Knockout Round 43! Ys - Book I and II Vs Spriggan!

[soop]

Everyone's favourite PC Engine RPG(s) Ys I and II.  I don't actually know why they were released together (were they ever released separately?), but they were, and look at them go.  They appeared at a time when RPGs were still feeling themselves out, so it feels like a mix of other RPG styles to me - the overland maps are a mix between Zelda and Final Fantasy, with a slight lean towards the former in terms of action.  But I was never a fan of the bump into stuff to kill it vibe, it seems a little... skill-less.  Still, action was never Ys's strong point, it's more to do with story and pacing of the game.  I didn't actually get into Ys much myself because I didn't like the action component, but I probably should go back.  The game also features some fine music and voice acting (!) as well as those ridiculous Falcom borders.

Spriggan is the PC Engine's M.U.S.H.A sequel, programmed by Compile, and in fact reuses a lot of code from Gunhed.  It's a very enjoyable and fast paced shooter, with a really neat powerup system, where the order of the coloured orbs you collect defines the power up system.  Like most of the shoot-em-ups I favour, it avoids sticking you in really difficult checkpoints with no powerups (something I remember Super Aleste doing).  It's good enough graphically, but thematically it's very memorable, and the music is on point too.  This was also the first of Naxat's three yearly "summer carnival" games, and so features a caravan mode.  It's a really good shooter, and depending on who you ask, probably top 5 or top 3 on the system.

[spenoza]

I haven't spent enough time with Spriggan, and I know that the TurboCD port is the best of the classic versions of Ys I & II. Falcom has wholeheartedly adopted Hudson's port into their family.

[majors]

Spriggian is a top game, it's only fault is it might be a bit too long similar to Gunhed(but bitd, that's what we wanted!). But, Ys I&II solidified my passion for obey back in '91. The production value and presentation is the best. I had played the PC version of book I, so the mechanics of the game were familiar and welcome to me. Vote one for Ys!

[soop]

Noooo Spriggan

[spenoza]

There are two different ways to approach these polls, at least. Sure, there's the quality or favorite dimension: which was more fun, which do I enjoy playing more, which do I like better, but there's also the historical context. Some top games are simply more historically important than others. You could argue it's not fair to compare, say, R-Type and Winds of Thunder, because the latter looks and sounds so much better, but R-Type came out so early in the system's life and was such a comparatively accurate port. And you're seeing that here with Ys. Ys I & II on Turbo/PCE is really the platonic ideal of the game (at least prior to the re-masters in the 2000s), and the music, good lord. This was one of the major vanguard titles for what CD gaming meant, what change was to come.

[soop]

Well, it looks like Ys against Ys in the next round, so we'll have to get rid of one of them, mwuahahah


*edit* on the blue side, I'm predicting a lineup of Dracula X, Ys, Devil Crash and PC Genjin 2 as the final 4.

[spenoza]

That wouldn't be a bad final 4, though the lack of shewties is an issue.

[sunteam_paul]

Sept 25, 2018 16:03:29 GMT spenoza said:

That wouldn't be a bad final 4, though the lack of shewties is an issue.

Would be strange for sure, considering the amount of them on the system.

[nectarsis]

ok this poll is madness...REALLY going to be hard to choose