My pick this weekend is Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, an early SNES platformer by Capcom, with a suitably spooky theme for the month.

Whilst it's sometimes mistaken for a conversion of one of the arcade-games, Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts is in fact a title unique to the SNES (and later the Game Boy Advance, to which it got a pretty good, though screen-crunched, port early in the system's life), and a damn fine one it is - though, as you would expect from its lineage, it's pretty brutal!

It's still my favourite game in the series, and it's always nice to go back to it.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderThe Road To PES Penguin 2008

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The road to unlock the PES Penguin in Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is at 350 PES points out of 5000……….

It's the unlock that doesn't end! Yes, it goes on and on, my friend!

Quoting: StoneColdSpider

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Madden NFL 2003 (2002 EA Sports) - Nintendo Gamecube - Sports (Football)

I love the weather-effect here - it just goes to show that you don't need anything super-fancy for it to feel atmospheric!

Quoting: StoneColdSpider

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Major League Baseball 2K6 (2006 2K Sports) – Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Baseball)

Yikes!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderNow for my bad joke of the week……
Ive lived my entire life being absolutely positive that I would never receive a phone call from a vegetable...... Then BOOM...... Onion rings........
*ba dum.... tssssh…...*

Hahahahahahaha!

Quoting: Pengling

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My pick this weekend is Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, an early SNES platformer by Capcom, with a suitably spooky theme for the month.

What are some of the difference between the SNES and Arcade version that makes the SNES version unique???.........

Quoting: PenglingIt's the unlock that doesn't end! Yes, it goes on and on, my friend!

Some people, starting playing it not knowing what it was.......... And theyll continue playing it forever just because this is......
This must have been the song EA played to inspire Star Wars Battlefront II.........

Quoting: PenglingI love the weather-effect here - it just goes to show that you don't need anything super-fancy for it to feel atmospheric!

It is a really nice effect..... Its something the PS2 does really well in general......

Quoting: PenglingYikes!

I always love big head cheats in sports games........

Quoting: PenglingHahahahahahaha!

ring ring ring ring ring ring onion rings......

Last edited by StoneColdSpider on 26 October 2024 at 10:30 pm UTC

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderWhat are some of the difference between the SNES and Arcade version that makes the SNES version unique???.........

It's its own game, so if you like the series, here's some more of it! It doesn't inherit the invisible difficulty-shifting that Ghouls 'n' Ghosts had, where it would make things slightly less harsh if you kept having trouble with it, though (Capcom had a patent on that feature)...

One level uses Mode 7 to rotate the stage, similar to that one area in Super Castlevania IV, but it's a case of parallel-development rather than one game ripping off the other, since they were both released in October of 1991 (Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on the 4th, and Super Castlevania IV on the 31st).

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderSome people, starting playing it not knowing what it was.......... And theyll continue playing it forever just because this is......
This must have been the song EA played to inspire Star Wars Battlefront II.........

Haha!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderIt is a really nice effect..... Its something the PS2 does really well in general......

I think I prefer the more abstract weather effects like that, than the hyper-realistic ones we see more often today.

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderI always love big head cheats in sports games........

There was an unlockable big-head mode in GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64, too - but since Rareware also developed the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land games, they called it "DK Mode" and also gave the characters chunky gorilla arms to go with the giant heads!

Quoting: StoneColdSpiderring ring ring ring ring ring onion rings......

Last edited by Pengling on 26 October 2024 at 11:03 pm UTC

I was hoping to use the force this weekend! The force feedback that is. I picked up a supposedly working Logitech Wingman Force joystick, alas 'twas a dud. It does work as a joystick but nothing from the motors. It might be something fixable, I've yet to open it up, but no force feedback dogfights this week.


Not dead - probably just pining for the fjords

Despite that setback, some retro gaming did happen:

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (1992 Sega Master Drive/Genesis)



I really liked the look of the upcoming Cleared Hot. In preparation for that release I wanted to try the game it clearly pays homage to. Clearly to everyone else that is. I have to admit to never having played or even heard of the original before....

This one was a blast! A great mix of shoot 'em up with gratiotus explosions combined with strategy and planning. Clever "3D" graphics and superb (but tricky) momentum based movement. Almost feels like playing something much more modern with retro graphics.


It's not all guns blazing. The MIA rescues is a lovely touch, sending down a rickety rope ladder to save your doodz!

Next, I went further down the rabbit hole and played a bit of the game that inspired Desert Strike:

Choplifter! (1982 Apple II)

Be careful before perusing the screenshot below so as not to develop Stendahl syndrome. The game was at the time described as "the first Interactive Computer-Assisted Animated Movie. A fusion of arcade gaming, simulation, and filmic visual aesthetics".



Emphasis on playing a little bit, this was a too retro for my taste...

Next time, the end of Spooktober, examining the parenting skills of Dᴇᴀᴛʜ!

Wait, you're telling me that there are other games than Factorio: Space Age? I'm shocked at the suggestion! Shocked!

Quoting: whizseI have to admit to never having played or even heard of the original before....

How?!

Quoting: whizseNext, I went further down the rabbit hole and played a bit of the game that inspired Desert Strike:

Choplifter! (1982 Apple II)

It's time to play Six Degrees of Bomberman!

Choplifter! was one of several games published by Broderbund Software which used their catch-all villainous organisation, the Bungeling Empire. Others included Raid on Bungeling Bay*, and Lode Runner. Hudson Soft created the Famicom version of Lode Runner under license from Broderbund, and it was a massive success. The following year, Hudson restarted one of their older game ideas, "Bomber Man" (which originally starred a human named Eric), as a side-game to further promote their conversion of Lode Runner, and gave it a new protagonist in the form of a cute robot who was related to Lode Runner's relentless Guard robots, thus giving us the Bomberman that we know and love today.

*The level-editor for Raid on Bungeling Bay inspired the creation of Sim City, meaning that Sim City is also distantly related to Bomberman.

Anyway, Choplifter! is tough stuff. I went with the Master System version when I did my playthrough, which is more-or-less the same but a bit prettier.

Quoting: EhvisWait, you're telling me that there are other games than Factorio: Space Age? I'm shocked at the suggestion! Shocked!

That's my reaction when they tell me there's games other than Bomberman, too.

Last edited by Pengling on 29 October 2024 at 3:57 pm UTC

I'm not sure if I have mentioned that I'm playing currently Halls of Torment and Vampire Survivors and delivering cargo in Wyoming in American Truck Simulator.

Quoting: PenglingHow?!

Isn't it obvious? Raised by wolves.

Quoting: PenglingIt's time to play Six Degrees of Bomberman!

Choplifter! was one of several games published by Broderbund Software which used their catch-all villainous organisation, the Bungeling Empire. Others included Raid on Bungeling Bay*, and Lode Runner. Hudson Soft created the Famicom version of Lode Runner under license from Broderbund, and it was a massive success. The following year, Hudson restarted one of their older game ideas, "Bomber Man" (which originally starred a human named Eric), as a side-game to further promote their conversion of Lode Runner, and gave it a new protagonist in the form of a cute robot who was related to Lode Runner's relentless Guard robots, thus giving us the Bomberman that we know and love today.

*The level-editor for Raid on Bungeling Bay inspired the creation of Sim City, meaning that Sim City is also distantly related to Bomberman.

Anyway, Choplifter! is tough stuff. I went with the Master System version when I did my playthrough, which is more-or-less the same but a bit prettier.

Pengling, you are incorrigible in the most awesome way possible. That's some Sherlock level of connecting the dots!

Quoting: whizseIsn't it obvious? Raised by wolves.

Hahaha!

Quoting: whizsePengling, you are incorrigible in the most awesome way possible. That's some Sherlock level of connecting the dots!

Thanks.

Really, though, at one point the Bomberman series was huge, and a mainstay on every system it appeared on - Six Degrees of Bomberman really is a real thing you can do, the same as Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Quoting: PenglingSix Degrees of Kevin Bacon

I've known the concept for years, but the name always baffles me, because it is called Bacon-Zahl (i.e. Bacon number) in Germany.