Necro's game clears and mindless musings

[Necromancer]

Clear #24 - Cratermaze



A fun little game that's like a cross between Lode Runner and Bomberman - bury enemies alive from an overhead perspective or bomb 'em with the occasional, short lived bomb item (amongst other weapons).

The Good: bouncy tunes; fast pace; three difficulty levels with more, different enemies (clear it to unlock expert mode); plentiful temporary weapon items, freeze timers, speed downs, etc.; and short cinemas not found on many hueys

The Bad: only two bosses out of 60 stages; even on expert mode it's not terribly difficult; and occasionally two enemies will be directly on top of each other, leading to a cheap death (they can't both fall in the same hole)

The Ugly: NA

[esteban]

Not that you played the JP version, but:

DAMN! I don't think I've beaten this game? Can we compare this to the ending of the Japanese version? Are all the characters (in the image) the same (except our Protagonist, far-left, with the cute helmet)?

Doreamon is missing...but are the bosses the same?

I wonder  about these things. 

[Black Tiger]

In the scene where Doraemon is dreaming of a sideways vagina, his hands are animated to look like he is masturbating.

Cratermaze has the same soundtrack as the arcade, while Doraemon Meikyu Daisakusen has a new original soundtrack.

The final bosses are different. These shots are from The Brothers Duomazov-

[esteban]

Black_Tiger: I love all the screenshots/info! Is this from one of your unfinished projects?

I didn't expect the music to be different, now I want to compare the two. 

AND, I don't think I ever saw the arcade version! Damn.

[Necromancer]

Clear #25 - Order of the Griffon



A great huey RPG with a decent if predictable story line.  Don't listen to the 'all US exclusives suck' naysayers - it's well worth your time.

The Good: lots of different enemies requiring different plans of attack; dancing skeletons (yes, I'm easily entertained); good selection of different characters to pick from to build varying parties; plenty of spells, weapons, and armor to collect; D&D aficionados would surely prefer more control over the stats, but I liked not having to worry about what they all meant to battle outcomes - just load up the best goodies you can find and kick ass; and the dungeons are plenty big and take time to clear (but see below).

The Bad: the tunes cut out as soon as you attack; a few cheap spots where you can get insta-killed by entering the wrong room (save often); lots of attack misses, but at least enemies miss too (kinda like CF); an overly abrupt ending; and the dungeons are often quite maze like, repetitive looking, and long, forcing you to bust out the graph paper (or just download 'em).

The Ugly: the backgrounds look fine when you're moving around, but every room is empty and you only get a description of what's there.  There's a coffin in the corner?  Where?!?

[esteban]

The music cutting out, I remember that.

[_joshuaTurbo]

Clear #25 - Order of the Griffon

The Ugly: the backgrounds look fine when you're moving around, but every room is empty and you only get a description of what's there.  There's a coffin in the corner?  Where?!?

That's your DM explaining the situation!!  Use your imagination!

I think the music cutting out is my MAIN problem with the entire game.  I remember surveying the battle for long enough to hear the entire battle track.  It's a damn fine song too!!  It's a shame they got lazy and killed the music once someone made an attack...

[Necromancer]

That's your DM explaining the situation!!  Use your imagination!

Heh, I suppose so.  Still, they could've added a little variety in the scenery.


Clear #26 - Maison Ikkoku



The Good: decent if basic tunes and artwork; a few rather humorous moments, particularly with your 'girlfriend'; it's translated into English (one of only two such PCE digi-comic adventure games); and guest star Lummy!

The Bad: even in English there's stuff I don't understand - I presume reading the manual or watching the anime would help a lot; obscure goals; and an anti-climatic ending.

The Ugly: lots of ways to get a game over and no game save, just passwords.  Thankfully the passwords are easy to read and input, but you'll want to check a walkthrough to avoid dead ends and spending hours on the password screen.

[esteban]

Ha, never knew this had L'Anglican Church version. Interesting, perhaps...

[Necromancer]

Clear #27 - Motteke Tamago



A fun little game and a worthy addition to your multi-player party lineup, though it's a rung or two down from the greatness of Bomberman '93 / '94.

The Good: cute as a button, catchy tunes (choose between redbook and chippy), and a good variety of power ups to snag, dangers to avoid, and different modes to try.

The Bad: it's hard to win fights, a bit on the short side, and only three different worlds to visit.

The Ugly: Kinda pricey and no real case...... for now. 

[SuperPlay]

I loved the Maison Ikkoku Anime and I have also given this game some play, however I never managed to complete it.

Dam another one I need to go back to ;-)

[Necromancer]

Clear #28 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective



I like such games and luckily my memory has enough holes that I can come back every few years and relearn the particulars of each case.  The game is afoot!

The Good: sizable cast and nicely varied sets; pretty decent acting, especially by videogame standards; and some humorous bits, mostly from Holmes mocking my pathetic detective skills.

The Bad: while overall they're quite good for a very early FMV game, the videos are rather grainy and not exactly smooth; only three short cases to solve (it needs more cases and/or deeper plots requiring more detective work);  it uses high-res mode to shrink the videos, which might be a good thing making the videos smaller and hiding some of its flaws; and there's not much replay value - you can try to beat Holmes score, but where's the fun in skipping almost all of the videos?

The Ugly: a few videos would crash and automatically repeat (clean and unscratched disc). 

[Xak]

Necro do you have all your games complete? I would hope so if you took on such an ambitious goal. I know I made sure I had the best of the best when 'collecting'

[esteban]

Necro: I bought the DVD version of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula Unleashed but now I can't find the damn things. I'm afraid I accidentally stuck them with my regular DVD's (which are all crushed in box somewhere in the garage).

Anyway, I bought the DVD version because I was curious about the improved video quality (needless to say, it is superior to the TG-CD and Sega-CD version of Sherlock). The trade-off, though, is that the "cheapness" of the costumes/sets is more apparent on a full-screen. It's actually not that bad, production-wise, so my point is not to mock the production values, but, rather, to show the silver cloud has a rusted iron lining.  An obvious complaint: the awkward DVD controls/menus detract from the flow of the game (it's not a deal-breaker, mind you, it's just a shame). I'm sure this varies by DVD player...my DVD player is nothing fancy (Samsung DVD + VHS combo from a decade ago).

DUH! MOMENT: It never occurred to me to play DVD Sherlock/Dracula Unleashed in their entirety on my COMPUTER/laptop! I don't know why I never did that (I took screenshots at some point using my laptop, but that's it).

OH, NOW I REMEMBER: I played Sherlock DVD whilst taking care of my daughter and she would have destroyed the laptop if it was with arm's reach.

BOTTOM LINE: Necro, you're one of the few crazy bastards to play Sherlock.

[_joshuaTurbo]

Esty- Another 'DuH moment':  Play it on a PS2 or Xbox to gain the ability to play with a console controller!