Sequel month comes to a close, it was fun, we played some of the best games we have for the Podcast this month, and all of them were worth talking about. So here's how they shake out, in my opinion, compared to everything else we've played. I've bolded the games we played this month, so if you just want my additional comments on those, they should be easy to find. If you want to read everything, hit the jump and dig in.
Super Smash Bros. 10/10
Like Castlevania before it, it's going to be tough for anything to dethrone Super Smash Bros. It's the only Nintendo 64 game we've played thus far, and while I love Super Nintendo and NES games, the N64 really is my childhood. Some stuff from that era of games holds up, some of it is laughable, but Super Smash Bros. is the crown jewel, it's tough to see it going anywhere any time soon.
Castlevania 9/10
Castlevainia however, is almost the perfect game for it's time. The challenge, the theme, the controls, the music, everything is absolutely spot on. You've heard me gush about it a lot, but if you've any interest in overcoming a challenging NES game, play it!
Mega Man 2 9/10
I struggled with where to put Mega Man 2. On the episode in which we spoke about it, I talked about how I didn't think it was better than Mega Man and that it felt like it was just a continuation that was a bit weaker. Than I played "hard" mode, and the game became fun. Hard mode isn't really that much harder, a few enemies take more hits, and the boss battles feel like boss battles, but that's enough. Zach talked in that episode about how he felt like the boss battles serve no point, and on "Normal" mode I can see where he's coming from, but Hard mode made them fun and exciting, even if that wasn't Zach's protest. Speaking objectively, it's got 2 extra levels and a longer final stage, more weapons, and some platforming items. It's better than Mega Man and a fun game, even if it didn't try anything especially new.
Mega Man 9/10
Sand speaking of Mega Man, it's still good. Not quite as good as Mega Man 2, but still worth paying for and playing if you've any interest in that style of game.
The Legend of Zelda 8/10
An influence on a lot of the games we played this week, The Legend of Zelda is a fun little adventure that really feels like an adventure. You slay monster, find treasure, and rescue a princess, honestly what more could you ask for? The game's not perfect, but it's fun and worth checking out if you're a Zelda fan.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 8/10
I havn't finished Seven Stars, which is a bit of a shame. I'm close enough that I feel like I've completed the game, there's very little in the way of additional content to see, just Bowser's Castle and some bosses, and a game over that took away too much progress ended my desire for it. The game is really oddly paced, and the graphics are poor, but it's quirky and fun, and I reccomend anyone who likes RPGs give it a play through.
Gradius 8/10
Going back to difficult, skill based NES games we have Gradius. I've only played it a couple of times since the episode, and that makes the problems with it a bit more apparant. The penalty for dying is steep, so taking a break from it is a bad idea, you'll just die more and encounter the hard parts of the game. It's a fair game though, and a ton of fun if space shooters that are super hard are your thing.
Castlevainia II: Simon's Quest 7/10
I'm likely to get some flack for placing such a widely reviled game so highly in this list, but I absolutely loved Simon's Quest. It has problems, a lot of them, but they're fairly infamous, and knowing what they are ahead of time really helps to mitigate what sucks about the experience. I'm not sure what else to say about it, it's surprisingly good. If you have any interest at all in game design or game criticism, I think you should play it through, the things it does wrong are worth noting, as is how fun and satisfying the combat is despite that.
Doom 7/10
Not sure what else to say about Doom, I feel like the fun I didn't have with Doom 2 should almost bring this game down, but that's not fair to it. It's everything that's fun about the First Person Shooter genre, minus multiplayer, distilled into a raw form. Check it out.
Metroid 7/10
Metroid is a game that's ahead of its time in a lot of ways, with branching paths and optional power ups, but it lacks some crucial features like a mini-map. This all gets fixed in Super Metroid, which is a better game over all, but Metroid's still a good one to check out if you like game history, or the franchise.
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels 7/10
I've spoken at length about how much I like the challenge in Castlevania, about how it's frustrating, but in the way that makes you just want to go again, about how it gives you plenty of lives and doesn't punish you too much for using them, and about how great you feel when you beat a level. Lost Levels does very much the same thing. So why is it not up as high as Castlevainia? Well for starters the theme. I love Mario, but it's just not as exciting as the B horror feel of Castlevainia. Then there's the difficulty, Castlevainia starts easy and provides plenty of challenges, from Medusa heads, to spike traps to Dracula. Mario is pretty much just pits, and they start out very hard. It's a good game, one I'm still playing three weeks after we assigned it, but it's not for everyone.
Super Mario Bros. 6/10
Super Mario Bros. got much closer to the 5/10 slot I want it in this month, with so many of the games being winners, not as close as I might like though. I suppose it's just a really good game, despite being simple, and that far more games went for the glory Mario had back in the day and failed than succeeded.
Super Mario Bros. 2 6/10
Super Mario Bros. 2 is very, very different from Super Mario Bros. When you consider it was originally another game entirely, that's not surprising. My co-hosts gave it a lot of credit for being something new and different, and it deserves that. It's a fun game, and a worthy successor to Mario Bros. But new and different doesn't mean everything. In the end, the game just doesn't feel as tight or interesting as Mario Bros. to me. Sure, multiple characters is cool, and it's nice that they all have different ability sets, but this leads to a few levels where characters can't progress, and Luigi is pretty clearly the best. It's still a good game over all, but there's a reason I think that more inspirtation wasn't drawn from it.
Gunstar Heroes 6/10
Gunstar Heroes is still a game I have trouble talking about. It was fun. It wasn't really anything special. That sets a sort of ill tone for everything below, doesn't it?
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 6/10
Adventure of Link is a game that's hard to gather my thoughts on. It's hard. That doesn't make it bad. It's simple. That also doesn't make it bad. It's very different from the game that came before. Again, that doesn't make it bad, and in fact, many of the systems are clever and well done. But when you add it all together, it just makes a game that's ok. One that's hard to justify spending a lot of time with when you realize just how difficult it is, when you get too many game overs, especially with how harsh those game overs are. I wish I liked the game, but I don't, not at all, and I'm glad Link to the Past borrowed little from it.
Final Fantasy 5/10
Zelda II's overworld actually reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy. If you read these columns, you know that this is a game I long to go back to, but every time I do, the abysmal run speed just drives me to something else. There's a great game here, I know it, and it's an utter shame that technical problems scare me away from it.
Super Dodge Ball 5/10
A quirky, fun little game, with multiplayer but little if any replayability. As such I havn't replayed it, and don't have much more to say on the game.
Excitebike 5/10
This game isn't very exciting either, but it has a bit of a zen quality that makes it great for playing while listening to podcasts or before bed, like Tetris. Nothing super special, but worth a look if you're interested.
Kirby's Adventure 5/10
Kirby's adventure as I've said before is just boring. It's an incredibly easy platformer. The colors are nice, and there are a lot of really cool power ups, but it's just easy to fall asleep while playing it.. and still win!
Doom 2 4/10
Like Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, Doom 2 is just more of what came before, but a little harder. The problem, as stated before, was I felt Doom was already starting to wear out its welcome when I played the first one. I'm not a big FPS guy, one will occasionally grab my attention for a while, but it's rare, and they never hold me to them too long. Doom 2 didn't have it for more than a couple of seconds, and while I still say check out the original, I can't recommend the follow up.
Zombies Ate My Neighbors 4/10
A quircky game with a strong theme and some interesting design choices, ruined by a couple of key problems. Chief among them, the complete lack of a save system, combined with a restart at death. I really don't see the big deal when it come to Zombies Ate my Neighbors, and recommend you skip it.
Harvest Moon 4/10
I probably give this game a lot more bile than it deserves. It's fun for about 10 hours, more than quite a few of the more highly rated games. But it lasts about 30, and the part of me that wants to see things through to the end just couldn't stand that. I still stay skip it, since there are a litany of sequels that are vastly improved.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4/10
Sonic sadly didn't make it into sequel week, and he likely won't make it in for a few more months, which is a shame, I'd like to take another crack at a Sonic game, and I remember really liking Sonic 2. This game looks beautiful, but the fun bits of the game play, namely going fast, contrast with what the levels are designed to do, make you take your time to make precise jumps, so what should be a fun imaginative game is just super frustrating instead.
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja 3/10
While still at 3/10, I moved Mystical Ninja up a few games. Why? Well, it wasn't anything special, and it did have some pretty big problems, but I did enjoy it, and that's what should count in a game. It just didn't really stand out at all.
F-Zero 3/10
F-Zero is a racing game that's main feature is impressive graphics for the time. They still look pretty good today, but they're nothing special which makes recommending the game rather difficult. Play the racing game of your choice instead.
Act Raiser 3/10
Act Raiser, as I've said a hundred times before, is a game with an interesting story, a theme it wants to explore, and some really cool game mechanics. That are executed terribly. The RTS portions are overly basic and require no strategy, while the hit boxes in the platform section make it nearly unplayable. Too bad.
Bases Loaded 3/10
While impressive for how realistic it is for an NES game, Bases Loaded is just a little too hard to be fun. You shouldn't have to be a pro hitter to feel like one in a videogame, which is why this game is rated so low. That and I'm not a huge fan of sports games.
Ogre Battle 2/10
Ogre Battle has a fantastic theme and very fun progression elements, and lets you control an entire army of fantasy creatures and characters. So why is it so low? Well, the game has unfair difficulty that makes it a slog. Not especially difficult, but not at all fun, so a great concept ends up languishing here at the bottom of the bin.
Comix Zone 2/10
Speaking of mechanics and difficulty that make a game not fun, Comix Zone. Poor Comix Zone. So much could have been done with this concept. Instead, the designers were lazy, padding out a few short boring levels with fake difficulty. Skip it.
Double Dragon II The Revenge 2/10
An alright time with a friend, but uninteresting fighting and poor jumping controls combined with platformering sections makes Double Dragon II a hard thumbs down.
Double Dragon 2/10
Double Dragon. Take everything I said about Double Dragon II, remove the co-op and add horrible soul crushing music that loops way too quickly. In other words, don't play it.
Phantasy Star 1/1
And here's the inverse Super Smash Brothers. Phantasy Star was a game I'd never played, but playing some of its decendents and having heard great things, I had high expectations. I wanted to play an RPG for the podcast that would be better than Final Fantasy. What I got was much much worse. Moon logic, grinding, boring combat, impossibility to navigate, this game has it all and it's all bad. I don't see anything "beating" it soon. I hope nothing "beats" it any time soon.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Episode 28: A Piggyback?! He's Supposed to be Dead! [Lost Levels and Mario 2]
It's been a strange week, so here's a strange episode. You almost didn't get this one! This week, we did what we've been threatening to do for a while. No, not that. That would break our rating. The other thing! We recorded a double-game episode! That other one didn't happen. To keep up the weirdness, this week's show notes are brought to you by Zachigan, son of Zach.
Our download is not a hard platform to land on.
(0:35) We argue about who is more clever.
(1:14) Geremy lies to you.
(1:34) What we've been playing.
(3:10) Civilization 5
(5:23) Iterative development vs Normal development
(8:00) EA shot itself in the foot.
(9:50) Geremy is paying KoL to shill for them.
(11:20) We talk about what we think sequels should do.
(14:20) Do you need a story in video games?
(16:20) Debate on greatness
(18:45) Nintendo doesn't do story. Example: Zelda..
(21:11) Tyler goes off topic. Surprise.
(21:45) We get to the games of the week.
(23:25) Poison mushrooms suck.
(27:00) Game Force!
(32:00) Stuff taken from Mario 2 that made it into later games
(35:45) Evil Masks!
(36:30) Which one did we prefer?
(38:00) Improvements to be made.
(42:00) Sequel month is over :( Geremy is the villain!
Next week: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Let us go out and slay some vampires for pleasure!
Explore the castle of our communication! You can to us at
Our download is not a hard platform to land on.
(0:35) We argue about who is more clever.
(1:14) Geremy lies to you.
(1:34) What we've been playing.
(3:10) Civilization 5
(5:23) Iterative development vs Normal development
(8:00) EA shot itself in the foot.
(9:50) Geremy is paying KoL to shill for them.
(11:20) We talk about what we think sequels should do.
(14:20) Do you need a story in video games?
(16:20) Debate on greatness
(18:45) Nintendo doesn't do story. Example: Zelda..
(21:11) Tyler goes off topic. Surprise.
(21:45) We get to the games of the week.
(23:25) Poison mushrooms suck.
(27:00) Game Force!
(32:00) Stuff taken from Mario 2 that made it into later games
(35:45) Evil Masks!
(36:30) Which one did we prefer?
(38:00) Improvements to be made.
(42:00) Sequel month is over :( Geremy is the villain!
Next week: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Let us go out and slay some vampires for pleasure!
Explore the castle of our communication! You can to us at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Categories:
Episodes,
Geremy,
Mario,
Nintendo,
Nintendo Entertainment System,
Platformer,
Tyler,
Zach
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Monday, August 26, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: Burn Into Glory
Despite what my compatriots may say about the matter, I enjoy racing games. I've always gotten a lot of enjoyment out of them, especially when they feed my compulsion to fully complete a game by giving me plenty of unlockables. My first exposure to the genre, other than F-Zero and Super Mario Kart, was Cruisin' USA. It's a bit clunky by today's standards, but the old arcade cabinets with pedals and gear shifters were, and still are, incredibly fun. Enough so, in fact, that one of my first N64 games was Cruisin'.
However, as the tone was set by these more arcade-styled games, I grew to substantially prefer such games to the arguably more realistic racers. I'm still a fan of Mario Kart in its many incarnations, and the most realistic one I've played for longer than a few hours is NFS: Most Wanted.
There is one of these games, in particular, that I have gotten way more use out of than I think the developers anticipated. I think they hoped for it, though. That game is Burnout 3: Takedown. If you watched that video just now, that's a pretty good portrayal of the game.
Basically, you race and brawl across various routes that are geographically themed. The twist here, as most racing games seem to have one, is that you can cause your opponents to wreck. Gloriously. The game rewards you heavily for it, too. In order to reach top speed in any vehicle, you need boost. You get it by taking risks while driving. Driving into oncoming traffic? Boost! Almost hitting a civilian? Boost! Driving like an aggressive asshole behind your opponent? Boost!
You might begin to see a theme.
It's a ton of fun, puts you right back in the action when you crash, offers several game modes that capitalize on the chaotic mayhem inherent in the game's engine, and has hours of content. If you like driving really fast, crashing, and seeing massive wrecks caused by your own hand, you'll love this game. It also has a pretty killer soundtrack of high energy songs to fuel your rampages. The one I mentioned 2 weeks ago is one I was introduced to by this game.
As I mentioned last week, though I got a new computer. I also picked up the Ubisoft Humble Bundle. One of the games in it was a sequel to this, my favorite of all racing games. I'm talking about Burnout: Paradise.
Take everything (well, almost everything, but I'll get to that) I just said about Burnout 3. Imagine it in a large, sprawling city similar to L.A. or Hollywood. Big highway overpasses, crowded urban areas, a mountainous area surprisingly devoid of population. Toss in a couple of abandoned areas full of debris for flavor and things to jump off of. Then, imagine you can drive around this city at will, exploring its nooks and crannies, learning the shortcuts, finding all the hidden goodies. Then, add races and road rages similar in style to the original at every intersection. It brings a tear to my eye.
I've heard a lot of negativity about this game, but at the low price of about $4 (the average of what I paid for all the games in the aforementioned bundle), I could take the risk.
Not only was I not disappointed, I was quite pleasantly surprised.
It's a damned solid game. It helps me scratch my exploration itch by making sure there's plenty of collectibles to find in the city, and it incentivizes learning the terrain so that you can more ably cream your foes.
There are also several types of boost collection in this game. The old style from Burnout 3 is called aggression; you gain some boost by taking risks, but a huge amount and a higher max from taking down an opponent. Stunt gives you more for, unsurprisingly, doing stunts; jumping off of stuff, awesome spins, and crazy drifts all count towards your total in this category. Speed is the trickiest. You have a shortish bar that fills doing any of the normal crazy stuff you would only do in a videogame. Once you get it full, you must use it all or be forced to fill it again. If you manage this feat, you have accomplished what the game calls a Burnout. If you've filled your gauge while doing this, you get to keep boosting and can chain these together. On vehicles that have this, you often do really well until that one tight turn.
One of the new, at least to me, ways to play is in a stunt mode. Cars with stunt boost, obviously, excel at this type of event. You have to accrue some number of points by engaging in reckless driving. Certain activities, like ruining one of the game's billboards or staying airborne for long periods of time, add multipliers to your current run, which lasts until you crash or do nothing interesting for a while. I mentioned a bit ago that there are abandoned areas full of debris. One such spot is reminiscent of an old air yard and has some suspended cement tubes you can do flying barrel rolls through. It's pretty sweet.
In addition to a small army of secret places to find and billboards to smash, you also unlock new cars. The method of doing so is, thus far, twofold. One is to upgrade your license, which is accomplished by just beating a certain number of unique events. The other happens when you finish certain events. You are informed that a rival in the new car will be driving around town. Occasionally, the AI will deem you worthy to see them. What then? What else? You take them down and drive off with their wreck.
There are, I think, about 35 cars you get in these manners. Almost all of them also have unlockable upgraded forms that can only be achieved by finishing a solo race in that car. It's enough to make my inner completionist twitch compulsively.
The game does have a few downsides. The largest of them is that the ability to restart a race, while extant, is so obscured that it almost might as well not exist. Additionally, the soundtrack is a bit lacking compared to its predecessor. They did add a handful of classical tracks, though, which are fun to burn to. If you don't like the music (I'm starting to get sick of it after about 15 hours or so), you can always turn it off and play something else. It's a pain, but at least it's an option.
So, would I recommend this game? Yes. Very. Also Burnout 3, but they're very similar. We've mentioned a few times recently in our sequel binging that if you aren't done with a game yet, even though the game has finished, you might just go play a sequel. This definitely falls into that category, but I would claim Paradise as the superior model. Also, it's a bit old now, so it's fairly cheap even when it's not in a Humble Bundle, and available on a variety of platforms.
Keep burnin'!
However, as the tone was set by these more arcade-styled games, I grew to substantially prefer such games to the arguably more realistic racers. I'm still a fan of Mario Kart in its many incarnations, and the most realistic one I've played for longer than a few hours is NFS: Most Wanted.
There is one of these games, in particular, that I have gotten way more use out of than I think the developers anticipated. I think they hoped for it, though. That game is Burnout 3: Takedown. If you watched that video just now, that's a pretty good portrayal of the game.
Basically, you race and brawl across various routes that are geographically themed. The twist here, as most racing games seem to have one, is that you can cause your opponents to wreck. Gloriously. The game rewards you heavily for it, too. In order to reach top speed in any vehicle, you need boost. You get it by taking risks while driving. Driving into oncoming traffic? Boost! Almost hitting a civilian? Boost! Driving like an aggressive asshole behind your opponent? Boost!
You might begin to see a theme.
It's a ton of fun, puts you right back in the action when you crash, offers several game modes that capitalize on the chaotic mayhem inherent in the game's engine, and has hours of content. If you like driving really fast, crashing, and seeing massive wrecks caused by your own hand, you'll love this game. It also has a pretty killer soundtrack of high energy songs to fuel your rampages. The one I mentioned 2 weeks ago is one I was introduced to by this game.
As I mentioned last week, though I got a new computer. I also picked up the Ubisoft Humble Bundle. One of the games in it was a sequel to this, my favorite of all racing games. I'm talking about Burnout: Paradise.
Take everything (well, almost everything, but I'll get to that) I just said about Burnout 3. Imagine it in a large, sprawling city similar to L.A. or Hollywood. Big highway overpasses, crowded urban areas, a mountainous area surprisingly devoid of population. Toss in a couple of abandoned areas full of debris for flavor and things to jump off of. Then, imagine you can drive around this city at will, exploring its nooks and crannies, learning the shortcuts, finding all the hidden goodies. Then, add races and road rages similar in style to the original at every intersection. It brings a tear to my eye.
I've heard a lot of negativity about this game, but at the low price of about $4 (the average of what I paid for all the games in the aforementioned bundle), I could take the risk.
Not only was I not disappointed, I was quite pleasantly surprised.
It's a damned solid game. It helps me scratch my exploration itch by making sure there's plenty of collectibles to find in the city, and it incentivizes learning the terrain so that you can more ably cream your foes.
There are also several types of boost collection in this game. The old style from Burnout 3 is called aggression; you gain some boost by taking risks, but a huge amount and a higher max from taking down an opponent. Stunt gives you more for, unsurprisingly, doing stunts; jumping off of stuff, awesome spins, and crazy drifts all count towards your total in this category. Speed is the trickiest. You have a shortish bar that fills doing any of the normal crazy stuff you would only do in a videogame. Once you get it full, you must use it all or be forced to fill it again. If you manage this feat, you have accomplished what the game calls a Burnout. If you've filled your gauge while doing this, you get to keep boosting and can chain these together. On vehicles that have this, you often do really well until that one tight turn.
One of the new, at least to me, ways to play is in a stunt mode. Cars with stunt boost, obviously, excel at this type of event. You have to accrue some number of points by engaging in reckless driving. Certain activities, like ruining one of the game's billboards or staying airborne for long periods of time, add multipliers to your current run, which lasts until you crash or do nothing interesting for a while. I mentioned a bit ago that there are abandoned areas full of debris. One such spot is reminiscent of an old air yard and has some suspended cement tubes you can do flying barrel rolls through. It's pretty sweet.
In addition to a small army of secret places to find and billboards to smash, you also unlock new cars. The method of doing so is, thus far, twofold. One is to upgrade your license, which is accomplished by just beating a certain number of unique events. The other happens when you finish certain events. You are informed that a rival in the new car will be driving around town. Occasionally, the AI will deem you worthy to see them. What then? What else? You take them down and drive off with their wreck.
There are, I think, about 35 cars you get in these manners. Almost all of them also have unlockable upgraded forms that can only be achieved by finishing a solo race in that car. It's enough to make my inner completionist twitch compulsively.
The game does have a few downsides. The largest of them is that the ability to restart a race, while extant, is so obscured that it almost might as well not exist. Additionally, the soundtrack is a bit lacking compared to its predecessor. They did add a handful of classical tracks, though, which are fun to burn to. If you don't like the music (I'm starting to get sick of it after about 15 hours or so), you can always turn it off and play something else. It's a pain, but at least it's an option.
So, would I recommend this game? Yes. Very. Also Burnout 3, but they're very similar. We've mentioned a few times recently in our sequel binging that if you aren't done with a game yet, even though the game has finished, you might just go play a sequel. This definitely falls into that category, but I would claim Paradise as the superior model. Also, it's a bit old now, so it's fairly cheap even when it's not in a Humble Bundle, and available on a variety of platforms.
Keep burnin'!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Episode 27: Hell is Other People... Turned into Machine Gun Wielding Demon-Marines[Doom II]
Strap yourselves in and pull out your BFGs. It's Doom II this week. As we near the end of our sequel month, we talk about our favorite sequels and some other game stuff. Also, super-shotguns.
You're gonna need a bigger download.
(01:00) We get into it early! Geremy's mouse works again, so more LoL. Civ difficulties are funny. Also, he's been farming for paper. Zach's been hitting things. FTL still rocks.
(07:45) Our favorite sequels.
(12:00) DKC and Doom as ambient games. Also, difficulty selection! How would you implement difficulty in a platformer?
(18:00) DMC has an easy mode that you have to unlock. The L4D2 AI director was pretty spiffy.
(22:30) Since we're rambling about difficulty, how should if be scaled for puzzle games?
(24:40) For the unitiated, the Tower of Hanoi.
(26:40) Honorable mention: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Maybe also Puzzle Fighter.
(28:30) A not-so-great sequel. Doom II! Might be better... It lacks enemy and, therefore, strategy variety. It's basically the same game, but with multiplayer.
(34:30) The music's not as great. Compare the first level music from Doom with this game's first level music.
(40:00) Old man impressions. Also, Sailor Moon!
Next week, get your jump on! It's Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels and Super Mario Bros. 2! Yeah, both of them. We suggest the All-Stars pack for the SNES.
Want to pluck us some turnips? You can pick ours
You're gonna need a bigger download.
(01:00) We get into it early! Geremy's mouse works again, so more LoL. Civ difficulties are funny. Also, he's been farming for paper. Zach's been hitting things. FTL still rocks.
(07:45) Our favorite sequels.
(12:00) DKC and Doom as ambient games. Also, difficulty selection! How would you implement difficulty in a platformer?
(18:00) DMC has an easy mode that you have to unlock. The L4D2 AI director was pretty spiffy.
(22:30) Since we're rambling about difficulty, how should if be scaled for puzzle games?
(24:40) For the unitiated, the Tower of Hanoi.
(26:40) Honorable mention: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Maybe also Puzzle Fighter.
(28:30) A not-so-great sequel. Doom II! Might be better... It lacks enemy and, therefore, strategy variety. It's basically the same game, but with multiplayer.
(34:30) The music's not as great. Compare the first level music from Doom with this game's first level music.
(40:00) Old man impressions. Also, Sailor Moon!
Next week, get your jump on! It's Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels and Super Mario Bros. 2! Yeah, both of them. We suggest the All-Stars pack for the SNES.
Want to pluck us some turnips? You can pick ours
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: Quadrilaterally Inclined
In the interest of time, of which I seem to have little recently, this one's going to be brief. This is fitting, I think, given the game I'll be talking about this time.
In the wake of getting a new computer, I also picked up a modest pile of games. One might call it humble. At any rate, one of these piles was actually donated to me by +Daxten Reiter, in some sort of crazy "charity" thing, wherein the proceeds benefit "philanthropic" organizations. At any rate, among these was a game that caught my attention while reviewing my new prize.
What caught my attention the most was a light British accent commenting on Kryptonite. The pieces of a planet rather than the actual element. The game is Thomas Was Alone, a game about rectangles (of all dimensions, including squares). It's a short game, and I've played some Flash games on a certain site that are equally ambitious, though lesser in their implementation.
Basically, your rectangles represent the corporeal forms of newly aware artificial intelligences, a pile of self-generating code that accidentally became sentient. The first of these was the eponymous Thomas, a rectangle of middling abilities and a rather empiric bent. Because the game is short, and reasonably cheap, I'll skip a lot of the details that make the game.
The boring part, the mechanics, are rather simple. It's a platformer with fairly simple puzzles, most of which involve coercing your pointy minions into various formations so as to allow the lot of you to reach the outlined portals at the end of a stage, conveniently shaped for each of your polygonal friends. You jump, mostly, and certain of your companions move in special ways, one functioning as a trampoline and another as a barge.
What really takes this game from being mediocre to enjoyable and compelling is the narration. As I mentioned, you have an English accent describing the thoughts and motivations of all these squares to you. You begin to see Thomas's fervor for knowledge, Chris's general disgruntlement, John's conceit over his superior... athleticism. Over the course of the game, which will run you around 6 hours, you become quite attached to these little shapes.
There are even some heart-wrenching moments. Over rectangles. Seriously.
It's quirky and a bit funny, which, as I've often said, can make a game much brighter in my memory. The music's fantastic, too. It mostly goes unnoticed, but on occasion you will sit and mull over a puzzle and the sound of it hits you like a refreshing breeze, lending some frivolity to your machinations or some gloom to your joy, depending on where in the game you are.
The game is split up into chapters, though you mostly won't notice them going by. Each chapter, however, is prepended with a statement from a former staff member at the company that accidentally created our lovable shapes, setting the tone for that chapter. Later in the game, there's some remarkable foreshadowing to reinforce the game's moral. Which, as far as I have gathered, is that teamwork is awesome and we should totally make some functioning A.I.s.
While I have said it is reasonably cheap, it runs $10 on Steam, which is more than I would have paid for it. There exist some pretty awesome free games that address similar concepts almost as ably, lacking only the voiced narration. I don't think that's a good reason to snub this one, though, and I definitely enjoyed it.
The long and short of this is, if you have some time to kill over a weekend or something and feel like exploring a strange and vast world through the... vertices of a newly sentient block of pixels, I would recommend picking this one up. It feels good the whole way through. It raises your expectations, defies them, and, ultimately, gives you the happy ending you wanted.
In the wake of getting a new computer, I also picked up a modest pile of games. One might call it humble. At any rate, one of these piles was actually donated to me by +Daxten Reiter, in some sort of crazy "charity" thing, wherein the proceeds benefit "philanthropic" organizations. At any rate, among these was a game that caught my attention while reviewing my new prize.
What caught my attention the most was a light British accent commenting on Kryptonite. The pieces of a planet rather than the actual element. The game is Thomas Was Alone, a game about rectangles (of all dimensions, including squares). It's a short game, and I've played some Flash games on a certain site that are equally ambitious, though lesser in their implementation.
Basically, your rectangles represent the corporeal forms of newly aware artificial intelligences, a pile of self-generating code that accidentally became sentient. The first of these was the eponymous Thomas, a rectangle of middling abilities and a rather empiric bent. Because the game is short, and reasonably cheap, I'll skip a lot of the details that make the game.
The boring part, the mechanics, are rather simple. It's a platformer with fairly simple puzzles, most of which involve coercing your pointy minions into various formations so as to allow the lot of you to reach the outlined portals at the end of a stage, conveniently shaped for each of your polygonal friends. You jump, mostly, and certain of your companions move in special ways, one functioning as a trampoline and another as a barge.
What really takes this game from being mediocre to enjoyable and compelling is the narration. As I mentioned, you have an English accent describing the thoughts and motivations of all these squares to you. You begin to see Thomas's fervor for knowledge, Chris's general disgruntlement, John's conceit over his superior... athleticism. Over the course of the game, which will run you around 6 hours, you become quite attached to these little shapes.
There are even some heart-wrenching moments. Over rectangles. Seriously.
It's quirky and a bit funny, which, as I've often said, can make a game much brighter in my memory. The music's fantastic, too. It mostly goes unnoticed, but on occasion you will sit and mull over a puzzle and the sound of it hits you like a refreshing breeze, lending some frivolity to your machinations or some gloom to your joy, depending on where in the game you are.
The game is split up into chapters, though you mostly won't notice them going by. Each chapter, however, is prepended with a statement from a former staff member at the company that accidentally created our lovable shapes, setting the tone for that chapter. Later in the game, there's some remarkable foreshadowing to reinforce the game's moral. Which, as far as I have gathered, is that teamwork is awesome and we should totally make some functioning A.I.s.
While I have said it is reasonably cheap, it runs $10 on Steam, which is more than I would have paid for it. There exist some pretty awesome free games that address similar concepts almost as ably, lacking only the voiced narration. I don't think that's a good reason to snub this one, though, and I definitely enjoyed it.
The long and short of this is, if you have some time to kill over a weekend or something and feel like exploring a strange and vast world through the... vertices of a newly sentient block of pixels, I would recommend picking this one up. It feels good the whole way through. It raises your expectations, defies them, and, ultimately, gives you the happy ending you wanted.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Episode 26: I'm Feeling a Little Stabby [Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link]
This time, we look at a game that doesn't really make any sense when compared to the rest of the games in the series. It's Zelda II, the game in which you stab things to death and get items that don't do anything for you other than let you find other things to stab!
Our download is Error!
(1:00) Apartment shenanigans. Zach's been playing SoD, which looks pretty good. Walking Dead continues to be good, surprising no one, but pleasing many. Also, we talk a bit about Save the Date.
(11:40) Apparently, not many people make up stories for games while playing them if one's not present. Do you? Let us know!
(14:30) Tibia is an isometric view, 2D, genericly fantasy MMO with use-based skill levels. You can level in fishing!
(16:30) To Be or Not to Be, the choosable path adventure book based on Hamlet. Coincidentally, there are about 10^120 possible chess games.
(21:30) We give some post-processing thoughts on Castlevania 2.
(23:30) Zelda II's a pretty cool game that doesn't afraid of resurrecting Ganon. Overworld maps might be overrated for this game.
(28:30) This game defies most of the Zelda tropes, what with the death holes, lack of puzzles, and unforgiving levels. Also, it's a bit glitchy.
(33:30) In Bed...
(35:20) Related, Tyler rambled about items and scope of player actions. This game doesn't really let you do different things, and it's sad.
(42:00) Wrapping up. You can prolly pass it up.
Next time on Last Time, Doom 2!
Send us some mail at
Our download is Error!
(1:00) Apartment shenanigans. Zach's been playing SoD, which looks pretty good. Walking Dead continues to be good, surprising no one, but pleasing many. Also, we talk a bit about Save the Date.
(11:40) Apparently, not many people make up stories for games while playing them if one's not present. Do you? Let us know!
(14:30) Tibia is an isometric view, 2D, genericly fantasy MMO with use-based skill levels. You can level in fishing!
(16:30) To Be or Not to Be, the choosable path adventure book based on Hamlet. Coincidentally, there are about 10^120 possible chess games.
(21:30) We give some post-processing thoughts on Castlevania 2.
(23:30) Zelda II's a pretty cool game that doesn't afraid of resurrecting Ganon. Overworld maps might be overrated for this game.
(28:30) This game defies most of the Zelda tropes, what with the death holes, lack of puzzles, and unforgiving levels. Also, it's a bit glitchy.
(33:30) In Bed...
(35:20) Related, Tyler rambled about items and scope of player actions. This game doesn't really let you do different things, and it's sad.
(42:00) Wrapping up. You can prolly pass it up.
Next time on Last Time, Doom 2!
Send us some mail at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Categories:
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Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Episode 25: Dude, Where's my Castle? [Castlevania II Simon's Quest]
We start to dig into the meat of sequel month with a game that forever changed a franchise. Whip yourselves into shape to explore the most inscrutable logic in a Castelvania game, and embark with us upon Simon's Quest!
I bet you can't find the way to the download without a guide.
(01:30) A quick shout out to the only guy who has left us an iTunes review:
Send us some mail at
I bet you can't find the way to the download without a guide.
(01:30) A quick shout out to the only guy who has left us an iTunes review:
Send us some mail at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Categories:
Castlevania,
Episodes,
Geremy,
Konami,
Nintendo Entertainment System,
Platformer,
Tyler,
Zach
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Monday, August 5, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: Over the Counter Culture
First, I'd like to apologize about my last post; it was lacking compared to what I normally write. I was in some sort of fugue state the entire week I tried to write it, and I just couldn't make it better for some reason.
Anywho, I've been listening to this song a lot lately, and it struck me as a good name for this particular post. That said, that's not at all what I'm talking about. Instead, let us discuss used games.
As those who read/listen regularly may know, I'm... cheap. Stingy. Miserly. A downright parsimonious parson. The vast majority of the games I play either come off of Steam for cheap or are borrowed from others. Somehow, though, I've managed to accrue a fairly large collection of physical games.
There is a touch of irony in this, especially as I continue to buy physical games even though I'm such a proponent of digital distribution. The sad truth is that I both love videogames and am motivated fairly strongly by continuing to have enough money to do other things. Like eating. Food is good, it turns out. Additionally, a lot of publishers (and the systems that support them) have yet to catch on to the idea that they could be reaching a wider audience without much work. Must be exclusivity agreements.
However, owing again to my unwillingness to spend money, especially on frivolous things like my own entertainment, I'm usually behind the gaming curve. Both this and (I finally came back to it) the fact that I have a number of physical games are aided by the fact that there exists a fairly vast network for selling used games. So long as I don't care that I'm not playing the latest and greatest (on a console, at any rate), I can get last year's hot items for a lot cheaper than I would have if I had bought them initially.
There are, obviously, pros and cons to this. In fact, this has been a matter of some contention with the newest console generation in conception; used games greatly affect the gaming market and culture, and it's certainly not a trivial issue to those with a vested interest in sales. I should like to talk about how used games are a wonderful thing before moving into the dark bowels of negativity.
If I haven't stressed it enough, cheap entertainment is always a good thing. I often mention that I cannot mock another's activities overmuch for the reason that we all choose ways to waste time. Some people waste time much more productively than others, but I strongly believe that a large amount of human endeavor is the result of people staving off the dark beast of boredom. If you can manage this in such a way as to not go bankrupt, or, as Ed said recently, sustain your chosen method of time wasting, you have won at life. Granted, there are multiple endings, so there are definitely ways to improve upon that.
This relates back to it being cheap, but, as I am proof, having your games cheaper increases circulation. Every person who speaks favorably of a used game increases the chances that someone will buy it new. If you're in it for the art (not the actual art, but more for intellectual fulfillment), just getting people to play your game is enough. To that extent, I believe reselling of your games should be encouraged. I could actually think of a number of interesting mechanisms that could lend incentive to this, though I doubt they'll ever be used.
A rarer condition might be the circulation of limited copies. This is definitely an issue with older games, some of which might run you a few hundred dollars. I was ecstatic when a copy of Ehrgeiz finally made it to my FLGS of the vidjmagame variety.
The pale underbelly of this issue, however, is that by not buying new copies, you're hurting the developers. As the consumer (yes, a single monstrous entity), we have the power, and some might say the responsibility, to encourage developers by buying their stuff. I wouldn't say I fall too heavily into that camp, but there is a certain amount of credence in that argument. In fact, Extra Credits, a show that inspired my early attempts in the podcast to discuss something more useful during the episodes, harps on this quite a bit.
As an aside, if you don't watch Extra Credits and like videogames, you should. For great justice.
As a counter to this, a lot of companies are moving towards more rigorous content control, but I don't think it's a terribly great move for either party. Nintendo reps agree.
I think the biggest problem I have with buying used games is that you have to wait for them to be used. Then, if you're me, you have to wait another year or two for the price to drop to a reasonable level. Console aren't really that much more expensive to own (some might argue cheaper), despite what I've said, but $50-60 is a bit much for me. By the time I get around to owning an acclaimed game, everyone's already played it.
I'm not super big on popular culture in general. In fact, I actively try to avoid other people and whatever's going on outside my admittedly broadish interests. However, I do have friends, and I like getting to discuss stuff with them. Sometimes that stuff is an awesome new game. There's a bit of a gestalt experience you miss out on throughout gamer culture if you choose to not jump aboard the next big game. It's left me with quite an urge to go play BioShock Infinite, and before that, Skyrim.
Don't even get me started on console exclusivity. I weep for my losses.
In the end of it all, I feel like it's beneficial to the community to allow, and maybe encourage, people playing your game regardless of the means. The more people we have playing games, any games, the more we can overcome the stereotype of what it means to be a gamer. There's a lot less stigma now than there used to be, but it's still there, and I hope that a larger, more diverse population will help eradicate it entirely.
Now, if only we could do the same for tabletop gamers.
Anywho, I've been listening to this song a lot lately, and it struck me as a good name for this particular post. That said, that's not at all what I'm talking about. Instead, let us discuss used games.
As those who read/listen regularly may know, I'm... cheap. Stingy. Miserly. A downright parsimonious parson. The vast majority of the games I play either come off of Steam for cheap or are borrowed from others. Somehow, though, I've managed to accrue a fairly large collection of physical games.
There is a touch of irony in this, especially as I continue to buy physical games even though I'm such a proponent of digital distribution. The sad truth is that I both love videogames and am motivated fairly strongly by continuing to have enough money to do other things. Like eating. Food is good, it turns out. Additionally, a lot of publishers (and the systems that support them) have yet to catch on to the idea that they could be reaching a wider audience without much work. Must be exclusivity agreements.
However, owing again to my unwillingness to spend money, especially on frivolous things like my own entertainment, I'm usually behind the gaming curve. Both this and (I finally came back to it) the fact that I have a number of physical games are aided by the fact that there exists a fairly vast network for selling used games. So long as I don't care that I'm not playing the latest and greatest (on a console, at any rate), I can get last year's hot items for a lot cheaper than I would have if I had bought them initially.
There are, obviously, pros and cons to this. In fact, this has been a matter of some contention with the newest console generation in conception; used games greatly affect the gaming market and culture, and it's certainly not a trivial issue to those with a vested interest in sales. I should like to talk about how used games are a wonderful thing before moving into the dark bowels of negativity.
If I haven't stressed it enough, cheap entertainment is always a good thing. I often mention that I cannot mock another's activities overmuch for the reason that we all choose ways to waste time. Some people waste time much more productively than others, but I strongly believe that a large amount of human endeavor is the result of people staving off the dark beast of boredom. If you can manage this in such a way as to not go bankrupt, or, as Ed said recently, sustain your chosen method of time wasting, you have won at life. Granted, there are multiple endings, so there are definitely ways to improve upon that.
This relates back to it being cheap, but, as I am proof, having your games cheaper increases circulation. Every person who speaks favorably of a used game increases the chances that someone will buy it new. If you're in it for the art (not the actual art, but more for intellectual fulfillment), just getting people to play your game is enough. To that extent, I believe reselling of your games should be encouraged. I could actually think of a number of interesting mechanisms that could lend incentive to this, though I doubt they'll ever be used.
A rarer condition might be the circulation of limited copies. This is definitely an issue with older games, some of which might run you a few hundred dollars. I was ecstatic when a copy of Ehrgeiz finally made it to my FLGS of the vidjmagame variety.
The pale underbelly of this issue, however, is that by not buying new copies, you're hurting the developers. As the consumer (yes, a single monstrous entity), we have the power, and some might say the responsibility, to encourage developers by buying their stuff. I wouldn't say I fall too heavily into that camp, but there is a certain amount of credence in that argument. In fact, Extra Credits, a show that inspired my early attempts in the podcast to discuss something more useful during the episodes, harps on this quite a bit.
As an aside, if you don't watch Extra Credits and like videogames, you should. For great justice.
As a counter to this, a lot of companies are moving towards more rigorous content control, but I don't think it's a terribly great move for either party. Nintendo reps agree.
I think the biggest problem I have with buying used games is that you have to wait for them to be used. Then, if you're me, you have to wait another year or two for the price to drop to a reasonable level. Console aren't really that much more expensive to own (some might argue cheaper), despite what I've said, but $50-60 is a bit much for me. By the time I get around to owning an acclaimed game, everyone's already played it.
I'm not super big on popular culture in general. In fact, I actively try to avoid other people and whatever's going on outside my admittedly broadish interests. However, I do have friends, and I like getting to discuss stuff with them. Sometimes that stuff is an awesome new game. There's a bit of a gestalt experience you miss out on throughout gamer culture if you choose to not jump aboard the next big game. It's left me with quite an urge to go play BioShock Infinite, and before that, Skyrim.
Don't even get me started on console exclusivity. I weep for my losses.
In the end of it all, I feel like it's beneficial to the community to allow, and maybe encourage, people playing your game regardless of the means. The more people we have playing games, any games, the more we can overcome the stereotype of what it means to be a gamer. There's a lot less stigma now than there used to be, but it's still there, and I hope that a larger, more diverse population will help eradicate it entirely.
Now, if only we could do the same for tabletop gamers.
Friday, August 2, 2013
The Ratings: July
First off, I'd like to apologize for not posting lately. Since listing the Mario games, I went into a bit of a Mario coma. I had a lot of thoughts on things I wanted to write, but I burned myself out on the franchise and none of that ever materialized, and I havn't had much inspiration to write much else either. Still, I've got to restart with something, and hopefully a Ratings column will be what I need to start writing weekly again.
Super Smash Bros. 10/10
Well, it had to happen eventually. Castlevainia is amazing, I hadn't played it until we undertook this project, and it quickly became my favorite NES game. It's still my favorite game I found doing this Podcast, even though we havn't recorded an episode on it yet! But it couldn't stay on top forever. I actually thought I knew what was going to knock it off, but then Zach suggested Smash Bros. as an assignment. Super Smash Bros. is an incredible game. It's hours of fun with your friends, reimagining all your favorite Nintendo characters in a much more violent context. It is the first game we've played that feels like a "modern" game to me. It's the first game I ever bought the day it came out. As we said in that episode, Melee is a sequel that both greatly improved the game play and nearly doubled the content, so in a way it's obsolete. But it's still an incredible game.
Castlevania 9/10
Which is to take nothing away from Castlevainia. It's a masterpiece of a platformer, the combat is fun, and the challenge is extreme, but always fair. You always know you're the one who messed up when you die, and can't help but give it another go. With Mega Man confirmed for the next Smash Bros. game, Simon Belmont may be my most wanted new challenger, and I'm eager for the day we finally assign Castlevainia III and IV.
Mega Man 9/10
Mega Man is similar to Castlevainia, hared but fair with a good combat aspect. There's a bit more of a platforming focus, and the theme isn't as tight, and it's got a lot more bugs. That said it's a bit easier, so if you're the sort of person who tears their hair out at hard games, it might be more for you.
The Legend of Zelda 9/10
Zelda is more of an adventure game. Tyler has ranted about that title in the past, as it gets applied to damn near everything, but you really feel like you're on an adventure. The challenge, rather than an extreme platforming segment, is figuring out where to go and finding secrets. It's not quite as satisfying to me as the raw challenge of Mega Man or Castlevainia, or the chaotic multiplayer of Smash Bros. but it's different and still engaging.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 8/10
I tried to finish Mario RPG. As I've said before, the pacing of the game is extremely awkward. I got to a nice little parody of the Power Rangers that occurs right before the final castle. Unfortunately, you fight them right after another boss with two forms, with no saves in between. Plus, for the first time in the game, grinding a bit before taking them on seemed like a wise option. I might go back to the game, but I feel that loss of 30 minutes or so of progress killed it for me. It didn't ruin my fun with the game, it's still one of the highest rated games we've played, but I think it revealed my major problem with the game. It's in consistent. The pacing, the difficulty, they're all over the place, and the graphics suck. None of those things make the game unfun, but they're all little spots on it that keep it away from a perfect score.
Doom 8/10
I'm really not sure what to say about Doom. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, played a little more than half of it, felt satisfied and quit while I was ahead. I'm quite surprised that it's still ranked so high, which is a testament to how many mediocre games we've played.
Gradius 8/10
Gradius is very similar to Castlevainia. A hard game that makes you want to retry, because every death is your fault in some way. So why isn't it ranked as high? A couple reasons. First, in Castlevainia, powerups are cool and useful, but you only need 2 to be effective. In Gradius you need about 10, so when you die and loose them, you might as well restart the game. Second, Castlevainia has a much more forgiving retry cost. You start from the last boss you beat on a game over. In Gradius, you start from the beginning. Third, the theme of Castlevainia, with all it's horror monsters, is a lot stronger than the generic space shooter of Gradius.
Metroid 7/10
And speaking of space, here we have Metroid. A game that blurs the line between something straightforward like Casltevainia, and something more exploration based like a Zelda. That said, the challenge isn't quite there, and the things that block your way feel a bit more obtuse than Zelda. It's still a great game, and you can see the Metroidvainia genre in it right from the start, but they were a few ideas short of the genius they'd eventually reach.
Super Mario Bros. 7/10
And here we are again. Super Mario Bros. My base line of gaming. Still at a 7. I don't know how to feel about this. I guess it's impressive how good tight controls and decent level design can make a pretty good game. Or perhaps it's worth noting that even back in the day, most games were crap. Or maybe 7s are only common in the gaming industry because a game worth paying attention too is going to rate one simply because of all the utter crap that's around. Anyway, Super Mario Bros. I can't imagine you havn't played it. If you havn't, do.
Gunstar Heroes 7/10
Gunstar Heroes didn't really impress me. I think it was just a little bit overhyped for me. That said, I've moved it up in the rankings a bit, as I noticed a theme in the games below it. Most of them would be great, save for one fatal flaw. There's nothing really wrong with Gunstar, and it is fun, so up it goes.
Final Fantasy 6/10
Here's where we start getting depressing. Most of the next few games are good, but have some crippling flaw that makes them frustrating of hard to recommend. For Final Fantasy, it's the pace of the game. Combat is just so slow. I've almost gone back to it a couple times, but without some sort of fast forward, I just can't do it. I barely scratched the surface in that game either. I did have fun with it, but I almost think it's only so high on the list because I've imagined 80% of the game, and that 80% is great in my head.
Super Dodge Ball 6/10
And next up, Super Dodge Ball. It's hard to condense my thoughts on this game, so maybe just listen to the episode? The premise is crazy, in a great way. The visuals are great, in a way that really adds to the game, making it crazy and energetic. The game play is fun but... hard to sustain. It's fun for about the length of the campaign, which is short, and it's a game that looses something in multiplayer. As I've said before, watch some Youtube videos and if it looks like your thing, it probably is.
Excitebike 6/10
Excitebike is a little bit zen for me. It's simple, and yet engaging. I play it like a phone game, usually just to keep my hands busy while I listen to a podcast or the like. There's not much there, especially by modern standards, but it's fun for a few minutes at a time.
Kirby’s Adventure 6/10
Kirby's Adventure is a platformer, like some of the ones at the top of the list, with incredible sound and graphics for its time and a huge number of fun interesting power ups. But it's so easy. It's hard to care about enemies, because you have 6 hit points. It's hard to care about dying because you have so many lives, and check points are frequent. Levels are short, so you can always get through. It doesn't take long for everything to start just glossing over and to start going through the motions. In other words, it's not fun.
Zombies Ate My Neighbors 5/10
Again, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, while a simple game, is one I have complex thoughts about. I suggest you check the episode. It has a strong theme, a quirky humor to it, and some interesting trade offs in game play. But it just feels... like it's older than it is. They style is too arcadey, it lacks a save system, and a game over costs you a lot of progress. It's fun to a certain degree, but hard to invest in, and the lack of check points requires you play it a while.
Harvest Moon 5/10
I don't know how much more I can say about Harvest Moon. It's coming to the WiiU Virtual Console soon. Yay?
Sonic the Hedgehog 5/10
Sonic is also a game I feel I've beaten into the ground. It's a decent platformer, but nothing special. The thing that makes it stand out is Sonic's acceleration and speed. Things the game punishes you for using.
F-Zero 4/10
F-Zero is a game I feel I didn't give a fair shake. There was nothing really wrong with it. There just wasn't anything that stood out. I think the graphical style was the main draw when it came out, and while it still looks good today, it's really nothing special. I'd say skip it if you don't have a specific reason to take a look.
Act Raiser 4/10
Act Raiser's fatal flaw is poor controls, which in a platformer is a hell of a sin. Everything just feels... loose and like you're loosing control. Through in poor boss design, and despite the great premise the entire thing just feels... unfinished.
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja 4/10
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja's only real sin is that it's not terribly original. Sure, the theme is more or less unique, especially for the time, but it didn't do anything game play wise that hadn't been done. I guess it's real sin is that it didn't impress me much.
Bases Loaded 3/10
And now we move on from games that commit some sin but were otherwise interesting to games that are just bad. Bases Loaded is on the boarder line in that regard. The systems are real complex for an NES game, and they feel like they should add up to an interesting, fun experience. It's just a little too hard to parse what's going on, and thus it falls short.
Ogre Battle 3/10
And speaking of too difficult to parse, Ogre Battle's interface is one giant wall. Add on endlessly respawning enemies, and you have a disaster. Ogre Battle 64 fixes this simply by keeping the enemies finite, and that's a great game. Unfortunately, the series didn't start off that way.
Comix Zone 3/10
Oh boy Comix Zone. Great premise... and that's all it's got going for it. Boring combat, poor controls, few levels, and health drain in place of puzzles. Man is this game hard, unfun, and not worth playing.
Double Dragon II The Revenge 2/10
Double Dragon II takes a terrible game and slaps on 2 player co-op. This helps it out a lot, but it's still a terrible game.
Double Dragon 2/10
See above. Remove co-op. Add a few terribles in.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins 2/10
This game's difficulty is legendary, and while that might appeal to some, I havn't gone back and played it sense, and Castlevainia was at the top of this list for a long long time because of its difficulty.
Phantasy Star 1/1
And still at the bottom, Phantasy Star. Moon logic puzzles, mediocre turn based combat, and designers that expect you to grind continuously all add up to a terrible terrible game. Lots of those lately.. maybe we can do something about that next month!
Super Smash Bros. 10/10
Well, it had to happen eventually. Castlevainia is amazing, I hadn't played it until we undertook this project, and it quickly became my favorite NES game. It's still my favorite game I found doing this Podcast, even though we havn't recorded an episode on it yet! But it couldn't stay on top forever. I actually thought I knew what was going to knock it off, but then Zach suggested Smash Bros. as an assignment. Super Smash Bros. is an incredible game. It's hours of fun with your friends, reimagining all your favorite Nintendo characters in a much more violent context. It is the first game we've played that feels like a "modern" game to me. It's the first game I ever bought the day it came out. As we said in that episode, Melee is a sequel that both greatly improved the game play and nearly doubled the content, so in a way it's obsolete. But it's still an incredible game.
Castlevania 9/10
Which is to take nothing away from Castlevainia. It's a masterpiece of a platformer, the combat is fun, and the challenge is extreme, but always fair. You always know you're the one who messed up when you die, and can't help but give it another go. With Mega Man confirmed for the next Smash Bros. game, Simon Belmont may be my most wanted new challenger, and I'm eager for the day we finally assign Castlevainia III and IV.
Mega Man 9/10
Mega Man is similar to Castlevainia, hared but fair with a good combat aspect. There's a bit more of a platforming focus, and the theme isn't as tight, and it's got a lot more bugs. That said it's a bit easier, so if you're the sort of person who tears their hair out at hard games, it might be more for you.
The Legend of Zelda 9/10
Zelda is more of an adventure game. Tyler has ranted about that title in the past, as it gets applied to damn near everything, but you really feel like you're on an adventure. The challenge, rather than an extreme platforming segment, is figuring out where to go and finding secrets. It's not quite as satisfying to me as the raw challenge of Mega Man or Castlevainia, or the chaotic multiplayer of Smash Bros. but it's different and still engaging.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 8/10
I tried to finish Mario RPG. As I've said before, the pacing of the game is extremely awkward. I got to a nice little parody of the Power Rangers that occurs right before the final castle. Unfortunately, you fight them right after another boss with two forms, with no saves in between. Plus, for the first time in the game, grinding a bit before taking them on seemed like a wise option. I might go back to the game, but I feel that loss of 30 minutes or so of progress killed it for me. It didn't ruin my fun with the game, it's still one of the highest rated games we've played, but I think it revealed my major problem with the game. It's in consistent. The pacing, the difficulty, they're all over the place, and the graphics suck. None of those things make the game unfun, but they're all little spots on it that keep it away from a perfect score.
Doom 8/10
I'm really not sure what to say about Doom. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, played a little more than half of it, felt satisfied and quit while I was ahead. I'm quite surprised that it's still ranked so high, which is a testament to how many mediocre games we've played.
Gradius 8/10
Gradius is very similar to Castlevainia. A hard game that makes you want to retry, because every death is your fault in some way. So why isn't it ranked as high? A couple reasons. First, in Castlevainia, powerups are cool and useful, but you only need 2 to be effective. In Gradius you need about 10, so when you die and loose them, you might as well restart the game. Second, Castlevainia has a much more forgiving retry cost. You start from the last boss you beat on a game over. In Gradius, you start from the beginning. Third, the theme of Castlevainia, with all it's horror monsters, is a lot stronger than the generic space shooter of Gradius.
Metroid 7/10
And speaking of space, here we have Metroid. A game that blurs the line between something straightforward like Casltevainia, and something more exploration based like a Zelda. That said, the challenge isn't quite there, and the things that block your way feel a bit more obtuse than Zelda. It's still a great game, and you can see the Metroidvainia genre in it right from the start, but they were a few ideas short of the genius they'd eventually reach.
Super Mario Bros. 7/10
And here we are again. Super Mario Bros. My base line of gaming. Still at a 7. I don't know how to feel about this. I guess it's impressive how good tight controls and decent level design can make a pretty good game. Or perhaps it's worth noting that even back in the day, most games were crap. Or maybe 7s are only common in the gaming industry because a game worth paying attention too is going to rate one simply because of all the utter crap that's around. Anyway, Super Mario Bros. I can't imagine you havn't played it. If you havn't, do.
Gunstar Heroes 7/10
Gunstar Heroes didn't really impress me. I think it was just a little bit overhyped for me. That said, I've moved it up in the rankings a bit, as I noticed a theme in the games below it. Most of them would be great, save for one fatal flaw. There's nothing really wrong with Gunstar, and it is fun, so up it goes.
Final Fantasy 6/10
Here's where we start getting depressing. Most of the next few games are good, but have some crippling flaw that makes them frustrating of hard to recommend. For Final Fantasy, it's the pace of the game. Combat is just so slow. I've almost gone back to it a couple times, but without some sort of fast forward, I just can't do it. I barely scratched the surface in that game either. I did have fun with it, but I almost think it's only so high on the list because I've imagined 80% of the game, and that 80% is great in my head.
Super Dodge Ball 6/10
And next up, Super Dodge Ball. It's hard to condense my thoughts on this game, so maybe just listen to the episode? The premise is crazy, in a great way. The visuals are great, in a way that really adds to the game, making it crazy and energetic. The game play is fun but... hard to sustain. It's fun for about the length of the campaign, which is short, and it's a game that looses something in multiplayer. As I've said before, watch some Youtube videos and if it looks like your thing, it probably is.
Excitebike 6/10
Excitebike is a little bit zen for me. It's simple, and yet engaging. I play it like a phone game, usually just to keep my hands busy while I listen to a podcast or the like. There's not much there, especially by modern standards, but it's fun for a few minutes at a time.
Kirby’s Adventure 6/10
Kirby's Adventure is a platformer, like some of the ones at the top of the list, with incredible sound and graphics for its time and a huge number of fun interesting power ups. But it's so easy. It's hard to care about enemies, because you have 6 hit points. It's hard to care about dying because you have so many lives, and check points are frequent. Levels are short, so you can always get through. It doesn't take long for everything to start just glossing over and to start going through the motions. In other words, it's not fun.
Zombies Ate My Neighbors 5/10
Again, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, while a simple game, is one I have complex thoughts about. I suggest you check the episode. It has a strong theme, a quirky humor to it, and some interesting trade offs in game play. But it just feels... like it's older than it is. They style is too arcadey, it lacks a save system, and a game over costs you a lot of progress. It's fun to a certain degree, but hard to invest in, and the lack of check points requires you play it a while.
Harvest Moon 5/10
I don't know how much more I can say about Harvest Moon. It's coming to the WiiU Virtual Console soon. Yay?
Sonic the Hedgehog 5/10
Sonic is also a game I feel I've beaten into the ground. It's a decent platformer, but nothing special. The thing that makes it stand out is Sonic's acceleration and speed. Things the game punishes you for using.
F-Zero 4/10
F-Zero is a game I feel I didn't give a fair shake. There was nothing really wrong with it. There just wasn't anything that stood out. I think the graphical style was the main draw when it came out, and while it still looks good today, it's really nothing special. I'd say skip it if you don't have a specific reason to take a look.
Act Raiser 4/10
Act Raiser's fatal flaw is poor controls, which in a platformer is a hell of a sin. Everything just feels... loose and like you're loosing control. Through in poor boss design, and despite the great premise the entire thing just feels... unfinished.
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja 4/10
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja's only real sin is that it's not terribly original. Sure, the theme is more or less unique, especially for the time, but it didn't do anything game play wise that hadn't been done. I guess it's real sin is that it didn't impress me much.
Bases Loaded 3/10
And now we move on from games that commit some sin but were otherwise interesting to games that are just bad. Bases Loaded is on the boarder line in that regard. The systems are real complex for an NES game, and they feel like they should add up to an interesting, fun experience. It's just a little too hard to parse what's going on, and thus it falls short.
Ogre Battle 3/10
And speaking of too difficult to parse, Ogre Battle's interface is one giant wall. Add on endlessly respawning enemies, and you have a disaster. Ogre Battle 64 fixes this simply by keeping the enemies finite, and that's a great game. Unfortunately, the series didn't start off that way.
Comix Zone 3/10
Oh boy Comix Zone. Great premise... and that's all it's got going for it. Boring combat, poor controls, few levels, and health drain in place of puzzles. Man is this game hard, unfun, and not worth playing.
Double Dragon II The Revenge 2/10
Double Dragon II takes a terrible game and slaps on 2 player co-op. This helps it out a lot, but it's still a terrible game.
Double Dragon 2/10
See above. Remove co-op. Add a few terribles in.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins 2/10
This game's difficulty is legendary, and while that might appeal to some, I havn't gone back and played it sense, and Castlevainia was at the top of this list for a long long time because of its difficulty.
Phantasy Star 1/1
And still at the bottom, Phantasy Star. Moon logic puzzles, mediocre turn based combat, and designers that expect you to grind continuously all add up to a terrible terrible game. Lots of those lately.. maybe we can do something about that next month!
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