tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50148078743894577422024-03-02T09:29:46.423-08:00Greenalink's Gaming blogThis is my gaming blog, here I will be posting about glitches, speed runs, and opinions on the new or old games that I play.Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-59384249933579682642023-08-28T07:23:00.006-07:002023-09-17T13:13:26.466-07:00#AD Thrustmaster Eswap X Forza edition thoughts.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif">A mini review on the eSwap XR Pro controller product.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQR62syDyv-NCoKt83dQo4rvtOvfoqLCZSJZuCPrZgSXhhmsv_WKTazvsP_VtclB129u-MX8E0kVw0C2WOEvR_4rLHSf9D8Bgyv8nFOzZKrSLFR1M7f6GfyLspfNhznU_-5tuOV2P_UWIZARU-xGo9G-ahUAlH1gXOE8xvahz1IyjhxIUEQa977sMCmMI/s4000/20230814_173921.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQR62syDyv-NCoKt83dQo4rvtOvfoqLCZSJZuCPrZgSXhhmsv_WKTazvsP_VtclB129u-MX8E0kVw0C2WOEvR_4rLHSf9D8Bgyv8nFOzZKrSLFR1M7f6GfyLspfNhznU_-5tuOV2P_UWIZARU-xGo9G-ahUAlH1gXOE8xvahz1IyjhxIUEQa977sMCmMI/s320/20230814_173921.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This post is marked as an #AD to follow the rules from the ASA here in the UK as this controller was provided to me from Thrustmaster.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It's a limited edition release based on the eSwap X model which includes a 1 month coupon of free Xbox Games Pass Ultimate and a new module to insert into a main slot, the racing wheel module.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now personally I don't play many realistic themed driving games such as Burnout, Forza, etc but I had a few in my Steam library to take advantage of, mainly Dirt 3 Complete edition.<br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnX5PPyllncW02aThoHNHw3kUuYoBLmcQL2DuAmGPiGj6t5ngqdpZ3n1Ux019RJGefbMmx7yk8opP8au6NSp_f7T00ww0-EjXM3uu8jA3MSC1ob37aN1Rc4ajAEfDdFA2FsUTcblFT7j-t4J0M6flvD6XPc9qvfsUmOmN3bNe4qDaPCB6ImcJiaWfI7-4/s4000/20230814_174118.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnX5PPyllncW02aThoHNHw3kUuYoBLmcQL2DuAmGPiGj6t5ngqdpZ3n1Ux019RJGefbMmx7yk8opP8au6NSp_f7T00ww0-EjXM3uu8jA3MSC1ob37aN1Rc4ajAEfDdFA2FsUTcblFT7j-t4J0M6flvD6XPc9qvfsUmOmN3bNe4qDaPCB6ImcJiaWfI7-4/s320/20230814_174118.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By inserting the wheel add-on to the top left slot, it has its logo not facing upright despite the boxart clearly showing it having the logo upwards. Like many wheel related controls, the steering wheel itself will reset into neutral when left alone.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qWo6K5vMLFjp59iggpdwm9v83RyHIKy9bskpO5kGt-CZ9KeYJ_-cAkkPI1HY9C43uOw2c0jvQp6wKe1lqN6lm5E2Jq0oUrffKuXnCG4RTtE208OyDchU-w0n57GwtRF-olV2p63r5APAmfesl7KQSyCeUaUrJPukb6THPZVs9S3J5R-QrSsSooDSmf8/s4000/20230828_101622.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qWo6K5vMLFjp59iggpdwm9v83RyHIKy9bskpO5kGt-CZ9KeYJ_-cAkkPI1HY9C43uOw2c0jvQp6wKe1lqN6lm5E2Jq0oUrffKuXnCG4RTtE208OyDchU-w0n57GwtRF-olV2p63r5APAmfesl7KQSyCeUaUrJPukb6THPZVs9S3J5R-QrSsSooDSmf8/s320/20230828_101622.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-align: left;">Context: Look at the wheel's logo that is attached to the controller and the one that is on the box art. </span></div></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xMzbrTN3uuLROfoMNTXD3I2UR9-HSf1S20H0skBGuPsyjRILcSPeL0V9nyBvmw0NzJBqpSOiQKrmg4OBCeEJP1LOOSZ0XmQsM7YiOAJlJMWs_3aoIAYRj75575KOdU0t6irrH4cEMMZgtz4t1AkfPVnYOzMKsFN62KW9b67g29FoEBv0p_GKUPdWBqM/s4000/20230814_174233.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xMzbrTN3uuLROfoMNTXD3I2UR9-HSf1S20H0skBGuPsyjRILcSPeL0V9nyBvmw0NzJBqpSOiQKrmg4OBCeEJP1LOOSZ0XmQsM7YiOAJlJMWs_3aoIAYRj75575KOdU0t6irrH4cEMMZgtz4t1AkfPVnYOzMKsFN62KW9b67g29FoEBv0p_GKUPdWBqM/s320/20230814_174233.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">As it is based on the older X model, it uses the older style USB cable, not type C as seen on the eSwap S controller.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZSi7_7JcFzqyeZd2gU_OiT2Rt_FWfUfEUdTjfprz-ApTbmsmS2zk1lllG1ESRJTxKhEKn7g8cDyMnAdIK_gX08pKS7LpnJRfA2R1eP4f4fq7GY_whfpD5FgNN5uHuppMsbqRObIN-FHaPOz7LxMt_nPi_n2YNLwmqPzVEr1_z4-aMY1yyY1Ycb2fr0Q/s4000/20230814_174257.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZSi7_7JcFzqyeZd2gU_OiT2Rt_FWfUfEUdTjfprz-ApTbmsmS2zk1lllG1ESRJTxKhEKn7g8cDyMnAdIK_gX08pKS7LpnJRfA2R1eP4f4fq7GY_whfpD5FgNN5uHuppMsbqRObIN-FHaPOz7LxMt_nPi_n2YNLwmqPzVEr1_z4-aMY1yyY1Ycb2fr0Q/s320/20230814_174257.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"> The racing wheel module extra replaces two suitable alternative analogue sticks that h</span><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">ave a different metal pole height when compared to the default sticks that were already connected to the controller.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblyhwfgDsc_k7OpvuY7zWLLXiiz_RF6SxojZWmUNpncz_cKDZqXXZ7L0xFIbakSe3x6Mab8C1BGWKHY5ZV1oPYgWN9Lk0n4kR-YOu2qOMED9Ws5HVVk4m8Tk1WO99vFDtxAzoTniYEDaMnJaA2TPERpbmV-V0UgqJFnukhdgrNCiyqyPKvRfXOm-OHQE/s4000/20230814_174331.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblyhwfgDsc_k7OpvuY7zWLLXiiz_RF6SxojZWmUNpncz_cKDZqXXZ7L0xFIbakSe3x6Mab8C1BGWKHY5ZV1oPYgWN9Lk0n4kR-YOu2qOMED9Ws5HVVk4m8Tk1WO99vFDtxAzoTniYEDaMnJaA2TPERpbmV-V0UgqJFnukhdgrNCiyqyPKvRfXOm-OHQE/s320/20230814_174331.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So I tried using my thumb on the edge of the wheel and rotate to turn my car and it strangely works, I could start turning the wheel from any position and the wheel add-on will stop going further (so don't expect full 360 spins) indicating that I've hit max [x] value on a certain direction.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The add-on isn't just for driving games.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It can function as a pseudo-spinner for retro gaming too. I tried this out using the MiSTER FPGA. </div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The success of using the wheel varies from game to game. The main rule is that games with less buttons tend to have an easier time for optimal play.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Arkanoid: The current settings on the wheel doesn't have the perfect sensitivity. It's probably better to play the game with a slower ball speed settings.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Forgotten Worlds: Capcom's first arcade game to use the CPS-1 board. It's a shmup but the gimmick is that your player can rotate 360 degrees to aim. This wheel controller does it pretty well and only a single action button which is used to fire makes it possible to bind the controls to a comfortable layout with LB/RB as the firing button, D-pad in either top/bottom left slots to move and the wheel in the right side slot to aim your weapons.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Midnight Resistance: An early run n gun game with some resemblance to Contra where the player has powerful guns but in return can die in 1 hit, the main gimmick is 360 aiming rotation which allows the player to aim backwards or crawl and aim at any direction. This one doesn't work as well as Forgotten Worlds and the fact it requires 2 action buttons (Jump and Fire) makes it a bit harder to get an optimised control layout. </div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hang On and Outrun - Partly based on the Sega System 16 arcades but with super scaler effects. This wheel setting does make it easier to get a certain X value when steering left/right giving it a true analogue feel.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxAqL3Y_cchQTuZJLoQoGMhhUVUwFM1WuwuHLNWE4nrqgqoAS84SKIz_FxVr0R6w3ur3A2yzqeI-hCqnM3Llg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Eco Fighters: A CPS 2 side scrolling shooter that's similar to Forgotten Worlds in terms of controls. The rotation control on the wheel makes it naturally easier to operate the cannon in the correct direction, especially if it is currently placed below the ship. You get various powerups including a spike ball which becomes huge by charging up the weapon before firing. Optimized controls had the D-pad placed to the lower left side, racing wheel to the right side and RB mapped as the firing button.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz8fs7JlWZAcyiLbsVMAbXoY3PyglHS6zdFyeLv7rLw9FZDnxgs2xrgbY9jouV6ndX_dk0b2w6GLhgaPiU5jQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The Japanese SEGA Mark III </span>(Master System in the west)<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"> had some games that either required or supported the Paddle Spinner as a controller. I've tested 4 games and they're actually work very well. Galactic Protector and Alex Kidd BMX Time Trial stood out for being obscure spin-offs to popular IPs from the mid-1980s.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Galactic Protector has Opa-opa circling around defending a planet by destroying asteroids/meteors. It's a straight forward arcade game aiming for the high score.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzDcQmLDDzZM7-4dwn78eoF2M1JyMAluTWZLHQ0oNSD6qrRTaO-lXlu8B5UTwOvUpZn1XyDBib6OO2tV7J9ZA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alex Kidd BMX Trial, a japan only SEGA MARK III game where you use the spinner to adjust his steering direction. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyYNLgKPwbIuVg5VvG5l4HWJuET4nBhqrBbmIdhgZu3mx5bXrqv340Aj7phiOeMcsgR1NFR7spb1fcqj7GZnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">Megumi Rescue, is a game that's technically a port of the arcade System E build of the same name, one notable difference is that the screen's orientation is horizontal rather than vertical (TATE mode) which means it requires the camera to pan upwards/downwards depending on the player's positioning. It's an interesting take on the Arkanoid's paddle and ball genre.</span></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwlrsPszkPfz04oujfuEFoZnv1Ok7tQWJPNuGAXXz_gwQoh6RgbwyZ66Z9pw2YJdsJaSYU3s0H6-F5Bw6iP_Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">WarioWare: Twisted! Is a hit and miss with this wheel module. One of the reasons is that it's very sensitive, a lot more than the Arkanoid arcade games. The other reason is that, the input going to the other direction feels odd, like during the arm pumping microgame, if you "steer" to the right to pump his right arm for 2 seconds, the game wouldn't accept the other direction's input unless it is held for two seconds to pump his other arm. Lastly the gravity theme microgames aren't really suited for the more complicated challenges such as the Stumblebot's many micro-adjustments as you're unable to look at the screen's adjusted rotation(s).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwnXOp45z3xL6lPuo7arQK6KQd6LL5750QQwUI94Lu2AIrWcXGeYxjGpbvboYm3XXEOG_zzQOeIX3Dw7ACLbA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While the add-on may lack the gears and probably the pedals from the more expensive big steering wheel sets, it does have the utility of being a suitable control method for certain arcade games from before the year 2000s.</div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The add-on is available to buy separately for the recommended retail price of £27 which is compatible on previous eSwap X and eSwap S controllers. If you have access to a retro device like the MiSTER, the ideal purchase combo is to buy both eSwap S and the wheel add-on if you want to experience a huge library of modern & retro titles that can cover both traditional controls and niche spinner games. This combo costs £136.98 (RRP) from their website and while it does nearly cost as much as a premium spinner controller for roughly the same price, the eSwap controller method is far from limited to a few titles.<br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">The new Forza themed eSwap XR bundle package is okay but notably pricey being £40 more dearer than the eSwap S + racing wheel combo with ability to have 1 more swappable slot. Personally, I wish that the X module gets an update to take advantage of supporting USB type C and a more up to date D-pad as this one had a hard time to input diagonals, mainly the upper right direction.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">That's my thoughts on the controller/racing wheel module for now.</span></div>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-71927490838101306002023-07-06T08:49:00.002-07:002023-07-06T08:49:44.149-07:00Greenalink reviews Gimmick! Special Edition (2023) #AD<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNpw_Xjntym4os4da2b2lnuRemqzJEXOGNezhLE4eS17ceQ2k8Qhn7xx-J-t_6-Jwh0OzYeO61xpGyDF9W4IGpcAtP4enurDzuRp0BiYIvf81rw61WTpwLr6Bm5xhUgGv-Wr4ck-0_7dwh6_lf2v4OZadmttuvsm-heID0Ap4zGOpnm-lKaIksFag3jM/s616/GIMMICK%20SPECIAL%20EDITION.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="616" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNpw_Xjntym4os4da2b2lnuRemqzJEXOGNezhLE4eS17ceQ2k8Qhn7xx-J-t_6-Jwh0OzYeO61xpGyDF9W4IGpcAtP4enurDzuRp0BiYIvf81rw61WTpwLr6Bm5xhUgGv-Wr4ck-0_7dwh6_lf2v4OZadmttuvsm-heID0Ap4zGOpnm-lKaIksFag3jM/w401-h229/GIMMICK%20SPECIAL%20EDITION.jpg" width="401" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Developer: CityConnection</div><div style="text-align: center;">Publisher: Bitwave Games</div><div style="text-align: center;">Price: Roughly £13/$15, different platforms and regions may vary on exact price.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Filesize: 204MB</div><div style="text-align: center;">Website: <a href="https://city-connection.co.jp/gimmick/en/"><span style="color: yellow;">https://city-connection.co.jp/gimmick/en/</span></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Gimmick is an 8-bit video game released far back in January 1992 for Nintendo Famicom in Japan and Nintendo Entertainment System only in Scandinavia, this was due to the fact the market in the 90s was a different era and found it difficult to release in other countries as the biggest western markets assumed it looked childish. <div><br /></div><div>The story is fairly straight forward, a girl gets a new present which is mistakenly looks like a toy. This green yokai creature called Yumetaro was given a lot of attention that made the other toys very jealous so they took her to a different dimension. It's up to Yumetaro to save her. </div><div><br /></div><div>Its initial release was a mixed reception, for starters it was given praise over clean visuals/presentation for an 8-bit game and complex audio tracks by Masashi Kageyama thanks to the addition of the Yamaha YM2149 PSG audio chip which added 3 more music channels (along with the base console's 5 making a total of 8 channels). These new channels were used for Sunsoft's signature bass sound which was later used for Inti Create's Blaster Master Zero trilogy from 2017-2021. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the other side of the coin, it received criticism for being released a year after the juggernaut Super Famicom over in Japan, to simply put there was less interest towards the 8-bit console than say the majority of the 1980s and brutal difficulty for both in game design and not supporting password/battery saves. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jump over to mid-2000s and beyond where the internet became more accessible to research hidden gems and it seems to have gathered a much more positive response. This is mainly thanks to the star projectile which can be used as either a weapon to harm enemies or a mobile platform to get to hard-to-reach places. In a way this is one of the earliest physic platformers before the domination of the indie market decades later.</div><div><br /></div><div>The star is a wild mechanic, best described as a bouncing ball. The higher the height it has to fall down, the higher the launch after bouncing on the floor. The most common example is using it against the side of a platform from the peak of Yumetaro's jump to make the star bounce towards the player and use it as a mid-air stepping stone to reach higher ground.</div><div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXSTV-m5BXAv_hLJY55HO1Y4ONgK_3G5k_whv817ilfIIyOl5vlJ9D5JW4FPs90X_AWfVIC-Q6SqtjicqdtKsGO9AVQMqlpBk7iSbGCbQLJEyGQszBl0N8aNY_HO5I8MFioNGQYp28VoAZKTIoExuTDokMTscXG1L_9K2AjDp9pYdvEBfvjxxIMJry10/s6432/Gimmick%20imagev2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1978" data-original-width="6432" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXSTV-m5BXAv_hLJY55HO1Y4ONgK_3G5k_whv817ilfIIyOl5vlJ9D5JW4FPs90X_AWfVIC-Q6SqtjicqdtKsGO9AVQMqlpBk7iSbGCbQLJEyGQszBl0N8aNY_HO5I8MFioNGQYp28VoAZKTIoExuTDokMTscXG1L_9K2AjDp9pYdvEBfvjxxIMJry10/w659-h202/Gimmick%20imagev2.jpg" width="659" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVf_dNg739BK2g14sLRGPn5nnyNUtgB4H0VxUoUGpYicXMBqJI3qa_OAhp1d4fqcqByvNUGV4una78fyOyIHaCsH3BANJQGTyO32_Y-cWujfmK1TPlhnD92oNJrtHRWJylxQ0sCyi5URNKG0YmmkCYSTS_tH2JMf24OX7V89NPpP3ayu0G3Ht9q7zKIWY/s6432/Gimmick%20image.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div>
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Each level has a few secondary items that can be found from specific locations and drops from enemies based on score, these items can be stored to Yumetaro's inventory which can be used at any time by holding UP + hitting the attack button. </div><div>You have bombs, a pink energy ball and a potion. The potion is straight forward, being able to heal up a few HP depending on max available HP at the time, next is the pink energy ball which goes at a pure horizontal direction, making it easier than a frantic star. Lastly, the bomb is the hardest item to use as it is tossed in an arc like a grenade and can explode directly or overtime. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's another type of item known as a hidden treasure which can be found in stages 1-6. They are worth a lot of points, usually enough to give the player a few extra lives but the real incentive is finding these treasures in all 6 levels to unlock the bonus 7th level and reveal the true ending. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the journey won't be an easy one, even if you don't go for all treasures for the true ending, for starters you usually have 2 HP most of the time and it will take a couple of tries to take out the mid-bosses/end of level boss as you need to pull off some precise star tossing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately, in 2023, the official re-release is probably the most accessible way to beat the game, with save states, load states and rewind, it's easier than ever before to redo past mistakes. There are only 3 save state slots which is okay and better than just having 1 but for diehard players, 20 should have been the minimum, it does sound a lot but having 20 enables you to have a save state at the start of levels 2-7 and right before the boss battle of levels 1-7, the remaining 7 can be used for practising tougher platforming rooms. </div><div><br /></div><div>The rewind only covers the last ~25 seconds which is okay for single screen adjustments but if you wanted to go back 2-3 screens earlier, you're out of luck. Comparing it to Nintendo Switch Online method, while that method is a bit slower, it does allow more precise rewinding, heck you could go back or go forward in the rewind timeline, for this game when you go back you can't undo the rewind.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcGPhsOPN8Lr-5C_W__7J_JS8vmg7Bb8eBjSHOJ2ThCX9HLd-4EQ4ZWCx2xolVPdURlC5fKf_NKttihMAScPUEtKcTlURs04BpJ5vxxWTaBOxKGIgCXp9hj0GzwfBRS-VOO9zGE_n7zmXqWHbERlIMWYIaXc_p6zOAZHtiL6iCjOKMQlsg5orpkEpUd0/s3840/yua108.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rewind feature in action" border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcGPhsOPN8Lr-5C_W__7J_JS8vmg7Bb8eBjSHOJ2ThCX9HLd-4EQ4ZWCx2xolVPdURlC5fKf_NKttihMAScPUEtKcTlURs04BpJ5vxxWTaBOxKGIgCXp9hj0GzwfBRS-VOO9zGE_n7zmXqWHbERlIMWYIaXc_p6zOAZHtiL6iCjOKMQlsg5orpkEpUd0/w478-h269/yua108.png" title="Rewind feature in action" width="478" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to play the game as if it was 1992 without the quality of life features, there's SERIOUS Mode which disables these tools but in return allows the player to unlock achievements for bragging rights, most of them are either obtaining a high score milestone, clearing a level, finding the hidden treasure and reaching both normal & true endings, because it lacks savestates/rewind tools, you have to beat the game at least twice to get all achievements. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to play the game at a high level, there is a speedrun mode which has its own livesplit-like timer, showing all of the stages, current time, level splits. It starts when you visit the map screen which does mean a bit of mashing is required to get an optimised run before you even start the main gameplay, ideally it should have started after the map screen but I cannot say whether or not that affects RNG in any way, it's probably done like that to make it comparable to Famicom speedruns that were done before this release.</div><div><br /></div><div>Screen resolution is an upscale of a pixel perfect resolution so it does make the game look a bit skinny than say most standard 4:3 resolutions from that era.
Chances of having a standard resolution are slim as one or both sides depending on the game mode are covered with info, for example speedrun mode shows both current splits on the left side and the personal best splits on the right side. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's extra gallery related content where you can read through both Japanese and Scandinavian manuals (spoiler alert, neither of them are using the English language), a front and rear shot of the carts. There is a sound test mode that is in-game unlockable by holding SELECT and pressing START.</div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, Gimmick finally gets a first proper worldwide release and the new tools does lessen the frustration of the experience, it doesn't mean it will be a cakewalk to beat it. The craziest thing is how tough levels can be solved with a creative and/or precise star toss to navigate some of the toughest platforming with ease.</div><div><br /></div><div>The skill gap is very extreme like comparing it to a novice and a grandmaster playing Tetris The Grandmaster series, as the novice probably knows how to fast drop and clear 4 bars. whereas the other can clear rows with max falling speed and with invisibility curse on the blocks that were already stacked. For Gimmick, it's a game that will require a lot of practice to pull off every nook and cranny, don't be fooled by the very fast times such as normal ending in under 6 minutes as they are probably the most challenging 6 minutes in 8-bit gaming history.</div><div><br /></div><div>One big saving grace for an official release is that it's not locked to an online only subscription service, and just to be clear this is not the 16/32-bit ex-Arcadia release that was out in the late 2020s, that one is only out in the arcades and doesn't look like that version will be ported to home consoles/PC anytime soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sunsoft finest:</div><div>It's simple to understand but very hard to master gameplay</div><div>Visually clean besides the occasional 8-bit flicker and very catchy melodies thanks to the additional audio chip.</div><div>It's not £400 expensive, take that filthy eBay scalpers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sunharsh: </div><div>As it is an 8-bit game from the early 90s, expect it to be unfair hard at times. </div><div>No individual level speedruns support for the hardcore players </div><div>No new content aka M2's Sega AGES style input such as a boss rush or a single button press to use/charge up a secondary item. </div><div>Limited screen settings and no scanlines </div><div>No input replay support to download and watch the best runs. <br />Rewinding needs a bit of polish, it's only good for very quick undos but nothing else.</div><div><br /></div><div>Rating: B<br /><br />Disclaimer:<br />Key provided by Bitwave games.<br />Platform: PC Steam<br />#AD added to the title to follow the UK rules by the ASA.</div>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-43109376735741691192023-03-03T14:32:00.005-08:002023-03-03T14:42:48.598-08:00Greenalink's mini review: Toaplan Arcade Shoot 'em up Collection Volume 1.<div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWrOK4lbCQ39OTD-4O_YGLKXgfZ1_n2qgSuDOe28fRBWStBhSkTqtGrGhIxM_g0t6FqpoQXasO0MoPQOlxYUcS3bkkTZgeZyXKFQq27CJhaM4PIMon1Pb8MnQ-ltqi-5TIMozkGw8DKb6q1966ZSab7lUPV4ZPVQxZLOeQjkAgb-Zyck2MOmdcVVJ/s3813/Toaplan%20volume%201%20review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1601" data-original-width="3813" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWrOK4lbCQ39OTD-4O_YGLKXgfZ1_n2qgSuDOe28fRBWStBhSkTqtGrGhIxM_g0t6FqpoQXasO0MoPQOlxYUcS3bkkTZgeZyXKFQq27CJhaM4PIMon1Pb8MnQ-ltqi-5TIMozkGw8DKb6q1966ZSab7lUPV4ZPVQxZLOeQjkAgb-Zyck2MOmdcVVJ/w506-h212/Toaplan%20volume%201%20review.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b>Disclaimer: The aim of this review is to focus on the games' quality of life features that were *officially* introduced in the 2023 release. </b><br /><p>Toaplan as a company has a reputation of high quality side scrolling shooters that were released from late 80s to early 90s and in 2023 some of these titles were given a re-release. </p><p>The first volume contains four games and all share something in common, spray and pray your firearms and try to avoid getting hit.</p><p>The games from volume 1 include the following:</p><p>Twin Cobra (1987),<br />Truxton (1988),<br />Zero Wing (1989) and<br />Out Zone (1990)</p><p>Twin Cobra and Truxton are both vertical scrolling shooters, Zero Wing is a horizontal scrolling shooter and Out Zone is a top-down shooter, with the last not having automatic scrolling like the other three, it does encourage the player to keep on moving forward due to a draining energy meter that can kill the player when that energy bar reaches 0.</p><p>Now a fair amount of re-releases would just make a minimalistic effort by producing their own emulator to run the Toaplan roms and call it a day, but Bitwave Games decided to push it further.</p><p>For starters, it has a lot of visual options, including:<br />Frame size, scanlines, borders such as channel viz/music viz, tutorial and in-game stats.</p><p>There is also an extra bonus for two of the four games from volume one, a new widescreen option for both Twin Cobra and Truxton. With this option enabled, the player has more space to move around, but the enemies will appear instantly on-screen from the left/right side of the gameplay field rather than slowly appearing in-game by leaving the black border when using the standard aspect ratio method.</p><p>The third game: Zero Wing is a game that needs no introduction thanks to the infamous Engrish line "All your base are belong to us" that was first introduced in the Sega Mega Drive release to both Japan and Europe.</p><p>That's right, this meme cutscene doesn't appear in the arcade version and currently some users online were gutted to not see this in the original arcade version when the 2023 version was first released. </p><p>But, the team Bitwave Games has updated the game as of March 2nd 2023 and added this remastered intro with better English translation ... other than that one line due to its old school meme legacy, I still prefer the Mega Drive version due to having a better music track as the tone of the melody changes the moment after the antagonist CATS leaves the conversation, still better than nothing.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxloQY-QMWj9Pmaf4knlnNcN8gWNnB6Dsdn_rvQlKKQiAXCkmGsGA-bIWCLlMPwhArcvoHazoiC61qPM8i13fVB1PcyO76rkPzpSyGgjfusMp9GR5MvYAgxZyvsQdeFdWHrKzkisD9buOyNpRHHiVdur0UlvqepZJ9xTKmYukhTXSGrs5-arCrpvWh/s4194/zero%20wing%201991%20vs%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2042" data-original-width="4194" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxloQY-QMWj9Pmaf4knlnNcN8gWNnB6Dsdn_rvQlKKQiAXCkmGsGA-bIWCLlMPwhArcvoHazoiC61qPM8i13fVB1PcyO76rkPzpSyGgjfusMp9GR5MvYAgxZyvsQdeFdWHrKzkisD9buOyNpRHHiVdur0UlvqepZJ9xTKmYukhTXSGrs5-arCrpvWh/w482-h235/zero%20wing%201991%20vs%202023.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All your memes are belong to me!!</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="358" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hWlNx_R3q6g" width="544" youtube-src-id="hWlNx_R3q6g"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><p>One of the most notable changes when playing Zero Wing is the removal of the distracting red flash that occurs after destroying enemies, an adjustment I have no complaints about, giving it a notable advantage than say the Toaplan core on MiSTER FPGA for now.</p><p>So Twin Cobra, Truxton as base games have the optional widescreen support and Zero Wing "Arcade" version has a remastered meme intro based on the Sega Mega Drive release and the removal of the red flash after destroying enemies. What about Out Zone? After a quick look, there doesn't seem to be anything noteworthy. </p><p>That's all the unique tweaks I've noticed so far. Now onto the general tweaks.</p><p>All four games from volume 1 have a very fast boot-up when launching the game via Steam that it makes you think it was a "quick boot rom from commercial emulator" but hitting the menu button brings up its own options in a flash without any animation delays, I already mentioned visual options earlier but there's a ton of gameplay options too.</p><p>New toggles for a very easy/less stressful playthrough can be done by reducing your character's vulnerability hitbox, giving it up to 2 extra HP before dying, rapid fire up to 30 presses per second, auto dodging where the character will automatically dodge most harmful objects by moving very slightly though it's not very useful in tight spaces, lite-bullet hell moments and non-projectile elements such as enemies.</p><p>Practising for a high score, 1CC, speedrun is very accessible, as the player can:<br />Create save states and then load them,<br />able to rewind gameplay up to 10-16 minutes which I tend to use if I just lost a life.<br />There is even a dedicated practice mode where you can select any level, spawn at any checkpoint with a selectable current weapon of your choice, weapon's power level and even a cycle counter which tracks how many times the player has cleared the game. While it doesn't sound like much, having the option to practice in nearly every segment in the game without resorting to save-state packs that were downloaded from the internet is a huge boon.</p><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGufa0BHxmtn_yyhf_4JNGddQjCMLyE95EzzapgAuotL0LYxeS0Lgjxb5pT15L0YIbCeBXQYTF9-5uXzHuSX2ZfL2Eb0XdtuQTEoCWY5dKSj817-8mfqqWUGug6O1hD_2Atng4DrH96cVPE_EQ5vpbC29lYtG9sa0C6y3riHFuZA62XWtb5km8YiYA/s2864/toaplan%20assist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2404" data-original-width="2864" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGufa0BHxmtn_yyhf_4JNGddQjCMLyE95EzzapgAuotL0LYxeS0Lgjxb5pT15L0YIbCeBXQYTF9-5uXzHuSX2ZfL2Eb0XdtuQTEoCWY5dKSj817-8mfqqWUGug6O1hD_2Atng4DrH96cVPE_EQ5vpbC29lYtG9sa0C6y3riHFuZA62XWtb5km8YiYA/w434-h365/toaplan%20assist.jpg" width="434" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assist toggles to make the playthroughs less stressful.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghf5rl694U6YjFtPFUdeGH15qV9vb41E_8ISQmjU7HKp45pU__m_DtDjX51SXmYqcFqSzzlloEcFTqXSXvYLa946p5EAJYb6w89po8blBqdCRjWMwAPjnyWxNG1ZFEEbAqiDG3boyleNsJDjGemJaNvRfHS351F0dnEjkokhZUQnM1NCGIg_FMyEAM/s2877/toaplan%20practice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2087" data-original-width="2877" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghf5rl694U6YjFtPFUdeGH15qV9vb41E_8ISQmjU7HKp45pU__m_DtDjX51SXmYqcFqSzzlloEcFTqXSXvYLa946p5EAJYb6w89po8blBqdCRjWMwAPjnyWxNG1ZFEEbAqiDG3boyleNsJDjGemJaNvRfHS351F0dnEjkokhZUQnM1NCGIg_FMyEAM/w439-h319/toaplan%20practice.jpg" width="439" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practice menu to master every segment in the game.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><br /><p>The input latency is very good, while I don't have the tools to measure an accurate reading, it felt very instantaneous. This was tested on a PS5 controller wired, so your mileage may vary on the controller used to play this game.</p><p>That said, there are some possible improvements I would like to see in future patches.</p><p>1) Have visual arrows and buttons on highlighted menu options. Right now when you highlight them, you will have to read a text from the lower half of the screen to know what you can do to change its settings, but by having two arrows and a pushing button icon, should make it a lot clearer. It took me a while to figure out how to disable scanline/bloom effects in one of the games, but by using the D-Pad I was able to change it to a clean pixelated look as seen on emulators.</p><p>2) Background frame bugs, when both screen backdrop and overlay are turned <b>off</b>, changing the overlay to tutorial and then to a different option will automatically set the screen backdrop to option 2 despite being currently set at 0. I have to go to screen background and hit right to re-select option 0 for a pure black screen background. This bug doesn't happen when the game has been booted up with all background options set to off, it's only when backdrop has selected to 2 at least once for the bug to occur.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjoH1Q9Yg-loBIw2MADW1KfX9TQ350BeuJGt3JUwqpBBFAnzHseJBPEHSvu89QVnKOoGJyuuHGzVNgQ5tSP1fC6nJsWzkjMT5wFlvVuKmIM71rf88-HmloLmwAfJdPccCxxnaTQ-vWxA0n8u93faCBJ0iSsNpGlY7WNB5cmrYQyNTjqn79aP1AT34/s3840/20230303213533_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjoH1Q9Yg-loBIw2MADW1KfX9TQ350BeuJGt3JUwqpBBFAnzHseJBPEHSvu89QVnKOoGJyuuHGzVNgQ5tSP1fC6nJsWzkjMT5wFlvVuKmIM71rf88-HmloLmwAfJdPccCxxnaTQ-vWxA0n8u93faCBJ0iSsNpGlY7WNB5cmrYQyNTjqn79aP1AT34/w472-h265/20230303213533_1.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backdrop bugs, background stars still showing despite being set to "off".</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>3) Stat text colours. This issue occurs in some games where important data such as "Red" "Green" and "Blue" used the incorrect font colour on display. I don't think it occurs in Twin Cobra.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiW6pgvNIYYfPgl0Jj_nAI24H3CC5AhtlOMeCVv_W20DQ0QD6uIKD8Ps0uN1s4HvXsc9cCpBkM2b_nmWfZ6w2fsr6fc_Us_ii5PrPwY4qwnPW69e7jQIj9siVzjf5LqC2ubySaolbLV1dXvYcFrn4CfTUod8h_XHLeFTboF8EClQcVvg68Hbr7JkKi/s3840/20230301221554_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiW6pgvNIYYfPgl0Jj_nAI24H3CC5AhtlOMeCVv_W20DQ0QD6uIKD8Ps0uN1s4HvXsc9cCpBkM2b_nmWfZ6w2fsr6fc_Us_ii5PrPwY4qwnPW69e7jQIj9siVzjf5LqC2ubySaolbLV1dXvYcFrn4CfTUod8h_XHLeFTboF8EClQcVvg68Hbr7JkKi/w487-h273/20230301221554_1.jpg" width="487" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red = Grey, Green = Red, Blue = Brown ?????</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>4) On the current version, starting up a game by using the practice menu disables in-game sound effects and only has the music playing, the only way to restore this is to complete a stage, dying doesn't work because you only have 1 life and no continues which takes the player back to the title screen.</p><p>5) Hitbox viewer doesn't make 100% sense at times. For example, at the end of the first stage in Out Zone has four robots, yet the third robot has no visual yellow hitbox. Despite this, walking up to that enemy can still kill you.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Re4mY0IrTJe62OEnSS8aYkZcNc0bAjn5C2jZPDUq7ZFUj_ECx6V7y1NDVcV1dHse9r2U_RmIXa1u__6tyraCREDDTlJHHGnkAbl_Eca7FDh4udOB3mlcvi48HLlrKWRJOWkCG2z9UrQlp2jDdCD0Zbv5EZg2riawZSX2C3OqrrWmlyuAvu0XOmaR/s3840/20230303190328_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Re4mY0IrTJe62OEnSS8aYkZcNc0bAjn5C2jZPDUq7ZFUj_ECx6V7y1NDVcV1dHse9r2U_RmIXa1u__6tyraCREDDTlJHHGnkAbl_Eca7FDh4udOB3mlcvi48HLlrKWRJOWkCG2z9UrQlp2jDdCD0Zbv5EZg2riawZSX2C3OqrrWmlyuAvu0XOmaR/w488-h275/20230303190328_1.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The third one looks suspicious.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Overall this is a great way to play these side scrolling shooters, accessible options for the newer players, dedicated practice tools for the purists to master every checkpoint with nearly any option available just to make their future 1CC runs a reality. It's not perfect as I mentioned some issues did occur when
ing the games.</p><p>That said, the filesize for each game is extremely tiny in 2023 standards, which is great for the customer as they can play these classic games as soon as possible, but for certain players hoping to have unlockable content as seen in many other retro collections will be disappointed with this one as there is only sound test option unlocked by default. Simply put, adding unlockable gallery images would have made the filesize bigger.</p><b>Cunning Toaplan</b><div>Quality of life features</div><div>Low latency</div><div>Great version for practising</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Toaflop</b></div><div>For players expecting "flashy" presentations menus with galleries, history videos, interviews, etc. This is not it.</div><div>Some minor bugs that can be fixed in later patches if it happens.</div><p>Review codes provided by Bitwave Games</p>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-81995442458933735172022-12-19T14:57:00.001-08:002022-12-19T14:57:19.384-08:00Lil Gator Game: Greenalink's Lil review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Game: Lil Gator Game<br />Developer: MegaWobble<br />Publisher: Playtonic Games<br />Release date: 14th December 2022<br />Price: £16.75 or US $19.99<br />Filesize: 252 MB</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1alhexRdeQvwkITDAOiKWdDAgwDDPVLg38qhDqA9NoK9Ij8Bm23-jHjnCgvI29QEZNtCmNmviVIc4Ryv5gdmOsK4CijCCJB_p0A2GOwzb_eMAtWcxYZZzhkyXRsXjLlcaNQpf5kbpJzyxZMyqpIit4-HA-iUQv8AfdKXZM2EuRWeTalYXmFg6ODzL/s1440/lil%20GATOR%20Game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1alhexRdeQvwkITDAOiKWdDAgwDDPVLg38qhDqA9NoK9Ij8Bm23-jHjnCgvI29QEZNtCmNmviVIc4Ryv5gdmOsK4CijCCJB_p0A2GOwzb_eMAtWcxYZZzhkyXRsXjLlcaNQpf5kbpJzyxZMyqpIit4-HA-iUQv8AfdKXZM2EuRWeTalYXmFg6ODzL/w435-h245/lil%20GATOR%20Game.jpg" width="435" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> <span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Lil Gator Game is a late 2022 indie game developed by MegaWobble and published by Playtonic Games.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;">The story involves a gator who loves their big sister, playing adventure games during childhood but "millions" of years later, the big sister has adult responsibilities and the gator is struggling to get her to join in the fun again.<br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;">The gator is a young kid who wants nothing but fun and gets stressed out whenever there's grown up stuff involved such as studying materials, organising a restaurant or making your own hat, fortunately the NPCs twists their words after noticing the gator's initial response to make it sound more fun and encourage motivation. One interesting small attention to detail is that the young ones tend to have all of their words in lowercase whereas the grown-ups have proper casing (with a notable exception from the screenshot below).<br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcYfUtZwGzASxRBQJG7dp0Bl-1oZbczj-iXU4xcD3w9j9fiBtlQLrs5BRoUuVp8VHrPK9o2kd4fgYFczoNO-jg6pqCfkUcsI3ysGiJXjUo2no4vlW6DRa6YJc15F1JcdTddOFZ-GDiMXURM5dhM_aU2cJtMMWzImbKs-r5dVMxacjHbDqYVe7ua53/s3840/20221217145056_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOcYfUtZwGzASxRBQJG7dp0Bl-1oZbczj-iXU4xcD3w9j9fiBtlQLrs5BRoUuVp8VHrPK9o2kd4fgYFczoNO-jg6pqCfkUcsI3ysGiJXjUo2no4vlW6DRa6YJc15F1JcdTddOFZ-GDiMXURM5dhM_aU2cJtMMWzImbKs-r5dVMxacjHbDqYVe7ua53/w400-h225/20221217145056_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;">The gameplay is a 3D adventure Breath of the Wild-lite experience. It's not super massive, the weapons do not have a durability system and there's no labyrinths dungeons to explore but both games share the stamina wheel mechanic mainly used for climbing and certain items to a lesser extent. There is no health/death so the player is fully invincible and all of the breakable assets are stationary and made out of cardboard to have that imaginative play feel for the gator's quest.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="elementToProof" style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;">At the start you have to find a sword, a shield and a hat. The shield isn't used for defending at all but for shield sliding instead, it even includes the shield front flip if initiated from mid-air. The sword is a melee weapon used as a reliable way to break assets to earn currency which is junk. Junk is used to craft new items during the quest, there are a few identical ones with little differences, for example:<br />A dart gun and a shuriken, the former has an arc effect similar to a grenade launcher whereas the latter travels in a straight line, the ammo is unlimited so you can fire constantly to your heart's content.<br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;">After clearing the small island, you get a text message from Tom who has a "construction" site for a small town/playground by the radio tower from the big island. From there, you have to clear three main quests, one from each major NPC (known as Jill, Avery and Martin). Jill specialises in nature, Avery focuses on building a restaurant with a group of theatrics buddies including a spaceman, a western cowgirl and a bat. Lastly there's Martin who is hanging out with older friends... trying to stay cool. These main quests involves clearing tasks from the major NPC's friends and eventually motivating them to go to the playground, this can include trying to catch a hercules beetle. being a court judge to expose a liar or taking down a UFO.<br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Unlocking buildings to improve your playground requires "NPC Visitors" as currency, this is earnt by clearing quests.<br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Quests are usually bitesize tasks that can be cleared in 1-5 minutes depending on the challenge. One slightly tough challenge for example was trying to find 5 ninjas themed targets thanks to a time limit but it did involve looking around the area as the targets were both high and low from the starting point and there were loads of bushes so try and cut those down first should make it easier.<br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrT_dVcDTjewYpC_WlbEvW2hIX3_dlGT_HxokmpKSSiQM26VDvOy5OrnkR3QB1DwOiJNPrT1x0SLlt9Nl7A_ZjwgB1xtEe6gG6TkiH4631QWpSFSgnqj5izfR5Xx73VaEp4F85LZ0hw_aDOyWdNh6TwGiXQFWRF22R-_r87pzgWEiafsbp3m6W3_g/s3840/20221218210340_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitrT_dVcDTjewYpC_WlbEvW2hIX3_dlGT_HxokmpKSSiQM26VDvOy5OrnkR3QB1DwOiJNPrT1x0SLlt9Nl7A_ZjwgB1xtEe6gG6TkiH4631QWpSFSgnqj5izfR5Xx73VaEp4F85LZ0hw_aDOyWdNh6TwGiXQFWRF22R-_r87pzgWEiafsbp3m6W3_g/w405-h228/20221218210340_1.jpg" width="405" /></a></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Without spoiling the end game, there is an interesting sequence and a strong conclusion that sends an important message to the player(s).<br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">After clearing the game, you're given a megaphone which is used to find any other NPCs that haven't had their problem(s) solved, this is an interesting way to find uncompleted tasks as with most modern games, you're given a map with loads of icons on screen to complete your todo list, the other item is the ability to text message Jill to help you find every breakable enemy/chest in the game as that is required along with the quests from the NPCs to unlock the second ending.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">This game doesn't have a map and while it would have been nice, it does encourage more exploration. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">In fact, some of the NPCs will give you clues to find certain locations, one key advantage on the lack of fast travel is that </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">you'll find other junk and quests along the way to help you get closer to 100% completion.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">D</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">id you know this game has a mini trampoline as a sliding item? Using that to land right after jumping from a high place never gets old. </span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="221" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iinpG27Xf3M" width="501" youtube-src-id="iinpG27Xf3M"></iframe></div><br /><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The music is light-hearted up beat music with a warm feel probably comparable to life sims games such as Animal Crossing and one part has an eerie tone that occurs when going inside a bat's home turf. The big island is notably dynamic as it changes the instruments based on the gator's current location.<br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Overall, the game is surprisingly enjoyable for nearly anyone, it's accessible for young ones to complete and older gamers would love its witty writing, the entertaining in-game mechanics if you ever wanted to speedrun it and the message at the end of the story. It's not a super long game to beat, for some.... it's at an acceptable length without overstaying its welcome.<br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Time to complete story ~4 hours</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Time to complete everything ~6 hours.</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Score: B+</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Lil Gator Greatness:</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Heartwarming/Charming tone with an important message.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">No frustrating mechanics to rely on realism such as ammo/duratabilty and HP.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">You can Naruto Dash</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Cheeky references with semi-frequent nods to The Legend of Zelda.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Lil Gator Flops:</span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Not much to do after reaching second ending other than getting faster times on mini-time trials found in some locations, a New Game + would have been fun to see how fast you can beat the game with best gear.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">The ragdoll demonstration was pretty dark as the NPC was almost being MTV's Jackass worthy, none of the characters can die but still.... I was "uhmmm" for a second thinking don't try that at home.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Key provided by Playtonic Friends from Pressengine online.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-33665138519705122922022-12-06T13:19:00.009-08:002022-12-06T13:21:49.966-08:00Official tournament event tours hampering the day one quality of the product - Part 1.<p><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12pt;">Quality day one releases were quite the norm for a long time and still is today to a slightly lesser extent but that usually depends on the game's genre and long-term support. </span></p><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Big franchises also have big events to help promote the game in the longer run.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">But not everything can go to plan.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In this series I will cover two games that had lacklustre day one releases thanks to other big marketing shenanigans that made it "easier said than done" to delay the main game </span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The first one is a juggernaut entry that from 2016 perspective.... what could possibly go wrong after the amazing Street Fighter IV series?</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;">Capcom Pro Tour x Street Fighter V</span></b></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9NTU2uGBB232iKwbMsAAMoRJzhS2VYXTd4zh6B2VtIdGLGgVpBdxVOdBzP-vDDd2-vfXvWpbmcm3kDA1LPh50x7yrVamPB1L_1XbvqhzeF0Ttv6BVJbTU4cxCd7cfdwVsH_E7OWb64S-mZVe5nOoMjW3-yc06Kgcthmg1h1FBBCbCthfSMpAqWC5/s912/CPT%20logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="897" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9NTU2uGBB232iKwbMsAAMoRJzhS2VYXTd4zh6B2VtIdGLGgVpBdxVOdBzP-vDDd2-vfXvWpbmcm3kDA1LPh50x7yrVamPB1L_1XbvqhzeF0Ttv6BVJbTU4cxCd7cfdwVsH_E7OWb64S-mZVe5nOoMjW3-yc06Kgcthmg1h1FBBCbCthfSMpAqWC5/s320/CPT%20logo.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /></span></b></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Street Fighter is Capcom's flagship 1V1 franchise which caused a global phenomenon in 1991 thanks to Street Fighter II: The World Warrior.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Part way through early 2010 when Street Fighter IV era was its main game, Capcom introduced a pro tour series known as the Capcom Pro Tour, a series of official tournaments where the highest ranked players (+1 from last chance qualifier) gets a chance to win a whopping six figure cash prize. The Capcom Cup finals before the pandemic era were held around mid-December, a few weeks before the end of the year, Capcom Cup in December 2015 was the last BIG tournament to focus on Ultra Street Fighter IV and interests after that event were shifted to its sequel that was coming out a few months later.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjbwLSH-nZKlz4HBFO_id54XR19G8y0K3X87xjmejN-t5TMARE2h71LAOWuzOm-zQcm13BYsFJG51gxe09_ykq9TJY2CkmxKtc7QtlnMdb3iuMLumGHNqHkmo4IbkRYiGv_Vd3AP7ycGRcLEsHXDOER9JTBWK577cf9QmE4cIGmYE-zd67mxJpmHD/s3840/sfv%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjbwLSH-nZKlz4HBFO_id54XR19G8y0K3X87xjmejN-t5TMARE2h71LAOWuzOm-zQcm13BYsFJG51gxe09_ykq9TJY2CkmxKtc7QtlnMdb3iuMLumGHNqHkmo4IbkRYiGv_Vd3AP7ycGRcLEsHXDOER9JTBWK577cf9QmE4cIGmYE-zd67mxJpmHD/w400-h225/sfv%203.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The problem:<br />The start of a new tour series happens in March and the new Street Fighter V game came out in February 2016 so practically a month to practice., the impressions of the day one build was clearly underwhelming in content as it lacked both:<br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">a Story mode and even the obligatory Arcade mode which nearly every good to average fighting game has.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pre-release trailers clearly focused on the esport player base thanks to the real-life tournament footage used in the trailers, but not everyone plays "For Glory" as a fair number of players play games "For Fun". Survival mode, the only true single player mode at the time was tedious in higher difficulties thanks to cheating psychic A.I being able counter react to the player's input and the early days there were no in-game items to use in order to turn the tables, so you only had one life. This was the only way to unlock extra colours so... good luck getting the harder colours with an hard to win character. </span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">D</span><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">id you know that Extreme difficulty used to be called Hell difficulty? That name change happened around the first DLC release featuring Street Fighter 3's Alex.</span></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChQCKGIs4pxcjKUg3bo9MdUuF9-CE4Z44PXhXLcB1ZxdhP0EoN4e-8ai8ojRBgwm19FgsbCT0Tp9z8MYRlyEpBfNshL687GdpEzUvKS7zBU4vAnki-iGm5c6Pri0neRJtO9liJJ3YHyywvWzhFnln4cAyN6q1oIbuGxs3bJnsKsWd-L14meqV1jTJ/w415-h233/sfv%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="415" /></span></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Before Extreme there was Hell.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChQCKGIs4pxcjKUg3bo9MdUuF9-CE4Z44PXhXLcB1ZxdhP0EoN4e-8ai8ojRBgwm19FgsbCT0Tp9z8MYRlyEpBfNshL687GdpEzUvKS7zBU4vAnki-iGm5c6Pri0neRJtO9liJJ3YHyywvWzhFnln4cAyN6q1oIbuGxs3bJnsKsWd-L14meqV1jTJ/s3840/sfv%201.jpg" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"></span></a></div><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The reason:<br />Giving the game one month of playtime was enough for pro players to get familiar with their mains and having a 9 month pro tour season allows more countries to host their Capcom Pro Tour Tournaments, if it lasted for 6 months (say starting in June) then fewer countries would have been able to host it as some locations may have their venues occupied by other events not related to Street Fighter.</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The anti-influence:<br />Tekken 7 was out for arcades in February 2015 and had a few delays before its console launch in June 2017, they took notes at Street Fighter V's disappointing start to avoid the same mistakes, fortunately for Bandai Namco, Tekken didn't have an official pro tour until a few years after launch, so its day one build was downright superior to Street Fighter V's launch edition thanks to having actual content for any type of player to enjoy and as of 2022 it's currently one of the most popular entries of the franchise thanks to long term DLC support and a very strong tournament showcase, even for spectators who've never played Tekken can appreciate the now iconic slow-mo moments when both players land their final blows at a (potentially) game ending round.<br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDhcTVm47HartxS6-qoia04RFOVgFaPMh31DPp1y6lTw7_Wp6hQg9EHmeILuCEsSViWyQsQ_fZ8gv4eP68WuiFsbNC7nVqWEesrGk8KA7YVvtXKye1T6Z_yRT-q_GpMqtUOzsWmFo3IJ1jSuIQKrYo6YBUaeD7Qdd0_fMeHaoMjgPyOtfhZ_NwHXu/w413-h232/sfv%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="413" /></span></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Ken Masters, another factor for SFV's plague thanks to his banana hair design.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDhcTVm47HartxS6-qoia04RFOVgFaPMh31DPp1y6lTw7_Wp6hQg9EHmeILuCEsSViWyQsQ_fZ8gv4eP68WuiFsbNC7nVqWEesrGk8KA7YVvtXKye1T6Z_yRT-q_GpMqtUOzsWmFo3IJ1jSuIQKrYo6YBUaeD7Qdd0_fMeHaoMjgPyOtfhZ_NwHXu/s3840/sfv%202.jpg" style="background-color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"></span></a></div><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In 2022, the upcoming <span style="font-size: 12pt;">Street Fighter VI had a much stronger beta testing reception thanks to many quality-of-life features to training, "bad online connection" mercy quits, accessibility to different control styles, a proper single player mode, gimmicky gameplay modes that were very reminiscent to 90s fighting games in a era when pro tournaments were an extra instead of a priority.</span></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Capcom Cup 2022-2023 season aka the last BIG Street Fighter V tournament will end on February so Street Fighter VI make its debut spotlight a few weeks/months later. Knowing that Capcom Cup finals can start a few weeks after the new year and not before during pre-pandemic days, Street Fighter VI could be out in April time so that it has one month of exposure for players to experiment before the first Capcom Pro Tour in May which will take 9 months to reach to the end of the 2023-2024 Season... February 2024, the question is... will all of the content teased in past trailers be available on day one?</span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="elementToProof" style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Next time... will be covering a series where they tend to release new games in a pair because why not.</span></span></div>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-23590366206081697712022-06-15T12:09:00.005-07:002022-06-15T12:12:56.962-07:00Greenalink inspects and compares Thrustmaster's eSwap X Pro to the eSwap S Pro.<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">This product was provided to me from Thrustmaster to see how well it performs at high level grind for a good run whether its speedrunning or long sessions.</span></b></p><p>After reviewing the eSwap S Pro, I was provided the premium edition called the eSwap X Pro. Aimed towards the elite crowd of players with 4 rear buttons, 3 swappable "movement" slots and even swappable triggers & rear pads for colour customisation, in theory this should be outright superior. What surprised me is that how much quality of life improvement the cheaper S model has and there is a simple reason for that, the X model came out first sometime around late 2020 and then the S model in late April 2022.</p><p>So this "review" is more of a brief comparison between the two controllers and what I am hoping in the future revisions of the eSwap series, the reason for this is that most of the features I've mentioned from the eSwap S review such as hair trigger & control stick deadzone adjustments applies to the eSwap X as well.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>Comparison 1</b></u></p><p>The control sticks (mainly the ones that were provided with the controller itself).</p><p>The eSwap X sticks provided with the controller have swappable thumb pads to make it either resemble an Xbox controlller by default or a retro PS1/PS2/PS3 controller, the height of a stick (pole part) from the lowest part to the thumb pad stick is notably higher than a default Xbox One/Series controller, this does make a difference for my thumbs as they need to put an extra effort to reach/stretch and rest on the pad. These sticks provided with the controller are less comfortable than the shorter sticks that are the default for the eSwap S model, the downside with the shorter stick piece is that the thumb pad cannot be changed into the Playstation 1/2/3 style pad.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggBv8scOYFk3TLGwFryYfy_QI_SMnmi2Q0xky52i_BqabOyaikt3qXW0Ksx0q8f3xiYja_l1PruR71XCwHX5QDOO19vshwnbd7GHSoQk3tZ313mXepF4bLgawNf7w8LQfZvQSw0ZULGYoyIQmdbEsWzbvulONR91mW1TWcN2GJO-3-5SzlYuGAkyKQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggBv8scOYFk3TLGwFryYfy_QI_SMnmi2Q0xky52i_BqabOyaikt3qXW0Ksx0q8f3xiYja_l1PruR71XCwHX5QDOO19vshwnbd7GHSoQk3tZ313mXepF4bLgawNf7w8LQfZvQSw0ZULGYoyIQmdbEsWzbvulONR91mW1TWcN2GJO-3-5SzlYuGAkyKQ" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Left = Default stick<br />Right = PS1/PS2/PS3 style stick</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="text-align: right;"> </span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs0Jg_S3bT2qlxx0mkLAkl-9nNp4K4B_HJ2RtKdwE1sVVR703gU8ovQM6dKRhWq3w9LsP8M6-T9nnCTNjIV6mTULDRj1iWkQgFHyKo28KaouTMuZjp3zMmCyvHI9yyPOiCxBKGz_N-AZlsLkRLW04q7duJejU3Zu70qrU2vrMSrLKA3zci_EuKSRUC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="7972" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgs0Jg_S3bT2qlxx0mkLAkl-9nNp4K4B_HJ2RtKdwE1sVVR703gU8ovQM6dKRhWq3w9LsP8M6-T9nnCTNjIV6mTULDRj1iWkQgFHyKo28KaouTMuZjp3zMmCyvHI9yyPOiCxBKGz_N-AZlsLkRLW04q7duJejU3Zu70qrU2vrMSrLKA3zci_EuKSRUC=w495-h186" width="495" /></a></div><br /></b></span><b style="font-family: arial;">Pay attention to how my thumb is resting.</b></div><br /><p></p><p><u><b>Comparison 2</b></u></p><p>USB Connection:</p><p>The eSwap X uses Mini A connection and eSwap S uses the newer type C, not only that but the X model has a small hole around the top of the controller designed for a specific cable to perfectly fit into, this makes generic USB mini A cables look a bit out of place. The newer S controller doesn't have this design and so any USB type C cable can be used without worrying whether or not it looks out of place.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieR9KPNfwnQyk4ENhe1-VxjHkzS4qdUmhaKEy0wd6TP-cwOQwfv24NJSvjI8TF9Ui0HIIQR8SehMzYOnd2DKRdAi6IUZi_gnYU4tNCrqukXlnCiFUu9XV9bUZJtK_qObSIdiH-N44iDVbSSAYoylXhSQKZcz2sM2WdjlaaFt327NKdpgPwbvWHhYCs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2968" data-original-width="7968" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieR9KPNfwnQyk4ENhe1-VxjHkzS4qdUmhaKEy0wd6TP-cwOQwfv24NJSvjI8TF9Ui0HIIQR8SehMzYOnd2DKRdAi6IUZi_gnYU4tNCrqukXlnCiFUu9XV9bUZJtK_qObSIdiH-N44iDVbSSAYoylXhSQKZcz2sM2WdjlaaFt327NKdpgPwbvWHhYCs=w498-h186" width="498" /></a> </div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"> Model X = Picky USB mini A slot. Model S = Reliable USB type C slot.</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6A-zjh4h3-nPoDFxbBl23cKykv_GEDQagfj57Y-vbf__Bn-mD27F37NoIXeZwwbFX9lmt91hbDUQoGtprwPuWO7_Vq9n-pjJT-hHSqzytuWXoJtFKOKpRrsxubj_H_bBqf2blVqT4NGWAsrLAJP392hRBufke7EIfAMZHeMun39sZeV_9xfOz6kiR" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="7980" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6A-zjh4h3-nPoDFxbBl23cKykv_GEDQagfj57Y-vbf__Bn-mD27F37NoIXeZwwbFX9lmt91hbDUQoGtprwPuWO7_Vq9n-pjJT-hHSqzytuWXoJtFKOKpRrsxubj_H_bBqf2blVqT4NGWAsrLAJP392hRBufke7EIfAMZHeMun39sZeV_9xfOz6kiR=w492-h185" width="492" /></a></div></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;">The cable provided with Model X is ideal as it fits in perfectly,</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;">avoid using generic USB Mini A cables if you can.<br /><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><u><b>Comparison 3</b></u></p><p>L/R buttons.</p><p>So the S controller seems promising so far but I noticed that the X model has better shoulder buttons. My guess is that the physical clicks felt more noticeable as at one point the S controller's shoulder buttons were not clicking as consistently as it used to that I had to press them on the edge closer to the USB port just to make sure they were working. So I say the shoulder buttons from eSwap X are indeed better.</p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>Comparison 4</b></u></p><p>The D-pad</p><p>So the style of the D-pad closely resembles the Playstation series D-pad with 4 arrows facing at the very centre, there is a small rectangular hole at the very middle which requires using a tool to insert, twist and pull to take out the D-pad. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctz4bx-oEYMoyeXeAiec7o-QUukgYJwurkDrf9WIOPiZls2zZP6ZEv7TnlCzCxJVkejimIV_876mT7Jnjv9gbRQcMDP-CYqj9uFqJOVJO-mBz0UnY4upuucbtRes-q6AHV8NUNl_slmsmPpLtzh1xC5GxECIe-uOB2BsfGlepmPAfD6_ArLe1zx3Y/s2777/PS%20RETRO%20d%20pad%20comparison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1553" data-original-width="2777" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctz4bx-oEYMoyeXeAiec7o-QUukgYJwurkDrf9WIOPiZls2zZP6ZEv7TnlCzCxJVkejimIV_876mT7Jnjv9gbRQcMDP-CYqj9uFqJOVJO-mBz0UnY4upuucbtRes-q6AHV8NUNl_slmsmPpLtzh1xC5GxECIe-uOB2BsfGlepmPAfD6_ArLe1zx3Y/w462-h258/PS%20RETRO%20d%20pad%20comparison.jpg" width="462" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="text-align: left;">This is one of the X model's key selling point, being able to position on either left half slot to function like an Xbox or Playstation controller. The D-pad itself is usable for 2D action/platforming games but not so much for fighting games for two reasons. </span></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilB6wilQngQfH2neNisS28njUdY2MYNzmE8nsLsdl5uEqdS_7p20CcALF1u7Dp1AS_HYwPK2Qzzq0T36YnVPDtq9evBHqFz0fetOuVHmnUm6VlJOHpf4uA9y2mz5W8G1gOiOgcc9120_UyZLFcnJ4EhSF1Bxwtw95QPPKLEqyjquvAhhaO2kz9gBOC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="7948" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilB6wilQngQfH2neNisS28njUdY2MYNzmE8nsLsdl5uEqdS_7p20CcALF1u7Dp1AS_HYwPK2Qzzq0T36YnVPDtq9evBHqFz0fetOuVHmnUm6VlJOHpf4uA9y2mz5W8G1gOiOgcc9120_UyZLFcnJ4EhSF1Bxwtw95QPPKLEqyjquvAhhaO2kz9gBOC=w509-h192" width="509" /></a></div><br /><b style="font-family: arial;">Left = Default layout</b></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Right = Playstation layout.</b></span></div><p></p><p>1) The edges of the directional buttons feels a bit rough and not smooth meaning frequent quarter circle forward inputs can hurt your thumb.</p><p>2) Whenever I was pulling off a quarter circle forward (QCF) input, I had to move my thumb slightly higher up during the motion than usual or else it would never register a single direction input (purely left/right) before hitting my punch/kick button which causes my character to execute a crouching normal attack instead.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgknPv1JFml_P7R51FsGZHiVN3zYoAYIssnFUxU563JRSUpdLZd2sn8TcVmFxyXlBLvm8RDdCmqBstktR3fSrfDxnLpW9NL-YTv9Lj3UYLr6BowvV0tt4UCf1t-47Z6WWp--JXo9n4LGUhDY_AKho40Lb_Wr8dmWk9Lj_imD8dW9WT5qTRAtwdO6-S0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgknPv1JFml_P7R51FsGZHiVN3zYoAYIssnFUxU563JRSUpdLZd2sn8TcVmFxyXlBLvm8RDdCmqBstktR3fSrfDxnLpW9NL-YTv9Lj3UYLr6BowvV0tt4UCf1t-47Z6WWp--JXo9n4LGUhDY_AKho40Lb_Wr8dmWk9Lj_imD8dW9WT5qTRAtwdO6-S0" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;">A tool provided with the eSwap X controller is the intended way to take out the D-pad piece from the unit.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJjFlyzzva_nzJfkraYwCZo-eDoSqjWFej2A0Qni7Xu5L4QEUFWk6dsaxawlKQCN9-DUoNCnEhIlpI11VKobQRHzBvXOSSwptM-Hf9zbySLGmmfTpIolLSUUpgeQWN4CnjwNvIqIOU4fpZ7IrInEtbeYBCvEhuMSceHryHn4vwKqTQo4BmSFpPir7t" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="2101" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJjFlyzzva_nzJfkraYwCZo-eDoSqjWFej2A0Qni7Xu5L4QEUFWk6dsaxawlKQCN9-DUoNCnEhIlpI11VKobQRHzBvXOSSwptM-Hf9zbySLGmmfTpIolLSUUpgeQWN4CnjwNvIqIOU4fpZ7IrInEtbeYBCvEhuMSceHryHn4vwKqTQo4BmSFpPir7t=w509-h272" width="509" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;">Left = eSwap X Right = eSwap S<br />The S version feels a lot more comfy to use and<br />more reliable at pulling off QCF motions but this D-pad is locked in place.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><u><b>Comparison 5</b></u><p></p><p>The mappable rear buttons</p><p>In my earlier review on the model S, I was concerned with certain FPSes requiring extra commands from the D-pad such as Halo Infinite but after posting that review, my friends told me they mapped the rear buttons to both crouch and jump which makes sense in a close quarters assault rifle combat where mixing up your movement can make a huge difference. Two buttons are usually good enough for most action/platforming games. Having four buttons really depends on the genre you are mainly playing, the most efficient use are games that rely on twin sticks and has 4 action buttons that were initially mapped to the four face buttons and/or 4 direction buttons from the D-pad. This usually applies to first person/third person shooters and top-down twin stick shooters where the players can still use action buttons that were mapped to the rear buttons whilst having both thumbs on both sticks at all times.<br /><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgde8IS72lrX5QQVPrs6kJxOOHqTVvN1wip_fY3GJZEuSpCO8vZ2VQJFa8odmqecBzotMzeGUBkNEqpXvVEUq7nC4vqIZzIXlamGU878aI1bw4yxpQa6hRowvVw73eNHN2Og1AddC1FXAOw9PoZKtY8i2O1LsAYeZAtKv_r--QdSr6lrIZ6Ngq9RtaA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2964" data-original-width="7996" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgde8IS72lrX5QQVPrs6kJxOOHqTVvN1wip_fY3GJZEuSpCO8vZ2VQJFa8odmqecBzotMzeGUBkNEqpXvVEUq7nC4vqIZzIXlamGU878aI1bw4yxpQa6hRowvVw73eNHN2Og1AddC1FXAOw9PoZKtY8i2O1LsAYeZAtKv_r--QdSr6lrIZ6Ngq9RtaA=w481-h179" width="481" /></a></b></div><b style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></b><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;">Left = eSwap X Right = eSwap S</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">The S model is still usable for many games despite only having 2 buttons and the text on those buttons stands out a lot more than the X model.</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></b></p><p></p><p>Possible improvements/suggestions for a future series 2 model.</p><p>The eSwap's biggest strengths are ease of swap ability and in some cases future proofing by using revised parts. For example, using the shorter sticks that can be bought online or the pair that were included from the eSwap S. I would like to see a way for the swappable D-pad piece to be release friendly without a tool which at the moment is surprisingly doable by holding underneath both sides of the D-pad, though I would be weary if it could damage the edges in the long run.</p><p>The mappable buttons should have the ability to program multiple of inputs on a single button through ThrustmapperX's app, they'll be ideal for action genres, especially fighting games, having a single rear button to map both Medium Punch and Medium Kick for example to enable a single button press to execute Focus Attack (SFIV) and V-Skill (SFV). This is going to be very vital for the upcoming game in 2023: Street Fighter 6 thanks to the new Drive Parry and Drive Impact mechanics.</p><p>In my previous review, there was a game called Azure Striker Gunvolt which has special skills mapped to either the keyboard (F1, F2, F3 & F4) or the right analouge stick, if the controller had advanced mapping settings to map a rear button to a key from the keyboard, it should be possible to have each skill slot mapped to a button with the eSwap X.</p><p>Lastly, the main reason why there should be series 2 revamp for the eSwap X in the future is to simply support USB type C otherwise it doesn't feel absolutely superior over the eSwap S.</p><p>The boxart between the two are very identical as well. A simple background colour change like the Playstation 5's Regular edition vs Playstation 5's Digital edition and Xbox Series S vs Xbox Series X are night and day difference.</p><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRJmhNpCbWENIVKsRLPt0Ms0hDyl_A9EtquOCCN3Ao85OX8rjdnzLe7QGjMC4jMldiCHjdrfsMN-9YkYdxdJsGy3i0y5TEtM77TRix1syXF46ZSC2Fr13Zp52uLZPm3heRR8NBmJQfT-2LfxFfSmsDU94kK04XxPipMfg1JgPWRM3zqZYw7VMpkALE" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2256" data-original-width="4454" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRJmhNpCbWENIVKsRLPt0Ms0hDyl_A9EtquOCCN3Ao85OX8rjdnzLe7QGjMC4jMldiCHjdrfsMN-9YkYdxdJsGy3i0y5TEtM77TRix1syXF46ZSC2Fr13Zp52uLZPm3heRR8NBmJQfT-2LfxFfSmsDU94kK04XxPipMfg1JgPWRM3zqZYw7VMpkALE=w537-h272" width="537" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"> The boxart between the two are way too identical<br />as they both share the same use of colour. <br />Yes the controllers are indeed different.<br /></b><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>In conclusion, the eSwap X has potential but is held back by eSwap S's lower RRP price and quality of life improvements on both the D-pad and USB connection. Though saying that, if you are not afraid at spending extra money to get shorter sticks and can live with the USB mini A connection and workable D-pad outside of fighting games, then it's a pretty good controller but for speedrunning purposes, the eSwap S does the job better in most cases other than being restricted to the Xbox layout for movement pieces due to locked D-pad.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">A quick rundown:</b></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">USB connection: eSwap S</b></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">Shoulder buttons: eSwap X<br />D-pad (overall comfort): eSwap S</b></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">Versatility (layout combinations and rear button count): eSwap X</b></div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-43332803573605887612022-05-09T14:00:00.009-07:002022-05-10T01:21:44.467-07:00Greenalink reviews: The Thrustmaster eSwap S Pro<div class="separator"><br /></div><p><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px;">My first review on a piece of hardware.</span></p><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This product was provided to me from Thrustmaster to see how well it performs at high level grind for a good run whether its speedrunning or long sessions.<br aria-hidden="true" /><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Eswap S Pro is a tad cutdown version of the Eswap X Pro with less swappable slots and less rear map buttons. However, the ace in the hole is the new D-Pad which is notably different to the Eswap X Pro version. Because of this feature, I played a fair amount of 2D games to get a good impression.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1A1nZ_ZOK5GslsUspVvdOWLiT8KC1Z3jKqUwr23epmgBNmJ7SmRYwDKQBlodPmRU2GYHmqNXjlVe0hUKD25G8gc9p5SMufqjhx2oA_nPyxD-KYiWDPIbd966PWlHdyqwL7AUeLgLzHSMlfF1wWihBMAnne8NoNnbZ2uBrtkqGN1PZmrCTHSGNS1m/s4000/20220426_184059.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1A1nZ_ZOK5GslsUspVvdOWLiT8KC1Z3jKqUwr23epmgBNmJ7SmRYwDKQBlodPmRU2GYHmqNXjlVe0hUKD25G8gc9p5SMufqjhx2oA_nPyxD-KYiWDPIbd966PWlHdyqwL7AUeLgLzHSMlfF1wWihBMAnne8NoNnbZ2uBrtkqGN1PZmrCTHSGNS1m/w400-h300/20220426_184059.jpg" title="Front" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtU-miatFvitngKWtwKc1zjspx_sy8JJXzK6Y0MyVs1KIV-Ikr6xxmINM7QA20p66LCCxGmovcWJHay4M0kjgLjrl1KSm65sO-PTiN4S8IJJ846JSs7-p2tKtbASJBWVlBXM87-uswcCkT1Q8cg3f1bS3bdiMTlA1-sbs3zvUgGG1X8Nv_We13hOJp/s4000/20220426_184206.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtU-miatFvitngKWtwKc1zjspx_sy8JJXzK6Y0MyVs1KIV-Ikr6xxmINM7QA20p66LCCxGmovcWJHay4M0kjgLjrl1KSm65sO-PTiN4S8IJJ846JSs7-p2tKtbASJBWVlBXM87-uswcCkT1Q8cg3f1bS3bdiMTlA1-sbs3zvUgGG1X8Nv_We13hOJp/w400-h300/20220426_184206.jpg" title="Back" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The D-Pad is a plus shape type like the Xbox One style and not the circular style as seen on Xbox 360 and Xbox Series models, I grew up getting used to the circular style on the 360 controller that I was a small minority who really liked the D-pad for that system. So, when I got to try out the Eswap S's plus shaped D-pad, it was really comfy, it almost felt like it was gel squidgy yet really solid when moving my thumb from left to right. You get to hear the clicks when a new direction is pressed inside the controller. I tried out a few long sessions with the D-pad starting off with trying to get a 1 credit clear run on an arcade game called Midnight Resistance, now this game is mostly holding right and probably left at some points and my left thumb was fine after 3 hours of attempts. <br aria-hidden="true" /><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TY5sySzA2Uw" width="480" youtube-src-id="TY5sySzA2Uw"></iframe></div>Midnight Resistance, played with Thrustmaster's Eswap S Pro.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">LB + RB used to rotate gun.<br /><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The face buttons (A B X Y) while not exclusive to the Eswap S are all flat shaped with very short travel distance as if you were clicking a mouse, this doesn't sound like much but faster reactions to press inputs can make a significant difference. </div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Trigger locks is a feature that has been seen on various pro controllers for the system including the official Elite series. The ones I have work ok but there were rare occasions that the Right Trigger will activate an input for a frame or two that would cause my gun to fire a single bullet for 1-2 seconds in Halo Infinite despite not even touching it. A quick fix was to unlock the trigger and then re-lock them just to make sure, it didn't happen all of the time but it makes me wonder if this problem occurs on other trigger lock controllers. </div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The triggers are shaped differently too that it's better to place your fingers along the grove of the triggers and not touching the edge, that part feels more rough than the official Xbox controllers, so try and get used to that if you can.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h_FfHdnKEgk" width="480" youtube-src-id="h_FfHdnKEgk"></iframe></div>Slipstream 16 minute run of me holding RT with the Thrustmaster eSwap S pro.<br /><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Then comes the rear buttons known as M1 and M2. The Eswap S only has 2 mappable buttons compared to the Eswap X which has 4 mappable buttons, this decision is questionable, probably done to make the Eswap X more worth for the money but on the flipside, you can probably get away with 2 map buttons for single player games.<br aria-hidden="true" /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtUy7cJ4nKlFYT_pRzDU-A0PffZKmgO68YgWQ4QWJnMpNcMSgTHlM2twJw0bhuWADCqTai9vrIKD77guKCjcqDKMwzr5VUo3jVPAvdRhM64ad6Rkejr8jV2pDKxo00qRTlk0Lp7UIb1nq-54dx-P-GkdMj1p9W2Zd7rDm8_o0vL69zBW4FVrWXr0w/s4000/20220426_184535.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtUy7cJ4nKlFYT_pRzDU-A0PffZKmgO68YgWQ4QWJnMpNcMSgTHlM2twJw0bhuWADCqTai9vrIKD77guKCjcqDKMwzr5VUo3jVPAvdRhM64ad6Rkejr8jV2pDKxo00qRTlk0Lp7UIb1nq-54dx-P-GkdMj1p9W2Zd7rDm8_o0vL69zBW4FVrWXr0w/w400-h300/20220426_184535.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front side controller, showing 2 swappable slots on Left Stick & Right Stick</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Hh2f2vuLDWItN73GMuSSXPVk15sekYNNbZFOb1TO6C427YOUE0aRu8j7-GhSoRHK--hlPKe3jrr-twpm596rIGGRg9C8ZART3Jqh4KkoT-9qGpfbatZ9OBOgCVYQG6JAG1u3nuI7chHETzBha8pLn8iJWKXchB5WO5POSWewKEotf_wJaUejAYgb/s4000/20220426_184645.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Hh2f2vuLDWItN73GMuSSXPVk15sekYNNbZFOb1TO6C427YOUE0aRu8j7-GhSoRHK--hlPKe3jrr-twpm596rIGGRg9C8ZART3Jqh4KkoT-9qGpfbatZ9OBOgCVYQG6JAG1u3nuI7chHETzBha8pLn8iJWKXchB5WO5POSWewKEotf_wJaUejAYgb/w400-h300/20220426_184645.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rear side controller, showing the hair trigger locks and 2 mappable buttons.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: start;">I played a game called The Surge, a souls-like game set in the future with construction robots as the</span><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: start;"> theme. When mapping the Right Stick Button to M2, it felt like a convenient Z-Trigger style lock-on when focusing on an enemy as my right thumb was still hovering over the ABXY buttons. A simpler example of having only two M buttons is mapping the D-pad Left and D-Pad right as a way to change weapons, this works in various games, most notably Shadow Complex.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;"><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfF9-jz27GOcDvonceUl7hCHQ49i94tYNNvLuWA96XgD9k0rWtt1kZAaQbYe_lSWMhfXkpjIYWowNuDWZ9QSKw-9p9MlkcBdTe7chBbt3bxkfse0gTOTzg2Z9pFp8Z7YekuXeIMMHNgInQYpPpwHWG5b-LEN1vBKFCd1H71sFIraVfw4AqS_sbMqFX/s4000/20220426_184251.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfF9-jz27GOcDvonceUl7hCHQ49i94tYNNvLuWA96XgD9k0rWtt1kZAaQbYe_lSWMhfXkpjIYWowNuDWZ9QSKw-9p9MlkcBdTe7chBbt3bxkfse0gTOTzg2Z9pFp8Z7YekuXeIMMHNgInQYpPpwHWG5b-LEN1vBKFCd1H71sFIraVfw4AqS_sbMqFX/w300-h400/20220426_184251.jpg" title="Opening the lid" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lid opened.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_cwwFgky_YnxqIgF-6PjIgtXmbmGCKW_q9_T929tlOkXtBnzPGargPnNVitc_vLOsRE1x0NcqYNzoAL9Sl_mI8lLcqgFPuSo8S7zUlTDoDflURu1WpR_Ox0z2oz0NcpOmXuJRnWVZ4Z4afVnNDR6JK4zLDKzQVRmzhdJQBdR3HF5qqxww7bBoD48/s3161/20220426_184308%20side.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2846" data-original-width="3161" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3_cwwFgky_YnxqIgF-6PjIgtXmbmGCKW_q9_T929tlOkXtBnzPGargPnNVitc_vLOsRE1x0NcqYNzoAL9Sl_mI8lLcqgFPuSo8S7zUlTDoDflURu1WpR_Ox0z2oz0NcpOmXuJRnWVZ4Z4afVnNDR6JK4zLDKzQVRmzhdJQBdR3HF5qqxww7bBoD48/w400-h360/20220426_184308%20side.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bird's eye view. Includes controller and USB type C<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The controller while $40 cheaper than the Eswap X, it has some notable caveats over the competitive model which may want you to save some money and get the premium version instead.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The Eswap S only has 2 swappable slots instead of 3 as seen on the Eswap X, the left stick and right stick slots are swappable but the D-pad is fixed in place, I think this is unfortunate for two reasons:</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">1) While the D-Pad is phrased for having good diagonals, it is placed in an awkward position for playing fighting games when swift and/or complex motions are involved. To put it into context, a lot of (professional) fighting game players from mid to high level have been using the standard PS4 controller as the console of choice is for the majority of tournaments is the Playstation 4.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The controller is probably still ok for Dragon Ball FighterZ thanks to being exclusively Quarter Circle Forward/Quarter Circle Backward motions and other fighting games at a casual lower level. I'll be surprised if one can go far in tournaments using this controller though.<br aria-hidden="true" /><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">2) To follow it up, the Eswap X can alter the D-Pad and left stick placement to make it feel like either a Playstation style layout or an Xbox style layout. The Eswap S is strictly an Xbox layout which can be a deal breaker for some. However, if you are a person who doesn't like the Playstation layout at all, it's a non-issue.<br aria-hidden="true" /><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The other disadvantage over the X is that some games have a huge execution benefit with four rear buttons instead of two.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">A modern FPS game I play called Halo Infinite takes full advantage of 4 rear buttons by mapping each D-pad command to a M button ranging from:</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">AI Scan to highlight dropped weapons</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Marking to send information to teammates such as locating power weapons or tagging enemies.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Grenade swapping to... swap grenade types</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">and Drop weapon for the high level strat of dropping a weapon to reduce cooldown time after a melee attack.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SY4tT5YJPpk" width="480" youtube-src-id="SY4tT5YJPpk"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">Halo Infinite Ranked in action before 2022, <b>wasn't played with Eswap S Pro. <br /></b>Just giving you an idea on gameplay context with extra commands such as Marking, Grenade Swapping and A.I scan (yellow flash), showing two map buttons isn't enough for this.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">With only two rear buttons, I went for AI Scan and Grenade swapping as those were my two most frequent commands, but it really needs at least one more because Marking plays a huge role throughout the match for intel without sounding obnoxious on the mic.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">One thing I've noticed that felt odd initially at first is the placement of the Start/Options button, they were placed much higher and further away from the X button. The official Xbox controllers have the start button very close to the X button. This is more of a learning curve for me whenever I have to pause the game to execute a save & quit warp or something else like retrying the level but this can be remedied by mapping Start as a rear map button on games that I played fine on the official controllers so it's not all too bad.</div><div style="border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This controller is compatible with the MiSTer FPGA although do note that the 2 rear mapping buttons only function to existing buttons that were mapped (so M1 that is mapped to A will be treated as A and not M1 only) and cannot be treated as their own buttons when it comes to mapping commands on many of its retro cores.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBTSwsnHmIoLVcWidpf5ptio-Xb7_5zkRmrPW_k3EGpIHdIIGgc0fhL73jIrfQHztaJZbdacY-RxGgHCGswkBSurWvD1-T1SPsUXvaI-QqH2f8J371K6g-YA_bAtgrSjVK6znnuiFilEThjiVjbBkyyr_qduDd1fXITpKqXT1fp7qiVwJLsnNRDic/s3840/button%20mapping.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2014" data-original-width="3840" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBTSwsnHmIoLVcWidpf5ptio-Xb7_5zkRmrPW_k3EGpIHdIIGgc0fhL73jIrfQHztaJZbdacY-RxGgHCGswkBSurWvD1-T1SPsUXvaI-QqH2f8J371K6g-YA_bAtgrSjVK6znnuiFilEThjiVjbBkyyr_qduDd1fXITpKqXT1fp7qiVwJLsnNRDic/w400-h210/button%20mapping.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Button mapping. </span></div></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If there was one thing I would like to see in the future through 'advanced settings' perhaps is mapping the buttons to a certain direction of the left or right stick.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This might be a bit tricky to program when using the controller's mapping feature alone because it currently only maps 'click' based inputs ranging from ABXY to Left/Right stick buttons but there are very few games where single commands were mapped to a direction of the right stick.<br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For example: In the Azure Striker Gunvolt games, the special skills are mapped to one of the four directions on the right stick. Moving the stick up activates the 1st special skill slot, moving the stick right activates the 2nd special skill slot. 3rd for down and 4th for left.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can use the keyboard by pressing F1, F2, F3 and F4 which is naturally awkward to use.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The current solution right now is to map a keyboard button to a Left/Right stick button by running a Keyboard to Controller App on the PC and then map Left/Right stick button to a rear map button.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Example:</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Keyboard > Controller > Map Button)</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F1 > LSB > M1</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F2 > RSB > M2</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The ideal solution:</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RS 'holding up' > M1</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RS 'holding right' > M2</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This might be hard to do properly unless you have some sort of Advanced settings on ThrustmapperX app.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbARFPSPNxU8myezCDD0NOFj17mzBqrC-ZouvHsi6VW-Xu5UXJmjjCeTCAkbBsdLnkv7l1NAE8Ytsnl9VQqEYRwjtdfQIvCYFGXWx-2tU93iRITxbyBX1uroHB96XiSj7H1GllwqcjlK_9HYs0em5toTYiUVY42qwtSJpJm1Ntjem-U7FEJgb60FcP/s3840/yua26.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbARFPSPNxU8myezCDD0NOFj17mzBqrC-ZouvHsi6VW-Xu5UXJmjjCeTCAkbBsdLnkv7l1NAE8Ytsnl9VQqEYRwjtdfQIvCYFGXWx-2tU93iRITxbyBX1uroHB96XiSj7H1GllwqcjlK_9HYs0em5toTYiUVY42qwtSJpJm1Ntjem-U7FEJgb60FcP/w400-h225/yua26.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Note: On top right part of the image shows special skills that can be pulled off by using the Right Stick. Stick directions cannot be mapped to M1 and M2 buttons. So I had to use Antimicro to map a Keyboard input to LSB/RSB and then map a stick button to either M1 or M2.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lastly the sticks, they are strong to keep in place but not too hard to pull them out and replace, I like how they slide back in flawlessly like a cube filling in the missing gap. The thrustmapperx app has an easy navigation system to track data on analogue sticks' deadzone/sensitivity curve, trigger % factor, currently mapped buttons and the ability to save presets which will be very handy for trial-and-error purposes on testing analogue sensitive games like trying to get movement after moving a fraction of a millimetre on the stick. I can't say too much on the sticks other than the bowl area of the stick feels bigger than the official Xbox sticks which is nice for my slightly medium sized thumbs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQ3IXXTPNFYm-ER1PPH0pqXz_vztzS4SydHpNcLmJqwkj2LbGGOanC_um9BrF-Kr47VEdG_C46GRaWAm_Z-bEhuJ9R47OgQ8CgJ0YE-u5pd4dfK-Ml-haVxqu06QEjzxo9VPOjXpXNfsy-PIwyEB3RF2t9uxWyqgZ1-Jbzs3f9GhW36M2rMlKVoTh/s3840/trigger%20locks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2014" data-original-width="3840" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQ3IXXTPNFYm-ER1PPH0pqXz_vztzS4SydHpNcLmJqwkj2LbGGOanC_um9BrF-Kr47VEdG_C46GRaWAm_Z-bEhuJ9R47OgQ8CgJ0YE-u5pd4dfK-Ml-haVxqu06QEjzxo9VPOjXpXNfsy-PIwyEB3RF2t9uxWyqgZ1-Jbzs3f9GhW36M2rMlKVoTh/w400-h210/trigger%20locks.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">Trigger locks options is a must for speedrunners and FPS players to input the RT/LT commands as soon as possible. You can adjust the values to make them a tad more sensitive but not too sensitive.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In short does it excel for long sessions? Yes, I can see this as a reliable controller with quality-of-life execution improvements on face buttons to convenient stick replacements whenever one of them has a drift problem, as you don't need to open up the controller and solder in the no drift pcb by <a href="https://heldergametech.com/" target="_blank">Helder Gametech</a>.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you want to take full advantage of the rear buttons to perform extra commands instead of using the D-Pad then go for the eSwap X button but if your game doesn't need that, then this model is fine to use. Price can be debatable compared to other brands around this price but what they don't have is swappable parts to replace or customise with ease to make your own controller not only looking good but function to play good too. </div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The eSwap S only comes with the two mini sticks attached but removable by default making it a near 'Switch Lite' experience as you rarely want to swap the sticks out, so buying extra sticks is the only way to either change colour or to replace a drift stick. <br aria-hidden="true" /><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is best for:</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Single player speedrunning on the PC where controller is good to use for many 2D platformers and 3D action/adventure games.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is okay for:</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Some First-Person Shooting games that benefit aim assist and require <b>fewer</b> extra commands to map to rear buttons.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br aria-hidden="true" /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is probably not okay for:</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fighting games at a high level mainly because the nice D-pad is placed in an awkward position. Only use it for casual play.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">People who play wireless as this controller is wired only with USB type C.<br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Controller provided by Thrustmaster.</div><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">Thrustmaster's Eswap S Pro controller product page:</span></span><br /><span face="Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #fcff01;"><a href="https://www.thrustmaster.com/products/eswap-s-pro-controller/">https://www.thrustmaster.com/products/eswap-s-pro-controller/</a></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></div>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-1500294754506449872020-05-11T04:21:00.003-07:002020-05-11T04:38:48.203-07:00Greenalink reviews: Streets of Rage 4!!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEF0IAfBPT-WaPVjnJokbC_X0ZFxe3EBP5_xcrsTuICEx6aUETaYFTJ9ejzlyX7He55EtPpp8ZcoExUI70Mqmd4CD1VSksRYxTyo6oJ0JrnTGTxofC0ZXa_S3PiIiFbe702GovtPavfa8/s1600/streets-of-rage-4.original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEF0IAfBPT-WaPVjnJokbC_X0ZFxe3EBP5_xcrsTuICEx6aUETaYFTJ9ejzlyX7He55EtPpp8ZcoExUI70Mqmd4CD1VSksRYxTyo6oJ0JrnTGTxofC0ZXa_S3PiIiFbe702GovtPavfa8/s400/streets-of-rage-4.original.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Developer: Lizardcube/Guard Crush Games/DotEMU</div>
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Publisher:DotEMU</div>
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Price: Roughly £23/$25, different platforms and regions may vary on exact price.</div>
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Website: <a href="https://www.streets4rage.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">https://www.streets4rage.com/</span></a></div>
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The Streets of Rage series at one point played a huge role
of being part of Sega’s 3 key franchises during the early 90s along with Sonic and
Shinobi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the release of Streets of
Rage 3 in 1994, the franchise went very quiet. Along the way, multiple 3D attempts of making a sequel were made but eventually scrapped for Sega Dreamcast and even Xbox 360. The long drought finally ended in August 2018 thanks to a reveal trailer posted online to YouTube that guess what didn't get cancelled, making it one the longest real life gap for a sequel entry in video game history.<br />
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So it has been a whopping 26 years since Streets of Rage 3.
Now developed by Lizardcube (Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap Remake), Guard Crush games (Streets of Fury) and DotEMU (Windjammers 2), the series finally has an official 4<sup>th</sup>
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Does it succeed or will it struggle and be trapped in the
world of the 90s along with other relics like Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island and
Duke Nukem 3D?</div>
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Features:<br />
12 levels</div>
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17 playable characters</div>
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1 challenging arcade mode</div>
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An all star group of music composers</div>
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<i>Editor's note: SoR will be used as a shortened way to say "Streets of Rage".</i><br />
<i>For example:<br />SoR1 = Street of Rage 1.</i></div>
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<i>SoR2 = Street of Rage 2.</i><br />
<i>SoR3 = Street of Rage 3.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Graphics:</u></span></div>
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This one is being handled mostly by Lizardcube who did an excellent
job with Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap that I personally called it one the best
remakes in recent years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now tackling a
much bigger project, the amount of work involved is staggering with roughly
1,000 frames for playable characters to roughly 300-400 frames for basic
enemies. That alone would have been good enough but they pushed it even further
with the rich detailed environments, visual effects like reflections from the
puddle at the street to even beams of light covering over the main characters. These effects
are also applied to the nostalgic pixels characters too. The pixel characters sprites are mostly 1:1 to their original source but SoR 3 Shiva is a notable character who had a slightly altered movepool which requires reusing the lesser seen sprites in somewhat creative ways, even if it looks off.<br />
The in-game text is a a higher definition version of the Streets of Rage 2/3 font which is a neat touch to diehard fans.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUS0hMCKqIeR9bheeLRc_0cJD0jylniB6euVQ1g1ygbJ8aYu66U04I-HwxB2sDfUqt0JQzZSe9znYbwUE4Tm1c4pR26OpCGpqrM_naa2SARjQy5lIcncQcx8eD0y4DFLS90Dgm2YU8lw/s1600/20200511111344_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUS0hMCKqIeR9bheeLRc_0cJD0jylniB6euVQ1g1ygbJ8aYu66U04I-HwxB2sDfUqt0JQzZSe9znYbwUE4Tm1c4pR26OpCGpqrM_naa2SARjQy5lIcncQcx8eD0y4DFLS90Dgm2YU8lw/s400/20200511111344_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">29 years after the very first game, things don't change.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sound:</u></span></div>
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The main sound effects are mostly brand new with probably
one or two being mostly near direct rips from the 90s trilogy. The exception
would be playing as 12 of the retro characters as they use the respective sound
effect from their respective games. I did notice that both SoR2/SoR3 Blaze and SoR3
Skate were using voice clips from prequel entries too, overlooked or
intentional I cannot say for sure.<br />
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The voices are pretty simple and standard stuff as they are used to say a line after being selected as a character to a series of battle related grunts and shouting out special moves. What stood out to me the most is that every enemy class now have their own set of battle cries after being defeated which is a massive improvement over Streets of Rage 3 where there was only 1 death cry for <b>every <u>common male</u> enemy </b>in the game.<br />
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The main soundtrack focuses on recent music styles that were
introduced from YouTube ranging from mid 2000s to the 2010s. Some of the tracks have a
fusion of retro chiptune and new instruments which is most notably true when playing through both Stages 3 and 9. Olivier Deriviere the main composer of the game, composed
nearly every regular area in the game with the very first part being an exception.
The tracks Olivier composed implemented a dynamic effect that changes the melody
when entering a different part of the level which does impact the feel of the
game by a huge margin.<br />
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Guest composers were responsible for the themes of nearly
all of the boss battles and they are pretty unique too but they don't have the dynamic effect when progressing through the battle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPNUAZBQLiZAvp05QbSM7L7cO21CzzR86JztUKgzTh0EhBRxFBa0LilXVjUvoJrBLd_yXb5rD6BHd_LaQsh9ol938c0mnLCB52HlB02EAmaZJGkn_-jAuW0Tn8NBtGmlh7B72SVyyPpw/s1600/20200511111231_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPNUAZBQLiZAvp05QbSM7L7cO21CzzR86JztUKgzTh0EhBRxFBa0LilXVjUvoJrBLd_yXb5rD6BHd_LaQsh9ol938c0mnLCB52HlB02EAmaZJGkn_-jAuW0Tn8NBtGmlh7B72SVyyPpw/s400/20200511111231_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Rock on!"</td></tr>
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If the style of the newer tracks are not your cup of tea, there is also the option to play the classic soundtrack which plays music from Streets of Rage 1 and 2 but there's some oddities with the design choices.<br />
All of the tracks from Streets of Rage 1 are from the 8-bit Game Gear/Master System versions and yes Back to the Industry, the factory theme from SoR 2 was used in the 8-bit version of the first game, they even used the intro themes and ending themes (yes really) of 8-bit Streets of Rage 1 as well. I don't know if this is a nod to Master System fans who played Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap remake 3 years ago or it ticks the obligatory 8-bit music for retro nostalgia. I still would have preferred the 16-bit tracks when using Streets of Rage 1 as the 8-bit versions are usually abridged/cutted down and don't cover the entire melody per loop, at least a bigger playerbase will get to hear official 8-bit renditions I guess....<br />
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The Streets of Rage 2 tracks are from the 16-bit Genesis/Mega Drive versions which is good but where they use these key tracks could have been improved. Streets of Rage 4 has a bar area but it doesn't play Bar Hopping but Under Logic (baseball stage from SoR2) instead. Dreamer one of my personal favourites is used in a lift section in the later half of the game, not bad. Max Man the theme used against Shiva back in SoR2 days isn't used against Shiva in SoR4 a missed opportunity.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dnX3KxnjR6o/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dnX3KxnjR6o?feature=player_embedded" width="480"></iframe></div>
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<i>A sample of the dynamic music effect in play. Take a listen.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Gameplay:</u></span></div>
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The quality of the gameplay is the very definition of 90s
design ranging from the fun to frustration factor. The latter really depends on
the character you are playing and playstyle you want to achieve. To make the
game feel modern is the introduction of extended combo options. This allows a
lot of creativity depending on the situation the player is in; aerial juggles
are now a thing as previously hitting an aerial opponent will force a knockdown
with invincibility effect until s/he wakes up, this can go against the player
as well when dealing with enemies who have good anti-air moves.<br />
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Speaking of juggles, the camera borders have a new rule that forces the enemies to stay in the fighting arena at all times, the borders are treated as invisible walls too which can be used to extend combos. Great for characters who have good launch power moves because it can lead to wall bounce follow-ups for massive damage .<br />
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Veterans of the series will get to mess around with a few new tools including the aerial special and vault jump. One additional feature Star Moves actually originated from the Game Gear version of Streets of Rage 2 that allow characters to pull off a very powerful move at a cost of a star. Each character has one and nearly all of them have different uses.<br />
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The special moves got revamped and instead will drain temporary life that can be refilled by attacking the enemies with normal moves, the catch is that the refill will stop if the player takes a single hit from an enemy. The HP drain happens a lot sooner too, the moment when the move is executed and not right after the move ends like in previous games. These adjustments will put these moves as a higher risk tool to use than in previous games because you could lose a lot of health by taking a simple hit right after using a (non-)invincible move at the wrong time.<br />
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There are 5 HD characters to play as, 3 of them who were introduced from the first game and share similar combat flowchart techniques. Cherry and Floyd are two newcomers and both have notable changes to their combat flowchart techniques .<br />
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Axel one of the two characters who have been in every game so far is a bit lacklustre in his SoR4 attire at the moment, most of his specials lack range and slow movement speed makes it hard for him to escape tough situations. Though I do appreciate the attention of detail the team tried to do in one of their official behind the scene videos by recreating the frame/attack data of his famous grand upper attack. According to Guard Crush Game's discord, they are planning to make him better in one of their upcoming patches.<br />
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Blaze the other character who has been in every game so far plays a lot better, her specials have good pokes for knockback, her blitz attack can hit a downed opponent (aka OTG) and she has a Bayonetta style After Burner kick to not only boost her forward jump speed but to extend her combos in the air. She also makes good use of her charged attack which has good knockback distance and can even used as a wall bounce juggle tool.<br />
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Floyd fills in the heavy character archetype in this game. He does have a lot of differences compared to classic Streets of Rage 2 Max that makes him more defensive, for starters he doesn't have a slide to increase his movement speed, instead he lunges out both of his arms that is a good poking tool for defensive play and can hit some enemies in the air.<br />
He is the first character in the series to move around when picking up an enemy similar to what Mika Haggar can do in Capcom's Final Fight and is the first character who has a special grab by electrocuting them, he even has a unique move that involves grabbing 2 enemies for Floyd to smash like toy action figures.<br />
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Cherry is the speedy but weak character archetype, she is the only HD character who can properly run and has some tools that is unique to her. Her grab flowchart is also unusual as she doesn't technically throw enemies but either pummel, pogo bounce off from one or just a pummel to slam. She is a character that has quite a learning curve on how to use certain moves effectively if you're familiar to the series for nearly 30 years.<br />
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Adam is the only HD character who is unlockable and feels like a superior version to Axel in almost every way. He has a mini-dash that works very identical to 2D Fighting games. The development team on Playstation Blog mentioned before launch that Adam is considered to be more offensive orientated than Axel so all of his HP draining specials used his legs instead of his arms and his Star Move has better reach and damage but doesn't cover his rear as well as Axel and has limited juggle followups after using one. Saying that, his jab combo has a nice ender which is very useful to send enemies into the pits.<br />
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Even after criticising Axel, I can sense that the different playstyles are infact there and every section has a different strategy, Axel is the definition of pre-dash mechanics of side scrolling beat em' ups like Final Fight and Streets of Rage 2 whereas Adam's mini-dash feels more modern, I got to admit that it does feel rewarding after figuring out a deathless or even a no damage strategy in tougher sections of the game.<br />
<br />
The 12 retro characters are playable too ranging from super old school characters from Streets of Rage 1 to the not so super old school characters from Streets of Rage 3. Most of their moves are intact but their properties for some of their moves have been altered by Guard Crush to make sure they feel right in the game's engine. Zan's throwing distance for example have been toned down significantly to make it less effective as a pseudo projectile against enemies but it allows follow-up combos that he couldn't do before if he throws an enemy towards a wall for a wall bounce effect. Streets of Rage 3 Skate was terrible in his original game but is amazing in Streets of Rage 4 due to a mixture of indirect buffs (common enemies having under 1 and a half bar length of HP at the most) to direct buffs (blitz attack dealing 2 powerful hits, and has a great throw bread and butter combo) I am comparing this buff to how Pichu rose from the bottom tiers of Super Smash Brothers Melee to high/top tier status in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. The Streets of Rage 1 characters are as basic as ever, slightly adjusted to implement the new juggle mechanics and they even have the classic cop car backup special which is counted as a star move.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMPXsydn7YUB8i6yxETRMMxb9EjhzIBe1giV_46O2HimWVWoDooaqFYAWy_HS7g4r6OnDpwuBnR1j5QBdo18L4nzUZISOAl2amnzDlgB07OpBsw3tGBT-J7IZ9mHcByKjIYimL5UQGuI/s1600/20200511105710_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMPXsydn7YUB8i6yxETRMMxb9EjhzIBe1giV_46O2HimWVWoDooaqFYAWy_HS7g4r6OnDpwuBnR1j5QBdo18L4nzUZISOAl2amnzDlgB07OpBsw3tGBT-J7IZ9mHcByKjIYimL5UQGuI/s400/20200511105710_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colour palettes differences on enemies are not just for show. The one wearing red dungarees can breathe fire from his mouth whereas the one in dark purple can perform a flying body slam.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Level design:</u></span><br />
The game does have a quite a lot of variety when it comes to the sizes of each section, a combination of certain enemy types and even interactive traps. One section has electric traps that can harm anyone if caught, later on there's pits that can be used to instantly KO your enemies, stage 5 has poison ponds that drain the character's HP and even poison vents which can be used to lure enemies in for extra damage. For some areas, it's even possible to backtrack slightly to have some breathing room or picking up extra items. All of these are show rather than tell which is great. Enemies different palettes are not just for show but also difficulty, some of them have the same A.I level with higher HP, some may use different attack patterns and some may have enhanced properties.<br />
<br />
The difficulty of the boss battles is a mixed bag. The first few bosses are quite intimidating at first with attacks that have super armour properties and it's not always straight forward when to get in to deal some damage and actually flinch the boss, especially if you play aggressive which usually works well in previous games. Later on in the game they become somewhat easier because they have huge weaknesses or easy to punish playstyles. One boss has super armour throughout but if you recognise his charging poses, you should be able to dodge his attacks, another boss would rather fight from a distance and you can figure out the projectile attack by looking at the colour of its body glowing before it fires a shot.<br />
<br />
The changes in difficulty are as follows:<br />
* Number of starting lives<br />
* HP amount for regular enemies (very minor difference in this one)<br />
* HP drained for using a special move (very small penalty for easy to 1/6th of entire bar for higher difficulties).<br />
* AI aggression (Mania will have some enemies move faster)<br />
* Enemy spawns (obviously more enemies to face when playing higher difficulties).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDZCDUXqn4q6bswykHQkoGLj4_YB4zkSV-6MIDuusyBPeO6dqNXHQN1JT6JSddlOp6lKe0mdTNKVgEhyj8ji25j8ew2LPKdL2zPoJfxqy3_1F6aXRGPHBt4ZXQEf-nycqSSHVoT-n2Ww/s1600/20200511110632_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDZCDUXqn4q6bswykHQkoGLj4_YB4zkSV-6MIDuusyBPeO6dqNXHQN1JT6JSddlOp6lKe0mdTNKVgEhyj8ji25j8ew2LPKdL2zPoJfxqy3_1F6aXRGPHBt4ZXQEf-nycqSSHVoT-n2Ww/s400/20200511110632_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This section is going to be a total wreck for some.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Useful features:</u></span><br />
The team added button mapping which should be mandatory in every game, options to disable certain button combos for moves and even an option to enable 3 button legacy layout for players using the 3rd party Genesis 3 button controller via bluetooth. The game has a level select to help players practice the levels in higher difficulties<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ioqshmv0xuL2N-nVRdMgRdFf262Myr8qyMt1lX9pBJe7rRQVDOorBbKNbrgrc0ZVG6g7cdoMu5e1cPrcrojLm4zane2wlLRUJ7XH-26UvwnNJaj7OHSbskqExUwrVBSsCYticvDvOmI/s1600/20200511105251_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ioqshmv0xuL2N-nVRdMgRdFf262Myr8qyMt1lX9pBJe7rRQVDOorBbKNbrgrc0ZVG6g7cdoMu5e1cPrcrojLm4zane2wlLRUJ7XH-26UvwnNJaj7OHSbskqExUwrVBSsCYticvDvOmI/s400/20200511105251_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More control options are a good thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Value:</u></span><br />
Side scrolling beat em ups is a tough one to execute. Normally multiplayer works best with local friends but due to the recent Covid-19 setting up a local session is riskier than ever. It does have official online play which is limited to 2 players. PC Steam supports remote play together which means 4 player online. Besides the multiplayer component, there's stage select to practice individual levels, a 1 credit clear arcade mode which does require a different set of strategies if you want to get through the higher difficulties, heck you can feel the sense of satisfaction when making it to the end. The starting lives are fixed and can only get an extra 1up after every 30,000 points.<br />
<br />
There's also 2 kind of players goals as well. People who casually play it and don't touch it for a while or people who want to grind it out, execute S rank in either Arcade or Individual Levels, master arcade mode deathless even. I've been getting S ranks for individual level runs but not in Arcade Mode. Still the 'grand master' status would be trying to get S rank on 1CC Arcade Mode in Mania difficulty and pulling it off would be no easy feat at all as it involves playing excellent for roughly an hour to an hour and a half long, not under 10 minutes like single level runs.<br />
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<u style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></u>
<u style="font-size: x-large;">Overall:</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Streets of Rage 4 is finally here and it's one of my favourite games released in 2020 so far. I've been playing it again and again to learn something new. For a genre that is harder to produce in this generation than other genres, this game nearly ticks all of the boxes. Some may love the changes, some may hate it. For me personally I get why some parts can be annoying but overall, the good things really outshine the bad parts for this game.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sword Strikes:<br />
+ Nearly everyone from is playable with Ash and Roo being non-playable at the moment.<br />
+ Adding features going beyond fans exceptions.<br />
+ Unlockables that isn't paid DLC.<br />
+ Has the best of 90s brawler design with easy to play and tough to master game design..<br />
+ 1CC Arcade mode on higher difficulties feels very rewarding when completed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
+ Expanded movepool and properties to make it fresh for diehard veterans.<br />
+ A great modern soundtrack.<br />
<br />
Sword Yikes:<br />
- 90s design for having limited defensive tools, you cannot block, duck nor parry.<br />
- Enemies with super armour are the biggest jerks.<br />
- Difficulty spike for the bosses when going in order (late game bosses feel a lot easier than earlier ones).<br />
- 1CC Arcade on the highest difficulty is a very long playthrough to 1 Credit Clear than other beat em ups of the genre.<br />
- Needs a training mode to practice juggles and situational combos like having more than 1 star.<br />
- Retro Soundtrack needs better use of when to play tracks and ideally replace SoR1 8-bit tracks with SoR1 16-bit tracks..<br />
- If you're not a person who wants to get S ranks or complete/master 1CC Arcade Mania, replay value is limited.</div>
<br />
Rating:<br />
Excellent: A<br />
<br />
Review code provided by DotEmu.<br />
<br />
Ideal links to check out!<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/tF-rMNY0fBk"><span style="color: yellow;">Streets of Rage 4 - Behind the Gameplay video</span></a><br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/vZ6sa88CLm4"><span style="color: yellow;">Streets of Rage 4 - Behind the Music</span></a><br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/GYnlA6STsBE"><span style="color: yellow;">Streets of Rage 4 - Behind the Art</span></a><br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/Z-1e1cbiKpg"><span style="color: yellow;">Streets of Rage 4 - Behind the Tracks</span></a><br />
<a href="https://blog.us.playstation.com/2020/04/17/streets-of-rage-4-launches-april-30-battle-mode-announced/"><span style="color: yellow;">Streets of Rage 4 - PS4 Blog post - Why retro characters are not 1:1 faithful</span></a>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-29786275399090449002020-04-27T15:42:00.000-07:002020-04-27T16:02:21.860-07:008 Bit Mini review: Streets of Rage 1 for Master SystemTo celebrate the launch of Streets of Rage 4.<br />
I might as well post a series of quick reviews on all of the 8-bit Streets of Rage games that were released in the 1990s.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdxEIvtQKkqBLzzoogtFYeu8VYN_9oHwB7JjekM-5rWsC4XKiSD3DIBAHYOW3cQI31EekMZ_rwULctNpS7CMFOLHWf9xCYa3-2bNa_wPUJI5EtWsMC3G-amekDstk4HnLOnVlZ06EN4U/s1600/SoR+1+MS+title.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdxEIvtQKkqBLzzoogtFYeu8VYN_9oHwB7JjekM-5rWsC4XKiSD3DIBAHYOW3cQI31EekMZ_rwULctNpS7CMFOLHWf9xCYa3-2bNa_wPUJI5EtWsMC3G-amekDstk4HnLOnVlZ06EN4U/s400/SoR+1+MS+title.png" width="500" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Now the Streets of Rage games are mostly known for its 16-bit trilogy on the Genesis/Mega Drive and not a lot of people know the existence of both the Master System and Game Gear versions.<br />
<br />
UK, Europe and Brazil still had Master System consoles in the market a few years longer than Japan and America thanks to its stronger support. Along the way, various 8-bit ports of 16-bit games came to the system. One of them was Streets of Rage.<br />
<br />
Streets of Rage 1 for the Master System came out sometime in 1993, very likely after the groundbreaking Streets of Rage 2 game for the 16-bit console, priced at around £32, the system didn't have many side-scrolling beat em ups other than Renegade, Double Dragon and Golden Axe. Could this be the system seller for the budget console? Read on to find out.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBGKg-eakAx619U_bqdLWTD8qCbqVlS8JWVoWSGyyJgg9gw5IsjBKwOmxhZ_7s98KgTFidCsAJgSEwOCXzg7w1FCdCoUFigR_Z0-GeYld-ABrx9no5ssu9ZKIurhevj6G_bCFoVAOPxc/s1600/SoR+1+MS+characters.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxBGKg-eakAx619U_bqdLWTD8qCbqVlS8JWVoWSGyyJgg9gw5IsjBKwOmxhZ_7s98KgTFidCsAJgSEwOCXzg7w1FCdCoUFigR_Z0-GeYld-ABrx9no5ssu9ZKIurhevj6G_bCFoVAOPxc/s640/SoR+1+MS+characters.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">I can't believe it's not Genesis.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>Presentation:</u><br />
Fragments of a SEGA Logo collide to the middle and form into 1 logo. Not bad.<br />
The game starts off with a difficulty select: Normal and Hard. <br />
That is it. <br />
No options, no sound test, no lives modifier.<br />
You do get the option to play as all 3 characters and all of them are statistically unique, although saying that, most of their attack sequences are identical to each other. The ending is a series of still shots and a lack of staff credits with Yuzo Koshiro being the only member to get an in-game mention for his music at the title screen.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>Graphics:</u><br />
This is probably the most impressive element of the port, the quality is surprisingly good. Most of the sprites look faithful but with less options on the depth of colours, the animation did lose a couple of frames here and there and would have been a bit better if the keyframe animation loops for walking were a bit faster. The gameplay framerate runs at a higher 60 frames (compared to 30 frames for its 16-bit counterpart) and the evil twins are not simple palette swaps as their hair designs have been altered too..<br />
<br />
Not everything is perfect.<br />
For example, there's some alterations to the palettes with Garcias that made green ones easy and blue ones medium in rank, the background for the ship level is completely static which lacks a sense of realism and during walking animations I can see a few glitch sprites that would last a frame but it does stand out if you focus on the playable character.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUeOj_5zTJ4MIgN49hGwuhhLTGd_TG9zzTmHUWuORQUnAS2TuWXF6X4fpACzsR02jEQ3Ztj0wo81obPBPuyO6ra1G7IHKFfz2-6v2DbUe4QLly7wGmhdG8nNWsHSXApW_FQhW2znZEeo/s1600/SoR+1+MS+boss+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUeOj_5zTJ4MIgN49hGwuhhLTGd_TG9zzTmHUWuORQUnAS2TuWXF6X4fpACzsR02jEQ3Ztj0wo81obPBPuyO6ra1G7IHKFfz2-6v2DbUe4QLly7wGmhdG8nNWsHSXApW_FQhW2znZEeo/s640/SoR+1+MS+boss+2.png" width="500" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<u>Sound:</u><br />
Technically this one came out after the Game Gear release which shares similar components. This made porting the music a breeze. One problem was that the Game Gear version only had 5 stages whereas the Master System had all 8 stages.<br />
The solution was to use the character select theme as the track for stage 2 and a brand new track for both stages 6 and 7 (yes 2 stages in a row will use the same track) oh and stage 3 (beachfront area) is using the 8-bit rendition of the Factory stage 1st area from 16-Bit Streets of Rage 2.<br />
They all sound pretty standard but most of the loops of familiar tracks have been cut down due to possible limitations on space after making those impressive looking sprites.<br />
<br />
Sound effects are pretty standard stuff, the most notable omission is the lack of voices so players will have to figure out slightly longer whether or not an enemy has been KO'd.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf_OVihitEIUV6u9WbsiaxVrAV3yfL4APO2QZFKJqH3wAUIWuFChKH-mFgOGtGfRnnhJec389Zr35nbP_d-nwBxRuETWN14NRPUnOJeznasuUuJws8n3f8Kdxy08wh4o7gEmqd9sky00/s1600/SoR+1+MS+Police+Car.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf_OVihitEIUV6u9WbsiaxVrAV3yfL4APO2QZFKJqH3wAUIWuFChKH-mFgOGtGfRnnhJec389Zr35nbP_d-nwBxRuETWN14NRPUnOJeznasuUuJws8n3f8Kdxy08wh4o7gEmqd9sky00/s640/SoR+1+MS+Police+Car.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I still can't believe this is NOT Genesis.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<u>Gameplay:</u><br />
The first entry was the most basic in the series which does give it an easier time to translate a 3 button system to a 2 button system. Unfortunately, the method to call police backup requires pressing the START button followed by pressing either button 1 or 2. This problem is only severe for people who are playing it on an authentic system or more specifically a cart converter that has the START button on it which could be prone to crashes if pushed too hard.<br />
<br />
The system's weaker power also points out a key weakness, the maximum number of enemies on the screen at one time.<br />
For comparison sake, the 16-bit original can have nearly 15 enemies on the screen at once, the Master System version is limited to just 2 and to make things worse, it's limited to the same enemy type or as I call it, Noah's Ark Syndrome. This does lower the challenge significantly and the only real difference hard mode makes besides having more enemies to knockout per section is taking extra damage to the point it's possible to die in a single from Mr.X's tackle attack.<br />
<br />
The game also has some weird quirks with the A.I. and most of the bosses.<br />
The whipping girl called Nora has the annoying mercy beg mechanic that is applied to <b>every single one</b> from Rounds 5 to 8, The weapon juggler Jack's projectiles only have hitboxes for the actual throws, the juggling sprites don't have hitboxes so players can just grab + pummel loop against them.<br />
<br />
One of the most bizarre game design choices I've seen is how most the bosses turn around....<br />
The boss will only turn around by first going off-screen. This does lead to some hilarious moments where Souther (claw boss) will perform backwards dash claw attacks as a reaction to the player's jumping after walking past him/her. <br />
Abadede and Bongo are somewhat tad more threatening as Abadede will stop and side step as a reaction to the player's jumps forcing a more head-on approach by timing the punch button at the right time. Bongo starts to accelerate and use his flame breath a lot faster but if you're familiar with grab loops, it's not a huge problem. The evil twins are not as hard to hit but their jump kick attack's hitbox is way off to the point the player will <b>take damage before the boss's leg sticks right out</b>.<br />
<br />
The biggest crime is the lack of multiplayer, a console where 2 player setup isn't a problem... doesn't have the option to play 2 players at all, a stupid idea or an greedy incentive to encourage customers to buy a Genesis/Mega Drive console and play the 16-bit version?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>What Master System has that Genesis don't?</u><br />
To avoid being an absolute inferior version, the team added a brand new boss that is exclusive to the Master System release. He doesn't have an official name and most of the official design documents you probably have seen online are mostly 16-bit focused Anyway, this new boss doesn't have the weird boss A.I.quirk when it comes to turning around and attacks with a limited seeking missile as it tracks the player's position when s/he is on the ground. This extra boss does somewhat make stage 8 more complete as previously, the 16-bit version had no refight at the end of the first section, now with this new boss, every end of section has a boss refight.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC4YDD-vvDu2HB_bEk8aBtp5-2JANLbMqZE-FYqGTTrLiGSSQjaDteEtuwN_UFjtVZPrqkYiAgS5w5uSovclksm1OJ5j1ATUD0cAuT8tIUE2DjaiBmzbRGSodWpljZMBPjoefVz-Sclg/s1600/SoR+1+MS+new+boss.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC4YDD-vvDu2HB_bEk8aBtp5-2JANLbMqZE-FYqGTTrLiGSSQjaDteEtuwN_UFjtVZPrqkYiAgS5w5uSovclksm1OJ5j1ATUD0cAuT8tIUE2DjaiBmzbRGSodWpljZMBPjoefVz-Sclg/s400/SoR+1+MS+new+boss.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The new boss exclusive to the Master System</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Overall the game does do a good job as a Master System game but some questionable cuts holds it back as a must have classic for the system. It's okay to play a few times but the moment you play its 16-bit counterpart, you wish you spent more time with that version instead.<br />
<br />
<br />
Grand Uppers<br />
+ Great looking visuals that are on par with NES Super Mario Bros 3<br />
+ All 8 stages are in the game<br />
+ Classic SoR tunes with one that is Master System exclusive<br />
+ A boss that is exclusive to the Master System<br />
<br />
<br />
Grand Downers<br />
- Lack of proper options<br />
- No 2 player<br />
- Lack of properly mixing up enemies due to limitations<br />
- If you don't know the safe landing trick, you will hate the Signals a lot.<br />
- It takes longer to beat the game but for the wrong game design reasons<br />
<br />
Grade: C.<br />
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-88106361611814901832019-01-06T11:08:00.003-08:002019-01-06T11:16:59.542-08:00Greenalink reviews Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom<div style="text-align: center;">
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Developers: Game Atelier</div>
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Publisher: FDG Entertainment</div>
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Release Date: 4th December 2018</div>
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Average Price: US $40 or £34.99</div>
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Filesize: 4.2gb main game and at least over 800mb for updates<br />
Available platforms: Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC (Early 2019)</div>
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Website: <a href="http://monsterboy.com/blog/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://monsterboy.com/blog/</span></a></div>
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Monster Boy a game that took over 5 years of development and has an interesting development history as well, with games with very long development times there are usual concerns if the quality ends up being sub-par but after playing this I can tell you that that's not the case with this game.</div>
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Features</div>
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6 playable forms</div>
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5 magical items </div>
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1 pig with an eye-patch</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Monster World and Wonder Boy: Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze?</u></span></div>
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The game was originally a Kickstarter sequel to an entirely different game:</div>
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Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed, that got cancelled and made a partnership with the publisher FDG Entertainment and made partnership with LAT Corp a year later to officially incorporate the title into the Wonder Boy series. That game was called:</div>
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"Monster World and Wonder Boy: Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze"</div>
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Feedback got negative due to the reference of alcohol and so it got renamed to the title we know today as:</div>
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"Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom" which makes a lot of sense as every human has been cursed into an animal, the nod to Wizard of Booze is still in there as one of the characters drinks a lot and cause havoc thanks to his wand. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Graphics</u></span></div>
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Along with the title, this category had a few major revisions. Originally going to use motion-sprites a method used in many games such as Steamworld Dig, but by October 2017 they have decided to use Hand-drawn designs. They were probably influenced by Lizardcube's incredible remake to Wonder Boy the Dragon's Trap which first became publically available to Youtube in June 2016.<br />
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Announcement trailer from late 2013</div>
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After playing the final game and watching one of the earlier trailers, most of the enemies and bosses showed in that video remained visually the same. The updated designs for the playable characters is a huge step up to what their original incarnations a few years ago, they look cleaner, more expressive and have decent running animations (looking at you pig and frog). The background art assets were redone too with some notable level design changes. For example, one of the houses found in the village only had the entrance to the armoury but not the blacksmith to unlock upgrades.</div>
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The game has some neat visual glow like effects when entering dark and gloomy places which is a nice little touch. Gameplay performance is decent on all platforms but the Nintendo Switch version isn't 100% perfect, I did notice a performance drop in some of the more intense sequences most notably the 2nd set of phases against the final boss, I did have a look on YouTube for PS4/Xbox One versions and they ran at 60 frames, still that is only 0.5% of the entire experience which is impressive, maybe it could get a patch to fix that performance issue in the future or not.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbUAZtO0Ae32vxlbIK3XJm_moGgG2WB_uJpffjuWFDjId4Ujq2mmWYIsa46pRz_aPk4H3N4JhVBZ8ym19jVJ3HeRdqmcFIPaeXgh2ZY_YCQu2pXuHhNclQ9sclePOtrU8ztHMv_CLzPw/s1600/yua40.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbUAZtO0Ae32vxlbIK3XJm_moGgG2WB_uJpffjuWFDjId4Ujq2mmWYIsa46pRz_aPk4H3N4JhVBZ8ym19jVJ3HeRdqmcFIPaeXgh2ZY_YCQu2pXuHhNclQ9sclePOtrU8ztHMv_CLzPw/s400/yua40.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More reliable than Slippy Toad</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sound</u></span></div>
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Technically the first new non-port/remake Wonder Boy game to be released in the post chiptune-era. There are sound effects, grunts from various hero forms, enemies and bosses (so no voice acting) and music.</div>
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The majority of sound effects are modern samples, the coin spawning sound effect, for example, is directly taken from Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap, one of the few retro sound effects and an irreplaceable one too.</div>
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The grunts are pretty standard but some are pretty hilarious including the frog boss whirlwind attack and the masked bombers responding back to the player for stealing their bombs.</div>
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The soundtrack is the real star of the game, it has a mixture of remixes mainly from Wonder Boy 2, 3 & Monster World along with some brand new compositions. While the remixes are already decent, the new ones steal the show.</div>
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Grass Fields, for example, is so good that you could use it in a movie as part of a montage cliché and it still works. The Falls feels like a lost track from Sonic Adventure with a lovely piano sequence part-way through. The Haunted Manor has DS era Castlevania vibe mainly The Hidden Curse from Portrait of Ruin.</div>
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Then you find out the composers who were responsible:</div>
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* Yuzo Koshiro - Streets of Rage/Etrian Odyssey <o:p></o:p></div>
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* Motoi Sakuraba - Dark Souls series<o:p></o:p></div>
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* Michiru Yamane - Sega Rocket Knight series and IGAvania Castlevania games<o:p></o:p></div>
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* Keiki Kobayashi - Ace Combat series and Ridge Racer 7<o:p></o:p></div>
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* Takeshi Yanagawa - Shenmue II</div>
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* Tee Lopes - Sonic Mania (worked on the English Opening theme of Monster Boy)</div>
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and there's no surprise why the soundtrack is fantastic.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Gameplay</u></span></div>
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Where can I start on the gameplay?</div>
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Dragon's Trap was criticised for its simpler level designs due to Master System's limitations and while Monster World did fix that, international versions of the game became brutal due to the lack of continuing the game after getting a game over so a lot of safety saves were required. </div>
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Simply put Monster Boy's gameplay is a combination of Dragon Trap's various animal forms and Monster World's diverse level design, added with a hint of stressful free checkpoint/save stations throughout the game.<br />
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The game isn't afraid to throw a challenge that can feel brutal at first but at the same time not too intimidating to redo, throughout the entire adventure, there are enemies to slay for gold and brain-teasing puzzles that even 20 year veterans like me had to take a good 5 to 10 minutes to figure out what to do.<br />
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There's a sense of accomplishment when you figure out a clue/solution to a hard puzzle or figuring out a boss's weakness. What makes the game stand out from many other modern 2D game is the creative use of game mechanics along with excellent level design, early games animals are still required for the rest of the game but not forced to solve every single puzzle.<br />
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One of the main reason why it works is because, the playable character can change form on the fly, while Dragon's Trap did have that feature through limited transformation rooms or using a secret ability from Tasmanian Sword, the levels back then were heavily focused on 1 animal form in mind.<br />
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<u><br /></u> <span style="font-size: large;"><u>Value</u></span><br />
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One of the game's key bullet points mentioned in various trailers said that it's a 15-hour adventure and I've managed to beat it in roughly 12 hours in-game time, that's still impressive and I haven't even 100%'d the entire game yet. There's a lot of hidden secrets, past game references in clever ways and even tougher puzzles to figure out. I salute you if you can 100% it without using a guide.<br />
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The blind playthrough is a lot longer than say Steamworld Dig 2, Shantae & The Pirate's Curse & Azure Striker Gunvolt series. Even if there are some longer games, this game, in particular, doesn't have artificial filler to make the game longer as there isn't any grinding to slowly level up your character. You get rewarded with new techniques quite frequently at a steady pace.<br />
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The only real criticism is that the adventure mode is the only mode to play unlike Mega Man 11's speedruns/challenge modes. Nintendo Switch owners are also locked to 1 save per profile which is a bummer if you wanted to copy older saves and redo your favourite segments a lot sooner. I read on Wonder Boy speedrun Discord that at least the PS4 (& probably Xbox One) can support multiple saves per profile but I cannot say for sure.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unlocking magic chests require using a certain spell a specific number of times.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Conclusion</u></span><br />
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While I was aware of the game's original existence through its announcement trailer a few years ago, Mega Man 11 took over my mind since it had a guaranteed 2018 release date, when I finally got to play this, it surpassed my expectations, the quality and attention to detail is simply incredible and if it was released in 2019, it would have been easily the Celeste of 2D Action Adventure games. Play this as soon as possible, it is one of the better if not the <b>best retro revival</b> video game (spiritual) sequels since Sonic Mania and A Link Between Worlds.<br />
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Monster Joy:<br />
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+ Every animal forms have decent abilities<br />
+ Nearly every screen has a secret<br />
+ Incredible soundtrack<br />
+ The length of the actual game is much longer than expected in a good way, no grindy filler.<br />
+ References to past games<br />
+ Challenging puzzles, some are pretty clever once figured out<br />
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Monster Boy-ring<br />
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- Side quest puzzles can be too challenging for some, you really need good attention to detail on the clues.<br />
- Only 1 save file per profile for Switch owners<br />
- <b>Some </b>side quest puzzles that go uncompleted cannot be retried due to early final build bugs (played on V1.02, probably not an issue on more recent builds)<br />
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Grade: A+<br />
Switch review code provided by FDG Entertainment</div>
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-34169938129427476242018-10-09T15:47:00.000-07:002018-10-10T10:46:20.652-07:00Greenalink reviews Mega Man 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Developers: Capcom</div>
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Publisher: Capcom</div>
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Release Date: 02/10/2018 or 04/10/2018 for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Japan</st1:country-region></div>
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Average Price: US $30 or £25</div>
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Filesize: just over 2GB</div>
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Website: <span style="color: yellow;"><a href="http://megaman.capcom.com/mm11.html">http://megaman.capcom.com/mm11.html</a></span></div>
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Eight and a half years since the last Mega Man came out, a lot of new gems such as Shovel Knight were released along the way and some big flops such as Mighty No. 9 which wasn't received well at all, does the 11th entry of the long-running series has a spark of life to a popular genre or is that spark a complete dud?</div>
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Features</div>
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8 Robot Masters turned bad</div>
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2 gameplay altering gears</div>
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3 pellets on the screen at once</div>
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2 voice acting options</div>
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1 robotic dog</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Not 8-bit man?!</span></u></div>
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The team took a big risk and gave another shot at the non 8-bit atheistic approach which hasn't been done since Mega Man 8 (PS1 1997) or the 3D Graphic 2.5D Mega Man 1 remake: Mega Man Powered Up for PSP.</div>
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A certain fan base from another franchise tend to have a universally positive track record if it stuck to the 16-bit Genesis atheistic, nearly the same can be said for Mega Man in 8-bit, that said the nostalgic style had some limitations and by removing it allowed the team to implement more/new ideas to the series.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Graphics</span></u></div>
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Powered up by MT Framework 2.x, Mega Man series isn't the most taxing game to run than say Monster Hunter World, I was initially concerned when watching the debut trailer last year during the 30th Anniversary event due to the 30fps cap on the video itself but the final build has changed my mind completely thanks to some decent visual effects that couldn't be pulled off completely if it stuck to the 8-bit approach including shadows, light glow from giant flames and detailed gear attacks sequences (2 of the main bosses will transform), heck destroying Sniper Joe will have its shield flying away from the destruction for a few seconds. It's the first new Mega Man game to be played in a widescreen ratio (PSP doesn't fully count) which in a way does affect the level design for boss fights since the in-game camera is fixed during those parts. When Mega Man equips to a different weapon, not only his colour changes but his physical appearance too, especially the helmet piece which is based on the Robot Master he took out to obtain it.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">"You're skating on thin ice!"</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sound</u></span></div>
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To describe the background music it used a limited soundfont/instruments but it's not the original chiptunes back in the day although part of Fuse Man's theme is very close, it kinda reminds me of the in-house, dance-friendly style used in EX Troopers but minus the vocals. There were some complaints about the default volume settings as bgm tends to be washed out by other effects, so during my playthrough, I set music a few points higher and lowered both voice and sound effects, this did allow me to listen to the melody of each track much more easily. Sound effects were done by foley work which simply means that it was re-created sound from real life, retro sound effects wouldn't be as effective with the new visual approach to this game, noticed how the 1up Mushroom Power-up in Super Mario Galaxy for example used modern sounds rather the classic Super Mario Bros sample.</div>
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There's bonus (pre-order) DLC which plays an alternate soundtrack during the main stages, they are very pleasant to listen to and made me wish that it was treated as an unlockable bonus for beating the game. The English voice actors performance against Mega Man 8 is a huge step up with Mega Man sounding more like a teenager rather than a female sounding eight year old, Robot Masters have a variety of accents and personalities that adds a lot of character than bosses featured in previous games, even if some of them sound pretty cliche, such as the angry, short-tempered Blast Man and the playful friendly natured Bounce Man.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qkF3hdMFBphCxvH5CebGaoHNMPuObwrxT-nrOsIQyKCZliM-b3WnzGicEJGXeuvShAP_rIudya7FfEHqo7gwOzvJXFnx_Z6HsMqL0yG18ygZKSXiSETcdeQ6_vwTndne3S0p5-dgV0A/s1600/20181009223356_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qkF3hdMFBphCxvH5CebGaoHNMPuObwrxT-nrOsIQyKCZliM-b3WnzGicEJGXeuvShAP_rIudya7FfEHqo7gwOzvJXFnx_Z6HsMqL0yG18ygZKSXiSETcdeQ6_vwTndne3S0p5-dgV0A/s320/20181009223356_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mega Man unleashing Double Gear which only works if the user is at low HP</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Gameplay</u></span></div>
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The structure is identical to Mega Man 9 as players start off with stage select and afterwards complete 4 final stages, part-way through the game you can unlock Rush Jet. For Mega Man's abilities, however, he regains the ability to slide and charge shot which were passed over to Proto Man in 9 & 10, the charged Mega Buster has a bit of extra utility thanks to a guard break mechanic against opponents wielding some kind of shield, they become vulnerable to other attacks after blocking a powerful Mega Buster shot. His new mechanic and main feature to the game thanks to Dr. Wily's prototype called the Double Gear system allows him to increase his attack power and/or speed by slowing everything down for a couple of seconds. The amount of inputs from Mega Man 9 -> 10 -> 11 is quite staggering as all 4 shoulder buttons and the right stick have use in the game. By not using the 8-bit aesthetic, level design has a bit more freedom and creativity by removing the restriction of using the camera's Y Co-ordinates.</div>
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Power Gear is effective against mid-bosses and end of level bosses mainly because you can quickly activate the gear, use an effective weapon and then deactivate it, this is vital against end of level bosses because some of them die after taking 4-6 hits from a power gear boosted weapon they are weak against.</div>
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Speed Gear is handy for tough platforming segments and most importantly study and dodge powerful attacks from enemies. I tend to use this for moments where I would have a better chance to avoid it by slowing down time. I like these additions because it adds a lot more depth and most importantly for speed gear, makes boss fights more manageable if used correctly. The gears add a breath of fresh air.</div>
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For the actual levels, both Fuse Man and Bounce Man stood out the most during my playthrough because in a level design perspective it took advantage of what the new engine can do over the retro style engine, MM 11 is also notable for featuring mid-bosses in every regular stage, some of them share the same weakness as the end of level boss, some do not and after taking them out you are rewarded with a checkpoint and some small energy pellets.</div>
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Similar to Mega Man 7 - 10, you can pick up parts to buy upgrades and/or consumable items to make a tough level easier to beat, the best upgrade I got was a refined speed gear upgrade where the Blue Bomber is completely unaffected by speed loss during his speed gear activation.</div>
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Top button and right button are dedicated to Rush Coil and Rush Jet respectively which is fantastic because it no longer slows down the pacing of the gameplay. Single button slide and Rapid firing are additional commands but involve sacrificing other 2 buttons. Top players set the gears to the rear shoulder buttons (L2/R2s) and map slide to front left shoulder and rapid fire to front right shoulder, changing weapon can be done by using the right stick which does take some time getting used to.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOABHl3a5bxSf_BasE5WWb05gWtzhOA0AirI4jIaxCThOU_HywC3silyffqIFLxtjB16JYN4zpK-NCok2_sp5NFh5blbLDtxNyn1OiSBOS_VOU3fffZRyuC5ZM9cIoTrwHefIAd9GGmOc/s1600/20181009205118_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOABHl3a5bxSf_BasE5WWb05gWtzhOA0AirI4jIaxCThOU_HywC3silyffqIFLxtjB16JYN4zpK-NCok2_sp5NFh5blbLDtxNyn1OiSBOS_VOU3fffZRyuC5ZM9cIoTrwHefIAd9GGmOc/s320/20181009205118_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The game feels 80% old school and 20% new school by adding voices (again), realistic sounds and new game mechanics</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="font-family: "kartika"; font-size: 26pt;">Spoilers</span><span style="font-family: "kartika"; font-size: 34.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "kartika"; font-size: 26pt;">alert!</span></span></div>
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I played the entire game on the normal difficulty which is the ideal challenge factor to compare it to previous games as the easier 2 difficulties have some notable tweaks to make it more accessible to lesser skilled players. There were some cheap deaths in some of the areas for Impact Man, Acid Man and even Wily stage 1 due to either pits or lots of instant kill spike traps. Wily 1, in particular, had an odd difficulty spike because nearly every room that had platforming either had spikes or pits which can be a concern if Mega Man gets hit by an enemy. That said if you're dying a lot in Wily 1 then practically you are not using every weapon available. Then Wily 2 didn't have the same issue and I will say that Wily 2 is somewhat nowhere near as brutal as the first Wily level. Wily 3 and 4 had a bigger focus on boss fights and kept platforming to a nearly absolute minimum which I felt was a bit of a step back as nearly any other Classic Mega Man game had at least 3 platforming focused stages. The only other criticism is that there was only 1 theme for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Wily</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Castle</st1:placetype></st1:place> and not 4 (Mega Man 9) or 5 (Mega Man 10).</div>
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Superhero mode is the highest difficulty in the game and it's treated very differently to Inti Creates' Mega Man games. For starters the level design enemy placements are exactly the same, what is different are the lack of 1UPs, E-Tanks and HP/Ammo Energy refills, to make things worse, Mega Man takes slightly more damage than usual. The only source of recovery are E-tanks (+M-tanks) and extra 1UPs bought from the shop, then the bosses themselves are enhanced in various ways! Block Man, for example, unleashes a Power Gear boosted block dropper making it very hard to dodge the falling blocks without slowing down time with speed gear, Torch Man's dive kick comes out ridiculously fast, simply put they are a lot faster and have (slightly) enhanced versions of their attacks. This is not for the faint and hearted, it's the definition of unfair hard mainly aimed towards veterans of the series.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpPuI1t-djA4-kTRDwZ7LKiCBHfHCNDAznqIzKRmqaUPOfmdmor5ZbgwxCJ-C0EuaDJdMEK8vtQ3-MhsLWHTqdI7VIcv28s3dqS_wWQUqeNnCBrmKV_9mIyHeA6bfzWeCZeiq_HGLZ-E/s1600/20181009205757_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpPuI1t-djA4-kTRDwZ7LKiCBHfHCNDAznqIzKRmqaUPOfmdmor5ZbgwxCJ-C0EuaDJdMEK8vtQ3-MhsLWHTqdI7VIcv28s3dqS_wWQUqeNnCBrmKV_9mIyHeA6bfzWeCZeiq_HGLZ-E/s320/20181009205757_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Block Man is easily the most memorable Robot Master in this game</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: "kartika"; font-size: 26pt;">Spoilers</span><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: "kartika"; font-size: 34.6667px;"> </span><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: "kartika"; font-size: 26pt;">ends here!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Value</u></span></div>
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Taking notes from the recent 2 games, Mega Man 11 has a decent amount of content for not only completionists who want to beat every in-game challenge for Gold but also the speedrunning community too to get very good times. There are some silly modes where you have to move the oven robot as far as possible within a certain time limit, every platforming level has a challenge focusing on low shots (attacks), low jump count, balloon attack, medal collection, score attack and time attack. Some of these modes encourage the player to think differently when trying to aim for the gold medal. Balloon attack and Medal Collection are both identical as they involve collecting but the gameplay differences are night and day as one has to avoid red balloons and destroy the blue ones by touching or shooting at them, the Medal Collection mode has enemies on the screen as usual and the medals are found in hard to reach areas and require using either Rush Coil or Rush Jet (in some cases Speed Gear to slow down falling blocks).</div>
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Score attack is probably the most disappointing as it has a few flaws due to game design such as respawnable enemies to grind for more points. To obtain the gold medal in Block Man and get over 50,000 one player decided to exit and re-enter the final room before the boss doors to respawn Anti-Eddie for roughly 200 points per kill.</div>
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Lastly, there's Dr Light's challenge which is a series of 30 tough rooms to playthrough and dying even once is game over, I haven't gotten past room 10 yet which shows a lot of practice is required.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZByD8EhkKaQU45zHVcFLbtF4NgIZNEEMQBJDFugQzLGbS3tCWwjyhmdKszLDFT9Bgveb_8qvW6siXqrqvtYVpyxtJp5iJLcmnCGTx5hvF4xAbsBYg2usf7fOHv8Oaw8IUkNnlXzuE4m0/s1600/20181006161846_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZByD8EhkKaQU45zHVcFLbtF4NgIZNEEMQBJDFugQzLGbS3tCWwjyhmdKszLDFT9Bgveb_8qvW6siXqrqvtYVpyxtJp5iJLcmnCGTx5hvF4xAbsBYg2usf7fOHv8Oaw8IUkNnlXzuE4m0/s320/20181006161846_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I managed to reach number 1 for fastest Medal Collection in Block Man's stage for at least a day.</td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Version differences:</span></u><br />
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Nintendo Switch highest resolution is 1080p but has amiibo support to obtain free items.</div>
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PS4, Xbox One and PC (with good graphics card) can be played at an even higher resolution. </div>
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Load times are all decent, even on the Nintendo Switch. </div>
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I played a lot of Azure Striker Gunvolt on the PC a few years ago with an Xbox 360 controller and by complete surprise had nearly no issues with Mega Man 11.</div>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bllXozZQvw8" width="560"></iframe>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion:</span></u><br />
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The 11th entry might not be the best Classic Mega Man ever but it does get accepted to be part of the good games club. The biggest selling points are its unique features to classic Mega Man, ranging from modern game engine tech to "practice makes perfect" level design that are for the most part a step into the right direction.<br />
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Mega Yes</div>
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+ Custom Controls</div>
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+ Rush Coil + Rush Jet buttons</div>
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+ Speed Gear to help study boss patterns<br />
+ Executing a really good speedrun is rewarding to watch back thanks to replays.</div>
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+ A lot of achievements to encourage multiple playthroughs.</div>
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+ Nearly all of the weapons are useful and Power Gear helps take out bosses very quickly.</div>
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+ Some pretty good music tracks, including the Instrumental DLC variants.</div>
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Mega No</div>
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- Acid Barrier is almost useless.</div>
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- Fewer platforming levels and less background music tracks than usual in Wily's stages</div>
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- Odd difficulty spike for Wily 1 -> when Wily 2 is not as hard... casually at least</div>
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- Controls can feel wonky if using the right stick and trying to select the correct weapon.</div>
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- You are an 8-bit loyalist and would rather wait for a fan demake of Mega Man 11.</div>
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<o:p>- Not all of the tracks are as memorable as the previous games </o:p></div>
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Grade: B+</div>
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PC Steam Review code provided by Capcom UK<br />
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-47669122588131037522018-06-26T10:39:00.000-07:002018-06-26T10:39:09.351-07:00Greenalink reviews Lumines Remastered<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oN3iZFlf8YMt9Pp8IhY7Uc8tIOSOw6LUtuCbYeEnHPN4tmiv3xsNm3oMJbfuIQC1YzVwXrJqZq88sE6h2T-aC5EX1y8Ugv47HPmG62SlNbroSOWNy7HYjl89mxwf0k51imCLfYzAz-M/s1600/cov180626_01_with_logo.png+%25E3%2581%25AE%25E3%2582%25B3%25E3%2583%2594%25E3%2583%25BC.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="1264" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oN3iZFlf8YMt9Pp8IhY7Uc8tIOSOw6LUtuCbYeEnHPN4tmiv3xsNm3oMJbfuIQC1YzVwXrJqZq88sE6h2T-aC5EX1y8Ugv47HPmG62SlNbroSOWNy7HYjl89mxwf0k51imCLfYzAz-M/s320/cov180626_01_with_logo.png+%25E3%2581%25AE%25E3%2582%25B3%25E3%2583%2594%25E3%2583%25BC.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Developers: Resonair</div>
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Publisher: Enhance Games</div>
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Release Date: 25/06/2018</div>
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Average Price: US $15 (Switch) or £13.49 (Switch) £9.99 (Steam)</div>
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Filesize: just over 830mb</div>
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Website: <span style="color: yellow;"><a href="https://luminesremastered.com/">https://luminesremastered.com/</a></span></div>
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A classic puzzle game from the mid-2000s for the PlayStation Portable makes a return in an HD remaster for modern platforms.</div>
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Features:</div>
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40 music skins,</div>
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44 Avatars icons,</div>
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Lots of beats</div>
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A variety of modes</div>
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Game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi designed the game as an interactive walkman and a dream machine thanks to the headphone ports which made it possible to play with good sound from anywhere. Mizuguchi is pretty famous for previous audio heavy games including Space Channel 5 and Rez and decided to make it less daunting to casual players by making it a puzzle game. The game itself is definitely easy to play and understand and it's also hard to master, there are some unique game mechanics which made it stand out from many other puzzle franchises.</div>
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Originally a PSP game, the visuals have been redone with native HD textures/sprites meaning you won't see jagged edges on your avatars, other than that it is mostly the same, visually elegant.</div>
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A key feature of this game, if you were expecting new tracks that are exclusive to remastered, prepare to be disappointed. On the flip side, this version has a higher quality bit-rate than the ones used in the previous versions and it's fantastic to listen today, especially for gamers trying this game out for the first time with a variety of excellent pieces of music, ranging from feudal <st1:country-region w:st="on">Japan</st1:country-region> style, digital voices and even house beats.</div>
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One notable addition is trance vibration which allows any spare rumble supported controllers to feel the bass across your body. This mode is mostly useful for Nintendo Switch users as it can use up to 8 Joy con, 2 to play the game and 6 placed around your body including jumper pockets, trouser pockets (to USA readers this is pants). and under your feet. PS4 is limited to 4 PS4 Dualshock 4 controllers and while Xbox One is up to 8 (big) controllers. PC Steam users vary depending on how many rumble supported controllers you have.</div>
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The core mechanic is simple, create a 2x2 block to clear it, however, the twist is that a vertical timeline needs to sweep over these blocks to erase them for good. If a timeline sweeps a 2x2 it counts as 1 square, if it sweeps a harder 4x4 square it counts as 9 squares. If the timeline sweeps at least 4 square per lap, it gains a score multipler bonus, repeat this process during the next laps to get a x8, x12 and a x16 bonus.</div>
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This is tough for BGM skins that have a fast tempo but you can still clear blocks quickly in general but the opposite can be said for slow tempo BGM skins simply because, while it does give the player more time to clear 4 squares per lap, the timeline moves more slowly meaning that it will take a little bit longer to sweep through the completed squares. Every once in a while a chain block appears and depending on the colour, placing it next a block of the same colour will cause a chain connection of a single colour which will get erased by the timeline, a well placed chain block can change the momentum of the playfield significantly.</div>
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The game gets surprisingly tough at level 30 out of 100 where the blocks start to naturally fall a bit faster than usual, making it tough to plan moves ahead, this is a much bigger problem when there's a huge stack of blocks over the entire playfield.</div>
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Besides the usual Challenge mode, there are other ways to play the game. Puzzle mode is a series of mini-levels where you have to make a shape within a certain time limit. The puzzle count was increased to 100 by featuring puzzles from Lumines 2 and later games.</div>
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Time attack mode where you clear as many blocks as you can within a certain amount of time. The playstyle involves minimal movement and rotations to not only save time but also clear more blocks. time categories include 60, 180 and 300 seconds, This mode used to have a 600 second category but it was removed in the Remastered release.</div>
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Vs CPU/Vs 2P modes involve clearing more squares than your opponent per timeline loop in a tug of war fashion, the more times you win each loop the winner gets a bigger playing field whilst the loser struggles with the smaller playing field. I have 2 complaints about this mode:<br />
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1) Both players don't even start off with the exact same block RNG sequence which can make a notable difference in the early game.<br />
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2) If you decide to quit part way through the vs CPU mode after completing a few stages, you have to start all the way back to the very beginning.<br />
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The second issue puts PC (and home consoles to a lesser extent) at a disadvantage if you want to have a break and save power on electricity whereas the Switch version can be done by putting to sleep and not use up any electricity (other than low on battery charge).</div>
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As a non-portable release, this mode features 2 players without needing a second console/second copy of the game, this is a huge plus over the original. The game is not planning to have online vs 2p mode other than online score leaderboards and I guess that is mainly because the background music and timeline are 2 majors factors that can cause a catastrophe if the game heavily desyncs due to a laggy online connection.</div>
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Mission mode never appeared in the original game but was featured in Lumines 2 makes another appearance to the Remastered game, it's essentially a visual training mode to teach players solutions during certain situations, it is a very important mode for new players to figure out how the flow of the game fully works.</div>
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Shuffle is an extra challenge mode where you play through the BGM skins in a random order which essentially makes no 2 playthroughs the same, this was added mainly because the original was pretty linear.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhej-jkJeOgicyguUkQR9acGOugiRNh81hojFsATcM2z3unCZchw-GtFgMgIKjYwUsBQvXZMBbY5ulVg0aWG2d7TgGwf4CM7YuCtCVPrHwUt2vh5SLXo2j5VrVu7AUYBPiMnzEvVo5SH9s/s1600/LRM_SS12_VIRBATIONSETTING.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1265" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhej-jkJeOgicyguUkQR9acGOugiRNh81hojFsATcM2z3unCZchw-GtFgMgIKjYwUsBQvXZMBbY5ulVg0aWG2d7TgGwf4CM7YuCtCVPrHwUt2vh5SLXo2j5VrVu7AUYBPiMnzEvVo5SH9s/s320/LRM_SS12_VIRBATIONSETTING.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<u style="font-weight: normal;">Overall:</u></h2>
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A great puzzle game makes a decent remaster debut.</div>
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For a double dip purchase, you are getting the best quality audio this time along with gameplay content-wise that were introduced in later games.</div>
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The ideal platform to play it on is the Switch version for many reasons including a higher resolution in portable mode and HD rumble support for the fancy yet crazy trance vibration. It's practically the dream machine 2.0 simply because this version wouldn't exist without the Nintendo Switch's HD rumble and sales impact in the past 15 months.</div>
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LuYES</div>
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+ Highest quality audio as of this release.</div>
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+ Trance vibration.</div>
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+ Online leaderboards</div>
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+ Good variety of playstyles, each mode has a different set of both effective and ineffective strategies.</div>
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LuNO</div>
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- Not the easiest puzzle game to unlock everything which can put some lesser skilled gamers off.</div>
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- Some removed options such as the 600 second time attack mode and a reduction of avatars icon count from 48 to 44 (some are from later games) may anger diehard purists of the PSP original.</div>
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Overall: B+</div>
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Steam Review code provided by Enhance Games</div>
Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-50449310863882529352018-05-08T12:21:00.001-07:002018-05-08T12:25:44.170-07:00Greenalink reviews: Streets of Red: Devil's Dare DX<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJ_HKz3MPALyjJKt-7EvdaXhgL4M3Qq1i6KPk8MiisLDjWKy8AY653RIbqvwWkhGONDXnScovVtFDl5oSORSbVPjjvP02LIEOscQ1RnmrO_jgIE-zZ2QeEOutaG3yzkdrs3vEe-BO-ts/s1600/StreetsOfRed3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJ_HKz3MPALyjJKt-7EvdaXhgL4M3Qq1i6KPk8MiisLDjWKy8AY653RIbqvwWkhGONDXnScovVtFDl5oSORSbVPjjvP02LIEOscQ1RnmrO_jgIE-zZ2QeEOutaG3yzkdrs3vEe-BO-ts/s320/StreetsOfRed3.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Developers: Secret Base Pte</div>
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Release Date: 12/04/2018</div>
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Average Price: $8.99</div>
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Filesize: Just over 600mb</div>
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Website: <a href="https://www.streetsofred.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">https://www.streetsofred.com/</span></a></div>
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Review note: I have played through the single player content of the game multiple of times. For multiplayer, I only had 1 good opportunity.</div>
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Streets of Red is an enhanced release of 2014's Devil's Dare which was a PC exclusive at the time. Now back on Switch and PS4 with a lower price.</div>
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Features</div>
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4 playable characters</div>
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2 unlockable characters</div>
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13 boss battles</div>
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18 regular stages</div>
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100s of zombies to splatter</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Graphics:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span>A mixture of Black, Grey and Green reminiscent of Game Boy's original graphics along with the colour Red to heavily emphasize the blood. The framerate is an odd one as scrolling updates at roughly 30 frames per second when running but character movement (not animations) is 60 frames. Character sprites all stand out and are pretty recognisable too as you can guess what special abilities they have when fighting against them. The Deluxe version revamped the graphic designs for some bosses that were previously references to movies from the 80s such as the Terminator and Ghost Busters to references based on retro style games including Turtles in Time and Final Fantasy VII</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSW0hwjoG10eNwa0cCxt9LMAjk3Ox7NSZeRJK-fxA6bDMiWrzlE8i7ZubRiQByA6NbmTjPJy-0E3j8pTktI2Sujorp_-_A_Rf_qB-FDkL33ZAh_qYL3fycYHhSR6u-gDB-JXLkC1d1sUA/s1600/StreetsOfRed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSW0hwjoG10eNwa0cCxt9LMAjk3Ox7NSZeRJK-fxA6bDMiWrzlE8i7ZubRiQByA6NbmTjPJy-0E3j8pTktI2Sujorp_-_A_Rf_qB-FDkL33ZAh_qYL3fycYHhSR6u-gDB-JXLkC1d1sUA/s320/StreetsOfRed.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original version was based on Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator.<br />
That was changed to Youtube gaming critic Jim Sterling.</td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Sound:</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span>A lot of recent retro style beat-em-ups focused on either 8-bit chiptune or modern music. This one used a 16-bit chiptune which is ideal to Yamaha YM2612 used for Sega 16-bit console. Every level has its own melody and the most memorable track for me is Train Station (Train-2) which starts off with certain notes which sounds very Streets of Rage worthy. Voice recordings are super clear and not crackly compressed, they do sound quite repetitive for playable characters, especially 1 of the 2 unlockable characters who have limited combat options outside of specials.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U7wT0HdUI9PSohCbzeSOWxIsO7gXYRzv8zshkl4yYcC3rKrSdUuvcK3x2As8dgGhDxyDoDSVDmi2Z9dAIq1m145bBEwo5aKAXaqvq9nbRVhuV9y74y9Km8YhTyQNVnKoCwJjmaaynHU/s1600/StreetsOfRed4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U7wT0HdUI9PSohCbzeSOWxIsO7gXYRzv8zshkl4yYcC3rKrSdUuvcK3x2As8dgGhDxyDoDSVDmi2Z9dAIq1m145bBEwo5aKAXaqvq9nbRVhuV9y74y9Km8YhTyQNVnKoCwJjmaaynHU/s320/StreetsOfRed4.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If the game's title told you something, expect a lot of video game references.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Gameplay:</u></span></div>
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Combat is pretty simple but surprisingly deep thanks to Dash cancelling and setting up multiple fatalities which in return rewards the player with free food and more cash.</div>
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Fatalities are essential for extra cash which can be used to purchase upgrades, revive from an unexpected death, or getting a super high score.</div>
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The initial 4 characters have notable strengths and weaknesses.</div>
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<st1:place w:st="on">Kingston</st1:place> has the ability to grab and perform an atomic bomb but he is the slowest walker/runner in the game. The original PC release was visually based on Gilius Thunderhead but the Deluxe version was changed to be visually based on Shovel Knight. His defensive special: Mighty Thunder is very Golden Axe like despite the change.</div>
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Axel looks like the all-rounder judging from his running speed and attack properties, he has the tools for almost everything that he can grab enemies from a distance thanks to his hookshot.</div>
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Queenie stands out as her special moves have unique secondary effects ranging from freezing enemies to recovering HP. Her weakness is that she isn't super strong when comparing to <st1:city w:st="on">Kingston</st1:city> for both normal attacks and specials.</div>
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<st1:city w:st="on">Jackson</st1:city> is intended to be the fast but weak character by removing knockback properties from his running attack and a low damage output standard combo. However, from my experience, he is by far the best when he gets his hands on enhanced Dive Kick which costs only 1 bar, deals up 20 damage and recovers very quickly.</div>
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Players can purchase an upgrade at the end of each round, the available power-ups are random with an enhanced special taking up the first slot and 3 others taking up the rest, perks vary from level to level and even playthrough to playthrough. Some are very good and some are not too bad, an excellent perk, for example, is the Black Flag which has a small chance to instantly kill any non-boss enemy in the game after executing a move which has a knockback property dealing an appropriate 666 points of damage.</div>
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Streets of Red has 3 difficulties, the hardest option stands out as it has an extra layer of challenge by adding bets. You bet high to allow more bonus money for each fatality kill against an elite enemy/boss but losing a life means having to pay a lot more money to revive. Elite variant from enemies/sub-bosses have a small chance of happening but when it does happen, they appear much bigger and have more HP than their regular counterparts. Elite variant from bosses is 100% after selecting the max bet. The easiest option (casual) does not allow the player to playthrough the good ending stages because they were Casual gamers and should try harder next time.</div>
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One possible gripe I can say about this is that you are dealing roughly 3-4 enemies at once with a rare 6 in some cases. Some say it makes it too easy but if one player had to deal with 10 enemies at once, special attack spamming would be a valid strategy as extra soul point drops (they fill up special bar) from weakened enemies will allow the player to perform even more special moves and can take out the rest without any problem. The player's attack collision is too forgiving that it can hit enemies from behind the player, this does, however, lead to easy setups for multi-fatality kills.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiBoskPPNC_TuYBXboNGWOurCB0XQdKg0F9qA82Iw0Ojo-hjgwBX_IekWebcqfZ8boI2SSXBNCPWtKZOWwnSQigw3vWOTede4V9xXm06FLqHuwf3l7vM6EoR3xIQYvYoj41KfQsSpluw/s1600/StreetsOfRed2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiBoskPPNC_TuYBXboNGWOurCB0XQdKg0F9qA82Iw0Ojo-hjgwBX_IekWebcqfZ8boI2SSXBNCPWtKZOWwnSQigw3vWOTede4V9xXm06FLqHuwf3l7vM6EoR3xIQYvYoj41KfQsSpluw/s320/StreetsOfRed2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After clearing a stage, you get a option to select 1 out of the 4 random upgrades.</td></tr>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Value:</span></u></div>
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Now this is where it gets interesting, the structure encourages multiple playthroughs to experience every single area as early stages can only access 1 area whilst later stages can access all 4 areas. This requires at least 4 nearly completed playthroughs to discover all 16 areas. No 2 playthroughs are the same thanks to the random upgrades the player can get at the end of each level.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJZABHRJmYoRziT_5JslTkPzeD96RAKEf2xNriv3_pAleF58Tk_-GdeIcaB3NTrCg2vYxfJg7y6Q0Gm39vmo0enEtR8y2NWqe5eBJedcxEze2nOXmQsjPB7q4ToDyyX58xJ5aHaZUH-g/s1600/StreetsOfRed5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJZABHRJmYoRziT_5JslTkPzeD96RAKEf2xNriv3_pAleF58Tk_-GdeIcaB3NTrCg2vYxfJg7y6Q0Gm39vmo0enEtR8y2NWqe5eBJedcxEze2nOXmQsjPB7q4ToDyyX58xJ5aHaZUH-g/s320/StreetsOfRed5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In 2018 standards, beat em ups are usually very short in length compared to big mainstream games but this interesting stage select structure does encourage multiple playthroughs.</td></tr>
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Aside from <st1:place w:st="on">Arcade</st1:place> mode, there is an endless survival mode which consists of killing enemies with a certain perk enabled such as more HP, damage or faster speed. There are 9 different set of enemy waves and it resets after every 9 waves with better average stats. I got up to wave 20 where the short enemies with blades had very powerful stabs dealing 21 damage which was fatal against the agile Jackson who has 55 HP max. I was disappointed that for the Switch version at least didn't have its own leaderboards, heck even an offline leaderboard for that mode would be a neat addition to track best scores from long survival attempts.</div>
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Multiplayer notes:</div>
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Secret Base said that more players = more enemies to kill. I think there weren't as many enemies to fight against in a 2 player playthrough when compared to a 1 player playthrough. Money is shared between both players meaning that we couldn't always pick the most expensive upgrade because we had to save some cash for the good ending chapters. One solution is to cross your fingers and get the pirate upgrade but play well at the same time afterwards due to 50% less HP penalty. Another solution is to add a small multiplier when having more players. Something like x2 cash for 2 players to x4 cash for 4 players. This should fix the money issue when it comes to buying upgrades. </div>
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Playing the game solo does give me good opportunities to use a continue which costs money and the price rises after using a continue. This becomes risky in multiplayer because money is shared between 2 to 4 players, the only way for the lesser skilled player to not spend a dime on using a continue and carry on playing is to let the better player complete the stage.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Overall:</span></u></div>
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Streets of Red is one of the more accessible and better beat em ups for the Switch so this year, it might be a bit easy for veterans of the genre even when playing the highest difficulty but multiple characters and the stage progression structure increases replay value over many games from the 90s. Just like many other games of the genre, this one is best played in multiplayer where good teamwork requires creative special move combo setups and discussing what upgrades to purchase at the end of each level. For the Switch version, the lack of leaderboards for survival mode makes it hard to track records without pressing the screenshot button.</div>
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Grand Uppers:<br />
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+ Tutorial stage showing how to execute specials.</div>
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+ Simple but surprising combo depth.</div>
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+ References</div>
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+ Semi-linear level structure<br />
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Grand Downers<br />
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- References</div>
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- A bit on the easy side for veterans.</div>
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- No online </div>
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Decent: B+<br />
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A review code was provided by Secret Base.</div>
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-26589586488501595202018-02-07T14:34:00.000-08:002018-02-07T14:39:08.536-08:00Understanding the cycle of Core Pokémon Games.<div class="MsoNormal">
The Pokémon cycle and how to predict new releases accurately.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">The 1990s Pokémon cycle.</span></u></h3>
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Generation 1: Red, Green, Blue and Yellow<br />
Generation 2: Gold, Silver and <st1:city w:st="on">Crystal</st1:city></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Generation 1</u></b></span> </div>
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/International_Pok%C3%A9mon_logo.svg/2000px-International_Pok%C3%A9mon_logo.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="800" height="143" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/International_Pok%C3%A9mon_logo.svg/2000px-International_Pok%C3%A9mon_logo.svg.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Started in February 1996 and ended November 1999, that is around 45 months.</div>
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The Pokémon Anime made its broadcast debut on April 1st 1997 and is still airing new episodes today, even reaching its official 1000th episode milestone in late 2017.</div>
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The core game releases is an oddball depending on the region. In fact, Generation 1 had 3 set of sprites overall.</div>
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JP Red/Green used the first set of sprites,</div>
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JP Blue aka International Red/Blue used the second set</div>
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Yellow used the third set.</div>
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The most notable change in Pokémon Yellow was allowing Charizard to learn Fly.</div>
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Move tutors did not exist at all.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Generation 2</span></b></u></div>
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<a href="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/4/4f/Pok%C3%A9mon_the_Series_Gold_and_Silver_logo.png/revision/latest?cb=20171107080356" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="800" height="234" src="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/4/4f/Pok%C3%A9mon_the_Series_Gold_and_Silver_logo.png/revision/latest?cb=20171107080356" width="400" /></a></div>
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Started in November 1999 but the anime focusing on said generation started in October 1999. The special edition (Crystal) was out a year later in November 2000 and introduced Move tutors (NPCs teaching moves) which expanded Generation 2 Pokémon's movepool very slightly. This game was the first to introduce a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Battle</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Tower</st1:placetype></st1:place> and the ability to play as a female trainer.</div>
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This generation lasted for just over 3 years as it ended in November 2002</div>
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<u>The 2000s Pokémon cycle.</u><br />
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Generation 3: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red & Leaf Green<br />
Generation 4: Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Generation 3</u></b></span></div>
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Started in November 2002 and was the first to have 3 major releases and 2 semi-major releases. Due to connectivity problems linking up Game Boy games to Game Boy Advance games, this became a fresh start for building a (competitive) team. It ended up being a much longer generation than usual as it ended 2 months short of 4 years (September 2006)</div>
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5 games in order:<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Ruby & Sapphire</u></span> </div>
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200 obtainable Pokémon (+2 Mythical Pokémon)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Colosseum </u></span>- </div>
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The first game in the fresh start era to get</div>
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*Early access to certain Generation 2 including:</div>
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* Starters, just get a female one so that it is breedable to a newborn.</div>
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* Legendary Beasts without the fixed IVs bug and</div>
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* Ho-oh without special events.</div>
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* <st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place> version can get a Jirachi by using a bonus disk</div>
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* Japanese version can get a Celebi by using a bonus disk</div>
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* PAL owners were lucked out and had to play a really crappy Pokémon Channel game to obtain Jirachi.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Fire Red & Leaf Green</u></span></div>
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The first game in the fresh start era to get:<br />
* Kanto Starters, Kanto bird trio, Mewtwo, the breeding machine: Ditto</div>
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* Move tutors focusing on moves that were TMs in Generation 1 including Softboiled, Mega Punch, Mega Kick and Seismic Toss.</div>
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* First games to introduce the elemental Hyper Beam attacks which can only be taught by fully evolved Kanto starters, this got expanded to other fully evolved regional starters in Generation 4, onwards.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Emerald</span></u></div>
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The game's special edition.</div>
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Main selling points:</div>
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* Completing the Hoenn dex allowed players to get a Johto starter,</div>
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* A non-special event Latias or Latios can be obtained without bugged IVs.</div>
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* New move tutors, mainly focusing on moves that were TMs in Generation 2 including Rollout, Elemental Punches and Dynamic Punch.</div>
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* Expanded <st1:place w:st="on">Battle</st1:place> Frontier</div>
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* Teaching Pichu family Volt Tackle</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">XD Gale of Darkness </span></u></div>
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The last Generation 3 game to have new movepool updates, it's notable to feature Pokémon learning moves in a special way not normally possible including a Dragonite knowing Heal Bell and Pidgeotto knowing Refresh. There's also a special move tutor NPC who will teach Mew some extra moves including Hypnosis, Trick and Fake Out. Lastly, this is the only way to get a Lugia in Generation 3 without special events.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Generation 4</b></u></span></div>
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This was the first generation to support online play and also the last to release 3 different set of games. Started in late September 2006 and ended in September 2010 it was actually a few weeks short of hitting 4 years and is by far the longest generation ever, even the Pokémon anime setting which took place in Sinnoh lasted nearly 190 episodes.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Pokémon Diamond and Pearl</span></u> </div>
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The first set of games which introduced just 107 new Pokémon, and 29 of them are cross generation related which means they evolve to or from older Pokémon such as a Magneton evolving to Magnezone and a Happini evolving to Chansey. The game was infamous for only featuring 5 obtainable Fire Type Pokémon before completing the game and obtaining the National Dex, 3 of them are related to a Fire Type regional starter and the other 2 are Ponyta and Rapidash.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Pokémon Platinum</span></u></div>
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The second entry of Generation 4, released in September 2008, this version introduced brand new formes for Rotom, Giratina and Shaymin. It also introduced the expanded Battle Frontier, early access to obtaining legendary Kanto birds and new move tutor attacks. The native Sinnoh Pokédex got expanded and featured even more Fire Type Pokémon.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver</span></u> </div>
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The third and final entry of Generation 4, released in September 2009, these versions were the first for many players to get a proper Johto experience in the post fresh start era. A new move through breeding was given to almost every breedable non-legendary Pokémon, most notably Feraligatr knowing Aqua Jet and Aggron knowing Head Smash.</div>
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This game introduced Flat battle where, all Pokémon that are above level 50 temporarily become level 50, regardless of their current level; however, Pokémon below level 50 will remain at their current level. </div>
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This was the only way in a Generation 4 game to obtain</div>
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Kanto Starters, </div>
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Mewtwo, </div>
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Johto Starters, </div>
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Johto Legendaries, </div>
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Hoenn Starters and Hoenn Legendaries including Groudon and Kyogre.</div>
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More move tutors were introduced most notably Sucker Punch. These 2 games are the only versions where it's possible to transfer Pokémon with the move Defog to a Generation 5 game. This became a big deal when X & Y were released in 2013 as it provided a very useful improvement to the move.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">The 2010s Pokémon cycle.</span></u></h3>
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Generation 5: Black 1, White 1, Black 2 & White 2<br />
Generation 6: X, Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire<br />
Generation 7: Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Generation 5</b></u></span></div>
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The first new Pokémon games released in the 2010s and also the first time since generation 2 to release 2 generations on the same platform. That's how strong the DS was. This generation was the first to have fully animated sprites during the entire battle. The loops are always the same and their eyes even close when falling asleep. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Black and White</u></span></div>
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Released in September 2010.</div>
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The first entry of Generation 5 had a story mode that was pretty unique as it only featured nothing but brand new Pokémon at the time making it a pseudo-Generation 1 experience where you can't capture a classic Pokémon like Gyarados or Gengar due to good stats, typing, moves, etc to help you out.</div>
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It introduced the most new species out of any generation with a decent 156, this is more than new Pokémon species introduced in generations 6 and 7 combined when you exclude both Mega Evolutions and Regional Variants.</div>
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Rotom's Appliance formes lost their Ghost typing and got replaced with a different type depending on the extra move learnt from the appliance.</div>
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The Pokémon Video Game Championships was getting bigger and bigger.</div>
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The first year (2011 Metagame) only allowed 149 Pokémon as it did not allow Mascot Legendaries, 3rd counterpart legendary and Mythical Pokémon.</div>
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The second year (2012 Metagame) allowed any Pokémon in the National Pokédex excluding Mewtwo, Mascot Legendaries and Mythical Pokémon.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Black 2 and White 2</u></span></div>
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The second and final entry of Generation 5.</div>
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The first ever direct sequel to a core Pokémon game, new animation sprite loops were given to the starter Pokémon of Generation 5. Move tutors made a comeback but some from the previous generation were missing including Sucker Punch, they were mainly used to give Generation 5 Pokémon more moves to learn. The place called Hidden Grottoes allowed players to get Pokémon to get a useful hidden ability including an Amoonguss with Regenerator and Dragonite with Multiscale.</div>
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The third VGC year (2013 Metagame) had the same rules as 2012 but the main difference is that it was played on Black 2 & White 2 which allowed Therian Formes of Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus and extra attacks/abilities from Move Tutors/Hidden Grottoes.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Generation 6</b></u></span></div>
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This Generation had a really big impact throughout 2013.</div>
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* The announcement showed full 3D graphics, a first for a core game series.</div>
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* The E3 trailer revealed a brand new type: Fairy which was introduced as a response to Dragon Type which was a great offensive type in past generations</div>
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* 2 Months before release introduced Mega Evolutions which changed how we know Pokémon forever!</div>
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This generation started in October 2013 and ended in November 2016</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">X & Y</span></u></div>
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Released in 2013, nearly all of the obtainable Kalos Pokémon had a hidden ability which was done by going through a friend safari. Breeding mechanics had an overhaul which allowed Male Pokémon to pass forward (hidden) abilities and female Pokémon to pass forward breeding moves. This gave Azumarill a huge buff as it was finally possible to learn both Belly Drum and Aqua Jet at the same time. The move Defog had a huge buff as it allowed the user to remove entry hazards from the player side.</div>
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A new mechanic was added to the Pokémon's stat page, an origin marking. This is a visual proof that the Pokémon was captured in a certain generation, a blue pentagon, in this case, meant that it was captured in X & Y and the later released Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire.</div>
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The first VGC year (2014 Metagame) only allowed Pokémon both old and new from the Kalos Pokédex which is roughly 453.</div>
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It's also the most famous year as a Korean player from the Masters division used a Pachirisu, an extremely non-viable Pokémon in theory yet managed to use its selling points to the fullest by paralysing his opponents with Nuzzle and using Super Fang to damage bulky Pokémon. It is part of a winning team to have the lowest base stat total. You can Youtube search "Pachirisu 2014" easily, there was a planned parade in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Korea</st1:country-region> that got cancelled because it was that big of a deal.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire</u></span></div>
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The second and last entries of Generation 6, released in November 2014</div>
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Unlike the previous remakes, this one broke the mould by giving the cover legendaries (Kyogre and Groudon) brand new super forms. It was also the first time ever that new attacks and abilities were introduced that they were not programmed in X&Y. These moves were Origin Pulse, Dragon Ascent, Precipice Blades and Hyperspace Fury. Another big selling point at the time was more Mega Evolutions, mainly focusing on Generation 3 Pokémon and Move Tutors for Generation 6 Pokémon to learn new moves. </div>
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Lastly, it was possible to capture all Legendary Pokémon from Generation 1 to Generation 5 by using Mirage Spots, the main selling point of this feature was to use these Pokémon for both Online Battle Spot and Video Game Championships as they would have the blue pentagon. Strangely, Deoxys usually a Mythical Pokémon can be caught in-game right after Rayquaza without special events!</div>
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The second VGC year (2015 Metagame) allowed the national dex with exceptions to both Mascot Legendaries and Mythical Pokémon. Nearly every top player in each division had either a Landorus-T and/or a Mega Kangaskhan.</div>
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The third VGC year (2016 Metagame) allowed both the national dex and Mascot Legendaries (restricted), this caused many controversies as it puts a heavy limit on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Team</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Building</st1:placetype></st1:place>. To "balance" things out, players can only pick 2 from the Mascot Legendaries selection and the other 4 being pretty much legal in VGC 2015.</div>
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The most common combos were</div>
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Primal Groudon + Xerneas,</div>
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Primal Groudon + Primal Kyogre</div>
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Primal Kyogre + Mega Rayquaza</div>
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The other 4 were usually:<br />
Smeargle - A speedy Smeargle can outrun most bulky mascot legendaries and shut them down with a Dark Void. This is huge against the best legendaries because their held item for 99% of the time isn't a berry which cures sleep status.</div>
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Talonflame - Gale Wings is a very good ability and combine that with base 120 Brave Bird, it has a very strong priority move. It can also use priority Tailwind to let its bulky invested teammates to outspeed offensive opponents.</div>
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Kangaskhan - One of the best Mega Pokémon from X & Y, a scary ability which has fantastic utility with the ability to hit twice. This can lead to +2 Attack boosts from Power-up Punch and can even deal damage against Substitute users.</div>
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Salamence - One of the best Mega Pokémon from Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, the stat distribution is simply incredible with special defence being average at best. A good offensive speed tier along with a good offensive ability to convert <st1:place w:st="on">Normal</st1:place> Type moves (Return, Double-Edge or Hyper Voice) into Flying Type moves and get a x1.3 boost from it and that's not factoring Same Type Attack Bonus.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Generation 7</u></b></span></div>
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Released in the year the franchise turned 20 and a few months after the unexpected phenomenon that is Pokémon GO. This generation started in November 2016 and is still currently going as of February 2018.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Sun & Moon</u></span></div>
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The first game to introduce Regional Variants, this focused on classic Pokémon getting new formes due to the environment of the Alola region. Only 81 Generation 7 Pokémon were introduced in the game. This entry was notable for downgrading certain mechanics in the game from abilities to status conditions.</div>
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It was also the second time ever since Pokémon Yellow that elements from the X&Y anime mainly Ash-Greninja and Zygarde's 10% & Complete formes were playable.</div>
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A new mechanic called Z-moves are one time super moves which can change the momentum of a battle, it used up a Pokémon's item slot and certain Pokémon can learn signature Z-moves. </div>
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Pokémon obtained natively from a Generation 7 game would have a black cross aka the Alola symbol.</div>
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The first VGC year only allowed 295 out of 302 from the Alola Pokédex, the extra Pokémon found by using Island Scan and Mega Stones are not legal. The pacing ended up being surprisingly slower as moves including Toxic and Recover were actually ok to use. The most used Pokémon were Arcanine and a Tapu. Arcanine being one of the few bulky Fire Type Pokémon with Intimidate to lower the opponents' attack stat and a diverse movepool made it an unpredictable threat.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon</u></span></div>
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The second and last entry of Generation 7 and the final core Pokémon games for the 3DS. Everyone was surprised to get a special edition nearly 1 year after the original Sun and Moon duo but things got more surprising as a few weeks before launch, a new trailer from a Nintendo Direct revealed brand new species of Pokémon.</div>
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The main difference is that past games revealed new formes of already existing Pokémon, this one was not the case as they cannot be traded to the original Sun & Moon games at all. More formes for Necrozma were added to the game, more breeding moves were added to the game.</div>
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Move Tutors had a big impact this time as a move called Defog finally made a return after a long absence from Pokémon Platinum and it allowed monsters from Generation 5 to 7 to learn this vital move for competitive single battles.</div>
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Similar to Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Ultra Wormholes can be used to access different dimensions and capture Legendary Pokémon from Generation 1 to 6. These obtainable Pokémon would have a black cross that makes them legal for Online Battle Spot and upcoming Video Game Championships.</div>
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As of 2018, Pokémon is starting their second VGC tournament and it allows the entire national dex with exceptions to both Mascot Legendaries and Mythical Pokémon. Mega Stones are no longer banned making it a completely different environment than 2017.</div>
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<o:p><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Generation 8 in 2018?</b></span></u></o:p></div>
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So everyone is talking about Pokémon Switch, I for one would doubt that it will hit late 2018 for a few good reasons.<br />
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1) Core Pokémon games tend to come out for the latest handheld system nearly 2 years+ after launch.</div>
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2) The upcoming movie has a high chance of focusing on Zenora as a downloadable Mythical Pokémon and I'm hoping that the Pokémon Movie 2019 project will focus on Floette-Eternal flower forme.</div>
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3) Video Game Championships has not done the 3rd year and there's a good chance that it would reintroduce restricted legendaries otherwise Alola Symbol marked Pokémon from Generations 1 to 6 are wasted.</div>
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4) The anime tends to start around the same time as the games. Ash has taken out 2 out of the 4 Island Kahunas (pretty much Gym Leaders in Alola for the anime) and a third one will eventually happen according to the upcoming Ultra Guardians arc poster. Ash rarely enters the Pokémon League until after at least 100 episodes into the series and it is currently on episode 60.</div>
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5) The big important one, after releasing the original pair of Generation 8 games, Game Freak could release remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl 14 years after the original DS release and add the ability to travel through time and space to encounter and capture legendary Pokémon from Generations 1 to 7 and make them legal for upcoming Online Battle Spot matches and Video Game Championships in 2020, can you get the hint?</div>
Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-54401533998925414522018-01-01T04:24:00.003-08:002018-01-01T07:47:50.207-08:006 Things Inti Creates can do to improve the Switch version of Azure Striker Gunvolt<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qGI9o94NyNWH4CweHJPfNvg9eeU9v-eE7g7dl5LK87VBacjKNjDma8icIsFS-ekEB-ETXlHm923qC_0KXLhkbtgIjBrgKt5Gx5mTZorxwRwrRbVIRBUDQ3ZvmKF14uxJjlPHg6gr2p4/s1600/yua57.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0qGI9o94NyNWH4CweHJPfNvg9eeU9v-eE7g7dl5LK87VBacjKNjDma8icIsFS-ekEB-ETXlHm923qC_0KXLhkbtgIjBrgKt5Gx5mTZorxwRwrRbVIRBUDQ3ZvmKF14uxJjlPHg6gr2p4/s400/yua57.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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It has been over 4 months since the release of the Switch version of Gunvolt. A lot of users are saying for the first game it was the definitive version. I only half agree as I have played this game on 3DS, PC Steam and Switch. This is not a traditional review post, I wanted to share my opinions on how to make this release even better.</div>
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<u>1) <b>GV1</b> Bring back content from the PC version.</u></div>
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One of my main criticisms about the Switch version is the near lack of extra content. The only content that is new from a pure Nintendo player perspective are the 2 extra difficulty modes, Easy and Hard. Gone are the full game speedrun modes and survival modes. Is it possible to use Gunvolt 2's speedrun mode as a baseline for this game, having an in-game timer that only runs during actual gameplay? In other words, there is significantly less replay value for this game over GV2.</div>
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<u>2) <b>GV1</b> Add the classic right stick flick command for skills.</u></div>
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In the PC release of GV1, the skills were only set on a Keyboard from F1 to F4, a few quick updates later and it was implemented to the right stick. The execution was simple, hit Up for skill 1, Right for skill 2, Down for skill 3 and Left for skill 4. When playing the Switch version, you select a skill with the right stick and then PUSH the stick 'RS' to activate the skill. This feels very awkward to execute in tight situations and pushing the stick may sometimes hit one of the four directions leading to a chance that you can activate the wrong skill by accident.</div>
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<u>3) <b>GV1</b> Add the quick skill shortcut button (X)</u></div>
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The Switch version of Gunvolt 1 added Dash Speed Wall jumps, a mechanic that was first introduced in the sequel. I was surprised that this little neat feature wasn't added to the game. The X button in GV1 is used to disable real-time text. I would have preferred if that button was set to Minus like in GV2.</div>
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<u>4) <b>GV1 </b>Add other translations to the Japanese dialogue text.</u></div>
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This one doesn't bother me personally because I'm English and so I get to understand the lore of Gunvolt 1. But as of the Switch release, the Japanese dialogue text has only been translated into English and nothing else, unlike its sequel where even the 3DS release had translations from Japanese dialogue text into other languages.</div>
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<u>5) <b>GV1 </b>Make Copen playable. (Azure Striker Gunvolt & Copen)</u></div>
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Ok, this one is a bit far-fetched and nearly impossible when you got to factor material, upgrades, memory expansions and EX weapons but you only need to amend Nova 2 by removing its barrier and use Shred Storm/Strike Saw to remove _FINALBOSS_ Voltaic Chain. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBF-fGGjle_gEedp4YShZy-rkNIL2XELN17x6GASC93cnAF2av4DhZttaQpVopfoHFQ7fjxZCKxrjQep_lmHtQn4hdV8XHr0gnz2F2NHjH1bAYiVl4ATh325dF4uuMaWp8xMu3RVnA-o/s1600/yua60.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBF-fGGjle_gEedp4YShZy-rkNIL2XELN17x6GASC93cnAF2av4DhZttaQpVopfoHFQ7fjxZCKxrjQep_lmHtQn4hdV8XHr0gnz2F2NHjH1bAYiVl4ATh325dF4uuMaWp8xMu3RVnA-o/s400/yua60.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Lower half of the screen is the EXP bar.</td></tr>
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<u>6) <b>GV1 & 2</b> Show experience point bar without having to pause the game.</u></div>
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Usually, the exp bar gets shown in dual screen gameplay (3DS and PC when using certain layouts) but the Switch version is a pure single screen experience and the exp bar can only be seen when pausing the game. I wouldn't mind having it nearby the top left part where the HP bar is.</div>
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<u>Bonus) <b>GV2 </b>Remove the kudos keeper style mechanic in GV2's speedrun mode.</u></div>
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The 2nd game's speedrun mode did get the in-game timer spot-on but what puts me off from running this game a lot is that it has Kudos Keeper on by default, this forces a more cautious play as it essentially becomes a no damage speedrun when done right. The extra high kudos does kill the difficulty when fighting against Zonda copy and true Zonda as they can be defeated in roughly under 10 seconds thanks to the 1000 Kudos bonus(es) from the previous bosses. Some of the best speedruns tend to take damage on purpose to abuse damage invincibility and it leads to some creative route planning. That little mechanic should have been a separate speedrun mode similar to how it was treated in GV1's PC speedrun mode.</div>
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In conclusion, despite my 7 points on how to improve the game, they are the best version when it comes to performance thanks to the silky smooth 60fps and compared to the PC release, way less crashes.</div>
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-78546726454168869922017-09-30T05:00:00.002-07:002017-10-06T10:56:46.359-07:00Greenalink reviews Steamworld Dig 2<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_c4RxJLJUEwnJji7gBJW3xE3zQM_n9Hy1oR6VbUgHpA8zZxVg-4dI9XX2M3LbqPYLCtgKb_pLpHa43_XalSSbXklksRC9IqnI7NEZllNds4lRWxAoD-PN8LM9vdwveeUxsUpnHjFDVLE/s1600/Steamworld+Dig+2+title+screen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_c4RxJLJUEwnJji7gBJW3xE3zQM_n9Hy1oR6VbUgHpA8zZxVg-4dI9XX2M3LbqPYLCtgKb_pLpHa43_XalSSbXklksRC9IqnI7NEZllNds4lRWxAoD-PN8LM9vdwveeUxsUpnHjFDVLE/s320/Steamworld+Dig+2+title+screen.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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Developer and Publisher: Image & Form</div>
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Switch: 21/09/2017</div>
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PC Steam: 22/09/2017</div>
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PS4/PS Vita <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>: 26/09/2017</div>
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PS4/PS Vita EUR: 27/09/2017</div>
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Price: $20/ Euros 19.99/£14.99</div>
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Filesize: under 300mb</div>
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Website: <a href="http://imageform.se/game/steamworld-dig-2/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://imageform.se/game/steamworld-dig-2/</span></a></div>
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Steamworld Dig 2 is Image and Form's first ever attempt at making a sequel as previous projects had different gameplay despite being set in the same universe including Steamworld Tower Defence (obviously a tower defence game) for DSiware and Steamworld Heist (a 2D strategy game) for many modern platforms. This is also the first Steamworld entry where the Nintendo release was made with only one screen in mind because for Nintendo gamers, it's only available for Switch, not the Wii U and 3DS.</div>
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<u><b>Features:</b></u></div>
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4 Underground sections to dig,</div>
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43 Hidden collectables,</div>
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1 Robotic crab,</div>
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A lot of ore to collect and sell for money</div>
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<b><u>Graphics:</u></b><br />
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There's a bit of Steamworld vibe when it comes to the motion but it has a notable change in art style, everything looks a lot more detailed than previous entries with extra shades, it is best compared to art style transition from Rayman Origins to Rayman Legends</div>
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<b><u>Sound:</u></b><br />
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If you're familiar with the first game, most of the sounds are there in the second entry with a few new sound effects used for new tools. The music is a step-up to the original by focusing on a different style many thanks to El Huervo, a talented musician who is notable for creating tracks for Hotline Miami 1 & 2, The background music New Heights in El Machino played when exploring El Machino is one of the many gems this soundtrack has to offer. Yarrow starts off ambient and builds up partway through the track.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOme1pj_Tu3EOyUtpJqoaGnPv65tc8bIQhPYo2WHvtYSWs5BnDOlqlmX0Q041d2Bbb0PmY_NXDc-D3S-yZ_j8VIHxQfcZ35mMAvfxhMIn_qbIJJkNRKM-uA8A-lx9Z8AOTMCk4af_auDo/s1600/yua46.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOme1pj_Tu3EOyUtpJqoaGnPv65tc8bIQhPYo2WHvtYSWs5BnDOlqlmX0Q041d2Bbb0PmY_NXDc-D3S-yZ_j8VIHxQfcZ35mMAvfxhMIn_qbIJJkNRKM-uA8A-lx9Z8AOTMCk4af_auDo/s320/yua46.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trivia: Penny Kettlebottom was named by Andy K250 as part of the Name that Robot contest back in April 2017</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Like the first game, each underground will have a certain theme. Yarrow will have poison-related traps.</span></div>
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<b><u>Gameplay:</u></b><br />
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The aim of the game is to find her friend, Rusty. Along the way, she will meet a new companion and some gear to start her digging adventure. You collect ore to sell for cash which can be used to buy upgrades including stronger pickaxes to breakthrough tiles faster, bag upgrades to have more ore to collect per journey, armour upgrades to increase hit points and much more. There's a variety of enemies to encounter and challenge caves to explore for bonus goodies.<br />
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Although the structure is a bit identical to its prequel, the progression system has been revamped. You can only earn experience points by defeating enemies and completing main story objectives, gone are the blue orbs which were used as an alternative currency and any consumable tools such as TNT and Teleporters have been removed too,<br />
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One of the biggest additions to the game is the upgrade cog system which enables modifications to Dorothy's current gear<br />
Want to increase the light radius of your lamp? Yes.<br />
Want to fill up your water meter faster? Sure<br />
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There are some special mods which will make the game harder and rewarding at the same time but it requires finding hidden blueprints which are not always easy to find. One mod enables enemies to explode after dying, another allows the drop rate of bloodstones to increase but in return, Dorothy's will take an extra 50% damage. You can turn these mods off which is great as some of them will become useless later on in the game and should be used for more expensive/higher level mods.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVsylgMucbcuKThQVq7hmQH97CB_6SX8O4PJj1-Q4TzsE5nue3k6kPwEoexHcSwqFXQEFX5bvQn4itBvBk23CKC6PmbC9ANd1WGkMtQsGbHbGgsLE_VmPtmm7QNjfW369oPXuE94A4yvA/s1600/yua49.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVsylgMucbcuKThQVq7hmQH97CB_6SX8O4PJj1-Q4TzsE5nue3k6kPwEoexHcSwqFXQEFX5bvQn4itBvBk23CKC6PmbC9ANd1WGkMtQsGbHbGgsLE_VmPtmm7QNjfW369oPXuE94A4yvA/s320/yua49.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not paid mods, just find some spinning upgrade cogs and use those instead to enhance Dorothy's tools. </td></tr>
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The level design has a lot more freedom thanks to better gear abilities including the hookshot and the jetpack. The hookshot is one of the more fun items to use in the game because it has a lot of uses to navigate through small sections quickly and can take out flying bugs, while the jetpack does reduce the difficulty in various ways it enables more freedom with the level design as there is a bigger emphasis on platforming outside of challenge caves.<br />
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The Jackhammer is like a Drill in the first game but it can no longer be used as a weapon to damage enemies other than pushing them. One thing to point out is that the ore tiles are randomised just like the previous game but the overall map layout is always the same.<br />
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There is that feeling that you want to play a few more minutes just in case there is a transport tube nearby. The warp system has been tweaked for the better as it can be used to fast travel to any unlocked tube in the game.<br />
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Dying as a punishment varies depending on the amount of collected ore that wasn't sold to Barnacle Jones at El Machino. If you had a lot of pricey gems, then it is very punishing if you lose them all thanks to an unintentional death.<br />
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There are a few more boss fights to deal with this time around and only the final boss is challenging if you are aiming for a low upgrade% playthrough with only a few hearts and weak digging tools that are slow to dig through.<br />
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Controls on the Switch are decent and responsive, ZL/ZR functions exactly the same as L/R so you can playthrough the game with a Pokken USB controller if you want to. The controls can be mapped to any button such as shooting a Pressure Bomb by pressing ZL or ZR which is a win for everyone.<br />
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Version 1.0 only had Normal difficulty which drops a Health, Water or Light orb after killing an enemy, Version 1.1 added multi-language support via options and Easy difficulty, the main difference is that killing an enemy now will drop 2 orbs of either Health, Water or Light, sometimes it is a rainbow orb which will recover all 3 elements and that is done by using the environment (water/falling rocks) or friendly fire from the enemies.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Along the way, you will discover new tools to mess around with.</span></div>
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<b><u>Value:</u></b><br />
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The game is notably longer than the first as it took me over 8 hours to complete the game, and a few more hours to achieve both 100% on secrets and completing the ultimate trial.<br />
The incentive to get all 4 gold stars in a single playthrough will encourage diehard players to master the game even more, increasing replay value.<br />
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The post-game dungeon is tough and the only real criticism is that a 100% completed file hasn't got much to do afterwards due to every ore being discovered, fewer enemies to deal with, it's better to start a new game instead. A New Game+ that has max upgrades from the start and/or some way to enable challenge mods at the very start of the game would have been great additions.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBeUiBN39j0-ZiBufJMfPlnZT4utZggwzZblPE-jvOXPr9y2vSxhwC28jP2O9e_vBQmFIV3PklT320nyeCf2VMl5sFZSZKuaV-JHySP5UdGOPC28CNE7kTtYbpafQ3_C9hqikY_N8Xco/s1600/yua50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeBeUiBN39j0-ZiBufJMfPlnZT4utZggwzZblPE-jvOXPr9y2vSxhwC28jP2O9e_vBQmFIV3PklT320nyeCf2VMl5sFZSZKuaV-JHySP5UdGOPC28CNE7kTtYbpafQ3_C9hqikY_N8Xco/s320/yua50.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The game itself had the best opening week for the Steamworld franchise so far!</td></tr>
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<u><b>Is the Switch version hampered at all?:</b></u><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u> The Switch version of Steamworld Dig 2 only lacks achievements due to Nintendo logic, that's how good the Switch release of the game is.<br />
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<b><u><br /></u></b> <b><u>Overall:</u></b><br />
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Steamworld Dig 2 is a digging decent game and a worthy sequel to the series.<br />
It is a very polished game with fun gameplay mechanics, a must have for your 2D platformer collection.<br />
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+ Revamped gameplay</div>
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+ No two playthroughs are the same</div>
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+ Hookshot<br />
+ Mods to buff gear and/or increase difficulty</div>
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+ 4 gold star playthrough attempts will increase replay value.<br />
+ Steam related puns<br />
+ El Huervo, Shelby Cinca, Dennis Wedin, Pelle Cahndlerby, DDWIP and Cordayne (additional sounds) did a great job with the soundtrack.<br />
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- Post-game content after the ultimate trial is lacking.<br />
- A small HUD alteration which removed the current total value of collected ore. Can only be viewed by pausing the game</div>
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Recommended: A</div>
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Version played: Nintendo Switch</div>
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Review copy was provided by Image and Form<br />
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Interesting links to look at:<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/bBJ0wSI88-g" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">The timeline of the Steamworld series</span></a></div>
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-6516832725016053792017-08-21T12:11:00.000-07:002017-08-22T14:25:25.451-07:00Greenalink reviews Sonic Mania<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLFJ6BEkH0pLzkGuoSqUw_BXvb3Csh1__mCGdpbyBtNHcj7ODXDUbJTvqBYHBZKwNfDdD3YCDQ-9l-A7YrUhXumNufcgvcN9TMKu5etIOKv5xnNSmKtQApvjSpMfZSicLLs2wQLUtFG0/s1600/SonicMania_JPG1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLFJ6BEkH0pLzkGuoSqUw_BXvb3Csh1__mCGdpbyBtNHcj7ODXDUbJTvqBYHBZKwNfDdD3YCDQ-9l-A7YrUhXumNufcgvcN9TMKu5etIOKv5xnNSmKtQApvjSpMfZSicLLs2wQLUtFG0/s320/SonicMania_JPG1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Developers: Christian Whitehead, Headcannon and PagodaWest Games<br />
Switch port team: Tantalus Media</div>
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Publisher: Sega</div>
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Release Date: 15/08/2017 Consoles, 29/08/2017 PC Steam</div>
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Average Price: $20 or roughly £14.99</div>
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Filesize: under 300mb for Xbox One and under 200mb for PS4 and Switch</div>
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Website: <a href="http://www.sega.com/games/sonicmania" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.sega.com/games/sonicmania</span></a></div>
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After playing this game, all I can say is this, dreams do eventually come true, even after over 20 years!</div>
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Considered to be a love letter to many fans and one of the three games released to celebrate 25 years of Sonic (other two being Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice from last year and the upcoming Sonic Forces later this year), Sonic Mania goes back to its roots from its golden days literally and it turns out to be one of the best 2D revivals in recent years!</div>
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<u>Features:</u></div>
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26 Stages,</div>
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3 Playable Characters,</div>
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7 Special Chao Emerald Stages,<br />
Time Trial mode,<br />
Classic competitive mode,</div>
Lots of boss fights<br />
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<u><b>It looks and plays like the classic games, so why was this game not called Sonic 4?</b></u><br />
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Well Sonic 4 was released back in 2010 as Episode 1 and 2012 as Episode 2, these 2 games were done by Dimps who did produce very good Sonic games in the early 2000s including Sonic Advance trilogy (next best set of games since golden era) and introduced Boost button Sonic gameplay with Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure and Sonic Colours for Nintendo DS. Sonic 4 was very different from the original trilogy as it ditched the classic 16-bit sprite design, used Modern Sonic- who can perform a homing attack and used a different physics engine that wasn't anywhere near as close to 16-bit games, as it used Sonic Rush engine which caused floatiness and severe oddities.</div>
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After the release of Sonic 4 Episode 1 and Episode 2, chances of a *new* great traditional 2D sprite-based platformer slowly faded after 2011 as the upcoming Sonic games were 3D based (Generations, Lost World, Boom) and all of them were released to consoles and/or PC along with handheld ports to the 3DS.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgai6lxYuarzYoIBaLukX27URiBdDFhuGyPGpqecLUEjDifBXdIOg4Fa1OQnvmlcO1Un-QiOf6bIfpGjft9snqG4Tlq2amv03Tpyg2X-vufYAAvNZ2hrCkEBlkYU2fi_gvpmFDYvV40cjg/s1600/yua28.png"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgai6lxYuarzYoIBaLukX27URiBdDFhuGyPGpqecLUEjDifBXdIOg4Fa1OQnvmlcO1Un-QiOf6bIfpGjft9snqG4Tlq2amv03Tpyg2X-vufYAAvNZ2hrCkEBlkYU2fi_gvpmFDYvV40cjg/s320/yua28.png" width="480" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Hidden heroes rise.</u></b></div>
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During those years, the Taxman was getting some recognition after creating a fan game: "Retro Sonic" which was made by using his own game engine with the same capabilities as the engine built into Sonic 3 & Knuckles. A year after that fan game, he asked Stealth to aid in creating a pitch demo of Sonic CD running on an iPod Touch powered by Taxman's own engine known as the Retro Engine.</div>
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The Retro Engine aims to be very faithful to the 16-bit trilogy in terms of physics but with a lot of visual enhancements such as Mode 7 (smoother rotation effect), sprite scaling (changing the size of sprites easily) and Widescreen support.</div>
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He contacted Sega about his release plans and it eventually became a reality in late 2011, not only that release was to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary but was also billed it as a 'prequel' to Sonic 4 as the events of Episode 2 would rely heavily on what occurred in CD.</div>
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This enhanced 2011 release of Sonic CD is notable for supporting both US and Japanese soundtracks along with Tails being a playable character for the first time</div>
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After that release, both Taxman and Stealth (now registered to Headcannon) would eventually release enhanced versions of Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 with similar treatment, both of those games were released in 2013 but this time only on iOS/Android devices. </div>
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Then the duo teamed up with PagodaWest Games (responsible for the unofficial HD Fan game of Sonic 2 in ~2010) to create Sonic Mania.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PaBqtrhhPxmgCktkMp5gNMvLn8ifyTAo2PxnFKcHDx5TA5FlX-cpm_eFfJOwN91NZ8b_g0SRLiYAiiSPiIS6cYM7IqUqsHW5JpGJA-ZN1ZWbDT_bJbYFX9RiK172snmQxkKmFNcnN_U/s1600/yua33.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PaBqtrhhPxmgCktkMp5gNMvLn8ifyTAo2PxnFKcHDx5TA5FlX-cpm_eFfJOwN91NZ8b_g0SRLiYAiiSPiIS6cYM7IqUqsHW5JpGJA-ZN1ZWbDT_bJbYFX9RiK172snmQxkKmFNcnN_U/s320/yua33.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Praise helix lifts</td></tr>
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<u><b>Graphics:</b></u><br />
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Sonic's iconic art style has aged very well and the Retro Engine enhances it even further with smoother rotation effects when running through a loop-de-loop, more variety of colour tones thanks to a bigger RGB palette, more animated frames for smoother animation and new visual effects including simple 3D polygons for backgrounds used in certain stages with the quality of a Sega CD game and transparency effects.<br />
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Performance for 2D segments runs at a rock-solid 60fps throughout without any hint of lag.<br />
Blue sphere runs at a higher framerate and runs more smoothly than its original incarnation from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.<br />
Special Stages used simple 3D polygons in a style similar to Model 1 arcade games, it captures the 90s feel very well.<br />
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The most interesting part for Sonic and Tails is that they used Sonic 1/2/CD sprite set as a template instead of 3, probably because Sonic's attire from Sonic 3 & Knuckles never had a Strike Dash pose and his design was only used in that game. They did a good job creating new sprites that fit the same attire used in the earlier games.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0ntjZWJ7C9J-xNbEDgZN7EiND6o6BBr03Nk-EOGv-ZM8ryePjdnDddD9p6li65u8Ln2es3z7uFYNqgapJAN5eIYkrKMwV_9dl9VwdljenGClxrJ0KayCy4E_VinGbwxd-IGMFp20lXA/s1600/yua35.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0ntjZWJ7C9J-xNbEDgZN7EiND6o6BBr03Nk-EOGv-ZM8ryePjdnDddD9p6li65u8Ln2es3z7uFYNqgapJAN5eIYkrKMwV_9dl9VwdljenGClxrJ0KayCy4E_VinGbwxd-IGMFp20lXA/s320/yua35.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knock, knock. It's Knuckles</td></tr>
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<u><b>Sound:</b></u></div>
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The Sonic franchise has a very good track record when it comes to background music.</div>
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Tee Lopes: arranger and composer for the entire game could have done this through 2 different ways, the 16-bit Yamaha YM2612 style used for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive or Redbook audio used for Sonic CD. He went for the latter option and nailed the execution extremely well, The classic stages from Sonic 1 and 2 are notable for having Act 2 remixes that sounds very different to their Act 1 counterparts, the new stage Studiopolis is one of the new zones that stands out to be one of the very best of Sonic video game music.<br />
The quality of the tracks is a huge step up to other 2D revivals including New Super Mario Bros series & Yoshi's New Island plus it's almost impossible to feel negative during the first few hours of playing the game, it's that good.<br />
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Sound effects are mostly the same with a few new ones added into the mix such as the phantom ruby space-time warp sound, windows/ice blocks getting smashed and a few directly taken from other games including Revenge of Shinobi and 8-Bit Sonic.</div>
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One unexpected addition is voice samples from Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, best known for writing the music and singing all vocals in Daytona USA. He gets to shouts out various words in both Time Trial and Competition modes (none in the main game mode: Mania), admittedly this does seem out of place at first but it fits in with the Sega 90s theme very well, if it was someone else then it wouldn't work as well.</div>
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Hard Boiled Heavies are very memorable villains and feel like Sega's answer to Mario's Koopalings</div>
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<u><b>Gameplay:</b></u></div>
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Now, this is a Sonic game done right, the controls are simple to play and execution is spot-on.<br />
The new engine has added a few new mechanics to the game, including the ability to perform Co-op flying on a single controller by holding Up and then pressing a spin jump button to command Tails to use his flying technique. Sonic's technique is now a drop dash which is simply an air spin dash, it allows Sonic to get a boost as soon as he lands on the ground by pressing and holding the jump button whilst in mid-air, it fits Sonic style pretty well and finally has a movement based advantage over his 2 friends.<br />
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Knuckles does have a few alternative routes but isn't as significant as his previous adventure in Sonic 3, as there isn't an increase in difficulty when it comes to boss fights and only has 1 stage & 2 boss fights that are exclusive to him due to plot reasons.<br />
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Stage structure mimics the Sonic 3 & Knuckles approach by having a boss at the end of each act and all the zones have two acts.<br />
Classic stages use two different formulas. One act mainly highlights memorable moments from the original games and the other act is essentially a brand new stage, using assets that did not exist in the original game. Some are classics such as platform-raising wheels from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, others are brand new such as bouncy gel pools and helix lifts.<br />
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Not everything is perfect but it does not mean it was terrible, just, it hasn't aged as well as the rest of the game including an auto-scrolling segment partway through the playthrough which only lasts for 90 seconds. The difficulty for the special stages isn't balanced as I had a hard time completing Stage 5 but had a much easier time completing Stage 7.</div>
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I also find it weird that bonus stages from the signpost only affect unlockable content from the main menu and not the main gameplay as it has zero use after obtaining all 32 gold medals. All it does is select a random course from the completed 32 to get the same medal again, no bonus points that can be counted towards an extra one up, it's that pointless.<br />
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Boss fights have a lot more variety, not as extreme as gimmick heavy Earthworm Jim 2 but some are fan service nods to the previous games with a little twist part-way through. Others are completely unexpected and original to a Sonic game, Chemical Plant Act 2 boss steals the show as the biggest surprise.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBOhFCGdH_K2mHwVjBghO4XumipXorWQx1XYDVzLosiPdjtPVtU75dyNr0TucQNQwwQlFxt5vT3YMdAmbsBUhe_p60-HskqlL8XB6-s7RqWppk29s3u_tcUsK4Gh-vAIdgzP6LUNF8zE/s1600/yua36.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBOhFCGdH_K2mHwVjBghO4XumipXorWQx1XYDVzLosiPdjtPVtU75dyNr0TucQNQwwQlFxt5vT3YMdAmbsBUhe_p60-HskqlL8XB6-s7RqWppk29s3u_tcUsK4Gh-vAIdgzP6LUNF8zE/s320/yua36.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the more original elements in Mania, it has a small nod to Sonic CD's bonus game.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Value:</u></b></div>
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For a 2D Sonic game, it has nearly the same number of stages as Sonic 3 & Knuckles meaning it already has a lot more content than recent games without a doubt and has a competitive time trial mode that will get players replaying a lot to get good times. There are some unlockable options including the ability to add Knuckles as your NPC/2P partner or changing Sonic's move to enable Strike Dash (CD) or Insta-shield (3 & Knuckles) by obtaining a certain number of medals from the blue sphere mini-game, a hidden mini-game that can be played with 2 players max and sound test are unlockable too.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibN3MyAGXeQSa4xpmV5vFigRgfVRZL3D-ri_TdtpB-FU8jk77yaAZ4Hmys33fE-Ir9ZamNEzvJ_JWN-iOFH8kYkW_vVdoKss2dfcNAkxTq9X5XzN7qDPQpcA-mD3Rw-Qe0m2V7njC7OLQ/s1600/yua38.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibN3MyAGXeQSa4xpmV5vFigRgfVRZL3D-ri_TdtpB-FU8jk77yaAZ4Hmys33fE-Ir9ZamNEzvJ_JWN-iOFH8kYkW_vVdoKss2dfcNAkxTq9X5XzN7qDPQpcA-mD3Rw-Qe0m2V7njC7OLQ/s320/yua38.png" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic stages will highlight memorable moments from the original games.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Versions:</u></b></div>
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Nintendo Switch:<br />
Supports 1080p docked and 720p in portable/tabletop mode. Special Stage 1 does drop a few frames at a certain point but it is a very good version to play through otherwise. You do have to go to the Switch Home Menu and manually set the Joy-con to sideways mode to enable 2 player games with just a single Joy-con each.</div>
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PS4 regular/slim and Xbox One:<br />
The other consoles are more powerful machines than the Switch as there are no frame drops in Special Stage 1 and the pixels are a tad sharper, it's an extremely small difference (like 1%) that it's only noticeable when you zoom in the image and compare it to the Switch.</div>
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PS4 Pro and probably Xbox One X:<br />
PS4 Pro supports Native 2160p/4K making it the best console version to play on 4K TVs, Xbox One X should support this easily but it depends on whether the developer will add a 4K patch after release.</div>
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Currently, as of August 21st, the PC version has not been tested yet as it will be released later on August 29th.</div>
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Another new stage, another decent track to listen to.</div>
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<b><u>Overall:</u></b><br />
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So the message here is that unlike Nintendo's approach to DoctorM64's famous Metroid 2 fan game: AM2R from last year by sending a DMCA message, Sega hired these talented developers and the gamble has paid off big-time. If there is one Sonic game you have to play from this decade, this is the one to pick without hesitation.<br />
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Now Sega, go and send Bomberlink an apology for taking down Streets of Rage Remake 6 years ago and hire him for a potential new Streets of Rage project. </div>
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+ Highest number of stages since Sonic 3 & Knuckles. </div>
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+ No handicap options to help newer gamers, this is a very 90s game.</div>
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+ Top notch soundtrack.</div>
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+ Sega does what Nintendon't by hiring talented fans from the Sonic community.</div>
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+ Very cool new zones, most of them have a unique theme.</div>
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+ Classic stages are awesome too.</div>
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- The classic stages do however take up 2/3rds of the entire game. I was hoping an even 50/50</div>
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- Some special stages/blue sphere stages can be very hard to beat.</div>
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- Online leaderboards do not always work according to some users.</div>
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- Sometimes a bit too nostalgic by including the Tornado auto-scroller segment, a few deja vu bosses and an awkward screen ratio for competitive VS mode.</div>
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Recommended: A</div>
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Version played: Nintendo Switch</div>
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Review copy was provided by Sega</div>
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-58196104104185567532017-08-09T14:29:00.000-07:002017-08-10T10:46:01.140-07:00European Speedrunner Assembly 2017, 3 Sega SpeedrunsEuropean Speedrunner Assembly is an annual summer event taking place in Sweden.<br />
This year was my third time attending the event and as always, it was a great experience.<br />
It's was my 5th speedrunning related event overall as I've been to AGDQ twice and ESA three times.<br />
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I did 3 runs for the event this year and it's notable for being all SEGA games this time and all were done on a Thursday too. I haven't retired from Mario such as New Super Mario Bros 2 but it's a good idea to have a little break every now and then because I do not want to get burned out playing the same game over and over.<br />
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The first run was the first of its kind: Game Gear 2 player co-op.<br />
There has been a few Game Boy Advance co-op runs in the past, mainly Kirby and the Amazing Mirror but Game Gear speedrunning is obscure for 2 reasons:<br />
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1) Sega has never released an official accessory to support video output like a Game Boy Player. So DIY mods were required.<br />
2) Sega Genesis/Mega Drive has fewer colours than a Game Gear so a cartridge converter would not work.<br />
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I had at least one comment saying that why did we (Me and Btrim) did not do 2-player co-op on the Genesis/Mega Drive, well everyone at least knows that version and how easy it is to get 2 players to work. This is like once in a lifetime opportunity to see something like this (technically twice overall as we did a playthrough of this last year) and there are some interesting changes to the game mechanics, most notably Supers which are really powerful and can be abused big time in co-op.<br />
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I would watch this run for the comedy 2-player chaos at the end of each stage.<br />
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A few hours after the Streets of Rage 2 run, I was ordering a steakhouse burger and some fresh orange juice, it was going to be delivered to the venue at 1:20 pm nearly an hour before my next runs. As it approached 1 pm, Krazyrasmus told me that the NES runners were going way underestimate that my next runs were pushed forward by nearly 40 minutes, so 1:20 pm went passed and I had my lunch, then went upstairs and tried my best to not burp too much due to the nerves of the next two games, yep I had to do two games back to back.<br />
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Game 2 was The Game Gear Shinobi 2, I am a pretty big Shinobi fan, mainly Revenge of Shinobi as one of my favourite nostalgic games to play today, the Game Gear entries used a similar visual style to the 16-bit game. I did speedruns of the first Game Gear Shinobi a few years ago and ESA 2016 bonus stream, the first game was out for 3DS Virtual Console but the second one wasn't. So this run used Edenal's modified Game Gear which support both RGB output and a wired controller (a Famicom) to play through the game. I was very fortunate to find tricks for this game before submitting it a few months before the event because there's a trick called Grapple Storage where you can store the swing animation and use it much later on in a different location to swing through walls or go off screen for some cool sequence breaks.<br />
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This run turned out to be a PB even though the first two stages of this run can be improved by a good amount of time due to "marathon nerves". The grapple storage execution is 2 frames so it is pretty impressive that I got some first try a few times in a row at one point.<br />
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After game two, the third game was the last for my runs at ESA 2017.<br />
Although the game is the shortest, it also the hardest and most punishing of the three.<br />
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Fantasy Zone released back in 1986 is a shump with very bright colours and light hearted assets, some would call it a cute 'em up. It doesn't use traditional auto-scrolling, Because of this, it is one of the very few notable shmup games that can be a viable game to speedrun.<br />
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The main goal is to destroy all of the bases to spawn a boss, defeat the boss to complete the level. You get gold for destroying bases, clearing a set of enemies and destroying a boss. You can go to a shop to buy some upgrades ranging from movement to Weapon 1 and Weapon 2 upgrades. Weapon 1 has infinite ammo for a limited time whilst Weapon 2 has limited uses with Twin Bomb being the exception as that is a permanent upgrade. When you buy an item for the first time, it is pretty affordable, but when you want to buy more of that same item the actual price increases. This does not apply to engine upgrades which are nice but simply put 7-Way shot gets a lot more expensive near the end of the game because I buy that upgrade a lot throughout the run. Round 1-7 are traditional stages whilst round 8 is a boss rush from the first 7 levels followed by a final boss.<br />
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So why is it hard? Well it only takes 1 hit to lose a life and losing a life means your gear goes back to square one, this isn't too bad if you still have to destroy a few more bases to spawn a shop balloon and buy the upgrades again but going back to square one against a boss is really bad, Round 5 boss especially can be a run killer because small wing and regular twin shot against Popozu is <i>really hard</i> to fight against.<br />
The 3DS version is a good arcade port done by the emulating legends of M2. It doesn't have the lag seen in the PS2's Sega AGES 2500 series volume 33 and added some nice extras. The only extra feature I used was Base Markers which allows me to figure out the exact position of each base off-screen. Anything else would have made the game too easy and not faithful to the arcade version such as Gold Rush or Infinite Weapon 1 time.<br />
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The actual run was very good overall, roughly 45 seconds behind PB due to safe marathon strats and trying to not die to regular shots from enemies.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5Ofsmy62Ks" width="560"></iframe>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-42996677243956490932017-05-05T10:52:00.003-07:002017-12-25T02:14:37.763-08:00Greenalink reviews: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)<div class="MsoNormal">
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Developer & Publisher: Nintendo<o:p></o:p></div>
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Release Date: 28/04/2017<o:p></o:p></div>
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Average Price: £45<br />
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Filesize: 6.2gb<o:p></o:p></div>
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Website: <a href="https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/Mario-Kart-8-Deluxe-1173281.html"><span style="color: yellow;">https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/Mario-Kart-8-Deluxe-1173281.html</span></a></div>
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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an enhanced port to one of the best selling games for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Wii</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">U.</st1:placetype></st1:place><o:p></o:p></div>
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Nearly 3 years after the original release back in 2014, Nintendo decided to release the definitive version to the new console, including all of the extra DLC content with 16 courses and 6 characters, plus some new content exclusive to Deluxe.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<u>Features:</u><br />
48 Racing Tracks<br />
41 Playable Characters (excluding Miis)<br />
8 Battle mode maps<br />
5 Types of Battle modes<br />
Deluxe version is exclusive to Nintendo Switch<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Boo hoo to you Diddy Kong.</td></tr>
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Nearly every mode in the game has a gameplay tweak to enhance the experience. Two the of the biggest changes from the Wii U Original to Deluxe are double item support and ultra mini-turbo.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Double item support: This is the first game since Mario Kart Double Dash to support double items without holding your primary weapon behind the player. In Mario Kart DS, Wii and 7 you had to hold the first item such as Shells or Bananas in order to pick-up the second item. Initial problems with this system mean that you are more likely to get hit by a Blue Shell and even Lightning. Though after playing through the 200cc Grand Prix and some online races, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as in Mario Kart Wii. The player at 1st place does have an extra chance of getting a useful recovery item, including a Mushroom, Superhorn and even Red Shells to take out any new leaders.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">"YEAH, THE FINAL LAP!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Inkling-Girl is half kid and half squid.</td></tr>
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Ultra mini-turbo is a level 3 turbo, and the duration of the boost lasts 1 second longer than a Super mini-turbo. This could be useful for 150cc and lower engine classes, but for 200cc it's situational because of the higher top speeds. Ultra mini-turbo can be a hindrance at certain parts of the tracks and should only be used when the path is a straight road.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Minor additions include 2 more items: Boo and Feather.<br />
Boo (as an item) makes its long return from Mario Kart DS, no major changes since its last appearance but it another way to mess up the opponent's strategy though not as reliable because it tends to steal items from racers nearest to the user.<br />
Feather finally returns as an item in Mario Kart after being absent for over 24 years, restricted to only Battle mode this time round (because it would be too good in VS Races). It can be used to jump over obstacles (SNES Battle Course 1) or if the player is close to another opponent, steal a balloon from them. One thing to note is that it cannot super jump as high as it did back in the first Mario Kart.<br />
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Time Trial now supports 200cc which is a neat addition for speedrunners who want to be the very best on a single track. The difficulty varies from track to track, GBA Mario Circuit's 200cc Staff Ghost is pretty challenging while GCN Yoshi's Circuit is a piece of cake.<o:p></o:p></div>
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VS Race now supports 48 track marathon which is the best way to play an All-Cup tour similar to Mario Kart Double Dash. The Wii U original can only play up to 32 tracks at once, even with the DLC tracks installed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Link's dream during his 100-year sleep.<br />
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Local Multiplayer has a lot more options now, the original only supported up to 4 players on a single TV. The Switch Deluxe version now adds up to 8 players in Handheld Wireless mode and an outstanding 12 players by using Docked Mode's Wired Lan feature. The minimum approach to 12 players requires at least 6 Switch systems and 6 TVs. 2 players per Switch & TV, the main reason why it cannot be done with 4 players per Switch is because the gameplay framerate drops from 60 to 30 when there are 3 or more players on a single console.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the biggest complaints in the original was the lacklustre <st1:city w:st="on">Battle</st1:city> mode. Back then, the courses were re-used tracks from the Grand Prix and the main intention was to encourage players to keep on moving because of the Item box will not respawn until that player had moved away by a couple of meters. Those reused courses are now gone and have been replaced with 8 new stages, some of them are from previous games. In fact, this mode is one of the main reasons for Wii U veterans to get the Deluxe Switch version.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The balloon mode went back to Mario Kart Wii's formula where losing all of your balloons now halves the player's score and can carry on playing the game until time is up.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Respect my Koopauthoritah.</td></tr>
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Four other modes have been added to the game as well, one of them is brand new to the series: Renegade Roundup, a team battle only mode with a focus on Cops & Robbers. 6 cops have to take out the 6 robbers, any robber who gets captured will be locked inside a cage, the surviving robbers can help out by pressing a switch underneath the cage. Cops can only win by capturing all 6 robbers. The robbers only need at least 1 surviving player to win. I can see this as a great mode with possible voice communication support sometime in the future, right now it's best to chat with your good friends over Discord for clan style matches and most importantly communication.</div>
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Bob-omb Battle is a returning game mode from Mario Kart Double Dash, but the main difference is that it uses the same scoring system from balloon battle; instead of a 3-star scoring system where players can fill up the meter by scoring points and losing a fraction of the meter by getting hit. Players can carry up to 10 Bob-ombs at once and the forward throwing distance has been adjusted in this mode. The final minute gets frantic as the game spawns more double item boxes allowing players to fill up their ammo up to 10 much sooner, a bit more skill is involved mainly because there are no homing weapons.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shine Thief is an old school 'hold the flag' style game. The player who holds the Shine for a certain amount of time wins. The shine carrier has a slightly reduced top speed. This is a mode where karts with good acceleration can get the Shine early but karts with good top speed can chase the player holding the Shine without problems. It definitely gets more frantic when there are a couple of players who need to hold the Shine for at least 5 seconds remaining.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Coin Runners focuses less on hit confirm for points and more on survival when collecting a lot of coins. A single hit against the leader can make a huge difference. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Outside of revised Battle Mode there are 5 new playable characters and there's 1 extra variant for an old character, which is unlocked after winning 1st place in all 12 cups of 200cc Grand Prix. 1 new kart and 2 new ATVs have been added to the game. New kart body piece is based on the Mario universe and new ATVs are based on the Splatoon universe. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Inexperienced/first-time players can try out handicap options including Smart Steering which allows players to sharply turn tight corners and Auto Acceleration simply means not having to hold the A/Y button to accelerate. There are also motion controls for steering as well which is compatible with a single joy-con, joy-con grip combo and pro controllers as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKO56nxqyafRT9VKMxaDsKQf24kKzLOMCexMsPBlrjky5heC8atF3rflISNacq8moW8r_3sxn7OXU3wCadlId-nZsVHzNNnS26bylY8_HxV2DM8lA-Y4P2FZGMvS1-nuvVq-ii2smFsqc/s1600/mk8+dx+review+10+online.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKO56nxqyafRT9VKMxaDsKQf24kKzLOMCexMsPBlrjky5heC8atF3rflISNacq8moW8r_3sxn7OXU3wCadlId-nZsVHzNNnS26bylY8_HxV2DM8lA-Y4P2FZGMvS1-nuvVq-ii2smFsqc/s320/mk8+dx+review+10+online.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">200cc, Mushrooms Only, Big Blue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Online play is very simple, two of the quickest options are both Global and Regional, then you can choose either race or battle. The engine class in races is usually 100cc until after obtaining over 4000 VR points, the engine class increases to 150cc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One issue I had was trying to get friends and join a server against other random players. For example, Player A was in a room with random players, I could join in the fun with Player A but only when the room has some spare player slots left. It would be nice to have an option to jump both you and a few friends from a private room to a random room against other players.<br />
<br />
A few features have been removed from the game due to various reasons including Miiverse Stamps, Youtube upload support from Mario Kart TV and Mii characters are less expressive.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Overall:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is the first game since New Super Mario Bros U + Super Luigi U pack to include a re-release plus DLC content in one, on a different platform. If you've never played the original, what are you waiting for?! This has the biggest amount of racing content since Mario Kart Super Circuit's 40 track count.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
+ 48 tracks with a few based on other franchises. <o:p></o:p></div>
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+ Decent visuals 3 years after release thanks to native 1080p support.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
+ Double items makes a huge difference and sometimes frantic, something missing in the original.<o:p></o:p></div>
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+ Better Battle Mode with more modes than ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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+ Accessible options to inexperienced gamers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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+ Wii U veterans no longer need to grind to unlock the other cups again, just pick-up loads of coins to unlock vehicle parts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- On the flip side there isn't a lot of stuff to unlock other than vehicle parts and a character skin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- Extra custom options such as lap count would be great, especially when playing 200cc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- Online features can be improved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- Still no mission mode.<o:p></o:p><br />
- In-game timer only appears in Time Trial mode, not Grand Prix nor VS Race.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- N64 Rainbow Road needs the classic 3 lap system, not a point to point system = 1 lap.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recommended: A-*<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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* If you haven't played the original, then give this score an A because there is a lot more value for money.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Version played: Nintendo Switch<br />
No review copy was provided.<br />
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Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-83618591697748283182017-04-21T11:04:00.002-07:002017-06-22T14:28:37.944-07:00Greenalink reviews: Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap (2017 Lizardcube)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Developer: Lizardcube</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Publisher: Dotemu</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Price: Roughly £16/$16, different platforms and regions may vary on exact price.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Website: <a href="http://www.thedragonstrap.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">http://www.thedragonstrap.com/</span></a></div>
<br />
Back in 1989, Sega & Westone released one of the best video games that were not released for a Nintendo platform.<br />
Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon's Trap, also known as Monster World 2 in Japan, is the 3rd entry in the series and a first that was aimed exclusively to a home console. 28 years later, 5 console generations have passed and 2 minor ports were released in the early 90s. In 2017, a new version was released for modern consoles and is by far the most important re-release since the original.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>Features:</u><br />
5 Dungeons<br />
6 Dragons to defeat<br />
NAND save (3 slots per account)<br />
Password save feature which can be used to continue playing through the game by using the original Master System/Game Gear copies and vice versa.<br />
Available for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.<br />
PC Steam will be released later sometime around June.<br />
Note: The newest version out in 2017 will be dubbed as Lizardcube.<br />
<br />
<u>Story:</u><br />
If you've played any of the previous releases, this needs no introduction, but if you haven't I will tell you that the game starts off inside The Last Dungeon. Based on the last level from the prequels Wonder Boy: In Monster Land, you defeat a dragon and suddenly a plot twist occurs, it curses the hero by transforming them into a lizard, and then the hero has to find an antidote known as the Salamander Cross to regain his true human form.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
A nod to a prequel: Wonder Boy in Monster Land</div>
<u><br /></u> <u>Graphics:</u><br />
One of the biggest changes is the art style, Ben Fiquet from Lizardcube used traditional animation and increased the number of animation frames for each action from 2 to roughly 10+. There's new hand drawn animation on frames where the original release used stock animation, in the 8-bit style when jumping and changing direction. The only oddity I've noticed with this new style is that the left side designs are literally a mirrored version of the right side. Now usually this is completely normal to save development time, but in the original 8-bit style, the left side sprites were actually unique and not mirrored versions to the right side sprites, therefore, it is a bit unfortunate that this little touch wasn't used in the new version, however good animation takes a lot longer to produce and there's a good chance this game wouldn't be out until late 2017 if left side drawings were taken into account.<br />
<br />
Background scenery art is a big improvement as it gave me a bigger impression of the area the hero was at, the early game is notable for adding sunshine related effects if the hero goes underneath a palm tree- it adds a layer of darkness due to the shadows next to the tree and going above the pyramid, to the point that when the hero is in front of the sun, it shines immensely. The visuals were so good that I didn't want to use retro 8-bit mode at all. It's possible to change visual styles on the fly with a simple button, mash it many times to slow down the slider's speed and freeze it to the point where 50% is modern art and 50% is 8-bit pixels.<br />
<br />
Spec wise it is a massive jump from:<br />
256x192 (4:3) to 1920x1080 (16:9) and doubling the visual frame rate from 30 (or 25 for PAL users back in the day) to silky smooth 60 frames.<br />
<br />
Retro fans will be happy to know that there are 3 extra options besides the 8-bit style that will recreate the 1989 experience including:<br />
scanlines effect,<br />
retro monitor effect and<br />
gamma correction.<br />
<br />
Gamma correction only takes effect when either retro monitor and/or scanlines (at 10% minimum) is turned on, it does nothing when both features are set to off.<br />
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Top: 2017 modern style</div>
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Bottom: 1989 retro 8-bit style</div>
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<br />
<u>Sound:</u><br />
Similar to graphics, the audio had a huge overhaul on almost everything. New sound effects have been added to simple actions that were originally silent such as walking, background environment and enemies grunting when initiating an attack.<br />
<br />
Shinichi Sakamoto's original BGM work didn't have a lot of tracks as some were reused in various parts, Michael Geyre who is responsible for re-imagining the original tracks had a smart idea by making variations of the same track to make it sound less stale throughout the entire game. So instead of 1 variant of the dungeon theme, there's now 6 variants of the dungeon theme. The arranged soundtrack incorporates elements from several world music traditions, including classical, tango, Middle-Eastern and Japanese music.<br />
<br />
Retro fans do not worry; there is an option to use the original PSG 8-bit sound and the FM sound which originally was exclusive to the Japanese Master System/Sega MARK III, the only problem was that the original Master System wasn't released in Japan and only in the West. It took less than 20 years for players to experience FM sound on a legal console through either Wii's Virtual Console or PS2's Sega AGES 2500 series.<br />
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<u>Gameplay:</u><br />
One thing that hasn't changed is the gameplay. Just like the first ever release, it is a fun game to play even today, the controls are simple and tight at the same time, the level design progression is clear and straightforward, you don't even need to speak to NPCs to know what to do next. Magic spells are easy to use once you know how each one works.<br />
<br />
New players who probably played through modern 2D platformer classics such as Shovel Knight and Gunvolt may complain that some of the maps (especially some of the dungeons) are a bit too uninspiring with long corridors and basic platforming- but this is a game from 1989 and the engine itself didn't support vertical scrolling. If the tweak was made to enable vertical scrolling it could lead to more creative level design but at the same time losing a bit of charm as it's no longer faithful to the original game.<br />
<br />
When remaking a game, faithfulness plays a very important part.<br />
Sometimes it's ok to make major changes, sometimes it's not.<br />
<br />
Omar - technical director & programmer did a lot of research by dumping the original Master System cartridge and then reverse engineering to decipher the code. This lengthy process took many weeks and months until he could understand what causes the what item to drop, attack damage RNG and many other things. I recommend you all check out the development blog after reading this review.<br />
<br />
After playing through the game, most of the changes I've witnessed were for the better and nowhere near as controversial such as the tweaks seen in Majora's Mask 3D.<br />
Buying new gear gets equipped automatically, you can use shoulder buttons to quickly select a magic spell, the magic command itself is no longer Down + Jump as it uses its own button. You can grab heart containers in any order, a simple yet important change to new players because it can be a very brutal experience if you don't have the right gear and (unintentionally) skip some of the heart containers before certain points of the playthrough.<br />
Anything that is considered notably new is added after completing the game. I won't say much but the new challenges are pretty cool to try out.<br />
<br />
It is also possible to play as Wonder Girl by selecting the Girl option, this simple addition reminds me of Pokémon Crystal which was the first game of a popular franchise to introduce a female playable character. Asha, a protagonist from a later released game: Monster World 4 wasn't used because Mr Nishizawa (the creator of Wonder Boy) was against it as the world of those two games doesn't overlap.<br />
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<u><br /></u> <u><br /></u> <u>Value:</u><br />
One issue the original game had back in 1989 was post game content, as there wasn't much to do after completing the game. Lizardcube added some extra content to encourage players to play the game even more after completing it for the first time. There is an unlockable gallery containing concept artwork, including various revisions of the new design for all 6 hero forms/enemies in the game, and backstage recording of recreating the music. Another addition being that instead of 1 difficulty there are now 3 difficulties.<br />
<br />
Easy (as mentioned in the game) is aimed towards newer/younger gamers who want to enjoy the game, and this is done by reducing the number of hits to defeat an enemy. It is still pretty punishing if the hero dies because it will take him/her back to The Village and not to the entrance of a dungeon/room before the boss fight.<br />
<br />
For experienced gamers who have never played The Dragon's Trap before, I would suggest Normal as you will get to experience the same difficulty as the original 1989 release.<br />
<br />
For the hardcore gamers, Hard raises the difficulty even higher by giving enemies more HP. In some of the rooms, blue class enemies were replaced with even tougher gold class enemies and an hourglass that will slowly drain the player's HP for playing through the level too slowly. There are some safe spots that will reset and/or freeze the timer, such as The Village, picking up hearts or staying inside a treasure room. If you want a really good challenge, try out this difficulty.<br />
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I wonder what's in here?</div>
<br />
Overall:<br />
<br />
Despite a few aged elements from a 1989 classic, it is a fantastic remake of the original game and I dare to say that it is one of the best 2D remake treatment since Super Mario All-Stars. This is the definitive edition of a 2D platformer classic.<br />
<br />
+ New difficulties for everyone.<br />
+ Beautiful Visuals<br />
+ Post ending content<br />
+ Unlockable gallery.<br />
+ Improved controls and mechanics over the original<br />
<br />
- Some of the level layouts are a bit dated due to 1989's design<br />
- Lack of extra checkpoints that would have been ok on Easy.<br />
<br />
Recommended: A-<br />
<br />
Version played: Nintendo Switch<br />
Review copy provided by DotEmu.<br />
<br />
Ideal links to check out!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.thedragonstrap.com/blog/post/201609_ReverseEngineering/"><span style="color: yellow;">Reverse Engineering the original Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap</span></a>
Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-34361859977022892582012-07-01T15:21:00.000-07:002012-07-01T15:29:12.745-07:00New recording equipment, Wii 480p and 720p Xbox 360.I've been playing Shadow Complex a lot lately thanks to the new glitches that I actually bought some new recording equipment to enhance the playback experience. For starters, I got my Xbox to record in 720p with the AverMedia Game Capture while before it was blurry 480i.<br />
<br />
This capture device biggest niche is that you can record console games that support component cables without having to use the computer to record it. Meaning recording 480p Wii (and non-PAL Gamecube) and 720p Xbox360/PS3 is possible, 2 notable weaknesses includes:<br />
<br />
* A separate External/Internal hard drive is required - unlike some DVD recorders that may include a HDD, this one requires buying a NTFS or FAT32 hard drive. It has a hard time trying to record properly on 2GB Memory sticks. So it's a wise idea to simply buy a USB 2.0 320gb+ Harddrive. You'll get a good amount of hours of 720p recording. Roughly 2 hours of 10GB footage.<br />
<br />
* No Livestream support. Unfortunately there isn't a way for the actual capture device to connect to a PC, there is a way to work around it which is what I am going to put down below this page.<br />
<br />
<br />
----- Warning highly technical stuff here-------<br />
<br />
Since my room doesn't have any component source TVs, I had to buy a converter, a Component to VGA converter.<br />
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http://www.joyfay.com/us/component-video-ypbpr-to-vga-video-audio-converter.html<br />
<br />
<br />
Thankfully, it worked like a charm enabling me to record 480p/720p runs while playing it on a ~23 inch monitor. The best thing about this is that playing Wii games through this converter gave virtually no notable input lag unlike connecting it to a Component TV, which is a huge bonus. Luckily there are 2 VGA ports from the Component to VGA converter. It has the VGA in and VGA out. I'll be using the VGA out and connect that to the monitor via VGA port and hey presto it works! I also bought a reverse variant of the converter which is VGA to Component. I bought that first after watching a lagless 720p recording setup with the popular Hauppauge PVR. Unfortunately it didn't work too well when I tried a similar way but using AverMedia Game Capture HD, as the signal kept on disappearing. But I kept it because I still noticed it has a use for a possible 720p Avermedia recording and livestream with a new internal capture card I just ordered.<br />
<br />
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-Video-Capture-1080p/dp/tech-data/B007U5MGBE<br />
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<div>
AnubisGI has been a very useful video technician lately on the SDA forums, even having a sticky topic on how to use EZcap (the easiest, cheapest way of recording any console with basic composite cables). He posted a page of a discovery by Tranquilite who has found a cheaper clone that functions exactly the same as Micomsoft's SC-500N1 card. It can capture component, HDMI, DVI and VGA. which is pretty cool actually.<br />
<br />
Through a series of converters. I can do this<br />
<br />
<br />
Xbox 360/Wii ->Component cable into > Avermedia Game Capture -> Component Cable into - > Component to VGA converter box -> VGA cable into a > VGA to Component converter box<br />
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From VGA to Component converter box, it splits into 2 paths<br />
The VGA output to the Monitor<br />
The Component output to the StarTech com Express Video Capture card.<br />
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So now I should be able to record a run (via AverMedia Game Capture HD) while live streaming (via Startech Com Express Video Capture card) at the same time without worrying too much on my computer hiccups.<br />
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I am hoping something good to happen sometime before or after the release of New Super Mario Brothers 2 in mid August, so stay tuned.<br />
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I also started buying some downloadable games on the 3DS thanks to the Anniversary Sale, yep Nintendo are doing something right. Encouraging buyers to pay download only games at a cheaper price. One of the games I've got is Mighty Switch Force, the soundtrack is amazing with headphones and listen to "Track 8 - Woah I'm In Space Cuba"
it heavily reminds me of Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U6TsWKJ7ctc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-44588752736037691872012-06-08T15:53:00.003-07:002012-06-08T15:56:27.874-07:00E3 2012 NintendoSo it's been a few days since the Nintendo Conference on Tuesday (UK Night). The big talk was about Wii U and the presentation was a hit and miss most of the time.<br />
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<u>What went well:</u><br />
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<b>Pikmin 3</b>: This game was in the talks since 2008 and Shigeru only said last year that Pikmin 3 seems to function much better on Nintendo's new console. This year we finally get to see gameplay footage and there are a good amount of features that makes it different enough from Pikmin 2 such as:<br />
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- The introduction of Rock Pikmin,<br />
- Controlling up to 4 leaders<br />
- New camera angles when using the Wii U Gamepad<br />
- Runs at 60 frames per second.<br />
- And many more.<br />
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<b>Support from Ubisoft: </b>Unlike the other 3rd Party developers releasing games already out on XBox 360/PS3 such as Batman: Arkham City & Mass Effect 3. Ubisoft had the courage to create new games to take advantage of Wii U's features and put them into good use.<br />
The video below is Rayman Legends coming out on XBox 360, PS3 and Wii U.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xh6Erf5FFJE" width="560"></iframe>
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New games (timed) exclusive to Wii U includes ZombiiU which also takes advantage of the Wii U Gamepad to simulate how players use survival kit to equip weapons and tools (looking at the Wii U Gamepad screen and not the main TV). Ubisoft's conference received much better reception than the big gaming developers.<br />
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<b>Reggie mentions his infamous quote:</b>It's a bit of an insider but back in Summer 2007 where Wii Fit was revealed the first time, he said "My body, my body is ready." which only took off by storm only sometime in June 2010. This year Wii Fit U was revealed (for Wii U of course) and Reggies teases the audience to remember back in 2007 and mentions "My body was ready". Also he mentioned "Speed Run" on New Super Mario Bros U which made the IRC chat on #SDA wild.<br />
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<b>New Mario Game for launch:</b><br />
In the past history when Nintendo launches a new console without Mario, sales figures are not as high during the first six months. 3DS was a famous example as the launch line-up was lacklustre that it had an official price cut in less than 6 months worldwide. So a new Mario game on day one could give Wii U a good start.<br />
However I am not putting this game as high as Pikmin 3 mainly because:<br />
* Nintendo will release 2 New Super Mario Bros games this year:<br />
New Super Mario Bros 2 for 3DS [August 19th]<br />
New Super Mario Bros U for Wii U [Nov/Dec 2012]<br />
* NSMB 2 theme is collecting gold coins.... 1 million of them.<br />
* NSMB U notable features involves Flying Squirrels, playable Miis, Boost mode and Miiverse Messages.<br />
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<u>What went wrong:</u><br />
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<b>Fitness, dancing and singing games:</b><br />
Should be banned to be shown during an E3 conference, pointless, boring, filler material.<br />
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<b>The lack of first party franchises not relying on the plumber:</b>This year's conference had 4 games featuring Mario/Luigi including:<br />
* New Super Mario Bros 2<br />
* New Super Mario Bros U<br />
* Paper Mario: Sticker Star<br />
* Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon<br />
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The others includes:<br />
* Pikmin 3<br />
* Game & Wario<br />
* Nintendo Land<br />
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Notice the lack of Star Fox, F-Zero and Metroid. F-Zero especially never had a chance to shine during Wii/DS days as its last (Worldwide) appearance was back in 2004. There was also a trend on Twitter saying "No Zelda". Shigeru said that Zelda on Wii U is still researching/experimenting and Skyward Sword took 5 years to develop and was one of Nintendo's biggest projects ever.<br />
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But sometimes bad things can lead to good things.... imagine these underused franchises getting a chance revive and shine in E3 2013 like Kid Icarus did back in E3 2010.<br />
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<b>Nintendo Land presentation was weak:</b>Nintendo Land is meant to be the 'Wii Sports of Wii U' showing off simple demonstration of the new technology. One mini-game involves 4 players (using Wiimotes) finding an invisible ghost (using Wii U gamepad). The players will win if they nab the ghost and drain the life points to 00 and the ghost will win if it manages to faint all of the human players. While it was a clever idea, the execution was slow paced which tends to bore the audience a bit. I remember the #SDA chat were spamming typical espeak negativity it managed to harden the blow as it was the last game to be shown during the Wii U conference. So basically, the E3 hype meter started off high with Pikmin 3 and it went lower and lower to rock bottom during Nintendo Land.<br />
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<b>Death of Wii/DS:</b>Not really a weak point but there was a lack of announcements for Wii/DS, it looks like they will be out of use by 2014, the end of two of the most important consoles in the early years of the 21st century.<br />
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<b>Some good games wern't shown during the conference:</b><br />
There was a few games missing that were shown after the conference where the fans/journalists gets to try out the 'work in progress' version of the newest games available in the booth. One of them was Project P-100 developed by Platinum Games, responsible for the amazing Bayonetta and decent Vanquish, the style seems to resemble Pikmin (controlling loads of mini players) but gameplay and objective is completely different!
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Mr4D4YZQ9uY" width="560"></iframe>
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<u>Nintendo Meme Moments:</u><br />
Even if this year was one of Nintendo weaker years it did have memorable moments.<br />
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After E3, there was a series of videos on Nintendo's E3 website where Iwata reveals the games in more detail. This is a simple clip that is shown right after Donkey Kong Crash Course minigame on Nintendo Land.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/coEFCMYR3iw" width="560"></iframe>
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Non Specific Action Figure stole the show as it gained a huge fanbase since the Miiverse feature video was revealed on Monday. Even Iwata approves on Nintendo's Official Youtube page<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jx38Q2nEJBk" width="560"></iframe><br />
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That's all for now: Greenalink OUT.Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-59038940308116002742012-05-20T15:48:00.000-07:002012-05-21T11:06:09.467-07:00Shadow ComplexWell I haven't been posting any new blog entries for a while but this week I haven't been recording any Phantom Hourglass segmented attempts at all... A month ago I was playing Shadow Complex casually as it all started off when a speed runner named TheEnglishMan asked me if it was possible to go through this specific shaft without the double jump for his Freshfile* any%** run. I gave it a go and it took a while to know (location wise) where it was because, back when I recorded a SDA Published run in 2009 I was playing nothing but New Game+*** Any% which only uses less than 20 percent of the entire map. I had no visual idea on the other 80 percent. So as I was live streaming my attempt, I managed to perform what TheEnglishMan thought was impossible (look at the first video player near the bottom of this post). So a few days later after nailing that trick consistently, I decided to record an attempt and I got a time of 50 something minutes, the attempt was rough but I got better and better, heck at one point I even found a new shortcut through some creative thinking, it enabled me to skip 2 more items, saving a whooping 7 minutes (look at the second video player near the bottom of this post). I finished that run in roughly 35 minutes!<br />
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Then in early may I was messing around to see if one of the Foam pickups could be obtained before rescuing Claire, there was one spot in particular that looked like it was possible. Unfortunately it wasn't but I did learn something in that session that changed the speed running meta of Shadow Complex completely. <br />
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The kind of exploit is unique that you don't get to see in other games, it wasn't a damage boost or corrupting a save file, it's pretty much unique for 2D gameplay with 3D graphics (aka 2.5D) I'll reveal more of it once I receive my HD recording equipment and break some new records of this game!<br />
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EDIT: The flash players were messed up (2 very similar videos) so I added a link for one of my videos. I'll update the text later when I have time.<br />
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Notes for readers not familiar with speed running terms:<br />
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*Fresh file means starting a run with absolutely 0 on every related stat as if you started a new file.<br />
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** Any% means completing the game as fast as possible with optional powerups (like the Jet Pack) to complete it even faster.<br />
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*** New Game + means starting an new run with your stats brought over from previous playthroughs, in this case having infinite ammo when the player acquire new weapons (Grenade, Foam & Missile) and a room that contain special golden guns to enable the player to use the most powerful weapon much earlier on in the game.<br />
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My creative time saver!<br />http://www.twitch.tv/greenalinksda/b/315004872<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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The shaft TheEnglishMan asked me to solve.</div>
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It had a paint job too with a mixture of blue and golden brown colours. It features LED which happens when you turn on the system. Speaking of which I still need to order a power supply, controller and a SNES game!!<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1L1q14otNAmNXkIPiZyZwCVMSwjP1xk31bE6kddf8zPzVJwy6ZzKQd4_FPQHukDLT4Ant8-6m6MFiDo_G5zVNy7_dxSMJ9J18eZ_G6N2eq6QXTKUr2XKmyZEX0xzPZlvlopPftvDzEYQ/s1600/Bare+Knuckle+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1L1q14otNAmNXkIPiZyZwCVMSwjP1xk31bE6kddf8zPzVJwy6ZzKQd4_FPQHukDLT4Ant8-6m6MFiDo_G5zVNy7_dxSMJ9J18eZ_G6N2eq6QXTKUr2XKmyZEX0xzPZlvlopPftvDzEYQ/s320/Bare+Knuckle+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712035841631842402" /></a><br /><br />Now this is interesting. This is considered to be my first official Japanese import, the first official US import goes to Wario Ware Twisted on Gameboy Advance I got back in 2006. Now Bare Knuckle 3 is basically the Japanese version of Streets of Rage 3. Unlike the previous 2 entries of the series, this game has some notable differences including: <br />Extended cutscenes, <br />female thugs showing a lot more skin,<br />Easier difficulty overall (Japanese 'Hardest' is way less challenging than American 'Normal'). <br /><br /><a href="http://www.streetsofrage.net/sor3_sor3vsbk3.htm">Click here to find out the full comparison between Japanese's Bare Knuckle 3 and Western's Streets of Rage 3</a><br /><br />Now this product is pretty hard to find online and I got it at a reasonable price too, it also came with this product (look at the image below).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvCQlHgPwHquQcqbLDN5SmOau9yOo1Eh_Sl94UipACtzUQZIvPN-O3GFyicTeUNgbUxDRc9JEXvgDP3ZLj2TinDGO6a82J00MHcNPy5bHvuIj8PZqk9JknurdoYHYkPVShdd11NIHfyr4/s1600/Honeybee+adapter.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvCQlHgPwHquQcqbLDN5SmOau9yOo1Eh_Sl94UipACtzUQZIvPN-O3GFyicTeUNgbUxDRc9JEXvgDP3ZLj2TinDGO6a82J00MHcNPy5bHvuIj8PZqk9JknurdoYHYkPVShdd11NIHfyr4/s320/Honeybee+adapter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712035845422136754" /></a><br /><br />The Honeybee adapter, this nifty accessory enables me to play my Megadrive games from Japan (Bare Knuckle 3) to be played on my European Megadrive console. It came with Bare Knuckle 3 and buying both of them individually would cost me ~£20 more.Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5014807874389457742.post-28268468569024076792012-01-15T13:32:00.000-08:002012-01-15T14:04:56.135-08:00Awesome Games Done Quick 2012What a marathon!<br /><br />I've been following the Speed Demos Archive Charity Marathons since January 2010 and they have come a long way, if you don't believe me look below:<br />These major marathons took place during January each year.<br /><br />Classic Games Done Quick<br />2010 Target: $5,000<br />2010 Final result : $10,000<br /><br />Awesome Games Done Quick<br />2011 Target: $30,000<br />2011 Final result: $52,000<br /><br />Awesome Games Done Quick 2012<br />2012 Target: $50,000<br />2012 Final result: $147,000<br /><br />All of these marathons were raising charity for The Prevent Cancer Foundation, The overall earnings from these marathons alone is enough for nearly 10 years of cancer research.<br /><br />I donated $8.55 this year, $3 was part of the Serious Time T-shirt I purchased online at theyetee.com and $5.55 was part of a chipin donation followed by a comment.<br /><br />Here is a sample of a live speed run done by Cosmo, a very well known Zelda: Ocarina of Time player. This run had 12,000 viewers watching it live. <br /><br /><iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Lwk50uJmyUk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Expect another blog post soon.Greenalinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04480102021274742814noreply@blogger.com2