Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Battle Clash

Post by Jabroniville »

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BATTLE CLASH:
Game Type: First-Person Shooting Game
Release Date: 1992
Developer: TEC/Intelligent Systems

-Battle Clash is another shooting game, this one using the Super Scope light gun on the Super NES- it was one of the first games released with deliberate Super Scope potential and was highly hyped at the time (though I haven't heard of it). The Scope was only compatible with like 12 games, however, making it not that popular. In the game, you play the gunner of the mecha "ST Falcon" and gun down other giant robot "STs" ("Standing Tanks") in one on one battles. You can fire rapidly or use charged shots, each depleting your energy bar. You must also defend against enemy shots by shooting their own blasts. Some enemies can only be defeated by deflecting their attacks back at them, and every enemy has a weak point that eats more damage.

The game takes place during a chaotic future where "The Battle Game" is the only place with rules- the winner takes control of the world. A merciless warrior named Anubis is the current champion, and you play Mike Anderson, who must defeat him. Mike's father was killed by Anubis, and so Mike trains in every aspect of ST battles to take revenge.

The game reviewed well in some places, but horribly in others- I've seen reviews as low as 28% but most are around 70%-ish. It looks pretty good, though- enemies are big and colorful, taking up much of the screen and being well-animated and put in interesting poses- as the entire game is basically "looking at an an enemy in the first-person view" this is pretty important. They even take noticeable battle-damage as the game goes on! The game has lots of conversational bits between you, your enemies and your repair/base crew featuring lots of portraits- something Intelligent Systems would use in their Fire Emblem series. Ultimately it's a hard sell just because you NEED the Super Scope to even play it.

Called Space Bazooka in its later Japanese release, it did well enough to get a sequel called Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge in 1993 (they swapped names because Battle Clash didn't sell that well). In this one, Mike has created a new era of prosperity, but Anubis has reappeared and taken back control. So it's more of the same... but Anubis reveals that he is just part of the threat- the Eltorian alien race has invaded Earth and must be stopped. Now you can choose between the ST Falcon & Tornado (which is piloted by a female character named Carol Eugene). This one is apparently the best Super Scope game, according to YouTube reviewer SNESdrunk.

MIKE ANDERSON
Role:
Heroic Pilot, Freedom Fighter
PL 12 (163)
STRENGTH
2/10 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Expertise (Soldier) 4 (+11)
Insight 4 (+8)
Intimidation 2 (+6)
Perception 4 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Technology 4 (+6)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blasts) 2, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Cover), Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"ST Falcon" (Flaws: Removable) [66]
Growth 8 (Str & Toughness +8, +8 Mass, +4 Intimidation, -4 Dodge/Parry, +1 Speed, -8 Stealth) -- (30 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) (17)
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 7) (9)
Enhanced Defenses 4 (8)
Blast 12 (Extras: Multiattack) (36)
Flight 6 (120 mph) (12)
-- (82 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
ST Falcon +6 (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Blast +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +8
"Mazinger" Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3 (+13 Mecha), Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Motivation (Saving the World)- Mike is a freedom-fighter out to free the world from chaos.
Enemy (Anubis)- The evil Anubis killed Mike's father and has taken control of Earth- Mike fights for freedom and revenge.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 66 / Defenses: 14 (163)

-Mike Anderson pilots the ST Falcon and blasts the crap out of numerous enemy mechs (the generals of Anubis). The ST is 8.25 meters high (close to 30 feet) and has a Multiattack Blast that is powerful, but still requires like 80 hits to bring down enemies- you have to make as much use out of its speed and agility as anything, shooting down enemy hits. He's PL 11 on offense and PL 12 on defense.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Prince of Persia! Another World! Flashback! Mad Dog McCree!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Random Question: What are your greatest gaming disappointments? Like things you looked forward to, but utterly failed to live up to your (or the advertising's) expectations?

I remember when Fable promised you about all the ways you could change your character, and it failed on such a level it seemed the entire internet was enraged at once. Like they flat-out lied in the lead-up or something.

The X-Men NES game is notoriously one of the worst games ever made, never mind just being a poor adaptation of the comics. That something as awesome as the X-MEN could be so utterly bungled was bad enough, but that it can easily make anyone's Top Ten Bad Games list is even worse. It's one of the few games where I rented it, I was like ".... WHAT?".
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Action 52

Post by Jabroniville »

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"After the video game crash of the Atari Era, Nintendo brought the industry back to life. That second era was all large companies with large teams and big budgets. Albert, Javier and I, 3 guys that were highly unlikely to ever work for a large video game company, found an opportunity to do what others could only dream of. In that short 3 months we may have created the worse game ever, but we also became the first indie developers; simple guys with great dreams."
-One of the game's developers, on his YouTube Channel.


ACTION 52:
Game Type: Various Pieces of Shit
Release Date: 1991
Developer: Active Enterprises (original), FarSight Technologies (Genesis port)

-Among the more infamously bad video games in history, Action 52 was one of many, many games out there that promised "X Number of Games in 1!", which invariably meant it was full of complete piece of shit games that were made by one person, all at the sub-Atari level, then shoveled out there for rental stores or whatever. My dumbass cousin would ALWAYS rent "5 games for the price of 3" at local rental shops and always manage to include one of these, and they were always dreadful, groan-inducing stuff.

What makes Action 52 stand out above the others is that actual EFFORT went into the advertising for this one, as their is a godawful cartoon commercial out there featuring the "Cheetahmen" (characters from one of the 52 games this promised) boasting about how Action 52 has 51 more games than any other Nintendo cartridge offers. Among the games include Jigsaw, which was advertised as a puzzle game but is actually about a construction worker avoiding power tools, and of course the Platformer The Cheetahmen, which was hilariously expected to be the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, as advertisements were made for a cartoon series, toys and comic books.

However, almost all of the games have major flaws- some are even unplayable because they freeze or crash, have unresponsive controls, or incomplete or endless levels. The game Ooze was to have a contest awarded to a random person who finished Level 6, but the game consistently crashed on Level 2, making the contest unwinnable! This is almost exactly what the "Nintendo Seal of Quality" was meant to prevent- the Great Video Game Crash of the 1980s happened in part because shoddy carts were made by the ton, and people often paid good money for them before realizing they didn't work at all- the Quality Seal was meant to ensure consumers that the game HAD been tested by official Nintendo people and was therefore at least playable, if not good. Even the signature game is really bad- the three Cheetahmen have only 4 different frames of animation, travel in a straight line through dull levels with tinny sound effects, and fight tiny little undetailed enemies and bosses with simple jump sequences.

The game's backstory is pretty funny, and has been explained on YouTube documentaries and on Wikipedia- a Miami businessman spotted a bootleg game with 40 games on it while in Taiwan, and decided to make a "legal" one. But he had only four programmers and they shat out the game in three months with only one week to be trained on how to make NES games, as he gave them a short deadline that left no time for playtesting or fixing bugs. This is shockingly close to how video games are made these days, actually- as the "Grind" is causing mass burnout in the industry and people are hesitant to buy new games until they've released patches to fix all the issues.

The game met with huge amounts of disdain and was quickly forgotten- it was derided as a "scam", but this was technically untrue, as people had assigned malice to what was actually just standard-issue incompetence- a "Money Guy" with zero knowledge of the business who entrusted too much to brand-new developers and too little time to make the game. Shockingly, there is even a GENESIS PORT, which came out in 1993! And that's AFTER everyone shit on the NES version! It is considered far superior to the NES version, merely being subpar and not worth a rental as opposed to something that makes you envy the dead. It was made by FarSight Technologies, who rebuilt all the games from scratch and fixed the issues. The Cheetahmen also saw release on the Genesis as a stand-alone, but it is very obscure. The Cheetahmen II was created with 6 of 10 levels completed before it was cancelled- the games were subsequently found in a warehouse and sold on the secondary market (jesus, this makes you wonder about how much old crazy shit there is out there in random forgotten warehouses).

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THE CHEETAHMEN
Role:
Failed Ninja Turtle Rip-Offs
PL 4 (52)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 3 (+6)
Insight 2 (+5)
Intimidation 1 (+30
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)

Advantages:
None

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Enemy (Dr. Morbis)

Total: Abilities: 40 / Skills: 10--5 / Advantages: 0 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (52)

-So the Cheetahmen were intended to be the center of a multimedia franchise, but of course this game was both poop and pee, so it never came to fruition. Their origin is as follows: the evil Dr. Morbis killed a mother cheetah in Africa and experimented upon her three cubs, turning them into human-cheetah hybrids that then turned on Morbis. Morbis creates an army of "Sub-Humans" (other hybrids) to fight them. In the Genesis version, the story is instead that Dr. Morbis has captured cheetah cubs and the Cheetahmen must rescue them. Humorously, in the commercial all three have different accents- Upper-Class British Person, Sylvester Stallone and Cheech Marin.

-Humorously, their baseline build comes to 52 points.

The Cheetahmen:
APOLLO- PL 4 (58): Leadership, Equipment 2 (Bow +4), Ranged Attack 3 [6]
HERCULES- PL 4 (55): ST +1, Fast Grab [3]
ARIES- PL 4 (53): Equipment 1 (War Clubs +1) [1]
Shock
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Prince of Persia! Another World! Flashback! Mad Dog McCree!)

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 5:29 am Random Question: What are your greatest gaming disappointments? Like things you looked forward to, but utterly failed to live up to your (or the advertising's) expectations?

I remember when Fable promised you about all the ways you could change your character, and it failed on such a level it seemed the entire internet was enraged at once. Like they flat-out lied in the lead-up or something.

The X-Men NES game is notoriously one of the worst games ever made, never mind just being a poor adaptation of the comics. That something as awesome as the X-MEN could be so utterly bungled was bad enough, but that it can easily make anyone's Top Ten Bad Games list is even worse. It's one of the few games where I rented it, I was like ".... WHAT?".
The two biggest disappointments I can think of right now were Master of Orion 3 and Final Fantasy. The first 2 in the Master of Orion series were incredible games where you built up your civilization to take over the galaxy. It was basically Civilization in space but every faction was a different type of alien. You also designed your own ships and MOO2 added tactical battles. Just great games. Then MOO3 was more spreadsheet than game. Absolutely everyone hated it.

Final Fantasy got so much hype but I was never a Playstation guy so I hadn't tried one until FF7 released for Windows. I tried the demo and was like "that's it?" Maybe it was just a poor demo but what I remember was combat where you chose an attack, waited 20 seconds for the attack to animate and did that a few times and stuff died. I don't get it.
Jabroniville
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Greendog

Post by Jabroniville »

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GREENDOG:
Game Type: Side-Scrolling Action Platformer
Release Date: 1992
Developer: Interactive Designs

-Surprsingly, this game perfectly encapsulates Sega's energy and motif, yet I've never heard of it. Greendog features a gnarly surfer dude as its main hero, and he must quest to remove a cursed pendant from around his neck, collecting Aztec treasures across the Caribbean islands. Saying mostly "cool" and "dude", he skates, uses a gyrocopter and uses an old frisbee, but as the pendant DISALLOWS SURFING, he must remove it at all costs. Greendog is apparently based off of a real-life guy named Rick Green who invented a surfing-based board game.

A version for the Game Gear was released in 1993, but otherwise the game has vanished. It didn't review super-well, but wasn't poorly-received, either- it just kinda came and went, obviously. It doesn't look that impressive- just a basic gritty Genesis-colored platformer with a shirtless, faceless hero- the hat and shorts are all that really stands out about the design. According to the reviewer SNESdrunk, it's a very forgiving, easy game- there's health pickups everywhere and it's pretty simple and slow-moving overall. A major issue is the vehicle sections where you suddenly Battletoads out and move at a frenetic pace.

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GREENDOG
Role:
Surfer Dude
PL 6 (76)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 10 (+12)
Insight 1 (+3)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Frisbee- Blast 3, Diminished Range -2), Ranged Attack 4

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Frisbees +8 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Bambi)- Greendog's girlfriend is a buxom, bikini-clad blonde.
Motivation (Catching Waves)- The only thing Greendog wants to do is surf.
Responsibility (Aztec Pendant)- An Aztec pendant has attached itself to Greendog and won't come off. This makes all living creatures want to attack him, and worst of all, makes him UNABLE TO SURF.

Total: Abilities: 52 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (76)

-Greendog is a pretty basic, slow-moving guy but can spam out Frisbee attacks in a PL 6 manner. He's fairly durable and there's always health around regardless.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Action 52

Post by KorokoMystia »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 6:57 pm

THE CHEETAHMEN
Role:
Failed Ninja Turtle Rip-Offs
That's hillarious that the base build happened to go to 52 points.

I almost considered if I was lowballing them in my own build, but then I remembered how easily they die in the game, lol.

Cheetahmen also inexplicably has two levels labled "Level 3". And so does Cheetahmen II!
Jabroniville
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Out To Lunch

Post by Jabroniville »

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OUT TO LUNCH:
Game Type: Side-Scrolling Platformer
Release Date: 1993
Developer: Mindscape

-haha OMG yeah this one is just shovelware garbage. A generic platformer where you play a tiny chef out to collect ingredients. He must catch all the ingredients in a level before the time runs out, releasing them into a cage. Germs & bacteria are insta-kills if they touch you, acting as the game's enemies. Pierre is hard to control, slipping and sliding even on regular platforms- touching the living food ingredients stuns him, but he can at least stun them and kill the bacteria with a Stomp. They actually released this for both Super NES & Game Boy, but it reviewed badly and disappeared. It's just too old-school of a game- being unable to hurt most enemies makes it like a 1985 primitive game, not one for the mid-life SNES.

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PIERRE LE CHEF
Role:
Platforming Hero, Chef
PL 5 (81)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 10 (+12)
Expertise (Chef) 10 (+10)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment (Net- Close Range Snare 5), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 4, Ultimate Chef Skill

Powers:
"Mario Stomp" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Accurate) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Stomp +7 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Net +5 (+5 Affliction, DC 15)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Collecting Ingredients)
Enemy (Chef le Noir)- An evil chef releases all of Pierre's gathered ingredients to sabotage his career.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 12 (81)

-Pierre is a generic platformer hero, but is very wimpy and can't hurt anything.
Jabroniville
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Atari Lynx

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE ATARI LYNX (1989):

-The Lynx was the first color handheld console, but failed pretty badly. It was bulky, cost twice what a Game Boy did, and its games were nowhere near as good.
Jabroniville
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The Sega Genesis

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE SEGA GENESIS (1988 in Japan, 1989 in North America):

-The Sega Master System proved a non-starter in the battle against Nintendo, and so Sega came roaring back with a big 16-bit system. Called the Mega Drive in Japan (a BITCHING name, actually), it boasted far superior graphics and faster speeds to the measley Nintendo. Sales were unimpressive in Japan, but, as The Console Wars detailed, things went much differently in the West. With a crack team of advertisers and executives (many from Mattel, a toy company), especially Tom Kalinske as President/Team-Builder and Al Nielson in marketing, they began a campaign to turn the slow-starter into a juggernaut. While Nintendo boasted mascots and popular games, they were a stoic, stick-in-the-mud, "safe" company that advertised to children... so Sega targeted their OLDER BROTHERS.

-Sega revved up an advertising campaign that featured rock music, random screams ("SEGA!"), "cool kids" (dating their stuff BADLY), bad-ass behavior, and a much more violent set of games. They also started openly mocking Nintendo ("Sega does what Nintendon't"), who refused to fight back- so it came off as the cool kid picking on some cowardly loser who was afraid to even mention his rival. With the screaming, energy and attitude, Sega suddenly became the "cool option", boasting rougher-edged, Indie-style games like Toejam & Earl to contrast Nintendo's clean, standard-issue stuff. And then they came out with Sonic the Hedgehog, meeting Mario at the gates of Mascothood. And by the time Mortal Kombat came out, Sega had the strategy all wrapped up- THEIR version featured the notorious blood that made the series so famous. The Super NES was stuck with "grey sweat", immediately coming off as lamer.

-This actually allowed Sega to actually WIN THE CONSOLE WARS for one year. This unprecedented move actually led Nintendo to revamp their strategy, develop new games, and attempt to win things back. Eventually, Nintendo would succeed- their sheer number of great games beating Sega's roster (The Console Wars flat-out admits that Sega often put lipstick on a pig and had to pretend that they were superior to Nintendo in this regard), and more and more graphical improvements making it more cutting-edge. But Sega came close, and they changed the industry forever.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Flashback! Mad Dog McCree! Battle Clash! Action 52!)

Post by Jabroniville »

And one more set of builds and I'm done Part 1 of this 11-part series! I hope everyone had fun reliving some of gaming history with me here. Though I do note that many/most of them didn't really earn any remarks at all, which begs the question as to whether or not the super-obscure titles are worth doing, lol. Like I don't always know what's notable, and *I* like researching the stuff, but something like Obitus or Jetpac or Dr. Chaos could PROBABLY be skipped? But then I'D know they'd be skipped, lol. Plus I want to post more than "just the famous ones", and certain put some distance between all the MAJOR games out there, like Metroid or CastleVania.

Some of them are fun due to interesting mechanics. Some I just want to look in to. But 21-24 days MIGHT be too many to post at once, as well. These take a LOT more effort to research than your average comic book build (I have to look at YouTube playthroughs in addition to finding out the game's history) and so it's quite a thing at times. But I figure some games I'll dump out as a post on an entire genre (like most Racing Games can be done all at once) and that'll lighten the load a little bit.

IN ANY CASE, the rest of March and most of April will be as follows:

* Weapon: P.R.I.M.E.: yes, MORE RE-POSTS!!! Though these bios were actually really sparse and I'm more well-read on many of the characters compared to last time. Like the team's appearance in the Northstar Limited Series!
* Some Jobbers: I found a small TEAM of Marvel jobbers, plus a forgotten Powersuit guy/line of suits.
* The Office: Yes, it's time for 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition conversions, as I FINALLY pay off that white whale of mine. Those bios had been sitting at the top of my "To Re-Post" pile for literally years... taunting me.
* Waku Waku 7: Another short Fighting Game set.

I also want to finally post the New Gods, catching more of the group than I ever have before (not that anyone out of the famous ones are really "worth" statting up). But since Thorpocalypse is doing that one right now, I might wait a bit on it.
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Flashback! Mad Dog McCree! Battle Clash! Action 52!)

Post by Quasimofo »

For me choosing Genesis over SNES was because of a pair of twos - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Streets of Rage 2. An intact Mortal Kombat cemented it and then Gunstar Heroes hammered home any last shred of lingering doubt. SNES just didn't have anything that could compete with any of those games.
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Ares
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Re: Jab’s Builds! (Prince of Persia! Another World! Flashback! Mad Dog McCree!)

Post by Ares »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 5:29 am Random Question: What are your greatest gaming disappointments? Like things you looked forward to, but utterly failed to live up to your (or the advertising's) expectations?

I remember when Fable promised you about all the ways you could change your character, and it failed on such a level it seemed the entire internet was enraged at once. Like they flat-out lied in the lead-up or something.

The X-Men NES game is notoriously one of the worst games ever made, never mind just being a poor adaptation of the comics. That something as awesome as the X-MEN could be so utterly bungled was bad enough, but that it can easily make anyone's Top Ten Bad Games list is even worse. It's one of the few games where I rented it, I was like ".... WHAT?".
The X-Men NES game was definitely a major disappointment.

Superman 64 was the ultimate gaming disappointment.

Dark Void was a disappointment, not because it was a bad game, but because it was so short and I wanted more of it. A game where you're a pulp hero fighting aliens with a jet pack? Hell yeah, I wanted it and more sequels.

Two "Toys to Life" games came out relatively close to each other: Disney Infinity and LEGO Dimensions, and I got into them right as the Toys to Life games were dying. I own all of the legally available Disney Infinity figures and most of the LEGO Dimensions figures (and those I don't own are by choice), and both games are a lot of fun, and again, I wish I had more of them, or had the ability to play with more than one other person. I was actually looking forward to playin the game with my nieces all at once, but without online support we're limited to two at a time.

Like many, I was really disappointed when City of Heroes shut down, and I really wanted Champions Online to be the successor to it. And it had every potential to be so, but overall it just wasn't as good or as supported. I love the Champions setting and the game squanders it and its potential.

The Silver Surfer game lets you play as one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe, but makes you feel weaker than Bob, Agent of Hydra. You're so fragile a stiff breeze could kill you.

I'm severely annoyed that Namco X Capcom and the majority of the Super Robot Wars franchises haven't received English translations. Ditto for a lot of the Kamen Rider crossover games.

Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout was the first Dragon Ball game I ever got to play, and it was . . . lackluster, to say the least.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Jabroniville
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Ghost Chaser

Post by Jabroniville »

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GHOST CHASER DENSEI:
Game Type: Side-Scrolling Beat 'Em Up
Release Date: 1994
Developer: Winkysoft

-This game, originally called Denjin Makai, is a Beat 'Em Up set in the future of 2079, where a computer system controls information across all cities, and crimestopping is supposed to be perfect. However, some criminals have managed to find a way to avoid the control system, and are called "Ghosts". These ghosts are hunted by a specialized police force called "Ghost Chasers". You play one of six characters out to fight them. A Super Nintendo port was made with the Ghost Chaser Densei name, but dropped three characters, who were made bosses instead. A sequel named Guardians came out the next year, but neither game received Western ports.

The game appears to be a solidly made Final Fight clone, with big colorful characters and plenty of distinctive bad guys with palette swaps to make them a bit more interesting to look at (for example, the "Jumpsuit Girl" and "Fat Guy" characters will have multiple color schemes even in groups). Big advantages include highly varied movesets- each guy seems to have multiple specials, and you can even PAIR UP and do tandem moves like an insane gigantic Fire Spin dash attack combining Makai & Iyo, for instance. Attacks are charged Dragon Ball Z style by standing there screaming while your Power Meter goes up- your specials will drain it so you have to recharge periodically or trying your moves will stun you. Characters include Makai, a red-haired guy in jeans doing flaming spinkicks; Iyo, a Catgirl with a mace; and Belva, a blue Robot. The arcade original includes Kurokishi, a purple-haired girl with hip boots; Zeldia, a super-strong beast-man with a shark-like head (most of his attacks involve biting people); and Tarukusu (Turks), a shirtless muscle-man.

Guardians has EIGHT characters available, and seems to swamp the names and appearances of the original game's characters. Kurokishi is now a blonde in a different outfit; Zeldia is now a chesty angel with blue wings and metal claw gauntlets; Girulian (Julian) is some guy with shades and futuristic "cool guy" clothes; P.Belva is a MUCH larger yellow robot; Jinrei, a blond male ninja-esque guy with his lower face covered; Rou, a guy in purple military clothes and a prominent scar over one eye; Tarukusu again; and Skullbyule, a Guyver-like horned monster-man with his muscles showing.

The techniques in this game vary a lot, but all the characters are skilled grapplers who launch foes around, throw stuff at enemies, and attack multiple people at once. Nearly every Special Move in the game is a huge "nail everyone around you" move that usually involves spinning. Guardians even has a few shooting sequences, so every character has good Ranged Attack, too. I figure everyone for PL 8-ish fighters who have PL 9 offense so long as they have enough "Power Meter" (done by blowing turns building it up).
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Re: Atari Lynx

Post by Shock »

Jabroniville wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:14 am Image

THE ATARI LYNX (1989):

-The Lynx was the first color handheld console, but failed pretty badly. It was bulky, cost twice what a Game Boy did, and its games were nowhere near as good.
I still have my Atari Lynx though I haven't powered it up in years. It was definitely a superior product to the Game Boy in terms of hardware. But the game support was awful. I remember asking at Electronics Boutique if there were more games coming and was told "oh yeah, we're definitely expanding our Lynx section." A short time later, there were no Lynx games at all. I'm not sure I would agree that the games weren't as good though. I remember the baseball game being quite good and there was a lot more you could do just because there was color. It was just a little too far ahead of its time and thus too expensive.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Makai

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

MAKAI
Role:
The Balanced Guy, The Ryu
PL 9 (117)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10)
Athletics 8 (+11)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Police Officer) 7 (+8)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Benefit 1 (Police Officer), Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed, Throwing Stuff), Improved Trip, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork

Powers:
"Jet Upper/Burning Sobat/Tornado Booster/Sonic Blaster" Strength-Damage +2 (Flaws: Source- Power Meter) [1]
"Fire Guy" Features 1: Attacks are Bludgeoning or Fire [1]
"Thunder Cyclone" Damage 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cylinder) (Flaws: Source- Power Meter, Limited to When Injured) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Special Moves +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Super Move +6 Area (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibilty (Stopping "Ghosts")- The Ghost Chasers are meant to run down criminals who have avoided the near-perfect computer system that keeps order in the future.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 5 / Defenses: 12 (117)

-Makai is the most balanced fighter of Denjinmakai, and sports a look similar to Terry Bogard with his jeans and such. His attacks are very "Shotoclone"-y, with a burning uppercut, flying fire-kick, and more. One super move even fires a column of lightning across the screen! Oddly, he is left out of Guardians, the sequel. When nearly beaten, he can unleash a "Thunder Cyclone" that sends a Column Area Blast across the screen.
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