It's always tough for me to get around long-baked-in fondness for a game and its world. The "characters" in SFI are about one pixel deep, but since I played the shit out of it at age 12, I've long since layered a lot of personality and accumulated affection into those few lines of dialogue, friendly character portraits, and badass attack animations. I'm just happy to be out adventuring with Luke and Tao and company - we've been through some times.
At a micro-scale I think something similar happens within individual games - I never really took to the last few party members you get in Final Fantasy 6 because man, so much shit has gone on between the rest of us, who are these clowns, they have no relationship to anybody. Of course, in that case it's also that the later characters come as the game's gotten nonlinear and you can shuffle the party around - so you don't have in the back of your mind that sense that "they were there" for key plot moments, tight spots you fought your way through, all that. I think this stuff in RPGs is really sweet and comforting, and like so much else depends on the thinness of the dialogue letting you flesh things out in your imagination while you're hacking away at goblins and clicking through menus to get to the health potion or whatever. Sort of like the flipside of Will's great reflections on single-character action RPGs and the lonely protagonist versus "these people in town."
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 20 August 2016 21:34 (eight years ago) link
voted. Paring off Splatterhouse and Shadowrun hurt.
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Monday, 22 August 2016 15:25 (eight years ago) link
geez, that deadline is sneaking up y'all!
15 people voted in the 3rd-gen poll who haven't yet voted in this one, VOTE OR DIE GUYS & GALS!
― a simba man (Will M.), Monday, 22 August 2016 17:32 (eight years ago) link
I did it at long last.
just went with an unweighted ballot and scrolled up and down the list a few times deliberating. can't say i feel 100% convinced of my choices, conversely i got in the ones that i loved the most
― ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Monday, 22 August 2016 18:00 (eight years ago) link
throwing my ballot together presently, just realized I failed to nominate Theme Park! Aaaahhhhhhghh oh well.
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Tuesday, 23 August 2016 02:31 (eight years ago) link
2 more days
― a simba man (Will M.), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 18:31 (eight years ago) link
2 more days until i inevitably extend the deadline GODDAMN IT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4koDIt68QI
― a simba man (Will M.), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 18:32 (eight years ago) link
More time to think about it *would* be pretty sweet
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 18:33 (eight years ago) link
Have inadvertently sunk more than an initial checkup into Seiken Densetsu 3. I'd strongly recommend it to anyone who liked Secret of Mana (obv) or 16-bit JRPGs generally....though it's not QUITE the wildly ambitious lost classic I'd convinced myself it was. The story is really linear and threadbare, and the characters are so flat, with so little dialogue, that the much-vaunted replay value of going back and trying different character combinations seems a bit silly. Would have been better with fewer characters and just playing as one at a time, like a LTTP where you can go back and try playing as the thief or something. As it is, there's times it feels like a real 8-bit throwback - bunch of self-similar simple towns with simple people, simple dialogue, just marching along where they tell you to march. Oh, you need GUNPOWDER? Good thing the very next person I talk to knows where I can go get some...
It is *really* good-looking though - richer than its predecessor and brighter than FF6, so only Chrono Trigger beats it out in that department. Great, late tech demo of all the hardware can do. Combat's satisfying (if chaotic and button-mashy), and then stuff like buying and equipping gear is kind of a mess. Overall, I guess I'm gonna go with SoM on the ballot, but this definitely a cool game.
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 24 August 2016 18:52 (eight years ago) link
Alright, I am moving the deadline, as we have far fewer ballots than we did for the NES-era one. How about another month?
― a simba man (Will M.), Monday, 29 August 2016 15:27 (eight years ago) link
I'm looking at you, Noodle Vague and BradNelson and f sharp and ste and crut and sheesh and kingfish and tombot and le hague and intheblanks and polyphonic and original bgm and the once-ler and doctor casino and difficult listening hour and old lunch and it's a boy and thomp and mordy! I'M LOOKING AT ALL OF YOU
― a simba man (Will M.), Monday, 29 August 2016 15:32 (eight years ago) link
A month would be great! As alluded to upthread or...I dunno, somewhere, I've been in the midst of renovation-related moving and all my gaming stuff has been boxed up and in storage. This will give me time to utilize something other than hazy memories in casting my ballot.
― Our Meals Are Hot And Fresh! (Old Lunch), Monday, 29 August 2016 15:35 (eight years ago) link
ain't my fault! I totally voted with an hour or two to spare, forgot to post about it here tho sorry.
rock the vote!
― it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Monday, 29 August 2016 15:49 (eight years ago) link
oh man, spaced, will do it this week
― Len Bincowank (Noodle Vague), Monday, 29 August 2016 16:57 (eight years ago) link
yeah i really want to put more time into my ballot. super busy at work :(
― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Monday, 29 August 2016 17:13 (eight years ago) link
Let's say September 26th then. Anyone reading this have the ability to change the topic?
― a simba man (Will M.), Monday, 29 August 2016 17:57 (eight years ago) link
Thanks, Will. This has been One Crazy Summer and the postponement will help greatly.
― Our Meals Are Hot And Fresh! (Old Lunch), Monday, 29 August 2016 18:00 (eight years ago) link
How many total ballots currently?
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Monday, 29 August 2016 19:57 (eight years ago) link
less than 15 iirc, i imagine we can do far better than that!
― a simba man (Will M.), Monday, 29 August 2016 20:23 (eight years ago) link
agreed
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Monday, 29 August 2016 20:31 (eight years ago) link
this stuff is so completely part of our cultural heritage (and/or paucity thereof, but for a different thread)
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Monday, 29 August 2016 20:32 (eight years ago) link
Whew, really glad for the extension - opened thread prepared to type ''shit shit shit can't believe I missed this.''
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Monday, 29 August 2016 21:00 (eight years ago) link
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Monday, August 29, 2016 4:32 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
interesting that so much of it came from Japan! one of the few areas of western pop culture dominated by eastern producers
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 29 August 2016 21:53 (eight years ago) link
I'm glad that more people are going to vote, but have to admit that part of me was happy that my #1 choice (marvel puzzle quest, of course) would have greater influence with only 15 voters.
i am kind of bummed at how boring the rest of my ballot is, for the most part, though. even just limiting myself to SNES only, there are so many stone cold classics that it's impossible not to vote for.
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 16:33 (eight years ago) link
you haven't experienced marvel puzzle quest until you've played it on the neo geo
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 21:59 (eight years ago) link
Toughest stuff to rank in my ballot: all the multiplayer smashes that I know prompted endless hours of fun, surprise take-downs and devastating combos in earlier years, but which can't really deliver any of that on an emulator, single-player. I assure you that Metal Warriors, Tetris Attack, Rock 'n' Roll Racing, Super Bomberman (in my case, Super Bomberman 3, but whatever) and Zombies Ate My Neighbors all deserve your votes, but how I would rank them versus the staggering, genre-defining one-player classics, I have no idea.
Oddly, I can handle dropping Street Fighter II and Turtles in Time into the ranking just fine - maybe their pleasures are more basically sugar-rushy and need no present-day play to clarify.
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 22:10 (eight years ago) link
SFII is among the most important games in my personal pantheon; I would sooner drop tetris.
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 22:11 (eight years ago) link
And i'm very bad at it! But I spent so long trying.
my challopsy opinion is that tetris attack is the greatest multiplayer tetris game of them all. but yeah, 1P version, not as exciting. i think it still made my ballot though.
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 23:15 (eight years ago) link
i voted for whichever would i rather play right now over whichever is the "better game". so instead of big pantheon stuff like Super Mario World/Zelda: ALTTP i voted Rondo of Blood, Revenge of Shinboi, etc.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 23:52 (eight years ago) link
Rondo of Blood rules, and in a way that clicks exactly with my idea of what I want to pick up and play now - ready-to-roll action in a package that you could really take on in an afternoon, no problem. Not too many buttons, either. In a way it might be the best Castlevania game - it's a regression from where the series was going up to that point, but it returns to the punchy simplicity of the first game and basically gives it a makeover while lowering its psychotic difficulty to where you could really hand it to somebody cold and trust that they'd enjoy themselves with it. Super Castlevania IV is close to this same idea, but IIRC a good bit longer and considerably harder. Dracula X68000 I never knew about until high school when a friend was struggling to emulate it and reported back on its staggering graphics and boss fights....
My ballot's a mix of "play it now" and "best," partly cause "best" sorta overlaps with "happiest memories" and those may make me feel like picking up and playing!
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 31 August 2016 04:02 (eight years ago) link
oh shit oh shit did I miss it again
― Anacostia Aerodrome (El Tomboto), Saturday, 10 September 2016 04:26 (eight years ago) link
no! deadline bumped down to 9/26.
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 10 September 2016 04:41 (eight years ago) link
yeah i have tons of great excuses but i will get on this
― you can't drowned a duck (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 10 September 2016 07:07 (eight years ago) link
http://www.mancrates.com/crates/super-retro-gamer/
― erudite beach boys fan (sheesh), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 02:06 (eight years ago) link
2 classic Super Nintendo games(randomly selected from an assortment of time-honored, awesome games)
I bet!
― erudite beach boys fan (sheesh), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 02:12 (eight years ago) link
classics like the nba live game they feature on the main photo (the snes versions of it have not aged well at all)
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 02:34 (eight years ago) link
i will try to do this by the end of this week but a reminder around friday would really help
― Mordy, Wednesday, 14 September 2016 04:16 (eight years ago) link
https://gmail.googleblog.com/2016/04/reminders-come-to-google-calendar-on-the-web.html
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 04:50 (eight years ago) link
that man crates site is infuriating
― esempiu (crüt), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 06:38 (eight years ago) link
the comments!
― thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 14:21 (eight years ago) link
― a simba man (Will M.), Monday, August 29, 2016 8:32 AM (two weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
dude so sorry about this. i never check this thread and i'm super busy this entire month unfortunately
sorry for being lame
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 14 September 2016 17:18 (eight years ago) link
voted
― Mordy, Wednesday, 14 September 2016 21:41 (eight years ago) link
i meant to play more of these again before voting but it's never going to happen (still haven't even ordered the snes usb controller i wanted to pick up) so this is entirely based off what i loved as a child
I did just enough dipping into games a few weeks ago to do some rearranging of the lower half of the ballot. The top was a lot easier - played the shit out of them and recalling their qualities and shortcomings is practically SPINAL FUNCTION.
― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 15 September 2016 01:32 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, same here! I tried to channel long lost Nintendo reflex intuition when picking games
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Thursday, 15 September 2016 02:56 (eight years ago) link
Ballot is tough but thankfully I'm able to drop some games (even though they're classics) because I had them on PC and therefore never bought their console version (Lemmings, Another World, Populous etc.).
― cookware regression (Dinsdale), Thursday, 15 September 2016 11:01 (eight years ago) link
oh shit i would've voted for another world but i knew it as out of this world and i missed it in the list (where i know it's listed w/ both names but i guess i was scanning too quickly)
― Mordy, Thursday, 15 September 2016 14:04 (eight years ago) link
you can totally send a v2.0 if you want
― a simba man (Will M.), Thursday, 15 September 2016 14:46 (eight years ago) link
shit i hit send before i remembered to think of & write an "always delivers" joke
― a simba man (Will M.), Wednesday, 28 September 2016 18:46 (eight years ago) link
Thanks Karl! You were always my second favorite member of the Dream Team, just behind Clyde the Glide (gotta rep my hometown and all)
― erudite beach boys fan (sheesh), Thursday, 29 September 2016 03:57 (eight years ago) link
no big deal on the images (as you'll all see, they follow a very simple formula, although i hope everyone will enjoy referring to them during the rundown)
speaking of...STOKED FOR THE MADNESS OVER HERE, is it tuesday yet?? :) :) :)
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Monday, 3 October 2016 20:45 (eight years ago) link
144 minutes to go
― the notes the loon doesn't play (ulysses), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 01:36 (eight years ago) link
very interested to see how this hashes out, I did try to hit most of the obvious classics, albeit some ways down on a weighted ballot, because, y'know, of course we can all agree on super mario world, would love to see some surprises though
― erudite beach boys fan (sheesh), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 03:17 (eight years ago) link
i'm familiar with most of the genesis-exclusive canon, but haven't really played any of them since i never owned one. i plan on using the results from this to decide which ones to tackle first, via emulation
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 03:42 (eight years ago) link
i am the guy waiting outside the coffee shop at 6:58am
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:24 (eight years ago) link
:D
― don't even see how this was a duck (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:33 (eight years ago) link
looking forward to this, esp w Karl's graphics!
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:33 (eight years ago) link
I...HAVE...OOOOOOPINIONS
― don't even see how this was a duck (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:34 (eight years ago) link
xpost oh, they're not anything special! just the basics. you'll see. :)
― I look forward to hearing from you shortly, (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 14:36 (eight years ago) link
NOW YOU'RE POLLING WITH POWER. SUPER POWER. Console Poll, vol. 2 - 4th Generation RESULTS
sorry it took so long... in my newly unemployed state i decided ot ignore my alarm clock... for 5 hours apparently :P
― a simba man (Will M.), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 17:26 (eight years ago) link
thanks for choosing 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP 1UP
― the notes the loon doesn't play (ulysses), Tuesday, 4 October 2016 19:01 (eight years ago) link