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201

Challenge Mode / Re: Megaman X4: Stylish Run

« on: May 04, 2011, 03:53:05 AM »

Well, with this semester winding down I was able to take a little break and clear the short and sweet Space Port stage.

Where can I download the voice act hack?

Right here

Holy [parasitic bomb], Never knew the Ride Armor enemies would go on a mad chase after you.

Yeah, I consider them the scariest "normal" enemy in the game.  They're bloodthirsty and scrolling them off of the screen is a chore in itself.  They're surprisingly intelligent, too.

202

Off The Wall / Re: Post a Random Fact About Yourself

« on: May 01, 2011, 03:18:36 AM »

Well, while typing a paper, I've learned that I'm apparently able to type flawlessly while blind.

203

Gaming / Re: Personal Gaming Lexicons

« on: May 01, 2011, 12:18:59 AM »

Likewise, the football shaped shots used by almost every enemy in Megaman Legends one are called French Fries.

Hah, I've always called them Lemons.

204

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 30, 2011, 08:01:14 AM »

I remember literally taking 15 minutes to complete one of Team Chaotix's stages (I think it was the second mission in Mystic Mansion).  Despite the time I spent on the level, the fact that I didn't die once and had slaughtered so many enemies allowed me to snag an A-Rank on the level. I was pretty shocked.

205

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 28, 2011, 07:08:16 AM »

Sonic 3 had the best method for getting into the stages IMO.  S2's goal posts weren't terrible, but you could run past one accidentally and would be unable to scroll back a certain distance.  That and they robbed you of all of your rings after exiting the special stage (fixed in Knuckles in Sonic 2 IIRC).  I do like the Sonic 1/CD method of getting the giant ring at the end of the stage.  Come to think of it, I didn't really mind CD's special stages too much.  They could be annoying at times, but the fact that you could get infinite time with enough skill (nab the aqua-colored UFO whenever the time runs low) gave you some leverage.

206

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 26, 2011, 01:41:08 PM »

In all honesty, though, I *HATED* the red-ring mechanic.  Sonic is simply not the gameplay style where "search for out-of-the-way-trinkets" works; as awesome as Super Sonic in Colors was I got very, very frustrated on my way there.

^This.  The special stage mechanic shouldn't be an issue of searching the stage for numerous special items.  Haven't played Sonic Colors myself, but I know all too well the nightmare of collecting those golden rings in Sonic Advance 2.  It's far too distracting to pull off in a normal playthrough, where as with the other games you could just look for a secret path and be on your way to that giant ring/special spring/etc.  I hope the bonus stages come back, too.  The ones in S3&K were a nice diversion, and they allowed you to get some nice stuff through the gumball machine and that weird laser minigame.

and the levels were solidly built (As in, not BOTTOMLESS PITS EVERYWHERE, ok, SAdv3 had that in spades, but it was easier to avoid them and you didn't fall for miles all the time.)

Bottomless pits are something that I'm worried about them making too much use of again.  When you fell off the main path in a classic Sonic game, you simply ended up on a lower portion of the stage.  This kind of got you curious as to what was up there, and caused natural replay value as you'd go through again to see what was hidden throughout the stage.  With bottomless pits being used so often now, it weakens the appeal of exploration in stages, which is kind of a shame.  Multi-layered stages are a big part of why I have so much fun with S3&K; even S3 alone has quite a bit of depth despite the game itself being short due to the stage layouts.

Really, bottomless pits started coming into play more often even as early as Sonic advance 1.  I can think of a couple situations off the top of my head where you'd fall into one of those pits that had you careening for miles until you finally died.  If they simply nix them and maybe add a bit more to the stages themselves, then we'd have a much more solid title.

207

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 25, 2011, 04:20:56 PM »

I'm sorry, but no special stage compares to the ones in 3D Blast (Saturn).  These look more fun than the actual games for crying out loud:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np76lPXKfCo[/youtube]

208

Gaming / Re: What are your favorite fighting game characters (from a gameplay perspective)?

« on: April 25, 2011, 03:15:16 AM »

Always been a favorite of mine.  I started out using Ryu when I first played Street Fighter, but I came to appreciate Ken's sense of style.  He's got the basic moves and is great for learning the game's engine well, but his moves have their own style to them and are more geared towards multi-hitting while Ryu gets to the point faster.  Also, Shippu-Jinrai-Kyaku is still one of my favorite supers of all time.

God no, I like my actually decent Roll and her almighty broom of doom instead of "worst character in the game" Roll thank you.

Ditto.  The only thing Roll had going for her in MvC1 were tick-throw setups and flower spamming at the top of the screen.  Outside of those two things she's severly outclassed and dies just as quickly as Red Venom.

209

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 21, 2011, 04:13:49 AM »

I wonder how you could implement chili dogs into classic Sonic gameplay.  Maybe we can collect them in special stages or something.

210

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 21, 2011, 03:36:38 AM »

way past cool!

Hah, I see what you did there.

211

Gaming / Re: Wii 2: Nintendo begins the E3 Hype

« on: April 19, 2011, 09:30:08 PM »

Gamecube also had considerably faster load times.  Come to think of it, load times have never really been much of an issue with Nintendo, save for the Wii (It's very noticeable in Brawl, anyway).

212

Off The Wall / Re: Reposted Picture Thread (56K Warning)

« on: April 19, 2011, 03:46:51 AM »

This gave me a pretty good chuckle:

213

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3) - Holiday 2011

« on: April 18, 2011, 08:24:55 PM »

Hmm, looks interesting.  I do hope that they actually design the Classic Sonic levels well, like the way they were back in the Genesis days.  You know, not abusing bottomless pits, multiple routes that make you want to play again and see what you can find, and a general focus on a fun, momentum-based game.  From the looks of things his stages seem to be pretty open-ended, but I guess we'll find out more about that as time goes on.

Also, I really hope we get a Wii release for this. 

214

Gaming / Re: The Official Pokémon Black & White Discussion Thread

« on: April 15, 2011, 02:33:55 PM »

The on-site Dream World minigames are pretty interesting.  The flying and ball bounce games were fun when I got used to them, but the ice cream one had me confused for a bit.  Got an Exeggcute with Harvest for my troubles, though!

215

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 15, 2011, 04:33:06 AM »

I find Baroque to be a far better comeback mechanic than X-Factor TBPH.  Granted, I haven't actually played MvC3 yet, but I do know a lot about the mechanic via what I've read on the web as well as stuff I've heard from my friends.  I'm not really a fan of the comeback mechanic being an "on switch", so to speak.  With stuff like Baroque, you had to actually plan what you were going to do ahead of time, and there's more of a risk to it.  With X-Factor it's more of a signal for your opponent to play keep-away until it runs out, though it can be cancelled into for big damage.  Really the whole X-Factor thing just doesn't seem necessary as a whole, and to boot it doesn't even seem fresh or interesting.

In a fighter there's less of a need of a comeback mechanism than in other genres, because both players have access to the same tools no matter how much of a life lead there is, though without teammates in the Vs. series you obviously lack assists and the like.  Of course, Phoenix would be the odd exception to the rule as she actually grows in power when she's on the losing end.

Also, on environments, I'm aware that Brawl's tournament style allows for some more stage flexability than Melee's did, but there's still a large variety of environments that don't get safely tucked behind a "banned curtain" in general play.  Also, much of the stage selection of Brawl's tournament play is a result of Brawl's unimaginative level selection and over-use of large flat aeras (Smashville, Yoshi's Island Brawl, etc.).  There are a few more varied levels that are considered permissible, but for every Pokemon Stadium Melee that's allowed, there's plenty more banned Green Hill Zones where it came from.  It's a wider niche than the Melee tournaments of yester-year, but still a niche, and one which the gaming populace as a whole is in no way bound by.

Really, I kind of wish Nintendo was a little better at designing stages that are both fun while at the same time being innovative and balanced.  A lot stages on the banned list I don't really like in the first place.  Green Hill, for example, just feels really cramped to me, and you can pretty much just camp in front of the bumpers all day if you really want to.  I think Smash 64 had the best designs, as while the number was small, they all felt unique and fun yet remained balanced as well.  Hyrule Temple 64 is still one of my favorite stages in the series, as it had a varied terrain, that fun little tunnel, and those tornadoes to shake things up a bit (bad pun, sorry).

Thankfully, with Brawl you can replace the stages you don't like with downloadable ones that are often more interesting.  Obviously this isn't a tourney move, but when playing with friends it allows a wider variety of stages to be used since you no longer have to deal with the stages that everyone in your group hates (that means you, Rumble Falls).  It wouldn't be a bad idea for tourneys to simply overwite the banned stages with better versions, as there's a lot of creative and useful stuff out there.

216

Challenge Mode / Re: Megaman X4: Stylish Run

« on: April 14, 2011, 05:50:26 PM »

Thanks!  Split Mushroom is up now, this time featuring Castlevania music!

Posted on: April 11, 2011, 18:14:11The final Maverick, Slash Beast, is up and ready for viewing! (With an outtake to boot!)

217

Gaming / Re: The Official Pokémon Black & White Discussion Thread

« on: April 14, 2011, 01:37:32 PM »

So here I was thinking that I had to agree with Archer and admit there was no -blam-ing reason for Dream World except maybe the starters they might release exclusively. Then I see you can get a Dratini that eventually evolves into a Dragonite with the ability Multiscale. When at full heal, damage from an attack is only 50%. Way better than Inner Focus. Only problem is that I might have to spend at least 2 weeks doing the DW to get enough points to get there. So here's to a heartfelt emotion, "[tornado fang]"... 

Honestly, quite a few Pokemon get tons of benefits from the Dream World abilities.  I don't really think that Multiscale is that great, though.  Reason being is that after switching into an entry hazard the ability is null and void.

218

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 13, 2011, 05:40:52 AM »

Oh yeah, definitely!  Doc's Fsmash had little to no range on it, despite the fact that it would mess someone up if it hit them.  Cape was different in size, Uppercut actually did respectable damage and actually KO'ed people, and he was overall a lot more power-focused than his normal counterpart.  He felt slightly heavier, though, and it was harder for him to get back to the stage than it was for Mario.  I miss all of the "clones", really, as Roy and Pichu were cool in their own right.  Mewtwo wasn't even close to anyone else in the game in terms of execution, and he still got axed anyway.  How Lucario's supposed to be a replacement is beyond me.

Keeping it on topic, I did like how despite the crude advantage the higher-ups had in Melee, bottom tier guys could still compete.  L-Cancelling made Bowser's aerials far safer and kept you from getting whipped too badly, though his weight made him easy combo-fodder.  Kirby had his trademark Kirbycides which allowed him to net surprise KOs (at the expense of his own life), and pretty much anyone was useable.  I actually don't like Melee's high-execution requirement in higher levels of play, though.  L-Cancelling should be automatic (be honest, is there ever any reason to not do it?), and while stuff like Wavedashing is cool, doing it all the time as a means of travel seems pretty cumbersome.  I play Street Fighter competitively, and TBPH Melee seems far harder in terms of execution at a high level.

219

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 13, 2011, 05:07:52 AM »

I used Dr. Mario over Mario initially in Melee, but then I came to learn that wall-jumping was too cool to miss out on, and I learned to appreciate Mario's superior agility.  Times like this are where I wish people didn't slap the label "clone" on characters who happen to have similar fighting styles.  You simply cannot play Doc the same way you'd play Mario (pills > fireballs), as those differences that seem small make a world of difference in a real match.  I still like Doc, granted, and do miss him dearly.

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Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 13, 2011, 04:55:56 AM »

Actually, there's a hack of SSBB called Brawl- (parody of Brawl+).  It takes the characters and makes them all super-broken, and the game ends up surprisingly balanced.  The cool thing is that it's really accessible to casual players, because really, who doesn't love the joy of running around with characters that are super-powered.  Broken features are okay in single-player games where you're just fighting the COM, but it can backfire in a competitive setting unless there's equal distribution.  If one character has a "win button" and the others don't, what would make anyone want to choose the other characters, you know?

Remember who you're talking to:  Mr.-still-not-over-the-exclusion-of-Mewtwo-who-had-one-of-the-highest-learning-curves-of-Melee?  I am in NO WAY referring to how easy they are to pick up.  I'm referring to how I, personally, handle them after having given the entire game's roster a fair shake through the varying modes and challenges.  All I said was that there is such a thing as player affinity, that is how a character best matches one's personal play style, not that any such thing invalidates every other character comparison which the gaming community has established.  Please refrain from putting words in my mouth.

Ah, that clarifies your point a bit, sorry about that.  Personally I'm a guy who likes to experiment with different playing styles, and I tend to stray towards the balanced types.  I do enjoy watching defensive characters play, despite the fact that they have a reputation for being a dull watch.  I've been using Mario for some time now, and he's one of those characters that you has to go through blood, sweat, and tears to net KOs, given that he's essentially the Ryu of the game and doesn't really have anything special.  Though using the cape to swat recovery moves is a nice touch, so I can't complain in that regard.  And as a Melee Kirby user, I feel your pain.  Especially when my best friend uses Marth. 

As far as Final Smashes go, the same rule of distribution applies.  I mean, you've got great ones like Sonic/Space Animals that can net plenty of KOs, but as a Mario/Kirby user you feel gypped.  With Mario's it ends up being a very straightforward move that everyone can react to and evade on release, and with Kirby's you can literally spot-dodge at the right moment and avoid damage altogether.

221

News and Announcements / Re: MegaMan Legends 3 is REAL, AND IT'S SPECTACULAR...LY IN 3-D

« on: April 12, 2011, 06:30:34 PM »

The lack of crotch-plate in C doesn't really bother me.  I mean, we've seen Volnutt in an apron already, so it's not like we just now found out that he has a waist.  I do also like how the design also conveys a sense of speed; he looks a bit more agile, and the gloves are a nice touch.

222

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 11, 2011, 10:08:14 PM »

This is really my only complaint about Brawl. Everything else is fine.

Thing is, even with Brawl's faults I still don't mind playing it with friends or whatever, but tripping even ruins that.  The game outright punishes you for trying to run, which IMO just makes no sense at all.  I've literally seen matches turned over just because someone tripped and was punished for it.  Of course, I have no problem with using Diddy Kong's bananas to repeatedly trip/frustrate someone, simply because it's not only under someone's control, but because it's pretty hilarious in its own right.

223

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 11, 2011, 04:32:29 PM »

You know, I *NEVER* was in such a position, and this is why when people talk of "balancing" Brawl, I have a hard time listening to them.  Not only do I find none of those three characters particularly overwhelming, but I myself *ROYALLY* suck as MK and Dedede.  In general my toughest opponents in Brawl are Toon Link and ROB.

Just because a character's top tier in a fighter doesn't mean that they're easy to pick up.  Magneto's a boss in MvC2 yet his learning curve is extremely high.  When people talk of tiers, they're talking about how that character performs at the highest level of play in the hands of someone who has the character down pat.

"God Tier" in Brawl only exists to people who try to standardize the environment (no items, no hazards, as plain terrain as possible; I've seen engines of destruction on Final Destination get completely ripped apart in Yoshi's Island Melee because they can't fight on a frikkin slope).  IMHO that is not the kind of game that Brawl SHOULD be; but whether you agree with that or not, at the very least one has to admit that the game encompasses much more.  The performance of the game's characters varies drastically based on what style you're playing. 

In terms of stages in the Smash series, I personally don't like the ones that are auto-scroll and such.  I've played the major Brawl hacks, and the one thing they all have in common is that they try to make all of the major stages viable.  This can range from freezing moving/shifting stages like Rainbow Cruise and WarioWare to outright replacing stages like 75m and Rumble falls with some of the more fun SSE stages that you wouldn't normally have access to.  Slopes don't really bother me at all, and th only hazards I don't like are the kind that you can't see coming or are over-intrusive.  You want to keep the game competitive, but that's hard to do when characters are dying due to something that they didn't really have a lot of control over (see: annoying WarioWare minigames and their boosts).

Items are an interesting case.  I'm okay with having certain ones on, but some of them are outright annoying.  I honestly don't even like Smash Balls, if anything else because they seem to pop of so often and inadvertently break the flow of the fight.  That and some Final Smashes are for all intents and purposes, broken.  Landmasters can outright snatch 2 stocks off of you if your opponent knows what they're doing.

Oh, and tripping.  Tripping is just the dumbest thing I've ever experienced in a fighter, ever. 

224

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 10, 2011, 08:41:50 PM »

1-2 combos? Try 1 super from either Doronjo or Tekaman Blade. One super! No one goes down like that. Shut up Karas >.>

If you mean a Level 3 Super, then yeah, that can definitely knock him out in one shot.  Though a fully juiced-up Roll can knock him out without even using meter, which is a scary though in it's own right.  However, that's just the kind of payoff you get for playing a character with amazing rushdown capabilities.  Zero's not designed to take hits; he needs to be the aggressor at all times or he's just not doing his job.  That said, TvC's a game where meter management is super important, and having enough for a Mega Crash can keep the momentum in your favor.  Of course, it just so happens that Zero's pretty much the best character in the game for building meter, given that his attacks tend to multi-hit and all that.  Really, he's a lot harder to hit than you'd think.

let's take for example, El Fuerte from SF4, he's def high tier but you have to work to get REALLY good w/ him, and reflexes are a MUST to make his mix up game even more effective.  I know this one dude who's the top El Fuerte player of Toronto.  His reflexes at mixing up even the strongest Ryu, Sagat, Rufus players are...well...amazing to look at. ( the Fuerte mainer's name is Dan (not 100% sure of his nickname but his name is Dan).

I actually did think about El Fuerte when looking through this topic.  Though I've never actually played SF4, he's one of those characters that I'd love to try out. Fuerte's damage output and defense are pretty low, and his execution isn't the easiest either.  With a lot of practice he's capable of doing quite a bit of damage, as like you said, he has an amazing mix up game.  Being able to out-think an opponent goes a long way in being able to win matches, even if you're using a character that's considered low-tier.

225

Gaming / Re: Is possible to achieve Balance in fighting games?

« on: April 10, 2011, 07:22:37 PM »

Solar pretty much hit the nail on the head.  David Sirlin (programmer of SSF2THDR) wrote an article about character balancing, and here's his take on it:

0) God tier (no character should be in this tier, if they are, you are forced to play them to be competitive)
1) Top tier (Being top tier does not necessarily mean any nerfs are needed)
2) Middle tier (pretty good, not quite as good as top)
3) Bottom tier (I can still win with them, but it's hard)
4) Garbage tier (no one should be in this. Not reasonable to play this character at all.)

There are in fact many games where characters all fall between top and bottom tiers.  Just because a character may be weaker doesn't mean that you can't win with them, it's just that you have to put in a LOT of work for your victories.

No because people would complain about how "weak" their cahracter is. >.> if I could do one thing to balance fighting games, it would be to balance out the health in tatsunoko vs capcom and in marvel vs capcom 3. Mostly becAuse Zero needs it.

Nah, Zero's health actually needs to be that low.  His pressure game is so good that it's very hard to get openings to hit him, let alone keep him off of you.  Once you learn those charge shot loops, you can land really damaging combos without having to use meter or anything.  Low health keeps him in check because when you finally manage to hit him you can knock him out with 1-2 good combos.  If Zero had the health of a tank he'd just be outright broken.  TvC's probably the most balanced fighter I've played in a long time, as there's still yet to be an agreed on tier list for that game because everyone can hold their own with enough practice.

The personal most hurt I ever was by an "underpowered" character, would be Bowser in SSB Brawl.  Flying Slam is great, but beyond that he feels woefully underpowered compared to new heavyweights like Ike, Dedede, and Snake.  Damn near every aerial move he has is punished with tremendous lag, and his Final Smash is laughable.  Mario can flip it with his cape, for God's sake.

What's funny is that hackers tend to understand balance better than Nintendo does.  Balanced Brawl, for example, manages to keep the gameplay the same as SSBB while re-tweaking the characters so that they all have a fighting chance.  Some characters still do better than others, but the matchups are closer so you don't have to kill yourself trying to beat MK/Snake/Dedede/etc.  Kind of wish Nintendo would take notes.