Necro's game clears and mindless musings

[Gredler]

I've been wanting to play this for a long time, thanks for sharing - now I want to play it even more!

 

[Necromancer]

Clear #100 – City Hunter



Triple digits!  It seemed rather fitting for my century mark to be community linked in some way, so here's another awesome translation from good guy cabbage.  If I ever go to South Korea (or if he ever visits cornland), the beers are on me.   

The Good:  lots of different weapons to find and use against a motley crew of enemies (tigers, flame thrower toting badasses, a minotor, etc.); the stages are big enough to be a bit challenging and require some exploring, but they're never so huge or convoluted that they become annoying or in need of mapping; kickass Sunsoft tunes (like Batman's); and sexy gals that you leer at and drool over.... somehow getting healed in the process.

The Bad:  it's rather short; there's not much variety or detail in the scenery; and while the enemies are cool overall, they're mostly the same group of baddies in each level.

The Ugly:  NA

[Mathius]

Thanks Cabbage!!! I used to own this for reals but never played it due to the moon runes. Gonna have to load up the 'ol Everdrive me thinks.

[Necromancer]

Clear #101 – Popful Mail



Since I started the first 100 clears with Falcom (Legend of Xanadu), I figured there's no better way to start the second 100 clears than with another Falcom goody!

The Good:  great tunes; three characters to switch between, each with their own special strengths - there's set of levels that separate the group, forcing you get familiar with each character; tons of voice work and lovely cut scenes; and cute Falcom sprites.

The Bad:  while some conversations have nice, big character portraits to watch, most are just long blocks of unskippable text; many areas are boring and empty or full of slow moving platforms you have to wait for; and the latter bosses ramp up the difficulty awfully fast, especially the final boss and his cheap insta-death bullshit.

The Ugly:  the flashing, seizure inducing title screen logo.

[Mathius]

Did you ever play the Sega CD version, Necro? If so, how do you think they compare?

[Necromancer]

I played it years ago, but from what I remember it's so different (more of a reimagining than a straight port) that it's hard to make a direct comparison.

I'd planned to play them back to back and post a tangential clear (like I did with Ys IV), but my Sega PAC apparently shit the bed.  It's gonna have to wait until the PAC returns from the chopspital.   

[Mathius]

I played it years ago, but from what I remember it's so different (more of a reimagining than a straight port) that it's hard to make a direct comparison.

I'd planned to play them back to back and post a tangential clear (like I did with Ys IV), but my Sega PAC apparently shit the bed.  It's gonna have to wait until the PAC returns from the chopspital.   

*writes down "chopspital" *

[Black Tiger]

Popful Mail is one of my favorite PCE games. It's hard to believe that it was published by NEC, because it has all of the polish, extra touches and magic of a top quality Hudson adaptation like Dawn of Ys. I suspect that Falcom made this version themselves, similar to the arrangement for Legend of Xanadu.

From what I've played of the computer versions, Falcom managed to create solid and fun gameplay based around choppy movement, much more successfully than the great job they did with the Ys III. If you glance at screenshots of the computer versions, the PCE port looks extremely faithful. It does capture everything good about the original, but the in-game assets are actually mostly or completely redrawn. The new pixelart is very well done with excellent color usage and they added a massive amount of animation to the sprites.

The jump from choppy movement to 60fps transforms the visuals, but they also fine tuned the gameplay to match. If you appreciate the battlling gameplay of Ys I & II and IV, then you'll love how Popfil Mail plays. Even though the perspective is radically changed, it feels like a natural evolution from those games. It's too bad that Ys III doesn't use this formula and a PCE version of Dragon Slayer IV with the same treatment would have been a dream come true.

Although some spots can feel tedius to explore the first time through and some bosses difficult to figure out, it's still better than it tends to be in the average game from this genre. Breaking the game into stages and hubs really cuts down on time wasted travelling around.

The cinemas feature top quality art complimented by polished pixelart, vibrant coloring and an unbelievable level of professional animation for a Super CD game. It's jarring to look at the Sega/Mega-CD cinemas after you're become accustomed to the PCE version.

The Mega-CD game was very ambitious but doesn't fully realize what the developer seemed to be shooting for. Much of the background assets look cool in screenshots, but lackluster on a crt with decent image quality. It could really benefit from a color hack. The heavy use of the Sega/Mega-CD soundchip is a neat gimmick, yet disappointing compared to what an FM/PSG soundtrack could have been.

The base gameplay is fine, but feels hollow and tedius and really needed better enemy layout and stage design to compliment it. It feels like the Sega-Falcom colaboration fizzled out during the development of the game and it's a shame that they didn't begin with Ys IV.

Don't bother with the Working Designed Sega-CD version. Either play the Japanese game or the de-Irelanding hack.

If you're interested in giving the PC Engine version a try, here is an ancient version of my guide:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/turbocd/563722-popful-mail-magical-fantasy-adventure/faqs

[Mathius]

Wow, BT, thanks! I have the US Sega CD release, and the PCE Arcade/Super CD though I haven't put much time into the latter. I'm afraid my opinion differs on the use of the Sega CD's soundchip in the "enhanced" Sega port. Similar to Snatcher, the chip music used in this version really takes me places and is perfect when enjoyed on a warm, breezy day. But, you've piqued my interest in the NEC port and I'll give it another go here soon. Have you seen any noticeable differences between Arcade Card and Super System Card usage? 

[xelement5x]

As is well known I'm a big Popful Mail fan, but I have to agree with Mathius about the SegaCD audio over the PCE version. Part of it could be my own nostalgia as well but I really like it.

I agree that the SegaCD version could use some better palette optimizations though, and that the US release is a bit overly difficult.  If you play the game enough it's not too bad, but the original difficulty makes the game much more fun to just pickup and play through quickly.  The real charm of the US version is the localization though in my opinion.  Some may have beef with how Victor Ireland did the translation but I enjoy it and think it makes the game more memorable.

[Necromancer]

Clear #102 - Dungeon Explorer 2



All the awesomeness of the first game and then some.   

The Good:  playing blackjack against the grim reaper for more lives; it's much longer and less linear than the first game, with many optional side quests and hidden stuff to find; some great chippy tunes and sweet redbook remixes of songs from DE1; oodles of distinct characters (many unlockable as you find them) that you can switch between in most any town, and some places are only accessible with the correct character, making you sample others which you might otherwise never try; lots of different enemies and big bosses; and fantastic, colorful, and well animated cut scenes with pretty decent voice work.

The Bad:  though never offensively ugly, the backgrounds are often repetitive, dark, and rather bland (similar to DE1); overall it's quite good, but the voice actors do tend to get a little overdramatic at times; and BE's (my favorite character, of course) upgraded weapon sound effect is so shrill and annoying that I end up turning down the volume.  Sorry, lil guy. 

The Ugly:  NA

[Mathius]

I agree with your assessment. For whatever reason, though competent it may be, the Redbook overworld theme doesn't thrill me the way the variety of OW themes do on the original chip version. And the whole game has a kind of depressing aura surrounding it in places but there's some rocking underworld themes there to compensate.

[MNKyDeth]

DE2 was always my go to game for showing off the system. The intro animation, the colors .... were not seen at the time.

One of my favorite games on the console to this day.

[Black Tiger]

DEII is overall a top quality game and only nitpicked minor things are disappointing to me by contrast. I love the visuals as-is, but the chip sound quality is so basic compared to the original game and the 3D/echo/reverb effects are gone.

The localization is as good as anything Working Designs has done, but the main villain is even more annoying than Ghaleon in Lunar Silver Star. The last boss was kind of a letdown, since you're supposed to be fighting a giant, but there are lots of memorable boss fights throughout the game.

The music and cinemas are great, but some of the redbook covers of bgms from the first game used different instrumentation than I'd imagined since I mastered the original years earlier.

I found the game in my mailbox when I came home from highschool for lunch. I didn't go back to school that day. I made the decision the moment the title screen appeared after those two intro cinemas.

I love BE, who instantly became my favorite character between the two games and I always imagined him as a sentient toaster.

[Necromancer]

DE2 was always my go to game for showing off the system. The intro animation, the colors .... were not seen at the time.

Heck yeah.  There's some super fancy opening cinemas in latter day PCE games, but DE2 is near the top in coolness among US games; only Ys is better hands down.

I love BE, who instantly became my favorite character between the two games and I always imagined him as a sentient toaster.

Ha!  With wings, like an escapee from after dark.