Messages

2401

Gaming / Re: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (Wii, PS3, 360, iPhone)

« on: June 04, 2010, 07:03:33 PM »

First off, you may not be able to destroy every single enemy, but all GOOD Sonic games provide you with the possibility of tearing apart every single enemy and still maintaining your speed.

BK is no different in that respect, you're simply wise to wait until the late-game before attempting, when your abilities better allow it.  It's certainly no more offensive than Secret Rings' level system.

And I don't think ANYONE would be crazy enough to use a Wiimote in the game without at least the Nunchuck.

There's always somebody crazy/stupid enough.  In this case, me.

Here's the thing, there are certain genres which I believe to be naturally geared towards classic controllers, ie most fighting games, so I'm not of the mentality that all Wii games need some bizarre motion control setup.  But I like to use the new setups when possible, if they feel as though they belong (Mario Kart).  NiGHTS, I have no prior experience with (which is sad to say; I'd REALLY love to play the original), but based on concept alone there's no reason the Wii remote shouldn't work.  Sega just implemented it in ways that are horrendously sucktacular beyond any words I can possibly offer.  They failed to do that which the FREAKING SYSTEM MENU does, for crying out loud.

There is no other game I have played, ever, where "controller functionally works" is in my list of things they could have done differently.  And believe me, I have embraced games that have some pretty bad bugs in them.  Journey of Dreams is simply inexcusable.

2402

Gaming / Re: Sonic Colors (Wii, DS)

« on: June 04, 2010, 06:56:00 PM »

Oh, that.  I thought you meant the ol' "Challenge Lists" crap.

As far as trailers go, well, avoid spoilers.  I know, it's the internet, it's a pain in the ass.

2403

Gaming / Re: Fire Emblem discussion

« on: June 04, 2010, 06:50:30 PM »

Point taken.  Most if not all FE games do not provide sufficient experience to raise all characters, so the pick-and-choose element is diminished.

Not to mention I've had many a fond time dancing around archer/ballistae ranges as Marcia in order to pick them off with a sneak attack.

2404

Gaming / Re: Fire Emblem discussion

« on: June 04, 2010, 06:43:47 PM »

In all fairness, the reclass feature is limited in that regard.  Your total of any given class may not exceed your possible recruits of that class + 1.  It's still weird, and it glazes over your failure to recruit characters, but making your entire party one class is an exaggeration.

Personally, besides the above visual complaints, I just don't care for the idea because it destroys whatever identity the characters have.  Most Fire Emblem games are pretty serious in regards to the devotion it takes to master a given combat style (for clarity's sake, I'm not referring to Weapon Levels; I mean actual dialogue pertaining to being competent on the battlefield).  The ability to switch that around at will really pulls you out of the game.  But at least, in that sense, you can simply ignore it.

2405

Gaming / Re: Fire Emblem discussion

« on: June 04, 2010, 06:33:23 PM »

Well, I sincerely hope it's wrong.  But we'll see.  Their source is unconfirmed but allegedly has a good history.

My main complaint with reclassing is how it impacts visuals; cheapened battle graphics are unavoidable when they need to be swappable with nearly all characters of the same gender.

How the game handles extra chapters, and the workings of your customizable character, are of far greater concern.  And frankly even if they all blew, I enjoyed Shadow Dragon enough that I'd purchase its sequel.  It's more a matter of whether I'll actually enjoy replaying it, or just perpetually return to Ike's stories on GCN/Wii.

2406

News and Announcements / Re: Rockman Online artwork and details.

« on: June 04, 2010, 06:28:44 PM »

I'd hesitate to scream for translations on Unity until some actual gameplay experience is known.  That being said, it will kinda blow if the X-series, considered on hiatus, has its next installment as a Korean-exclusive; but if it blows then there's no point.  For them to not even announce a Japanese localization says to me that Capcom themselves aren't too involved in this.  Whether that's good or bad remains to be seen.

The art is nice.  Kinda Yoshikawa-ish, except actually respectful of the existing character designs, without mucking up due to obsessions over polygon counts and wrist action.

2407

Zero / Re: Rockman Zero Collection Thread

« on: June 04, 2010, 04:03:23 AM »

And if the GBA hardware can't convert SNES music as properly as it should and ruins it, as you so wrongly claim, then how is it that most straight ports of SNES games on the GBA sound EXACTLY THE SAME? Just curious, Thanatos.

They don't.  I personally think the GBA MM&B actually sounds better, but regardless, you have clearly not played Super Mario World on the GBA.

I don't think it's a matter of one being superior to the other, personally.  But the GBA does use a different method and on its own cannot duplicate the SNES.  At least not at the same time it's running a game, anyway.

2408

Gaming / Re: New Super Mario Bros. Galaxy 2 Wii Turbo Edition

« on: June 04, 2010, 03:58:01 AM »

Never had a problem with Spring Mario either.  The worst thing to happen to me in either Galaxy game involves purple coins (Battle Rock and trying to keep my controls straight between the top and bottom platform; though I can only imagine purple coins on a slide will be hell).

Worst Mario power-up?  Not sure there's been one that even counts as bad.  The only two I find questionable are Sunshine's version of Yoshi, and the SMB3 music box.  Most pointless goes to Yoshi's Power Flower in SM64DS.

2409

Gaming / Re: Fire Emblem discussion

« on: June 04, 2010, 03:49:54 AM »

- "That Person" from the trailer is revealed to be a customizable player-made character.

I'm glad to hear this.  If the "customization" gimmick is limited to a single character, then it's more likely that class-swapping is out the door, ergo the game's regular cast will actually have some identity to them (and God willing battle graphics, whatever style they are, will be more personalized).

2410

Gaming / Re: Sonic Colors (Wii, DS)

« on: June 04, 2010, 03:44:20 AM »

I dunno, SA2's selection was nice, but those damn All A Rank Emblems really pissed me off.  Ranking, IMHO, should never be more than a negligible element to a platformer (yes, I'm aware that MMZ does it, doesn't mean I think it's right).

Now, Sonic Adventure DX, THAT was a selection of unlockables.  Every Game Gear Sonic title that ever existed, plus Metal Sonic.

Nowadays, games kinda wave their unlockables in our faces.

That's "Achievement" mentality at work, if you ask me.  The journalists demand it.

2411

Gaming / Re: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (Wii, PS3, 360, iPhone)

« on: June 04, 2010, 03:39:29 AM »

I said the opposite. =P The point of Sonic is supposed to be good platforming. But when it comes to enemies, you're supposed to blaze through them, not fight them directly. They're obstacles more than enemies.

One does well to know this before playing Black Knight.  I took notice in the video review Matt stops to jump and attack every single enemy.  Sure, many may feel that impulse, but sooner or later you have to let it go.  Otherwise, you're just robbing yourself.

And believe me, I am a "jump in and destroy crap" gamer through and through.  But that's simply not what Sonic is.  In fact game mechanics which force this tend to be the lower points of their respective titles (Heroes and to a lesser extent Rush are guilty of this).

I honestly feel that you should have to earn, as it were, your speed in a Sonic game

See, this is why we can't have a nice Super Sonic.  Or spin-dash.

Not saying the constant high speed at the expense of everything else is a good thing.  I'm just saying, STH1 is not the high point of Sonic's career.

So, yeah. Nights sucked, but at least it wasn't marred with bugs. It just... sucked. The controls for the flying portions were okay, but the key-nabbing was stupid. Still, it was a bit fun to fly around in a few levels. Kids' gameplay WAS HORRIBLE. Specially for the fact that it was forced on us, unlike the original Nights.

Which controller are you using?  Because I guarantee you the Wii remote will scar you for life in that game.  It is horribly, horribly broken beyond what any Sonic game I've played has ever seen.

That and frankly I was fed up with the forced gimmicks even before I reached the kids.  I mean, NiGHTS transforming into a boat?  Nevermind the fact that it handles like a barrel of molasses.

2412

Gaming / Re: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (Wii, PS3, 360, iPhone)

« on: June 02, 2010, 04:08:17 AM »

I can only imagine our difference in Sonic Team standards stems from my never playing STH2006, because I do not *AT ALL* agree with that.

2413

Zero / Re: Rockman Zero Collection Thread

« on: June 02, 2010, 04:04:57 AM »

These developers most be really lazy. Now what comes next? No additional Rods in the other games? (Cervau: "I'm sorry Zero you broke them so no (insert name) Rod for you anymore")
And no use of the ZX Damage Formular for Zero 1-4?

It's not that surprising when you considered what happened to the "spiritual successor" to the series.  BN/SF are in the same boat.  Sales (in Japan anyway, Capcom doesn't care elsewhere) sloped down until they were no longer considered acceptable to keep making sequels, so they're returning to the characters (and whatever gameplay qwirks that didn't occur to them) that they previously left behind in the generation shift.  BN/SF attempted that with a single game remake/crossover, which tanked.  Zero is taking the more budget approach, and God willing more successful, or else the MegaMan Universe/Online rumors are our only hope for anything outside of the NES style.

Much as I'd like to see a "Mario All Stars" style updated collection, I can understand why Capcom wouldn't be keen on the idea.

I think the GBA version is supposed to be a bit of a remix of the original... not a straight conversion...

If that's not obvious from the first note, it should be in at least the first 30 seconds.

I like both.  Sue me.  There are a lot of versions of the X1 Zero theme, and all of them rock many socks (although I do wish that MHX's actually looped properly; fitting for the in-game scenes but horrendous for ripped listening).

2414

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

« on: June 02, 2010, 03:34:34 AM »

They will, and they have, but it's limited to side-stories.  The original formula will always exist beside whatever else they want to try.  See Pokemon Colosseum.

Sigh, breaking from the mold could mean changing the genre...

The Pokemon mold is very, very tight.  Of all the games to use the turn-based mechanics, in only one side-story (again, Colosseum) were you ever *NOT* playing as a child prodigy upstaging the experienced trainers.

2415

Gaming / Re: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (Wii, PS3, 360, iPhone)

« on: June 02, 2010, 03:30:44 AM »

You know what? I just realized something about that little Curve Issue people were talking about quite a while back in the thread, with the curve on the hill that goes straight down. Chaotix had that too, and that game was good, so I don't see why people complain about it so much.

Any classic game not titled STH1 had Spin Dash, yet people [sonic slicer] about Homing Attack giving you free speed.

Simply put, people will complain about anything and everything regarding Sonic, regardless of whether or not there is any sense to their criticisms whatsoever  (GREEN EYES!  YOU BASTARDS! ).  That's how it's been ever since Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, quite a ways before we were actually subject to the "horrors" of new-age Sonic Team (and I use that term loosely; having playing NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, "bad" in the context of Sonic Team has been forever redefined).

2416

Gaming / Re: New Super Mario Bros. Galaxy 2 Wii Turbo Edition

« on: June 02, 2010, 03:18:02 AM »

Got my first taste of the dash pepper, and thus far I can easily describe this game in two phases:

1. WHERESTHENEXTYOSHIGALAXYWHERESTHENEXTYOSHIGALAXYWHERESTHENEXTYOSHIGALAXY???!!!
2. WHOO-HOO!  Yoshi egg!

Seriously, I thank God for the low star count to the Galaxies throughout most of the game (got all I could in World 1 to see if anything happens), but they could have put 80 Stars in Hightail Falls Galaxy, and I'd have probably gotten them all before going anywhere else.  That dash pepper is just too much crazy fun.

Scratch that, actually, it would appear that the system update disabled everything but the Homebrew Channel, and I can't get anything within HBC to load properly It seems emulators work but not other stuff.  Weird...

Not that weird.  There are a lot of different exploits at work in homebrew, patching a few breaks a few, not all.  4.2 black-lists a few title IDs, so outdated versions of DVDx and HBC will not work (in addition any programs using DVDx need to be updated to recognize the new version).  The Boot2 update will also overwrite Bootmii, though you can easily restore that.  And the bug used in Bannerbomb v1 was removed.

The next thing to come to mind breaking would be anything dependent on fakesigning, but unless you tracked down IOS16, that should have already been removed on a 3.4 console.  There are apps to restore the fakesigning bug, though.

Really, to explain why anything breaks on a given Wii, you need to know not only what that something is but what apps you have been running previously that may have altered the console.

2417

Gaming / Re: The Official Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver Discussion Thread

« on: June 02, 2010, 02:25:02 AM »

I was thinking of using Rayquaza because of his Air Lock ability, but not too sure if he'll have any moves that can get me out there before her.

Every bulky water and their dog carries Ice Beam, so I wouldn't call Rayquaza at all reliable in that situation.

STM's on the right track.  Not necessary to use Zapdos (in fact due to the Ice weakness I'd think twice), but in the more general sense, a powerful STAB weakness will put a few dents in him.  The problem is Kyogre is so bulky, especially on the Special side, that the odds of OHKOing it are slim to none, especially if matched against somebody who's given up on Kyogre's Speed (and if they haven't, you're probably looking at a Choice Scarf).  

As an alternative to Thunder, you might consider Grass Knot.  It will score Base 120 damage against both Kyogre and Groudon, regardless of whether or not you've tried to thwart their weather control.

Your other odd chance would be to hit Kyogre with a strong and fast physical attacker, since the thing is pretty much a Special wall that lacks recovery.  Hitting the defense that's Base 50 lower (and less likely to be boosted; special attackers need beware of Calm Mind) would certainly be favorable, if you can.

2418

Zero / Re: Rockman Zero Collection Thread

« on: May 31, 2010, 09:19:12 PM »

Ages ago.  But it's always nice to look again.

Posted on: May 15, 2010, 10:57:01 PMPosting my full impressions of the updated Zero Collection website here, seeings how this is the actual Zero Collection thread.

In Character Profiles, now in Cerveau's room, those characters who appeared in both versions of the site (Zero, Ciel, X, etc.) appear to be the same.  However, we lost Hirondelle, Cyber-Elves, and Neo Arcadia, and gained two pages, one for Copy X and one for the Big Four.  Quick glance shows mentions of DNA and the number 5 in Copy X's page, so they could be going into the soul-split there and how it impacted him (Zan hereby has my permission to beat Marshmallow with a fish for translations).  In addition, there's a metric ton of Z2-Z4 character pages (Elpizo, Dark Elf, Weil, Omega, Weil's Numbers, Neige, Caravan, Craft, Einherjar), weapon pages (you know the drill, all 7 are there), and Cyber-Elf pages (individual pages for Nurse, Animal, and Hacker elves; nothing that matches the original Cyber-Elf page).

I see no trace of the previous and very controversial "Zero 0" backstory timeline.  Note that Alouette's room is still locked so it could be in there, but I'd think it odd to seal away something that was previously the meat of the site.

The game-specific stories in Ciel's room appear to match those which Rodrigo hacked previously, but the Z1 page has been shortened (it cuts off right before the sentence that specifically mentions Ciel).  Also, while the text of other pages matches, the paragraph/line spacing does not (I gather Marshmallow or Rod had to speculate on that part, or something).

Video room now includes a short demo of the Recoil Rod for some reason, after the original trailer.  Unknown whether or not more will follow, but the player is design in such a way that it can accommodate it.

In addition to Alouette's room, there's also a locked tab in the desktop images, so there's probably more coming there as well.  Unless of course they have an entirely separate category of downloadables?  Dunno.

The new page has actual screenshots of the game's control options, with the bottom screen assuming a real function this time: designating the X and Y buttons to mimick either the A, B, R, or L buttons (add Select to that if playing Z4), while the top screen shows the unmodified GBA options.  This pretty much confirms the "quick and dirty emulation" theory beyond the shadow of a doubt.  I would also like to add, it seemingly flies in the face of 1-Up's previous claims that you cannot assign all 4 commands to A, B, X, and Y (you would simply assign X and Y to R and L).  Maybe what he meant to say was that you cannot fix it so that L and R do nothing?  *shrugs*  He was right in saying that it's not intuitive, since managing that mimickery without the ability to cancel the original buttons could be a bit of an issue.  ZC's control screen does show the actual commands for all six (or seven in Z4) buttons that you end up with, though, so that ought to make life a little easier.

2419

X / Re: X7-X8 never happend?

« on: May 31, 2010, 08:35:57 PM »

Ignoring the debate which I have not felt the urge to continue (Marshmallow Man has an amazing ability to suck away my strength; three new Wii games in my library aren't helping), I thought I'd point out some oddities with the updated Zero Collection website.

In Character Profiles, now in Cerveau's room, those characters who appeared in both versions of the site (Zero, Ciel, X, etc.) appear to be the same.  However, we lost Hirondelle, Cyber-Elves, and Neo Arcadia, and gained two pages, one for Copy X and one for the Big Four.  Quick glance shows mentions of DNA and the number 5 in Copy X's page, so they could be going into the soul-split there and how it impacted him (Zan hereby has my permission to beat Marshmallow with a fish for translations).  In addition, there's a metric ton of Z2-Z4 character pages, weapon pages, and Cyber-Elf pages (individual pages for Nurse, Animal, and Hacker elves, nothing that matches the original Cyber-Elf page).

I see no trace of the previous and very controversial "Zero 0" backstory timeline.  Note that Alouette's room is still locked so it could be in there, but I'd think it odd to seal away something that was previously the meat of the site.

EDITS: Remembering that this is an X-series thread, though obviously deeply rooted in Zero Collection, I'll be taking my non-story-relevant comments elsewhere.

2420

Gaming / Re: New Super Mario Bros. Galaxy 2 Wii Turbo Edition

« on: May 31, 2010, 07:03:02 PM »

If your homebrew survived NSMBWii, it'll survive Galaxy 2.  There has been no Wii System Update since 4.2 last September.

2421

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

« on: May 31, 2010, 06:50:41 PM »

Maybe Zekron is looking for the Galactic Leyline.

This game will be ruined forever if Dragonite doesn't learn Pay Day.

2422

X / Re: favorite special weapon in all of X series

« on: May 31, 2010, 06:33:18 PM »

If "design functionality" of the buster was ever a real concern, X and Zero would not share the same buster design with two different functionalities.

I meant overall design, not buster design.  You'd have to look at the MHX concept art to know what I'm talking about, the guy goes into notes about bendable wrist guards and how to more easily render Zero's head (read: Flame's complaints on the horns).  Yoshikawa places practicality, both in and outside of the fourth wall, before artistic design.  That and his lack of respect for consistency make Yoshikawa my least favorite X-series artist.

2423

Gaming / Re: The Official Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver Discussion Thread

« on: May 31, 2010, 05:51:52 PM »

Kyogre rapes damn near everything.  Whether you're using Legends or not, you need to approach him very, VERY carefully.  Honestly, it's not as if my team couldn't use him, but I decided that would make me feel TOO cheap.

...

What am I? Defeat the ultimate boss and you're done? 

I guess that makes me the Culex to your Smithy?

2424

Gaming / Re: New Super Mario Bros. Galaxy 2 Wii Turbo Edition

« on: May 31, 2010, 05:45:50 PM »

I'm going REEEEEALLY slow though, thanks to other people hogging the system when I'm not paying attention. Just from the 27 stars I currently have & played levels for, I can only imagine how crazy this game will get.

You think that's bad?  I have four.  In addition to TV-hogging, this game arrived only on Friday (damn cheapass shipping), and Metroid Prime Trilogy is still fighting for my time.

Nevertheless, I *HAD* to get in there long enough to see Yoshi, which thankfully wasn't long at all.  Still wish you could take him between stages (requiring to dismount for a star and refusing to allow him in the first place aren't quite the same thing, you know), but otherwise, I love the guy.  They did good this time, for sure.

2425

Gaming / Re: Fire Emblem discussion

« on: May 31, 2010, 05:15:22 PM »

About damn time.

Now here's what I DON'T want to see:

-Class-swapping.  Seriously, nobody cares, and we'd like some battle visuals besides Marth's that are actually character-specific.

-Stages/characters who are unlocked only by sucking.  Deliberately sucking.  Because if you honestly sucked that badly, the one average shmoe who joins you in that new chapter is not going to be any help.