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Post by Sarge on Aug 16, 2020 20:48:15 GMT -5
I actually started that for a bit last week. It's absolutely on my list. I know it adds a ton more content. I feel like maybe I should play the original version first, then play this one so I can see how much was added.
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Post by Ex on Aug 16, 2020 20:53:46 GMT -5
I feel like maybe I should play the original version first, then play this one so I can see how much was added. That's what I did. I beat the DOS version of PoP when I was 12. Then beat the SNES version when I was 18. I prefer the SNES version for sure. More polished, much more content, better graphics, better music, it's just superior.
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Post by EasyHard on Aug 16, 2020 22:04:35 GMT -5
I feel like maybe I should play the original version first, then play this one so I can see how much was added. That's what I did. I beat the DOS version of PoP when I was 12. Then beat the SNES version when I was 18. I prefer the SNES version for sure. More polished, much more content, better graphics, better music, it's just superior. Huh, I would have thought the PC version was better. Makes me more interesting in clearing this one day. I have fond memories of playing the Mac version at a friend's house/watching him show off, and obviously he was much better at it than I was.
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Post by Ex on Aug 17, 2020 8:57:39 GMT -5
Huh, I would have thought the PC version was better. Normally that tends to be the case, when companies inefficiently port PC sprites and audio over to a console game, losing fidelity and lazily recreating the game engine. But PoP SNES was a labor of love. Arsys Software Inc. actually cared enough to recreate the game from the ground up for SNES. Plus LOTS of new content. The original PoP has 12 levels, the SNES version has 20! Here's one of my favorite SNES exclusive levels:
PoP was never an easy game. PoP SNES is even less easy. You've got to beat those 20 levels in under two hours, and some of the stages designs are sadistic to say the least. I don't know if PoP SNES is THE hardest platformer on SNES, but it's the hardest I've ever seen (or beaten) personally for the console.
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Post by toei on Aug 17, 2020 11:53:48 GMT -5
From what I read, the original Apple II release of Prince of Persia was a flop; it got popular in Japan thanks to improved ports to the PC-98 and other Japanese computers by Arsys Software. These versions inspired later Western computer ports, and eventually, Arsys made the SNES version, but since they'd already ported the game 3 times before and it had been around for a few years at this point, they decided to add a ton of new content. Meanwhile, the game also hit it big in Europe, and finally became a hit in its native country with some of the later versions.
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Post by Ex on Aug 17, 2020 12:07:40 GMT -5
Arsys made the SNES version, but since they'd already ported the game 3 times before and it had been around for a few years at this point, they decided to add a ton of new content. With that much experience porting PoP, that explains why the new content they added blended so well with the original content. They knew the game backwards and forwards, so they knew what would work and what wouldn't.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 19, 2020 14:20:16 GMT -5
I made a quick run through World Cup mode of Super Spike V'Ball on NES. It's about the only volleyball game I've put any time into, and I think it's excellent. It's a Technos Japan product, which means you even get a Billy and Jimmy team to play as!
World Cup is the toughest difficulty level, and it does get brutal. I decided to go with the speed team this time, which made things a little tougher. I usually use Billy and Jimmy because their defense is the absolute best. Even keeping power shots in play (think Super Dodge Ball power levels) is pretty common for them, but less so for the speedsters. They probably have a smidge more power, but the only place where the speed actually comes in handy is if you do manage to field a power shot, recovering for a spike even after the knockdown is quite easy.
Anyway, things always come to a head against the U.S. Navy team. Those guys hit hard - you just have to pray they're not going to power shot you, which they do often. Then you have to pray the speedsters can actually get you a playable ball to throw it back at them. I pulled it off, but it was tight. U.S.S.R. is the final match (of course!), and they're tough, too, although I'd argue that without that ridiculous power, they're a little easier to handle despite my closer score with them.
I give this one an 8/10. It's not a deep game, but it's a fun one.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2020 9:47:08 GMT -5
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem [2002] for the GameCube Well, turns out not finishing the game bothered me a lot, but my final verdict didn't really change. It's not a terrible game by any means, but I find it overrated through the roof - perhaps due to it being the only serious (aka 'not Luigi's Mansion') GameCube-exclusive survival horror game at the time. 'Survival' also being a stretch, as more often than not this is just a horror-themed action-adventure game. The endless magic supply hardly forces the player to micromanage and scramble for resources - worst case scenario you run around like a headless chicken for a couple of minutes seeing as moving replenishes your magic and you're back on your feet. After all, you've got spells to heal yourself, enchant your weapons, offensive spells - you're good to go. You've got a ton of weapons, too. Melee weapons are so effective I almost never even had to fire a gun, even though the game gave me a ton of those. Feels pretty unbalanced. The atmosphere is generally fine, but at times I didn't know whether the game wanted to go for the 'haunted mansion' setting with not spooky at all ghosts or the eldritch horror thing. I don't think those two go well together. The problem is, you play as 8-10 different characters - each level lasting 60 minutes at most - and some of the areas even repeat for different characters with minor differences (they're supposed to be different time periods) and even the puzzles are mostly the same. It gets tedious. Not to mention how I couldn't tell you who any of these characters were - including the 'lead character', a blond girl with a few lines in the game if that. Again, some of the areas had a good atmosphere - like the cathedral, especially during the WW1 era, although by that time you already went through that area twice during the Middle Ages... The rune-based magic system is fairly inventive and unique, but also clunky and tedious to deal with. As for the graphics, the game is fully 3D, but it really isn't much to look at. You can tell this game was initially meant to come out on the N64. A few areas later on use 2D backdrops and those look pretty good. Monster design is also mixed, as some monsters tend to look cartoonish rather than creepy. Oh yeah, some people say this game isn't 'supposed' to be tense or scary because it's a psychological horror game - as far as I know Silent Hill 2 can be tense and scary while also being all about psychological horror. The ending was also pretty underwhelming and I definitely don't intend to play this game two more times to watch the 'actual' ending. This is a mid-tier horror game as far as I'm concerned - slightly better than Dino Crisis, slightly worse than Carrier, about the same as Curse: The Eye of Isis. Game was developed by Silicon Knights - who also made Blood Omen, the first game in the Legacy of Kain series, which is nothing like the entries from Crystal Dynamics. Instead it's an overhead Zelda-like where you play as an evil vampire. I definitely enjoyed it more than this. Cover:
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Post by Ex on Aug 24, 2020 10:04:51 GMT -5
overrated through the roof That was definitely the impression I got, when I read descriptive reviews for this game years ago. I smelled piles of artificial bloat and bland repetitive game design. Your review confirmed my suspicions. I do agree because there weren't many games like this on GameCube, that aspect aided its reception.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2020 12:14:39 GMT -5
Hmm, I should have mentioned REmake and RE0 were also GameCube exclusives at the time, although they later got ported to Wii and other systems. I don't know, in terms of gameplay, atmosphere, visuals and characters, I'd say comparing RE0 or REmake to Eternal Darkness is like comparing The Shining to The Goonies, but that's just me. Case in point, here's a video where the games get compared and the reviewer plus a bunch of people in the comments have the exact opposite opinion. So make up your own mind.
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