Lots of progress made this week lol. I'm kinda still hoping to crack that 200 barrier, and since Im on another retro streak at the moment, that could potentially happen. Plus a Goldeye series playthrough, up next will be the Activision reimagining! Yakuza is almost done so that'll be added soon, as will COD2. Then its back to Alan Wake II and a few other indies Im playing. And Half Life. And...
177. Goldeneye (Series X) - Sorta on a mini Goldeneye spree currently, and decided to start with GE on the Series X. Its a pretty straight forward port of the N64 version, and is for the most part great. First thing I noticed to my relief when starting the game was that they'd tweaked the controls for the Series X - so it plays far closer to a standard modern FPS - dual sticks for movement and camera, triggers for shooting etc. This makes a tremendous difference compared to the N64 version (well, unless you play with two controllers) or the Switch version out of the box.
Sadly the game is only 30FPS, and even then there's some weird dips/hitches at points. Its not frequent, but you do feel it when it happens.
Now for the game itself - back on release the game was a pretty big deal. MP aside, the missions in the game were all really well designed (save for Control) and difficulty was more than just more enemies or taking more damage - but rather giving you more mission objectives to complete. The Dam (the first level) is an excellent example, as in Agent and Secret Agent you only need to jump off the dam, but in 00 Agent you venture into a new area (after first attaching a modem elsewhere) in order to intercept data - this area is completely optional in the other versions of the mission, and really fleshes out the mission nicely.
Since 00 is still somewhat annoying in places, I stuck to Secret Agent for now, which feels just about right difficulty wise for me. Mission wise there's a ton of classics here - between the memorable first level in Dam, the nightmare that is Control, the epic showdown on Cradle, and my favourite - the fast paced clostrophobic train mission. Id never cleared Secret Agent before, only Agent, so there was still a bit of a learning curve on a couple of stages, but on the whole things went fine. A couple of objectives were sometimes a bit vague, some annoying shit with scientiests in the Caves, and the shock of the turrets in Control took some getting used to but I managed to clear them all after a few tries. It even let me do Aztec for the first time, which was a blast!
The only thing Im conflicted on mission wise is the lack of checkpoints - now the stages themselves are fairly short, its not like I need 'em, but sometimes when you get fucked for the nth time on a level, it'd be nice to not have to do the whole thing again especially when it happens right at the end. But I feel that more of a moan than a legit requirement!
Gameplay wise, with the modernised controls, I really did appreciate just how fast the game's pace is - you move pretty fast (except when climbing ladders) and as a result the shooting/action feels so damn satisfying - attacking a huge group of goons as you strafe around them popping them in the head (and various other areas which lead to hilarious animations) never got old, even when I was redoing Caves for the 5th time!
Soundtrack wise, this is one of the most memorable of the era for me. Tons of excellent tunes that go along perfectly with the levels, and manage to tie it all back to the classic Bond theme more often than not.
All in all, aside a few small issues here and there, I loved replaying GE. It holds up nicely, the objective based difficulty is still the best way of handling difficulty in a FPS ever for me, and it hurts that it seemingly was never really touched on again outside of Rare's pseudo sequel Perfect Dark (well... and PD Zero I guess... but PD did it waaaaaaaaay better). Id say this'd be the best way of playing the game these days... that's if Rare hadnt already made an amazing remaster of the game years ago that's absolutely amazing - equally good control, 60FPS, proper remastered graphics, toggle between said graphics and the N64 originals... and they weren't aloud to release the darn thing! Up next on my completion list should be said remaster, because it leaked onto the Internet and is fully playable via emulation. Huzzah!
178. Goldeneye Remaster (Xbox 360) - The unreleased, basically finished remaster of GE for the 360 thankfully leaked onto the Internet and while I feel it has a couple of issues/things that are unfinished, the quality of the remaster is right up there with Perfect Dark's 360 remaster...
So, as an unreleased game - a few points which are not a problem so much with the game but rather issues because its unfinished:
On the boat level - the water is just flat out not textured. Its just blue outside the boat.
In the caves, likewise water is still pretty untextured, clearly not finished.
In the Egypt hidden level, there are certain doors which are "invisible" - as in you can see through them as if its an open space, but then you hit an invisible wall which can be opened like a door.
Music doesnt play on the mission select after finishing a mission.
Music doesnt play for either the Xenia (character, not the Xbox emulator!) boss fight, or the final Janus boss fight (when he's almost defeated).
So, aside those tiny issues, how's the rest of the game? Pretty fucking great as it turns out!
So the game is flat out the same as GE as per my comments in 177. above, but now compared to the N64 original we get:
Enhanced graphics (including VASTLY superior character models and textures)
More modern control scheme (much like what was done with the Series X port)
Gigantic FPS increase - game now runs at 60FPS (I did have some instances where the emulator seemed to stick at 30 but I think that's the emu not the game)
All the levels are the same as they were on the N64, when replaying the levels as Id already played the game just prior to the remaster I knew where all the items etc. were and there wasnt so much as a guard out of place as far as I could tell. It really is just the N64 game with a fresh coat of paint.
Now, while that alone is probably enough for people to say "oh so it always looks better", Im gonna have to be my usual self and be like "they didnt quite capture the look of the original" at points. Now, 90% of the time its way better - like the Moonraker level looks way better here, especially the ruins area under the launch site), but there's a handful of instances where I feel it drops the ball:
The two levels in the snowy surface area lose a certain something... The sky is completely different in the first stage, its brighter, and kinda loses that cold, low vis feel from being in a snowstorm/bad weather type environment - sure a good portion of that is console limitations, but its one of those instances where that worked to the games advantage. The second is way worse though, again the sky is wrong, it being pitch black, without that wonderful red hue suggesting that the sun was still setting on the horizon, and again I feel the better draw distance works against it despite technically that being a welcome improvement...
Lastly, Cradle has a background - you can see the Cuban jungle below, and... I dont like it. Its not a great background as is detail wise, but it completely ruins my mental image of this stage - where your hundreds of miles in the air, so much so you cant see the ground below through the clouds. This one just feels like your nowhere near as far up, and it sorta sucks.
Brightness is another issue at points. The game is overly dark at points and so it makes it hard seeing certain obstacles (Jungle's cave is SO bad at this). No brightness control either, which is really annoying.
But to end on a high note, the character models are excellent. Vastly more detailed than what we got in the N64 one.
Performance though is a universal improvement. No matter which other version you play - N64, Switch, Series X, you aint getting the game running this good. Its silky smooth and is THE way to play this game. Likewise the controls complement the smooth frame rate.
I dont really have much else to say... Its the same game but the frame rate alone makes it vastly superior. Plus the visuals are almost always better (with a few nit pick exceptions). This is definitely THE way to play this game if you know how. Otherwise the Xbox Series port is still a really darn good port.
179. Fantasy Zone (Sega Mark III) - After playing the amazing arcade version of FZ so much it was nice to hit up the MKIII console port, and... its amazing. Its obviously a step down graphically but the gameplay is so close (aside replacing two bosses with new ones) that I cant help but love this one as well.
Gameplay wise its your basic shoot em up game - take out the bases that spawn enemies, avoid bullets, shoot anything else that moves and grab coins. Then grab the 7 way spreader gun from the shop and cause more carnage! After all the bases are destroyed the boss will spawn - these are big creatures all with their own attack patterns, but are all fairly straight forward if you know what your doing. The new added bosses fit the game well, and are great fun to fight - not too easy but not too hard either.
The game itself is addictive and has a nice number of secrets/cheats to uncover (I love the infinite ammo cheat, certainly turns the tables on the bosses!) and as per usual daddy OPA needs a heavy weight dropped on his head to defeat him - so dont spend all your money before getting to the final boss! Overall, this is one of my favourite arcade ports for any system, its incredibly close to the original, plays great, sounds amazing and is infinitely replayable.
180. Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Sega Mark III) - There are three things that hinder AK from being an otherwise great game - the slippery platforming, having to cheat to continue, and that fucking Rock Paper Scissors mechanic!
Otherwise AK is a pretty pleasant platformer - it has your usual variety of levels (castle, lava cave, forest, swimming levels etc.) plus some unique vehicle power ups/levels that definitely help it stand out from the pack. However anyone whose played this throughout the years probably noticed two issues as mentioned above - Alex moves like he's on ice and using rollerskates. Precision jumping is a nightmare since the momentum you get from a running jump can ruin you, especially if your jumping onto a small one block platform. In the last castle there's some crazy precise jumps that'll really test you.
The second issue is the Rock Paper Scissors stuff - you'll come up against bosses that force you to fight in this style, and I loathe it. Now granted they forever pick the same choices but its such a shitty way to handle encounters that I cant help but complain about it every chance I get.
The rest of the game is actually pretty fun. I think the level design is solid IF you get the hang of the controls/handling, then you can clear stuff like that final castle or the forest. But if you cant, I doubt you'd ever clear said forest stage... or even reach it.
181. Alien Storm (Sega Mark III) - Maze like maps, weak weapons with bad fire rates and hilariously limited reach, one hit kills and badly designed boss fights...
Yeah, to say Im not a fan of the MKIII port of AS is an understatement.. Your default weapon is pathetic - it has a low rate of fire, low damage and until you can replace it, it drags the game down... Things dont get much better when you get a better weapon though (especially as losing a life means losing said weapon). The maps are maze like so its a chore to explore, dodging enemies is better than fighting, and the bosses tend to feel unfair since again, lose a life and your basically fucked due to default weapon... Except the last boss ofcourse because you have no choice BUT to do it wit said default weapon. And its an absolutely miserable experience. All I'll say is, yay for rewind features.
182. Mega Man (Evercade) - Ye old original release of the Blue Bomber, its often seen these days as... not a good game. People can be quite harsh on it, and I feel that's kinda unwarranted at points. Its not Mega Man 2, that's for sure. Its aged, its rough in places, but is it bad? Nah, not by a long shot, its still a really solid platformer, with great level design on the whole, solid mechanics, enemies, bosses etc. Then again on a good day I can clear this without continuing or losing lives, can buster only defeat bosses including Yellow Devil etc. so maybe my perception is skewed a bit.
But even revisiting it all these years on, I really still enjoy the heck out of this game - bosses like Elec, Guts, Cut etc are memorable designs, proper classics, the level designs on the whole I find a blast to replay, even stuff like the Guts Man moving platform stuff. Only part I dislike in both Wily and Ice Man's stages are the hovering platforms that shoot - these are sorta broken, at points the platforms wont rise, so your technically stuck without the M Platform (and dont get me started about how you fall through the platform if your damaged while standing on it!)
But otherwise, I really do enjoy how fast paced these stages are on the whole, and while bosses can be pretty harsh when you dont know how (like how Fire or Elec Man can go nuts), when you know how to tackle them, they are easy to no damage, buster only clear.
All in all, despite being eclipsed by many a MM game in the years since its release, I just cant stop replaying this one when I have the chance. Its a nice, short replayable experience that always challenges me, and just feels good to play (when you know how).
Next Up:
Every Console/Handheld (unique) Spidey game... seriously
Super Mario RPG
Runner
Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak
Rez Infinite (trophies)
Lost more VR stuff
MGS Rising
Splatterhouse (PS3)
Bayonetta 3
And a game generation worth of SFVI play!
Original post:
A thread for people that are trying to play 52 games in a year. Tell us how you're doing and what you are going to play next - claim a post and update us on your progress! How do I take part? Claim a 'main post' where you will list all your completions for the year. You can use fancy images...
www.resetera.com
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