What's wrong with Trevor Mcfur and the Crescent Galaxy? !?!?

[+thegoldenband]

It's an interesting question (comparing difficulty across eras). I have to admit that there aren't too many games I've encountered from, say, 1995-2005 where I have any doubt that, with enough effort, I could beat them -- whereas there are tons of games from 1985-1995 that I'm not sure if I could ever beat (e.g. Ikari Warriors for NES), even if I tried my hardest.

 

But I'm not sure whether that reflects an overall trend, or just the skewed effects of a handful of extreme outliers, dating from a period where designers simply hadn't gotten their act together in terms of offering a consistent and fair difficulty profile.

[phoenixdownita]

 

 

...

just the skewed effects of a handful of extreme outliers, dating from a period where designers simply hadn't gotten their act together in terms of offering a consistent and fair difficulty profile.

....

Nailed it.

 

Also many games of way back when had no story just increasing difficulty in a repeating pattern.

The arcades were notorious for needing to have the players insert coins at the fastest rate acceptable but no faster than that, at home they tried the same kind of approach with mixed results as there are no coins to insert.

Dueling for high score was the highlight of the gaming way back when, now there's the satisfaction of finishing the game.

I cannot count how many games of old I have not finished and neither I have any intention to finish. I don't even think many were intended that way.

 

If the Jag library in the early 90s was still playing the "insert more coins to play" mindset I do not know. The platform does not have many games to begin with and a few have bad difficulty curves, I am pretty sure we can find as many games with as bad if not worse ramping curves all over the same gen consoles, but because many of the Jag peers had bigger libraries there's also much better calibrated experiences available to be had and enjoyed.

Edited February 28, 2016 by phoenixdownita

[racerx]

Just so we're clear, stuff like Battletoads and Ghosts n Goblins are examples of difficult by design.

Most of the Jag library = difficult because of low budget and poor programming.

[JaGamer]

In some cases yes, some no. Games like Cybermorph, AvP, Tempest 2000, Iron Soldier, Rayman, Zool 2, Dino Dudes, Battlemorph were programmed very well and were difficult by design just like Battletoads etc. The games above are extremely difficult to beat... In my opinion. Compared to your average game.

 

About the same number of games as above for the Jag were poorly programmed and difficult because of poor programming. Like Checkered Flag, Club Drive, Kasumi Ninja, Fight For Life, Supercross 3d, Bubsy, Double Dragon V.

[Jagosaurus]

This one does get a bad rap. It looks great and is unique.

 

My biggest thing is that it feels like the devs were programmers who didn't actually play games lol. Patterns are odd, when they're present. Rocking music is also a big plus is a shooter & a staple of the genre.

[Trooper Galactus]

Some of the greatest games ever had extremely high learning curves. The Ghosts n' Goblins series has always been notorious for a ridiculous difficulty level, and the same goes for the Contra games (Shattered Soldier was notoriously difficult). These were all well-designed products which were made intentionally hard on the player and required a great deal of repetition and learning to complete, but the experience was fulfilling and engaging. Difficult games on the Jaguar were too often difficult through poor design and frustrating control response and gameplay, which made it more of a grind than a fun and rewarding experience.

[Schmudde]

It's worth noting that McFur is currently leading in the polls as the worst launch title in the rather dismal Jaguar launch lineup.

 

Even in that context it's not exactly a fan favorite.

 

/ü

[Trooper Galactus]

It's worth noting that McFur is currently leading in the polls as the worst launch title in the rather dismal Jaguar launch lineup.

 

Even in that context it's not exactly a fan favorite.

 

/ü

Given it is significantly worse in so many ways to side scrolling shmups that preceded it (UN Squadron, Darius, R-Type, Gradius, etc.), it can't be regarded as anything but an utter failure. Yes, the graphics were impressive, but gameplay is everything and it just didn't have it. I have run across very few shooters I regard as zero fun to play, as it's a genre with pretty well established standards and methodologies. Trevor McFur would be among the notable few, and possibly the worst of the genre I've ever experienced.

[Lost Dragon]

@Atlantis:

 

'Nice' to see Impossamole featured, that was such a dissapointing game :-(. I personally felt the 'Monty' games really peaked with Monty On The Run on the C64, Auf Wiedersehen Monty, felt like a step backwards and when they dragged Impossamole out, it just felt like they were trying to compete with console offerings and it simply fell flat on it's face.

 

The magic simply wasn't there.

 

I've never been a fan of Rick Dangerous either, the ST/Amiga had clones of popular arcade games like Rastan/Black Tiger/Mercs etc by Core/Bitmap Bros etc which showed what could be done, but things like Rick Dangerous and Impossamole just frustrated to the point where all the good work spent on the visuals, were wasted on myself, as the frustrating nature of the gameplay meant i abandoned the game long before i saw what it had to offer.

[Atlantis]

I beat both Rick games, so I like the sort, but Impassamole I never gave the chance since it didn't revard in humor as Rick did (all the way to the end). Yea flat on face.

[ZylonBane]

This game is so bad, it took until the third page before anyone noticed the thread starter didn't even get the title right. It's "Trevor Mcfur IN the Crescent Galaxy".

[RJ]

You're STILL wrong...it's "McFur".

[JaGamer]

I guarantee, most of the people who say this game sucks, in reality, it's just that THEY suck at the game, because it's a very difficult game.

 

That goes for most video games. When people suck at playing a hard game, they tend to say or think the game sucks...

 

I like this game, and I think it doesn't deserve all the hate it gets. It's a cute and quirky shooter starring cats. I love cats, so that's a plus for me.

 

Cybermorph I have even more of a soft spot for, and I really hate when so many people say that game sucks. It does not suck at all, really good game actually.

 

end rant.

 

PS - you just have to never give up at the 2 games above. Lots of practice with these games required, and then before you know it, you will be a master and find these games to be quite good fun, actually.

[Bill Loguidice]

I guarantee, most of the people who say this game sucks, in reality, it's just that THEY suck at the game, because it's a very difficult game.

 

That goes for most video games. When people suck at playing a hard game, they tend to say or think the game sucks...

 

I like this game, and I think it doesn't deserve all the hate it gets. It's a cute and quirky shooter starring cats. I love cats, so that's a plus for me.

 

Cybermorph I have even more of a soft spot for, and I really hate when so many people say that game sucks. It does not suck at all, really good game actually.

 

end rant.

 

PS - you just have to never give up at the 2 games above. Lots of practice with these games required, and then before you know it, you will be a master and find these games to be quite good fun, actually.

 

I think you can enjoy a game while acknowledging that others may think it sucks for legitimate reasons (Hint: It's not necessarily because they aren't very good at the game). They might not care for the audio-visuals, the level design, the difficulty level (as it relates to fairness), etc. I think those very good reasons have been detailed throughout this thread and others.

[+save2600]

This game is so bad, it took until the third page before anyone noticed the thread starter didn't even get the title right. It's "Trevor Mcfur IN the Crescent Galaxy".

You're STILL wrong...it's "McFur".

I recognized the correct title when I abbreviated it on page 2, post #34... did I win anything besides the Internet?

 

Bah, most of us (even I now), just scan for content anymore. He could have said Trebor McRavin at the Croissant Gallery and we'd all know what crappy game was being talked about.

[Fletch]

I think you can dislike a game whist acknowledging that others may think it is good for legitimate reasons (Hint: It's not necessarily because they are good at the game).

 

These arguments are so circular.

 

 

I think you can enjoy a game while acknowledging that others may think it sucks for legitimate reasons (Hint: It's not necessarily because they aren't very good at the game). They might not care for the audio-visuals, the level design, the difficulty level (as it relates to fairness), etc. I think those very good reasons have been detailed throughout this thread and others.

[Bill Loguidice]

I think you can dislike a game whist acknowledging that others may think it is good for legitimate reasons (Hint: It's not necessarily because they are good at the game).

 

These arguments are so circular.

 

 

All I'm really hearing about why others think it's a good game is "because they suck at playing the game," while those who dislike it give multiple reasons why they think it sucks rather than saying something about those who like it. So maybe not so circular...

[Fletch]

 

All I'm really hearing about why others think it's a good game is "because they suck at playing the game," while those who dislike it give multiple reasons why they think it sucks rather than saying something about those who like it. So maybe not so circular...

 

 

Lots of posters, even those who dislike the game, have mentioned they enjoy the visuals. Maybe not much more than that, but visuals for sure have been mentioned often. So we can certainly circulate back to that.

 

Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of this game, but I find the dismissive attitude towards those who enjoy it for whatever reason to be condescending.

 

Let people like what they like. This thread has a wine snobbery feel to it at times.

[Schmudde]

 

 

Let people like what they like. This thread has a wine snobbery feel to it at times.

 

I agree, let people who like what they like. Please keep in mind, the thread is called "What's wrong with Trevor Mcfur and the Crescent Galaxy? !?!?" by a person who likes the game. In this case, they were asking for objective observations.

 

/ü

[sh3-rg]

end rant.

Haters just hate because those dudes suck, amirite?

 

Let people like what they like. This thread has a wine snobbery feel to it at times.

 

Maybe someone has been sampling the wine and forgetting to expectorate.

[Atlantis]

"Let people like what they like"... like anyone of us actually change anyones mind about the game here =)

In PAL it's not that hard, and since I managed to get futher into the game, and now I reach the last level, I'm in for beating it and until I do it will be a challenge and alot of fun, even though other games are better. Lots of wierd stuff on the screne which adds to fun meter. I'm sort of good at it, and still think it's a poor game.

Watched a playthough and just discovered that you can "pause" and change weapon in pause, and that suddenly made this game much more beatable, and "pause" a killer button in a game. <<< Try it out if you didn't know this.

[+madman]

Lots of posters, even those who dislike the game, have mentioned they enjoy the visuals. Maybe not much more than that, but visuals for sure have been mentioned often. So we can certainly circulate back to that.

 

Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of this game, but I find the dismissive attitude towards those who enjoy it for whatever reason to be condescending.

 

Let people like what they like. This thread has a wine snobbery feel to it at times.

Opinions of a mediocre Jag game compared to wine snobbery. Brilliant.

[Fletch]

Opinions of a mediocre Jag game compared to wine snobbery. Brilliant.

 

I do what I can to class the place up

[Schmudde]

Watched a playthough and just discovered that you can "pause" and change weapon in pause, and that suddenly made this game much more beatable, and "pause" a killer button in a game. <<< Try it out if you didn't know this.

 

This is a really important tip with this game and I think it says something a bit problematic about Atari's intention with the number pad in general.

 

I like the idea of the number pad. It made the Jaguar a great platform to receive killer PC conversions. Doom and Syndicate both benefit from the number pad, for example.

 

However, there isn't any evidence that this was Atari's mindset. There isn't any evidence they were out there courting MicroProse or Sierra.

 

McFur shows the problem with the number pad. It just doesn't work in action and arcade games. McFur has a ton of power ups, taking full advantage of the number pad. But if you really want to be precise, pausing the game and selecting the weapons is really the way to go. I have to imagine that the number pad influenced the design of McFur and that's why the powerup and weapon system is so different than other shooters.

 

I imagine that Atari was just putting the cart before the horse with the number pad, unless others have more insight into this.

 

/ü

[Christos]

I think you can enjoy a game while acknowledging that others may think it sucks for legitimate reasons (Hint: It's not necessarily because they aren't very good at the game). They might not care for the audio-visuals, the level design, the difficulty level (as it relates to fairness), etc. I think those very good reasons have been detailed throughout this thread and others.

 

Exactly. For me that game is another sidescroller for the st. It is called steigar and it is dull and repetitive and its controls arent great but i think i like the graphics a lot. Maybe cyrano jones can port it to the jag so trevor will have company