|
Post by soop on Nov 18, 2018 9:22:39 GMT
I'm thinking about revisiting some of the most maligned pc engine games to see if maybe there's a layer of playability underneath them somewhere. Stuff like Gateball, which I've heard is trash, or Energy.
Are there any games with a bad reputation that might be unwarranted?
|
|
|
Post by Black_Tiger on Nov 18, 2018 14:01:53 GMT
China Warrior is a solid game that detractors don't correctly engage with because they've become conditioned to see it as a beat'em up. Playing through Gladiator in Mame or something first will really help make you appreciate the game.
Night Creatures' worst aspects are mostly superficial. If you adapt to them the way people adapt to broken aspects of many celebrated classic games, it's a rewarding and entertaining experience. Especially if you could ever tolerate some of those trisl and error based classic point and click ("Sierra" style) computer games.
|
|
|
Post by digipiggy on Nov 18, 2018 14:53:55 GMT
Rabio Lepus special is not so special >.>
I've no idea why they made it so hard. It looks stellar but you can't appreciate it because of it's difficulty and the way item drops appear in places you can't reach
|
|
|
Post by lukester on Nov 18, 2018 20:46:10 GMT
Turrican is a solid game that is poo-poo on consoles. On the PCE specifically, an entire world is missing as well as several songs. The biggest flaw is that you die extremely quickly, as the "damage rate" has been quadrupled. The Amiga version is pretty easy to emulate and Factor 5 has official back-up roms available on their website. Turrican 2 is definitely better though.
Altered Beast is beatable with the provided 2 or 3 continues, though it is a pain in the ass. The lack of i-frames make the second boss hell. The genesis version is definitely better but has issues of its own (poor colors, music resets after a power-up, bosses can be cheesed)
Ninja Gaiden has the crappy backgrounds and the soundtrack is different, but still good. It is actually easier than the original version, because several of the enemies are weaker. The final boss is also easier except the last phase.
Samurai Ghost is a fun game that gets overlooked, because the "critically acclaimed in Japan" first game, Genpei Toumaden, is obtuse and annoying to a lot of people (including me). If nothing else, play Samurai Ghost for some of the best graphics ever seen on the PC Engine.
|
|
|
Post by soop on Nov 18, 2018 21:09:31 GMT
God, the backgrounds in Ninja Gaiden are awful. I still think someone put the wrong number in somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by Mathius on Nov 19, 2018 1:09:36 GMT
God, the backgrounds in Ninja Gaiden are awful. I still think someone put the wrong number in somewhere. It was the same guy who programed the janky scrolling backgrounds in Ys Book 1&2.
...not really haha. I'm pretty sure it was a different dev. I will say that, yes, the music may be different but some of the later levels have some excellent sounding tunes. The first level music is a little jarring but after that it's smooth groovin' IMO.
I can't personally say that any of the truly bad PCE games are worth trudging through to find well hidden gems, but several terrible games have some pretty interesting soundtracks. Die Hard by Pack-In Video sports an addicting first level song that really doesn't get talked about enough. It might be because it's kinda weird and kooky. Energy is a hilarious mess of a Masaya developed game, but its tunes are real funky. And like Die Hard's they're really strange. Both composers must've been smoking the same substance when writing them crazy pieces.
|
|
majors
Punkic Cyborg
Have cabs, will travel
Posts: 158
Fave PCE Shooter: Parodius
Fave PCE Platformer: Legendary Axe
Fave PCE Game Overall: Spriggian
Fave PCE RPG: Ys
|
Post by majors on Nov 19, 2018 18:11:50 GMT
Rabio Lepus special is not so special >.> So you want to like it but can't? I think that might miss the topic...but to save your post, I'll chime in and say I like the rabbit shooter! I have hard nostaliga for it from the arcade, so I can deal with it's basic game play and poor item drop code. I vote for Victory Run. I enjoy the game play but I think it gets a bad rap from ppl thinking it's Outrun or a more arcadey driver. As the podcaster Shinto says, "there is good to be found in everything..." (I guess he has not played Falcon or Gunboat) Top down racers like F1 Circus seem to get no love, but I've been enjoying '92(out of the three, it seems the best visually). I know it sold like hotcakes in JP and I take that in perspective when playing. I'm trying to see if it was just a great game or if it just had good advertising(sort of like a PS2 Rock Band or GTA game sold tons and ended up in every $1 bin at the game stores). The good aspect of "maligned" games is that they sell for cheap! It was the same guy who programed the janky scrolling backgrounds in Ys Book 1&2.
I'm assuming you mean Ys III. And I agree on Die Hard, I gave it a good play a couple of weeks ago, and there is a playable game in there(I got annoyed with the maze bit).
|
|
|
Post by spenoza on Nov 19, 2018 18:17:42 GMT
I'm going to agree that China Warrior is OK. It's not great, but it's not "le total suck".
|
|
|
Post by digipiggy on Nov 19, 2018 21:43:17 GMT
Rabio Lepus special is not so special >.> So you want to like it but can't? I think that might miss the topic...but to save your post, I'll chime in and say I like the rabbit shooter! I have hard nostaliga for it from the arcade, so I can deal with it's basic game play and poor item drop code. Oh guess I didn't read the op properly that night. Thinking about this is kinda tough as I guess most of the games I can come up with are really misunderstood by Westerners because of the language barrier. I really enjoyed Brandish once you get used to the controls. I actually enjoy it more than Popful mail, there I said it Tokimeki Memorial is an amazing dating sim that does away with all that adult stuff and it has a lot of class and charm to it Sorcerian is another action RPG featuring great music and a game with combat philosophy from early Ys games but it has a lot of depth and character management , things like selecting the right occupation for for each race and job class, to applying Astrology to learning alchemy, arcane arts. I really should get back and try and make some kind of translation for for this but I've gotten too side tracked by modern games >.>
|
|
|
Post by Gentlegamer on Nov 19, 2018 21:57:06 GMT
My issue with China Warrior is it's a far inferior Kung-Fu Master.
|
|
|
Post by Mathius on Nov 19, 2018 22:34:23 GMT
It was the same guy who programed the janky scrolling backgrounds in Ys Book 1&2.
I'm assuming you mean Ys III. And I agree on Die Hard, I gave it a good play a couple of weeks ago, and there is a playable game in there(I got annoyed with the maze bit). Ah yes I brain farted. I meant Ys III. But isn't there a bit of bad scrolling toward the end of Ys I&II? It's been so long that I can't fully remember.
|
|
|
Post by Mathius on Nov 19, 2018 23:21:26 GMT
My issue with China Warrior is it's a far inferior Kung-Fu Master. I must admit that I find Kung Fu Master more fun to play. China Warrior is definitely a technical marvel though.
|
|
majors
Punkic Cyborg
Have cabs, will travel
Posts: 158
Fave PCE Shooter: Parodius
Fave PCE Platformer: Legendary Axe
Fave PCE Game Overall: Spriggian
Fave PCE RPG: Ys
|
Post by majors on Nov 20, 2018 15:00:43 GMT
Tokimeki Memorial is an amazing dating sim that does away with all that adult stuff and it has a lot of class and charm to it When we got the PS1 port, some friends in college beat the game...one actually was able to "win" with each girl. They had a light class load...and had taken a 101 JP class so there was a little moon runes understanding. But you're right, the games you listed do have a language barrier (well, Brandish is playable IIRC).
|
|
|
Post by sunteam_paul on Nov 20, 2018 17:30:27 GMT
I'm assuming you mean Ys III. And I agree on Die Hard, I gave it a good play a couple of weeks ago, and there is a playable game in there(I got annoyed with the maze bit). Ah yes I brain farted. I meant Ys III. But isn't there a bit of bad scrolling toward the end of Ys I&II? It's been so long that I can't fully remember. Yes, the bell tower sequence has some 'character square' scrolling going on.
|
|
MisterCrash
Deep Blooper
Posts: 39
Homebrew skills: Absolutely none
Fave PCE Shooter: Gate of Thunder
Fave PCE Platformer: Dragon's Curse
Fave PCE Game Overall: Gate of Thunder
Fave PCE RPG: Ys Book I & II
Currently Playing: Boxyboy
|
Post by MisterCrash on Nov 22, 2018 11:58:32 GMT
I agree that Tokimeki Memorial is awesome (though my experience comes from the Saturn and PSP ports).
I have a lot of fun playing CD Denjin/Super Air Zonk. No, it's not as good as the original Air Zonk (few games are), but it's still a blast, and I actually like the music.
There are also a couple games that I bought strictly for the music. The soundtrack for Hyper Wars is phenomenal. I haven't even tried to play the game, but I've ripped the CD and listened to the soundtrack a number of times.
|
|