Friday, March 8, 2024
Nostalgia Is a Hell of a Drug Part 8: Tyco Psycho!
Sunday, March 3, 2024
My Rust Driver Clone
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Hail to the King, Baby!
Monday, February 26, 2024
Super Hard On, Fo-SHO
Friday, February 16, 2024
I Would Have Loved An SNES Crystalis Sequel!
Crystalis is one of my all time favorite games, and one of my favorite RPGs on the NES. From its beginning as God Slayer on the Nintendo Famicom, to it's transition to Crystalis, this game is simple yet amazing, and sometimes frustrating. My first introduction was sometime in the later half of the 90s when I finally acquired an NES. I was asking everyone I knew about NES games, and when I asked a kid who worked the local Dairy Queen, he said he would bring some games over for me to test that night. I remember he brought Dragon Warrior and Crystalis. He noted Crystalis was going to be hard to sell because it was his Mom's favorite game, and within the few minutes I played it I totally see why.
Those few moments left such a mark on me that I started checking every FuncoLand I could, since I couldn't afford that copy, waiting impatiently to get my hands on my own copy. Eventually I found a copy, which came with a printout giving an overview of the game, which I still have. I also printed out a walkthrough to help me beat it for the first time. I still have that too, and it's about the size of a book. I've since beat the game a handful of times, and I enjoy every minute of it. On my latest play through I used a guide from a channel on youtube that I'm quite fond of, UCanBeatVideoGames. Currently I use the original cartridge as my "play" cartridge, but I later found a complete in box copy that I only take out to look at, from time to time.
But what if Crystalis had an SNES sequel? For me the SNES is the home of some of the greatest RPGs of all time. That era was just rife with RPG perfection, again and again and again. I'm not sure how popular Crystalis was in its time, nor God Slayer for that matter, but what I do know is a lot of people really love this game. In modern days it isn't unheard of for a game to get a romhack and be completely reskinned, with a new story and all kinds of new elements. That could be nice, but I think Crystalis deserves a 16-bit version. A complete remake would be a bit too much, but if anyone out there is wanting to undertake such a project, I would love to see it!
As I said before, Crystalis was simple, only having 16 max levels. It was also frustrating as you would often need to change out your weapon and it's subitem multiple times in the same cave. I guess that's a part of Nintendo Hard; just something thrown in to add a few extra minutes of gameplay. An SNES sequel with a different story, some of the same gameplay mechanics, but this time caves where all he enemies require the same sword and subitem. The spells in Crystalis were adequate, but maybe a few more would be nice. I love that every weapon and subitem was a story item, so you had to quest to obtain them instead of checking each town's smith. Armor, shields and other items were obtained in each town, as per normal.
There's so much about Crystalis that could have easily transferred into an SNES sequel, and so much that could have been expanded upon. Would it have tarnished the original game's sparkle? Maybe, but maybe not. Regardless, it's highly unlikely to ever happen. I would really like to know more about the Famicom version and its development. If I'm being completely honest, I would love a CIB copy of God Slayer, and the GameBoy Color remake. Just to fill out my collection.
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Frigid First February Fabrication
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| Not the prettiest, but my builds usually aren't. |
Monday, February 5, 2024
My Minecraft Tips
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Death of my DS
Monday, January 8, 2024
Nintendo Wii Appreciation
Many years ago I picked up a Nintendo Wii for super cheap at a Goodwill Outlet store and set to work putting it all together. When I found it the front face was missing, as well as the Gamecube controller/memory card doors. Throughout my many times hunting at the Goodwill Outlet stores I had picked up everything else I needed to get the system to work, so it didn't take long to put it all together. I even happened to find a few games, which really helped me test the system completely when I got it running.
Shortly afterward I softmodded it for emulation, mainly using it for retro consoles. When it came to Gamecube and Wii games I used the actual Gamecube and Wii discs. I knew about softmods that allowed you to play backups of Wii and Gamecube games, but I never really saw too much use in that, until more recently. I do mean more recently, as in a few days ago. I own a few Gamecube discs that are in very poor condition, Star Wars: Bounty Hunt for example is a completely lost cause it seems. To experience this game I had to try "other" means. Look, I own the disc but it's too scratched for the Wii or even a Gamecube to read, so it falls a bit into a gray area here.
Anyway, I decided if one disc was too damaged to read, I better try to minimize my losses and go full emulation, since it's available. Doing so has renewed my interest in my Nintendo Wii. Not that I ever fully stopped using my Wii, as I use it quite often for emulating retro consoles. I just hadn't had much interest in the Wii and/or Gamecube side of the console in quite some time. In 2020 I spent most of the year playing my real N64, in 2021 it was my real Super Nintendo, in 2023 I spent most of the year building pedal circuits, and it seems in 2024 I may just be spending a lot of time playing Nintendo Wii games.
Now that I'm playing much more Nintendo Wii, I'm finding that a lot of games with potential were killed by poor controls. Whether they where forced to use Wii motion controls, or just too lazy to implement compatiblity with the Gamecube controller, I'm not sure, but the Wii controls SUUUUUUUUUUCK on so many games. Many years ago I bought Excite Truck so that myself and my then girlfriend could play it together, but that never happened, sadly. Regardless, I finally got around to giving the game a try and I have to say, while I like the idea of turning the controller horizontal, the turning accuracy is junk! Even on a Wii Motion Plus controller! It's horrible.
My main focus is to save wear and tear on my discs, and make backups of them to play. However, I'm currently working with a 32gb USB drive, and that doesn't go very far when it comes to Wii games. Should I go the HDD route? Maybe, but I really don't know how far this will go. If I get super into it and want to backup every game I own, I might, but for now the select few games I've got backups for are keeping me entertained enough. If you have a Wii that's sitting in a corner or closet collecting dust, or know someone who does, I would highly suggest softmodding it. It runs emulators really well and it's a tiny little console with so much potential - for fun!
Monday, January 1, 2024
Causing a Little Fuss: Bazz Fuss 4th Anniversary Edition
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| Bass Fuzz on a US Quarter for size reference. |
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