PixlBit

1:08 pm – Continued with Taito Legends 2.

                                            

    I started with Chack’n Pop. This is an interesting game where you’re a yellow blob with legs that can move on the floors or ceilings of a maze and drop bombs that blow up enemies with a little time delay. I found this delay annoying because sometimes the enemy's paths don’t make it to the blast area. The levels are timed too, always a feature I dislike in games. Still, it’s a pretty cute and interesting game that makes me think of Dig Dug carrying bombs instead of an air pump in a system of caves.

                                   

      Cleopatra Fortune is a tetris spin off. Wall pieces, gems and mummies descend from the top and you have to surround the mummy and gems with walls to eliminate them. You can eliminate walls by connecting them in a straight line from left to right all the way across the play area. It's pretty neat, but it speeds up pretty quickly, too quickly in my opinion, making the game play a little too fast for my taste. However, I liked trying to create a tomb and set mummies and gems inside and then seal it all up to earn points.

                                    

                Crazy Balloon is a very, very simple game of maneuvering a balloon through a maze of thorns. That’s about it, and I tired of it very quickly.

                                   

      Then the mighty Darius Gaiden. This is a great shmup, which despite being hard, was manageable with infinite continues. I got all the way to the end. I’m going to do a full blog on this one because I loved the look and design of the game so much.  I’m not sure what to call the art style of the game but it’s that sprite-based thing that’s very colorful and detailed. The full screen explosion you get after beating a boss is very effective. You don’t see pieces flying off and all that, it’s a mega blast that washes the screen in color, just like it should. It gives you this great feeling that you’ve really defeated something powerful. Little touches like that abound in this game making it so satisfying to play.

                                   

                 Don Doko Don is a fixed screen platform game with a character who uses a hammer. I immediately, and so did my friend, think of Donkey Kong. You run around smashing enemies flat and then throwing them, turning them into fruits that you can pick up for points. You can jump around the platforms of the screen and in one level I played there were rock creatures that were hard to destroy, but then they didn’t move around much anyway. The screens are framed by trees or rocks with faces that open their mouths. I was wondering as I played if I could throw an enemy in one of their mouths. I didn’t get a chance though since in that particular level it was getting pretty hectic with enemies respawning constantly from one specific enemy at the top of the screen that I had trouble getting to. The game is interesting graphically and pretty fun. I like it better than Donkey Kong anyway.

                         

                                             That's the Ninja kickin' some Orc butt.

                Dungeon Magic. Another beat ‘em up like Arabian Magic but with a medieval theme.  I played through most of it with infinite continues but eventually I gave up getting frustrated with being surrounded all the time and having trouble getting my special move off because of it. The special moves are really cool and mess up everything on the screen. Each character has their own, and every time I continued, I chose a different one just to see their special move. There are some obstacles to avoid like spikes on the ground, and platforms to navigate in several of the rooms but mainly you just brawl Streets of Rage style. I’m going to do a full blog on this one because I love these kinds of games even though they also infuriate me at times. Also, I liked the opening music you hear in the character select screen.

                      

                                   

                          The game really reminds me of the Exit series but with guns.

                Elevator Action II. I finally get how this game is supposed to be played after being mystified by the first game on Taito Legends 1. Meaning, I read the instructions for once. You go in blue doors for a choice of items and take the elevator to different levels to get to the red door to finish the level. You can shoot, duck and jump your way around, knocking down foes with bullets, fists, feet or by sending a barrel their way to explode them in firey death. You can even lay bombs. This second edition of the series is hugely expanded and graphically much more interesting. I had a blast getting through this, thanks to infinite continues.

                                             

                Front Line. Funny, this was the game I got the collection for originally, but this time I was totally underwhelmed. It’s a very simple vertically scrolling shooter where you are a soldier in the trenches and sometimes can jump in a tank. You can only shoot in eight directions which makes positioning all important. I guess back in the day it was kinda unique in that you were a guy on the ground and not some spaceship or plane. I used to love this in the arcades.

                                       

                G-Darius is the fourth side-scrolling 2D shmup in the series and has polygonal graphics which to my eye are really ugly today. However, this game has a neat mechanic of letting you capture any enemy ship and use it as a power up and ultimately a super weapon if you hit the capture button again. Also, the graphics do attempt to create a 3D feel to the game. I think the big boss enemy ships would look really eye popping in 3D on a 3DS with this polygonal art style.

5:30 - Had to leave my friend's place to have dinner with my Mom.

                                 

                 An example of one of the environmental puzzles you have to solve.

1:00 am - Played another round of Comix Zone on PSP's Sega Genesis Collection. I accidently exited the game because I was bumping something on the system. I though it was a loose UMD door, but I think it was the on/off switch which should be moved to the Hold position during gameplay otherwise you tend to tap it while mashing buttons. It's in the lower right hand corner of the system right where you tend to lean when playing energetically. I didn't know you could lock it, but now I do. I'm glad I figured out what was wrong because it was interrupting all my games at really inopportune times.

 - End Log.