Weekly Roundup
- Thread starter Ralfakick
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360
Gears 2 and 3 - fun to co-op this with the wife as she had only played the first. Good distraction of a game in between some larger nominees we have.
Switch
Kingdoms of Amalur - did the Dead Kel DLC and now I'm running around being an asshole in the world
Gears 2 and 3 - fun to co-op this with the wife as she had only played the first. Good distraction of a game in between some larger nominees we have.
Switch
Kingdoms of Amalur - did the Dead Kel DLC and now I'm running around being an asshole in the world
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- Dec 29, 2000
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Every time I see Kingdoms of Amalur cited, I'm reminded of how sad it is that the studio collapsed. The game itself may not have been unique to the fantasy genre, but a lot of talented creators came together to make it. We don't see this sort of thing anymore:
en.wikipedia.org
38 Studios - Wikipedia
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- Oct 1, 2013
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The universe is well crafted with a ton of backstory and more than enough to make a larger universe of games and lore, it's a shame that 38 studios got run into the ground to where it was impossible to make a profit. I'm hoping if there is enough interest with the remaster maybe a spinoff or sequel would be in the future.
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THQ Nordic bought Kingdoms of Amalur for $900,000. That came with the rights to the IP for Project Copernicus, which was the MMO using the same world and lore. Amalur was supposed to be an introduction to the MMO but, obviously, it never came about.
This is just an educated guess, but I wouldn't expect the MMO to ever get released. I think that business model is dead as new properties go, unless you're talking about flash in the pan 'free' MMOs but those are a dime a dozen and they die as quickly as they're born.
But that doesn't mean Amalur is dead as an IP. Well, I suppose that it IS dead in a business sense, currently. But THQ owns the IP and a new game is entirely possible if they want to do something with it.
This is just an educated guess, but I wouldn't expect the MMO to ever get released. I think that business model is dead as new properties go, unless you're talking about flash in the pan 'free' MMOs but those are a dime a dozen and they die as quickly as they're born.
But that doesn't mean Amalur is dead as an IP. Well, I suppose that it IS dead in a business sense, currently. But THQ owns the IP and a new game is entirely possible if they want to do something with it.
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- Jul 24, 2001
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Galaga (Atari 7800) - looks good, sounds good and plays excellent. It has been adapted to home console play, enemy ship speed starts rather slow and then ramps up in increments of five levels which also depends on your difficulty setting. All elements of the original are there, including most of the ship formations, but there also are some attack/bullet patterns that I haven't seen in other ports, some of which are hilariously mean. I'm a fan of the game since day one, played it tons in the arcade and became decent at it but playing it for a longer time can be quite exhausting, here's where the difficulty options of the 7800 game come in handy, Expert throws you right into the action with no-holds-barred arcade difficulty while Normal and Novice give you a way more relaxed experience that also lasts way longer.
Wipeout 2097 (PSX) and Wipeout Fusion (PS2) - IMO the Wipeout games have aged quite well, the PSX games including the first one are still very playable and fun, and of course the music is always a reason to come back to them. Fusion on the other hand is also still great to play but there's a much stronger emphasis on weapons, makes you feel like you're in Twisted Metal at times. It's fun, no doubt, and you can switch off weapons in the options menu if you so desire, I just wish they would be a bit more balanced. Other than that it's a great sequel, cool tracks with lots of challenging corners. Driving physics feel more like Wipeout 3 Special Edition with added speed, I still slightly prefer 2097 in that regard but I guess that's mostly because I've played it tons and parts of it became ingrained in my mind and muscle memory. Nice blast from the past.
Xevious 3D/G+ (PSX) - Back then I mostly bought it to have the original arcade versions on one disc, there's Xevious, Super Xevious and Xevious Arranged, as well as 3D/G which appeared in arcades in 1996. Technically, the ports of the older Xeviouses are good all things considered but scrolling is a tad bit jerky, dunno if that's a problem of the PAL version that I have, it's speed-corrected from what I can tell to make it run as fast as the original but there may be an issue with the vertical scrolling in 50Hz. It's noticeable but never really bothered me. 3D/G is fun to play, its flat-shaded polygons still look good, it has a lot of well-known enemies from the prequels but also new ones and also weapon powerups which caused a bit of debate since one of the main gameplay elements of the original Xevious was the limitation to a normal shot and bombs. It's also quite short, experienced shmup players won't have much trouble beating it in an hour or so on normal diff. The fun is still there for me, tho, gonna fire it up more often again. AFAIK the PSX release is the only official home port of 3D/G. Stay away from the JPN release that has lots of slowdown which got fixed in the US and EU versions.
Crisisbeat (PSX) - This is one hell of a game in a certain way. It's a 3D beat 'em up, the action takes place on a large cruise ship Dynamite Deka-style, terrorists have kidnapped blah, bleh, blubb with huge bomb, la-dee-da, and you gotta kill the big bad boss, you know the score. There are four characters, level bosses and the final evil mastermind himself, as well as hordes of minions for you to get rid of. Standard difficulty level is very low, basically the final boss it the only character that puts up a bit of a fight, normal enemies and even level bosses are nothing to be scared of, on the contrary, the super dumb AI leads to all sorts of funny and weird fights, you can literally run circles around them, poke them a bit here and there and that's about it. Still, the engine is really good, there are punches, kicks, jumping and sliding attacks and a Final Fight-style power attack useful for breaking free of a lock (which rarely happens). Enemies drop weapons and items which can be used against them, there's also lots of furniture and plant pots standing around which can be used as weapons. The game only has like five types of enemy characters, the camouflaged soldier, screaming girls, guys in suits with flamethrowers and some sort of ninjas, there are some dogs too and maybe one other enemy but overall the lineup is sparse. That said, the game is mindless fun, the Japanese voiceovers are hilariously bad and the Engrish is almost better than in Zero Wing, it's like guys with 70s mindset and 80s clothing in a 90s game. Not great in a serious kinda way but still very likeable, playable and good for a round or two, really shines in 2P, light one up, crack open a can, start playing and laugh your asses off, what are you waiting for
Wipeout 2097 (PSX) and Wipeout Fusion (PS2) - IMO the Wipeout games have aged quite well, the PSX games including the first one are still very playable and fun, and of course the music is always a reason to come back to them. Fusion on the other hand is also still great to play but there's a much stronger emphasis on weapons, makes you feel like you're in Twisted Metal at times. It's fun, no doubt, and you can switch off weapons in the options menu if you so desire, I just wish they would be a bit more balanced. Other than that it's a great sequel, cool tracks with lots of challenging corners. Driving physics feel more like Wipeout 3 Special Edition with added speed, I still slightly prefer 2097 in that regard but I guess that's mostly because I've played it tons and parts of it became ingrained in my mind and muscle memory. Nice blast from the past.
Xevious 3D/G+ (PSX) - Back then I mostly bought it to have the original arcade versions on one disc, there's Xevious, Super Xevious and Xevious Arranged, as well as 3D/G which appeared in arcades in 1996. Technically, the ports of the older Xeviouses are good all things considered but scrolling is a tad bit jerky, dunno if that's a problem of the PAL version that I have, it's speed-corrected from what I can tell to make it run as fast as the original but there may be an issue with the vertical scrolling in 50Hz. It's noticeable but never really bothered me. 3D/G is fun to play, its flat-shaded polygons still look good, it has a lot of well-known enemies from the prequels but also new ones and also weapon powerups which caused a bit of debate since one of the main gameplay elements of the original Xevious was the limitation to a normal shot and bombs. It's also quite short, experienced shmup players won't have much trouble beating it in an hour or so on normal diff. The fun is still there for me, tho, gonna fire it up more often again. AFAIK the PSX release is the only official home port of 3D/G. Stay away from the JPN release that has lots of slowdown which got fixed in the US and EU versions.
Crisisbeat (PSX) - This is one hell of a game in a certain way. It's a 3D beat 'em up, the action takes place on a large cruise ship Dynamite Deka-style, terrorists have kidnapped blah, bleh, blubb with huge bomb, la-dee-da, and you gotta kill the big bad boss, you know the score. There are four characters, level bosses and the final evil mastermind himself, as well as hordes of minions for you to get rid of. Standard difficulty level is very low, basically the final boss it the only character that puts up a bit of a fight, normal enemies and even level bosses are nothing to be scared of, on the contrary, the super dumb AI leads to all sorts of funny and weird fights, you can literally run circles around them, poke them a bit here and there and that's about it. Still, the engine is really good, there are punches, kicks, jumping and sliding attacks and a Final Fight-style power attack useful for breaking free of a lock (which rarely happens). Enemies drop weapons and items which can be used against them, there's also lots of furniture and plant pots standing around which can be used as weapons. The game only has like five types of enemy characters, the camouflaged soldier, screaming girls, guys in suits with flamethrowers and some sort of ninjas, there are some dogs too and maybe one other enemy but overall the lineup is sparse. That said, the game is mindless fun, the Japanese voiceovers are hilariously bad and the Engrish is almost better than in Zero Wing, it's like guys with 70s mindset and 80s clothing in a 90s game. Not great in a serious kinda way but still very likeable, playable and good for a round or two, really shines in 2P, light one up, crack open a can, start playing and laugh your asses off, what are you waiting for
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- Oct 1, 2013
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- 5,305
We took a break for a couple of weeks and are back at it
PS4
God of War 2018 - playing it at 4K60 on the PS5 and it looks and feels great to play. My wife had no context of anything God of War, and I've only played 1 and 2 on PS2 before and don't know much of the story besides its good. We're pretty hooked on the combat and just got to where the world opens up more.
PS4
God of War 2018 - playing it at 4K60 on the PS5 and it looks and feels great to play. My wife had no context of anything God of War, and I've only played 1 and 2 on PS2 before and don't know much of the story besides its good. We're pretty hooked on the combat and just got to where the world opens up more.
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- May 10, 2004
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- 7,012
Im still playing Like Dreamer on the switch, great for amateur shooter fans like me.
Game is just hard enough to not be discouraging.
Started Dragon Quest 5 on the DS.
We'll see how far I get before my typical RPG fatigue sets in and I give up.
Diesel Legacy on PS5.
I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this game, I probably played three hours straight last night.
VERY strong Metropolis vibe.
The last boss is literally the Hel automaton from the movie and is approaching SNK level frustrating.
Currently my favorite fighting game.
Game is just hard enough to not be discouraging.
Started Dragon Quest 5 on the DS.
We'll see how far I get before my typical RPG fatigue sets in and I give up.
Diesel Legacy on PS5.
I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this game, I probably played three hours straight last night.
VERY strong Metropolis vibe.
The last boss is literally the Hel automaton from the movie and is approaching SNK level frustrating.
Currently my favorite fighting game.
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- Dec 20, 2004
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- 47,312
Contra Force - the black sheep of the series (black sheep developed by Konami, anyway) and rightfully so. I still remember my first time playing this over 20 years ago and my jaw dropping due to the instant and constant slowdown. The entire game is in slowdown.
That said, I've beat it a couple times now with different characters so I can finally have a worthwhile opinion on it.
For one, the game is most famous for being developed not as a Contra, but under a different title (Arc Hound). That said, this game is still clearly a Contra in spirit. Call it Contra Gaiden or Contra 1992. Much like Predator 2 bringing the hunt from the jungle to the city, this is exactly what Contra Force did - coming from the jungle to the city, just no aliens whatsoever.
The Contra spirit is still there. One of my favorite little flourishes of the series is the amount of flips the character does when jumping, it turns them from human to something superhuman, and that flourish is here as well.
Aside from the obvious differences from this and other Contras - multiple characters each with their own weapons (which would later be revisited and implemented much more successfully in Hard Corps) is the big one - is the way enemies attack. Usually in other Contras there's a constant stream of foot soldiers just running towards you, but here enemies stay put for the most part and shoot at you instead. This changes the dynamic in a way, and is actually closer to how Metal Slug enemies are instead of Contra.
The weapon power up system is similar to Gradius, you collect power ups to change weapons. Two different special weapons, a weapon upgrade that gives an extra bullet, and finally invincibility while jumping. The last power-up again reminds me of what was used in Hard Corps (sliding through an enemy won't kill you), but here it actually broke the game and makes me think it could be one of the reasons Konami never released it in Japan - the power up is so game breaking, you can just go through each side-scrolling level jumping the entire time, because you also kill the enemies while jumping. Just hold down the jump button, and you can honestly jump through the whole stage. Power ups are easily milked by walking off-screen for them to reappear. I can appreciate the idea, but it's just bad game design to give that much power to the player.
There is some ridiculous platforming hampered by glitches in later stages which ruins the flow of the game later on. I really, really want to like this game and it reminds me a lot of Haunted Castle in that if given some time to fix all he programming errors, it could have easily been a classic. Easily.
The music is great and it even has some badass Contra moments (walking on top of the jets and going from one to another takes the cake, and the final level with the boss's entrance is also cool), but the constant slowdown and wonky platforming made this game DOA. It deserved better.
Side note, I think one of the coolest things is Contra Rebirth on Wii acknowledging this game's existence - and thus, welcoming it into canon - by using its character select music. That shows a lot of respect.
That said, I've beat it a couple times now with different characters so I can finally have a worthwhile opinion on it.
For one, the game is most famous for being developed not as a Contra, but under a different title (Arc Hound). That said, this game is still clearly a Contra in spirit. Call it Contra Gaiden or Contra 1992. Much like Predator 2 bringing the hunt from the jungle to the city, this is exactly what Contra Force did - coming from the jungle to the city, just no aliens whatsoever.
The Contra spirit is still there. One of my favorite little flourishes of the series is the amount of flips the character does when jumping, it turns them from human to something superhuman, and that flourish is here as well.
Aside from the obvious differences from this and other Contras - multiple characters each with their own weapons (which would later be revisited and implemented much more successfully in Hard Corps) is the big one - is the way enemies attack. Usually in other Contras there's a constant stream of foot soldiers just running towards you, but here enemies stay put for the most part and shoot at you instead. This changes the dynamic in a way, and is actually closer to how Metal Slug enemies are instead of Contra.
The weapon power up system is similar to Gradius, you collect power ups to change weapons. Two different special weapons, a weapon upgrade that gives an extra bullet, and finally invincibility while jumping. The last power-up again reminds me of what was used in Hard Corps (sliding through an enemy won't kill you), but here it actually broke the game and makes me think it could be one of the reasons Konami never released it in Japan - the power up is so game breaking, you can just go through each side-scrolling level jumping the entire time, because you also kill the enemies while jumping. Just hold down the jump button, and you can honestly jump through the whole stage. Power ups are easily milked by walking off-screen for them to reappear. I can appreciate the idea, but it's just bad game design to give that much power to the player.
There is some ridiculous platforming hampered by glitches in later stages which ruins the flow of the game later on. I really, really want to like this game and it reminds me a lot of Haunted Castle in that if given some time to fix all he programming errors, it could have easily been a classic. Easily.
The music is great and it even has some badass Contra moments (walking on top of the jets and going from one to another takes the cake, and the final level with the boss's entrance is also cool), but the constant slowdown and wonky platforming made this game DOA. It deserved better.
Side note, I think one of the coolest things is Contra Rebirth on Wii acknowledging this game's existence - and thus, welcoming it into canon - by using its character select music. That shows a lot of respect.
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- Sep 30, 2002
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Started playing Hades again.
I think it's safe to say this one of my favorite games of all-time.
I've cleared it so many times with so many different weapons/builds and it still never gets old to me.
I think it's safe to say this one of my favorite games of all-time.
I've cleared it so many times with so many different weapons/builds and it still never gets old to me.
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- Jul 24, 2001
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- 20,205
Wipeout Omega Collection (PS4/5) - Fast, great controls, it has all the tracks from HD and 2048, tons of ships and other stuff to unlock. Graphics are amazing, spent almost half an hour watching the attract mode with all those details, man, I so love that Designers Republic style. Got it for a tenner from a bargain bin.
3D Galax (Atari ST) - It's a very silly game but I love it just the same. Some sort of 3D in space Galaxian version where you fly at formations of alien ships in first person view and then have to clear wave after wave. Framerate goes down to like three frames/sec at times, hitting aliens feels kinda random but it's so friggin' colourful and fun, despite it's wacky gameplay. Aliens go whaaa screeeaam when you collide with them and the screen flashes like crazy, music is kinda cool, just damn funny, relaxing and exciting at the same time, great for like 20 mins of fun every now and then.
3D Galax (Atari ST) - It's a very silly game but I love it just the same. Some sort of 3D in space Galaxian version where you fly at formations of alien ships in first person view and then have to clear wave after wave. Framerate goes down to like three frames/sec at times, hitting aliens feels kinda random but it's so friggin' colourful and fun, despite it's wacky gameplay. Aliens go whaaa screeeaam when you collide with them and the screen flashes like crazy, music is kinda cool, just damn funny, relaxing and exciting at the same time, great for like 20 mins of fun every now and then.
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- Dec 29, 2000
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- 18,817
The messages when you die at the end are hysterical. Hades is pretty spectacular.
As for me, it's been:
PS5
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin-lots and lots
PC/MOBILE
Wizardry Variants: Daphne-This game is better than it has any right to be. It is a full blown entry in the series. If this wasn't a gatcha game, it would be well worth 30-40 bucks to own. And now that it's on Steam, you can link your progress with your mobile version so you don't even have to start over. Still has a few minor stability issues. Hope they get patched out. Doesn't seem to be isolated to mobile-when the crashes happen, they're always in the same places.
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- Sep 30, 2002
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Hades might be a perfect video game.
I've played it so much and really can't think of any negatives that aren't extremely nitpicky.
edit: Avowed (Xbox)
Man... this just did not click at all.
I gave it a few hours, but I hated the combat.
Just absolute hordes of enemies that all have Bullseye level of accuracy with their projectiles. The flow of combat would actually be really cool if you didn't constantly get pegged by a rock/arrow that you can't even see every five seconds.
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- Dec 20, 2004
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- 47,312
Mega Man X - haven't played through this since 2010. I think I remember it being more challenging. The most fun I had was getting the Hadouken. The dashing and jumping mechanic is quite possibly the most satisfying dashing in all of gaming, so kudos to Capcom for nailing it.
One thing that affected my feeling for the game is just how much of a bummer everything is. It was the 90s, X was the answer to keep up with the times and making the games more melodramatic, but the ending just kinda bummed me out. And realizing that the future in the DS Zero X series confirms the world is in a horrible, horrible place is just leaving me feeling blah.
One thing that affected my feeling for the game is just how much of a bummer everything is. It was the 90s, X was the answer to keep up with the times and making the games more melodramatic, but the ending just kinda bummed me out. And realizing that the future in the DS Zero X series confirms the world is in a horrible, horrible place is just leaving me feeling blah.
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- Jul 9, 2001
- Posts
- 4,963
3/23/25
I don’t usually play beat em ups often but I was in the mood for some recently
Analogue Pocket
Punisher
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Switch
Arcade Archives Warrior Blade Rastan 3
Tetris 99 New Skin
Retrobowl
Astro City Mini Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder
Dreamcast
Speed Devils
Daytona USA
Virtua Fighter 3
I don’t usually play beat em ups often but I was in the mood for some recently
Analogue Pocket
Punisher
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
Switch
Arcade Archives Warrior Blade Rastan 3
Tetris 99 New Skin
Retrobowl
Astro City Mini Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder
Dreamcast
Speed Devils
Daytona USA
Virtua Fighter 3
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2004
- Posts
- 6,240
Speed devils was just brought back online last week in case anyone wants to play!
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2004
- Posts
- 4,071
PS4
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 - lots of fun, even the absolute silliness of Fighting Evolution. Though I'm a little sad it's missing some of the extra modes from the console ports. Pretty small complaint, considering all the great fighters on here.
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 - lots of fun, even the absolute silliness of Fighting Evolution. Though I'm a little sad it's missing some of the extra modes from the console ports. Pretty small complaint, considering all the great fighters on here.
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2002
- Posts
- 16,971
Steam
City of the Wolves (Ranked and Casual matches)
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Lots of Power Stone matches and a bit of Plasma Sword, which is really silly and fun)
City of the Wolves (Ranked and Casual matches)
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Lots of Power Stone matches and a bit of Plasma Sword, which is really silly and fun)
