Necro's game clears and mindless musings

[Necromancer]

I actually stopped playing the Sega CD version a few years back, because it was so borked in difficulty.

Heh, it's not that bad.  Ya gotta try it again with the patch; it's worth it!


Clear #118 - Cleopatra's Curse



Another damn good homebrew game.  Y'all better snag a copy and give some play time!

The Good:  lots of exploration in multiple big areas/levels; many items to find and buy; several different enemies and bosses with well varied attacks; a decent challenge and fairly long game; and two endings.

The Bad:  some of the whip swinging feels cheap as hell, particularly when you fall to your death from a missed swing; a few glitchy (stuck) tiles are annoying but at least they don't affect gameplay; you can't really re-explore the dark areas (no torches); and the 'bad' ending is too short at just a single screen and no credit roll.

The Ugly:  DickfaceTAS!   

Edit - I was incorrect; after completing the whole dark area and able to exit, the lights come on and you can explore to your heart's content. 

[roflmao]

Another damn good homebrew game.  Y'all better snag a copy and give some play time!

The Good:  lots of exploration in multiple big areas/levels; many items to find and buy; several different enemies and bosses with well varied attacks; a decent challenge and fairly long game; and two endings.

The Bad:  some of the whip swinging feels cheap as hell, particularly when you fall to your death from a missed swing; a few glitchy (stuck) tiles are annoying but at least they don't affect gameplay; you can't really re-explore the dark areas (no torches); and the 'bad' ending is too short at just a single screen and no credit roll.

The Ugly:  DickfaceTAS!   

Congrats!

I need to get back to this! Every time I sit down with it, I feel like I'm getting a little farther. It's no cakewalk, though.

Using a six-button controller really helps out, imo.

[Necromancer]

Clear #118.5 - Cleopatra's Curse Demo



If you haven't bought this yet (and what the fuck are you waiting for?!?), at least play the demo.  It gives you a great taste of what the whole game is like, being nearly the first third of the game in its entirety.

[Necromancer]

Clear #119 - Bomberman '94



The Good:  fantasticly fun and bouncy tunes; much more variety in map layouts (no more basic grids) with great detail and animations (the wavy screen and swimming fishes are my favorite), and there's even a few interactive elements in the background (mine cart rides, barrel smashes, etc); cute little kangaroos to ride on, though they're mostly only good for absorbing one hit; cool but not terribly tough bosses; and the best multiplayer vs. experience with lots of maps, environment hazards, and different Bomberman types with differing play styles (when computer controlled).

The Bad:  it feels rather short, though longplays show all three games with similar completion times; you can cheap out and not kill all enemies before exiting each level, making the game even easier; and I can't help but feel bad about blowing up poor 'roo eggs.

The Ugly:  going back to replay earlier worlds and finding out that you can't leave....

[Necromancer]

Clear #120 - Madou Monagatari



New year, new clear!  It's too bad this sweet little dungeon crawler is so expensive, but you're going to need to burn a CDR to play supper's fantastic translation patch anyway.

The Good:  full screen, decently animated, nicely detailed, and colorful cut scenes; oodles of different enemies, ranging from cute to gruesome; simplified status system that fits well with the theme, where most stats are unknown though your health is revealed in Arle's facial expressions and your XP is shown on a ribbon that progressively changes color as you near leveling up; and this has got to be one of the funniest, most adorable games around, with the teasing dialog, oft cute enemies, and darling attacks like mini-elephants and sleep, where Arle dons a charming sheep costume and blows a horn to send tiny little sheep at the enemy for them to count and subsequently fall asleep.

The Bad:  some extra grinding needed near the end, but few RPGs don't have some grinding, usually lots more; one overly obtuse puzzle on Floor 4; there's a lot of items that don't seem to have any real use, like toothpicks and crayon boxes; and it's almost too cute, making me feel a bit bad about killing some enemies (especially puyos).

The Ugly:  Drunk Tanuki and his big hairy sack which he pulls up over himself as a Scrotal Barrier - now I'm no prude, but this perv really doesn't fit the character of the rest of the game, nor does it seem appropriate when the protagonist is a six year old girl.

[Necromancer]

Clear #121 - Sol Moonarge



Another clear from the GotM thread.   

I don't know if Irem made any other RPGs, but this one sure is nice.  Check it out some time!

The Good:  pleasant if forgettable music; the overworld is meh, but dungeons, battle backgrounds, character designs, and cut scenes all look great - colorful, detailed, and often silly and humorous; a day/night cycle that adds a little extra depth, requiring you to visit some locations at both times; a handful of cool graphical tricks (scaling/rotation/warping) with my favorite being the character sprites when viewed through the beakers; there's some good variety in gameplay, with some areas being typical RPG overhead and some being side scrolling platformers (but no jumping and attacks are still random), as well as a couple of mini-game like spots where you don an animal suit to complete a task using that animal's skills; and don't miss the omake section (a code is given in the credits) where you can replay tunes and cutscenes and watch a couple of funny animated sketches.

The Bad:  the intro has English and Japanese voiceovers played simultaneously for some odd reason; it's not terribly gaijin friendly, so you'll need to use google translate and/or bumble around until you figure out the next step; slower than necessary battles due to attack animations and group attacks (watch the animation 4x), which is particularly frustrating in the final battle; and the enemies will all too often get to sneak attack and get a free round of attacks before you can do anything.

The Ugly:  an annoyingly high encounter rate (CF2 levels), where you'll be attacked within seconds of exiting the previous battle.

[Necromancer]

Clear #122 - Speccies2



A fun little homebrew puzzler from Galahad.  Give it a shot if you crave some quick puzzley action.

The Good:  a decent challenge that ramps up slowly but never feels frustrating.

The Bad:  no tunes or sound effects, and it doesn't take long to complete.

The Ugly:  NA

[esteban]

I totally forgot about this thread.

Ha! It's heartwarming that this is still going...

It also makes me wonder why i spend so much time trying to beat Raiden PCE CD (i can't, just can't, beat this *extended* game) instead of playing other games.

I could definitely have beaten 5-6 games during my recent ___ weeks of masochism (too ashamed to reveal it's been 5-6 weeks).

[Necromancer]

Thanks, estebanjo.  I was pretty shit at adding new clears last year, but hopefully I can step up my game this year.


Clear #92.5 - Private Eye Dol with translation patch

With a bad ass translation patch from good guy supper, this game is made even better.  The interrogation at the end is still kinda derpy, but overall it's not too tough to keep progressing.  In typical supper fashion, pretty much everything is translated (or with subs), so make sure you leave no stone unturmed, including the hidden debug and omake sections.  You need to watch Motoko in the shower one more time anyway, right?   

[Necromancer]

Clear #123 - Vax



Here's another great homebrew release, with lots of extra value.  Besides Vax, you get three other games on the disc and a rerelease of Implode on its own disc. 

The Good:  the hero cat, NN9, is too cute for anyone to not want to help; rockin' tunes; the action is quick and can get a little frantic; there's only 50 randomly generated and quickly beaten stages, so it's different each play through and doesn't get tedious; and the end cutscene and credit scroll are very nicely done.

The Bad:  the 50 stages are enough, but it could use a better ramp in difficulty - some stages are pretty tough and some are rather easy, but it's doesn't seem to matter if you're on level 4 or level 40 for which end of the spectrum you'll get;  the end scene is great, but there's no attract intro or anything in game to push the story before then; and there's little variety in enemy types or scenery throughout.

The Ugly:  the end is depressing as fuck, even more so with the passing of BT and knowing that a sequel (and NN9 salvation) will never happen now.

Here are my quick thoughts on the other three games:

Zar's - a Yar's Revenge clone that is kinda slow and I suck at something fierce
Wave of Thunder - an addictive score based game where you pilot a boat up stream and try to stay afloat as long as possible, avoiding obstacles by steering and sometimes jumping over them
Slope Dope - a similarly addictive scoring game, but this time you're skiing downhill and avoiding all the trees, bears, etc.

[Paranoia Dragon]

Yeah I completely missed out on this one. Didn't know it was released till months layer, and then BT passed away. So when. I went to order it, I kept getting a refund until they finally told the owner had passed, so they're  not fulfilling any more orders. Maybe I can find one on ebay someday. It'd be nice to have his final release.

[Necromancer]

Yarr, that's unfortunate.  Hopefully one of the other guys he worked with over the years can someday make a deal with BT's family to buy out the stock and rights.  I'd hate to see the goodies fade away.   

[Paranoia Dragon]

I have one guy on the Evercade Discord offering to grab me a copy of a place called Turbo Town, he says Nathan McClaine is selling off copies there. That name sounds familiar. I want to say he either did the music for some of their games or graphics? Did Fragmare do gfx for Mindrec games, I want to say that he did at least for some of them. Maybe that's him?

[Necromancer]

I don't know what he helped on, but his name is in the credits for Vax and Hypernova Blast.

[_joshuaTurbo]

I have one guy on the Evercade Discord offering to grab me a copy of a place called Tuebo Town, he says Nathan McClaine is selling off copies there. That name sounds familiar. I want to say he either did the music for some of their games or graphics? Did Fragmare do gfx for Mindrec games, I want to see that he did at least for some of them. Maybe that's him?

I actually know Nathan, he's a good dude. If you want help in reaching out to him, I know I can PM you some details on how to get copies of Mindrec stuff.