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Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Appreciation Thread: Alien Storm > Golden Axe

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
I played through it on the Snes a few years ago as its the only version I own (no wonder i voted Shining), and i found it pretty hard as the level design was just a mess, with tons of cheap hits and such. It should be complimented for its variety though, and I guess i missed the Sega-exclusive level.
 

Noahd41

Neo Member
I beat Shinobi III yesterday. Very good. I liked the graphics and the challenge of the boss fights. I wish there were more games at that quality on Genesis.

Going to finally give EWJ a shot.
 
TMNT Tournament Fighters for the Genesis... no, it is not a good game in pretty much any way. I would say more, but I wrote up my thoughts on the game some months ago: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=198208913&postcount=60

A Black Falcon said:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters - 1-2 player simultaneous. TMNT: Tournament Fighters on the Super Nintendo is a very good fighting game, among the better on that console. So this game is just as good, right? Or at least close? Unfortunately, no. TMNT Tournament Fighters for the Genesis is a somewhat disastrously bad disappointment. As flawed as Hyperstone Heist is, at least the core of the game is great fun. This game, however, is not so lucky. Tournament Fighters on the Genesis has subpar graphics, few characters, AI that is way too hard, limited continues in the story mode, very limited two-buttons-only controls with poor design decisions on top of that, and more. Instead of a great 6-button control scheme like the SNES game or better Genesis fighters, here you get one punch button, one kick button, and that's it. That's pretty bad, but worse, there aren't even really variants of each button! The Neo-Geo Pocket Color has only two buttons, but fighting games on that system play great, and how hard you push the button activates attacks of different strengths. Here, punch does your punch attack, kick does your kick attack, and that's it. You can't even combo attacks together, because they made the bizarre decision to have some invincibility after each hit to block that. The collision detection is poor as well, which doesn't help at all, and helps out the overly-difficult AI. There are special moves in the game, with a random mixture of activations taken from various popular fighting games without much consistency. The gameplay here is a mess, and totally ruins the game. In contrast, the SNES game is pretty much as SFII knockoff, with moves, graphics, and game systems very similar to that classic. It works great together. This game tries for something a little different, but fails badly at it.

The game does at least look good and sound okay, though. TMNT Tournament Fighters has pretty good graphics with a variety of weird sci-fi locations to fight in, eight characters each with a different look, and a cool, dark visual aesthetic. I like the graphics here, everything looks good. It's a different style from the SNES game, and that might look better overall, but it is competitive. The music is solid, though it isn't among Konami's best work on the Genesis. Games like Rocket Knight Adventures or Contra Hard Corps have much better music than this. I don't know if any of the music actually comes from the show, either, which is unfortunate. On another note, as in the SNES game, the character selection is a bit odd. You have the four turtles, April O'Neil and Casey Jones, and two random comic-book characters. The SNES game also has several comic characters filling its roster. Why those and not some of the other more popular characters from the TV show? Did they not have the rights? If so, that was a mistake, it'd have made all of these games better. It's interesting, but odd, that the SNES and Genesis games have different playable side characters, in addition to the Turtles. I do like that April O'Neil and Casey Jones are playable, as this is April's only playable outing in a '90s Turtles game, but it is unfortunate that April is in some random oversexed miniskirt outfit; it doesn't fit her character.I like the idea of playable April, but she should have been in her usual outfit, not this pointlessly oversexed one.

But anyway, the decent graphics and sound can't come even close to saving this disaster. There really isn't much good I can say about this game outside of its visuals; the gameplay is just too badly flawed, with the overly limited moveset, iffy special move selections, absurdly difficult AI that is so hard that until you've gotten good at the game winning even a single ROUND is a challenge, limited continues in a game in a genre which almost never has such a thing, bad collision detection in a genre that demands this be just about flawless, and more. Sure, there are worse Genesis fighting games than this, but I don't own those games myself; of what I have, this is the worst. Overall, TMNT Tournament Fighters for the Genesis is a bad, disappointing game. Don't bother with it unless you're a serious series fan. The NES version of TMNT Tournament Fighters might be even worse, but you wouldn't expect a good fighter from the NES, while the Genesis can do far, far better than this. Play the SNES game instead, it's very good.

TMNT TF is the worst Genesis fighting game that I actually own... though counting addons that might not be true, since I do have Brutal: Paws of Fury for the Sega CD and that game's quite poor too. Still, TMNT TF is not a good game, stick to the great SNES title.


As for Earthworm Jim, that's a game I have tried to like so many times over the years, but just never quite have actually liked for long. Yeah, the graphics are great, but the gameplay is frustrating and flawed. They're average games, really. I only have PC versions of the game, so I cover EWJ here (Win95 ver.) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=202275175&postcount=4 and here (DOS 1&2 collection ver.) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=209882406&postcount=29
 

Timu

Member
TMNT Tournament Fighters for the Genesis... no, it is not a good game in pretty much any way. I would say more, but I wrote up my thoughts on the game some months ago: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=198208913&postcount=60



TMNT TF is the worst Genesis fighting game that I actually own... though counting addons that might not be true, since I do have Brutal: Paws of Fury for the Sega CD and that game's quite poor too. Still, TMNT TF is not a good game, stick to the great SNES title.


As for Earthworm Jim, that's a game I have tried to like so many times over the years, but just never quite have actually liked for long. Yeah, the graphics are great, but the gameplay is frustrating and flawed. They're average games, really. I only have PC versions of the game, so I cover EWJ here (Win95 ver.) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=202275175&postcount=4 and here (DOS 1&2 collection ver.) http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=209882406&postcount=29
You don't own Slaughter Sport? Because that's the worst fighting game on the system, you will struggle against most of the opponents in that game, hell you will struggle with the controls even. I beaten it recently and didn't have any fun, even when knowing how to deal with the overly hard a.i. And Shaq-Fu. And Rise of the Robots if you own a Mega Drive, because that game isn't really that playable.

As for TMNT being overly difficult, yes, that's true, but the a.i. is exploitable and I managed to beat it on the hardest setting to get the true ending using April funny enough. I can beat some opponents without taking a single hit but that requires some skill and knowing what they'll do. Yeah it's not on par with the SNES one, but there are far worse fighters on the system than that.
 
You don't own Slaughter Sport? Because that's the worst fighting game on the system, you will struggle against most of the opponents in that game, hell you will struggle with the controls even. I beaten it recently and didn't have any fun, even when knowing how to deal with the overly hard a.i. And Shaq-Fu. And Rise of the Robots if you own a Mega Drive, because that game isn't really that playable.
You're right, I don't own Slaughter Sport, Rise of the Robots, or Shaq-Fu, or some of the other really, really terrible Genesis fighting games... but TMNT Tournament Fighters is down there, not quite as bad as those games but pretty bad also.

As for TMNT being overly difficult, yes, that's true, but the a.i. is exploitable and I managed to beat it on the hardest setting to get the true ending using April funny enough. I can beat some opponents without taking a single hit but that requires some skill and knowing what they'll do. Yeah it's not on par with the SNES one, but there are far worse fighters on the system than that.
There's no way it'd be worth spending the kind of time necessary to learn how to be good at Genesis Tournament Fighters... just play a better game instead!
 

Timu

Member
There's no way it'd be worth spending the kind of time necessary to learn how to be good at Genesis Tournament Fighters... just play a better game instead!
It actually took me less than a week to do so though. I'm trying to work on a youtube playthrough but Karai, the last opponent, is too stupidly overly hard, random and OP'd as hell. I know how to break her a.i. but I need to get lucky. But yes I need to play games instead!
 

Galdelico

Member
Tournament Fighters seems quite divisive. :D

But yeah, since I still want The Return of the Shredder/The Hyperstone Heist in my collection, I guess TF can be put on hold, as for right now.
 
Funny how the two versions were so divergent in quality. I owned the SNES version back in the day and remember it being A) pretty great and B) pretty fucking hard and cheap. It's the only game I've actually broken a controller playing due to pure rage. Pretty sure it was a boss battle. I slammed the controller and my start button never worked after that. Must have cracked the PCB in some way.
 

Timu

Member
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

On this day I 1CC TMNT Tournament Fighters(took a while though), gonna have the youtube playthrough up on Monday. Had some round losses but did get a few perfects at least.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
I am having this wierd issue with my genesis recently, a jumping, black pulse-line that appears in a split issue on the screen which is pretty annoying. It doesnt happen when i use my genesis directly, but when i connect the 32x and its cables, it appears. Since the 32x is new as well, i feel this can be down to either:

1) The genesis to 32x-cable
2) The 32x to tv-cable
3) The 32x itself.

Any ideas on how i can seperate them to find out which is the problem? I am struggling to come up with something here.
 

ChamplooJones

Formerly Momotaro
I beat Shinobi III yesterday. Very good. I liked the graphics and the challenge of the boss fights. I wish there were more games at that quality on Genesis.

Going to finally give EWJ a shot.
This made me realize something. There aren't any indie games based on Shinobi's gameplay. We got some for Mario, we got some for Sonic, but we have none for Shinobi. Why is that?
 
Took advantage of the Black Friday sale and ordered the Mega Everdrive X5. Looking forward to being able to use US Sega CD games on my JP Mega CD2.
 
Just picked up a model 1 Genesis with CIB Star Trek the next Generation( sold my model 2 about 6 months ago because I wanted the model 1). Can't wait to get into some genesis gaming again :)
 

Teknoman

Member
You know, my first EWJ experience was on SNES, and just hearing the Genesis soundtrack is kinda eye opening. New Junk City has so much bass its crazy!

The general gameplay actually is decently paced too. Sure, its got really detailed animations, but nothing that really gets in the way of the action.

I still want the Sega CD version after having a listen to that soundtrack earlier today, but woo doggy, its really good on the Genesis.
 

Noahd41

Neo Member
This made me realize something. There aren't any indie games based on Shinobi's gameplay. We got some for Mario, we got some for Sonic, but we have none for Shinobi. Why is that?

I agree. They need to bring it back. Strider had a successful re-imagining this generation, why can't Shinobi do it?
 
You know, my first EWJ experience was on SNES, and just hearing the Genesis soundtrack is kinda eye opening. New Junk City has so much bass its crazy!
Yeah, I actually prefer the Genesis version to the SNES one, as far as soundtrack goes, because it's closer to the redbook audio versions of each track.

So, naturally, the HD version was based on the SNES version.
 
tumblr_oh78u6tMx91tackbdo1_500.jpg

http://www.bustedtees.com/friendzone
 
You know, my first EWJ experience was on SNES, and just hearing the Genesis soundtrack is kinda eye opening. New Junk City has so much bass its crazy!

The general gameplay actually is decently paced too. Sure, its got really detailed animations, but nothing that really gets in the way of the action.

I still want the Sega CD version after having a listen to that soundtrack earlier today, but woo doggy, its really good on the Genesis.
I'm playing through the Sega CD version. I've only made it up the underwater area thus far. After you learn the levels they seem fairly easy. Game is probably going to be a lot of dying on new levels and breezing past them once you learn them. I'm on the fence about the game. It's got a lot going for it but just isn't quite tight enough when it comes to fighting the enemies. The jumps are forgiving enough to where the platforming aspect I am okay with.
 

Teknoman

Member

Lol no acts either.

I'm playing through the Sega CD version. I've only made it up the underwater area thus far. After you learn the levels they seem fairly easy. Game is probably going to be a lot of dying on new levels and breezing past them once you learn them. I'm on the fence about the game. It's got a lot going for it but just isn't quite tight enough when it comes to fighting the enemies. The jumps are forgiving enough to where the platforming aspect I am okay with.

I died at the second part of Down the tubes. I'm fine with combat, and Andy asteroids is fun, but some of the whip hooks in heck got to me. You have to be seemingly pixel perfect.

Art style is awesome as always. Invader zim always have me ewj vibes.


Btw we gotta play midnight resistance at some point.
 
There's a Gumshoe type level in Earthworm Jim. Actually a nice variety of levels with andy asteroids, snot a problem, the out of your suit one, and this one. Pretty good game. I thought level 5 was bad but that's the only one thus far.
 

BKK

Member
I guess it must be an acquired taste, because to my non-US eyes that Gunstar Heroes artwork is awful. It reminds me of the US Mega Man artwork.
 
The last level of Earthworm Jim is no joke. Made it there without using a continue and died. I hope to at least make it to the boss on the next playthrough. I should be able to make it to the last level with all my continues and a lot of lives reliably.I really like this game. The end boss of the water levels is epic!

And beaten. Pro tip, you can kill the things that snap you half on the last level with your whip.

ktjuEy3.jpg
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
The last level of Earthworm Jim is no joke. Made it there without using a continue and died. I hope to at least make it to the boss on the next playthrough. I should be able to make it to the last level with all my continues and a lot of lives reliably.I really like this game. The end boss of the water levels is epic!

And beaten. Pro tip, you can kill the things that snap you half on the last level with your whip.

ktjuEy3.jpg

Congrats!
 

Rlan

Member
Completely out of the blue but would anyone here happen to own US versions of Comix Zone or Vectorman 1 / 2 here?

I run a blog called the Video Game Art Archive and I want to extract the artwork from their manuals, but ebay's bullshit shipping costs makes this a real pain. From the US to NZ it's way more expensive than it should be.

Would be keen to pay to borrow them, scan them and send them back, or otherwise purchase if at a decent price.
 

ChamplooJones

Formerly Momotaro
Completely out of the blue but would anyone here happen to own US versions of Comix Zone or Vectorman 1 / 2 here?

I run a blog called the Video Game Art Archive and I want to extract the artwork from their manuals, but ebay's bullshit shipping costs makes this a real pain. From the US to NZ it's way more expensive than it should be.

Would be keen to pay to borrow them, scan them and send them back, or otherwise purchase if at a decent price.
Check Sega Retro. They have pdf for most of the games on there.
 

Morfeo

The Chuck Norris of Peace
Had a friend over and we was a bit on a Mega Drive-run tonight.

First, we started out with some Nes and the awesome Shadow of the Ninja which is perfect for twoplayer.

Then we popped in the sequel to Ecco, Tides of Time, and yeah, this game was surprisingly bad considering how surprisingly good the first game was. Now, the base game is of course the same, and still pretty fun with lots of exploration and light puzzle-solving. However, they felt the need to innovate, and for some reason introduced 3D-stages that are remarkedly similar to the stages in Superman 64, basically swimming through rings. While nowhere as hard, its still pretty redundant, frustrating and feels tacked to show off some 3d. Later on, there is also some tubes you need to swim in up in the air, which is also really frustrating, you transfer to a bird and have to dodge eagles (signifying the coming of Kolibri from the same studio?, there are "friendly" dolphins that pick you up and accidently transport you back to the start of the level, and there are a strange jumping mechanics (bubbles) that throws you in the air reminding me a bit about the Pianas in Super Mario Sunshine who would also throw you up without any control.

So the point being, this game is way worse than the original Ecco with lots of stupid shit added that just makes it frustrating. Its still fun enough to play through, considering we both have a history with the original Ecco, and we ended up playing about a third through the game, hoping to finish it in the next few weeks.

Anyways, we then played Chiki Chiki Boys, which was fun, but a bit bland, and finally Wonderboy in Monster Lair (the shooter), which is fun, but not great considering the strange weapon system and often cheap enemy placement. Got to level 10 or 12 before dying (man, this game is long).

Fun night!
 

IrishNinja

Member
it's pretty silly, too...do they just hope the buyer won't notice/care? i wonder how often that actually works out for them & their feedback
 
Hate sellers like that. Hope you get your refund David!
thanks Morfeo, seller accepted a return so i shipped it back today.
I hate it when the item is listed as new but ends up being a mess, it happened to me before.
seems to be happening to me more recently.

it's pretty silly, too...do they just hope the buyer won't notice/care? i wonder how often that actually works out for them & their feedback
once they accept a return i can no longer leave feedback, maybe the seller knows that and takes a chance misleading buyers hoping they can get away with it or they accept a return quickly to prevent chance of negative feedback.
 

Galdelico

Member
once they accept a return i can no longer leave feedback, maybe the seller knows that and takes a chance misleading buyers hoping they can get away with it or they accept a return quickly to prevent chance of negative feedback.
Seems like a huge risk, on the seller's side, but then again... So many clueless/shameless/dodgy people sell retro on eBay, nowadays. You really need to CSI every picture, description and feedback history, before buying anything in the wild.

As others said, sucks that you had to go through this, Dave, but glad to see it's all sorted. ^_-
 

alf717

Member
Starting to see more and more of this on eBay lately. I purchased a Torneko the last hope and it was listed as Like New and arrived in horrible condition. Also beware of cart based games listed as "professionally cleaned". When two of them arrived they had brasso globs inside the carts. That crap eats away at the contacts. "Professionally cleaned", my ass.
 
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