What have you been up to lately with your Genesis / Mega Drive?

[newtmonkey]

@neogeo1982

Yeah, it seems like a missed opportunity having only two save slots.  Ideally, the game should have just given you a menu to select which generation to play, unlocking future generations as you finish the game.

[GiygasKaz]

3 hours ago, neogeo1982 said:

Part 3 had this feature in it. Though like Newtmonkey pointed out, that's not the best entry in the series.

I've heard a lot about the troubled development and mixed reception of III but I think I'll end up giving it a shot soon. The things it seems to do right interest me enough to get through the bad.

[GiygasKaz]

On 2/4/2024 at 5:58 PM, spacecadet said:

I recently bought a Retrotink 5X Pro and the first cable upgrade I bought to go with it was a SCART cable for the Genesis. At the same time, I got my first Everdrive, the X5 for the Genesis. Together, they've meant I've been having tons of fun playing both the games I remember owning when the system was current (many of which I do also have the real cartridges for) but also a lot of games I've always wanted to try but either haven't been able to justify the cost of or just haven't gotten around to buying... stuff like Mutang League Football and Hockey, Comix Zone, and various shmups. I also do weirdly find myself still gravitating towards sports games on the Genesis, which I don't do for any other system. I think the Genesis was the peak of that genre, when sports games were just realistic enough but still pretty arcadey. The SCART cable is great and only cost me about $9; it's almost *too* sharp. I do notice the jail bars and dithering that the Genesis does a lot more than I ever did using composite on a CRT, although if I want that blurrier look I can always still just switch over to composite again. Overall I'll take the sharpness.

The Genesis is to sports games what the PS1 is to racing games. They managed to balance just enough "simulation" aspects while leveraging lots of creative liberty to make some exceptionally fun titles. The SNES was holding its own as well, having Mega Man Soccer and Kunio-Kun No Dodge Ball.

[newtmonkey]

Phantasy Star III

I think I'm basically at the end of the third/final chapter, so my next post will likely be once I've completed the game.

The game does get a bit better this chapter.  You have access to the entire world, and navigating from one world to the next is (finally) not annoying, since you can fly around within each world (very limited where you can land, though), and can warp between worlds instantly from the temples.  It's also cool when you find out why the "monitor" item shows such a bizarre world map.  Finally, it's cool that the final chapter is basically a treasure hunt involving going around the various worlds tracking down the ultimate weapons.

     Even so, it still feels like a bit of a letdown.  It would have been cool if the final chapter was a big open world full of optional stuff to do (a bit like the World of Ruin in Final Fantasy VI), but gathering the ultimate weapons is mandatory and linear.  Because of this, it just feels a bit like drudgery, as you cross over all the worlds back and forth following instructions to get one weapon after the next.  A missed opportunity to salvage this rushed game, imo.

     Even worse, the game is just ridiculously easy by this point.  I suppose it depends on which character you ended up with, but I started the third chapter with four characters that were already quite lethal in combat, with an additional lethal character not far away.  On top of that, four of the characters are capable of casting powerful healing spells, so I'm never in any danger whatsoever.  Maybe the game becomes unbelievably difficult in the last stretch, but I doubt it.

Edited February 9 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

Phantasy Star III

     Finished!  Although the game got slightly better each generation, it never really got "good" and ended up being quite a disappointment compared with the previous games in the series.  It starts out a bit difficult, but then becomes easier and easier with every passing minute, with each generation also being a huge step down in difficulty.  Battles in the final area also give out a TON of experience and meseta, suggesting that they ended up cutting out a ton of stuff, and then had to make up for it by leveling you up half a dozen times on the way to the last boss.  The last boss was also ridiculously easy, but that's fine since the series places much less of a focus on tough boss fights than other RPGs.

     It was cool finding out the truth behind the world, and the ending suggested a fun time loop with Phantasy Star II.

[Tanooki]

Knowing I will never play that one as many won't (but some will) any shot you could do a follow up post using a hidden spoiler wall to say what that truth is, how you felt about it, and how it ties back to the well lover PSII?  So what's the favorite now 4? 2? 1?

[newtmonkey]

@Tanooki

I haven't played PS4 yet, so I can't rate the whole series... but so far:

PS1 > PS2 > PS3

 

As for the story and time loop, when you look at the in-game world map you see this (don't worry, no spoilers yet):

Each "land" is self-contained, flat, and bordered on all sides by mountains.  You get from one land to another through tunnels made suspiciously from glass and metal.  It's pretty strange, but you eventually figure out:

 

Spoiler

You are living on a giant spaceship, and each land is an artificial biome.  Your ship was one of 400 built by your ancestors to escape the destruction of Palma in PS2.

 

At the end of PS3, after defeating Dark Falz your ship is drawn into a black hole, which sends you through time and space... and you receive a signal from a nearby planet welcoming you to Earth of the Sol system.

 

This is the time loop.  It's thanks to your ship arriving in the Sol system that the people of Earth were able develop the technology to explore space and ultimately colonize the Algol system (PS1); which led to the creation of Mother Brain, the destruction of Palma, and your ancestors' escape from Palma (PS2); which ultimately leads you to traveling through a black hole and arriving in the Sol system (PS3).

 

In other words, PS1 causes PS2, PS2 causes PS3, and PS3 causes PS1.

 

I thought this was a pretty cool twist, and I really didn't expect PS3 to tie it all together like this.

Edited February 11 by newtmonkey

[Tanooki]

Well now that's a twist, hell of a twist I like it.  JRPGs don't usually hit a rabbit hole like that which ties a nice fat pretty bow around it all in such a way.  I don't know the stories well let alone much anymore at this rate.  I knew 1 well, 2 ok, and 4 I've just scratched the surface on only getting it last year.  I'm enjoying 4 the most at this rate, it's near SNES square-tier level JRPG solid pretty much, but old PS1 I really do enjoy and it's story and elements even for such a year are beyond its time and holds up fairly well.  PS2 was creaky but I liked the characters and environment, want to go back to it since I got a free (battered somewhat) first party guide hint book for it also last year so it would help.  I hope to come across a quality copy of the cart locally at some rate.

[+jeremiahjt]

On 2/10/2024 at 11:19 PM, newtmonkey said:

@Tanooki

I haven't played PS4 yet, so I can't rate the whole series... but so far:

PS1 > PS2 > PS3

 

As for the story and time loop, when you look at the in-game world map you see this (don't worry, no spoilers yet):

Each "land" is self-contained, flat, and bordered on all sides by mountains.  You get from one land to another through tunnels made suspiciously from glass and metal.  It's pretty strange, but you eventually figure out:

 

  Hide contents

You are living on a giant spaceship, and each land is an artificial biome.  Your ship was one of 400 built by your ancestors to escape the destruction of Palma in PS2.

 

At the end of PS3, after defeating Dark Falz your ship is drawn into a black hole, which sends you through time and space... and you receive a signal from a nearby planet welcoming you to Earth of the Sol system.

 

This is the time loop.  It's thanks to your ship arriving in the Sol system that the people of Earth were able develop the technology to explore space and ultimately colonize the Algol system (PS1); which led to the creation of Mother Brain, the destruction of Palma, and your ancestors' escape from Palma (PS2); which ultimately leads you to traveling through a black hole and arriving in the Sol system (PS3).

 

In other words, PS1 causes PS2, PS2 causes PS3, and PS3 causes PS1.

 

I thought this was a pretty cool twist, and I really didn't expect PS3 to tie it all together like this.

Each of the four endings is different.

[Tanooki]

I guess the thread was motivational.  On the weekend I got this copy of Caliber 50 for 50% the going rate, it's junky but junky fun in an ikari warriors style play, and the gun rotation reminds me of better things.  But after that I went down a random list of things just for a solitary play or two for fun -- Dino Land, Dragon's Fury, and Gauntlet IV (normal and mission mode.)  THen it took a turn to recent comments here, I swung into a couple rounds of Gaiares and I think I'm appreciating it more as I never had a manual but realized throwing that pod powers up that gun fast so that helped.  And out of morbid curiosity I missed playing it so I pulled out Phantasy Star IV and I forgot where i left it.  I got a bit confused, was in this desert with a town of mindless Zio zealots and that tower.  I felt I was doing OK damage, so I was like whatever and went up the thing discovering that I forgot I cleared most of it before finding an empty chest on the left, then another on the right.  To my surprise saw this random guy standing there, he got all pissy and preachy and picked a fight, and I kicked his ass with fire, brute force, and some heals when necessary.  At that rate I felt a need to annoyingly leave, save, then found the PDF of the guide an realized I screwed myself from seeing the end of that space was just off screen -- ugh, so I'll have to go back in to move along.  It is a really good game, and still feel it's the most quality 'square-ish' style quality JRPG the system has on a cart.

 

 

Also I don't recall it if was here or elsewhere, but I'm thinking of obtaining the SMS ported PStar1 MD cart because I was told someone could bypass/flash that thing into english which would be amazing.

[Techno Thing]

On 2/10/2024 at 1:10 AM, newtmonkey said:

Phantasy Star III

     Finished!  Although the game got slightly better each generation, it never really got "good" and ended up being quite a disappointment compared with the previous games in the series.  It starts out a bit difficult, but then becomes easier and easier with every passing minute, with each generation also being a huge step down in difficulty.  Battles in the final area also give out a TON of experience and meseta, suggesting that they ended up cutting out a ton of stuff, and then had to make up for it by leveling you up half a dozen times on the way to the last boss.  The last boss was also ridiculously easy, but that's fine since the series places much less of a focus on tough boss fights than other RPGs.

     It was cool finding out the truth behind the world, and the ending suggested a fun time loop with Phantasy Star II.

huh. sadly i still havnt got around to getting through it. oh well, im sure i'll still enjoy it. theres likely a modded version that changes the gameplay a bit as i've seen several times on rom hacking websites. 

[+remowilliams]

Returning to the The Little Genesis That Could and modifying it for Maximum SEGA POWER 🙂

 

[CaptainBreakout]

On 2/23/2024 at 6:41 PM, remowilliams said:

Returning to the The Little Genesis That Could and modifying it for Maximum SEGA POWER 🙂

 

Wow... I've never actually seen a Genesis 3 with a 32x on it.  Its got a different look then anything else.  Like a robot roller-skate.  And something about it reminds me of the air-speeder cars from He-Man (with an action figure power squatting on the back).

 

Anyway, rad. Get yourself some Total Carnage or some timeless Space Harrier on that thing.

[eightbit]

Got this coming. Untested and the only picture. But, it was really cheap  

 

Crossing fingers it works and its a legit Sega MD2. I believe it is. There are more bootlegs of this version of the MegaDrive out there than legitimate consoles...lol. Not easy to get a hold of if you are not into importing and spending premium prices. This one was in the USA and $40 for the set...and will be a nice addition to my Japanese Sega console collection.

 

[+Gemintronic]

Vandalizing levels to prove I'm actually making Genesis games.  This is a de-make of your typical spelunking platformer.

 

Someone told me to "get on it!" so I edited the level to say this:

[Madwindoman]

Been playing Space Invaders 91 for a couple days. Either I really suck or this game is hard as balls. I’ve made it up to level 11. I don’t know how many levels in the game but it would be nice to complete it

[Tanooki]

Well I got (thrifts thread has image) a complete copy of Sword of Vermilion along with the hint book, all of it, basically like fresh out of the wrap quality.  Having read up on it and knowing it's a strange mix of a few genres of the time I was curious.  SO far I can say that has paid off.  I'm actually enjoying it a lot, a whacked out combination of Zelda and Zelda II mechanics, a bit of JRPG, and early dungeon JRPG style too with how the cave/dungeon system works.  I don't hate it, and I like some of the lazy choices like spinning in circles when you want to raise levels still gets random fights saving wasted effort pacing a space.  I think the combat so far is a lot of fun, though I haven't done the boss style one which is some kind of Zelda II style hack n slash fight on a larger monster, while standard combat is like Zelda 1 in a box.  It just strangely works, and works pretty well.  I'm trying to grind a bit more levels due to the damages you get from the heavier enemies trying to get through this cave (Troy item) to do the first (fake) king monster fight.

[BillDMatt]

My son wanted to get into Sonic after watching the movies,   Having a blast with it.   It's funny how quickly kids can pick up on these platformers these days,    he's getting through levels it took me weeks to get through back in college.  he's doing in days. 

Edited March 4 by BillDMatt

[+Gemintronic]

I don't fully understand.  May have an OCD issue.

 

Every time I click through my backups I must open up Fire Shark.

[asmikace]

I been playing Lord Monarch on the Everdrive Pro and boy its one of those games I wished I played sooner. Its a unique Strategy game with really good presentation and music that reminds me of Shining Force, Landstalker, and Popful Mail (same company that made it). I am on the Volcano level and I can't get past the first level. Anyone else played this game for some tips? 

[eightbit]

If anyone was interested in how that Japanese Mega Drive 2 deal made out, YES it was the real deal!

 

Initially no power but quickly found the usual loosey goosey power connector on the console. It's a big flaw with these. Reflowed the connector and anchored it down with a little bit of extra solder and the system came to life.

 

I also really like the 6-button Sega SJ-6000 controllers. This set came with two of them. They are smaller than the USA Sega 6-button controller, but accurate and surprisingly comfortable. 

 

Now, if only I had a "Super 32X", but the USA version works on it too.

 

Please excuse the wires hanging down. You don't even want to begin to know how many wires surround me

 

The controllers look like this:

 

Edited March 9 by eightbit

[Techno Thing]

On 2/29/2024 at 6:25 PM, Madwindoman said:

it would be nice to complete it

 

[Tanooki]

Well I went finally back to Sword of Vermilion and oddly it has some real charm I just didn't expect from a game from that time period.  I think if it were a turn based RPG I'd have given up on it, but this weirdo mix of Zelda 1/Faria style wander the map into a little combat box style battle scheme coupled with some basic Zelda II style boss fight combat mechanics makes the game far more interesting.  I just pushed it through the cave of troy, killed that dragon, then killed this cyclops in a town that got all fake aged, and onto the next large town and saved it there.  All the leveling/money I got I went and snapped up the one spell (lightning) I needed and the sword/armor/shield (bests) they had which tapped me out.  THe hits I'm taking from a couple of the local grunts is a bit steep so I can see this being an area to spin in circles for an hour or so to grind some levels.  The poisoning so far feels a bit unfair, anything touches you even once, it's a 100% chance and you can only carry like 8 items.  FUnny thing is, you can spin in place to grind and poison has no effect, only walking spaces does.  I think it maybe best to spin at the door to town and go up some.

[asmikace]

On 3/10/2024 at 8:05 PM, Tanooki said:

Well I went finally back to Sword of Vermilion and oddly it has some real charm I just didn't expect from a game from that time period.  I think if it were a turn based RPG I'd have given up on it, but this weirdo mix of Zelda 1/Faria style wander the map into a little combat box style battle scheme coupled with some basic Zelda II style boss fight combat mechanics makes the game far more interesting.  I just pushed it through the cave of troy, killed that dragon, then killed this cyclops in a town that got all fake aged, and onto the next large town and saved it there.  All the leveling/money I got I went and snapped up the one spell (lightning) I needed and the sword/armor/shield (bests) they had which tapped me out.  THe hits I'm taking from a couple of the local grunts is a bit steep so I can see this being an area to spin in circles for an hour or so to grind some levels.  The poisoning so far feels a bit unfair, anything touches you even once, it's a 100% chance and you can only carry like 8 items.  FUnny thing is, you can spin in place to grind and poison has no effect, only walking spaces does.  I think it maybe best to spin at the door to town and go up some.

I played that game briefly but it does have that early Sega Genesis charm that I enjoy and the different take on the Zelda RPG format stands out. 

[Tanooki]

That's one way to put it, unique sega style charm which usually from experience back then (based on genre) was worse more than better...this one bucks that and is quite good.  One I find a mix of good and bad I do want back is Phantasy STar II.  I await seeing a local copy of it to snap up.  I've got the official Hint Book lying in wait too.  The game was fun but hellish because the painful grind it had and often enough overly aggressive random battles.  I think reading the guide it will be tolerable at least.  I never owned the game on a cart, ended up playing a large chunk of it on the old Windows CD/Sega Smash Pack in the mid 90s.  Personally I prefer PStar4(have this) and PStar 1 too.  I technically have all 4 (GBA collection) but would rather do 2 on the original hardware.