Retro Game of the Week, Week 5

CiDeRmAn

So, this week....
Not so sure...

Rise of the Robots?
no... though SteveX2 would love it....

I know
Something truly awesome sauce!








Links to the Past!
Week 1 SoR2
Week 2 Myth
Week 3 SF2
Week 4 Doom

Myrddin

What a fantastic, fantastic game. Graphics, sound track, level design, pacing, for an arcadey type pick up & play action platformer...this is right up there. Sonic 1 was a masterpiece, Sonic 2...yeah, they did it again. From here on the series begins to falter for me, so I hold 1 & 2 very dear in my retro gaming heart

CiDeRmAn

So, you're saying that the second game in the franchise, in 1994, some 22 years ago, was the last time the franchise produced anything great, that the tide reached a high in 94 and has been going out ever since....
That can't be right!!!!!



Sh1t...
That's fupping depressing right there...

Myrddin

Ha, more or less yeah. Sonic 3 & Knuckles were solid and great games...but for me anyway, they never reached the heights of Sonic 2....some 22 years ago as you say

the groutch

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

So, you're saying that the second game in the franchise, in 1994

1992 actually

CiDeRmAn

the groutch wrote: »

1992 actually

You're dead right,
Meaning it's 24 years since the franchise reached it's zenith....
Bugger....

the groutch

yeah, even I feel old thinking about that.

was one of the few games I went out of my way to get pre-ordered

Jack burton

I'm nowhere close to 30 and even I feel old now!

What a true classic of a game. Nothing to say what hasnt been said before except...

..this game IS blast processing!

Jack burton

I'm nowhere close to 30 and even I feel old now!

What a true classic of a game. Nothing to say what hasnt been said before except...

..this game IS blast processing!

Atavan-Halen

It's as old as me!

It's a great game though, Any time I've friends over the megadrive comes out and we usually stick on sonic 1 or 2 for a quick blast. It's still a lot of fun to play today. Although, controversially, my favourite in the series is Sonic CD

Jack burton

Jack burton wrote: »

I'm nowhere close to 30 and even I feel old now!

Go way outta that,youre 28

Retr0gamer

Atavan-Halen wrote: »

Although, controversially, my favourite in the series is Sonic CD

ugh... you're one of those then!

I actually remember the launch of this game. It was the second game launch I can remember that had a huge amount of hype around, the first being Mario 3 which came out when the NES had bottomed out in price and had a small bit of traction in Europe.

I remember seeing all the hype on Gamesmaster and being so pissed off I still only had a Commodore 64.

It's probably my favourite of the Sonic games, tonnes of levels, only 2 acts so they didn't grow old (except the final three act stage which was a nightmare!)

CiDeRmAn

The game had zero impact on me I'm afraid.
I bought into the MD on launch but, with the release of the SNES I upped and sold the lot, buying into SMW instead.
I rebought the MD a little later, buying the console and into the likes of Virtua Racing and Sonic 3.

Hank Scorpio

One of the best 16-bit tunes ever, even my snes fanboyism can't deny it :pac:

Hank Scorpio

double post.

Myrddin

I'm not even clicking that, I'll be humming it for weeks

Retr0gamer

For all the morons that say the Megadrive has a dreadful sound chip compared to the SNES (I used to be one), Sonic 2 (and the series on the Megadrive really) is one to listen to and realise what a dope you are.

penev10

Never saw what the fuss was with Sonic. On release sonic 1 got mediocre reviews and me and my md owning mates were all lukewarm about it. No replay value in the days when £50 games had to last.

Sonic 2 was better but I remember sitting down with a friend on release day and beating it in a few hours, again in disappointment.

Forever in the shadow of Mario World for me.

Thargor

Nah its a work of art, just a unique childhood experience that would make you feel sorry for the Call of Duty generation. I think my brother and I must have finished it about 10 times in a row in one Christmas Holidays before we moved onto something else.

Retr0gamer

Super Mario World is on another level to Sonic but the MD Sonic games are far from crap. They might be easy but there's a huge amount of replay value considering the sprawling levels and the amount of secrets to uncover and different routes to take. It took me a very long time to get bored of beating any Sonic game I had on the MD.

CiDeRmAn

Took me ages to see everything even the original had to show.
Such a solid title.
As I've barely played Sonic 2 I have a whole game to look forward to playing!

penev10

I'm not saying it's rubbish or anything. The artwork, music and some of the level design is top class. It was a very different game to any other platformer before, and possibly since, but I feel the level of enthusiasm surrounding it in more recent years seems at odds with the feelings of many back in the day.

Star Lord

I loved it back in the day, had the Game Gear version. Only bit that truly frustrated me was the hang gliding section! Parts were so tough! Saying that, not played it in about 20 years (:o) but I did love it at the time.

Jack burton

BrownFinger wrote: »

Go way outta that,youre 28

I wont be joining ye golden oldies for another few years

Retr0gamer

Star Lord wrote: »

I loved it back in the day, had the Game Gear version. Only bit that truly frustrated me was the hang gliding section! Parts were so tough! Saying that, not played it in about 20 years (:o) but I did love it at the time.

Game Gear is a totally different game by a different developer. Those Hang Glider sections can **** right off.

Andrew76

Unfortunately I never played the Sonic games when they came out, this was a Nintendo household back then (had to slum it with SMW and Zelda etc :P). I did feel a slight tinge of jealousy reading MD game reviews in C&VG though, some of the games looked amazing, Sonic especially. It also seemed to be the home for shooters at the time, Gynoug was another I remember reading about.

Actually, any time I fire up the MD now on the Trini, Sonic 1 is always the first game I put on - I just love how the colours burst out of the screen, gorgeous game. The music is great too.

Also played a little bit of Sonic Pocket Adventure on the NGPC. Plays pretty good and has decent music but the screen lets it down somewhat, you practically have to sit under a light to play it.

Steve X2

Andrew76 wrote: »

Also played a little bit of Sonic Pocket Adventure on the NGPC. Plays pretty good and has decent music but the screen lets it down somewhat, you practically have to sit under a light to play it.

Get yourself sorted with a frontlight mod for that neo geo pocket. Great little console, but yeah you have to be sitting under a lamp to play :0/

Retr0gamer

Wasn't a huge fan of the NGP Sonic game. It's made by the same team that went on to make the Sonic Advance games which I feel are a bit naff as well and the NGP game feels like them but less polished. Getting the Chaos Emeralds is also a major pain in the ass, you have one chance only to get them and if you **** up the mini game you have to reset the game.

Thargor

Worst Sonic game I ever played had to be some pre-Symbian version downloaded over WAP, probably cost about €15 by the time I got it onto the phone aswell.

CiDeRmAn

Thargor wrote: »

Worst Sonic game I ever played had to be some pre-Symbian version downloaded over WAP, probably cost about €15 by the time I got it onto the phone aswell.

I played that version, I think it was similar to the Ngage version, utter tripe.

o1s1n

penev10 wrote: »

I'm not saying it's rubbish or anything. The artwork, music and some of the level design is top class. It was a very different game to any other platformer before, and possibly since, but I feel the level of enthusiasm surrounding it in more recent years seems at odds with the feelings of many back in the day.

Not sure what you mean, Sonic 1&2 were huge successes for Sega upon release, received greatly and sold millions of copies globally.

Retr0gamer

Got to agree with O1s1n on this one. Sonic 1 was a very big deal back in the day. It single handedly gave Sega a boost in sales that made it the number one console in Europe and in the States as well (until Donkey Kong Country on the SNES in the US). I also remember the massive hype machine and marketing push behind Sonic 2. I knew about Sonic 2sday despite not having a Megadrive and it got a huge amount of coverage on Gamesmaster.

CathalDublin

I'll just leave this here

penev10

o1s1n wrote: »

Not sure what you mean, Sonic 1&2 were huge successes for Sega upon release, received greatly and sold millions of copies globally.

I didn't mean commercially, obviously it was a huge seller, but critically the first game wasn't well received. And I'm really talking about my own experience within my circle of games mad friends back in the day.

I suppose I could say the same about any platformer of that era as smw set such a high bar. Kid chameleon, decappattack, bubsy, cool spot... All fairly poor.

Would the 8bit era be considered the golden age of the platformer? I've a lot more regard for some of those.

(this is why I usually swerve retro gaming debates as I just base everything on my faulty memory!)

CiDeRmAn

So, critically Sonic wasn't well received by you and your mates, that's cool, but the bulk of Megadrive/Genesis owners and reviewers poured little other than lurve on the game and it's followup.
I understand, I had a MD back in the day when a mate had a Snes and I would try to convince him and all of those crowding around Super Mario Kart that Road Rash II was superior, principally because it had hills and stuff.
Sadly, no one bought into my delusion

Retr0gamer

I remember Sonic 1 being very well regarded at the time, even in multiformat magazines.

Also Sonic 1 was released a few weeks before SMW in the States and nearly a year before the European release of SMW.

You have to also remember how strong fanboyism was back in the 90's. I always wanted a Super Nintendo because I wanted to play Mario games so much but when I got my Megadrive at Christmas 1993, Sonic was the king for me and Mario and Nintendo sucked. It was probably the same with your mates if they were Nintendo kids.

Sonic might not have been of the quality of SMW but not many platformers were. Sonic was still one of the few to give SMW a good run for it's money.

As for the golden age of platformers, it's hard to choose between the 8 and 16 bit era. Platformers on the NES got awesome from 1987 onwards and there were some incredible late 90's games for the platform but the SNES and Megadrive were home to equally great games.

CiDeRmAn

Well, I'm playing through Sonic 2 on the 3DS at the moment.
Very good indeed!
Just made it past the Aquatic Ruin Zone and it was a blast, I'd never seen them before!
Onwards and upwards!

Retr0gamer

So my proposal for the next game chosen.

Duke Nukem 3D which is twenty years old today.

Doge

^^^ Fan boy mode engaged!

As for Sonic 2 it was the first Mega Drive game I owned and it blew me away.

So much so that playing Sonic 1 after it felt meh in comparison and to this day i have never bothered to complete it.

I remember the final levels got real epic and the ending screen was awesome.
The zones were really diverse, it had some great multi layered level design and it felt like a real adventure.

The two player mode and the 3D Special Stages gave it a lot more of depth also, although theyre probably frustratingly diffcult to play now!

Remember the cheat that let you spawn different sprites anywhere in the level?

If 1 word could sum up the game it would be "fun", more fun imo than the more challenging Mario games, the reduced level difficulty, increaed speed and flow of the game is what made it more fun imo.

The Sega Master System version which i played first however was disappointing especially compared to the master piece that was Sonic 1 on the system, with the vibrant colours and Yuzo Koshiro delivering a beautiful 8-bit version of the soundtrack.

Sonic 2 on the SMS had a serious lack of polish compared to the first, and much more dull graphics. It had more of a weirdness to it, Scrambled Egg Zone anyone? lol

I have yet to play Sonic & Knuckles / Sonic 3 , the last i played back in the day was Sonic 3D Blast on the Megadrive but it did nothing for me.

CiDeRmAn

I would have considered Sonic 3 to be my favourite of the series, up to now.
The game save system allowed me to make headway despite being cursed with an inability to be competent at any videogame ever made
The music in that one was fantastic, best of series I thought, and had a great use of samples.
Also, the visuals and effects that they squeezed out of the MD was very impressive, as was the brave use of Sonic&Knuckles to expand and extend the game into something new, although the penchant for shoehorning in more characters seemed to have started there with the aforementioned Knuckles.

Myrddin

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

as was the brave use of Sonic&Knuckles to expand and extend the game into something new, although the penchant for shoehorning in more characters seemed to have started there with the aforementioned Knuckles.

It's not actually shoehorning, Sonic 3 & Knuckles was originally meant to be one single giant game...I think it was either time constraints or cart size that meant they had to split it into two?

penev10

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

So, critically Sonic wasn't well received by you and your mates, that's cool, but the bulk of Megadrive/Genesis owners and reviewers poured little other than lurve on the game and it's followup.
I understand, I had a MD back in the day when a mate had a Snes and I would try to convince him and all of those crowding around Super Mario Kart that Road Rash II was superior, principally because it had hills and stuff.
Sadly, no one bought into my delusion

http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/pdf/sonicmd.pdf

I was sure Mean Machines had given the game <80%

Looks like it was just me then!

CiDeRmAn

penev10 wrote: »

http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/pdf/sonicmd.pdf

I was sure Mean Machines had given the game <80%

Looks like it was just me then!

Well that's the really good thing about games with a bit of distance from their release.
All the hype and guff tends to fall away and you are left with a stark, personal opinion that is as good as any other.

I don't like Streets of Rage or Golden Axe, everyone else loves them, but my opinion is as valid as everyone elses, Isn't it lads and lassies?

CiDeRmAn

Myrddin wrote: »

It's not actually shoehorning, Sonic 3 & Knuckles was originally meant to be one single giant game...I think it was either time constraints or cart size that meant they had to split it into two?

I wasn't talking about levels or features, more that with Knuckles we soon got Amy Rose and a whole host of other characters, like this eejit

Who only Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy likes because of the frog

penev10

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well that's the really good thing about games with a bit of distance from their release.
All the hype and guff tends to fall away and you are left with a stark, personal opinion that is as good as any other.

I don't like Streets of Rage or Golden Axe, everyone else loves them, but my opinion is as valid as everyone elses, Isn't it lads and lassies?

I actually enjoyed Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast and the ones on the Gamecube with the hoverboarding sections and shooter bits weren't that bad.

So yeah, I'm on my own again!

Retr0gamer wrote: »

.

As for the golden age of platformers, it's hard to choose between the 8 and 16 bit era. Platformers on the NES got awesome from 1987 onwards and there were some incredible late 90's games for the platform but the SNES and Megadrive were home to equally great games.

I'm struggling to remember any 16bit ones bar SMW and Yoshi's Island, 8bit I have fond memories of Wonderboy 3, Megaman 2, SMB3, Psycho Fox and even Alex Kidd for all its weirdness.

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I don't like Streets of Rage or Golden Axe, everyone else loves them, but my opinion is as valid as everyone elses, Isn't it lads and lassies?

Ah the opinion. Lots of argumentative people think that because it's their opinion it can't be wrong. They'd be current. However an opinion can be stupid :P

penev10 wrote: »

I actually enjoyed Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast and the ones on the Gamecube with the hoverboarding sections and shooter bits weren't that bad.

So yeah, I'm on my own again!.

I really do not like the Sonic Adventure games. They were great at release but time has not been kind and a recent playthrough has left me feeling that they are actually awful and up there with the worst of Sonics modern insults to videogames.

penev10 wrote: »

I'm struggling to remember any 16bit ones bar SMW and Yoshi's Island, 8bit I have fond memories of Wonderboy 3, Megaman 2, SMB3, Psycho Fox and even Alex Kidd for all its weirdness.

There's loads of great 16 bit ones other than sonic and Mario. Rocket Knight Adventures, doremi fantasy, magical pop'n, the donkey Kong Country games, Demons Crest, the Ghouls and Ghosts games, Dynamite Headdy, Plok, Monster World 4, both Konami Tiny Toons games, Batman and Robin and the Megaman 16 bit games. That's just off the top of my head.

CiDeRmAn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ah the opinion. Lots of argumentative people think that because it's their opinion it can't be wrong. They'd be current. However an opinion can be stupid :P

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Duke Nukem 3D which is twenty years old today.

Sorry, what? I refuse to believe that :eek:

Doge

Just spotted Duke 3D Megatron Edition is €1.50 right now on Steam until February 2nd. Seems like a good time as ever to buy the steam version.
Im hoping theres a server for.online multiplayer

o1s1n wrote: »

Sorry, what? I refuse to believe that :eek:

The original 2D game will be 25 years old in June! :eek:

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ah the opinion. Lots of argumentative people think that because it's their opinion it can't be wrong. They'd be current. However an opinion can be stupid :P

You know for the most opinionated member when it comes to gaming on boards.ie, i have never once seen Retr0 use the term "imo / in my opinion!"

Its almost like he tries to get his views across as fact the odd time on here! :pac:

Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I wasn't talking about levels or features, more that with Knuckles we soon got Amy Rose and a whole host of other characters, like this eejit

Who only Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy likes because of the frog

I can't say no to Frogs. Even Slippy in Starfox, yet to meet anyone who likes him either, I think he's adorable for a toad (love Pudge the Toad ).
Amy Rose was in it long before Big though, I've a comic there from 93 with her in it I think. Wasn't she in CD too? I know she was in R of course with her car. I miss old school Amy though.
I liked both Adventure Games but nothing beats Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

the groutch

damn you Sera, now I've got an uncontrollable urge to Youtube the Sonic R soundtrack