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

[newtmonkey]

I played some SFC last night... it's been a while!

 

Tales of Phantasia

I only played this for a bit, but so far I like it a lot more than Star Ocean, a broken mess of a game that I've read was developed by ex-Phantasia people.  It's similarly technically impressive, but is a bit more traditional in comparison... with the exception being the real-time action game combat that's so far pretty basic and dull.  At least you can easily move your character around, unlike in SO.

 

Light Fantasy

I'd never even heard of this game before, but I was going through the Japanese roms on my cart to look for hidden gems, and the name caught my eye.  Maybe some kind of Final Fantasy ripoff?  Anyway, it turns out it is indeed a somewhat traditional JRPG, but has some twists.  You have an "invite" command you can use on any character in the game, and certain characters will actually join your party when invited; that includes just regular townsfolk as well a "story" characters.  Combat takes place on a single-screen grid, similar to Ultima III-VI.  I have a feeling that a lot of this stuff will end up being more annoying than interesting, but the game seems worth continuing so far.

 

Cho Makai Taisen! Dorabotchan

This was released outside of Japan under the bizarre (but charming) title of The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang.  It's alright so far, but it definitely feels like bargain basement Zelda or whatever.

[Trinity]

Just came across this. I've never heard of it before. But it looks cool.

 

 Any love for the game here?

[+GoldLeader]

1 hour ago, Trinity said:

Just came across this. I've never heard of it before. But it looks cool.

 

 Any love for the game here?

 

Yeah,  I like that game!  I used to play it BITD...Let me just look on eBay to see what carts go for...sure,...already got the ROM,  hell I had it on my Multi Game Hunter back in the day, probably still have the disk for it hehe...and **HOLY GOD It's less than $15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

**(B O U G H T) ** 

[Tanooki]

I've owned Spike within the last decade, and yes that's a fair smartass poke check at it saying it's a low rent version of Zelda.  It's basically like that, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and others of the A-to-AAA tier stuff just with a lot of charm but in various other ways falls short to just not make it a very great game, just a semi good one... B tier, if you can't find something else you haven't finished already first.

[newtmonkey]

Tales of Phantasia

     I am really getting into this now!  Even the combat is quite interesting, once you get used to it (and actually read the manual).  Even though it's real-time action, it feels a bit more tactical than the button mashing of Star Ocean.  You have three basic attacks: A for slash, Down+A for stab, and A twice to do a jumping attack.  Your character automatically runs into range when you attack, and then runs back once the attack is done.  I thought this was annoying at first, but it actually gives the combat a bit of a turn-based feel.  You can also move freely left and right, switch your party order in combat (in case you get ambushed from behind), and chance the tactics of the other characters.  So far, I'm pleased with it.

     It's a technically impressive game in many ways.  It's one of the largest games ever officially released for the system, and it has a ton of voice clips and even one song with full vocals.  There's also lots of variety in the backgrounds, and the battle scenes have a cool line scrolling effect to give the ground a 3D feel.  However, the graphics are strangely washed out with dull colors.  Maybe it will get more colorful later.

     One unique mechanic that I believe was eliminated in other games is the series (even the remake of this game) is the food sack.  You can buy/find food all over the place, and have the option of placing it in your food sack.  Doing this adds a certain number of "food" units to the sack (the amount varies by type of food), and this is used to heal your party as you walk around in dangerous areas.  I like it.

[Tanooki]

 I think you're right, it's never been one I've annoyingly been able to finish.  I got the GBA release, had it for years, then not, and in the last year or two got it again but ...time.  I do remember that being a nice little helping hand, some of those ports to GBA back in the day ended up getting some nice perks or carried over smart choices that helps in a handheld environment like that.  Lunar got a similar helping hand in some ways with restoration on how it worked with combat, saves, and restarts that makes it more managable coming from a slower plodding CD based thing to one you can just pop in and out of on the handheld release.

[SUPER STREET FIGHTER II TURBO]

I've owned Street Fighter II Turbo since '93, but recently decided to buy the original Street Fighter II as well as Super Street Fighter II for SNES. 

 

I'm pretty picky about condition, so I haven't found a Super SF2 on ebay yet that I'd be comfortable buying, but I did buy an original SF2 that should be arriving soon.

 

I did play original SF2 at friends' houses growing up, so I'm familiar with it, but I've never played Super SF2 on SNES before. Curious to see how well done the port was. I had a 3DO back then and just waited for Super SF2 Turbo to come out, skipping Super SF2.

[newtmonkey]

Tales of Phantasia

     I've been taking my time with this one and to my surprise, exploring is actually worth it!  Unlike many console RPGs of the day, there are some optional areas here and there on the map, and some of these contain extremely cool stuff like powerful accessories, etc.

     I do really like this game, but I just got done with a really horrible section.  You arrive at a mountain to make a pact with an elemental spirit, but the cave in the mountain has been contaminated with poison gas and you need to clear it.  This involves pushing three rocks into holes in two rooms, but you continue to take damage due to the gas, you still have frequent encounters, and on top of that there's a super monster that is literally unbeatable that you just have to run from if you encounter it.  It's not hard (you cannot die from the gas, and can 100% run from any battle without taking a hit)... it's just a massive waste of time.  Anyway, it's not so bad because there's a save point right in the middle of the two rooms, and once you figure it out, it only takes a few minutes to do... but until then it's very frustrating!

[newtmonkey]

Tales of Phantasia

     I originally figured this would be your typical trivial 16-bit RPG to blast through, but I'm surprised to find that it's actually pretty involved.  The dungeons so far are not massive but also not completely linear paths to bosses; in fact, there aren't many bosses so far, and your objective is usually just to get through a dungeon or find some item or character.

     It also has a pretty unique combat system, because it is basically just a single-character game, with that character being a sort of "tank" (to use MMORPG terminology) supported by the rest of the party.  He is mostly there to soak up damage, take out the enemies, and protect the rest of the party.  Although the combat is real-time and action-based, it has a real turn-based feel because you have to wait for the attack animation to finish before you can attack again.  The combat is also heavily focused on interrupting animation, so you have to learn how each enemy attacks if you want to avoid damage.  You get a bonus to evasion if you stand still, so that's another thing to keep in mind.

     So far, I am very impressed with this one!  I didn't think I'd like the action combat, but it's great so far.  It's basically the game I was hoping Star Ocean would be.

[Steven Pendleton]

Now that Kirk is finally banned, I can finally come back to this section.

 

SFC Tales of Phantasia is a cool game and one of the most advanced games on the system, but it's also a very rough game compared to its PS1 remake, which was released just three years later, and yet at the same time I like SFC Phantasia more than the PS1 version of Destiny. Some of the voice cast changed between SFC and PS1 (Cless and Chester share the same dude on SFC, who was also unmistakably Elwin in the Saturn version of Langrisser II, but they gave Chester a different voice actor on PS1), and Dhaos also changed between PS1 and PSP because his original voice actor died.

 

If you like the SFC version I feel obligated to extremely highly recommend the PS1 and/or PSP versions, which are still considered to be some of the best games in the entire franchise. It's kind of weird to play SFC Phantasia after any other game in the series except probably PS1 Destiny due to how much more control you are given even as early as PS1 Phantasia, but SFC Phantasia generally holds up well enough and the remakes can be a bit too easy because it's really easy to prevent bosses from attacking you when you can do combos and stuff.

 

Phantasia also has one of the best endings in the entire series even now.

[newtmonkey]

Tales of Phantasia

     I just got done with a pretty tough boss battle, at around 7 hours into the game.  This guy seemed absolutely unbeatable at first (luckily there is a save point right outside his room).  It's you against him (a powerful spellcaster) and his minions.  He has two golems that are tough and do a lot of damage if you let them get near you, and also two little flying wizards that can teleport around and annoy you with somewhat strong spells.  You also start the battle surprised and surrounded on both sides.  Finally, the boss himself does insane melee damage, and can cast a powerful spell that hits everyone for hundreds of damage and is basically a game over.

     It took several tries, but I was finally able to take him down without needing to grind any levels or anything.  I set my wizard to the "don't cast spells" setting, and manually had him cast his one spell on the boss over and over, since doing so interrupts his spellcasting.  I set my healer to the "focus on healing" setting, and basically just hoped that she could keep up.  Finally, I had the main character focus on taking down the minions with special attacks.

     That did it!  It was cool that I could change my tactics and defeat the boss without needing to level, but it also revealed how annoying it can be to have to micromanage fights using this combat system.  Anyway, we'll see how the rest of the game goes.

[WavyGravy]

I think I know the boss you're describing. It's a really weird difficulty spike and the rest of the game is pretty reasonable from there. IIRC, they toned that fight down a bit for the PS1 remake, not sure about the GBA one, though.

Edited March 7 by WavyGravy

[WavyGravy]

Just now, WavyGravy said:

 

On my phone and hit quote instead of edit. D'oh!

Edited March 7 by WavyGravy

[newtmonkey]

Tales of Phantasia

     The game definitely got a lot easier after the one massive difficulty spike where allowing the boss to get a single spell off was basically an instant game over, but I still find myself having to spam spells in some boss encounters; you just cannot let them get their spells off, because they do so much damage to your entire party.  Having said that, the party has been getting more powerful simply by progressing through the game, so it's becoming less of a problem.

     There's a lot to like about this game.  It's very linear, but there's some good exploration along the way with lots of stuff hidden out of the way, and I like how each character has his/her own way of learning new abilities.  The main character learns sword techniques as he levels up, which you master through use, but can also learn special techniques from various trainers throughout the world; these special techniques combine two regular techniques, and you need to have mastered both techniques to use them.  It's fun, because it's something you can realistically work on as you play the game, since it doesn't take too many uses to master each technique.  You also have two wizards, and each has his/her own way to learn new spells; the summoner gains new spells at certain plot points, while the elf leans her spells from masters or just by finding spellbooks in bookcases, etc.  It gives you a lot to do outside of just following the plot.

     Each town also seems to have its own optional side quest to do, and often it's just for fun.  It reminds me a bit of Ultima VII in this respect, actually.  Sometimes it's fun to just talk to the NPCs and solve their little problems not for any reward, but just because it seems like the right thing to do.

     I know that the fan translation of this game is infamous for its salty language and sexual content, so it was interesting to get to the infamous ship scene and see what the script actually says.  It's probably been covered elsewhere, but the original script is very tame in comparison, and the fan translation is beyond Working Designs in its outrageousness.  Why did the fan translators decide to sex it up so much?  Very bizarre!

Edited March 13 by newtmonkey

[Tanooki]

I don't think I mentioned it but a couple months ago at most I found a $5 level cheap copy of Super Offroad Baja for the system and grabbed it because I saw it pop up in a few places where it was noted for its unique engine and how it works more than well enough to get the job done and still be a competent game.  I've only done a few small runs, it's not a push over like it's arcade game roots was to start at least.  The game is unique, but it's more like seeing an old DOS era voxel engine like Comanche did in the early 90s for PC.  All the roads have hills, bumps, dents and stuff, creeks and gullies that splash some pixely water, rises that drop off causing you to catch air and so on like you'd more expect from a 1st gen 3D game a few years later on N64/PS1 stuff.  It's not exactly pretty, voxel engines never really were exactly given how they distort the terrain to create a 3D space.  If you're curious about an offroading rally/baja style game with old offroad arcade roots (meaning you have the cash and nitro boosters etc.) I think it maybe worth taking a look at.

 

 

[Bloodreign]

Picked up more games for the console, 3 Jikkyou Power Pro games, including #3 boxed..... and I already had a loose cart, damn it. Power Pro 94, Power Pro 3, and the Goemon spinoff with Ebisumaru, all SFC games.

 

My Genesis got one as well, but it's T2 The Arcade Game, been a little bit since I picked up a Genesis game.

 

Couple Daiku no Gen-san games as well, aka Hammerin Harry, the Famicom version of the arcade game, and the Japanese GB Ghost Building Company.

 

One PS1 game, Magical Date, and a couple other GB games, Puzznic, and Puzzle Bobble, the GB port of Puzzle Bobble 2. One other Famicom game as well, Taito's Kyukyoku Harikiri Stadium III 3, another baseball game.

Edited March 15 by Bloodreign

[newtmonkey]

Shin Megami Tensei

     I actually had got somewhat far into the PSX remake; it's a fine remake, but the fact that I was not playing the original version of the game kept bothering me, so here I am playing the SFC version.  In comparison, the SFC version seems a bit harder at first, but I actually prefer how it looks and sounds compared with the PSX version.  I only was able to play it for an hour or so, but I made some good progress into the game.  I got through the intro, gathered the first two human companions, defeated a couple of bosses, and got a couple of demons to join.  The human characters are actually quite powerful in combat, so I haven't even had to summon any demons so far.

     I'm enjoying it so far.  Hopefully the negotiation/fusion stuff doesn't get too annoying, because I'd like to finally complete this one!

[Tanooki]

If it wasn't for @newtmonkey I'd forget this post exists which kind of saddens me.  Nice choice of game there.

 

I actually had not touched the SNES/SFC for a long stretch outside of Baja there.  That said, I think I posted in finds that I got a cheap lot of SFC games in the mail, 10 in all for $30 and 3 of them I already own/so it'll be a free lot in the end.  I've been slowly whittling away at trying them out and having a bit of fun when I can around jobs.  The lot consisted of (to go first: brawler Sailor Moon, DBZ Super Butoden, Fatal Fury Special) and the keepers being the Sailor Moon S puzzler, Panel de Pon, Magical Drop 1 & 2, Shanghai 3(matching mahjong), Super Strike Eagle, and Super Pang.  As you can see it's a mix of puzzles but also some arcade/action stuff.  Shanghai surprised me with the number of layouts and customization it has where you can have a pressure clock by default or flip it off, and it has a path to unlock around the chinese animal zodiac.  Super Strike Eagle I feared would be a WTF moment because of the langauge in it, but oddly the Japanese got hosed -- it's a 100% US port with no translated info into Japanese so it's just the US game with a far better bit of sticker art.   The puzzles are pretty much obvious what they are other than Sailor Moon which is more like the Sega Swirl style of drop/clear a mass space of colors type game and it's quite good.  Super Pang was thrown in as he found it after for free, such a nice Capcom arcade port of that classic.  I re-attached the image here, you can see what I mean by stuff using it better.

 

[newtmonkey]

Shin Megami Tensei

     I've just about caught up to the point I reached in the PSX remake.  I've heard that the SFC version is harder than the PSX remake's "Normal" difficulty level, and roughly the same as the PSX version's "Expert" difficulty level... but I'm not so sure after playing both for several hours.  The SFC does this thing where, after killing the last enemy, there's a random chance for another encounter to spawn, and then a random chance after THAT for a third encounter.  I really don't recall if the PSX version does this even on Expert; maybe it does, but not as frequently.  This makes the SFC version much harder at first, but because you frequently get two or even three encounters on the same square, you level up REALLY fast.  Once your human characters level up a few times and you start getting the machine gun weapons, your power ends up snowballing as you blast through a dozen enemies at a time and gain massive amounts of EXP points.

     I found the first few bosses much easier in the SFC version, but that might be because I know better how to play the game thanks to my time with the PSX version.  I haven't been relying on demons at all outside of boss battles, though I do keep negotiating and fusing demons as I go.  It's been enough so far to just get a couple demons to join from each new area, and then fuse them to get stronger demons with a good spread of offensive and defensive spells.

     It's actually a pretty chill experience, though the game does like to throw you into situations that seem much more difficult or stressful than they really are (taking away your human companions, for instance).

Edited April 23 by newtmonkey

[Tanooki]

I actually kind of like the idea of that, except if you really are wanting to stop or get to a specific point if you keep stumbling into another and another on the same background tile.  It seems like a novel idea that would be fairly fun to help as you said, speed up leveling up and the rewards around it that franchise is known for.

 

It's nice you have the time to do this, even if I weren't working the extra I still in a way just have too many games/systems so it's hard to focus on anything for too long, let alone finish.  I need to make time for gaming, anime I find too, and other stuff so it gets tricky.  Maybe had i been smarter and just not got back into Sega (gen, gg) I'd have more time, less distraction.

[newtmonkey]

11 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I actually kind of like the idea of that, except if you really are wanting to stop or get to a specific point if you keep stumbling into another and another on the same background tile.

One quite nice thing about this game, actually, is that it's very generous with letting you run from battles.  Also, if you talk to a demon you already have on your team, it will just walk away (sometimes even giving you stuff first), so if you want to 100% avoid certain annoying enemies, just add them to your team and you'll never have to fight them again.  It's a pretty interesting system.

[Tanooki]

@newtmonkey I like that, not sure the later ones do that.  The only one in the franchise/spinoffs I ever truly committed to and finished was Last Bible's US-GBC release as Revelations the Demon Slayer and it's fantastic.  I had SMT4 on3 DS but it got ot where 1/2 in it really really dragged and I stopped, then SMT5 just didn't last long with me as it seemed to drip feed the game at a crawl, liked the mechanics but the last of progress put me off to where I traded/sold it whatever I did.  I think the mechanics of the franchise are fun, but some stuff depending on the game how they execute it gets old or not pretty fast.  THe older NES/SFC stuff I've wanted to do, even more so, english patched Last Bible 2 but never had the time.

[newtmonkey]

Shin Megami Tensei

     I managed to catch up to where I was on the PSX version, and actually made a lot of progress after that point.  However, I hit a tough spot late last week, and wasn't in the mood to struggle through it until last night.

     The game opens up somewhat after a point, and it really begins to feel like a classic western CRPG, where you must explore and gather information to figure out where to go and what to do.  The game doesn't really stop you from entering places you're not supposed to go until later, and the "tough spot" I mentioned above was actually just that I had been playing the game like a typical console JRPG.  I changed my approach, did some exploring, gathered some information, and (crucially) upgraded my equipment.  It turns out that I had missed a shop selling much better stuff; this made all the difference, and I went from getting totally wrecked to having a great time again.

     This series is well-known for having branching paths that depend on choices you've made throughout the game, and this is also the case in SMT1.  The main character starts out Neutral, but can shift toward either Law or Chaos as the game goes on, and your alignment actually has a pretty major effect of the game.  For example, you can skip some boss encounters if you are of the same alignment as the boss.

     So far this is really great, but I have a couple of complaints.

     First, demon fusion is a complete pain in the ass.  There's no quick way to figure out if any two demons can be fused into something good, so you have to tediously test every combination whenever you get a new demon to join.  Each time you do this, you have to skip through several menus and text boxes.

     Second, there isn't much at all to combat because of the fixed party of characters and how powerful guns are.  Guns do fixed damage regardless of stats, hit multiple enemies each round, ammo never runs out, and you can even get enchanted bullets that apply status effects (sleep, charm, etc.) in addition to damage.  There's no reason not to have all characters attack with their guns, every single round of every single combat (except bosses of course).

[newtmonkey]

Shin Megami Tensei

Argh, another massive increase in difficulty!  I'm currently exploring a dungeon absolutely full of random encounters against 6+ enemies at at time, all of whom can freeze/shock/sleep/bind you.  Of course, every single enemy uses that attack every round, and even though I've been pumping the SPEED stat, they ALWAYS go first.  So now, every single combat is my entire party immediately being disabled, and all I can do is sit there and hope that the status effect wears out and I can get an attack or two in now and then.

 

And of course, getting to the dungeon is a major PITA, requiring you to go through two other dungeons first with no save points, so it takes a good 5-10 minutes just to get to the place.

 

I checked around to see what the deal is with this section, and it's apparently a notoriously annoying part of the game, and the game gets easier once you get through it.  I think what I'll try next is to stick around the beginning of the dungeon and try to get the most annoying demons to join, so that way I can 100% talk my way out of fighting.

[Trinity]

This is a few years old, so probably old news here. But I'll put this here anyway.