arch_8ngel

Days of Thunder is definitely in there. (but I'm not saying it necessarily deserves better than the 38% it had mentioned from earlier -- and neither do most of the "iconic" Tom Cruise movies -- they are popcorn fun, but they're all pretty cheesy in their own way)

I wonder if he actually believes these timelines he puts forward.

Could have stopped there

Yup, there is a totally separate boss battle stage with a gigantic version of Sardon that is at least 2 screens tall. Only accessible after looping the game, and while you can reach it with the stage select code, it is useless to do so, since you need the Goddess Bracelet to kill him. (and navigating the final levels with the Goddess Braceless is MUCH harder than being able to select your favorite weapon for each stage along the way)

FPS was a viable genre on the N64 and I don't recall it being particularly stand-out on the PS1.

In Super Ghouls and Ghosts you can't reach the final boss without looping the game.

"Simulation" is a pretty broad genre, and PS1 was the introduction of racing games shifting from being very "gamey" to being "driving simulations" (i.e. Gran Turismo 2 really ratcheting things up with the use of analog sticks) "racing games" aside from the Gran Turismo series, at least at that time, all tend to either be kart racers or arcade racing games. (similar to how few airplane focused games of the time are actually "flight simulations" rather than being more akin to first-person arcade shooters)

I mean... FF V was interesting and unique, with the fully open job class system. But I'm sure I'm not the only one that finds the characters and story to be completely forgettable. The ONLY thing that sticks out in my mind about that game was the battle to get the Mime class. (or whatever it was called) Mechanically, it was very interesting, though.

I wore out that Final Fantasy guide long before ever getting a copy of the game. (only ever had it as a weekend rental until the Super Power Club was running a closeout sale on NES games where you could pick up Yellow Label Metroid or Final Fantasy for $20) And then my dad was crestfallen when I pointed out that FF only had one save slot, so he couldn't play it on his own In hindsight, feel like a total asshole about that one But his RPG love was really always for Dragon Warrior / Dragon Quest.

I would like to have a console release for Willow (the arcade game) and for Aliens (the arcade game). Both were really solid games that had a fairly limited time in arcades - and both would translate well to consoles (at least as well as the console/PC release of the Mystara arcade games for D&D)

FF4 is the much quicker game, if that matters in the decision making.

It's the same on Super Ghouls and Ghosts (SNES) - and I assume Ghouls and Ghosts (Genesis). That seems like the standard m.o. for the series, and I would expect it to be the case for Resurrection, as well.

They have different merits. FF6 is where they start getting into a more obvious blend of technology and classical fantasy settings (barring WarMech from FF1). So if you prefer "classical" fantasy, I can see how FF4 appeals a little more. Also, -- with the Espers, the major powers of most characters in FF6 start to blend together (though nowhere near as bad as FF5 where everyone can fully cross-train class archetypes). The individual characters stay a lot more distinct in their abilities in FF5 since in FF6 it leads to a tendency to over-train/grind for Esper powers for the entire (substantially sized) cast of characters. (yes, you have a lot of character-specific abilities -- but late-game they always seem to matter less than everyone just powering up Esper abilities -- at least to my recollection of the game) I definitely agree that FF6 is better overall -- but I can also see how to certain people, FF4 might be their favorite, since it introduced a lot "core" FF concepts to American audiences. (personally, I'd play FF1, over either but that just comes down to nostalgia and fondly remembering weekend rentals and my friend and I never managing to get past Astos in a single rental run)

With my dad it was going out shopping for a new game for the system and ending with Legend of Zelda. He and I mapped out every secret, by hand, for both quests -- he would play sometimes after I was in bed for the night and would excitedly share something new that he'd found the next time we were both playing together. Our next game after that was Mega Man 2, and we worked together to figure out the rock-paper-scissors of the boss order. Then when the Dragon Warrior Nintendo Power promotion came around, I think he probably played the game more than I did for awhile, since he had more patience for the experience grinding in small chunks each night when he just wanted to clear his head. (he beat that game long before I did)

Christmas of 1989 - unwrapping the box for the NES Power Set. My younger sister got Mickey Mousecapades (my parents thought a Disney game would be appropriate for a 4 1/2 year old -- little did they realize that it would have a brutal difficulty that scared my sister off of gaming until she was an adult :P) My mom was the first in the house to figure out how to beat World Class Trackmeet. I think that first day was when I paused Super Mario Bros overnight (to save my place) and learned the hard lesson of the games glitching out from overheating.

Unless they were going to require bank-to-bank transfer, neither or eBay or Paypal have direct control of payment processing costs -- that is all on Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex.

It's more about the "feel" and "spirit" of the game being rooted in a certain level of always being about to die/lose, where the flavor of the game would change substantially with an "easy mode" in place. Though from a game design and balance standpoint, I really think "easy mode" could be akin to "easy" on Battle Kid, where it makes certain aspects of the game easier (in that case doubling your attack power), but it still stays very hard to beat.

^^^ For how much my kids like DD2, I should put RCR into the rotation.

I'm curious what the actual narrative is in their circles, regarding the flag switch. I know Rush Limbaugh has been talking about secession on his show -- so maybe it's supposed to be supporting that (not that Virginia would remotely be "in play" for such a thing, regardless). But at some level, I'm sure the Trump supporters became aware that they were being mocked and laughed at for the flags at half mast.

My neighbors who had the half-mast Trump-Pence flag finally replaced it with a rebel flag, so take that for what it's worth...

Yeah, any kind of "easy mode" in Ghosts and Goblins should work like Double Dragon 2, where you get access to just a couple of levels. But at a practical level -- there isn't really a way to make G&G "easy" without breaking the game's playability. An "extra hit point" to your armor only helps so much -- I guess you could reduce spawn rates, or possible have enemies that don't use additional forms of attack (kind of like how 1st quest LoZ is "easy mode" compared to 2nd quest with stalfos shooting swords, etc)

Star Tropics rendered in claymation-style would be pretty slick. And yes, it does seem like a missed opportunity to not have Mike kicking ass with a yo-yo in Smash Bros.

Seeing them get more into games finally (rather than just being content to sit in my lap and watch me play) -- definitely has me getting back to basics on the ergonomics of controllers for small hands. Most modern systems are NOT suited for kids, just from the standpoint of big-ass controls. (seeing how my 4-year-old has to hold a Steam controller to play Spelunky for instance) And even playing NES games on the SNES classic leaves something to be desired, since the "extra" buttons (versus what the an NES or GB game actually requires) can cause a lot of confusion in the heat of the moment -- so the kids consistently do quite a bit better playing on the original equipment in that regard.

On the other hand -- kids definitely find Excitebike amusing, at all skill levels, since it is one of the few racing games that always lets you finish a race, and while steering is necessary to WIN, it is not required to FINISH.

It is a game with deceptively deep underlying mechanics, once you learn them. But it is also a fun, quick rogue-like platformer, that you can beat in half an hour once you know what you're doing (with speedrun achievements at something like 6-8 minutes or less) If you like hard platformers, combined with the gambling of roguelike-RNGs, then you'll probably enjoy it.