So, what you playing at the mo? Retro Edition

Inviere

Inviere wrote: »

8-3 - **** world 8 and **** hammer brothers :mad:

Job done, finito. A fire flower made 8-3 & 8-4 foolproof really (I knew the route through 8-4 off by heart as I've watched a lot of warpless runs of it). The fire flower takes the hammer bros out in one hit, and a few hits takes Bowser out....just a matter of walking to the end at that stage!

It's one thing beating it using the comfort of a save state to get experience of the later levels, but a whole different thing putting it all together in one run which is what I've to do next!

Retr0gamer

Congrats! I know myself how much effort it takes. So many people saying Super Mario Bros. is an easy game but they grew up with it and played the crap out of it!

I'll be trying SMB2/Lost Levels next but taking a break from Mario! Might just play the All Stars version and the Famicom version seems insane, expecially if you want to beat it with all worlds. I'll have to look into how it works (I think the famicom saves if you finished an extra world).

Inviere

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Congrats! I know myself how much effort it takes. So many people saying Super Mario Bros. is an easy game but they grew up with it and played the crap out of it!

It's not what I'd call an easy game, unless as you say you know the game inside out. The first half is handy enough, but it gets trickier the further you get into it. It's a lot less forgiving than Super Mario World...and the run mechanic in it means Mario is a bit slower to actually start running (it's not instant once the button is held down...I've died a lot because of this.)

That said it's rarely cheap, and when I've died in it (many times), it's been my fault having made stupid mistakes here & there. I started from scratch there & only made it just past halfway, so while I've beaten the game, it doesn't count yet...I need to do it all in one single run.

I'll be trying SMB2/Lost Levels next but taking a break from Mario! Might just play the All Stars version and the Famicom version seems insane, expecially if you want to beat it with all worlds. I'll have to look into how it works (I think the famicom saves if you finished an extra world).

SMB2 looks like a whole different ball game...massive difficulty from the get-go. I doubt I'll move on to that next, and will instead try SMB2 (the Western release)....that's a game I know virtually nothing about, and never considered it a true Mario game (sprite swap with Doki Doki Panic). But...I'd like to have a go at it and finish it!

Retr0gamer

SMB2 is a fantastic game even if it feels weird as feck. Much prefer the NES release to the GBA one.

CiDeRmAn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

SMB2 is a fantastic game even if it feels weird as feck. Much prefer the NES release to the GBA one.

Did they mess around too much with the Super Mario Allstars version of SMB2?

Retr0gamer

Not really. Physics off a bit but barely noticeable. More personal preference for the NES version. All stars has saves though so you don't have to beat it in one sitting. Doki doki panic has saves as we but the western Mario 2 is a big improvement over the original.

accensi0n

Right, I'm going to have to do a warpless run of SMB now!

Last time I finished it I used the continue cheat where you can restart at the last world you were on.

Inviere

accensi0n wrote: »

Right, I'm going to have to do a warpless run of SMB now!

Last time I finished it I used the continue cheat where you can restart at the last world you were on.

Yay, let us know how you get on. I'll imagine you'll beat it handy enough, you've done very well finishing NES games over the years & months!

Inviere

I made it from the start of the game to 8-4...and made it all the way to Bowser but just could not get passed him...between the final hammer brother, the jumping fireball, Bowser's flames, and his hammers....it's the perfect **** storm in the last five seconds of the game. I was well poised to beat the game, started 8-4 with a fireflower and 6 lives....5 minutes later all I had was a game over screen

Inviere

Inviere wrote: »

I made it from the start of the game to 8-4...and made it all the way to Bowser but just could not get passed him...between the final hammer brother, the jumping fireball, Bowser's flames, and his hammers....it's the perfect **** storm in the last five seconds of the game. I was well poised to beat the game, started 8-4 with a fireflower and 6 lives....5 minutes later all I had was a game over screen

Done, finally! Start to finish, no warp run. Yus!

o1s1n

Congrats!

I'd say the adrenaline was coursing through your veins towards the end of that.

Retr0gamer

Congrats and I know well it's a big achievement! That game took me way longer than most 'hard' NES games like Contra which took an afternoon to beat!

Inviere

o1s1n wrote: »

Congrats!

I'd say the adrenaline was coursing through your veins towards the end of that.

The controller was certainly 'moist' by the end

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Congrats and I know well it's a big achievement! That game took me way longer than most 'hard' NES games like Contra which took an afternoon to beat!

I fell in love with the game doing it, it's such a fun (but infuriating game at times) game...so simple but much more than the sum of its parts. Prob be the other way around for me...Contra could take months! I finished Contra 3 on easy, couldn't beat it on normal...so switched to Contra Spirits (the jap version) to beat it on normal...hard mode can frak off, I don't know how anyone can get past that.

Retr0gamer

The NES contra's really aren't that bad. Super C is actually pretty easy, much more so than the original.

A game of each lasts about 10-15 minutes so you can get a good few goes in when you play it. So it's not as long as SMB and no where near as stressful. The industrial flame stage of Contra 1 is the only really tough section in that game.

Ninja Gaiden though.... that's a whole different level of hell. And the last boss 'it's not a bug it's a feature' bull**** with how you have one life to beat him or get sent back 4 stages can **** right off.

Retr0gamer

Picked up the Toki remaster on Switch as it's only 2.99 at the moment. Excellent conversion of a game that hates me. The art looks incredible.

o1s1n

Ninja Gaiden is relatively okay with a bit of rote learning up until the end of act 4.

Act 5 is where it really kicks off though. I was trying to get through it on my Famicom a couple of years ago (with a lot of muscle memory from when I was a kid!) but couldn't quite get through all of act five.

Haven't witnessed the horrors of the final stage in person yet

Inviere

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ninja Gaiden though.... that's a whole different level of hell. And the last boss 'it's not a bug it's a feature' bull**** with how you have one life to beat him or get sent back 4 stages can **** right off.

I think I'd have to play a 'fixed' rom hack of that game which fixes that 'feature'. Life's too short for that crap

Retr0gamer

o1s1n wrote: »

Ninja Gaiden is relatively okay with a bit of rote learning up until the end of act 4.

Act 5 is where it really kicks off though. I was trying to get through it on my Famicom a couple of years ago (with a lot of muscle memory from when I was a kid!) but couldn't quite get through all of act five.

Haven't witnessed the horrors of the final stage in person yet

I actually really enjoyed Ninja Gaiden. It's a great game but I think Ninja Gaiden 2 is way better as it fixes a lot of the bull****.

Inviere wrote: »

I think I'd have to play a 'fixed' rom hack of that game which fixes that 'feature'. Life's too short for that crap

I actually had to save state before I beat it legit. Having one try on an incredibly difficult 3 phase fight it insane. You get there and panic and die and you haven't learned anything about the fight. Then have a 15-20 minute slog back to the boss to have one more shot again. It gives the player no room to experiment and try tactics. And sending you back 4 stages is nuts when they are 4 of the most incredibly tough stages in any NES game. I mean if you die on any of those stages you get sent back to the start of that stage but the boss sends you back 4 stages!

I ended up save stating before the boss and learning its patterns.

o1s1n

I think I read somewhere that the Japanese version only sends you back to 6-3 if you die on the final boss (Unlike the Western versions sending you all the way back to 6-1)


I only played Ninja Gaiden II recently for the first time, didn't realise it was such a good game, would have been playing it for years.

Retr0gamer

o1s1n wrote: »

I think I read somewhere that the Japanese version only sends you back to 6-3 if you die on the final boss (Unlike the Western versions sending you all the way back to 6-1)


I only played Ninja Gaiden II recently for the first time, didn't realise it was such a good game, would have been playing it for years.

Probably. 6-3 is just before the boss and you are over the worst of it (6-2 is hell on earth). Also Arino finished it in game center CX, I don't think he could have put up with that if it sent you back so far.

Inviere

So having gotten pretty decent at Super Mario Bros, I've moved onto Super Mario Bros 2 (the Western version)...died at 1-3 Didn't bother continuing, it's gonna take a while to get used to this game...it's a very different Mario game, but seems relatively ok, if a bit samey.

Colonel Panic

I've been playing Hyper Zone on the Super Famicom. It's like F-Zero meets Space Harrier and feels like a Mode 7 tech demo!

It's enjoyable enough, but pretty basic in terms of gameplay. I don't think I'll go back to it when it's finished and it'll sit on my shelf with it's ugly box art forever.

Inviere

Inviere wrote: »

So having gotten pretty decent at Super Mario Bros, I've moved onto Super Mario Bros 2 (the Western version)...died at 1-3 Didn't bother continuing, it's gonna take a while to get used to this game...it's a very different Mario game, but seems relatively ok, if a bit samey.

Made it to 2-3 this time. It's not difficult, just silly mistakes on my part. Continuing puts you back at the start of the world though...boo

o1s1n

Princess Peach float your way through, easy peasy - I don't think I've actually played that game since Mario All-Stars was released, does it hold up at all?

Absolutely loving my PSP at the moment, completely hooked on GTA Chinatown Wars.

It did take my eyes a bit to get used to the lower resolutions after being absolutely spoiled by the Switch, was actually a little jarring at first.

But once they adjusted - wow, there really is an amazingly realised little city in that game. It's incredibly playable and fun.

bmorrissey

o1s1n wrote: »

Absolutely loving my PSP at the moment, completely hooked on GTA Chinatown Wars.

It did take my eyes a bit to get used to the lower resolutions after being absolutely spoiled by the Switch, was actually a little jarring at first.

But once they adjusted - wow, there really is an amazingly realised little city in that game. It's incredibly playable and fun.

Really good GTA game, i actually picked it up a few weeks back, i really gotta jump back into it, really fun game

Retr0gamer

o1s1n wrote: »

Princess Peach float your way through, easy peasy - I don't think I've actually played that game since Mario All-Stars was released, does it hold up at all?

I really like it. One of the more unique NES platformers and has way more weird in it than most other mario games.

DaveyDave

I'm looking forward to playing Chinatown Wars as I've never played it before. I knew it was on DS and then iOS later but didn't know it was on PSP until I bought it a while ago!

Inviere

o1s1n wrote: »

Princess Peach float your way through, easy peasy - I don't think I've actually played that game since Mario All-Stars was released, does it hold up at all?

Yep playing exclusively with Peach at the moment. It holds up in the sense that the game itself seems a fun & weird little game....it's just hard to judge it as a Mario game (because it isn't one really, it's essentially a romhack of another game).

o1s1n

bmorrissey wrote: »

Really good GTA game, i actually picked it up a few weeks back, i really gotta jump back into it, really fun game

DaveyDave wrote: »

I'm looking forward to playing Chinatown Wars as I've never played it before. I knew it was on DS and then iOS later but didn't know it was on PSP until I bought it a while ago!

The one oddity about playing it on the PSP over the DS is it still has all of the DS stylus type bits - but the movements have been changed over to work with the PSP controls. So to remove a screw from a panel, you rotate the analogue stick etc rather than using a stylus to screw it out. It kind of works and they did what they could, but those elements would definitely work better on a DS.

Inviere wrote: »

Yep playing exclusively with Peach at the moment. It holds up in the sense that the game itself seems a fun & weird little game....it's just hard to judge it as a Mario game (because it isn't one really, it's essentially a romhack of another game).

It was such an odd move, I'd love to have been in the Nintendo board room when they decided to do that. Must have thought they were going to print money when Mario 2 landed from Japan, freaked out when they played it and went through a rake of platformers to see if there was anything remotely similar that they could reskin.

Retr0gamer

That's pretty much how it went down according to Howard Philips.

He was asked to play the game to see if it would be suitable for release in America and was shocked at how hard it was and not much fun. Also he thought the game would be poorly received due to how dated the visuals were, at the time NES games had moved on massively in terms of graphics and complexity.

I think Doki Doki Panic was an easy one to pick as it was made by the SMB team and at the Time mario's platforming gameplay wasn't nailed to a particular style, he had stared in Donkey Kong, the single screen Mario Bros game before that and Wrecking Crew. So probably didn't seem that weird a decision.