Post — Page 84

The Legend of Galahad (MD): COMPLETED!

Posted on 03/04/2016 Written by deKay

With Puggsy completed, I was reminded of The Legend of Galahad on the Mega Drive. The main character actually appears as a statue in Puggsy, and I think both games, and Wiz ‘n’ Liz, were developed around the same time by pretty much the same team. Oddly, the game is only known as The Legend of Galahad on the box, bearing the shorter title of “Galahad” in-game. It’s also the same game, bar some minor differences, as the Amiga title Leander.

It’s also an annoying platformer filled with too many unexpected deaths. You can’t look up or down, so many leaps are into the unknown. Some pits are spike-filled, but others are not. Baddies respawn, some after a few minutes and some almost instantly. Some spikes that spring up from the ground can be destroyed, some cannot. And there’s know way of knowing any of these things without trial and error!

Thankfully, it’s actually quite enjoyable despite the frequent deaths, and lives and energy are plentiful so although it’s a challenge, it’s not too difficult. Money, to improve your armour and weapons, is incredibly easy to come by and once I’d found the first shop in the game I’d more than enough for the best sword already – making most of the baddies simple one hit kills. With the rest of my money spent on bombs (which make you immune for a few seconds in addition to causing massive damage) even bosses were a walkover.

Except the final boss, where your ability to use bombs is removed! I had 40+ bombs to use up on him and couldn’t activate any! In the end it didn’t matter as although I died five times to him, the damage you’ve inflicted carries over when you die, so it was a simple case of just having enough lives to sustain myself while I chipped away at his energy, which didn’t take long.

The Legend of Galahad was never a “top tier” title at the time, and it’s not surprising it has probably been forgotten by most people now. It has problems, but it’s not a bad game. Has it aged? A little, yes. More so than Puggsy, certainly.

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Time Gal (MegaCD): COMPLETED!

Posted on 02/04/2016 Written by deKay

First up, let me say this: I completed Time Gal in Easy mode. I’m not proud, but any other mode is completely impossible. You simply have no way of reacting correctly to the action, and it’s unplayable in the same way Dragon’s Lair is.

With that confession out of the way, I’d also have to say it wasn’t worth it. Like Dragon’s Lair (and other FMV games of this kind), it doesn’t work. You see, it’s two things: A reaction (and/or memory) tester game, and a film. As a game, remembering every button press, in order, for 30 minutes of gameplay is not fun in any way, shape or form. As a film, it’s not possible to enjoy it because you have to concentrate on the button presses. As a result, it’s best to experience via watching someone else – who has memorised the entire sequence so they don’t fail too often – play it instead.

Time Gal is a stupid relic of an age where video was impressive and what seemed to be an interactive cartoon wowed everyone, but it’s boring, shallow and annoying. And the MegaCD version has terrible grainy FMV anyway. What a waste of everyone’s time.

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Puggsy (MegaCD): COMPLETED!

Posted on 02/04/2016 Written by deKay

Puggsy was probably my most played, and certainly one of my most enjoyed, MegaCD games. It was huge, and had even more levels and bosses than the plain Mega Drive version, some of which made use of the MegaCD’s hardware with sprite manipulation and FMV.

I’ve been picking away at it over the last couple of weeks, finding it generally easier than it ever was back then, but struggling to find the secret or alternative exits in some of the levels so progress was less quick than you’d expect. Some I could remember, some I could remember but not how to do it, and some I had no recollection of at all – the final boss for instance was not the final boss and I’d totally forgotten about the real final boss. Even though I remembered the really annoying level with the spiky ball you can’t pick up, which comes after what I thought was the final boss.

Anyway! It was a lot of fun to play again after such a long time, and I’ve completed about 45 of the 51 levels so may return to finish off the final few. There are some more secrets I’d like to re-see, like some of the bonus levels (I got the Jetpac one, but know I’m missing the Arkanoid one and at least one more) and the Wiz ‘n’ Liz reference. I found Galahad (aka Leander) in one level so that’s prompted me to add that game to the list of must-plays too.

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Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS): COMPLETED!

Posted on 28/03/2016 Written by deKay

But you know this isn’t the end of Hyrule Warriors Legends, don’t you? Of course not. All I’ve done is complete Legend Mode, and even that still has Cia’s prologue yet to do – let alone track down all the hearts and skulltulas and stuff in levels I’ve already completed. Then there’s Adventure Mode, which I have given merely the briefest of touches, just to capture a fairy. I’m only 15 hours in, which is already much, much longer than many games but here I know there’s a good 100 more or so – at least – waiting.

As well as the main Legend Mode story, I’ve also played and completed all of Linkle’s missions which sort of intertwine with the main story. Not especially well, it has to be said, but the plot is totally irrelevant elsewhere in the game so it doesn’t matter. The bulk of the game is Adventure Mode anyway and there’s no plot there at all.

I mentioned it before, but it’s worth saying again: Linkle is superb. Her slightly ranged weapons, her speed, her aerial gunplay (crossbowplay?) all make her so much fun to play as. It felt a shame every time I had to play a level as another character after each of her missions, as although most of the other characters are great too, Linkle is best. Better than Link even. Hopefully unlocking her most powerful weapons isn’t too much of a task in Adventure Mode, as I want them as soon as possible!

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Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS)

Posted on 25/03/2016 Written by deKay

The best game in all creation is HYRULE WARRIORS for the Wii U. Probably. It came out of nowhere, wasn’t my sort of game in either respect – not a musou fan, and not a 3D Zelda game fan – and I bought it mainly because I had a funny five minutes when I saw it on the eShop. Somehow, it was fantastic, I’ve spent over 130 hours on it, and it just kept giving with the content.

And now there’s a 3DS version, with all the content of the Wii U version (at least, it seems so) and then some more. Squeezed into a 3DS? Impossible. Or perhaps not so impossible when you hear about those poor folk with a normal Not-New 3DS who have stunted framerates and no 3D. Thankfully, mine isn’t one of them and so the game is astounding. A couple of slight control and camera niggles, but nothing terrible, and it’s just as much fun as it ever was. Only more so, because it has MORE! More characters (Linkle is incredible), weapons and modes. A new fairy raising feature. And the 3D shouldn’t be underestimated either – it looks and feels great.

I’m but a toe in so far, with just 3 or 4 hours on the clock, but I can see this running and running, just like the Wii U one.