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Post by Sarge on Jul 7, 2019 0:07:24 GMT -5
Day Dreamin' Davey.
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Post by Ex on Jul 7, 2019 0:42:31 GMT -5
SargeI was considering a replay of Castlevania II myself, via this hack. But I decided to save it for October. I'm glad you're playing the game again though. My favorite series entry on the NES. I've been thinking of hitting up a particular NES game myself that I don't think I've played in about 25 years. Well that narrows it down. Metal Gear? - In Soul Blazer tonight, I went back to the original official translation. Which is still iffy and not polished in its own ways, but is at least nostalgically charming. I finished the second area tonight (GreenWood) and reached the third (Seabed Sanctuary). Guys this game is WAY weirder than I remembered it. Can't believe I forgot about talking tree stumps waxing existential, and having conversations about ghostly love triangles with a mole.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 7, 2019 11:12:04 GMT -5
The most dangerous castle of them all, Adventures of Lolo! - Yep, sometimes I put down the laser blaster and instead like to shove blocks into enemies faces so they can never move again. Stuck forever, is that worse than death? - It's insane to me that I played one of these and got pretty good at it when I was ~3-4 years old. - That's the catch, I have no idea which Lolo game I played and forget there's three of them. 90 minutes into Lolo 1 and on the 6th or 7th floor, I don't think this is the one I played. They all blend in and sound the same, however 3 has a cool overworld that looks somewhat similar. Maybe it was 2 or 3 that I played. I remember it being a frequent rental in between my usual rotation of Batman games, Battletoads, Mega Man games, etc.
- Still holds up, which isn't hard for a cool puzzler. Love the graphics. This is one of those NES games mainly with one BGM track though, so might want to flip on your own music after awhile. 2-3 "upgrade" the theme a little like a remix, but I wonder if that's the single theme they have too haha. I got stuck on this monster for now. It seems like I need to utilize the green sleepy guy somehow but I'm not sure. Can't seem to push him around either once he sleeps. I use the middle block to get around to the right and collect those 4 hearts, but then I only have one block to work with and it's impossible with those two gray guys.
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Post by Ex on Jul 7, 2019 11:22:54 GMT -5
I admit I woudn't expect Xeogred to play this. This is one of those NES games mainly with one BGM track though Dude I remember that issue from so many years ago when I rented this game back in 1989. I honestly think this was the first video game I ever rented, or rather my aunt rented for me on her account. I remember her sternly telling me not to lose the game manual that came with it, because the rental place charged you something obscene like $50 for losing it. As a kid I certainly didn't beat Lolo over a single weekend. It was pretty fun though! Except for only having one music track. As an aside if you're into NES puzzlers, I highly recommend these:
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 7, 2019 11:45:25 GMT -5
Yeah I figured you guys would get a kick out of that. Definitely not in my usual wheelhouse. This makes the short list of some non-action games I played growing up, or experimental stuff like Lemmings, Lost Vikings, the cinematic platformers like Another World and Flashback, etc. On NES I played a lot of Dr Mario too (and Golf, lol), same with the cool SNES version of Dr Mario + Tetris. But I'm not sure beyond that. I maybe did play Lolo via emulation again at some point ages ago, but most of my memories of one of them take me back to being 3-4 and the game(s) left a great mark on me to this day, always had fond memories of it.
I guess to break it down for anyone who's never played them... - You need to get all the Heart icons so the chest opens up and then safely get to the chest, then you can leave the room. Getting the chest also clears all the enemies. - Sometimes the Hearts give you some attack power, usually 2 points. One spent will turn an enemy into an egg you can push around and hitting them again with another attack will knock them off the screen. However they will respawn and also break out of the egg in time. - You can also get some other stuff like one Zelda-esque square bridge to use on water in parts. You can get a hammer to break a boulder too. Maybe some other stuff later.
- So on this map, these two gray guys will shoot you once you enter their line of sight and you're dead. They shoot through those circular tree's, so from the starting point here if you move left, you're done for. They cannot fire through the boulders or the Hearts actually, but... you need to pick those Hearts up at some point and so the gray guy in the middle is driving me crazy. - There's two green blocks on this map, these you can push around and mainly use to block enemies, either trap ones that chase you, or block the ones that fire at you like these gray guys. You CANNOT pull blocks. Once pushed into corners or whatnot, they're stuck.
- The green guy walks around and follows you once he can get to you, when he touches you he'll fall asleep (permanently?) and blocks your path. Don't think I can push him around... - Pretty sure I don't get any power/attack from any of these hearts on this map.
So yeah... !
Some other tricky maps that took a bit:
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Post by Sarge on Jul 7, 2019 17:41:35 GMT -5
Those types of games are pretty fun, even if I haven't beaten a Lolo game. I have beaten Kickle Cubicle, though, and recommend it as well.
So Castlevania II has been vanquished. All in all, I had a fun time with it, since it plays pretty well overall. It isn't immune to criticism, though. The version I played fixes most of the issues, but there are a few wonky things going on here. Firstly, the map design can be very confusing. Knowing where you are in the world can be tough, to say the least. I actually missed one of the mansions because I thought I'd come in on the other side of a lake, but nope. Different lake. Both can be drained. If I hadn't gotten the game so out of order, I might have done a little better on that front.
I did end up finding more clues, though, especially the important ones about the river curse and Drac's Heart. Since I played the retranslation, those were clear, at least for an NES game. The retranslation also makes some interesting changes to the game that more serve as quality-of-life features than anything. I don't remember where continuing started you from, but here, it puts you right where you died. Useful! The game also gives you an overworld map in-game, which is awfully considerate as well, even if it doesn't always help you know which paths you can and can't take. Not sure where that comes from; might be from the Japanese version.
Other things of note: I believe there was a heart limit in the original US version, capped at 256. That limit isn't here, and I had hearts well in excess of 1000 at one point. It doesn't matter much, other than subweapon ammo, because you're going to run out of stuff to spend it on anyway. You can buy laurels, of course, which should be snagged for some segments. It makes the Dracula fight pitifully easy, as if it weren't already. Flame Whips are awfully powerful. There's also a save feature added into this hack, so you don't even have to do passwords or save states if you don't want.
Anyway, I chewed up a lot of time just because I traipsed across the countryside lost. Turns out my memory ain't quite so grand anymore for some of this. Didn't forget the Deborah Cliff stuff, though. I also recommend grinding in mansions, as time stops there. If you're gunning for the "best" ending, that's the way to make sure you're plenty powerful. Some speculate the endings were programmed wrong, as the "best" doesn't actually seem like as much, the "normal" one sees Simon dying, and the "worst" actually leaves you with an actual victory over Drac, no dying involved.
So how do I feel about Simon's Quest now? Well, I don't think it's my favorite on NES anymore, but I'd gotten to that point years ago. I think the elegant simplicity and tight level design of the original makes it the tippity-top. I still like Castlevania III as well, even if it might be a bit excessive. And even with SQ's flaws, it's still a great game, so I think I'll give it an 8/10. And any game that helped inspire Symphony of the Night absolutely gets kudos from me. I would have loved to have seen a sequel that built on the foundation here.
Also, the next time I play through, you better believe I'm getting my time under eight days. I already have the proper routing in my head, and it won't be that hard. I definitely recommend it to folks that like NES action-adventures.
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Post by Xeogred on Jul 7, 2019 18:03:29 GMT -5
That's still the only main non handheld Castlevania I haven't finished. The invisible floor blocks crap killed it for me but I know there's hacks that just outright remove them and put spaces where they all are. Did some developer seriously want you throwing holy water down on every single block in the dungeons?
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Post by Sarge on Jul 7, 2019 19:43:42 GMT -5
It's not that many spots, honestly. It's certainly better than bombing everything in Metroid, for instance.
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Post by Ex on Jul 7, 2019 20:13:56 GMT -5
It's not that many spots, honestly. It's certainly better than bombing everything in Metroid, for instance. Yeah it's really not that big of a deal. As a kid I found the disappearing-reappearing blocks of Mega Man far more annoying.
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Post by Sarge on Jul 7, 2019 20:17:15 GMT -5
Mega Man 2 pulls that trick as well, but it's quite a bit more punitive in a few instances. Simon's Quest just makes you lose a little progress. Once you're alerted to it, you're pretty much golden from there.
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