The Retro games thread of please I'm begging you (yes, you!) to post about Retro games in this thread (10 years old+)

[Mr. Sensible]

Wait, what? They changed the music for the Greatest Hits rerelease? Was making changes for those common? I know the Director's Cut is different from the original version, but that at least has a different title. Are there other examples of the GH editions of games being different? Was this just a PS1 thing, or did it continue on to PS2, PS3, etc? I don't recall Nintendo's various GH lines making changes...

It's really weird, right? To my knowledge, it definitely isn't common practice to completely swap out a game's soundtrack like that, especially not between different editions of what is essentially the same exact game with minor gameplay tweaks!

And on top of that, the redone RE1 soundtrack was "composed" by Mamoru Samuragochi, who has since been disgraced for faking a hearing impairment and didn't even compose his own soundtracks; instead he secretly had them written by someone else (this is a pretty good summary of the whole story).

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Oh my god if you haven't heard the basement music, do yourself a favor:

 

[Mr. Sensible]

The basement BGM is number one with a bullet for hilariously bad video game music. It's like, how did anyone at Capcom think this was acceptable to sell as a product? Truly baffling stuff.

 

[WildcatJF]

Wait, what? They changed the music for the Greatest Hits rerelease? Was making changes for those common? I know the Director's Cut is different from the original version, but that at least has a different title. Are there other examples of the GH editions of games being different? Was this just a PS1 thing, or did it continue on to PS2, PS3, etc? I don't recall Nintendo's various GH lines making changes...

It happens occasionally. The most famous example (beyond REDC) I can think of is Silent Hill 2's Greatest Hits adding a sidestory for Maria that gives her a little more background as to why she's in Silent Hill.

 

[Mr. Sensible]

SH2 GH on PS2 was also sort of a reverse-port of the Xbox version released as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams in North America, which is where the extra Maria episode "Born From a Wish" premiered. The extra content made more sense in the context of an enhanced Xbox port.

 

[Phantoon]

Oh my god if you haven't heard the basement music, do yourself a favor:

Totally an improvement over this one

 

[estragon]

couldn't even make it to page 2 lol

Sorry for having an opinion about a thing

I think this is just the joke about how long it takes any thread on Talking Time to turn into a meta-discussions about semantics, especially about the semantics of what constitutes a "retro" game, not anyone having a serious problem with anything in particular being said. It's just an extremely on the nose Talking Time thread progression, but no one in particularly is being mocked or at fault or doing anything wrong.

 

[ArugulaZ]

That poor Casio keyboard! Somebody change its batteries, quick!

 

[madhair60]

I think this is just the joke about how long it takes any thread on Talking Time to turn into a meta-discussions about semantics, especially about the semantics of what constitutes a "retro" game, not anyone having a serious problem with anything in particular being said. It's just an extremely on the nose Talking Time thread progression, but no one in particularly is being mocked or at fault or doing anything wrong.

It was just a joke about how quickly the thread became about "what is retro", yes.

 

[ShakeWell]

Man, I frickin' love Parasite Eve. Gotta replay that one over the holidays this year.

We talked about this the other night, but yeah, I don't think I ever truly realized how short it was (Chrysler Building aside), but I got it when it was new and never finished it. Might have to spend some time on that one.

I like the ten year rule because it’s clean and simple. I know it doesn’t seem very old to us olds, but there are plenty of 18-20 year olds making nostalgia videos about those “old gems.”

I'm at the point where I go with the Joe Santulli rule: two hardware generations removed is "retro." (Or "classic" or "vintage" or whatever.)

I recently got a copy of Resident Evil: Director's Cut on PS1 so I could experience the original game in a series I've enjoyed for over two decades. RE3 was my first and is probably still my #1 survival horror GOAT; however, having finally played through RE1, I can see now why it made such a huge impact on the gaming world in 1996, and how it laid the groundwork for a successful franchise that's still going strong today.

The original Resident Evil also has several live-action cutscenes, making it something of a bridge between the FMV adventure game and third-person action genres. Listening to the famously awkward voice acting made me realize that Chris' VA in this game is the same as Richter's from the North American release of Symphony of the Night, which was a fun bit of trivia.

Oh, and I played the non-Greatest Hits version for the original soundtrack, since the GH edition is pretty infamous for its redone (and outrageously bad) music.

If you have the means to play a patched version, the True Director's Cut mod is spot-on. You can get the Dual Shock compatibility with the correct music AND finally get the color cutscenes (and Kenneth's head)!

Wait, what? They changed the music for the Greatest Hits rerelease? Was making changes for those common? I know the Director's Cut is different from the original version, but that at least has a different title. Are there other examples of the GH editions of games being different? Was this just a PS1 thing, or did it continue on to PS2, PS3, etc? I don't recall Nintendo's various GH lines making changes...

According to Alex Aniel's book, they wanted to add something more besides just Dual Shock support to justify the triple-dip. Whoops.

 

[Phantoon]

According to Alex Aniel's book, they wanted to add something more besides just Dual Shock support to justify the triple-dip. Whoops.

"Now with Trombone Champ's worst level"

 

[Kazin]

It's really weird, right? To my knowledge, it definitely isn't common practice to completely swap out a game's soundtrack like that, especially not between different editions of what is essentially the same exact game with minor gameplay tweaks!

And on top of that, the redone RE1 soundtrack was "composed" by Mamoru Samuragochi, who has since been disgraced for faking a hearing impairment and didn't even compose his own soundtracks; instead he secretly had them written by someone else (this is a pretty good summary of the whole story).

Wow, that is utterly fascinating. I had no idea! My first Resident Evil was the remake on Gamecube, so I've never really played the original PS1 game in any form (and don't foresee myself doing so, tbh, I really like the Gamecube version).

Oh my god if you haven't heard the basement music, do yourself a favor:

That is... wow. Makes Honeybee Manor sound like a symphony.

 

[Sarge]

I saw a Kickle Cubicle mention. Yeah, if you really enjoyed Lolo, I think you'll also dig that. I had it growing up and had a ton of fun with it.

 

[ArugulaZ]

There's an arcade version, too!

 

[Sarge]

It's funny, I never actually knew about that one until I read about it on HG101 a while back.

Speaking to Resident Evil, I finally got around to finishing one myself, and it was indeed the Gamecube version. I have a lot of respect for it, even if it's not really in my wheelhouse. I've got some folks trying to get me to dive into RE2 on PSX, though, and I figure I'll do that some day.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Sad that my rather muted appreciation of it is considered "love," but I guess us Urban Champion fans will take what we can get, eh? lol

To give some idea, I tried to review the 3D Classics version for Nintendo Power.

For downloadable games, ratings were "Recommended," "Hmm...", and "Grumble, Grumble".

To avoid bias, and because I thought it was a good way to play it that improved on the original, I gave it a "Hmm..."

They didn't use it, and said I rated it too high.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Okay, okay. NINTENDO POWER told you your review of a Nintendo game was too generous. That magazine was propaganda for Nintendo! There was never a terrible NES game whose quality they couldn't minimize. NP must have REALLY changed after Future took the reins.

 

[Purple]

Objection!

Nintendo Power traditionally gave games overall lower scores than other game magazines of its day! Earning money from every cart, first party game or not, gave them financial incentive to honestly assess games!

 

[Phantoon]

One day, somehow, I will beat Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, secretly one of the best NES games

 

[Kazin]

I read Nintendo Power primarily during the N64 and early Gamecube era, and they were definitely overly positive for some games that didn't deserve it lol

Still picking away at Adventures of Lolo 2. Largely enjoying myself, except for a level on floor 7 that, for the first time in the series, I had to look up the answer to. I'd have never figured it out, either - you have to kill an enemy, then put a box over its respawn point, so it respawns elsewhere, which is the ONLY way to block a certain medusa head. Only instance of bullshit so far, thankfully, and otherwise it's a good time, but I'm still annoyed about it the next morning lol. At least a half hour wasted staring at the stupid level.

 

[FelixSH]

This mechanic is reused, so don't forget it. I think the NES games aren't using it too much, but remember the Gameboy game using it frequently.

There are three things I would change about the Lolo games. Seeing currents, so you know how and if an egg is carried, telling you upfront how many hearts you need to get powers, and showing you where an enemy respawns, if it's main point is blocked. Finding these things out feels like annoying busywork.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

One day, somehow, I will beat Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, secretly one of the best NES games

I remember loving this back in the day. Now I want to replay it.

 

[Kazin]

This mechanic is reused, so don't forget it. I think the NES games aren't using it too much, but remember the Gameboy game using it frequently.

There are three things I would change about the Lolo games. Seeing currents, so you know how and if an egg is carried, telling you upfront how many hearts you need to get powers, and showing you where an enemy respawns, if it's main point is blocked. Finding these things out feels like annoying busywork.

Yeah, this, and more music, and get rid of the Game Over/title screen loop, since you can load right back into the level you died on with no penalty (apparently they ended up fixing this in the third game, but I'm not there yet).

 

[MetManMas]

It's a shame that HAL more or less stopped making Lolo/Eggerland games after the NES era aside from a computer release or two. You'd think they'd make a new game on the budget side of Nintendo releases or mobile but nope.

 

[FelixSH]

Right? It's a real shame. But I'm more surprised that no one has done an indie title that's basically Lolo. Maybe because it's a puzzle game.

 

[spines]

cleopatra fortune s-tribute released this week on...all the usual things. i've seen this game plenty of times over the years, though first because its mascot character is in puchi carat as a secret character, but also an artist i follow on twitter talks about it pretty often and played in a tournament i watched once. this game is pretty hard, actually! it looks kind of simple at first but most of the pieces have two parts, and accordingly, there are two conflicting parts of the game, one in which you try to "bury" all the treasures by enclosing them totally with the brick parts of the pieces, and the other a weird combination of puyo collapsing combos with tetris "complete the line" goals. setting up long combos that interplay both parts is pretty hard, because if you think too much about one you'll probably totally mess up the other side of things

according to wikipedia this game first released for a line of taito karaoke machines. this version's based on the saturn one (which has a long and difficult "puzzle" mode) with some improvements. and you can set it to true pixel mode. it's pretty good

 

[Kazin]

Right? It's a real shame. But I'm more surprised that no one has done an indie title that's basically Lolo. Maybe because it's a puzzle game.

The first two Lolo games give me Baba is You vibes, though that game very quickly becomes it's own thing. It kind of feels spiritually related though, if much more complicated.

In any case - Lolo 2 down! Other than that one stupid sticking point, I got through the rest after a few more hours of staring at the screen lol. That last level is super tough, with the freaking enemy that falls asleep that you have to maneuver around. But it's worth it... you get a simple boss fight to end the game, rather than a short perfunctory cutscene like in the first game! I thought it was a nice surprise. Third game is on the way. Can't believe I slept on these games for so long

 

[MetManMas]

If you want more after playing the NES games, be sure to seek out the Famicom versions of Adventures of Lolo 2 (1 over there) and 3 (2) as well! They have different (and often harder) stages than the international ones.

 

[FelixSH]

The first two Lolo games give me Baba is You vibes, though that game very quickly becomes it's own thing. It kind of feels spiritually related though, if much more complicated.

Totally, when writing my post, my thoughts did wander to Baba Is You. If nothing else, that you have these single-room challenges, that you can solve in your head without moving at all (at least in theory) feels very reminiscent of Lolo. But as you said, it's its own thing very much.

Also, congrats. It's not super-duper hard, but Lolo 2 (and that series in general) can get quite tough. Please report back how you like the third game. Basically more of the same again, just more. I think it's a bit harder (similar to how the second seems a bit harder to me than the first game) - but I haven't played these games in years.

I remember playing Kickle Cubicle once. Granted, it's years since then, but I remember it as being rather easy. Not necessarily bad, but it fills another part of the enjoyment center in my brain than Lolo or Baba. Maybe also check out Fire and Ice for the NES, which is a neat, surprisingly hard puzzle game for the NES. And for the Gameboy, there is also Catrap, which as the nice feature of letting you undo as many steps as you want. Didn't beat either, they get pretty hard, but definitely fun puzzle games. And yet, none of them feel as good as Lolo (again, still fun).

 

[ArugulaZ]

There's also a Game Boy Lolo game, where Lolo and Lala have a baby Lolo and take him to a carnival, where he immediately gets kidnapped. Because of course he does.

I could have sworn I saw an indie game out there somewhere (perhaps for the Genesis, as that's been so popular to develop for lately) that takes a lot of its cues from Lolo. Until that gets released, I guess you'll just have to settle for Lolo and Lala getting beaten up by Kirby...