What have you been up to lately with your SNES/SFC?

[newtmonkey]

@Buffalo Biff Burgertime

Thanks!  That beta version is very interesting, and some of the tracks are really good.  I am glad they changed the music, though, because the Raphael stage and Shredder stage in the final release have some killer tracks!

 

---

 

What I played today:

 

Lennus (aka Paladin's Quest)

I had put this aside for a month or so while I was focusing on finishing some PC RPGs, but now I'm back to this.  I'm still enjoying it, though the overall linear structure (go to town > solve town's problem in nearby cave/tower > go to next town... repeat...) is a bit of a letdown; it's even more linear and repetitive than most of the console RPGs I've completed.

 

Combat requires a lot of planning/thought. You really cannot afford to not pay attention for even a single round, because enemies can be very lethal.  This is good, because every battle is interesting in one way or another.  However, it can also become a bit exhausting.

 

Anyway, it feels like I'm nearing the end.  Hopefully it stays good until the end.  The game also has a sequel on the SFC, so I would definitely be interested in checking that out later.

[newtmonkey]

Lennus

I spent a few hours over the weekend playing this.  It's still good and I'm enjoying it, but it has a couple of annoyances.

First, the writing (specifically the dialog) is really poor... clearly a game meant for children, which is such a waste because the game world is very unique, the background art is very nice, and the art in the manual is fantastic.

Second, I can see the magic system beginning to get annoying.  The problem is, every time you buy a new "element" it creates an additional spell for every other element you already have.  By this point in the game, buying just a sinle element now adds 6-7 new spells.  Much like Phantasy Star or Shin Megami Tensei, the spell names are all made up nonsense, so you have to have the manual on hand or just memorize what all the prefixes, etc. are supposed to mean.  Just name the spells FIRE1, FIRE2, etc.!

 

One thing I do really like about this is that a lot of equipment has a secondary effect when used in battle, such as healing the character or even casting a spell.  You often end up wanting to hang onto old equipment longer, because the secondary effect is so useful.

 

Contra Spirits

I can already complete this on Easy with no continues, so I decided to work on clearing it on the default settings (difficulty: Normal).  However, I found that this version gives you unlimited continues, so guess I will have to work on a single-credit clear.  This version fortunately gives you the true final boss and ending even on Normal, so it shouldn't be too hard I think.  I was able to get to the Stage 5 boss only dying a few times, but was not prepared for how difficult he is on Normal versus Easy.  I died A LOT to this guy, but I figured out what to do, so next time shouldn't be so bad.  I burned through the rest of my lives on the second boss in Stage 6... so pretty close to the end, actually.  I'll put some time into this whenever I'm not in the mood to play an RPG.

 

I absolutely love this game, truly a tour de force for the system.  Tons of action, nice parallax effects, detailed graphics, and a killer soundtrack.  I even like the two overhead stages, since they break up the action a bit.

Edited February 28, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

I caught a really nasty cold (nearly flu-like), so this week has been spent doing the bare minimum work required, and then sitting on the couch playing games.  I decided to give a couple other RPGs a shot, too, for variety.

 

Lennus

Things are starting to get epic, the story appears to be reaching its conclusion, and I'd be very suprised if there is much left to this game.  I'll hopefully be finishing this by the end of the month.

 

Card Master: Rimusaria no Fuin (aka Arcana)

I've been somewhat intrigued by this one ever since Nintendo Power covered it back in the day.  Unfortunately, I was never able to find a copy either at a store or a rental place, so never got a chance to play it until now.  Graphics and music are both excellent, but other than that it's just okay.

 

It's a first-person dungeon crawler like Wizardry, and in a nice touch the wall and floor graphics are actually animated as you move and turn.  It's looks fine, but ends up being a major downside; movement is just way too slow.  I wish there was an option to turn that animation off, but sadly you're stuck with it.

 

The biggest problem, though, is how simple and easy this game is.  It strips so much away from the Wizardry formula, but adds basically nothing but cool graphics and music to make up for it.  I'm 5 hours in so far, and every single battle is just mashing the attack command over and over.  You have a bunch of spells, but the enemies are so easy to kill that you don't ever need to cast any magic.  The dungeons are also just mazes, with no attempt to make them resemble anything or even design them with interesting layouts.  There are no traps or puzzles to encounter.  There are a lot of treasure chests, but they (so far) just contain healing items, gold, or permanent attribute increase potions.  It makes exploration feel like a waste of time.

 

Final Fantasy IV: Easy Type

I've already completed both the regular JPN and US versions of this game, so I decided to give this a shot to compare.  So far, it basically seems like a slightly arranged version of the US release.  It looks and mostly plays the same as that version, though they did retain Cecil's "Darkness" attack (they seemed to have removed all the other character abilities like in the US version, though).  I've read that it's even easier than the US version, but I've not noticed much of a difference in difficulty level so far.  I don't love FFIV in general (I'd rank it in the bottomr half of the FF games [from 1-8]), but I'm having a fun time turning my brain off and revisiting this.  It still has a great soundtrack and very charming graphics.

[newtmonkey]

Lennus

Completed!  I was pleasantly surprised with this one.  Great game.

 

Card Master

This got a bit more interesting in the second dungeon.  It's a much nicer looking area, for instance.  I also finally got a full party, and although combat is still very simple/easy, it at least goes by quicker now.  The slow dungeon movement is just killing me, though.  So far, this is a 2/5 game for me, but simply allowing you to toggle dungeon movement animation OFF would easily boost it to a 3/5... it's that bad.

 

Final Fantasy IV: Easy Type

I cleared the Tower of Zot.  That place always gives me trouble in this game, and it was still pretty rough even in this version.  The enemies all do ridiculous damage and have high HP/defense, so I always end up having to heal after every single battle.  It's tedious.  Luckily, the area is not too large, and the first boss is very easy.  Barbariccia did give me quite a bit of trouble, though; it can be difficult keeping up with healing the party due to her constantly spamming Tornado and Petrify.  I still was able to defeat her though.  I checked out some strategies later, and apparently she uses these attacks only as counters to physical and magical attacks, and if all you do is jump with Kain, she never uses them.  Whoops.

Edited March 10, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Tanooki]

Arcana I've owned twice, kept it the second time a year or so back.  That first area is fairly bland, and the items are just curatives as you said, but it does get to be more, rapidly much more into the next space.  The size goes up quite a lot to a point where you actually have like JRPG overworld like barriers(invisible) you pass as you venture further where shit gets real all of a sudden and stuff hits more like a tank, it'll make you want to recoil some and level up which is good or it would be a snoozer.  From that space on more or less you will find rewarding useful gear, not just item shop level junk in your normal JRPG.  I don't agree about it being like Wizardry, nothing about it is, other than the first person perspective.  IF anything HAL more or less ripped off Phantasy Star 1, if PS1 only were the dungeons of the game.  So if you liked those dungeons YAY, if not...RUN.  It's basically a JRPG wrapped up in fake visual trappings, and if you approach it that way, it's better for it.  I never felt the animation was a problem, what I do think was though with the game is a problem is the poor understanding of what the colors do which you didn't hit on.  They're elemental types, I've got a manual for this game, and if you don't work with them you can get decimated or do piddy chip damage making things a snoozer.  You'll find more magic cards along the way, the 2nd is in that next dungeon and things open up more when you get that one but I'll leave it at that.

[Bloodreign]

Couple more SFC games on the way to play, Hat Trick Hero 2 from Taito, and Art of Fighting 2, the latter being a pretty nice port of the arcade game.

[Wayler]

I've always dismissed the first person dungeon crawlers on the SNES and other consoles as unnecessary and archaic, as I felt the keyboard+mouse on the PC was a superior option for the genre. Might have missed some experiences because of this prejudice but I think it's too late for me to go back to these titles now. 

 

This game design was never my cup of tee anyway, not even on the PC. I think I have played through Lands of Lore and that's about it. 

[newtmonkey]

@Wayler

The first person dungeon crawlers on consoles are mostly indeed unnecessary and archaic, though the Wizardry ports of 1-3 to the SFC, and Wizardry ports of 1-5 to the PSX/Saturn, are excellent ports (arguably the best versions of these games).  All the other PC-to-console ports of games in this sub-genre are way too simplified and/or suffer from performance/control issues to be worth playing imo (Dungeon Master series, Eye of the Beholder, Might & Magic series, The Bard's Tale, etc.)... though PC Engine and Sega CD have decent ports of M&MIII (granted, with very inferior graphics compared with the PC version).

 

The original (non-ported) console dungeon crawlers are mostly just way too simple to be worth playing to anyone but an RPG nut like me... they are often even simpler than the very first Wizardry in many ways.  I'm thinking here of Card Master aka Arcana and the two Shining dungeon crawlers, mostly.  The Wizardry Gaiden games on the GB and SFC are, however, very excellent.  This is also true for the various new Wizardry games on the PSX.

[newtmonkey]

Final Fantasy IV: Easy Type

I completed the Tower of Babil.  I remember this area also giving me a lot of trouble, but it was pretty easy on Easy Type (har har).  One thing that's very perplexing, and in some ways actually makes Easy Type more difficult, is they removed the Shell and Protect spells from the game!  These are crucial spells to use during boss battles (or against any difficult enemies) in both FF2US and FF4JPN, and I don't think boss damage was reduced in Easy Type to account for it.  As a result, you are constantly healing in this version of the game, both inside and outside of combat.  It's a bit tedious, actually.

[newtmonkey]

I have been using the 8bitdo M30 controller on my Mega Drive lately (it's really good), so I wondered, was I being too hard on their SN30 2.4g SNES controller when I threw it in my closet in disgust?  I dragged it out and gave it a try.  It's pretty bad.  The dpad is very uncomfortable compared with a stock controller, and diagonals are extremely inaccurate.  It's not so much the diagonals themselves, because you can get them to register 100% of the time if you concentrate.  The issue is when rolling from one of the four cardinal directions to diagonal, or even when rolling from up/down to left/right.  It just doesn't react the same way that a stock controller does, and if you are used to stock controllers, it will throw you off.

 

Could you get used to it?  I think so.  But I'd rather just go back to my current setup: Wiimote with raphnet adapter to genuine SFC controller.  It, of course, feels 100% the same as using a stock controller.  And if my batteries ever die in mid-game, I can just swap in another pair of double AAs and resume playing immediately (this actually happened to me earlier today).  Finally, if my SFC controller ever dies, I can just go find another, cheaply and easily.

 

Final Fantasy IV: Easy Type

I have reached the final dungeon, at aroudn 15 hours in.  My party is quite underleveled, as I haven't done any grinding at all, and ran away from a lot of the more annoying encounters in the last few dungeons.  I've been able to get through the game thus far underleveled, but I know from completing the JPN and US versions that the last boss is nearly impossible if you just don't have enough HPs to survive his attacks.  We'll see how it goes!

[newtmonkey]

Final Fantasy IV: Easy Type

Completed!  Having already completed FF2US and FF4JP, it was interesting to compare this with the others.

It actually has a smoother difficulty curve than either other version; it stops being easy around 10 hours in, and stays around that level until the very end, when it then becomes ridiculously easy.  I was able to defeat the last boss with no deaths and at nearly full health, so he was toned down A LOT compared with even the US version (he was also redrawn in this version).

[Bloodreign]

Hat Trick Hero 2, I absolutely suck at this game, but have only played it once, need to get the controls down first.

 

Art of Fighting 2, great port, though WAAAAY easier than the arcade version as low jump kicks to your opponents ankles seem to connect.... a lot.

[Tanooki]

It's not so much what I've got into but I need to get off of my butt AND get into.

 

A week ago at the arcade expo I grabbed Secret of Evermore.  I've been curious about this one for decades and finally pulled the trigger.

 

 

Does anyone have experience with this one?  Also, this may seem strange, I utterly HATE putting my name into a game when it can be avoided, and would rather use a name, even if unofficial the company makes up.  Was there ever any implied name for the kid (and his dog if needed too?)  Secret of Mana didn't have one so much, but I found in Japan it did so all these years it has been Randi, Purim, and Popoie.

[Wayler]

12 hours ago, Tanooki said:

A week ago at the arcade expo I grabbed Secret of Evermore.  I've been curious about this one for decades and finally pulled the trigger.

 

Does anyone have experience with this one?

It's a good game if not excellent. I think it got a some flak at the time of the release because it wasn't Secret of Mana and people saw it it as a trade off by Square. "We won't give you Mana 2, but look, we got this other instead".

 

Here's what I like about it:

- The plot and setting is original and mysterious

- The alchemy system in magic is very well implemented. You usually can't just spam your spells like in SoM and it also makes the traversing through dungeons and fields more engaging as you look for ingredients.

- The ambient music elevates the experience and gives the game a distinct feel. (too bad the composer turned out to be a truly awful person, so I won't name him here.)

- The game is not a cakewalk like SoM, a tough but fair challenge.

 

What I didn't like

- The weapon wheel becomes cluttered during the game, as you are not leveling your weapons, but getting new ones. So there's a lot of useless junk left in the wheel towards the end.

- While the music is great in the game setting, I found it doesn't work so well on it's own. It needed more tunes and melodies for that

- The final section is dreary and boring compared to the rest.

 

12 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I utterly HATE putting my name into a game when it can be avoided, and would rather use a name, even if unofficial the company makes up.  Was there ever any implied name for the kid (and his dog if needed too?)  Secret of Mana didn't have one so much, but I found in Japan it did so all these years it has been Randi, Purim, and Popoie.

I feel the best implementation for this is that the character has a default name, but the player has an option to change it. For some games I like to change it but if the game is especially thick on atmosphere, I go for the original to not mess with the feel of the game.

 

There was no name for the kid. The manual just mentions a boy or our hero. But as they are a pair, maybe you could name them "A boy" and "His dog" 😃

[Tanooki]

That's why I did NOT get it, even just high school era prattle into the early online age of 1995-00 when I was beyond that you'd see people rail on it for being both American garbage and 'NOT MANA' to where I just passed on it for other stuff to test with my budget and time.  So yeah, that comment you think happened, DID happen.

 

I like your pros and cons, and seems almost diablo/breath of the wild-ish with having to find materials to make things or craft up abilities which is a nice touch as long as it's not heavy handed to interfere with play, and there, they don't.  I also didn't care when the Mana wheel got cluttered so that wouldn't bother me as much as your big end gripe of the stale-ish ending to it all.  Your idea on games, that's mine, I'll check the box with a default.  I hate when no choice is given.  Even back in the day with FInal Fantasy 1 I just put the names of Nintendo characters in there instead butchering to 4 letters, later FF2(4) names.  Cecl, Kain, Ryda, Rosa, Edge, Yang...whatever.

[zylon]

Repaired a nice Interact ProPad with the cable from a crap retro bit controller, and tested a bit, with Firepower 2000, Strike Gunner STG, and revisited Super R-Type. Yep, it still sucks, lol. Only using an old Retro-Duo 2, so I don't dig real deep. It takes forever to load up the SNES side, upon first power up, and you need to hit reset a dozen times or so. Once it loads once, it'll work fine, so, I don't mess with any save games on it.  I did get another multicart with much better games, including a selection of the various rpg types, for when I upgrade.

[Wayler]

Yesterday I had myself a cartridge cleaning session, first time doing it too. Even though my gamebit opening tool is over 10 years old, I've never had the need to do this stuff. 

 

Well now the need was there because last year I bought myself a lot of 9 loose sfc carts for christmas and only 4/9 worked (begrudgingly). Finally the weather was nice and warm to clean them up (did not want to be in a closed space in those alcohol fumes). But as it turned out, that blue eraser did a majority of the work from removing the crud from the contacts. Alcohol was mainly needed in removing the purple marker scribblings.

 

And as I later had a testing session, they all work now! Even Rockman X3 because that board looked like it was dipped in Coca Cola. I mostly ended up playing DKC and Yoshi's Island. Man how platformers were awesome on the SNES. 

 

[jeffythedragonslayer]

43 minutes ago, Wayler said:

Even Rockman X3 because that board looked like it was dipped in Coca Cola.

Hey, would you be willing to test my Cx4 disassembler sometime?  I don't have either of the games to test it myself.

[Wayler]

@jeffythedragonslayer. What is the meaning of your alien words and what would be the procedure on my part?

 

I now have 3 Rockman X3 carts, going to sell the 2 extra ones sometimes in the future as they all work now. 

[jeffythedragonslayer]

5 hours ago, Wayler said:

@jeffythedragonslayer. What is the meaning of your alien words and what would be the procedure on my part?

 

I now have 3 Rockman X3 carts, going to sell the 2 extra ones sometimes in the future as they all work now. 

This is the chip I was trying to learn more about:

 

https://snescentral.com/chips.php?chiptype=CX4

 

But the disassembler isn't ready yet.  It would just show us the code that runs on that chip so the game can be reverse engineered.

Edited May 21, 2023 by jeffythedragonslayer

[Wayler]

Yes, I knew that Capcom developed their own chip for MMX2 - 3 with much fanfare. But seemingly the end result was only some wireframe 3D-models used as bosses, certainly not a game changer. Still,seems odd that the chip would not have been documented and researched already. 

 

But if you could tell what roughly would be my part in this process, I could give you an answer.

[jeffythedragonslayer]

27 minutes ago, Wayler said:

Yes, I knew that Capcom developed their own chip for MMX2 - 3 with much fanfare. But seemingly the end result was only some wireframe 3D-models used as bosses, certainly not a game changer. Still,seems odd that the chip would not have been documented and researched already. 

 

But if you could tell what roughly would be my part in this process, I could give you an answer.

The full process, which I should probably just buy one of the other paks off of you now that I'm typing it out, would be:

 

1. Dump the game ROM

2. Locate where the Cx4 machine code blob is within the game ROM

3. Determine how big the Cx4 machine code blob is

4. Copy the blob to a .cx4 file

5. Run the disassembler on the command line and pass the .cx4 file as an argument

6. For any opcodes that don't get decoded, fix the disassembler; rinse and repeat #5

 

Seems kind of hard to split up the work without distributing the ROM.

Edited May 21, 2023 by jeffythedragonslayer

[Creamhoven]

On 4/20/2022 at 10:39 AM, newtmonkey said:

I posted something similar in the Genesis/MD subforum, and thought this subforum could use a topic for general discussion, too.  Feel free to post what you're playing, mods you've done, stuff you've bought, interesting rom hacks, etc.

Hello,

 

today I have tried to understand mode 0, to create new experiences on the SNES.

[Wayler]

50 minutes ago, jeffythedragonslayer said:

Dump the game ROM

 

Ok, I thought you needed the actual cartridge and the board for something. If you only need the ROM, there are places to get one.

 

Errm, I mean that is what I've been told at least. I would never resort to that. I wouldn't even know what to do. Emulators, ROMs? What are they? Certainly not something I have ever used. 

 

(Please don't kill me Nintendo) 

[jeffythedragonslayer]

8 hours ago, Wayler said:

 

Ok, I thought you needed the actual cartridge and the board for something. If you only need the ROM, there are places to get one.

 

Errm, I mean that is what I've been told at least. I would never resort to that. I wouldn't even know what to do. Emulators, ROMs? What are they? Certainly not something I have ever used. 

 

(Please don't kill me Nintendo) 

Actual cartridge would help a lot.  I feel more comfortable dumping my own ROMs when the game's copyright has not yet expired.