Drixxel

Block'd, Mobile - A fun puzzler that's more or less a Breakthru clone, but faster paced and more streamlined. Found this hiding on my phone not long ago, a most pleasant discovery! Galaga '90, TG16 - Tons of fun, Galaga's finest hour for sure. This is one I can endlessly return to. The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, PSX - I find that the variety of gameplay modes makes this a good pick for quick play sessions. There's something hugely appealing to me about the comical style of the Mega Man Legends universe, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne is especially charming.

Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, GBA -- Working through the second playthrough on my current save. Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, PSP -- This game really ought to have a proper single player arcade mode, it's hard to believe that it doesn't. Thunder Force II, Genesis -- The overhead stages have really grown on me, I'd have to say I prefer them to the horizontally-scrolling ones, even! I've been wanting to come back to this game on a daily basis.

This is actually something I wanted to comment on as well, in regards to previous posts in this thread. People complain about not being able to fire vertically, but the truth is, the game was designed around horizontally-focused gameplay. There are very few instances where firing up and down is necessary, and in those few cases, you have a variety of other attacks: the Gold armor special attack for the lance (lighting that comes down from the top of the screen), the homing trait of the arrows when you get the green armor, etc. Very true, the top of the screen is still accessible to attacks by using gold armor specials and other weaponry, and its arguably more fun to do it these ways than it is through vertical shooting. The double jump does make it possible to target many skyward enemies horizontally as well as to dodge ground-based threats that could otherwise be hit by a mid-jump downward attack in GnG, these merely require an additional feat of dexterity to solve. Despite that combination, there are still instances where enemies are above you and they can't be easily hit, and it's more fluke or frustration than it is skill or strategy, most notoriously felt with the red aremmers. Like, I know how that red arremer is supposed to behave, I know I can probably get one hit in before I spook it and it takes flight, I know when to expect those arcing swoops, etc. There's technique that can be worked on but sometimes it goes wrong, and some of those times it boils down to the luck of what weapon you're carrying or some other unguaranteed/unpredicted factor. That stuff still happened in Ghouls'n Ghosts, though, so it does seem to me that criticism of SGnG over a lack of vertical attacks is based more on a perception that gameplay is hurt by their absence when in play it's honestly not a big deal. Plus, if forced to choose between the two features as in how a choice between GnG and SGnG presents the issue, I am of the opinion that double jumping is just more of a fun thing to do and opens up superior level design possibilities. Vertical attacks really ought to be included, even if they wouldn't result in any significant change one way or the other. This frustrated desire to shoot upward ought to be satisfied, if only to let the game be fully enjoyed by gamers for which this is a problem. Why Capcom axed verticle attacks is kind of a baffler, really.

It's more than that, though -- these are collectors who deal in one-of-a-kind items and require somewhat significant access to capital in order to afford the lengths they go to obtain them, at least in some cases. It's distinct behaviour than is seen in people that fill room after room of disorganized video games or who focus with compulsive intensity on reaching specific collecting goals. Dropping thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands on some merry corporate caper to acquire an unplayed proto purely for personal use, that's altogether more the work of a wealthy eccentric who may very well belong to a supportive community of kindred spirits.

Cool find. While sort of bland and unremarkable, Grind Stormer is still enjoyable enough. It has a little more character when played as V V, I feel the Gradius-ish power-up system does more for the game than the pieced out insta-upgrades. Also, could the power-ups in Grind Stormer possibly be any more boring than floating rectangles containing a text description of said power-up?

The first game rental I can remember specifically was DecapAttack together with a rental Genesis, it's a game I still highly enjoy. Splatterhouse 2 came home soon after and I remember really wanting to play Chakan. Haha, Genesis horror-themed games clearly spoke to me as a child.

Since watching this particular episode, I've worked through the Game Sack catalogue and been thoroughly entertained the whole way through. The combination of "been there" experience, an unpredictable library of games to discuss, humourous interplay and clean video production works in a big way. Great show! I hope a greater audience finds its way to you two dudes soon.

After giving it a bit of thought and labouring to exclude most of the obvious (yet highly deserving) recommendations... 2600 California Games (I like it a bit better on Lynx, but this is a great version) Gravitar Jr. Pac-Man Pheonix Pressure Cooker 7800 Dark Chambers Desert Falcon Ninja Golf KLAX (never officially released by Atari, published by ResQsoft in 2002 with the blessing of the original programmers -- not the most abundant game in existence) Xevious NES Donkey Kong Jr. (or, better yet, grab Donkey Kong Classics) Gun-Nac M.U.L.E. (best use of a Four Score or NES Satellite on the console!) Nightshade Wizards & Warriors Genesis Contra: Hard Corps M.U.S.H.A. Ristar Splatterhouse 2 Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition (a Genesis 6-button controller makes this the most enjoyable 16-bit SFII around, IMHO) SNES Gradius III The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Soul Blazer Super Ghouls'n Ghosts Super Metroid

Haha, I think your massive 4-to-6-times-as-many-as-the-AVGN-sized library may have elevated your standards compared to the norm. I, for one, have no reservations calling that room-filling collection "big". While he has slim numbers of games for many of his consoles (apart from his heaps of NES and SNES carts), it's still an interesting spread of stuff that touches on a lot.

This falls squarely in the shameless self promotion / oversaturation of crowdfunding threads camp, but my friends and I at Gigatross Games are excited to announce the launch of our Indiegogo campaign in support of Grand Class Melee 2. It's the vastly expanded PC-based online multiplayer sequel to our Xbox Live Indie Games RPG job system brawler that some may recall from this thread. If nothing else, our campaign video might give you a chuckle if you've ever dreamed of bloodthirsty pool noodle combat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yX5Bh3-mzI We feel we have something good here with Grand Class Melee 2, the chance to take this game to its full potential with the creative freedom that crowdfunding provides is an irresistable concept that we couldn't be more excited about. Together, let's make this game! Here's our Indiegogo campaign page: http://www.indiegogo.com/gcm2 ..and the Gigatross Games homepage, featuring production art and other good stuff: http://www.gigatross.com/ Any and all interest is appreciated, AA. Questions and comments welcome!

That Chronos title song is just awesome, its catchiness completely defies the shortcomings of that soundchip. Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2 for Game Boy and SNES has rather a neat theme song that sets quite an atmosphere, it's by far the best music in the game. Here's the Game Boy audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgIejbnrHOc

What I find works best against GB DD Abobo (and this is really just a rephrased version of another strategy mentioned above) is to move into him on a diagonal. If you're walking towards him on a downward diagonal and punch as soon as you're within range, you should be able to sneak in that first hit of the combo before he has a chance to strike you. While going straight on with him seems practically impossible, the diagonal approach works nearly every time.

A TurboGrafx-16 with Devil's Crush. That's a game I'd take into oblivion.

We've introduced a new system for fans to provide class balancing feedback for Grand Class Melee! If anyone has any suggestions for how to improve the relative balance and/or fun of a class or classes, our website (gigatross.com) now features an easy-to-navigate class list with both a feedback submission form and a detailed synopsis available for each class. We're getting serious on a full-blown sequel to Grand Class Melee that will include better everything, and more of it. PC & XBLIG versions, online play, double the classes, new gameplay modes, deeper combat, redrawn graphics, etc. -- our ideas are many and, with fan-driven class balancing, we're hoping to get more of them! Official details on GCM 2 will be emerging shortly, but for now, we'd love to hear your class balancing suggestions as they relate to GCM 1. Your interest is appreciated, AA!

I've never had any problems using the Gemini combo controllers with a 2600 Jr., I can't imagine there'd be issues with other models. As for compatibility, I've yet to run into any sort of input confusion. The joystick works only with joystick controlled games, likewise with the paddle and paddle controlled games. While the joystick is beginning to die on one of mine, I definitely appreciate the efficiency of the two-in-one design. They're pretty cool controllers and the ones I tend to default to.

My friends and I in the '90s used to call the SNES a "sness" all the time, either that or just "Super," as in, Hey, what Super games you got? The NES was casually referred to as a "Normal Nintendo," clearly differentiating it from the Super. At the time, everyone understood each other just fine.

I recently received a copy of Ninja Gaiden II as a gift, an awesome game I was definitely looking forward to playing, but the bloody thing is as tempermental as any NES cart I own. My copy of Mega Man 6 gives me a hard time but this Ninja Gaiden II, even after a very thorough cleaning, only boots about one every ten tries, and that's using a Game Genie for a tighter connection. Even then, it's prone to graphical glitching and some very unusual & strangely eye catching crashes.

Indeed, though I have to wonder why Nintendo in particular likes to release these compilations as "limited editions" and then only make a few batches before taking it OOP. Why treat your most popular games of all time like they're plutonium? I suppose you could ask the same of Disney. Keeping supply neatly controlled like this for a highly desirable thing like Super Mario All-Stars has its advantages for a company that wants to really milk it.

CRIME KILLER, PlayStation, 1998 The fast-moving, free roaming Chase HQ-inspired Crime Killer may have been largely overlooked but it's an entertaining bit of uncompromising vehicular law enforcement. Vehicle-based action was a genre well explored on PlayStation and Crime Killer ranks among the most exciting on offer alongside the likes of Ray Tracers and Felony 11-79.

NEUTOPIA II, TurboGrafx-16, 1992 The two Neutopia games on TurboGrafx represent Hudson's valiant attempts at creating quests comparable in size and scope (clones, if you will) to Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda. They are at least partially successful and are crucial filling for a genre virtually abandoned by the North American NuCard library. Neutopia II is the larger and more polished of the two adventures, featuring some particularly memorable music which stands amongst the best on the console.

A few more games popped to mind. Demolition Man - It's a blend of sidescrolling and overhead stages but the sidescrolling bits definitely scratch the itch. Platforming feels a little wonky but the gunplay is satisfying. The sound suffers in this version compared to Demolition Man on Genesis, the muffler is in full effect here. The Terminator - Thoroughly forgettable. Robocop vs. The Terminator - The version on Genesis gets a lot more love, and perhaps deservedly, but Robocop vs. The Terminator on SNES is decent. Moves at that leisurely Robocop pace.

Well I figure you can imagine whatever port you grew up playing by showing just arcade screenshots. It's too late to edit, but If I could, I'd replace em with Genny screenshots. Haha, no worries, I assumed that was the deal. Shots from the Game Boy port would have been worth a laugh. JAKI CRUSH, Super Famicom, 1992 Continuing in Compile's video pinball series is third entry Jaki Crush, a SFC exclusive that chooses Japanese myth & folklore as its theme. The main table and special stage designs aren't as interesting as in Devil's Crush but it's still a highly enjoyable video pinball game with solid ball/flipper physics, great music and plenty of atmosphere.

The one that comes immediately to mind in this category is the USB 64M Smart Card and it definitely has its quirks. Low storage capacity, weird compatibility issues, questionable build quality, only one save file stored on the cart at a time, the need to use proprietary software to manage files... That being said, it does work if all you want is to play non-emulated GB/GBC ROMs on the Game Boy of your choice and you're willing to jump through some hoops to do so. I bought it as a gift for a friend and felt like a bit of a jerk having to explain the baggage this thing comes with.

But what console port of Mortal Kombat? Those appear to be screenshots from the arcade original! PHANTOM FIGHTER, Nintendo Entertainment System, 1990 One-on-one fighting games are something of an odd genre on NES and Phantom Fighter happens to be one of the most interesting, featuring an ongoing struggle against a Japanese ghost outbreak. The initially clunky controls take a bit of an adjustment period but combat definitely feels solid. The ever-expanding arsenal of martial arts moves keeps the rewards a-flowin' and a convincingly haunting atmosphere makes this game Halloween appropriate.

Purists may consider it blasphemy to play the game not only on a raster display but also on a handheld but the port of Lunar Lander available on GBA is my favourite way to lunar land. It's a great game to have portable.