flashing dot on lynx
JOHN EVEN
If i exchange it do they all have it?
It seemed to me like it only appears on old games...
Is this true?
thanks :)
Robert Jung
>You know that flashing dot on some of the Lynx II's?
Yah?
>If i exchange it do they all have it?
Dunno. Not enough information at this point to pin down exactly what it is.
For all anyone knows right now, it could just be a flawed set of screens
from Atari's supplier in the first Lynx IIs.
>It seemed to me like it only appears on old games... Is this true?
Yep. I've only seen it in BLUE LIGHTNING, CHIP'S CHALLENGE and XENOPHOBE,
generally in the lower-left corner of the screen (it moves, depending on the
game). Whether it bothers you or not is another story.
>thanks :)
You're welcome. B-)
--R.J.
B-)
//////////////////////////////////////|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Send whatevers to jj...@nunki.usc.edu | If it has pixels, I'm for it.
--------------------------------------+------------------------------Lynx up!
"If it moves, shoot it. If it doesn't move, shoot it anyway."
Gregg Woodcock
My first LYNX II had 3 "always-on" pixels that were always in the same place
no matter what game you played. I exchanged it for another one and I have
no problems. I have no bad dots on KLAX, Gauntlet (ok, so I caved in and went
against general Net opinion), or Slime World.
Please post any responses; Email will bounce.
-------------------------------------------------
YES, SplinterLips, that _really_ is my last name.
Marc Petrick
taste of Sega this weekend. I rented the Sega system and Sonic from my
local video store. I'M HOOKED. Its great. Sonic is a kickin game.
I sat up playing last night until 1:30 in the morning. I am seriously
consedering purchacing a Sega system now. How are the other Sega games?
From the talk here, they seem pretty good, right?
--
ma...@hotwheel.dell.com
--
--
James Hague
Sonic is one of those games which overwhelms you at first, but gets old
really fast. I think that Populous, Super Monaco GP, and Klax are the
only Genesis games that I still play every so often. The only game
that is worth anywhere near the price that I paid for it is Flicky, and
that's because it was $17.99.
At first glance, there appears to be a wide selection of games for the
Genesis. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these games are Yet Another
Scrolling Shooter and Yet Another Cliche' Ridden RPG. The best Genesis
games seem to be sports-based. Sega needs more solid, original games
if it wants to survive the upcoming Super NES. Super Mario World and
F-Zero may be enough to offset the entire Genesis library.
One game to really avoid: Ultimate Qix.
Just some thoughts, no flames intended.
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Steve Jonke - 522
>In article <26...@uudell.dell.com> ma...@hotwheel.UUCP (Marc Petrick) writes:
>>Well, I have been a Nitendo fan for a few years now, but I got my first
>>taste of Sega this weekend. I rented the Sega system and Sonic from my
>>local video store. I'M HOOKED. Its great. Sonic is a kickin game.
>>I sat up playing last night until 1:30 in the morning. I am seriously
>>consedering purchacing a Sega system now. How are the other Sega games?
>>From the talk here, they seem pretty good, right?
>
>Sonic is one of those games which overwhelms you at first, but gets old
>really fast. I think that Populous, Super Monaco GP, and Klax are the
>only Genesis games that I still play every so often. The only game
>that is worth anywhere near the price that I paid for it is Flicky, and
>that's because it was $17.99.
>
I don't agree with you about Sonic. I found that all of the clever
things you discover in each successive level keeps drawing you back to
it. Even after having finished it, I find I still like playing it quite
a bit -- I take paths that I've never taken before, look for hidden
things, play on the "gears" in Scrap Brain Zone, etc.. I agree about
Super Monaco GP and Klax. I rented SMGP and thought it was a real
blast, much better then I was expecting, since I was skeptical about the
prospect of racing games with out a real steering wheel, but it is
really well done. In fact I posted a message asking if anybody has it
and wants to get rid of it -- if anybody does, I'm still looking for a
copy!
>At first glance, there appears to be a wide selection of games for the
>Genesis. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these games are Yet Another
>Scrolling Shooter and Yet Another Cliche' Ridden RPG.
(some stuff deleted)
All game systems have this same problem, Nintendo and Genesis are no
exceptions. You have to weed out the bad ones and pick the good ones.
>One game to really avoid: Ultimate Qix.
>
I was considering buying this one. What in particular do you dislike
about it? I presume that you knew what the old Qix was before you
bought this game, otherwise I can see why you might be dissapointed --
the box is very deceptive, it makes it look like a shooting game.
Steve
Larry J Brackney
Actually, I enjoyed this one. I bought it as a MD cart because I
like QIX. The basic game is there, albeit w/ spruced up graphics. There
are also some new twists on the old theme. One of the play modes allows
you to pick up power-ups for super speed, shields and firepower.
I usually don't play in power-up mode, since I prefer the original
play mechanics. My only complaints? Poor sound, and only sixteen levels.
You can extend the game's longevity by playing on the "hard" setting which
forces you to claim more area to complete a level.
This game is probably not worth what they are asking for it. ($50?)
However, QIX fans will most likely be pleased with the conversion...
- Larry
--
/ Larry J. Brackney | E-Mail: brac...@mn.ecn.purdue.edu \
|-------------------------| S-Mail: 3116 Hilltop Dr. W. Lafayette IN 47906 |
| Mechanical Engineering | Phone : (317)-463-1602 (Home) |
\ Purdue University | (317)-494-6552 (Office) /
James Hague
>things you discover in each successive level keeps drawing you back to
>it. Even after having finished it, I find I still like playing it quite
>a bit -- I take paths that I've never taken before, look for hidden
>things, play on the "gears" in Scrap Brain Zone, etc..
Sonic is very well done and I would have been very satisfied had all
the levels been like Green Hill, Spring Yard, and Star Light. These
levels are big and open and lotsa fun to mess around in. I can invent
my own little sub-games such as how fast can I zip through the level,
how many rings can I get, etc.
The Marble Zone is just one big bottleneck which completely goes against
everything that made the first level great. If I had wanted a game
which forced me to follow a prescribed path and make all sorts of
finicky little jumps, then I would have bought one. IMO, the bosses
also screw-up the "feeling" of the game and probably should have been
omitted.
BTW, some of those grammatical errors in the final credits are great.
Someone is listed as being responsible for "sound produce." I suppose
a rotten watermelon doesn't count...
>>One game to really avoid: Ultimate Qix.
>
>I was considering buying this one. What in particular do you dislike
>about it? I presume that you knew what the old Qix was before you
>bought this game, otherwise I can see why you might be dissapointed --
>the box is very deceptive, it makes it look like a shooting game.
Yes, I was a fan of the original Qix. The "Ultimate" version was
obviously written by someone who never played the original. The main
enemy, the Qix, has been removed and replaced by a bunch of lousy
"bosses." The other adversaries, the Sparx, are a non-factor in the
home version as they take WAY too long to come out (I haven't seen one
yet!). The distinction between fast & slow drawing has also been
lost.
With the Sparx no longer figuring into the game, it is extremely easy.
Just make a little trap and wait for the boss-thing to walk into it and
seal him in. No challenge at all. One of the most original games of
all time has been reduced to another "get through all the levels and
see the end" trivial distraction. Sigh.
I might as well add that the sound is VERY annoying. Kind of a
pulsating whine plays constantly throughout the game. Even the title
screen music is off key and too slow.
Maybe if you had never played Qix before then this game might be worth
picking up for ten bucks or so, it is definitely not worth anywhere
near fifty bucks. I think I'll just wait for the rumored Lynx version,
which I hope is the original...
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Marc Petrick
>Genesis. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these games are Yet Another
>Scrolling Shooter and Yet Another Cliche' Ridden RPG. The best Genesis
>games seem to be sports-based. Sega needs more solid, original games
>if it wants to survive the upcoming Super NES. Super Mario World and
>F-Zero may be enough to offset the entire Genesis library.
>
>One game to really avoid: Ultimate Qix.
>
>Just some thoughts, no flames intended.
Well, I havent seen any other games on the Sega yet, so I can comment.
Like I said, I am a Big N fan and an anxiously awaiting the SNES. Then
maybe I'll compare Sega and SNES to see who it better, or has the better
games. But for now..............SONIC IT IS!!
--
Marc Petrick
ma...@hotwheel.dell.com
--
128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu
>
>At first glance, there appears to be a wide selection of games for the
>Genesis. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these games are Yet Another
>Scrolling Shooter and Yet Another Cliche' Ridden RPG. The best Genesis
>games seem to be sports-based. Sega needs more solid, original games
>if it wants to survive the upcoming Super NES. Super Mario World and
>F-Zero may be enough to offset the entire Genesis library.
That huge portion might just be Genesis' one great advantage. If you've
noticed, Genesis is still the only one machine capable of doing great shooters.
Have you seen "Super" R-Type on the "Super" Famicom? Have you played
Gradius III on it? (bad flickers, and major slow-downs on both games even
though they never get any intense ) Man, Super R-Type is so bad that I'd
much rather play the regular R-Type on Turbo Grafx any day. In fact, just
about everything in Turbo Grafx's version is much better, including the
sound ! Now I'm really convinced that Super Famicom cannot do any shooters.
>
>One game to really avoid: Ultimate Qix.
>
>Just some thoughts, no flames intended.
>
>--
>James Hague
>exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Do not reply to this account; I'm borrowing my friend's. Reply instead to:
___
Han J. Lee /| /|| |/\
hl...@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Internet) / |/ || |>-|
/_____||_|_/
James Hague
>
>That huge portion might just be Genesis' one great advantage. If you've
>noticed, Genesis is still the only one machine capable of doing great shooters.
>Have you seen "Super" R-Type on the "Super" Famicom? Have you played
>Gradius III on it? (bad flickers, and major slow-downs on both games even
>though they never get any intense ) Man, Super R-Type is so bad that I'd
>much rather play the regular R-Type on Turbo Grafx any day. In fact, just
>about everything in Turbo Grafx's version is much better, including the
>sound ! Now I'm really convinced that Super Famicom cannot do any shooters.
Unfortunately, not everybody is a fan of "modern" shooters. I used to
be really into crazed "blast everything" games like Stargate, Sinistar,
Robotron, etc., so I have nothing against the concept of shooting
stuff. But the current idea of a shooter is a scrolling
memorize-the-pattern game with a zillion power-ups, and at the end of
every level there is a big boss which is easy to kill once you figure
out the little trick. I'd much rather play a game with consistent
rules and a solid underlying concept than a script-based thing with a
succession of independent little obstacles.
I think that a lack of shooters may help Nintendo more than hurt them.
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Rav Tonsiengsom
I would too, but shooters are still a lot of fun even after Defender, Stargate,
Robotron, Darius, Xevious, etc....
>I think that a lack of shooters may help Nintendo more than hurt them.
Nintendo will do well with their SNES with or without great shooters IMHO.
However, I think that every system should have a great shooter or two. A lot
of people obviously still enjoy them or else they wouldn't be making them.
Therefore, I think some great shooters would help the SNES a little more. Lack
of them certainly would not hurt Nintendo either, but I DO NOT think that it
will help them ?!?
>
This, of course, coming from a shooter freak.... :)
-Rav (tons...@m.cs.uiuc.edu)
Rav Tonsiengsom
>In article <1991Aug20.1...@exu.ericsson.se> exu...@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague) writes:
>[ Stuff about Sonic deleted ]
>>
>>At first glance, there appears to be a wide selection of games for the
>>Genesis. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these games are Yet Another
>>Scrolling Shooter and Yet Another Cliche' Ridden RPG. The best Genesis
>>games seem to be sports-based. Sega needs more solid, original games
>>if it wants to survive the upcoming Super NES. Super Mario World and
>>F-Zero may be enough to offset the entire Genesis library.
Super Mario World is indeed a very great game and will definitely sell the SNES
very well. Genesis RPGs are a little too easy IMHO, but there are a few (not
alot) VERY WELL done shooters for the Genesis which I think are very fun.
Sports based games are fun on the Genesis, but not as fun as on a PC-Engine
with the five-player tap, five joysticks and four friends! And while sports
games may be your favorite on the Genesis, the shooters (Gaiares, MUSHA, TF III)
and run & jump/hack 'n slashes (Sonic, RoS) are mine.
>That huge portion might just be Genesis' one great advantage. If you've
>noticed, Genesis is still the only one machine capable of doing great shooters.
>Have you seen "Super" R-Type on the "Super" Famicom? Have you played
>Gradius III on it? (bad flickers, and major slow-downs on both games even
>though they never get any intense ) Man, Super R-Type is so bad that I'd
>much rather play the regular R-Type on Turbo Grafx any day. In fact, just
>about everything in Turbo Grafx's version is much better, including the
>sound ! Now I'm really convinced that Super Famicom cannot do any shooters.
Well, I'm not convinced just yet. I am convinced enough to know that I'd
rather save my money for the Mega CD. The news about "Super" R-Type is very
depressing. Also, in a review I read on "Super" Ghouls and Ghosts, the
reviewers' main complaint was the slow down involved in the game.
>Do not reply to this account; I'm borrowing my friend's. Reply instead to:
> ___
> Han J. Lee /| /|| |/\
> hl...@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Internet) / |/ || |>-|
> /_____||_|_/
>
-Rav (tons...@m.cs.uiuc.edu)
Steve Jonke - 522
>
>Unfortunately, not everybody is a fan of "modern" shooters. I used to
>be really into crazed "blast everything" games like Stargate, Sinistar,
>Robotron, etc., so I have nothing against the concept of shooting
>stuff. But the current idea of a shooter is a scrolling
>memorize-the-pattern game with a zillion power-ups, and at the end of
>every level there is a big boss which is easy to kill once you figure
>out the little trick. I'd much rather play a game with consistent
>rules and a solid underlying concept than a script-based thing with a
>succession of independent little obstacles.
>
Are there any shooters for Genesis which are not of what you call the
"modern" type? I would like to get at least one shoot 'em up, but
would prefer something that didn't always follow patterns.
Steve
Michael Portuesi
128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu writes:
|>
|> In article <1991Aug20.1...@exu.ericsson.se>
|> exu...@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague) writes:
|> [ Stuff about Sonic deleted ]
|> >
|> >At first glance, there appears to be a wide selection of games for
|> the
|> >Genesis. Unfortunately, a huge portion of these games are Yet
|> Another
|> >Scrolling Shooter and Yet Another Cliche' Ridden RPG. The best
|> Genesis
|> >games seem to be sports-based. Sega needs more solid, original
|> games
|> >if it wants to survive the upcoming Super NES. Super Mario World
|> and
|> >F-Zero may be enough to offset the entire Genesis library.
|>
|> That huge portion might just be Genesis' one great advantage. If
|> you've
|> noticed, Genesis is still the only one machine capable of doing
|> great
|> shooters.
That's not the point he was trying to make. The point is that 90% of
the games for the Genesis *are* shooters. Without variation and fresh
ideas, video games won't be fun to play for very long.
When I was a teenager, I was a video game addict on machines like the
Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Even though the games on both machines
were woefully primitive by today's standards, the selection of games
was pretty varied. You could get shoot-em-ups, maze games, sports
games, action/strategy games (Intellivision Sea Battle is probably the
best example of this type), pure strategy games like checkers/chess,
role-playing games, and original games based on far-out ideas, such as
Qix. I also owned an Atari 800, which played several games that were
showcases of creativity and good game design, Archon, M.U.L.E.,
Pinball Construction Set, Rescue on Fractalus, and Ballblazer are just
a few of the original, fun games available on that system.
I just bought a Genesis this Sunday, and when I set the machine up I
was sorely disappointed. Altered Beast is just another clone of the
typical Nintendo "punch and kick your way through the scrolling
universe until you meet the boss" type game, only it looked better.
Then I read the articles in this newsgroup, and about 200K worth of
reviews from the Digital Games Review digest. I've learned that most
of the games for the Genesis are differentiated from each other by the
fact that in some you punch and kick your way through the scrolling
landscape, and in others you shoot your way through.
I've noticed that there's now a standard set of terminology to
describe features of video games. "Power ups" and "bosses". All it
says to me is that most of the games on the market (at least the
Genesis) share so many common elements that you can give them names.
These video games are following a formula. Perhaps this is because
everybody is in a race to get titles on the market. But why do I want
to buy the same game all the time, only with different graphics?
I just purchased "Mickey Mouse and the Castle of Illusion" last night.
Even though this is a Super Mario clone in disguise, it is very well
executed and is a lot of fun to play. Unfortunately, after making my
way through most of the first "world", I encountered a boss character,
complete with a pulse-pounding soundtrack. Not only did this break
the continuity of what was a fun and enjoyable game, the boss sequence
also completely inappropriate to the atmosphere offered by the rest of
the game. It stuck out like a sore thumb.
I'm in the process of shopping for games on the Genesis, and I'm
finding the pickings for original ideas rather slim. I also own a
Lynx, and even though it has far fewer titiles, it has far more good
ideas. As far as I can tell, there are few original games like
ElectroCop, Slime World, Xenophobe, or even Chips Challenge for the
Genesis. My plan is to buy one each of the best shooter, the best
chop-socky game, and the best Mario clone and ignore the rest. Maybe
with luck something new and original will come along.
--
Michael Portuesi Silicon Graphics, Inc. port...@sgi.com
Robert Jung
>
> As far as I can tell, there are few original games like
> ElectroCop, Slime World, Xenophobe, or even Chips Challenge for the
> Genesis.
Well, there ARE plans for someone to port SLIME WORLD to the Genesis.
Now, do you really want to wait, or just go and play it on your Lynx now?
B-) Besides, how the heck will the Genesis do the 8-player mode? B-)
First, Bullet-Proof Software's porting CHIP'S CHALLENGE to the Nintendo,
now this. If this keeps up, Lynx owners won't have to worry about support
for their machine; developers of other systems will keep it going so they
can have more titles to rip-off... B-)
--R.J.
B-)
P.S. If I were to get a Genesis, the only real reason would be for CYBERBALL.
But somehow, I don't think I'll care for it much longer... B-)
Stephen Jonke
I don't agree. You are over generalizing. What more is there to say?
(well, ok, I'll say that Altered Beast IS a terrible game and it was a
big mistake for Sega to include it with the Genesis originally - it
probably hurt sales of the system. Now they are including Sonic
the Hedgehog with it - a much better choice, and NOT a shooter or
punch and kick game! Also, so far I've been happy with the Genesis,
and I'm not a big fan of shoot-em-ups.)
Steve
128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu
Hey! I know a lot of people who are "modern" shooter fans. In fact, I myself
is one of them. IMHO, the more zillion-power-ups there are, the more fun
the game is.
Teh Kao Yang
>>be really into crazed "blast everything" games like Stargate, Sinistar,
>>Robotron, etc., so I have nothing against the concept of shooting
>>stuff. But the current idea of a shooter is a scrolling
>>memorize-the-pattern game with a zillion power-ups, and at the end of
>>every level there is a big boss which is easy to kill once you figure
>>out the little trick. I'd much rather play a game with consistent
>>rules and a solid underlying concept than a script-based thing with a
>>succession of independent little obstacles.
>>
>>exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
>
I agree that modern shooters are really stuck in a rut.... they are all
either horizontal or vertical scrolling or both. And they all share the
common trait of this SCROLLING phenomena which I am getting pretty sick
of. That is, your environment and enemies fly past you and you have
absolutely no control over your progress. I really don't understand why
every shooter has to scroll, and why they won't let you have freedom on
where you want to go.
In games such as Defender, Stargate, and Bosconian,
you have a pretty big playing field which scrolls, but you have total control
on where you want to go. In games like Robotron and Smash TV, there is no
scrolling at all, and the enemies don't scroll past you, they stay around to
bug you until you blow them away. All these above mentioned games are shooters
too, but somehow game manufacturers today have this idea that a shooter has
to scroll continuously and enemies just fly past you if you don't kill them.
All these ideas must have originated from Scramble. Then games like R-Type
and Gradius expanded on it. And now everyone wants to do their own version.
I don't know why it's gotten so popular. But enough is enough. We need more
non-scrolling shooters or just shooters where you can totally control where
you want to go. i.e. Smash TV, Time Pilot, Strike Force, Star Control,
the overhead levels in Thunderforce 2, Atomic Robo-Kid,.........
etc... can anyone think of more examples?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with
having "a zillion powerups" or "end of level bosses". Smash TV added these
things to the basic Robotron, and see how much better of a game it's become.
I'm sure you'll all agree with me on this.
128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu
Oh yeah? If that was his (and your) point, then you are just plainly wrong!
According to Mega Drive Fan, as of May, 1991, Mega Drive has about 36 action
games, 36 shooting games (including the 3-D shooters like After Burner and
Air Diver), about 15 RPGs, about 5 adventures, and about 15 sports games.
It's true that not all Mega Drive games make it to Genesis. Even then,
I calculate that less than 35 % of all the Genesis games released are
shooters.
>When I was a teenager, I was a video game addict on machines like the
>Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Even though the games on both machines
>were woefully primitive by today's standards, the selection of games
>was pretty varied. You could get shoot-em-ups, maze games, sports
>games, action/strategy games (Intellivision Sea Battle is probably the
>best example of this type), pure strategy games like checkers/chess,
>role-playing games, and original games based on far-out ideas, such as
>Qix. I also owned an Atari 800, which played several games that were
>showcases of creativity and good game design, Archon, M.U.L.E.,
>Pinball Construction Set, Rescue on Fractalus, and Ballblazer are just
>a few of the original, fun games available on that system.
It seems to me that you'd hate just about any modern game systems. Everything
on Atari 2600 IS original because there was nothing before.
Let me also remind you that Genesis does have all the different categories
of games you mention. And it also has the "far-out" ideas like Sonic.
>I just bought a Genesis this Sunday, and when I set the machine up I
>was sorely disappointed. Altered Beast is just another clone of the
>typical Nintendo "punch and kick your way through the scrolling
>universe until you meet the boss" type game, only it looked better.
>Then I read the articles in this newsgroup, and about 200K worth of
>reviews from the Digital Games Review digest. I've learned that most
>of the games for the Genesis are differentiated from each other by the
>fact that in some you punch and kick your way through the scrolling
>landscape, and in others you shoot your way through.
As far as I remember, Altered Beast, when it first debuted in the arcade,
was the very first game to use huge characters not only on bosses but also
on players. Altered Beast for Mega Drive came out in 1988. At that time
there wasn't anything on the Nintendo that even vaguley resembled Altered
Beast.
If you think that what gets reviewed in the Digital Games Review Digest are
all the Genesis games there are, then you're missing out a lot of things.
Go out and explore them yourself; you'll be pretty amazed at how diverse
they are. Or you can always read decent magazines like Mega Drive Fan
and Beep! Mega Drive if you prefer to stay home.
>
>I've noticed that there's now a standard set of terminology to
>describe features of video games. "Power ups" and "bosses". All it
>says to me is that most of the games on the market (at least the
>Genesis) share so many common elements that you can give them names.
>These video games are following a formula. Perhaps this is because
>everybody is in a race to get titles on the market. But why do I want
>to buy the same game all the time, only with different graphics?
>
>I just purchased "Mickey Mouse and the Castle of Illusion" last night.
>Even though this is a Super Mario clone in disguise, it is very well
>executed and is a lot of fun to play. Unfortunately, after making my
I'm sick and tired of people saying games like Sonic, Mickey or Bonk are
"Super Mario clone." I cannot find any similarities between Sonic/Mickey/
Bonk and Mario other than that you run, jump and get items. But then all
the "action" games have the same thing. Heck, you can even say that
Strider is a "Mario clone" because you run, jump, get items, and explore
areas. It seems to me that whenever an action game uses a cute, little
character, (although personally, I don't think Mario is cute) people touts
it as a "Mario clone."
>way through most of the first "world", I encountered a boss character,
>complete with a pulse-pounding soundtrack. Not only did this break
>the continuity of what was a fun and enjoyable game, the boss sequence
>also completely inappropriate to the atmosphere offered by the rest of
>the game. It stuck out like a sore thumb.
>
>I'm in the process of shopping for games on the Genesis, and I'm
>finding the pickings for original ideas rather slim. I also own a
>Lynx, and even though it has far fewer titiles, it has far more good
>ideas. As far as I can tell, there are few original games like
>ElectroCop, Slime World, Xenophobe, or even Chips Challenge for the
>Genesis. My plan is to buy one each of the best shooter, the best
>chop-socky game, and the best Mario clone and ignore the rest. Maybe
>with luck something new and original will come along.
>
>--
>Michael Portuesi Silicon Graphics, Inc. port...@sgi.com
Please reply to:
___
/| /|| |/\ Han J. Lee
/ |/ || |>-| hl...@cory.Berkeley.EDU
/_____||_|_/
Marcus Harvey
Let me explain. I have owned an Amiga 500 for a few years and have got used
to brilliant games like Xenon 2, Speedball 2, Gods, Pang, New Zealand Story,
Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble, Lemmings etc.
BUT... I have only so much desk space and now I have a Macintosh IIci and a
drawing board there's no room for my Amiga (which I now use only for games).
I was going to put it in the living room with the hi-fi/video/tv/damn-I-need
-another-trailing-socket set up but it's sooooo big! And you've got to be able
to stick a disk in the side, and the joystick/mouse ports are at the back, and
sometime you have to press a key on the keyboard.. and the space above the video
was half an inch to small!
So. I bought a Sega. Fits fine on the TV table. Easy access to the cartridgr
slot. Two controllers. Ace. It's Japanese right? And my favourite games are
surreal, cutsey, japanese, eat the fruit, dodge the mutant teddy bears and hop
about outings. They'll be lots to buy on grey import right?
Hmmm... Well I got it from a shop that was closin down. Ex-display. I got
some games that were in the 'bargain bucket' with it plus Altered Beast which
is bundled anyway. I got Whip Rush, Danger Seed and Atomic Robo-Kid.
Well they're all... MEDIOCRE. My Amiga owning buddy was most UN-IMPRESSED.
One vertical shoot-em-up with poor graphics, one horizontal shoot-em-up with
fair graphics and one horizontal shoot-em-up with goodish graphics and crap
gameplay. Altered Beast looks like its been through the wash on bleach cycle.
I've ordered Sonic. But is that all there is? I've seen NZ Story and Rainbow
Islands advertised for the MegaDrive - are they as good as the Amiga versions?
Where's the equivalent of SpeedBall 2, or even a shoot-em-up as good as Xenon2?
This isn't a Sega bashing message. It looks like it's got the hardware to do
the shit... but is it out there?
- marcus
mar...@uk.ac.pcl.sun - JANET
marcus%sun.pcl.ac.uk@ukacrl - BITNET/EARN
James Hague
>"modern" type? I would like to get at least one shoot 'em up, but
>would prefer something that didn't always follow patterns.
If no one's going to be original, at least I'd like to see classics
like Stargate on the Genesis--of course it would probably be called
"Ultimate Stargate" and have bosses and such.
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Larry J Brackney
>
>Are there any shooters for Genesis which are not of what you call the
>"modern" type? I would like to get at least one shoot 'em up, but
>would prefer something that didn't always follow patterns.
I'm not a big "shooter" fan, but I did enjoy Grenada on the Genesis.
IMHO this is a highly underrated game, and a fresh approach to this style
of game on the Genesis. Sort of a cross between a maze game and a shooter.
The game is well executed, and has quite a few levels.
I'd recommend this title...
Stephen Jonke
games you mention, they are never the same as you remember them. Donkey
Kong is a perfect example. When I went back and played this game not too
long ago I found myself thinking things like "Is this all there really was
to it?". Anyway, that's been my experience -- video games are susceptible
to fits of nostalga as much as anything else.
Steve
Teh Kao Yang
>Hi! I have just bought a MegaDrive and I'm having some nasty doubts!
>
>Let me explain. I have owned an Amiga 500 for a few years and have got used
>to brilliant games like Xenon 2, Speedball 2, Gods, Pang, New Zealand Story,
>Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble, Lemmings etc.
>some games that were in the 'bargain bucket' with it plus Altered Beast which
>is bundled anyway. I got Whip Rush, Danger Seed and Atomic Robo-Kid.
>Well they're all... MEDIOCRE. My Amiga owning buddy was most UN-IMPRESSED.
>Islands advertised for the MegaDrive - are they as good as the Amiga versions?
>Where's the equivalent of SpeedBall 2, or even a shoot-em-up as good as Xenon2?
>
You got games that were in the 'bargain bucket', so what did you expect??
Games that are tremendously fun and popular?? The better Genesis games are
so much in demand that people buy them at outrageous prices of $50 or more.
You want something better than Xenon 2? Get ThunderForce 2 or 3, Gaiares,
MUSHA, Wings of Wor, or Sagaia. If you want something to compare Gods to, get
Ghoul's n Ghosts, Sonic, Strider, Revenge of Shinobi, or Shadow Dancer. The
Genesis Rainbow Islands and NZ Story are at least as good if not better than
the AMiga versios. Speedball 2 is being converted to the Genesis soon. In the
meantime try John Madden Football or Powerball(a Speedball clone). If you want
a better list of the great games, check out the video game ratings that come
out on this newsgroup once in a while.
To tell you the truth, I own an Amiga too. And after I played some games on
my Genesis, I got so disgusted by the mediocrity of the Amiga games that now
the only games I play on the Amiga are RPGs.
James Hague
True, true. My point wasn't to say that all old games are great, just
that there used to be more variety and it seemed that designers tried a
bit harder. Once thing I've noticed about many such games is that they
are deceptively simple looking. There may not be megabytes of flashy
graphics, but there are all sorts of little tricks and strategies that
really add depth. Chess is a non-electronic example of this.
Somewhere I remember reading that kids were really getting into that
travelling "History of Coin-Op Games" museum exhibit. The most common
comment was about how the games were all *different* from each other...
Remember that one of the attractions of Donkey Kong was the variety of
levels--games usually only had one screen back then. Of course four
screens doesn't seem like much any more. The game was also fairly
pattern based, and as we all know, pattern based games need to keep
throwing new stuff at the player to keep things interesting. Still,
it was a very innovative game.
I found an old Gorf machine in an arcade a few months back and gave it
a whirl. Yuck! I have absolutely no idea what anyone ever saw in this
game. Of course, there are many who wax nostalgic over it. BTW, I
*still* play an old Frogger clone on my ancient Atari 800...
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Aaron Pulkka
[lots of stuff deleted]
>As we approach the possibility
>of virtual reality I wonder how well it is going to be utilized. Will we
>have the tools to create new worlds and then simply use them to duplicate
>reality? I certainly hope not.
Using history as a guide, we can expect that people will use the tools of
virtual reality (virtual interface technology) to recreate the same old
stuff. This is similiar to the first motion pictures which were essentially
stage plays on film. But, over time, the media will evolve, as motion
pictures did, into something unique.
This is inevitable, but certainly not permanant. It is up to the consumers
(us) and the designers (some of us) to speed up the evolution as much as
possible. STOP BUYING/PLAYING/DESIGNING GAMES WHICH ARE WORN-OUT SEQUELS!
> I better quit now before I really get up on a soap box. :)
Yeah, me too...:)
>David
>************************************************************************
>David Bingham * The power of faith and love
>Hewlett Packard * Can change the stuff we're made of
>bin...@hpnmqa1.sr.hp.com * Michael W. Smith
--
+--------------\
| Aaron Pulkka > aar...@narrator.PEN.TEK.COM
+--------------/
Michael Portuesi
sjonk...@postman.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke) writes:
|> In article <1991Aug21....@zola.esd.sgi.com>,
|> port...@tweezers.esd.sgi.com (Michael Portuesi) writes:
|> >
(quotes my entire 50-line article without editing it down)
|> I don't agree. You are over generalizing. What more is there to say?
I expected you to say a lot more, given that you didn't edit my
message down to the parts you wished to address before replying. If
you are going to waste net bandwidth, you should at the very least
have something significant to say in return.
|>
|> (well, ok, I'll say that Altered Beast IS a terrible game and it was a
|> big mistake for Sega to include it with the Genesis originally - it
|> probably hurt sales of the system. Now they are including Sonic
|> the Hedgehog with it - a much better choice, and NOT a shooter or
|> punch and kick game! Also, so far I've been happy with the Genesis,
|> and I'm not a big fan of shoot-em-ups.)
|>
|> Steve
Okay, so they include Sonic the Hedgehog with the system. Actually, I
bought a Genesis mainly so I could play Sonic. But when I looked at
the rest of the software available and found them all more or less
pretty similar to each other (with the exception of the sports titles,
which by and large don't interest me) I have to admit I was
disappointed. I just borrowed "Revenge of Shinobi" from a friend, and
discovered that it was essentially an improved "Altered Beast" with a
different cover story. For that matter, so is "Michael Jackson's
Moonwalker" (another game I borrowed). It's the same basic play
mechanic with differnent backdrops, enemies, weapons, and soundtrack.
Of course there are exceptions to this trend -- simulation games like
"Afterburner II" and "Super Monaco GP", strategy/action games like
"Herzog Zwei", or strategy games like "Populous". But they really are
in the minority. The Lynx library, small as it is, is full of diverse
games such as Rampage, Paperboy, Slime World, Ms. Pacman, Chips
Challenge, and Blue Lightning. None of these games have anything in
common with each other, at least as far as concept and game play are
concerned.
m.
David Bingham
>
> [some great points deleted for the sake of brevity]
>
> You can put ANYTHING onto a CRT that you can possibly imagine. There
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> is no restriction saying that it has to be a bunch of junk that scrolls
> to the left with a boss at the end. But if that's what you want, that's
> what you'll get.
>
> --
> James Hague
> exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
I have to say that this just about says it all. As we approach the possibility
of virtual reality I wonder how well it is going to be utilized. Will we
have the tools to create new worlds and then simply use them to duplicate
reality? I certainly hope not.
I better quit now before I really get up on a soap box. :)
David
************************************************************************
David Bingham * The power of faith and love
Hewlett Packard * Can change the stuff we're made of
bin...@hpnmqa1.sr.hp.com * Michael W. Smith
P.S. I keep thinking what we would have missed if Tolkien had just written
a story about a guy working his way around pre-WWII English society.
128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu
>
>Let me explain. I have owned an Amiga 500 for a few years and have got used
>to brilliant games like Xenon 2, Speedball 2, Gods, Pang, New Zealand Story,
>Rainbow Islands, Bubble Bobble, Lemmings etc.
New Zealand Story is available on the Mega Drive, and it is much better than
the Amiga version. However, New Zealand Story is one of the worst games
in the Mega Drive library, rating within bottom 10. Rainbow Islands on MD
is also much better than the Amiga version.
>
>BUT... I have only so much desk space and now I have a Macintosh IIci and a
>drawing board there's no room for my Amiga (which I now use only for games).
>
>I was going to put it in the living room with the hi-fi/video/tv/damn-I-need
>-another-trailing-socket set up but it's sooooo big! And you've got to be able
>to stick a disk in the side, and the joystick/mouse ports are at the back, and
>sometime you have to press a key on the keyboard.. and the space above the video
>was half an inch to small!
>
>So. I bought a Sega. Fits fine on the TV table. Easy access to the cartridgr
>slot. Two controllers. Ace. It's Japanese right? And my favourite games are
>surreal, cutsey, japanese, eat the fruit, dodge the mutant teddy bears and hop
>about outings. They'll be lots to buy on grey import right?
>
>Hmmm... Well I got it from a shop that was closin down. Ex-display. I got
>some games that were in the 'bargain bucket' with it plus Altered Beast which
>is bundled anyway. I got Whip Rush, Danger Seed and Atomic Robo-Kid.
Oops! very bad choice! Atomic Robo-kid is, IMHO, by far, the WORST Genesis
title ever. All the games you've bought are within the worst 20 of the
Mega Drive softwares rated by MD magazines readers. Incidentally, Atomic
Robo-kid isn't too bad on the Amiga, even though it's worse than the
Genesis version.
>
>Well they're all... MEDIOCRE. My Amiga owning buddy was most UN-IMPRESSED.
>One vertical shoot-em-up with poor graphics, one horizontal shoot-em-up with
>fair graphics and one horizontal shoot-em-up with goodish graphics and crap
>gameplay. Altered Beast looks like its been through the wash on bleach cycle.
>
>I've ordered Sonic. But is that all there is? I've seen NZ Story and Rainbow
>Islands advertised for the MegaDrive - are they as good as the Amiga versions?
>Where's the equivalent of SpeedBall 2, or even a shoot-em-up as good as Xenon2?
>
Try Arcuss Odyssey, Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion, Out Run, Advanced Daisen-
ryaku, After Burner II, Air Buster, Alien Storm, GAIARES, Maajang Dojo,
Vapor Trail, Crack Down, Granada, Gain Ground, Golden Axe, Columns, Revenge
of Shinobi, Shadow Dancer, Fire Shark, Thunder Force II MD, Thunder Force III,
Gynoug (Wings of Wor), Shining & The Darkness, Junction, Super Daisenryaku,
Super Monaco GP, Strider, Zero Wing, Sorcerian, Ghouls 'N Ghosts, TATSUJIN
(Truxton), Phantasy Star II & III, Hushigi no umi no Nadia, Bare Knuckle
(Streets of Rage), Herzong Zwei, Bonanza Brothers, Marvel Land, Midnight
Resistance, MUSHA Aleste, Raiden, Langrisser, Rainbow Island Extra Version.
>This isn't a Sega bashing message. It looks like it's got the hardware to do
>the shit... but is it out there?
>
>- marcus
>
>mar...@uk.ac.pcl.sun - JANET
>marcus%sun.pcl.ac.uk@ukacrl - BITNET/EARN
Please reply to:
James Hague
>Mega Drive softwares rated by MD magazines readers.
If Whip Rush is so lousy (as I can attest to since I bought it) why was
it voted "1990 Science Fiction Action Game of the Year" by Video Games
and Computer Entertainment? Yes, these awards are meaningless and yep,
there are way too many categories. But still...
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
Garry Moorer
|> I found an old Gorf machine in an arcade a few months back and gave it
|> a whirl. Yuck! I have absolutely no idea what anyone ever saw in this
|> game. Of course, there are many who wax nostalgic over it. BTW, I
|> *still* play an old Frogger clone on my ancient Atari 800...
What???!!!! Gorf was one of the greatest games ever! Like 5 video games in
one. And the sound on Gorf has never been surpassed!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garry Moorer | "Y'all lucky I ain't the president,
NIGGA4LIFE | 'cause I'd push the fuckin button and
aga...@athena.mit.edu | get it over with." Bushwick Bill '91
"You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance..."
LETS GO BUCS!!!
STEEEEEEEEEEEEELERRRSSS!!! (ONE FOR THE THUMB IN 91)
(Space here for future Pittsburgh basketball franchise)
PENS DO IT AGAIN!!!
Garry G, 1991 Wordmanpeacedude
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu
I know VG & CE is your favorite game magazine, James. But you shouldn't
always believe what they say. Let me tell you something a friend of mine
told me about VG & CE. In its regularly printed column of "Game Doctor" (?)
a reader asked the Game Doctor why there exists a converter for Genesis
that makes it compatible with the Master Sytem, but not vice versa? The
Game Doctor answered something like "because Genesis' power supply isn't
the same as the Master System's."
Sigh...
Please reply to : (sorry my news server's been dead all week)
James Hague
>>it voted "1990 Science Fiction Action Game of the Year" by Video Games
>>and Computer Entertainment? Yes, these awards are meaningless and yep,
>>there are way too many categories. But still...
>>--
>>James Hague
>
>always believe what they say. Let me tell you something a friend of mine
>told me about VG & CE. In its regularly printed column of "Game Doctor" (?)
>a reader asked the Game Doctor why there exists a converter for Genesis
>that makes it compatible with the Master Sytem, but not vice versa? The
>Game Doctor answered something like "because Genesis' power supply isn't
>the same as the Master System's."
VG & CE *IS* my favorite video game magazine, but that's not saying
much. The game doctor often gives very flaky answers, some of the
reviewers are pretty lousy, the awards are meaningless, and they
stooped to a new low when they started pushing a 900 number. But
still, compared to GamePro, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and all of the
other glop out there...
--
James Hague
exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.se
128b...@web-1d.berkeley.edu
>In article <1991Aug24....@agate.berkeley.edu> >>If Whip Rush is so lousy (as I can attest to since I bought it) why was
>>>it voted "1990 Science Fiction Action Game of the Year" by Video Games
>>>and Computer Entertainment? Yes, these awards are meaningless and yep,
>>>there are way too many categories. But still...
>>>--
>>>James Hague
>>
>>I know VG & CE is your favorite game magazine, James. But you shouldn't
>>always believe what they say. Let me tell you something a friend of mine
>>told me about VG & CE. In its regularly printed column of "Game Doctor" (?)
>>a reader asked the Game Doctor why there exists a converter for Genesis
>>that makes it compatible with the Master Sytem, but not vice versa? The
>>Game Doctor answered something like "because Genesis' power supply isn't
>>the same as the Master System's."
>
>VG & CE *IS* my favorite video game magazine, but that's not saying
>much. The game doctor often gives very flaky answers, some of the
>reviewers are pretty lousy, the awards are meaningless, and they
There you go. You admit the awards are meaningless. Why did you even
bother to post your original article?
>stooped to a new low when they started pushing a 900 number. But
>still, compared to GamePro, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and all of the
>other glop out there...
>
>--
>James Hague
>exu...@exurchn1.ericsson.
Please reply to:
Michael Portuesi
> port...@tweezers.esd.sgi.com (Michael Portuesi) writes:
> >128b...@web-2h.berkeley.edu (Han J. Lee) writes:
> > > exu...@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague) writes:
> > > > Sega needs more solid, original games
> > > > if it wants to survive the upcoming Super NES. Super Mario World
> > > > and F-Zero may be enough to offset the entire Genesis library.
> > >
> > > noticed, Genesis is still the only one machine capable of doing great
> > > shooters.
> >
> >the games for the Genesis *are* shooters. Without variation and fresh
> >ideas, video games won't be fun to play for very long.
>
>Oh yeah? If that was his (and your) point, then you are just plainly
>wrong! According to Mega Drive Fan, as of May, 1991, Mega Drive has
>about 36 action games, 36 shooting games (including the 3-D shooters
>like After Burner and Air Diver), about 15 RPGs, about 5 adventures,
>and about 15 sports games. It's true that not all Mega Drive games
>make it to Genesis. Even then, I calculate that less than 35 % of all
>the Genesis games released are shooters.
Doesn't it say something that all of the Mega Drive games (by your
figures) fit into exactly five categories? And that out of those five
categories, one-third (by your calculation) of all these games are
shooting games? That doesn't sound very diverse to me.
For comparison, let's take a look at the list of games currently
available for the Lynx. I'm not singling out the Lynx because I'm
trying to say that it is a better system than the Genesis. I am using
the Lynx as an example, because it has a very small list of titles.
Also, the Lynx has much less third-party support than the Genesis.
(This is taken from the Lynx FAQ list posted recently):
Block Out 3D Tetris-like game
Blue Lightning High-speed jet combat
California Games Harmless fun in the sun and sand
Chip's Challenge Scrolling mazes and puzzles
Electrocop 3D rescue mission adventure
Fidelity Ultimate Chess against the computer or a friend
Chess Challenge
Gates of Zendocon Shoot-em-up space game
Gauntlet: The Fight through dungeons for a gem
Third Encounter
Klax Catch and position color tiles
Ms. Pac-Man Run the mazes and eat the dots
Ninja Gaiden Street fighting game
Pac-Land Run and jump through Pac-Land
Paperboy Deliver newspapers, keep your job
Rampage Be a monster and destroy cities
Road Blasters Auto racing with guns and rockets
Robo-Squash 3D racqetball
Rygar Run and jump to fight the beasts
Shanghai Remove all tiles from 7 layouts
Slime World Explore slimy caves for treasure
Warbirds WW-I dogfight simulator
Xenophobe Arcade alien fighting game
Zarlor Mercenary Scrolling shoot-em-up
Out a list of 20 titles, we see that two of them (Gates of Zendocon
and Zarlor Mercenary) are scrolling shoot-em-up games, for a grand
total of 10% of the total list of games. We have two "simulator"
shooting games (Warbirds and Blue Lightning). We have one
kick-and-punch game (Ninja Gaiden). All the rest are games with an
original concept (ElectroCop, Slime World), or are at least have a
play mechanic that's distinctly different from the other games on the
list (Ms. Pac-Man, Road Blasters). There's even a chess game in this
measly list of 20 titles! Does the Genesis have a chess game?
>>When I was a teenager, I was a video game addict on machines like the
>>Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Even though the games on both machines
>>were woefully primitive by today's standards, the selection of games
>>was pretty varied.
>
>It seems to me that you'd hate just about any modern game systems.
Not true. I used to own an Amiga 1000, and I greatly enjoyed many of
the games on that system. Mindwalker (almost the very first game ever
released for the Amiga) stands out as one of the most original,
creative games ever developed, period. The game concept was totally
original, the interaction and play mechanic was like no game, and the
graphics and sound were (and still are) very impressive. I also own a
Lynx, and have been very impressed with the games available on that
system.
I just borrowed Thunder Force II, one of the "shooter" games for the
Genesis. I thought that it was fun to play, flowed very smoothly, and
had spiff graphics and sound. I would want to own this cartridge, or
perhaps its sequel, Thunder Force III, which has received several good
reviews on the net. But I don't want a video game library filled with
what are essentially thinly disguised variations of this game.
>Everything on Atari 2600 IS original because there was nothing before.
>Let me also remind you that Genesis does have all the different
>categories of games you mention. And it also has the "far-out" ideas
>like Sonic.
Sonic, for all the good things that it is, is not a "far-out" idea.
It owes as much to the Super Mario Brothers series as it does to the
original ideas it contains. The same thing applies to Mickey Mouse
and the Castle of Illusion.
>>I just bought a Genesis this Sunday, and when I set the machine up I
>>was sorely disappointed. Altered Beast is just another clone of the
>>typical Nintendo "punch and kick your way through the scrolling
>>universe until you meet the boss" type game, only it looked better.
>>Then I read the articles in this newsgroup, and about 200K worth of
>>reviews from the Digital Games Review digest. I've learned that most
>>of the games for the Genesis are differentiated from each other by the
>>fact that in some you punch and kick your way through the scrolling
>>landscape, and in others you shoot your way through.
>
>As far as I remember, Altered Beast, when it first debuted in the
>arcade, was the very first game to use huge characters not only on
>bosses but also on players.
So?
>Altered Beast for Mega Drive came out in
>1988. At that time there wasn't anything on the Nintendo that even
>vaguley resembled Altered Beast.
Yeah. In the Nintendo games, the characters were smaller.
>
>If you think that what gets reviewed in the Digital Games Review
>Digest are all the Genesis games there are, then you're missing out a
>lot of things. Go out and explore them yourself; you'll be pretty
>amazed at how diverse they are. Or you can always read decent
>magazines like Mega Drive Fan and Beep! Mega Drive if you prefer to
>stay home.
Well, I don't know. I went through all the back issues of Digital
Games review and read 49 game reviews (yes, I actually counted them
up). Those reviews covered most of the games I saw on the wall at the
store when I was shopping to buy games.
I guess if I have to learn Japanese so I can read Mega Drive Fan and
Beep! Mega Drive, file the cartridge slot of my system, and search
through mail order lists so that I can find interesting games to play,
well then I guess I'll do so. But you'd think that the good games for
the Mega Drive would eventually show up here sometime.
>>I just purchased "Mickey Mouse and the Castle of Illusion" last night.
>>Even though this is a Super Mario clone in disguise, it is very well
>>executed and is a lot of fun to play. Unfortunately, after making my
>
>I'm sick and tired of people saying games like Sonic, Mickey or Bonk
>are "Super Mario clone." I cannot find any similarities between
>Sonic/Mickey/ Bonk and Mario other than that you run, jump and get
>items.
Over a set of left-scrolling landscapes that eventually ends up with a
boss character. Heck, even the mushrooms that Mickey jumps on in
Castle of Illusion look like the mushrooms from Super Mario.
> But then all the "action" games have the same thing.
My point exactly.
>Heck,
>you can even say that Strider is a "Mario clone" because you run,
>jump, get items, and explore areas.
You're not doing much to help your argument by pointing this out.
>It seems to me that whenever an
>action game uses a cute, little character, (although personally, I
>don't think Mario is cute) people touts it as a "Mario clone."
Q*bert, Frogger, Pengo, Mappy, Bubble Bobble, the entire Pac-man
series, Pooyan, and others use cute, little characters. They are not
"Mario clones". What earns the title "Mario Clone" is the general
structure and play action in the game. And the play action between
Mario/Mickey/Sonic is all very similar. Mickey and Sonic might add
their own twists and new features, but they owe Mario for their basic
structure.
In closing, I very much appreciate advances in technology and what
they can do for the state of the art. They make it possible to do
things that have never been done before, to bring to life new ideas
that couldn't be done in the past for the lack of CPU/graphics/audio.
But the best technology doesn't always mean that games are going to be
original, creative, or fun. Imagination is what makes games fun.
Instead of seeing imagination go towards coming up with new and novel
ideas, I see it going towards what the power-ups and bosses will look
like, and where the scrolling landscape turns and heads downward.
Considering all the things that can be done with machines like the
Genesis, it just seems like a waste.