retroking1981 wrote:

I could name a a few Sega IP's I'd like someone to give the Sonic Mania treatment to.

Shinobi tops my list but I'd be chuffed with anything from my top ten.

The Cyber Shinobi - Master System (40 mins)

Disastrous 8-bit sequel that appears to be a legit follow up - it's Sega developed and clearly says Shinobi 2 on the title screen.  So unfortunately this doesn't seem to be a US Gold Strider 2 nerr-nerr doesn't count kind of thing as I can't see a loophole not to allow it as part of the series.  Large oof.  

It's not the worst 8-bit game I've played by a long shot, but it's definitely in the bottom half.  Which means it's bad, and not in the 1990 way.  It's been turned into a ropey scrolling beat 'em up rather than what was effectively a run and gun game with the shuriken/projectile focus of the first.  I would've played this as a kid but only because I'd only recently made the jump from LCD games at the time of release.  It's awful on the whole, and certain sections require trial and error.  The controls aren't particularly responsive so falling platforms can pose a problem even if you know they're coming.  And just created a save state.  58% in 1990, squashed down to a 36% with 2020 hindsight.  Poor music for the most part too.



At least this Joe Musashi isn't the OG Joe Musashi, it's his grandson.  MS Shadow Dancer was rough but from memory it was a lot better than this.

How's everyone getting on?

Ready to move on or leave it another week or so?

We've had this on the go since 2012. Was looking at the OP earlier - what's the best game any of the contributors/participants have played for the first time in the thread? Wrote down a shortlist earlier and Gun.Smoke or Punch-Out were top but I may be misremembering. Batman too, so this has been a NES thing for me if we're talking top retro misses.

The NES/Famicom library is huge - no doubt about that. I made a lot of discoveries when NESTER appeared on the scene - so many good quirky games to discover.  I notice I bothered to write up on Pinbot - so I'm guessing that stood out with respect to this thread.  I had a spendid ROM set at one point - I burned NESTER-DC and those discs are probably the only place I have a curated set of ROMs - must get them copied onto my PC.

Shatterhand was a thread find I think, hugely impressed by that. There were so many NES games it's a great console to deep dive on, assuming you've been pointed in the right direction. I've probably played 85% of MS games and would be able to describe near enough the whole library thanks to obsessiveness with magazines at the time, but NES is a different prospect. Plus decent 8-bit games are perfect save state fodder.

Operation Logic Bomb (SNES)

Another 16-Bit top down 8 way shooter, fortunately this one is ok, nothing ground breaking but everything is above average.

The plot is bonkers, and according to wikipedia: The player has to liberate a secret futuristic laboratory dealing with interdimensional physics from monsters that escaped through a rip in the dimensional fabric of space and time. I'm sure the manual gave a decent little back story but as far as the in game story telling goes it's a bit vague, but it is told interestinly through accessing CCTV recordings.

There's a good variety of weapons at your disposal that are unlocked as the game progresses, and enough enemy types to have to change the way you approach each little battle.

Not worth going out of your way to play, but decent nonetheless.

3/5

My Reviews

I'll have a bash at the NES or SNES one.

Forgot to play these, or change the title. Will try one tonight.

Got through to act 4 - playing the SNES version. It was a really interesting game and I'd never heard of it before.

Very forgiving - it's one of the few games of this era and of this genre that hasn't been obsessed with killing me. I didn't have to use a continue until act 4 (damn zero G physics), and it seemed more interested in getting me to explore. Back in the day I'd have absolutely loved this, but now I'm spoilt by mega slick platform and combat mechanics in modern platformers, and so Bonk isn't challenging enough to keep me engaged and it has too much retro jankiness with the controls.

On the other hand I really loved the levels exploring a dinosaur's intestines - this was a real highlight. The pyramid level was a bit of a letdown after this. There's just so much wacky shapeshifing as well.

Edit: I just skipped through a playthrough video and it looks as though even though I got around half way through, there's not massively more interesting stuff after, so I'm happy I at least got to be shuttled through tyrannosaurus guts.

Bonk's Adventure (PC Engine)

Starts of as a decent enough platformer. Has a bit of a unique head butting attack which helps distinguish it from the pack.

Problem is the hit detection seems ever so slightly off/harsh, especially in the boss battles, which takes the fun out the experience somewhat. The controls in general just feel a little stiff overall unfortunately.

Graphically it feels like it's stuck in a generation limbo. It's just above the very best looking Master System games, but this is a system that has a very respectable version of Street Fighter II among other lookers. Its not ugly by any means, but the console was already 2 years old by it's release so it should have looked better imo.

Even in 1989 there were a few superior platformers knocking about in Japan, least of all Super Mario Bros. 3 which is still highly regarded by most to this day.

It's ok, but nothing worth going out of your way to play.

2/5

My Reviews

Played a bit of Bonk's Adventure. Wasn't keen really, but it's clearly not a bad platformer. I reckon I'd appreciate the NES game more having watched a video so I'll try that tonight.

Also need to check out the PC/BC/Bonk thing, which I haven't looked into yet. Pretty sure I remember it as BC Kid on my mate's Amiga.

That's enough bonking I reckon. Wouldn't have minded it at the time but never a cracker and time hasn't been overly kind is my verdict. You pick next, ready to go.

I'm up for it, I don't think I've played Chaos Engine since I rented it.

Cool. I think I've got most of the roms. Just need to track down Xenon (which I haven't played in over 25 years) and the first Speedball (which I've never actually played).