(2/14/2016 - 2/20/2016) Game of the Week: Dragon's Curse

[Black Tiger]

You have to get the passwords from the church before you die.

Some chests you can only grab once at all or once per save/password load.

[Lost Monkey]

i havent played this in a while.  i seem to remember having no problems at all when i played it on my TGCD unit, but when i try it on just my standard deck i am not getting the extra heart container on the other side of the pyramid (the chest is empty) and its not even showing me the continue code when i die.  what am i missing here?  does it have something to do with playing it without a built in save feature?

Don't forget to break the walls in that room on the other side of the pyramid.

Played this through a few weeks ago for the "beat all games in 2016" thread.
Loads of fun and pretty smooth difficulty curve.  I did find myself having to do a lot of treasure hunting to buy armour.   

I think I died 7 or 8 times on the last boss though.  I kept getting to it with very little life.

I have had this game since the early 90's and this was only the second time I beat it.  I often play it though, just from the beginning for an hour or so.  I love the music! 

[EmperorIng]

The last boss is probably the hardest part of the game, and its most frustrating part, because of how long it stun-locks you if you happen to get hit by it.

Unless there is a secret cheese strategy I am not aware of. E.G., magic, which I never bothered too much with in the latter half of the game (seemed overall ineffective).

[spawnshop]

I've been meaning to pick this up and play it before this week.   Haven't gotten a copy yet.
May end up getting the PCE version and try to play through that.
Looks great though.

[schweaty]

i havent played this in a while.  i seem to remember having no problems at all when i played it on my TGCD unit, but when i try it on just my standard deck i am not getting the extra heart container on the other side of the pyramid (the chest is empty) and its not even showing me the continue code when i die.  what am i missing here?  does it have something to do with playing it without a built in save feature?

Figured it out:  in my haste, i neglected to grab the second heart container in town.  if you dont get that heart first, the chest on the other side of the pyramid will be empty.  the more you know...

[o.pwuaioc]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

[o.pwuaioc]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

There's no way I'm listening to that annoying text noise for 30 seconds let alone seven minutes.

This is why I'm pissed at the move to Youtube reviews. If it's not written, it's not worth paying attention to it.

[Black Tiger]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

WBIII runs at 30fps and has a bunch of hidden exclusive end-game bonus content/replay value.

AI/Dragon's Curse runs at 60fps like normal 2D games, supports back up saves and still has the passwords.

So if gameplay makes a difference, then FEKA isn't the best version.

[esteban]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

I love the FEKA version.  It was the first one I played.

When this was released, I wasn't sure if it was much of an upgrade... but the TG-16 version is really sweet, and just slightly more charming (that's right, the bastard is more charming than the original—I include character designs here...I know FEKA fans hate hearing this, but the character designs for PCE are quite nice).

...but, I have gone back to both, equally, to replay over the years.

BOTH ARE WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE.

[grolt]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

I love the FEKA version.  It was the first one I played.

When this was released, I wasn't sure if it was much of an upgrade... but the TG-16 version is really sweet, and just slightly more charming (that's right, the bastard is more charming than the original—I include character designs here...I know FEKA fans hate hearing this, but the character designs for PCE are quite nice).

...but, I have gone back to both, equally, to replay over the years.

BOTH ARE WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE.

I realize this is entirely subjective, but I prefer the FEKA soundtrack to the TG-16 version.  I find the melodies in the TG-16 version are muffled and overpowered by the percussion.  The FEKA version is one of my favorite chiptune soundtracks, so that's why the SMS version usually wins out for me.  The graphical differences are pretty negligible (same goes for the other Wonder Boy ports between the two systems) all told.

[lukester]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

I love the FEKA version.  It was the first one I played.

When this was released, I wasn't sure if it was much of an upgrade... but the TG-16 version is really sweet, and just slightly more charming (that's right, the bastard is more charming than the original—I include character designs here...I know FEKA fans hate hearing this, but the character designs for PCE are quite nice).

...but, I have gone back to both, equally, to replay over the years.

BOTH ARE WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE.

I realize this is entirely subjective, but I prefer the FEKA soundtrack to the TG-16 version.  I find the melodies in the TG-16 version are muffled and overpowered by the percussion.  The FEKA version is one of my favorite chiptune soundtracks, so that's why the SMS version usually wins out for me.  The graphical differences are pretty negligible (same goes for the other Wonder Boy ports between the two systems) all told.

idk man, PCE version has a much better frame rate. It's very noticeable and smooth.

Not having to write down long passwords is great too. What does "muffled percussion" mean?

[esteban]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

I love the FEKA version.  It was the first one I played.

When this was released, I wasn't sure if it was much of an upgrade... but the TG-16 version is really sweet, and just slightly more charming (that's right, the bastard is more charming than the original—I include character designs here...I know FEKA fans hate hearing this, but the character designs for PCE are quite nice).

...but, I have gone back to both, equally, to replay over the years.

BOTH ARE WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE.

I realize this is entirely subjective, but I prefer the FEKA soundtrack to the TG-16 version.  I find the melodies in the TG-16 version are muffled and overpowered by the percussion.  The FEKA version is one of my favorite chiptune soundtracks, so that's why the SMS version usually wins out for me.  The graphical differences are pretty negligible (same goes for the other Wonder Boy ports between the two systems) all told.

idk man, PCE version has a much better frame rate. It's very noticeable and smooth.

Not having to write down long passwords is great too. What does "muffled percussion" mean?

The melodies are not as prominent in TG16 version. Especially when playing the game, with sound effects, the melodies can get lost...GROLT also feels that, if he were the engineer mastering the final mix...he would lower the volume of the percussion (drums) for the same reason (to put more emphasis on the melody).

Personally, I like both PCE and SMS versions of the songs.

I maintain that there are two ways to judge a soundtrack:

(1) In the game itself.

(2) In isolation.

A lot of games that perform well for #1 (Gradius, Metroid for example), are not nearly as captivating for #2. #1 is far more challenging to successfully execute, in my opinion, because the music becomes part of the overall soundscape and *atmosphere* of the game. It is easy to make mistakes here (it is similar to adding background music to a scene in a film...there are many ways to mess it up).

So, GROLT is persuasively arguing that SMS provides the better *gaming experience* (the proper mix of song vs. SFX whilst running around).

Personally, I think that the PCE tunes can certainly hold their own in the game itself, but I think that GROLT and I might agree that the nuances and subtleties in the PCE tunes could better be appreciated as #2 (isolation). This is assuming that GROLT can deal with the overbearing drums.

So, to be fair to GROLT, since he emphasized actually playing the damn game, we could not simply listen to both soundtracks "side-by-side".

No, a better approach would be to *play* the games side-by-side and see if it makes a difference.

[grolt]

I have this on a FEKA system instead of the PC Engine. Can anyone point to a good run down of the differences between the two? Any reason beyond "because FEKA" for why I might have the wrong version?

I love the FEKA version.  It was the first one I played.

When this was released, I wasn't sure if it was much of an upgrade... but the TG-16 version is really sweet, and just slightly more charming (that's right, the bastard is more charming than the original—I include character designs here...I know FEKA fans hate hearing this, but the character designs for PCE are quite nice).

...but, I have gone back to both, equally, to replay over the years.

BOTH ARE WORTHY OF YOUR LOVE.

I realize this is entirely subjective, but I prefer the FEKA soundtrack to the TG-16 version.  I find the melodies in the TG-16 version are muffled and overpowered by the percussion.  The FEKA version is one of my favorite chiptune soundtracks, so that's why the SMS version usually wins out for me.  The graphical differences are pretty negligible (same goes for the other Wonder Boy ports between the two systems) all told.

idk man, PCE version has a much better frame rate. It's very noticeable and smooth.

Not having to write down long passwords is great too. What does "muffled percussion" mean?

The melodies are not as prominent in TG16 version. Especially when playing the game, with sound effects, the melodies can get lost...GROLT also feels that, if he were the engineer mastering the final mix...he would lower the volume of the percussion (drums) for the same reason (to put more emphasis on the melody).

Personally, I like both PCE and SMS versions of the songs.

I maintain that there are two ways to judge a soundtrack:

(1) In the game itself.

(2) In isolation.

A lot of games that perform well for #1 (Gradius, Metroid for example), are not nearly as captivating for #2. #1 is far more challenging to successfully execute, in my opinion, because the music becomes part of the overall soundscape and *atmosphere* of the game. It is easy to make mistakes here (it is similar to adding background music to a scene in a film...there are many ways to mess it up).

So, GROLT is persuasively arguing that SMS provides the better *gaming experience* (the proper mix of song vs. SFX whilst running around).

Personally, I think that the PCE tunes can certainly hold their own in the game itself, but I think that GROLT and I might agree that the nuances and subtleties in the PCE tunes could better be appreciated as #2 (isolation). This is assuming that GROLT can deal with the overbearing drums.

So, to be fair to GROLT, since he emphasized actually playing the damn game, we could not simply listen to both soundtracks "side-by-side".

No, a better approach would be to *play* the games side-by-side and see if it makes a difference.

He gets me

[Black Tiger]

I think that the difference in sound is more a result of the stereo/speakers being used when you play the games. A few sound channels using simple sounds with limited range, all in mono, aren't affected much by lower quality speakers.

Nostalgia is likely a major factor as well, because if you play both games on real hardware with decent speakers, you'll hear that the sound effects in the PSG version of WBIII regularly drown out the music altogether and single sound effects either replace an instrument track or simply overpower them. The sound is balanced in the Turbo/PCE version, so that when sound effects happen, even more than one, you still hear the music and it doesn't sound or feel like the bgm is constantly being interupted.

[esteban]

I think that the difference in sound is more a result of the stereo/speakers being used when you play the games. A few sound channels using simple sounds with limited range, all in mono, aren't affected much by lower quality speakers.

Nostalgia is likely a major factor as well, because if you play both games on real hardware with decent speakers, you'll hear that the sound effects in the PSG version of WBIII regularly drown out the music altogether and single sound effects either replace an instrument track or simply overpower them. The sound is balanced in the Turbo/PCE version, so that when sound effects happen, even more than one, you still hear the music and it doesn't sound or feel like the bgm is constantly being interupted.

Well, admittedly, I haven't played the SMS version or PCE version recently.

If the SFX for SMS WBIII cut out a channel of sound (which many games for NES/SMS did)... then I concede to your point for judging the soundtrack * in game* (scenario #1).

As an aside: IIRC, Dragon Spirit for PCE does the same thing (cutting out a channel of song to allow simultaneous SFX for fun and bomb)...and because I love so many of the songs in Dragon Spirit, I always wished I could turn off the bomb and/or gun SFX.

Too many games prioritized weapon SFX (and made the volume too loud), to the detriment of the soundtrack.