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Post by Sarge on Apr 24, 2021 14:34:32 GMT -5
I played through the original Guilty Gear on PSX. Interesting to see where it all started - the pieces are there, but not quite as well-formed as the spectacular follow-up of Guilty Gear X. That game really benefitted from moving to more powerful hardware, as the fluidity was increased substantially. Much of the soundtrack is there as well, but it's all synthesized, another area where the sequel just amped things up to 11 with live music instead.
One thing that really annoyed me were the "destruction" moves. They are insta-kill moves that not only end a round on the spot, but the entire match. There is nothing more infuriating than taking it to an opponent, only to have victory robbed from you and having to continue.
In the end, this isn't as fluid as the best fighters of the era. It's decent enough, but needed that revision to really make the series stand out. 6.5/10.
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Post by Moulinoski on Apr 24, 2021 15:39:54 GMT -5
Yeah, that'd be great to have. Although I do wonder if that'll incentivize developers to develop their games for just a single language and let the translation software handle the rest. It's a solution for old software that haven't gotten localized but it wouldn't be ideal moving forward. In any case, it's still a really cool idea and I'm just slippery-slope thinking over here. That could only happen with massive improvements in translation quality, which I'm sure are still some ways off. It'd be manageable now for games where you don't care about the story or dialogue, but I wouldn't personally want to play through a RPG or anything with a real story that way. Right, I was just slippery sloping. That said, I was also thinking about it from the developer's and publisher's POV. Basically "why hire translators when a machine can translate and get some general idea across?" I mean, think of some of the translations that some early games got. Those were "good enough" back in the day (even though they really weren't). |
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Post by toei on Apr 24, 2021 15:48:22 GMT -5
Sure, but as Ex said, there's all the spoken dialogue. I can't imagine any company except the worst fly-by-night tax write-off/money laundering operation actually using AI translation AND robot voice dialogue.
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Post by anayo on May 1, 2021 20:28:42 GMT -5
I would post this beat in May's together retro theme but apparently Cotton Boomerang was originally an arcade game and got ported to the Sega Saturn later.
Detailed thoughts and impressions coming soon.
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Post by Ex on May 1, 2021 21:25:37 GMT -5
anayoI've never played a Cotton shmup I didn't like. I've also not played that particularly entry.
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Post by anayo on May 2, 2021 6:31:18 GMT -5
2c) Warcraft II: Beyond The Dark Portal (human campaign) 26) The Operative: No One Lives Forever 27) Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3D    Video coming soon. Detailed thoughts and impressions coming soon. |
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Post by Ex on May 6, 2021 0:16:50 GMT -5
 Title: Twinkle TalePlatform: Mega Drive Region release played: Japan (via English fan translation) Year of release: 1992 Developer: Zap Publisher: Wonder Amusement Studio Graphics: 4/5 Audio: 3/5 Challenge: 4/5 Fun factor: 3/5 Quick Thoughts: Twinkle Tale is a Japan-only Mega Drive exclusive run 'n' gun, starring a little witch and a whole lot of monsters. This is an overhead view shooter in which a sole protagonist blasts loads of enemies away, while traversing stages on foot, occasionally picking up power-ups. (The gameplay reminded me of titles such as Arcus Odyssey (Genesis), Gate of Doom (arcade), and Dungeon Explorer (TG16). Twinkle Tale differentiates itself in one regard, it's very tough. The player is often overwhelmed by constantly spawning enemies and their constantly spewing projectiles. Questionable balancing aside, if you enjoy run 'n' gun shooters with fantasy themes, Twinkle Tale is worth a shot. +Nice graphics with a somber earth-tone aesthetic. +More story exposition then you'd expect in a game of this genre. +The OST is above average. +Lots of boss battles. +One particular stage is an actual flying shmup. -The difficulty is considerably unbalanced in the last third. -Enemies can warp right where you stand, or drop right where you stand, with no warning. -Your weapons power down every time you get hit. -Can't speed up the slowly crawling text in the dialog boxes. -Needs a strafe button.* Ex's time to beat: 1 hour 5 minutes (successful run after multiple fails) Ex's rating: 7/10*The developers could have used A = hold to strafe, B = fire, C = tap to change magic, hold C to activate super magic. |
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Post by anayo on May 6, 2021 19:00:19 GMT -5
ExCongrats on beating Twinkle Tale! Personally I loved it. Don't remember if I gave it a score but I feel mine appraisal was somewhat higher, maybe 8/10 or even 9/10. The graphics were gorgeous in a way that made me wish 7 year old me could have rented it from Blockbuster. I think it sucks that it never came out in the West. For some reason I have a thing for Shmups were you're not playing as a space ship but instead a person who can use magic. Elemental Master and Cotton Boomerang have the same premise and they held a similar appeal for me.
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Post by Sarge on May 6, 2021 19:19:34 GMT -5
I think I liked Elemental Master more.
*checks notes*
Nope, ended up going with 7.5 for both, ha! They're both very good games, and as I mentioned before, fantasy-themed shooters like this tend to get a boost in my scoring.
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Post by toei on May 6, 2021 19:38:09 GMT -5
They're both easily 8.5s for me, maybe more.
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