Playing through a good game this time!

DesmondThe3rd · 07/01/2011, 02:30 PM

OK, enough of the Deep Blue's and the Darkwing Duck's here. I'm playing a very underrated title now in my opinion. It's Syd Mead's Terraforming and if you wanna see it in action I got it here on my Youtube channel:

Bernie · 07/01/2011, 03:42 PM

Very good game man! Were you able to score a USA release, or you playing the Japanese one?

DesmondThe3rd · 07/01/2011, 06:38 PM

Quote from: bernielindell on 07/01/2011, 03:42 PMVery good game man! Were you able to score a USA release, or you playing the Japanese one?

It's the US one, I think the only difference is that Syd Mead is on the title itself while the Japanese one is just called 'Terraforming'.

csgx1 · 07/01/2011, 08:53 PM

Looks like a great game and more worthy of a playthrough than the previous game. Thanks for sharing.

Damn it, another game to place on my wanted list that I'll probably never get.

razzie.putin · 07/01/2011, 08:59 PM

Game looks awesome. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the heads up, as I've never heard of it!

DesmondThe3rd · 07/02/2011, 02:42 AM

Quote from: csgx1 on 07/01/2011, 08:53 PMLooks like a great game and more worthy of a playthrough than the previous game. Thanks for sharing.

Damn it, another game to place on my wanted list that I'll probably never get.

The game isn't quite as rare as ones like Super Air Zonk and Dynastic Hero so there might be a chance to get it cheaper then some of those at least.

DesmondThe3rd · 07/02/2011, 02:45 AM

Quote from: razzie.putin on 07/01/2011, 08:59 PMGame looks awesome. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the heads up, as I've never heard of it!

Yeah, the game had the kiss of death of being released in 1993.

ccovell · 07/02/2011, 08:33 AM

Terraforming has boring gameplay, but the music is To Die For. (Composed by Katsuhiro Hayashi, if I remember correctly.)

SamIAm · 07/02/2011, 12:53 PM

Terraforming is a fine example of what I would call an "experience" shooter. The gameplay is indeed simple and repetitive, but that's an advantage in a way; after you learn the basics and remember a few of the tough spots, you can kick back and soak in the atmosphere of the graphics and sound. The automatic scrolling of shooters makes this especially stressless.

The sound effects are too loud, though. Make a CD-R copy and amplify the audio tracks for the best experience possible. ;)

Dyna138 · 07/02/2011, 03:12 PM

I like Syd Mead's Terraforming as a whole, but its gameplay is fairly average. I put it in the same category as Dead Moon, its just a little too cookie cutter and uninspired to be considered anything more than average. At first the graphics seem pretty good, but then you realize its the same texture design repeated throughout the entire stage. The game does have a nice overall art direction and style that's unique, I just wish it had more variety. The opening and ending are also lousy for a SCD game, but at least the music is awesome.

Its one of the harder to find late US releases on SCD, but doesn't seem to be as highly sort after.

TheClash603 · 07/02/2011, 03:45 PM

I agree with just about everyone who beat me to the punch, the game is kinda meh gameplay-wise. However, the game is awesome from a design standpoint, and is worth playing through once, just to check it out.

As an aside, there is a guy selling this by me at the flea market, it's in the $150-$200 range. I already own the game, so I don't need it, and I think it is at least $50 more than it is worth... but if anyone else is on a "must have" hunt, let me know.

DesmondThe3rd · 07/02/2011, 06:38 PM

Quote from: ccovell on 07/02/2011, 08:33 AMTerraforming has boring gameplay, but the music is To Die For. (Composed by Katsuhiro Hayashi, if I remember correctly.)

Yeah, sometimes I just listen to the music from time to time.

DesmondThe3rd · 07/02/2011, 07:03 PM

Quote from: SamIAm on 07/02/2011, 12:53 PMTerraforming is a fine example of what I would call an "experience" shooter. The gameplay is indeed simple and repetitive, but that's an advantage in a way; after you learn the basics and remember a few of the tough spots, you can kick back and soak in the atmosphere of the graphics and sound. The automatic scrolling of shooters makes this especially stressless.

The sound effects are too loud, though. Make a CD-R copy and amplify the audio tracks for the best experience possible. ;)

That's a great way at looking at it. Sometimes I just like to play a game to appericate the visuals and music kinda like I do for Rez or Air Zonk.

DesmondThe3rd · 07/02/2011, 07:20 PM

Quote from: Dyna138 on 07/02/2011, 03:12 PMI like Syd Mead's Terraforming as a whole, but its gameplay is fairly average. I put it in the same category as Dead Moon, its just a little too cookie cutter and uninspired to be considered anything more than average. At first the graphics seem pretty good, but then you realize its the same texture design repeated throughout the entire stage. The game does have a nice overall art direction and style that's unique, I just wish it had more variety. The opening and ending are also lousy for a SCD game, but at least the music is awesome.

Its one of the harder to find late US releases on SCD, but doesn't seem to be as highly sort after.

Yeah, for all I praised the game for having cool art in the video the cinemas are just terrible. A perfect extra feature would have been some extra info or a video on the life of Syd Mead himself and why he did this project in the first but no such luck. Maybe more people would have gone out of their way to find a copy.

TurboXray · 07/02/2011, 10:46 PM

Quote from: Dyna138 on 07/02/2011, 03:12 PMdesign repeated throughout the entire stage. The game does The opening and ending are also lousy for a SCD game, but at least the music is awesome.

Its one of the harder to find late US releases on SCD, but doesn't seem to be as highly sort after.

That's just it. It's not a "Super CD" game. It's a regular CD game. It has the tag SCD/CD bi-compatible, just like Macross 2036, but all that means is that it'll optimize for less loading here and there when running on a SCD system. That's definitely not the same as a SCD game designed from the ground up.

Don't believe me? Pop in a CD 2.0 card yourself and try out the game

Dyna138 · 07/02/2011, 11:14 PM

Quote from: TurboXray on 07/02/2011, 10:46 PMThat's just it. It's not a "Super CD" game. It's a regular CD game. It has the tag SCD/CD bi-compatible, just like Macross 2036, but all that means is that it'll optimize for less loading here and there when running on a SCD system. That's definitely not the same as a SCD game designed from the ground up.

Don't believe me? Pop in a CD 2.0 card yourself and try out the game

Ah that's very interesting I didn't know that. The game is completely labeled as a SCD, but I'm noticing now the SCD logo on the front of the manual is yellow while other SCD games are white. I wonder if they did that to distinguish it or maybe its just coincidence since the Japanese version logo is white.

I guess that would also explain the repetitive nature of the backgrounds.

DesmondThe3rd · 07/04/2011, 08:01 AM

Quote from: Dyna138 on 07/02/2011, 11:14 PM
Quote from: TurboXray on 07/02/2011, 10:46 PMThat's just it. It's not a "Super CD" game. It's a regular CD game. It has the tag SCD/CD bi-compatible, just like Macross 2036, but all that means is that it'll optimize for less loading here and there when running on a SCD system. That's definitely not the same as a SCD game designed from the ground up.

Don't believe me? Pop in a CD 2.0 card yourself and try out the game
Ah that's very interesting I didn't know that. The game is completely labeled as a SCD, but I'm noticing now the SCD logo on the front of the manual is yellow while other SCD games are white. I wonder if they did that to distinguish it or maybe its just coincidence since the Japanese version logo is white.

I guess that would also explain the repetitive nature of the backgrounds.

I wanna buy a Turbo CD (I just have a Duo) just to try Terraforming on it.

TurboXray · 07/04/2011, 09:09 AM

Quote from: DesmondThe3rd on 07/04/2011, 08:01 AM
Quote from: Dyna138 on 07/02/2011, 11:14 PM
Quote from: TurboXray on 07/02/2011, 10:46 PMThat's just it. It's not a "Super CD" game. It's a regular CD game. It has the tag SCD/CD bi-compatible, just like Macross 2036, but all that means is that it'll optimize for less loading here and there when running on a SCD system. That's definitely not the same as a SCD game designed from the ground up.

Don't believe me? Pop in a CD 2.0 card yourself and try out the game
Ah that's very interesting I didn't know that. The game is completely labeled as a SCD, but I'm noticing now the SCD logo on the front of the manual is yellow while other SCD games are white. I wonder if they did that to distinguish it or maybe its just coincidence since the Japanese version logo is white.

I guess that would also explain the repetitive nature of the backgrounds.
I wanna buy a Turbo CD (I just have a Duo) just to try Terraforming on it.

You don't need to buy an old CD unit. Just buy a loose CD 2.0 for the TGCD and run it on your Duo. It'll force the game to run in 2.0 mode (or for looking at SCD warning screens).

Dyna138 · 07/04/2011, 01:48 PM

I actually find Terraforming a little more impressive knowing its built as a CD game and not SCD. I guess you really can't compare it to something like Gate of Thunder which was built from the ground up as a SCD game.