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Post by Ex on Aug 13, 2024 9:25:53 GMT -5
Hudson Soft was also involved in the DS and PSP entries, note the bee: A quick read seems that Amble developed the DS version, while Hudson Soft developed the PSP version. And Hudson Soft published both entries. I'd have to assume that Hudson also helped guide the development of the DS version. Here's the DS version: I beat this one many years ago. Here's the PSP version: I've sampled it in the past, but not finished yet. |
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Post by toei on Aug 16, 2024 7:51:52 GMT -5
I beat Dungeon Explorer (Turbografx-16).
This is a cool little game, and rather different. Of course the basic action is based on Gauntlet, but here it's all tied up into a small RPG-style adventure. The dungeons are short and feel more like action levels, where you want to use your two types of magic potions frequently (their effects depend on the character) and there are many bosses. Each time you beat one, you level up and get to choose a stat to boost by picking up a gem. As a Fighter, I mostly boosted Power, but sometimes Strength (which is really Defense) and Agility as well (it affects your walking speed, pretty useful). I never touched Intelligence because I'm not sure what it does. Since it's a HuCARD, there's a password system instead of saves, where the password is updated whenever you beat a boss. When you run out of lives, which is likely to happen in single-player, you can use them to resume your game from the castle town where you start, similar to Zelda 2 - except all kinds of pathways and shortcuts open up as you progress, so it doesn't take long to get back to where you were. I really like the way this little world is built, all compact like that. The aesthetics are a big part of the charm. It reminds me of Sword of Vermillion a lot; it's a somber, gritty style we usually associate with early Genesis games. Both games came out the same year, 1989, and I find that a few Turbografx/PC Engine games from around that time do something very close to that "early Genesis" style, like War of the Dead or the untranslated RPG Susanoo Densetsu. It's fitting that this game was made by Atlus, and shares some staff with early Megami Tensei games, including the composer. I like the music here. The lo-fi PSG sound works well with the compositions. It's also only about 3 1/2 hours long, which is the perfect length for a game like this IMO.
I'll give it a *** (good). Maybe I'll give the sequel another go some time.
After beating the game, I finally read the opening text crawl that comes on after a moment if you don't press Run right away. Turns out all the demons in the game are... space aliens. Who knew?
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Post by Sarge on Aug 16, 2024 8:17:02 GMT -5
The TG-16 sound is such a unique thing. It's wavetable sound, which is something between a traditional chiptune sound like NES and a sample-based system like the SNES. Basically, you can program the waveform for the sound channels, so you can tell it to be a simple square wave, sawtooth, triangle, stuff like that. The limitation is the bit depth - each "sample" is 32 5-bit values, so creating more complex sounds is a challenge. It's still a really solid piece of audio hardware for its era, given its flexibility.
I didn't realize that the game was that short - that's probably even more reason to give it a go here soon.
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Post by toei on Aug 16, 2024 8:32:02 GMT -5
It's less practical than the sequel (no save, no changing characters) and the RPG side is less developed, but I maintain that the level design is better.
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Post by Ex on Aug 16, 2024 10:31:19 GMT -5
somber, gritty style we usually associate with early Genesis games Indeed. I'm a big fan of that aesthetic, and you're right that quite a few TG16 games capture it as well. Leads me to believe it was a zeitgeist proclivity rather than a byproduct of technical architecture. I'm a fan of the PCE/TG16 HuC6280 audio chip and resulting output myself. It creates rich tones due to having six sound channels*, some of which are programmable sound generator (PSG) and white noise. The chip has the ability to change the waveform synthesis it's rendering from on any given channel on the fly, providing tonal flexibility. Also it uses a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) to modulate one channel with another, creating rich vibrato effects. It also has a direct digital/analog function for sending raw data to its sound mixer for playback of pulse code modulation (PCM) audio samples. And this audio chip also supports stereo panning! That was revolutionary for home consoles at its release (before the Genesis/SNES). A few negatives; while the HuC6280 allows for custom waveforms using 32 samples of 5 bits each, these waveforms are static once defined. In contrast, frequency modulation (FM) synthesis allows for dynamic alteration of waveforms being synthesized in real time. In addition, FM modulates the frequency of one waveform with another, enabling more complex and evolving sound textures. That gives the Genesis a leg up in this regard, compared to how the TG16's modulation is a layering effect, rather than a resonance one. Another competitor negative is the HuC6280's PCM sampling rate was lower compared to SNES, so playback of audio samples had less fidelity in comparison. And that direct D/A mode (used to do so) was very system resource intensive, to the point of impacting game performance if not programmed very carefully. >It's also only about 3 1/2 hours long That's how long it took me to finish DE1 as well. Glad you played through Dungeon Explorer and had a good time. If it were possible for five HRG members to play through this game and its sequel, using the co-op functionality, I'd do that in a heartbeat. Maybe it is using some sort of online emulation, I don't know. That'd be rad. |
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Post by Sarge on Aug 16, 2024 12:04:08 GMT -5
I'd be shocked if you couldn't do that now - I think RetroArch supports some sort of netplay. I remember Kaillera being a thing back in the day, too.
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Post by Ex on Aug 16, 2024 12:18:16 GMT -5
What if we changed Club Retro next year to be "get together and co-op old games online" instead of its current incarnation? I could get with that.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 16, 2024 12:20:02 GMT -5
We could certainly try - I don't know if we'd want to make it an all-year thing, but I think it'd be a lot of fun to co-op some games. As long as you bozos don't keep stealing my lives in Contra.  |
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Post by toei on Aug 16, 2024 13:40:19 GMT -5
I'd be down to do Dungeon Explorer 2 like that, or re-do 1.
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Post by Ex on Aug 16, 2024 14:12:59 GMT -5
As long as you bozos don't keep stealing my lives in Contra. I thought you were Mr.1CC with that one?
I think co-op beat 'em ups would work best with this concept. A lot of beat 'em ups support up to 4 players simultaneously, with low learning curve to entry. I'd also enjoy VS fighting games so I can beat the pixel tears out of all of you.*  *Except for Sarge in Ken mode.  |
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