oh yeah i forgot TT is most of the game in this one
I’m a nostalgic sap so I went ahead and picked up Streets of Rage 4.
It’s…OK? Mostly just gonna copy and paste what I wrote in Discord, uhh:
It’s probably impossible to really follow up the old trilogy, but the combo system feels great, and that helps quite a bit.
I dunno! I’m sure there’ll be plenty of video and whatnot shortly.
edit: oh shit I guess Koshiro and Kawashima did contribute to this. Hmm. I dunno! The BGMs of the first two levels don’t really “hit” like the older games do.
Honestly that kind of misoginy doesn’t bother me. It’s too silly, self ironic, and too basic to be taken seriously. It does not stop the flow for me.
I loved the writing (despite the slightly clunky translation), and the story is really cool.
The prod does not blow open doors!
It does however have a very funny animation!
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More Mega Drive thoughts
Summary
I’ve continued my journey through the Mega Drive, skimming through 1990. This is the year of STGs. Maybe half of the library at this point is STGs and they’re all pretty good on average! It feels like an odd one for SEGA’s internal development teams with Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker being their apparent marquee title. I…didn’t want to stay in that game. I did stay in another big SEGA title though.
And that SEGA title is Castle of Illusion. La Rie AKA Phoenix Rie AKA Rieko Kodama contributed to the design which is what made me stick through til the end. I can see a rough blueprint for the first Sonic in this. The levels are mostly straightforward with small deviations here and there. There’s a level with periodic floods that reminded me of Marble Zone. Stage 4 has some impressive parallax and jumping fish. I imagine it served as a benchmark for how exuberant Sonic stages should be.
https://youtu.be/uERYpV7ZaEQ?t=34
Searching through the staff credits, a favorite hobby of mine, I found that director Emiko Yamamoto would spend her whole career working on Disney titles, eventually coming into Kingdom Hearts, her natural home.
I played four STGs and enjoyed each for different reasons. I’m sure most have heard of Thunder Force III and MUSHA, but what about Elemental Master and Hellfire? Elemental Master has some really ugly illustrations, especially when compared with MUSHA, but the level design is great. Having to consider your man’s place in the cramped alleys, valleys, and halls of this fantasy world adds another layer to bullet dodging. The music, as expected, shreds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opR25qik0Lc
Hellfire seems totally generic at first glance, but it’s Toaplan so enemy patterns and bullet paths are more thoughtful than most of its contemporaries. Your ship has a very simple arsenal, only capable of changing direction from forward, to back, to down, and diagonals. This simplicity allows for ecstatic moments where you are able to switch your direction of fire in rhythmic anticipation of each upcoming wave. Naturally, I used save states and rewind to play these. I was pretty sure Hellfire’s final boss was impossible to beat straight but I’m now watching a longplay of someone proving me dead wrong. I’m embarrassed to share the longplay here. It makes me look like a fool.
EDIT: Actually I will add the LP because the text scroll is GOOD:
https://youtu.be/d-9g9TMARs0?t=1884
Oh, one final thought. 1990 is the first year that Telenet Japan publishes games on the Mega Drive and those are so extremely Mega Drive that I must accept them as brothers.
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i love killer 7 because a shootman game being on rails made me actually be able to control and aim and get through a game where i shoot in first person on controller. okay i love it for a lot of reasons but the easy mode of that game is so playable for someone not super versed in videogame crap. i had never played a resident evil game, that joke wasnt for me, but i enjoyed the game on its own even though the only playable woman character is a barefoot lady in a slip who slits her wrists to find secrets
but like if the silver case’s worst misogyny is talking about how periods make you irritable (which they do) that seems like his least offensive shit. i should play silver case, from what i heard i thought it was HORRIBLE.
but like, michigan exists how can you be more creepy than that haha
like all of his games are kinda gross i think you just have to know that going in?
killer 7 is a videogame version of my favorite tom robbins quote
"The most important thing in life is style. That is the style of ones existence, the characteristic mode of one’s actions is basically, ultimately what matters. For if man defines himself by doing, then style is doubly definitive because style describes the doing. The point is this happiness is a learned condition. And since it is learned and self generating it does not depend upon external circumstances for its perpetuation. This throws a very ironic light on content. And underscores the primacy of style. It is content or rather the consciousness of content that fills the void. But the mere presence of content is not enough. It is style that gives content the capacity to absorb us to move us, it is style that makes us care.”
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reading @MintyJuffowup’s recent posts in this thread, and remembering @Rudie’s game boy blog makes me realise that interesting people playing through entire console libraries and writing about the experience is a genre of book i would totally buy
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What inspired me to start was this idea that game consoles cultivated distinct aesthetics. It’s a happy accident where marketing plans, technical limitations, and perceived+real user bases squeeze into a definite shape. These aesthetics are almost like art movements with their narrow choice of subject matter and preferred modes of design.
This is part of why I’m paying particular attention to developers and publishers. With the Mega Drive specifically, there’s a clear division in its life cycle created by Sonic, the Super Famicom, and Street Fighter II. I’m more familiar with this second half so going back to the beginning has been marvelous.
It’s too lofty to say art movements. Let’s call them “trash movements.” Yeah, that’s better.
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Siftin thru the trash
Yeah thanks for your post about castle of illusion, very interesting. I’m playing that right now; I’m stuck on the milk dragon thing.
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I stayed on the second-from-the-left cake and found that to work pretty well.
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I want to try the first-person Fromsoftware games but don’t know which should be my first. Suggestions?
imo either shadow tower (personal fave) or king’s field 4 (maybe the most accessible?) are good entry points
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Killer 7 is on my “games to revisit in 2020” list and just confirming that it has an easy mode? I fear returning to that game more than any of the others and being able to put it on easy and blast through quicker/with less resistance sounds like it’d be… helpful.
Deus Ex was game #3 on that list BTW. I have a laser sword now to go with my arm augs pumped up to max, so I think while I’m still gonna be stealthy it may now be go time.
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I was playing Final Fantasy XIV on the PS4, but the next story mission I have to do requires me to party, which I don’t want to do (and it’s a level 15 quest and I’m already like, 26, so I’m going to have to level sync, too). Playing with just a controller blows.
FFVII-R’s enemies feel way too fucking spongy. I got very angry when I realized I had to wait for an ATB gauge to fill in this action battle system before I could use an item.
Two things:
There’s a bunch of SBers playing it who are all happy to help out!
And secondly, if you have a spare mouse and keyboard they’ll actually work with the PS4 version, so if you prefer that you can totally play that way.
The rag line came after a whole chapter of the tough cop characters just calling the female cop a bitch. And then she makes it up to one of the cops by going “I’ll go on a date with you.” Maybe it was the mundanity? Like slitting your wrists to find secrets is insane. Cops sitting around calling their one woman coworker a bitch for half an hour was just grinding.
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I had anxiety before going into dungeons with a matchmade party but I watched a guide first and once I did the first 2-3, it didn’t feel like a big deal anymore. JP data center people have been pretty welcoming so far and don’t say much anyway.
I think I’m the only one here that plays on Siren.
I watched a video for the first one, and I have the killing shit down pretty well, it’s just the whole committing to a whole dungeon. I tend to pause and walk away from stuff arbitrarily.
I made a dragon person this time. The dragon people rule because they have this 2B hairstyle, and when you pair that with glasses it looks adorable.
Outward update:
After many adventures in new and startling regions (The Hallowed Marsh area is unlike most swamp zones in games because it is one of the most beautiful and interesting locations I’ve seen), I now have a dinosaur pelt backpack that lets me fastroll while wearing it, and I can summon a laser sword for a small outlay of mana. Combine that with a fairly steady supply of fish-based meals (mana only regenerates when the character is extremely tired or they have eaten fish. Further, maximum mana is capped if you have just recently rested. Your magic potential is proportional to exhaustion which is such a cool twist on survival mechanics), I’m actually well prepared to pick a faction and quest now. Still going to go for the collectivists in the emmerkar forest but I was tempted by how lovely the swamp region was to switch over to the religious group.
Anyway
There’s no leveling in this game per se but you can visit 8 different trainers scattered across the world who each have their own unique skill trees they’re willing to teach you for the right amount of coin. I have found a hermit living in an old tower, a kazite spellblade, a philosopher, a warrior monk, a rune mage, etc etc
The added constraint on this, because this game avoids falling into the bethesda trap of too much power fantasy, is that I can only commit to learning the advanced skills from only 3 of the 8 trainers in a playthrough. I can never acquire all the skills. I’ve committed to spellblade and rune mage for now because they work together quite well.
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i think its just normal mode, and if i remember correctly (its been a while! im actually planning on trying to replay cuz ive only played it once and a half around when it came out) it simplifies the puzzles by telling you what character/item you need to use
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