NecroPhile's game clears and mindless musings

NecroPhile · 06/30/2015, 01:41 PM

Clear #49 - Magical Chase

Another dang good but lamentably overpriced game.

The Good: bouncy tunes, colorful backgrounds and enemies, lots of neat graphical tricks not seen in most games, a good variety of weapons to try, and it's cute as hell.

The Bad: it's rather short, and skilled shewty players will find it too easy.

The Ugly: the price!!!

NecroPhile · 07/22/2015, 04:01 PM

Clear #50 - Travel Eple

Here's a surprisingly fun one. Add it to the rotation for something somewhat different between bouts of Bomberman and Battle Lode Runner.

The Good: it's super cute, there's lots and lots of short but humorous (if basic) cut scenes, it saves your progress as you play so you don't have to finish it in one go, and there's a good variety of enemies, environments, and bosses. And did I say it's cute? It's almost too cute.

The Bad (or maybe The Meh): the tunes are rather forgettable, and the variety of different maps you play on is nice but none of 'em are particularly well detailed or pretty.

The Ugly: NA

turboswimbz · 07/22/2015, 06:17 PM

CLEAR NUMBER 50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

esteban · 07/24/2015, 02:20 PM

I don't think I ever beat Travel Epule. Hmmm....do I still have it? Did I give it away?

We shall see...

NecroPhile · 07/24/2015, 03:04 PM

Play it, este. PLAY IT!

Nobody can say no to such cute lil penguins.

NecroPhile · 07/27/2015, 01:35 PM

Clear #51 - Nemurenu Yoru No Chiisana Ohanashi

( Please excuse the unfortunate cursor placement. I swear it wasn't intentional. )

This super cute point-n-click adventure demonstrates just how well the genre works on the Turbob; it's too bad we didn't get more. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes cute lil animals and wants to get some use out of their mouse.

The Good: nicely drawn art, very well animated scenes, great tunes, often funny sound effects (you're dead inside if you don't get a chuckle out of the snail), mouse support, minimal and unobtrusive load times, and plentiful humorous bits.

The Bad: there's not much challenge, but I can't complain much, seeing as it's meant for kids.

The Ugly: the aforementioned mouse support is much quicker and more responsive at moving the cursor around, but it makes the car mini-game nigh unplayable.

esteban · 07/27/2015, 01:49 PM

Quote from: NecroPhile on 07/27/2015, 01:35 PMClear #51 - Nemurenu Yoru No Chiisana Ohanashi

This super cute point-n-click adventure demonstrates just how well the genre works on the Turbob; it's too bad we didn't get more. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes cute lil animals and wants to get some use out of their mouse.

The Good: nicely drawn art, very well animated scenes, great tunes, often funny sound effects (you're dead inside if you don't get a chuckle out of the snail), mouse support, minimal and unobtrusive load times, and plentiful humorous bits.

The Bad: there's not much challenge, but I can't complain much, seeing as it's meant for kids.

The Ugly: the aforementioned mouse support is much quicker and more responsive at moving the cursor around, but it makes the car mini-game nigh unplayable.

The cursor was the first thing I noticed. You damn pervert.

Folks who are curious can see a Japanese advert here (featuring Yuko Hara):

What is Nemurenu...?

I'll have to ask: Did you compare Mouse vs. No Mouse? Can you? Does mouse help? Did you need a flat surface (e.g. book) to use the mouse on? TELL ME MORE (the car mini-game...is it better with a controller, or does it suck with both mouse and pad, just less so with pad).

MORE IMPORTANT: Explain all the mini-games you encountered/remember. I'm going to use your info to improve that page I linked to, since I only played a few minutes of Nemurenu...

NecroPhile · 07/27/2015, 02:35 PM

The mouse logo is just too cute.

I started playing with a normal controller, then switched maybe a third the way through. It's not at all hard to play with a normal controller, but the mouse is much quicker at moving the cursor around, and you do need a flat surface, just like you would for any mechanical (rubber ball) computer mouse. As for the mini-games, there's one where you tap I to blow a whistle to direct the accident prone gray cat through some calisthenics, but it didn't seem to have any rules (just keep tapping 'til it's over); there's one where you had to tap I to keep a meter half filled to balance on a floating log; and there's the driving one that you can see in the ad. You're always moving and must press the d-pad to change directions, which is pretty difficult to time when you're rolling a mouse; the first time I played with a normal controller and had no trouble beating all three stages, but I couldn't even beat the first stage when I went back and tried with the mouse.

P.S. - dig the bazzy table and stools.

esteban · 07/27/2015, 02:56 PM

Quote from: NecroPhile on 07/27/2015, 02:35 PMThe mouse logo is just too cute.

I started playing with a normal controller, then switched maybe a third the way through. It's not at all hard to play with a normal controller, but the mouse is much quicker at moving the cursor around, and you do need a flat surface, just like you would for any mechanical (rubber ball) computer mouse. As for the mini-games, there's one where you tap I to blow a whistle to direct the accident prone gray cat through some calisthenics, but it didn't seem to have any rules (just keep tapping 'til it's over); there's one where you had to tap I to keep a meter half filled to balance on a floating log; and there's the driving one that you can see in the ad. You're always moving and must press the d-pad to change directions, which is pretty difficult to time when you're rolling a mouse; the first time I played with a normal controller and had no trouble beating all three stages, but I couldn't even beat the first stage when I went back and tried with the mouse.

P.S. - dig the bazzy table and stools.

BAZZY STOOLS + TABLE = complete bazzy decor

Thanks for the additional info!

If you can remember anything else to add, however, trivial, please post more

Mathius · 07/27/2015, 07:36 PM

Quote from: NecroPhile on 11/18/2014, 01:14 PMClear #42 - 3x3 Eyes

This clear is sponsored by Bernie.

'Tis an interesting comic with violent, gory action and some of the best looking cut scenes (when using the Arcade Card). If you're a real baller, pay a bit more and get the version with the VHS pack in.... or just watch the short video on youtube.

The Good: fancy, animated intro and short cut scenes sprinkled throughout; colorful, detailed, and often changing backgrounds; tons of voice dialogue, which is presumably a good thing when you comprehend what they're saying; handy save file utility that lets you view (and delete) saved games and how much room each uses; and it's not entirely linear for better replayability.

The Bad: lengthy load at boot to fill the Arcade Card, which is understandable and expected, but there are other areas where it annoyingly loads every few seconds; mostly elevator music bgm, though the redbook versions played in the intro and credits are nice; as nice as the backgrounds look, they're sadly mostly static; and the maze portion looks good but there's not much to do.

The Ugly: Annoying pounding sound in intro animation and once again towards the end. WTF is that shit? It can't be intentional, but how did they miss it during play testing?!?

Necro quote here (no pun intended)

Does anyone know what the menus in this game translate to in English?

NecroPhile · 08/24/2015, 03:44 PM

Clear #52 - Sylphia

The Good: Cool techy tunes, a veritable smorgasbord of different enemies and sweet looking bosses, a bit naughty (harpie tittehs!), nice looking cut scenes and intermission screens, and some of the backgrounds are very well done (I particularly like the second half of the underwater level and being inside the tower).

The Bad: Some of the backgrounds are rather bland, and it's pricey.

The Ugly: NA

Mathius · 08/24/2015, 04:59 PM

^^While I like Syphia I feel that it's overrated. Not one of Compile's best, but still a good shewtie.

NecroPhile · 08/24/2015, 05:06 PM

Agreed. It's pretty good and has a lot of nice things going for it (especially the mythical setting instead of the usual space shewty), but it's not as consistently great as Lords of Thunder or Gate of Thunder.

Mathius · 08/25/2015, 01:23 AM

Quote from: NecroPhile on 08/24/2015, 05:06 PMAgreed. It's pretty good and has a lot of nice things going for it (especially the mythical setting instead of the usual space shewty), but it's not as consistently great as Lords of Thunder or Gate of Thunder.

IMO the cinemas were lacking especially considering it's a Super CD. I've seen regular CD-ROM2 titles with more engaging scenes. Again this is nitpicking.

NecroPhile · 08/25/2015, 10:24 AM

Quote from: Mathius on 08/25/2015, 01:23 AMIMO the cinemas were lacking especially considering it's a Super CD. I've seen regular CD-ROM2 titles with more engaging scenes. Again this is nitpicking.

True, they're not terribly exciting compared to great stuff usually found in RPGs (like LoX), but they're okay compared to most shewties.

esteban · 08/25/2015, 03:13 PM

Quote from: NecroPhile on 08/25/2015, 10:24 AM
Quote from: Mathius on 08/25/2015, 01:23 AMIMO the cinemas were lacking especially considering it's a Super CD. I've seen regular CD-ROM2 titles with more engaging scenes. Again this is nitpicking.
True, they're not terribly exciting compared to great stuff usually found in RPGs (like LoX), but they're okay compared to most shewties.

Yeah, shewties don't often have much cinema action. It's funny—cinemas in a shoot-em-up is a total "bonus", while they are expected from other genres... (I wish all golf games had cinemas, and, no, I'm not lying and, yes, SUPER ALBATROSS).

Does Sylphia have difficulty settings?

This is one of those games I was unwilling to pay $70 for years ago and now I wish I hadn't purchased tons of crappy mahjong games with that $70.

NecroPhile · 08/25/2015, 03:19 PM

Quote from: esteban on 08/25/2015, 03:13 PMYeah, shewties don't often have much cinema action. It's funny—cinemas in a shoot-em-up is a total "bonus", while they are expected from other genres... (I wish all golf games had cinemas, and, no, I'm not lying and, yes, SUPER ALBATROSS).

Le true. It's no big deal if the cinemas are bleh (or missing) in platformers or shewties, but it's a real bummer in an RPG.

Quote from: esteban on 08/25/2015, 03:13 PMDoes Sylphia have difficulty settings?

Yep. Besides normal, there's easy, hard, and special hard, but I can't say how big of a difference there is between 'em, as I didn't spend much time trying 'em out.

esteban · 08/25/2015, 04:07 PM

^ Good, there is Hardy and Extra Hardy.

I like the soundtrack. Of course, Paranoia_Drafon, being the anti-electronic-music-bastard that he is, created an alternative soundtrack entirely comprised of GnuMetal (Satriani? Some guitar dude.)

Mathius · 08/25/2015, 06:15 PM

I had in mind the Macross shewtie during my above post. With its awesome cinemas it's quite possible that I got spoiled.

ParanoiaDragon · 08/26/2015, 12:08 AM

Quote from: esteban on 08/25/2015, 04:07 PM^ Good, there is Hardy and Extra Hardy.

I like the soundtrack. Of course, Paranoia_Drafon, being the anti-electronic-music-bastard that he is, created an alternative soundtrack entirely comprised of GnuMetal (Satriani? Some guitar dude.)

I like the original soundtrack, I just felt like a rock inspired theme worked better. And I got the tracks from various Vinnie Moore albums thank you very much!

But I do like Satriani. Vinnie Moore's stuff tends to be closer to Lords of Thunder generally speaking compared to Satriani.

esteban · 08/26/2015, 02:07 AM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 08/26/2015, 12:08 AM
Quote from: esteban on 08/25/2015, 04:07 PM^ Good, there is Hardy and Extra Hardy.

I like the soundtrack. Of course, Paranoia_Drafon, being the anti-electronic-music-bastard that he is, created an alternative soundtrack entirely comprised of GnuMetal (Satriani? Some guitar dude.)
I like the original soundtrack, I just felt like a rock inspired theme worked better. And I got the tracks from various Vinnie Moore albums thank you very much! But I do like Satriani. Vinnie Moore's stuff tends to be closer to Lords of Thunder generally speaking compared to Satriani.

Vinnie Moore! I was trying to remember who it was, but I refused to look it up.

I think folks should create more alternative soundtracks...it's fun to see what songs people choose for specific stages/sequences.

ParanoiaDragon · 08/27/2015, 03:02 PM

That's one of many things I've thought about doing, but I just don't have the time. I have to stick to what little time I have to work on Mega Man for the time being, with Jackal probably being the next(thinking very Telenet for the sound), plus a few old soundtracks I want to get back to, even if the games themselves never get finished(Jungle Bros. for instance).

esteban · 08/27/2015, 04:18 PM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 08/27/2015, 03:02 PMThat's one of many things I've thought about doing, but I just don't have the time. I have to stick to what little time I have to work on Mega Man for the time being, with Jackal probably being the next(thinking very Telenet for the sound), plus a few old soundtracks I want to get back to, even if the games themselves never get finished(Jungle Bros. for instance).

PARANOIA, we need for you to WIN THE LOTTERY so that you could make PCE (and Konami 8-bit) music full-time!

I know, though...I love the idea of homebrew soundtracks... Or even remixes/mashups. So much patient owl for fun, creative ideas, IMHO.

NecroPhile · 09/15/2015, 04:35 PM

Clear #53 - Magicoal

A lovely adventure rpg that requires more strategy than most such games, mostly in the form of teamwork. As much fun as it was to play through, though, it'd be even better if I knew more of the story and how all the different magics work; that's not to say it's unplayable sans moonrune skillz, but a translation would sure be nice.

The Good: two player; cute as hell; lots of colorful, well animated, and usually humorous cut scenes; nicely detail and varied environments to traverse; loads of different enemies and bosses with sundry modes of attack; several secrets to find and magics to master; and it's a bit naughty, with plenty of panty flashing and betitted statues and magic idols.

The Bad: the AI controlling the second player is often retarded, forcing you to switch players and manually pull them away from shooting at an enemy they can't reach or disabling their attack spells altogether so they're forced to heel.

The Ugly: Melvy's hands in a couple cut scenes. She's got man hands, Jerry!

jtucci31 · 09/15/2015, 05:06 PM

You beat it! Congrats! That end screen is pretty looking, I'm sure (as you described) the cutscenes are just as good. Cool to see you beat that timed level. I'd like to try this at future Turbo meetups with simultaneous two-player action.

esteban · 09/15/2015, 05:58 PM

Melvy has gloves permanently affixed to her hands. That is all.

CrackTiger · 09/15/2015, 06:51 PM

Those interested in Magicoal should be aware that it plays more like an adventurey Wolf of the Battlefield/Ikari Warriors style game than Secret of Mana.

Mathius · 09/15/2015, 09:45 PM

Quote from: CrackTiger on 09/15/2015, 06:51 PMThose interested in Magicoal should be aware that it plays more like an adventurey Wolf of the Battlefield/Ikari Warriors style game than Secret of Mana.

I still want it now, tho I didn't before clicking into Necro's post.

....That sounded wrong.

esteban · 09/17/2015, 07:48 AM

Here is a collection of various Magicoal ads...not all of these are full-page ads, some of these were small ads tucked inside ads for other games.

https://archives.tg-16.com/Gekkan_PC_Engine_1993_03.htm#magicoal

NecroPhile · 09/17/2015, 11:00 AM

Thanks, este; those are great. I see a few magic attacks I never found (or could use), and I agree that they should've shown Melvy kicking more ass. Rhun has a good protection spell that works on Melvy, so I often played as her for attacking bosses, letting Rhun hang back out of the fray.

Mathius · 09/17/2015, 09:45 PM

Cool. I'm kind of getting a Game Arts/Lunar vibe from those ads. The game itself is probably completely different I imagine.

NecroPhile · 09/18/2015, 11:04 AM

Yarr, it definitely doesn't play like Lunar. It's kinda like Ys II where you rely on the wands more, except you can't ram people at all, there's lots and lots of different magics to use, you can jump, and there's no experience points, leveling, or armor.

I forgot to mention the 'battle mode' earlier. I couldn't figure out exactly what's going on (there's lots of moon runes to sift through), but it's basically Melvy and Rhun attacking each other in two player only.

DragonmasterDan · 09/18/2015, 11:07 AM

Quote from: Mathius on 09/17/2015, 09:45 PMCool. I'm kind of getting a Game Arts/Lunar vibe from those ads. The game itself is probably completely different I imagine.

With Magicoal not really.

An interesting one that has a lot of Lunar similarities despite being a completely different type of game is Gotzendiener.

Studio Alex made it. Gainax did the art.

Studio Alex made Lunar. And Toshiyuki Kubooka who worked for Gainax did the art.

johnnykonami · 09/18/2015, 11:25 AM

I got Magicoal years and years ago but I don't remember ever finishing it. Cute little game though.. one day I will...

Mathius · 09/18/2015, 11:14 PM

Quote from: DragonmasterDan on 09/18/2015, 11:07 AM
Quote from: Mathius on 09/17/2015, 09:45 PMCool. I'm kind of getting a Game Arts/Lunar vibe from those ads. The game itself is probably completely different I imagine.
With Magicoal not really.

An interesting one that has a lot of Lunar similarities despite being a completely different type of game is Gotzendiener.

Studio Alex made it. Gainax did the art.

Studio Alex made Lunar. And Toshiyuki Kubooka who worked for Gainax did the art.

Ohhh?! Hmm....

NecroPhile · 09/29/2015, 01:27 PM

Clear #54 - Dungeon Master: Theron's Quest

This one's a bit of a mixed bag, where many of the good things are balanced by a few related flaws.

The Good: good tunes (I particularly like the harpsichord number of the last level); decent opening and closing cinemas, though the ending could've used a voiced narrative like the intro; different baddies for each level, some of which are pretty creepy looking and sounding; the puzzles can get pretty tricksy; and it controls very well if you learn to use the d-pad for movement and not the on-screen arrows.

The Bad: the bland water dripping 'atmospheric' tune that plays far too often; there's no cut scenes for each stage, just a little text blurb and a still photo; the baddies aren't very well animated; and you don't get to keep any goodies from one dungeon to the next, making it more like seven mini-games to beat instead of one cohesive whole.

The Ugly: every once in a while, you'll hit a glitch that makes one of your characters max out the load they're carrying (even if you strip 'em to nothing), which makes you move slower and forces you to rest repeatedly. The alternative is to let the fucker die, as everything goes back to normal upon resurrection.

NecroPhile · 10/05/2015, 06:43 PM

Clear #55 - Galaga '90

The Good: jaunty tunes, fast action, a well varied mix of baddies with differing attack patterns, pretty (if basic) backgrounds, excellent controls, and great replayability with multiple paths to follow and endings to see. In short, everything is damn near perfect.

The Bad: Nothing is particularly unpleasant, but the game is rather primitive compared to something like Soldier Blade. I can't really fault it for that, though, seeing as it's a part of its arcade game heritage.

The Ugly: NA

P.S. - What's the trick to triggering the red capsule? I've only snagged it a handful of times over the years, and luckily this playthrough was one of 'em. 'Twas a real life saver getting back the big ship for 'free' just before the final boss.

esteban · 10/05/2015, 09:13 PM

But you didn't tell us the most important thing about Galaga '88 / '90: how is the parallax?

Mathius · 10/05/2015, 11:10 PM

Normally red canisters are only released later in the game by killing the last enemy in any given formation.

I love this game to pieces. If I would've been smart back in '92 and asked for a Turbo Duo instead of a Sega CD this would've surely been one of my faves since I loved the arcade version so much. Thanks Namco!

NecroPhile · 10/06/2015, 10:17 AM

Quote from: esteban on 10/05/2015, 09:13 PMBut you didn't tell us the most important thing about Galaga '88 / '90: how is the parallax?

Like most everything else in the game, it's somewhat basic but very satisfying.

esteban · 10/06/2015, 07:27 PM

^^^ HahahhHhha. Yup.

Gentlegamer · 10/06/2015, 07:59 PM

Out of nowhere, PARALLAX APPEARS!

NecroPhile · 10/06/2015, 08:04 PM

Dockers. The best pairoslacks you'll ever own.

blueraven · 10/17/2015, 08:30 PM

I felt the same way about Dungeon Master, but I tried to get through it in Japanese. Never made it all the way through, but the game was pretty cool.

Glad you made it through Galaga. Hopefully this will cause ceti to realize that Galaga, and the forum requires his attention. WARP ME TO HALIFAX.

It gets pretty addictive... I should say that the Arcade version has some of the same tricks but the response time is way different. They used to have it at the pizza place down the road from my old house, and I always gave it a whirl, but never came up with the sames scores as on the PCE.

NecroPhile · 10/26/2015, 05:08 PM

Clear #56 - Loom

'Tis an entertaining point-n-click adventure, well worth playing for any fan of the genre.

The Good: it's humorous, the tunes are great (even if they cut out and/or fail to loop consistently), Bobbin is a right smart-ass, the colored pencil-esque scenery is usually lovely, and the puzzles are quite nice if simple.

The Bad: it's rather short, Bobbin is one slow mo-fo, it loads entirely too often, there's no mouse support, and some of the backgrounds suffer from a low color count, looking like they forgot to tweak the art after running the PC version through an automatic converter utility.

The Ugly: seizure inducing, flickering cursor

MNKyDeth · 10/27/2015, 08:37 AM

When I was younger and the first time I beat this game I had no idea wtf just happened. So I played through it 2-3 more times and still had no clue wtf happened. It just ends.

I should play though it again, maybe it will make sense now. I always thought there would be more than one ending. I never did find out if there was.

^^^ Talking about Loom.

NecroPhile · 10/27/2015, 11:25 AM

It ends with Bobbin transcending and joining his mom and the other weavers on a higher plane of existence. The abrupt ending is supposedly from them planning on it being continued in two sequels, which sadly never happened.

reno5 · 10/27/2015, 02:10 PM

I'll have to give it another try. Didn't play long enough last time i tried it.

roflmao · 10/29/2015, 10:27 PM

Nice! I'm really close to the end of Loom. I'll try to finish it this weekend.

ParanoiaDragon · 10/30/2015, 01:28 AM

I was just thinking about Loom. There's a remake of Day of the Tentacle coming next year, & it made me think how it'd rock to have Loom remade(if kept 2D), but more importantly, if it springboarded them to make the sequels! I do wish they would've used adpcm or just pcm for the spells in this instead of redbook. That way, it wouldn't stop the music(maybe fade it out?), but also missing tunes could be in it(I believe are the FM Towns version). Also, there was a voice edition with full voice acting on PC, but they did redbook, & had to rewrite lines to fit all the lines on the cd.