Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: N64 & SEGA Mega Drive (& GBA!!)

[Dcubed]

4 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

Looks very Sonic-y, how does it compare?

It’s more Mega Man than anything else really; with a dash of Rocket Knight Adventures (Particularly with Pulseman’s signature Volt Tackle move).  Not all that much like Sonic really.

[EEVILMURRAY]

SNES best get Plok sharpish

[S.C.G]

New Sega Mega Drive titles added to Nintendo Switch Online April 2023

Now up on the main page.

An overview for each game, plus the trailer.

[Josh64]

I played some Pulseman last night, it's harder than I anticipated but I'm getting used to it, especially now I remember it's not timed, so I don't go barrelling through like a Sonic game and instead take my time.

 

Also I LOVE flicky, it's so addictive. 

 

[Dcubed]

8 hours ago, Josh64 said:

I played some Pulseman last night, it's harder than I anticipated but I'm getting used to it, especially now I remember it's not timed, so I don't go barrelling through like a Sonic game and instead take my time.

 

Also I LOVE flicky, it's so addictive. 

 

Yeah, Flicky is legit.  Great little golden-age arcade title that never gets its dues but definitely deserves to be in the conversation alongside the likes of Donkey Kong and Pacman.

[Josh64]

2 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Yeah, Flicky is legit.  Great little golden-age arcade title that never gets its dues but definitely deserves to be in the conversation alongside the likes of Donkey Kong and Pacman.

Was it actually an arcade game? That would make sense, it has total arcade gameplay and the graphics aren't up there with other MegaDrive games, but I don't know much about older arcade stuff outside of Donkey Kong and Punch Out!! 

 

I'm definitely gonna keep aiming for higher scores, I'm still bit of a noob and only just broke the default 100,000 😅 I love that I'm getting better at kicking cups at the cats! 

 

[Dcubed]

2 hours ago, Josh64 said:

Was it actually an arcade game? That would make sense, it has total arcade gameplay and the graphics aren't up there with other MegaDrive games, but I don't know much about older arcade stuff outside of Donkey Kong and Punch Out!! 

 

I'm definitely gonna keep aiming for higher scores, I'm still bit of a noob and only just broke the default 100,000 😅 I love that I'm getting better at kicking cups at the cats! 

 

Yup.  Was originally released as an arcade game in 1984.  Its actually gotten quite a few re-releases across SEGA’s 8 & 16 bit consoles (with the MD port basically being Arcade perfect), and its gotten quite a few references and such over the years with its gameplay mechanics resurfacing in various SEGA titles.  Most notably Sonic 3D Blast (which is basically a sequel to Flicky in disguise) and as a stage in Gunstar Future Heroes on the GBA…

This one, the fun one.

Really hope we get Gunstar Future Heroes on the GBA NSO at some point.  One of the best action platformers on the console!

[EEVILMURRAY]

Working my way through Paper Mario at the moment (of course with the N64 controller) I was a bit worried how it didn't have extra damage/blocking abilities at the start, but they then worked it in, as I grew up with the Mario and Luigi handheld shizzle. Only downside with this bit is that Mario doesn't look like he's dodging when you press so you know when you've fucked up.

Also Pokémon Stadium, working through the Gym Castle... I've been taking it slow, currently on Celadon Gym, but it's been unique choosing random rentals I never would've used, because I plowed through with my squad. It's interesting having to go down a stage because of the moveset, ie I've gone with Ivysaur/Weepinbell because Venusaur/Victreebel's moves blow.

[darksnowman]

On 25/04/2023 at 12:14 PM, EEVILMURRAY said:

Working my way through Paper Mario at the moment (of course with the N64 controller) I was a bit worried how it didn't have extra damage/blocking abilities at the start, but they then worked it in, as I grew up with the Mario and Luigi handheld shizzle. Only downside with this bit is that Mario doesn't look like he's dodging when you press so you know when you've fucked up.

How'd you let this pass you by back in the day? I've a file going that I need to get back to. Left off in the chapter 4 level. I get what you mean with the blocking but once you get the timing of it figured out, you'll find you'll be blocking successfully without even thinking about it. 

And it'll carry over into the next RPG you play.  

On 25/04/2023 at 12:14 PM, EEVILMURRAY said:

Also Pokémon Stadium, working through the Gym Castle... I've been taking it slow, currently on Celadon Gym, but it's been unique choosing random rentals I never would've used, because I plowed through with my squad. It's interesting having to go down a stage because of the moveset, ie I've gone with Ivysaur/Weepinbell because Venusaur/Victreebel's moves blow.

Have you reached an impasse with this yet?

[EEVILMURRAY]

45 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

How'd you let this pass you by back in the day? I've a file going that I need to get back to. Left off in the chapter 4 level. I get what you mean with the blocking but once you get the timing of it figured out, you'll find you'll be blocking successfully without even thinking about it. 

And it'll carry over into the next RPG you play.  

Have you reached an impasse with this yet?

I honestly don't remember it existing at all until probably the GameCube times...

no impasse yet, I'll see how I go with Erika over the weekend. 

[EEVILMURRAY]

I finally got round to playing a Mario Party game... first time ever. Was playing with 2 other peeps, so had a CPU 4th player. Did Pirate Land in which the CPU won on sneaky endgame stars. Then gave Mystery Land a try, in which the CPU won again, because it hit 2 mystery blocks and got 2 stars a couple of turns apart right at the end... Is it always this jip-py?

[Dcubed]

5 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

I finally got round to playing a Mario Party game... first time ever. Was playing with 2 other peeps, so had a CPU 4th player. Did Pirate Land in which the CPU won on sneaky endgame stars. Then gave Mystery Land a try, in which the CPU won again, because it hit 2 mystery blocks and got 2 stars a couple of turns apart right at the end... Is it always this jip-py?

Mario Party is the most jip-py game ever made, and it's brill!

[Glen-i]

13 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

I finally got round to playing a Mario Party game... first time ever. Was playing with 2 other peeps, so had a CPU 4th player. Did Pirate Land in which the CPU won on sneaky endgame stars. Then gave Mystery Land a try, in which the CPU won again, because it hit 2 mystery blocks and got 2 stars a couple of turns apart right at the end... Is it always this jip-py?

Oh wow! That's hilarious. But not unexpected. Insane lucky breaks turning the game around are part and parcel of the experience.

I know it feels like it, but the CPU mostly doesn't cheat in the board section. Hell, they sometimes make completely bone-headed decisions.

Now, button mashing mini-games? They totally cheat on harder difficulties. Some 2 V 2 games also have cheating CPU's, but only if they're paired with a human, weirdly enough. Any game where 2 people have to co-ordinate button presses will have the CPU match the human perfectly, which naturally, is unfair with 3 human players playing.

[EEVILMURRAY]

6 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Now, button mashing mini-games? They totally cheat on harder difficulties

We only had them on easy, but it still shocked me, when I used a Boo against them it took 21 coins, I thought it was doing a light mash so I thought that was quite a good result. When they used it on me I'm hammering away like I was playing Track n Field, and it took 26-28 from me! Fucks.

[Glen-i]

8 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

We only had them on easy, but it still shocked me, when I used a Boo against them it took 21 coins, I thought it was doing a light mash so I thought that was quite a good result. When they used it on me I'm hammering away like I was playing Track n Field, and it took 26-28 from me! Fucks.

Ah, funny thing about Boo. The minimum amount of coins it can steal goes up as the game progresses. In the last 5 turns, it is absolutely brutal!

[BowserBasher]

Shudders at the thought of our NE Mario Party games. 

[darksnowman]

Coming off Immortals: Fenyx Rising, I'm in that weird in-between spot where I'm unsure what to move onto next. Got the email that Ys IX is out on PS5 (better late than never) which made me consider getting the Switch version off the shelf, but nah, not yet. Don't fancy starting one of these other RPGs right now and couldn't choose between any of the smaller games I have either. I was even almost back on Immortals out of sheer routine.

So I bounced around a few games over the weekend as tends to happen at these times. This included getting some use out of the Expansion Pack. Chilled out on Wave Race, chipped away some more at Mario Tennis (great game just to play on autopilot) and settled a bit on the NTSC version of Pilotwings 64 which I remembered I'd intended to play over Christmas.*

Top stuff. I've enjoyed it even more than I did back in the day. On the N64, I think I wanted to play it more like Mario, with objectives being something to get to but not necessarily the immediate task at hand. This time I've been a lot happier to pick a mission and get to it. The Chicken Dive on the hang glider is an example of one that provided plenty of quick tries and retries. Just what I was looking for. And the music! I remember it all but it somehow fits better than it ever did. Classic game.

Did a round of Pokémon Stadium as well. Lost to Brock so I'll have to put more consideration into what I rent next time out. Tbh, what cost me was choosing the wrong move on the first turn, then scolding myself to "play it properly", I next went for a Leer, followed with a Withdraw and by the time I was done faffing around and began attacking, CPU Brock was well underway with the crits. A timely whiff from me didn't help matters. THERE GOES THE BATTLE.

 

* Also sort of planned to do the Splatoon 3 singleplayer over Christmas so perhaps I could try getting to it in this window. 

[EEVILMURRAY]

19 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

I next went for a Leer, followed with a Withdraw

The fuck?! Cut that shit out and hit hard!

[darksnowman]

9 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

The fuck?! Cut that shit out and hit hard!

You're right of course. Thought I'd matured into a moustache-twirling buffer/debuffer but it seems hitting first and hitting hard is still the way to go.

[Glen-i]

5 hours ago, darksnowman said:

You're right of course. Thought I'd matured into a moustache-twirling buffer/debuffer but it seems hitting first and hitting hard is still the way to go.

All debuffs, and 1 stage buff moves are never worth the hassle. This is true of every Pokémon game.

Now 2 stage buff moves like Swords Dance? They're worth considering. Rental Pokémon suck though, and can never pull that off.

Amnesia is worth noting, because in Gen 1, the Special stat covers both special attack and special defense. Which means Amnesia is effectively a 4 stage buff move! There's a reason Psychic Pokémon are OP in Gen 1.

... OK, there's lots of reasons, but that's one of them.

[darksnowman]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

All debuffs, and 1 stage buff moves are never worth the hassle. This is true of every Pokémon game.

Now 2 stage buff moves like Swords Dance? They're worth considering. Rental Pokémon suck though, and can never pull that off.

Amnesia is worth noting, because in Gen 1, the Special stat covers both special attack and special defense. Which means Amnesia is effectively a 4 stage buff move! There's a reason Psychic Pokémon are OP in Gen 1.

... OK, there's lots of reasons, but that's one of them.

Dabbled with it back in the day but even though I knew it was meant to be a good one, Swords Dance never became a fixture for me. Saw more value in utilising the turns to keep on the offensive. Always thought the Elite Four were suckers for using Swords Dance as it just gave me an extra turn to attack. Figured now I'm older and supposedly wiser it'd be time to set out my stall with buffs and debuffs to try and finesse my way to victory, but if they're duds they're duds. Noted along with Amnesia.

Yup, I still think of psychic type as the top of the tree because of Red/ Blue. Just have to remember to squash the Bug types with something else.  I remember having a lot of joy inflicting poison with Muk/ Grimer too... when I'd ran out of PP to scorch my way across Kanto that is.

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, darksnowman said:

Yup, I still think of psychic type as the top of the tree because of Red/ Blue. Just have to remember to squash the Bug types with something else.

But that's the thing! The strongest bug move in the game is Twineedle. A Beedrill exclusive move that's only 50 Power (25 X 2). Beedrill utterly blows and is weak against Psychic anyway, so there's no real threat there.

And Gengar? Hah, what a joke! The only ghost move in Gen 1 is Night Shade, which is fixed damage, so ignores type matchups. And again, Gengar is weak to Psychic.

Psychic types have no real counter in Gen 1. A great Pokémon Stadium team if you had Transfer Pak support was to just bunch 6 Psychic types together. Barely anything can get through that.

[darksnowman]

Dormie time and Sonny goes and pulls out an eagle to keep the match alive. Ultimately it was too little too late.

[EEVILMURRAY]

On 5/15/2023 at 6:21 PM, Glen-i said:

The only ghost move in Gen 1 is Night Shade

Don't forget Lick, it's so powerful people make Gastly forget it before it becomes a Haunter. Just to be fair to everyone else.

[darksnowman]

35 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

Don't forget Lick, it's so powerful people make Gastly forget it before it becomes a Haunter. Just to be fair to everyone else.

Also noted in case THERE'S A DIFFERENCE IN RESERVE POKÉMON that I need to overcome.