I haven't played the Road Rash series since . . . 3 on the Genesis, as I recall. It was a fun enough game, but I was reeeeeeally bad at it.
Anyway, here are my hints for the next game:
1) It's a Game Boy Color game
2) It's a puzzle platformer
3) Hammers may be involved
4) It is an entry in a long running Irem series
5) It may involve evil bathhouse remodeling projects
Daiku no Gen San - Biox / Gaps - 2000 - Puzzle Platformer
I looooooooove puzzle games, I really do, especially when falling blocks are only minimally involved. I first came across Daiku back in 2003 when PentarouZero released a patch for it, and, after looking at the screenshots, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did, because over a decade later it still remains one of my favorite GBC games.
The premise is rather simple: you have three hammers with special effects and you must use them to navigate stages. One hammer turns enemies into blocks, and pushes said blocks, which are used to reach higher platforms and press buttons; the second hammer destroys enemies and blocks, allowing you to effectively 'reset' puzzles for the most part, and is magnetic; and the final hammer enrages foes so they chase you, allowing you to get them into positions otherwise impossible. Aside from these basic traits, hammers can also be pogoed on as well, which can be used to cross spikes.
Stages also have bonus stars to collect. They don't really do anything, but finding them all adds an enjoyable challenge to the experience, which is otherwise fairly easy.
So, if you are up for a fun little puzzle game on the GBC, I fully recommend giving this title a try. It's easy to pick up and figure out, not too big an investment to play through, it has an easy to find English patch, and you get to whack stuff with hammers! What could be more worth your time? It isn't Pokemon (or Dragon Warrior III), but for the GBC it is totally . . .
an awesome game you should know about.
PS: If you do pick this game up and like it, it was followed up with Samurai Kid a year later, which is basically the same game mechanically with a new character and puzzles. Check that one out too!
I used to be so bad at Road Rash the game gave me training wheels.
I'm not even joking, there's a cut-scene that plays showing a bunch of people adds training wheels to your bike if you come in last place or something. It was hilarious.
Now I'm finishing at first place. All it takes is practice.
It's a PS1 game that plays similar to Gunstar Heroes except it has a bit of a Ikuruga mechanic where the character switches colors and their abilities only work on certain enemies. It's pretty quirky and difficult if you're not used to old side-scroller style arcade games.
Imagine a quirky fighting game where all the characters were just anime cliches and tropes duking it out and you basically have this game in a nutshell. It's pretty simplistic for a fighter but has a unique combat mechanic where characters use special powers to fire projectiles and do throws across the room from the opponent. The hammy dialogue and VA work makes it even more enjoyable.
Most people who grew up in the PS1 era probably remember Parappa the Rapper, and they may even remember that it got a sequel on the PS2. What some don't realize is that Parappa real sequel was this other PS1 game about Lammy learning to believe in herself and try her best to make it to a concert. The music is fun the gameplay is an improvement over Parrapa and it's quirky as all hell.
Silhouette Mirage is such a fun game, especially beating the lunch money out of enemies! >: D
Um Jammer Lammy is my favorite game in the Parappa series, and Fire! Fire! is tied with Flea Market for my favorite song too. It was especially awesome being able to play through as Parappa after you finished the game with his own story and versions of the songs, though I don't think any of his songs were as good as Lammy's.
1) It's a respectably well known ROM Hack of Sonic 1
2) It has versions on both the Sega Genesis and Sega CD
3) Has 5 playable characters, four of whom are from later series' entries
Pretty crappy hints, I know, but it's the best I could think of. Curious what it is?
Hopefully you were.
Sonic the Hedgehog: Megamix - Team Megamix - 2008 - 2D platformer
So, (16-bit) Sonic 2 might be my favorite game of all time, and its great mix of color, speed, platforming, responsive controls, and, for the time, challenge firmly placed me on the path to becoming the gamer I am today. It doesn't stand alone in its series either, as Sega did excellent work on all of the main titles of the time -- 8 and 16-bit Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, ect. It's hardly any wonder the series has garnered the almost fervent fanbase that it has. However, past the Genesis era the series gets a bit sketchy for some people, and enough seem to insist that Sega have lost their charm when it comes to the franchise. Personally, I thought Sonic 4 and Generations were rather good, S4:E1's odd physics aside, and SA2 is one of my favorite games in the franchise, but to each their own.
Fortunately, what some people say Sega has lost when it comes to the franchise many fans are willing to see if they have, and the Genesis Sonic games are some of the most hack-rich waters a person could ever hope to dive into. There are tons of interesting and cool ROM hacks of the games floating about, from attempts to recreated Sonic 2 as it was meant to be to hacks pulling characters from television shows I . . . honestly didn't think anyone watched. (Seriously, people watched Sonic Underground?! O: ) There are also hacks based around amusing or interesting ideas and nothing else, like playing all of the stages backwards or making rings dangerous (if not fatal) to collect. Of all the hacks I've tried though, I feel that Sonic Megamix is still, all these years later, easily among the best the fan community has to offer.
The game itself is an extensive ROM hack of the original 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog, with all of the stages remade with new layouts, enemy placements, and music. It also features five playable characters with different abilities: Sonic has access to the Super Peel Out from Sonic CD and the Light Speed Dash and Homing Attacks from the 3D games; Tails can fly like in Sonic 3; Knuckles can climb walls and glide; Shadow can double jump and consume rings for an immediate speed boost; and Mighty the Armadillo has access to the shield abilities from Sonic 3, as well as the ability to store said shields in a small inventory for later use. There are even a few attempts, depending on the version you are playing, to add new bosses to the game. Combined, these features make Megamix a fantastic reworking of the original experience, and the game is more than just retreading familiar ground with new faces.
The best part of the hack, however, doesn't come from any of these elements. It comes from the fact that the game, on top of looking and controlling like a Genesis Sonic title due to its hack nature, also feels like classic a Sonic game, at least to me. I often feel that stages are poorly designed in a lot of hacks I try, with far too many irritating or inconsequential enemy or platform placements, or hyper linear stages that don't feel like they offer the usual right-low route options or appropriate platforming / navigating found in many earlier Sonic games. All of these things Megamix just seems to do right. I may slam headfirst into an enemy from time to time, but that happened in Sonic 2 as well (hello, random praying mantis bot), and it isn't a constant occurrence. Sometimes the platforming gets rather . . . odd, but I never found it annoying at all. It drives every nail home where it needs to, and that's rare in ROM hacks and fan games.
Something else interesting about the hack, along with the different characters there are also multiple versions, with V3 on the Genesis and V4 on the Sega CD being the most important two. The Genesis version is the most stable and super easy to pick up due to its small file size, while the Sega CD version has some . . . amusing bugs and is a larger download. The stages between the games are different, as is the music, and it might be worth checking out both to see which you enjoy more, though, despite the bugs, I prefer the Sega CD version, since I feel the stages flow better. That might just be me though. Additionally, there is supposedly work on a new version of the hack, which looks awesome, though there's no word on when it will be released. It's been a long time a'coming. Still, it's something to keep watch for, since it will no doubt be completely amazing like the previous releases have been.
Anyway, what it all comes down to is . . . if you like classic Sonic games, you need to pick up Megamix and give it a fair shot. It's a great Sonic game and, provided one keeps in mind its origins and that it will be reusing assets from Sonic 1 and not offering new ones, is on par with the other main title games on the Genesis. It's a real testament to the quality of games a dedicated fan community can create, and while it isn't as impressive as Sonic 2 *coughcoughunfairbiascough*, or Sonic 3 for that matter, it is still a lot of fun and also remains . . .
an awesome game you should know about
(especially if you grab v4 on the Sega CD)
And, from someone who will do more justice to the game than I ever will:
(Keep in mind this review is from early 2012)
Imagine a quirky fighting game where all the characters were just anime cliches and tropes duking it out and you basically have this game in a nutshell. It's pretty simplistic for a fighter but has a unique combat mechanic where characters use special powers to fire projectiles and do throws across the room from the opponent. The hammy dialogue and VA work makes it even more enjoyable.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! More people need to play this, this game is fantastic.
I must admit, the love for Evil Zone I've been encountering lately is rather surprising. I didn't think most people managed to get past the control scheme. :o
It's good though, because whenever I talk about Evil Zone I am invariably reminded of another game, and it turns out that other game is something totally worth sharing. So, here are my hints and let's see if anyone can guess it.
1) It's a Dreamcast game
2) It's developed by Capcom
3) It's a fighting game
4) It may contain giant robots.
Tech Romancer - Capcom / Capcom - 1998 - 3D fighting game
This. Game. I bought my Dreamcast for this game. Well, it and The Last Blade 2 anyway. When all was said and done and I finally sold my Dreamcasts and game collection a while back, this was the only game I truly regretted parting with. It looks great, controls great, has enjoyable story modes, tons of unlockables, spiffy stages -- everything about this game was well done, and I've always felt terrible knowing how overlooked it is in Capcom's library, especially considering Cyberbots manages to get love from time to time.
So, what about this game makes it like Evil Zone? Well, what's really striking about both titles is the way they try to capture the feeling of playing an anime, and that they do it in rather similar ways. This is first apparent in character designs, with Evil Zone's inspired by action-based anime characters and Tech Romancer's by famous mecha designs. It's really awesome being an anime buff and spotting what inspired each element in the games. The second is in how story mode is presented, as both games use each fight as an 'episode', complete with title cards. Evil Zone has a bit more fun here, I feel, but Tech Romancer's stories are more diverse. The third is how the fights try to capture more dynamic elements from the medium, like running while fighting in Evil Zone and using buildings for (short lived) cover in Tech Romancer. Evil Zone, on the whole, implements this a lot more than Tech Romancer does, but I find it is less . . . obtrusive in Romancer. Lastly, both games offer special attacks that can be used to finish a low health enemy in a cinematic way, though how they do it operates a bit differently, with it being an extended super in Evil Zone and a separate, single-attempt OHKO attack in Tech Romacer.
All of that said, however, the games are exceptionally different outside of those elements, especially in terms of control, and this is a place Tech Romacer utterly shines. The game uses four buttons: attack A, attack B, jump, and guard, and many can be combined for additional options, such as attack A and B together making a stronger attack C, or guard + attack A or B being sidestep attacks. This simple scheme also extends to special and super attacks, which are simple things like back + A or back, forward + C. I can't begin to tell anyone how much of a Godsend this is for so many reasons, especially if you've ever tried to explain a "1, 63214, 3" motion to someone new to the genre. Know how it works in Tech Romacer?
"You see me jumping at you?"
"Yeah?"
"Press back, forward+C the next time I do that. It'll ma--"
-Eats giant plasma ball in the face-
". . . Yep. You get it."
Beyond the simple controls of the game, there's also some external depth to the combat as well. Most protruding terrain can be destroyed, potentially blocking an attack in the process, and can drop items which do a ton of different things. For one, there's a 'hero' booster drop that effectively puts your Mech into 'super mode' for a short time, giving each machine new options while the boost is active. One mech, for instance, gains the ability to fly and has unlimited super meter, while another gets a floating array of trash to hit people with. It's a pretty cool mechanic similar to the Power Stones or Smash Ball that tips the scale in your favor, only without throwing it out the window and onto the neighbor's lawn. There are other mini boosters as well, giving strength bonuses and the like, which are usually less of a priority to rush towards but still helpful. Finally, 'weapon' items drop as well, and these effectively give your mechs new special attacks that vary from machine to machine; one character shoots a train that chases the enemy around, for instance, while another gets a quick-thrusting rapier. They are often very powerful and worth grabbing whenever possible.
Really, I could go on, but I'm sure I've already lost everyone's interest already, so I'll just end it here and say . . . if you like Mecha based anime, check this game out. If you like fighting games, check this game out. If you own a Dreamcast, check this game out. And grab a friend, even if they aren't very good at fighting games; at the very least you can play through the story modes together. It may not be Street Fighter Alpha 3 or Third Strike, or even Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but is a lot of fun and EASILY one of Capcom's most overlooked titles, and it most definitely is . . .
I must admit, the love for Evil Zone I've been encountering lately is rather surprising. I didn't think most people managed to get past the control scheme. :o
Luminous Arc 2
I haven't heard anyone talk about this game so I guess it isn't too popular, but anyways. It's a world of Knights and Witches who for the most part don't get along, but band together when one witch goes rogue and is assumed trying to find and use some super weapon.
Some things:
-Strategy RPG
-Overall easy, although do need to do some grinding
-Lighthearted, doesn't take itself seriously
-Relationship values
-Lots of playable characters
-Good interactions
Super Scribblenauts
Super Scribblenauts follows the hero, Maxwell, and his magic pencil and notebook with which he can create things. Basically you write a word in the notebook and it makes that thing appear. Then you have to solve puzzles by doing that.
I played the first Luminous Arc, it didn't leave a strong impression. It was pretty okay overall. I liked that one girl who called people big palookas though, she was funny. But I didn't even know they made a second one.
Shadow Hearts was such a great game. It has been a number of years since I played it. I remember enjoying it immensley though, and probably the best RPG I have played since Final Fantasy IX in 2000. shadowhearts_1.jpg
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Like most of the games I played in my youth, I usually find it is best to keep them there. I either get agitated that either no game today is being made to this standard, or the desensitisation of 21st century culture makes me see the game for all the faults it has, and how badly it has aged... =P
I do recommend people play it though if you haven't had chance to in the past.
an awesome game you should know about.
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It was especially awesome being able to play through as Parappa after you finished the game with his own story and versions of the songs, though I don't think any of his songs were as good as Lammy's.
Originally Posted by metagloria
Still, it's something to keep watch for, since it will no doubt be completely amazing like the previous releases have been.
