girl up for another spin? I'm well in the mood given my new handheld + TV device on the way. I'll be swimming in ROMs soon.

I'm scoping for Neo Geo/Neo Geo Pocket recs pls.

retroking1981

I got Shock Troopers 2 on the Switch to play.

Moot_Geeza

That's on my shortlist after watching a Youtube comp so I'm up for it.

Howdy, Stranger!

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