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Post by Ex on Feb 3, 2020 23:24:18 GMT -5
It looks really nice for a 8-bit handheld game, although you can tell the game is really chugging trying to keep pace. Yep that was the thing that made me put it away, the slowdown is real. It's tolerable enough, but yeesh. Speaking of slowdown, I just finished my first GG game for this theme: Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble is a Game Gear exclusive. Released in 1994, in Japan, Europe, and USA. Developed by Aspect and published by SEGA. Aspect is no stranger to making 8-bit Sonic games. Indeed, Triple Trouble is the sequel to Aspect's great 1993 Sonic game Sonic Chaos. Although Triple Trouble manages to be even better! In this game, you can play as Sonic or Tails. You are after Dr. Eggman Robotnik, and you already know why. There are six Zones with three Acts each, giving a total of 18 stages. Each third Act is a boss battle though, not a stage. The regular stages are very large, capturing the grandiosity of the Genesis Sonic games in that regard. Actually Triple Trouble comes the closest to capturing the 16-bit series' look and feel, more so than any other 8-bit Sonic entry does. It's really amazing how good this game looks, how well it plays, and how convincingly it emulates the 16-bit entries. Triple Trouble is not just a copycat though. There plenty of unique surprises in Triple Trouble I've never seen in any other 2D Sonic game. From something as weird as the origination of Nack the Weasel, to the esoteric ability to hold up and push B to do a spin-run instead of a spindash. There are myriad vehicles and unusual power-ups, and innovative mechanical elements exclusive to Triple Trouble. And all of the Zones are unique, with fresh graphical aesthetics for their themes. The flying bonus stage is unlike any other bonus stage in the entire franchise. (Though Chaos Emeralds are hidden in the levels, not gained through bonus stages.) I had read before that Triple Trouble was very good, but I wasn't expecting much. I was surprised, because Triple Trouble is excellent. This is as close to a AAA killer app for Game Gear as you can hope for (at least in the action genre). Now there are some gripes; slowdown happens, and the difficulty is overall on the low end. Despite those tiny qualms, the total package is way above average. Outstanding graphics, clever stage designs, fun bosses, good music, and lots of surprises for series' vets. If you enjoy classically styled Sonic the Hedgehog, make sure you get into Triple Trouble.
Ex's time to beat: 1 hour 15 minutes* Ex's rating: 8/10 *I only got 4 of the 6 Chaos Emeralds. To see the "true ending" you need all 6. Or you can just use Youtube, which is what I did.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 3, 2020 23:32:13 GMT -5
I have always hated the Chaos Emerald gating. I have also heard that Triple Trouble is really good, so I'm glad it lived up to its reputation for you!
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Post by toei on Feb 4, 2020 15:09:49 GMT -5
Ex I'd heard that it was the best GG Sonic, as well. I don't have a huge attention span for straight-up platformers, but maybe I'll try it again. You should really try Coca-Cola Kid if you want something with a similar flavor. I'm telling you, you might be surprised.
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Post by Ex on Feb 4, 2020 15:25:47 GMT -5
You should really try Coca-Cola Kid if you want something with a similar flavor. I'm telling you, you might be surprised. ROM acquired, will try. Though I'm presently in the middle of GG strategy game. And no, it's not a Shining Force title. I hope that you and Xeogred play a little GG with Sarge and I.
I know anayo is on his Win98 kick this year, but... there were actually Game Gear emulators available back in the late '90s. MasterGear came out in 1996 for example. Others followed in 1999. So one could actually run vintage Game Gear emulators on their Win98 machine and still be legitimately playing within the time period.
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Post by toei on Feb 4, 2020 15:28:36 GMT -5
I have every intention of giving that Yaiba game either a playthrough or a serious attempt before the month is through. I've played a little bit and it seems rather unusual. After the initial action-platformer level, there are multiple sort of mini-games and a series of tiny, mini-levels where your goal is to find some kind of gem or something. I'll have to see how it evolves from there on. It's based on a manga & anime franchise, so I figure that unusual structure is probably there so as to reflect various scenes from the source material. There's also an untranslated SNES ARPG of it that seems pretty cool and a GB game, but those are both by Banpresto, while the GG's was made by Sega, so there are decent chances of it being pretty good.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 4, 2020 15:33:44 GMT -5
You should really try Coca-Cola Kid if you want something with a similar flavor. I'm telling you, you might be surprised. As long as it doesn't taste like Pepsi. Meka is another good older emulator. I used it back in the day, and it surprisingly holds up decently even today. Omar Cornut cared deeply about the Master System - his work is in the remake of Dragon's Trap. Oh, right, there's a Game Gear version of that, right? Definitely worth a play if you haven't already, although I'm sure it's better experienced on the SMS, as are most SMS-to-GG ports. EDIT: Oh. Oh! Meka (or MEKA) is named for the mechanical dragon you defeat at the start of Dragon's Trap. The more you know!
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Post by toei on Feb 4, 2020 15:37:31 GMT -5
Oh year, I was a big fan of Meka when I started emulating. I'm pretty sure Omar is French, or at least European, so it's not surprising that the best dedicated Master System / GG emulator came from there since it was so much more popular over there. Of course once Fusion integrated both systems Meka became pretty obsolete, but it was still cool to see an emulator with such an elaborate interface.
And actually, I'm willing to bet Coca-Cola Kid is a better game than Pepsiman, though I don't know whether Cool Spot has it beat.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 4, 2020 15:50:23 GMT -5
The 16-bit versions of Cool Spot are really good, and honestly I need to play through them at some point. I remember playing a good bit of the SNES version back in the early emulation days, but I should look to see if the Genesis version is better. I'm wanting to say there are positives and negatives for both.
The NES Spot game is a bit like Othello.
EDIT: Huh, the Game Gear version of Cool Spot looks like a straight port.
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Post by Ex on Feb 4, 2020 16:06:16 GMT -5
Meka is another good older emulator. It is, but I abstained from mentioning it, because it released post-00 IIRC. I was trying to stay true to the ~98 period. There are some decent GG emulators that released in '99. Of course once Fusion integrated both systems Meka became pretty obsolete, but it was still cool to see an emulator with such an elaborate interface. I'm presently using Fusion personally. It's the best one for PC as far as my experience goes. Meka did have some fun Easter eggs in it. Its developer definitely did not care for Nintendo or Mario. The 16-bit versions of Cool Spot are really good, and honestly I need to play through them at some point. I owned the SNES one back in '98 (not sure how I ended up with a copy). I never did beat it, but the gameplay was solid, with above average graphics. Made sense that it played so well, David Perry was the programmer!
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Post by toei on Feb 4, 2020 16:10:15 GMT -5
Yeah, I played some Cool Spot back in the day, it was a fun game.
Speaking of platformers based on soft drink mascots, there's also the unreleased Fido Dido game on Genesis and SNES (Fido Dido was another 7up mascot that was well-known worldwide, but apparently in the US he was used for Slice instead?)
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