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Post by toei on Feb 14, 2020 16:30:42 GMT -5
Yeah, you're right. I poked around, and there aren't even really many adventure games period on the Game Gear. The ones I see listed can almost go into the action-adventure bucket instead. You know, I'd love it if the release of the TG-16 Mini inspired someone to actually translate that version. It's supposedly better than the Sega CD version. Although I will forever love the censorship rant Gillian gives in the release we got. It was hilarious. IIRC the Sega-CD version was still one of the best. We got the new final chapter that didn't exist in the first versions, at least. I think the only difference is some minor censorship of sexual content (mostly just references), and it doesn't sound like it impacts the overall game all that much. Also, that bar with all the Konami characters originally featured various pop culture characters like a xenomorph from Alien and Kamen Rider, which would have been cool to see, but so were the Konami characters, so that comes out even IMO. Apparently the third act was made more interactive on the Sega CD, which sounds like it might actually be an improvement. |
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Post by Sarge on Feb 14, 2020 17:25:28 GMT -5
I really liked the bar scene, yeah. I thought Konami characters fit better, anyway.
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Post by Ex on Feb 14, 2020 17:32:03 GMT -5
toei It's your life's calling to write a historical retrospective book about all things Japanese gaming from the '80s and '90s. I know other people have kinda done this, except maybe you'd do a better job. The information that a company called Japan System House (they weren't know as Biox until 1997, so I don't get why sites like mobygames credit them as such on games older than 1997 This right here is what I'm talking about. I have read before the reason these old Japanese adventure games use a menu system for interactivity, is because popular Japanese computers at the time used OS GUIs that operated via similar menus. That, and Japanese computer users were used to such menu style interfaces when working with spreadsheet and documentation programs.
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Post by toei on Feb 14, 2020 19:48:56 GMT -5
Ex Sounds reasonable. A few of those games have some kind of cursor you can use to click on things, but most don't. Definitely suggests that the mouse wasn't big in Japanese PCs at the time, so word-based menus made sense, since they're already less frustrating than a text parser. As for writing a book about, let's say, vintage Japanese gaming, I would really like that, but I think what's stopping me is the idea of doing a full year's worth of full-time work for a book I might actually lose money self-publishing or make pennies on at best. Somebody like Kurt Kalata might be able to get a bit of crowfunding done based of HG101's name recognition, but I'm basically unknown. Low pay doesn't stop me from writing HG101 articles when I feel like it, but a full book is something else. There's also the question of picking an angle. There's probably a ton of books out about the history of the video game crash, the launch of the NES or the 16-bit console war, that sort of thing, but I wouldn't want to just add to the pile. I think I'd more interested in getting into the sort of stuff I post about here, the details about who really made the games and how, and how the different developers were connected, but then I might need to actually learn Japanese to really get into and talk to people who were there. That's either that or I just synthesize the research other people have already done, and then there's a lot of holes in the knowledge already available in English.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 15, 2020 13:53:24 GMT -5
toei: Regardless of where it comes from, I appreciate when you drop knowledge on us. And there is value in synthesizing knowledge that exists in disparate places as well!
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Post by anayo on Feb 16, 2020 8:04:14 GMT -5
I gave up on Ninja Gaiden for the Game Gear. The GG emulator runs on my 1996 PC, but the gameplay speed is stupid fast, making it impossible to play, and there's no sound. Loading the necessary files onto the PC in question was quite cumbersome. I basically had to burn the files onto a CD-R, because my 1996 PC doesn't have a network card for FTP, and although it has USB ports via a special PCI card, the drivers for said ports aren't installed so it doesn't know what to do with a modern USB flash drive. I have a growing list of old gaming stuff that doesn't work properly, such as fixing my 1999 gaming PC after the hard drive crashed. Getting Game Gear games to emulate properly on a Windows 98 PC (of all things) just doesn't rank very high on that list. What I did see of Ninja Gaiden GG just reminded me of why 90's handheld games just don't enthuse me like they used to. The screen resolution is so small, so sprites that would be itty-bitty on NES are all competing for limited screen real estate. It makes the experience feel so cramped. I really just have more enthusiasm for home consoles from back then, not handhelds.
On a more positive note, after throwing in the towel for Ninja Gaiden GG, I installed Mechwarrior II and began playing that. I really like it! It's a very different experience and I've never played anything quite like it before. If I beat it this month I'll withhold my thoughts and impressions until March.
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Post by Sarge on Feb 16, 2020 17:57:19 GMT -5
Meka is the answer here.  You're right, though, a lot of handheld games are really cramped. It's a little obnoxious at times. 16-bit games also suffer from this to some degree, too, but not quite to the level as a lot of handheld games. |
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Post by Xeogred on Feb 16, 2020 18:04:25 GMT -5
1h10m
This might be the FIRST GG game I've ever beaten!
It's awesome. The pits in the snow level pissed me off with the weird wind (think you just had to hold up but I'm not sure) and I never really figured out what the down arrow power up was (heavier gravity?) I only got one emerald myself because I didn't care for the stage. It was barely even a gimmick surprisingly, just a weird maze. So I didn't bother after I got one, since it's nearly impossible to 100% a Sonic on a single blind run.
The graphics were amazing. The music was goofy though, it reminded me of Streets of Rage at times and then Dragon Quest of all things, maybe just the hardware there.
What's hilarious is that this reminded me that Nack the Weasel AKA Fang the Sniper, is a REAL character. I say that because some kid in 2nd grade tried to describe this guy to me. Never in a million years back then did I ever see this character ANYWHERE though and I'm pretty sure this kid was one of those punks at school who made up stories about Mortal Kombat characters and such. So, I chalked it up to being some fake Sonic character he completely made up. I just remember him describing the colors and a cowboy hat. Since then, I know I've stumbled upon Nack off and on over the years for a funny revelation and he was indeed real, so it was funny to yet again get that news flash. I have no idea if he's a bigger deal now in the 3D stuff, since that doesn't exist in my world. But yeah.
I'll check out Chaos on the SMS someday, but I can imagine this was the best of the non Genesis games. I love how these 8bit titles did their own thing and weren't wasted efforts though. But they are definitely a big "what if", what if they got an upgraded port to the Genesis or something that, well I guess the Sonic community always has had a lot of fan modding activity... 
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Post by Sarge on Feb 16, 2020 19:27:55 GMT -5
Hey, after feeling a bit rotten yesterday, I'm back in the Game Gear groove.
I tried a bit more of Coca-Cola Kid, and I'm still not overly enamored with it. Something just feels a little off; perhaps it's because it feels like the Sonic engine, but the moveset doesn't feel like Sonic.
I did, however, like GG Doraemon: Noranosuke no Yabou. While the titular Doraemon moves somewhat slowly, he does have the ability to climb walls and also clamber across ceilings. It's a neat little touch, given he's a (robotic) cat. The gameplay is pretty standard hop-and-bop, although occasionally you'll get a weapon which also gives you an extra hit to absorb. Otherwise, it's one-hit deaths, so you do have to play pretty cautiously.
Outside of that, the game uses color very well. I think it's one of the better-looking Game Gear games I've played, and it also doesn't have overly massive sprites, so it does feel like you've got some room to move.
I'd say... probably a 6.5/10? Maybe a 7. Somewhere in that ballpark. Not a bad way to spend roughly 40 minutes.
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Post by Ex on Feb 16, 2020 21:33:56 GMT -5
I have a growing list of old gaming stuff that doesn't work properly, such as fixing my 1999 gaming PC after the hard drive crashed. Well, when it comes to old computing, don't dismiss VMware. It allows you to fully emulate a computer of whatever Windows operating system you want, and it works extremely well. For DOS, you can't get better than DOSBox. I think it's cool you went through all this trouble to get a legitimate old computer running. But personally, I'd just use VMware and DOSBox. I'm glad to hear this. I need to get around to beating MW2 myself. If you really enjoy the game, don't forget there are expansion packs. I'm really glad you not only gave Triple Trouble a chance, but ended up really enjoying the game. As I said previously, Triple Touble is about as AAA as GG gets (along with Tails' Adventure). I do think you'd also enjoy Sonic Chaos on SMS. Very solid for an 8-bit Sonic. - There are a few more GG games I want to play this month. I had a very busy weekend, and the first half of next week is busy for me as well. But in the latter half I hope to pick up GG playing again. |
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