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[Bog]

I just saw this on an old episode of X-Play and now I need it. Any online stores stock old imports? NCS and Play-Asia appear to be sold out.

 

[aku:jiki]

Have fun paying out your ass for a mediocre-but-cute shooter.

(Meaning the answer is no, sorry.)

 

[drohne]

it's an awesome game. but it's kind of rare/coveted now. a used copy will probably set you back $80-$100, nevermind a new copy. play asia gets it in periodically. they showed it on x-play? that's pretty cool.

 

[FeedMeAStrayCat]

Harmful Park? Never heard of it.. what's it all about?

 

[aku:jiki]

it's an awesome game.

It is so not! It's got the best sprites I've ever seen (well, at least in context), is funny and has great stuff and all that... But the shooting sucks! So do the minigames.

Nice to own just for the cover, though, since it's the best ever. Picture needed and provided:

 

[drohne]

a review with some screens: http://users.pandora.be/twin-dreams/PSone/Harmful_Park.html

aku jiki - does so! it obviously isn't a hardcore arcade shooter...i think i one-credit cleared it on my first playthrough, and the difficulty settings don't make much difference. but the sprites and humor are fantastic, the scoring system's surprisingly decent, and there are some moments of really clever design. i think it's loads of fun. i play through it at least once every couple months. it elicits a sense of well-being.

 

[aku:jiki]

Damn, them's some sprites. I really want to find Sky Think Systems only other game (that I know of), but I never seem to succeed and now I can't even remember what it was called.

Edit: It has a scoring system? It's been a while, I think I need to revisit it as well, now that I've finally got a modded PS2 (my PS1 is crap nowadays, whose isn't?).

I agree with the cute-em-up sentiment though. It and Sexy Parodius are definitely the greatest. I'd give HP the upper hand for cuteness, SP the upper hand for gameplay. King and queen of cute! Ok, yeah, I'll just go to bed.

 

[drohne]

you get score multipliers if you kill more than one enemy with a single "bullet"...which works differently for each weapon. the most obviously effective weapon in a given situation won't necessarily get you the best scores. if you're playing for score, the vulcans become pretty useless, and the pies become really useful. it's kinda neat.

i retracted the "best cute em up" assertion, cos i actually haven't played many of those. i need to track down the cotton games at some point.

 

[aku:jiki]

I don't think I ever noticed that. I just hated using the pies, not sure why. Thanks, though, I'm gonna check it out...sometime.

And don't worry about the Cottons. I haven't played the later one(s), granted, but the older ones are neither cute nor good. There are a couple of good or at least decent cuties on PCE, though. Would give you names to check out if I could remember them.

 

[ferricide]

Damn, them's some sprites. I really want to find Sky Think Systems only other game (that I know of), but I never seem to succeed and now I can't even remember what it was called.

sky think system has two other games, although one's a sequel to the other. er, let me rephrase that.

sky think system has two other games.

they are entitled kururin pa! and shingata kururin pa!

they are both really cool and lots of fun puzzle games. they both came out for saturn and PS1. the way they work is that the pieces which drop are pieces of rope. you have to build up long chains of rope and set them on fire.

in kururin pa! the point is just to make the biggest chains possible, so it's a bit tense and quick. in shingata kururin pa! the point is more to set up chain reactions, because if you put fire down somewhere it can't burn, it'll become encased in a bubble and then be released when a fire burns next to it (in the original fire that hits somewhere non-burnable
just dies out.) the idea is to set up long, elaborate chains.

each game has a cast of characters and each character has a special ability, most of which are built around destroying snowmen (snowmen are the garbage blocks you drop on your opponent.) some of them are really, really clever.

i prefer the original because i am not that good at puzzle games. =P they're both a lot of fun and recommended.

i've actually never played harmful park -- i can't find it in japan. i actually want to pick it up, because i like kururin pa! so much. not the other way around.

 

[shoplifter]

My friend and I used to have the ad for this posted on our wall, ripped straight from Famitsu.

HIGHBROW GAG AND PURE SHOOTING, BITCHES

 

[Mr_Furious]

This game is worth both the price and the hunt. Highly recommended!

 

[bobbyconover]

I really want to find Sky Think Systems only other game (that I know of), but I never seem to succeed and now I can't even remember what it was called.

Oh man. They had Kururin Pa! at Game'n'Play, the store that I got 90% of the games I covered in the Intense days from, on sale for like $5. For years on end. And I never bought it. I was always tempted to check it out because of the weirdie snowman cover, but never did. Now, years later, I find out it's a great puzzle game rarity by a beloved, short-lived indie dev team? Nooooo!

I was at that store practically every day of the week for years on end and never gave it the time of day.

 

[ferricide]

Oh man. They had Kururin Pa! at Game'n'Play, the store that I got 90% of the games I covered in the Intense days from, on sale for like $5. For years on end. And I never bought it. I was always tempted to check it out because of the weirdie snowman cover, but never did. Now, years later, I find out it's a great puzzle game rarity by a beloved, short-lived indie dev team? Nooooo!

it has no value on ebay, so you can probably find one floating around, is your consolation.

ME LOVE KURURIN PA

 

[BenT]

And don't worry about the Cottons. I haven't played the later one(s), granted, but the older ones are neither cute nor good.

I recently got Cotton 100% for SFC, and it's actually pretty good, IMO.

On a related note, I could never quite fathom how to play Cotton 2 / Boomerang well -- the scoring / play mechanics are complex as hell.

My opinion of Harmful Park is somewhere in the middle. I think I give it extra points just because it's a very pretty 2D game in a time when those are rare.

P.S. -- It was cheap in Japan.