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Post by toei on Jan 4, 2024 20:33:34 GMT -5
Jerry Boy aka Smart Ball SNES
The title may be intended to be Jelly Boy, since the protagonist is basically a Dragon Quest slime without the license, but it's also about rescuing a Prince named Jerry so it's probably a pun. An unrelated game called Jelly Boy was also released later for the SNES.
This is a straight platformer where you can stick to walls and ceilings by holding a button. The main way in which it stands out is the inclusion of little side-scrolling towns between levels where you can talk to people to advance the story. These were removed from the game when it was officially localized in the West as Smart Ball, leaving a purely standard platformer behind. I thought it'd be nice little gaming comfort food, but I'd forgotten how aggravating pure platformers are, so I don't think I'll keep playing it. The logic of when you hurt enemies VS take damage is weird and incoherent, you can jump on them and stand on their head and then press down to kill them, but then if they jump while you're on their head sometimes it hurts you or something? I don't understand how I died 70% of the time, and when I do, it's because I slipped for no reason and hit something. What's with all the slipping in platformers anyway?
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Post by Ex on Jan 4, 2024 22:01:11 GMT -5
What's with all the slipping in platformers anyway? Inertia makes things more difficult. Have you ever played Somer Assault (1992) on TG16? I think you might like it.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 4, 2024 22:42:35 GMT -5
Something else I've noticed, too - while some are more slippery than others, if you're playing via some method that adds input lag, it just exacerbates the slipperiness that much more. I've played quite a few games that have a sense of momentum and just enough input lag really throws off the feel.
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Post by toei on Jan 5, 2024 0:47:40 GMT -5
Ex Who knew they'd made a gritty slinky game set in Mesopotamia? I don't think I could deal with the slow progress you make as you slink around, but the graphics and music are really appealing to me. Sarge True, it's probably part of the problem. I just don't like inertia in 2D games though, it just feels artificial and makes things less precise.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 5, 2024 1:22:21 GMT -5
I can like some inertia, it just depends on how much. Like how characters in a lot of Natsume's NES output (Shadow of the Ninja , Shatterhand) have just a slight amount of heft to them. It really does depend on the game and what's demanded of the player.
One game that has that sort of slide in its controls that isn't a great game is Predator. And trying it on an actual CRT instead of emulated really helped, although it's still far more slippery than really needed. Basically, that game requires a lot more precision platforming that isn't a good match for those controls.
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Post by toei on Jan 10, 2024 22:18:55 GMT -5
Rambo III (Arcade)
Trying is a stretch considering I played it to the final boss, but I couldn't beat it during that session (you can't credit feed - using a credit restarts the battle). This is a completely different game from the Genesis Rambo III I beat last year - this one is by Taito and has no home port. It's an on-rails shooter in the vein of Konami's arcade GI Joe. Solid high-testosterone action stuff, with some nice variety, and not that cheap, especially early on (it only gets overwhelming towards the end). It's also a two-player game - with another player I'm sure that final battle wouldn't be so bad.
First level scrolls left to right, similar to Dynamite Duke, but then it switches to a behind view where you run forward, like Space Harrier on foot; third level is on a motorcycle, where you also have to avoid crashing into obstacles and can even catch bumps and go leaping in the air like it's Road Rash, all the while shooting down planes. Fun level. Fourth level is a cave where you have to be careful because there are landmines and blowing certain things up that you normally would can cause rocks to fall down (on enemies or you), while the final level is similar to the second, except with more enemies.
I'd never heard of this game until I read about it in an article on the history of cover shooters; this is because there are a handful of moments where you can shoot from behind destructible cover, though it feels less like a cover shooter then something like Shinobi since there's no ducking or much method to it and it's a much smaller part of the game. Something that's interesting, too, is that you can step behind certain obstacles to stop the scrolling and take the time to kill some enemies sometimes. I realized that later, but this might be useful for the cave level especially.
Gonna have to play it again and actually beat it.
EDIT - I can make it to the final stage with just 3 credits, but the final boss is the most absurdly insane thing I've ever faced, there's a million bullets and bombs coming at you and there's no way you can avoid it or do anything and it goes on and on and on. The only way I can imagine standing a reasonable chance is making it there with two players and plenty of explosive arrows.
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Post by toei on Jan 11, 2024 23:26:33 GMT -5
Covert Command (PS2) I mostly gave this a shot for laughs, knowing it's a Simple 2000 game by Tamsoft, and none of theirs are very good. This is a WW2 third-person shooter made up of many short missions, and you're an American fighting the Japanese, even though it's a Japanese game. I'd be lying if I said the goofy opening cutscene in which you get chewed out by your Full Metal Jacket-style drill sergeant didn't get my hopes up a little, though. After he asks your name, he then assigns you a "better name", which seems to be a random combination of two nouns from a word bank; something like "Slumbering Elephant". There's also a "SIR YES SIR" voice clip that plays all the time when you pick options in menus or start missions, so thumbs up for that. I'd have probably went with it if it was just serviceable at all, but it's terrible. The controls, the aiming, the AI, the mission design... the missions I played seemed to be focused on picking the enemy out one by one, sniper-like (even though you're using a handgun), because the third person aiming is incredibly bad and taking cover doesn't seem to work, and I can see how that could make for a good game, but not one element is competently realized. There's an untranslated sequel for the PSP (Simple 2500 - The Hohei 2), but it's even worse somehow, with worse cameras and controls.
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Post by Xeogred on Jan 11, 2024 23:53:01 GMT -5
IS IT BAD YOU LITTLE PUKE SIR YES SIR
That's really doing the PS2 dirty. Looks atrocious.
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Post by toei on Jan 12, 2024 0:19:04 GMT -5
IS IT BAD YOU LITTLE PUKE SIR YES SIR That's really doing the PS2 dirty. Looks atrocious. I think it's important to mess with a real bottom-tier, piece of trash game one in a while, if only briefly, to maintain a realistic sense of quality scale. Or something. It looks like the kind of asset flips people would denounce as a scam on Steam nowadays, but hey, at least they made it themselves from scratch.
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Post by Xeogred on Jan 12, 2024 0:41:28 GMT -5
Yeah, "swimming in 7's" (in a positive manner) is a fun mantra from one of my favorite gaming podcasts. Always good to get some perspective every once and awhile. But you're taking it to the next level going to the depths.
That's basically what I was thinking too. It's extra odd being a PS2 game and all, but yeah it looks like some real tacky game you'd see on mobile or on social media sites thesedays.
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