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Post by Sarge on Sept 15, 2019 20:03:33 GMT -5
I beat Batman: The Animated Series. And by "beat", I mean I save-stated the crap out of it. I think I could do a legit run, but I'm not completely sure it's worth the effort right now. I did finally suss out the bosses and their patterns, which can be manipulated through careful play, but on the first go they're rough, and that's an especially tough pill to swallow when you only get three lives for the entire game. That said, once you do know what to do, they're surprisingly easy to take down... provided you don't screw up.
You get a wall jump in this one, but it doesn't feel nearly as good as the first NES game. You also get a grappling hook to get you to high spots, but there's no swinging involved, unfortunately. Stages can be brutal if you don't know the hazards, and you don't exactly have the longest life bar. That's especially true when the game switches you to Robin, who dies in five hits to Batman's seven.
The game has some good graphics for the ol' green screen, though, and while I think they liked the Batman theme a bit too much, the music was suitably moody and/or frantic when appropriate. Still, I think the game was calibrated a bit too tough, and I don't think it's in a good way. Hazards don't feel quite as telegraphed as in the better NES games; they tend to just surprise you, and I think that's down to the lack of screen real estate.
Anyway, I'm sure if I gave it another go, my opinion might go up. It usually does when I figure a game out. But right now, it's a 6/10. The best Batman game on Game Boy is still the first one, Batman: The Video Game, in all its tiny, cutesy, gun-shooting Batman glory.
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 15, 2019 21:11:42 GMT -5
How about The Adventures of Batman & Robin on SNES? I recall briefly playing that one once or twice back in the day, probably a rental. It still looks pretty solid from a glance.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 15, 2019 21:38:57 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, I really dig that game. It's also pretty tough, but it does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the show.
I need to put some time into the Genesis game, which I always hear is both a graphical powerhouse and a brutally difficult game.
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Post by Ex on Sept 16, 2019 8:13:49 GMT -5
The best Batman game on Game Boy is still the first one, Batman: The Video Game, in all its tiny, cutesy, gun-shooting Batman glory. I know I've played it, but I can't recall ever beating this one. I'm gonna try to play through it before the month is up. I also realized last night, that despite the fact I've enjoyed playing TMNT3 on NES, I have never actually beaten it. So that's another to go for.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 16, 2019 10:42:01 GMT -5
Ooh, yeah, TMNT3 should be a fun run.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 16, 2019 13:08:22 GMT -5
I played through Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers for the Game Boy last night. It was... eh. It reminded me a bit of the first two Konami TMNT games on Game Boy, although this adds some weirdly finicky platforming as well. The normal mode is still pretty easy, since it seems like there are unlimited continues, and if you make it to a boss, you can continue from there. It also pulls the Konami crap and tells you to play it on Hard Mode for the "true" ending, although looking it up it doesn't seem all that different.
Graphics are alright, although sprites are far too large for the screen. Also, I'm pretty sure they use the exact same sprite for all the Rangers, regardless of whether they're male or female, so that feels lazy. Actually, lazy is probably the right word for the game; it could have been better, but it feels like they got it to competent/playable and called it a day. 4.0/10.
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Post by Ex on Sept 16, 2019 22:47:26 GMT -5
Well that didn't take long... Tonight I beat Batman: The Video Game on Game Boy. It was developed and published by Sunsoft in 1989 in Japan, and 1990 in USA and Europe. This a simple shoot 'n jump platformer with a shmup section as well (fly in the Batwing). The game's plot follows the 1989 film.
+Simple no nonsense shoot 'n jump with solid physics.
+Extremely good hit detection.
+Strong OST.
+The Batwing shmup parts were fun. +Impressive cutscene graphics for GB in 1989.
-Really short.
-Lame bosses and generic enemies.
-Can't jump when crouching (causes problems).
-Enemies can shoot up and shoot diagonally, you can't.
-The final (auto-scroll) stage is harder than the entire previous game combined. I really should have already beaten this game years ago. I certainly would have enjoyed it, back when I myself was a kid with a Game Boy in 1989. I think this Batman game had better platforming physics then Nintendo's own Mario Game Boy release of the same year. And the Batwing shmup section was quite well done and fun. That said, you can tell Sunsoft rushed this out the door. They were surely trying to capitalize on the recent film, as well as catch the first wave of Game Boy release sales. As such Batman: The Video Game is about half as long as you'd expect it to be. And the overall level designs are not what one would call ambitious. But what is here is still a highly decent first generation Game Boy action title, doubly so if you're a fan of kevlar bodysuits and nocturnal violence.
Ex's time to beat: 32 minutes Ex's rating: 7/10
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Post by Sarge on Sept 16, 2019 23:04:26 GMT -5
Yep, 7/10 is pretty fair. I like it a little bit more than that, and I've never really quite been able to nail down why. It's a simple game at heart, but I think in some ways, that works for it. Plus, those tiny sprites help with the spacing and make it feel more like an NES game, instead of making the mistake of massive sprites crowding the screen.
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Post by Ex on Sept 17, 2019 9:41:32 GMT -5
those tiny sprites help with the spacing and make it feel more like an NES game, instead of making the mistake of massive sprites crowding the screen It's true the smaller sprites and tiles add room to the gameplay, creating more of a NES feel. However playing this game on the actual hardware could be a problematic approach graphically. The original Game Boy models had seriously bad LCD lag. So much so, that tiny sprites would ghost almost invisibly at times while moving due to motion blur. So I understand why progressive Game Boy games started using larger sprites and bigger tiles. While that "zoomed in" look did inhibit gameplay sometimes due to camera issues, it made visually tracking the game easier by compensating for that dreadful LCD lag. I know you already knew all the above Sarge , I wrote that for younger lurkers who might not.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 17, 2019 10:51:58 GMT -5
Heh, all good. I actually remember playing the game on the ol' brick back in the day. One of my... well, we'll call him a rival as opposed to friend, had a Game Boy and that game.
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