More thoughts on games I beat over the years
This one is from most of the 1st 3rd of 2019
So I beat Breath Of Fire 2 on GBA. Grand game. Good development of story and characters. A true improvement over the 1st one. More attention to detail in the characters and good twists. The character who caused so much issue being the one you met 1st was a good twist. Looking back, the hair was a hint. Good tie ins to the 1st game. Glad I got it. Although I got the bad ending despite saving the guy in the machine.
I Just beat Gargoyle's Quest II on my NES GBA collection. Good game. Plays like the 1st but with a few differences like levels ands bosses. Good NES music and graphics. The hover and jump takes some getting used to as you gotta press jump again to hover and once more to drop. And it runs out on its own. The last level is tricky but I got through. Although there's some parts where I don't see how to get by w/o taking a hit. I like how you get stronger as you go on and get better abilities and attacks. some parts were tough but not impossible. Glad I played this game
After like 4 hours of playing I finaly beat The G.G. Shinobi II: The Silent Fury on my 100 Master System/Game Gear GBA collection. Good game. You unlock several color coded Ninja with different abilities to collect the color crystals (Jason: All right rangers! Power up your crystals!) and go through 5 levels to beat these 5 similar evil ninja (Psycho Rangers??). It controls well and has good music and graphics. You got ninja magic that resets to 0 if you use a continue but theres plenty of to collect. If you exit a room and return, all power ups return so you can keep getting 1UPs. The final level is a gauntlet and is what I spent most of my playtime on. 1 hit kill spikes. disappearing floors. And fighting the bosses over. If you got all the life extenders its not so bad and bosses can be taken out in attrition. The game boss is nuts with all the powers of the evil ninja and a 2nd forme that has all the boss attacks. He takes 10 hits but his attacks can bust you down. There's infinite continues and a password and if you bite it you return to the last door you went through. But using a continue returns you to the level select screen. Glad I eventually played it. My thigh was sore after sitting for 4 hours while playing that final level over and over.
So I beat Arkanoid DS. Good game. Its got various music similar to 90s and DDR and a bit Mazinger Z. Good variety of levels with branching baths after a zone is cleared to beat the 7 bosses and after all bosses are cleared you face the final challenge. In that you go through these 30 regular zones then a branching path at the end to 3 final bosses. After you play through that, do it 2x more and beat all 3 and its done. I liked the power ups. My fave was the B that busts through bricks instead of rebounding. The Laser was good but hard to use as the ball moves too fast at times and you gotta keep moving around instead of aiming. The Catch was good at times but often slowed things down too much having to tap the screen to release over and over. At times the ball would get caught in a loop but eventually get out on its own. I loved Arkanoid as a kid on my moms computer and this was a good sequel. Good story about freeing your friends from aliens too. Something the people today can relate to. I got this game used for 5$ cartridge only and I'm glad I got it.
I beat Crystal Warriors on my Game Gear Collection. Good SRPG. Simple paper/scissors/rock style. You can tame monsters by beating em and use em as stand ins for battle. If a character bites it they cant come back. There's weapon upgrades and saves between all 16 chapters. The story is told in scrolling text before and after the game and by talking to villages in between chapters. Good simple 8 bit color graphics and music. Kinda basic but sometimes its good not to have to master a complex system and play a lite game. If you are getting into SRPG's this is a good one to start on. Oh and you don;t get much cash so sometimes you gotta choose between hiring 1 of 2 guys or getting good spells and armor. No in battle items or power ups. Oh and the max level is 9 and each battle gives 4 exp. It takes like 10 exp to each level. Glad I got this.
It Took 18 hours on playing in a row, but I beat Kirby's Star Stacker. Its a good game with several challenge levels. You gotta match Kirby's friends on either side of stars to clear em. Run out of room in the middle columns and try again. Infinity continues. The final difficulty "insane mode"has 50 levels each with its own puzzle to solve. good game but its pretty hard. Its sorta like Columns on Sega Genesis. I got it for a few bucks and Ii think it was worth it. Its got Chain Reactions where a piece falls and connects to others and so on. I didn't think it would take so long and my leg is sore from sitting for so long.
I just beat Nadia the Secret of Blue Water on Sega Genesis. Wonderful game Its kind of like Zelda but no actual combat. Just using items in the right spot. Really story driven. Sort of like a visual novel but with moving sprites around. I've never really played anything like it before. Its based on an 80s anime I never saw that was based on 20 000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. Its influenced by Robotech/Macross and was done by Gainax/Toho. Its got deep characters that have complex backstories, Enemies become friends and vice versa, crazy 1800s sci fi with ancient stuff. No lives but if you bite it you continue at the start of the area you went to. Simple password system where 1 word from the chapter is the password (And its case sensitive) Really great graphics and music. Genesis Piano moves the heart. Its got some twists and good motives for characters and I almost cried in the ending parts. Just feels all over. Great game. Glad I got a copy of it for like 27$. If you can't see the anime, this is the next best thing.
I beat Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey & Minnie on GBA. Its a port of a SNES game by Capcom and is pretty good. It was weird playing a game with good control after Bubsy and other less good games. It took me a while to figure out how to change costumes. Use L to select and R to confirm. My L/R DS buttons are kinda bad so I went through most of the game with whatever costume I was just given. It worked until the last level and I had to change. Good controls and graphics. Infinite continues and a save system that remembers even what costume you were wearing and what room you were in. Simple light game with big colorful bosses and good music/graphics. Glad I picked this one up.
I beat Sonic Blast on my Master System collection. Nor bad game. Kind of a Donkey Kong Country but not as bad. Control is a bit off and its not responsive to change direction in air. I used Sonic as his double jump is better than Knuckles glide. The special zones are Sonic 3 style with finding the special ring and you only get 1 shot at it. You can only get the emerald in act 2 and act 1's special zone gives you an extra guy. The water level has you losing rings instead of biting it after the air meter reaches 0(then at 0 rings you bite it) but it counts down quicker than the Genesis games. There's a door maze in level 5 and kind of a maze in level 2 where you jump into holes and it shoots you around. The bosses ain't bad but the final one you gotta jump on the lower platform and jump on its head before it reactivates. But the top of the area is offscreen and its got horns so its hard to judge where to land. Also the control has steering issues so I often took a hit. For the final battle you get 99 rings and in this game you get hit you only lose 10 rings and can collect the 5 that fly out. Not a bad game. There's worse out there. Oh and the special zones and title cards are cropped and have visual issues being this a port of a Game Gear game on the Master System and they couldn't resize it. Its not as bad as I heard. I had some fun with this one.
I beat Mega Man X on my Gamecube Collection. Good game. Nice sequel to the classic series. Good music and graphics. Good controls. Although firing while jumping on the walls often had me blasting the wrong way. Good power ups and upgrade system. Got the Hadoken which was a nice treat to bust anyone in one hit (Like the Meda Foirce in Medabots). Good story. Clever bosses. Good continue system with infinite tries but using a continue restarts the level. I liked the powered up weapons after upgrading the X Buster. The final boss was tough but I beat him my 1st try and used 3 Sub Tanks. Fair game with good challenge. Glad I got the X Collection.
I beat Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse on my Master System collection. Pretty good game. Micky had some control issues with slipping back and forth when I needed to get down fast or taking too long to pick up items to throw. The bosses ain't too tough once you get the pattern down. its different than the Genesis ver but has a few similarities. The final boss is tough as its a lightning shot firing dragon you gotta throw a barrel at 6x. But it moves fast so you gotta go under it, wait for it to about to fire, jump to the platform, throw it at the head, and run under it before it gets a shot off. After beating that, you face the witch in its true forme and it takes like 6-7 hits to beat. But you're throwing a lantern at her and when not holding it, it goes black. Also she has 2 orbs flying around. I almost beat her a few X but got cocky and screwed up. Eventually I won and it was pretty good. Glad I played this one. I prefer the Genesis one, but this isn't bad. That's just better.
I beat Mega Man X2 on my Gamecube X Collection. Good game. Solid follow up to the 1st. I avoided facing the X Hunters so I could face Zero at the end. Plus you fight em again anyway in the final act. I couldn't get the Shoryuken as apparently you need the Zero parts from the X Hunters. I made it there though. But the capsule wasn't there. It wasn't too hard or annoying an the upgrades were cool. I beat Sigma with 2 spare E Tanks although I had to keep refighting Zero after I bit it against Sigma before I actually tried. I took a few practice rounds against him as I had a buncha lives left. The wire frame bosses were cool and needed a special chip to do in the Snes version. Good graphics, control and music. Good story where Sigma and Zero return. Although in the 1st game Zero said he took too much damage and bit it and here they just rebuild him and he's good as new despite blowing apart Vile's Mech. The story hints at more connections to Zero's past but 1 part of the ending text says "Humans and reploids living together like Dr Light wanted" even though he only made X and Dr Cain made the other reploids long after Light bit it. Grand game I'm glad I picked up.
So I beat Gunstar Heroes on my Game Gear Collection. Surprisingly good port with new things added,. Yeah they took away the Casino and the spaceship level but it had way more than a Gameboy or NES game could have. Good control and music and graphics but the Game Gear only had 3 buttons so I had Jump, Attack and Start changes weapon styles (Which you couldn't do in the Genesis ver). You still got mix and match weapons and can throw and slide. It had good bright vibrant colors and a good challenge. The jumping could be a bit more precise as jumping on small things like boxes were tricky and you seem to jump in an arch. But its actually really well designed and I'm glad I got and beat this.
So I beat the Master System Ninja Gaiden. Good game. More merciful than the NES ver. Good graphics and music. Enemies take 1 bar out of the life meter instead of 5 per hit. Good variety of power ups. More merciful with ammo and level design and respawn. Its sorta easy for the 1st few levels but gets harder around the ice level and up. And not just cuz of slippage. There's a super nuke used by pressing A and B but it costs life. Although it can save you from getting knocked into a pit by tough foes. The bosses were easy except the final one and the one that hops and floats and fires pellets. The story isnt as detailed but has good moments. Unlimited Continues unlike NG3 and once you hit a certain checkpoint you never go back before it. I liked it but it was sorta annoying being unable to change direction in hair and I often attacked the wrong way if I didn't jump right. I think if it is canon its set after the NES trilogy. Glad I beat it and got it.
So I beat Mega Man X3 on my X Collection on Gamecube. Pretty good. Its the PS1 port and had highly compressed FMV cutscenes. I liked it and as I played Mega Man Xtreme 1 and 2 on GBC I knew some of the bosses. I decided to set Dash to R instead of Y or X as on a Gamecube controller its hard to use B A and X/Y at the same time to wall jump and charge the buster. I got the ending where Zero uses the Anti-Virus and Dr. Doppler probably survives so I didn't get nor need the Z Saber. Its not too hard as you can get Sub Tanks quick and the upgrade parts help. The bosses weren't too hard esp with using the attack they're weak to resets their pattern and you can loop em. Final Sigma wasn't too bad as he'd big and slow but his like a truck. I got the Gold X Chip and it made things easier. Dashing up was weird and took some getting used to as I usually didn't dash off walls in X1 and X2. I liked this one and I'm glad I got and beat it. Oh and I only used Zero in the intro level as I kinda forgot about him.
So I beat Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers on my NES Collection. Not bad. Kinda simple but it takes some mastery to get past a few tricky parts. Good Capcom graphics and music. Good control. Good story. The final boss fights with cigar smoke which wouldn't be allowed today as people are wieners now. It takes a bit of getting used to but once gotten, its not hard. only like 2 or 3 continues but extra lives aren't hard to get. The final level is tricky at times but not impossible. Being able to hide in a box to use it as a shield is creative. I liked it and I'm glad I got and beat it.
So I beat the Master System port of Double Dragon. Pretty forgiving. The enemies are more aggressive and the controls are a bit trickier but it might've been my controller. Its got unlimited continues except in the last level but if you jump kick by using A and B at the same time 10x (In a row??) you keep the infinite continues. And you need em as Machine Gun Willy can kill you in 1 hit with his gun. The Abobo's can be beat by jut standing there and punching fast but if there's 2 of em then they can get through. Unlike the NES ver this has 2 player co op but I got it on my GBA 100 Master System games cart and can't do 2 player games. Also you can't do that trick in the GB ver where you stand on the edge of the spike pit in the last level and knock off anyone with 1 punch. But with infinite continues its more like the arcade ver where you can just keep putting in quarters. With it you are kinda like Kenshiro from Hokuto No Ken where they can'rt keep you down and you just get up and beat on em. The Double Dragon theme playing in the final fight when Willy comes out was pretty cool and the game has good music and graphics. Also you don't earn new moves but also don't have too many to start with like the elbow smash (If it was in there I didn't figure out how to do it). The ending says May you live happy forever or something but in the next game Marion gets iced. All in all its a good game and has good stuff to it. Sometimes its fun to play a game where you can't game over. Sorta like Venom Spider-Man Separation Anxiety with the infinite lives code. And using a continue lets you pick up right where you left off. The only thing lives do is let you keep score. Still I liked it and had a good time with it.
So I beat Master of Darkness on my Master System collection. Its similar to Castlevania with its ties to the Bram Stoker novel (Jonathan is mentioned at 1 point) an has similar themes and gameplay. Its got a good story with this guy using a Ouija board to find out stuff and stop Jack the Ripper. Its got some classic horror refs like a Wax Museum and the music feels like an 80s horror movie (Esp the ending music). A is jump, B is attack and Up+B is sub weapon but instead of a whip you can use a knife, sword or axe, each wit its own range and damage. There's breakable walls with goodies in em and stairs but you can jump off em and change direction in mid air. I liked t and it had a good feel but the last level was a maze that I later found out by looking it up that you have to take out a block over a hole in the floor you cant get to and fall in it (when falling in holes kills you otherwise). Also I don't know why but for some reason the enemies didn't do any damage to me. Spikes and pits still did but enemy sprites and their projectiles just went through me. Same with bosses. Although even if I took damage I'd still have beat it. Its not as hard as Castlevania and has nice graphic effects like a poster blowing in the wind on a wall in some levels. Good game. Glad I finally got around to playing it.
Just beat Mega Man X4. Pretty good. More forgiving than other ones with its regular checkpoints and not being sent back far after a game over. Only 2 subtanks and 1 weapon tank but as zero you don't need weapon energy. Plus weapon energy fully refills after biting it. The graphic and sound are cool with 32 bit style and the heart tanks aren't too hidden. Ride armors are back and can make Magma Dragoon easier but w/o it he's quite hard. I used Zero as he's cool and he plays well. The final fight with Sigma was tough but he's got a predictable pattern and isn't too hard. But his final forme has some tricky stuff. It took me 4 hours to beat it and much of that was the final round. Good anime cut scenes and the bad acting is fun. I liked it and I'm glad i beat it. I never had a PS1 and playing this shows me how cool it could be.
So I beat the Master System version of Rampage using Lizzie. Pretty good game. Simple but fun. I sometimes had trouble getting on buildings byt once I learned I could jump and cling it was easier. No bosses, just go from city to city and take em out. Its fun just stomping around and eating people. I think it has unlimited continues as I bit it a few times but if it was an arcade machine I could just keep putting in tokens. Good game. Glad I beat it.
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