Craigslist super duper pickup!

An unexpected Craigslist find! Got a killer deal on some Pokemon and one of Nintendo's most (in)famous systems....

Well blow me down!

Video Game Pickups...It's been a good week!

Here is my video game pickup video for mid-May. I found some really cool games this past week and scored a pretty nice haul at the flea market today. Of particular note are the Saturn and Dreamcast games. 1) It's hard to find Saturn games around here that aren't sports or total crap games. 2) It's hard to find DreamCast games around here that aren't sports, total crap games, or the same good/decent games that always pop up(like Sonic Adventure). Here's to hoping for a fruitful game hunting summer!

mid-May Video Game Pickup crazyness!

Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie (Super Famicom) text review

Just an ordinary song that was popular in an alien city tens of thousands of years ago

Press start and let the awesome begin!

Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Winky Soft and released in Japan in 1993. It is based on the Macross franchise, better known in the west as Robotech. Seeing as how Macross is a hugely successful franchise in Japan, while Robotech was one of the pioneers of anime in the west, it’s not hard to understand why this game never saw a release outside of Japan. That’s really a shame, as Scrambled Valkyrie is one hell of a game and is very import-friendly. You don’t need to know any Japanese to play the game, as what little text that’s in the game is in English, or more accurately, Engrish. So with all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the game itself.

Scrambled Valkyrie takes place in the Macross: Do You Remember Love setting and makes excellent use of the Macross license. I won’t go into much detail regarding the story, as it doesn’t really play a huge part of the game. Actually, the story is hardly mentioned in the game, but it certainly does add something to the experience if you are familiar with the movie or even the show. For those unfamiliar, the Zentradi alien race has waged war on Earth and has humanity on it’s heels. Ever resilient, mankind seeks to defend itself and the pilots of their military fleet are the stars of the game.

As the player, you have a choice of three pilots: the love-torn Hikaru(Rick in Robotech), the ace pilot Max, and the Zentradi Millia. Each pilot has their own entirely unique weapon load-out for their VF-1 Valkyrie fighter. The VF-1 Vakyries are aircraft that resemble a fighter place, but can swap between three distinct forms: fighter(jet fighter), GERWALK(half fighter, half robot), and Battroid(robot). Each form for each pilot has a single, unique weapon, so swapping between forms becomes a huge part of the strategy in the game. When in fighter mode, the Valkyrie has a smaller profile and moves swiftly, GERWALK has a slightly larger profile and moves at a moderate pace, while the Battroid has the largest profile and moves the slowest. As you might imagine, the weapon used in fighter mode is, for the most part, a quick, forward-firing weapon. The GERWALK and Battroid weapons are where you will find your heavy hitters and directional-based weaponry. Also, each pilot has one weapon that can travel through walls and barriers. When and how you use each weapon is crucial to success in Scrambled Valkyrie. Part of what makes the game so much fun is that each weapon for each pilot is actually useful and not a throwaway just added in for variety. Each of the three weapons you have at your disposal starts at level 1 and can be powered up to level three by collecting power-ups dropped by destroyed enemies. Getting hit will damage your health meter as well as powering down your currently equipped weapon by 1 level.

Crazy cool Macross art!

 One of the more unique and interesting features of the game is the “Minmay cannon”. If you remain motionless for approximately 1 second, your Valkyrie will become engulfed in a golden aura. Certain enemies will swap sides and join you in battle if they come in contact with the aura. As far as I was able to tell, once they become your ally they are invincible and do not receive damage. You can only have one ally at a time and they will fight alongside you as long as you do not die or recruit another enemy. Some of the enemies you recruit aren’t very powerful, but some of the more advanced enemies later in the game can really bring the pain. This is especially helpful in the last level where the difficulty really steps up, but more on that later. 
Click here to see my No-Death run with Hikaru

There are 7 levels to battle your way through in Scrambled Valkyrie, each progressively more difficult than the last. The levels are varied and beautiful, with an ever-changing variety of enemies scattered throughout. Some levels take place in space, some on land, and one even takes place inside the SDF(Super Dimension Fortress). The SDF level is probably my favorite, as it is gorgeous and really stands out from the rest of the levels. There is even one point in the level where you pass by the concert hall, with it’s laser-light show in full effect, and a Minmay song begins to play. It’s obvious that the developers were Macross fans and took the time to add in such a nice touch. All in all, with it’s excellent use of parallax scrolling, vibrant colors, and pixel-perfect rendering of the Macross universe, Scrambled Valkyrie is a 16-bit visual extravaganza. I would easily count it among the best looking games that I have ever played from the 16-bit era.

The gameplay in Scrambled Valkyrie is smooth and precise. The actual controls of the game are very simple, making use of 2 face buttons and, of course, the D-pad for movement. The B button is used to fire your weapon; thankfully the game uses an “auto-fire” mechanic, rather than having you repeatedly tapping the button until your thumb falls off. The Y button is used to swap between the modes of your Valkyrie. The pacing of each level has a nice, steady flow, as you battle through waves of enemies and navigate over mountains, between space debris, and around giant spaceships. I made mention of your Valkyrie having a health meter earlier, which might lead you to believe the game to be a bit on the easy side. Don’t let the health meter or simple controls fool you; Scrambled Valkyrie is a tough game. As is the case with most shmups, you will die plenty of times in your quest to make it to the end. Memorizing levels, enemy tactics, and knowing which weapon, or even which pilot to use, all play a part in finding your way deeper into the game. Thankfully, the game controls very well and the hitbox for your Valkyrie feels just right. You won’t find yourself being hit by an object that seemingly passed by your ship or anything like that. While it is a rather challenging game, the difficulty is balanced enough that you always seem to be making a little more progress with each life. Speaking of which, you only have 1 life and then it’s game over. You have a limited number of continues, but the game is rather generous in this regard. Also, in each level there is a hidden continue(Macross icon) to be found. So don’t fret too much about that. There is also a simple level-select cheat that can be entered at the title screen if you choose to go that route.

My very own copy!

 The sound effects are nothing extraordinary, just your typical space-battle kind of fare that fits rather well with the feel of the game. But it’s the music that really shines in Scrambled Valkyrie. If you’re a fan, you will probably recognize a few tunes from the Macross world. I don’t have enough knowledge about music to really expound on the matter, but each track seems to fit the level and general atmosphere of the game. My personal favorite is “Ai Oboete Imasu ka”, which eerily plays as you approach the epic, final battle of the game.

It’s really hard to find anything negative to say about the game. It looks beautiful, has great music, controls wonderfully, has a nice variety of weapons, offers a stiff, but rewarding challenge, and shows a lot of small touches and care that the developers put into it. There is very little slowdown in the game, which is a pleasant surprise for a SNES, or in this case, Super Famicom shmup. Perhaps the only real downside, if you can even call it that, is the Engrish used in the transition screens between levels and at the end of the game. However, the game was never localized for an English-speaking audience and, to me, the Engrish just adds to the overall charm of the game.

If it isn’t obvious by now, I cannot recommend this game enough. I went into the game expecting some Macross and shmup goodness, but was blown away by just how awesome the game is on all fronts. Nothing about the game would caution me in recommending it, unless you simply don’t like a good challenge. I don’t often replay games once I have finished them, but I’ve gone back and completed Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie multiple times in the last few weeks. It really is a pleasure on every level you could want it to be and is simply a blissfully awesome experience. It easily stands as one of the most technically superior and well-crafted SNES/Super Famicom games and shmups that I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. They sure don’t make em like they used to.

Of course it was a love song

Pickups from the last week, including an import Super Famicom game

I made a few nice pickups here in the last week. Not much in the way of volume, but the quality of the games is nice...and that's what counts anyways. So, on with the show.

First up, ToeJam & Earl in Panic in Funkotron. I've played a little bit of the first TJ & E game, but not

this one. Interestingly enough, the original ToeJam & Earl was one of the very few Genesis games that I actually wanted to play back in the 16 bit era. I had made the (wise) decision to go SNES, but there were a few Genesis games that I really wanted. Fast forward 20 years later and I still have not played much of the first TJ & E, even though I downloaded it on the Wii's Virtual Console years ago. Anyway, Funkotron is not a game that pops up very often in my neck of the woods, so when I saw it I knew I had to have it!

Next is Shadow of the Ninja for the NES. I've heard a lot of good things about this one the last few years, so it's been on my radar for a while. It also seems that the price is rising on this bad boy, so now was the time to get it before things just get nuts price-wise. I noticed it's a two-player game, so assuming it's co-op maybe I can check that out when my brother stops by next time. It's getting to the point now that I have most of the basic NES games that I really want. There are a few more expensive and/or somewhat uncommon ones left that I want, like River City Ransom and Metal Storm, but I pretty much have the basics covered. In the future I'll start getting more and more not so must-have games, which is kind of a relief(both mentally and on the pocketbook).
 

How about Illusion of Gaia? Never played it. Sounds like a winner from all I've heard. I remember reading about the game in Nintendo Power ages ago and thinking it looked cool. On top of that, I found it complete in box and what a box it is. At first I thought it was a reproduction box it looked so pristine. On closer inspection, there are a few minor blemishes on the front-right edge of the box, but other than that it's flawless. Very happy to have it join the collection.

 Last, but certainly not least, Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie for the Super Famicom! I've still been on something of a shmup tear as of late, but also on a Robotech/Macross tear as well. I saw ClassicGameRoom's review of this game a while back and it really got me fired up for the game. I pulled the trigger a few weeks back when I saw the game for a decent price on ebay and it arrived a few days ago. The only problem was that I don't have a Super
Famicom. So I either had to get a Super Famicom or modify my SNES. I'm not a handy guy by any means, so I was kind of nervous
about opening up my only SNES(a model 2), even though it's a relatively simple operation(removing the two plastic tabs inside the cartridge port). Well, having the game in my possession motivated me enough to try it last night. Not having the proper screw bit to open up the SNES, I had to use the Bic pen and lighter method(thanks interwebz). Everything worked out great and last night I finally got to play the game for the first time. It's really an impressive game and well worth the money I spent on it. The gameplay is on the money, the music is sweet, and the graphics are top-notch. I couldn't be happier with it. I'll definitely do a review of it if I'm ever able to beat it. I got to the 6th stage on Easy before I had to step away and can't wait to see the rest. The Minmay concert level was just gorgeous. I kind of wish I'd sprung for a complete copy though. Check out the hot boxart to the right.

So that's all for now. I'm not sure I'll be getting a lot of games in the near future, as I have some household projects to fund, as well as needing to beef up the ol' nestegg and get ready for the birth of my daughter. I won't stop collecting, that's for sure. It's just that for the time being it will be small-scale purchases like this last week. However, since I can play Super Famicom games now I might bite the bullet and get a big lot of Super Famicom games since they are so affordable. I guess we'll see. Yokoi!

Sinistron (TurboGrafx 16) text review

Sinistron is a horizontal scrolling shooter, shmup, similar in style and theme to games like

Gradius and R-Type. In many ways it is as simple as they come; you jump right into the game and start blasting away at enemies. There is the obligatory plot of a menace taking over the world, in this case the Sinstron, and it’s up to you to put a stop to it. While enjoyable enough and competent where it counts, the game does have a few points that make it stand out from the crowd...some of which is good, and some that is not so good.

As mentioned above, like so many classic shmups the game scrolls horizontally to the right. Your job is to blast your way through the enemies, get to the level’s boss, then proceed to the next level. That sounds so simple, and mechanically speaking, it really is. Sinistron is not very complicated. In a lot of ways it feels pretty bare bones. No hidden stages or bosses. No secrets to unlock. There really isn’t any nifty hidden tricks that I am aware of or could find on the web. Simple. Except that challenge-wise Sinistron is very much not a simple game. Personally, I would describe the difficulty as brutal. I’m far from an expert player, and I’m definitely not a shmup god, but I’ve made my way through a number of very challenging games through the years. Amazingly enough, I was able to finish Sinistron and would probably include it among the top 10 most challenging games that I’ve ever completed. I might even say it is the most difficult game that I’ve completed. The only reason this is possible is because the game gives you infinite continues.

So how is Sinistron so difficult? Initially the game lulls you to sleep a bit. The first three stages are a breeze. Things seem pretty simple. Then the difficulty ramps up significantly through the final three stages. You might think that this is the new difficulty plateau for the game and find yourself saying “Ok, this is how it’s gonna be from here on out”. Not so, as the game gets increasingly difficult until the end. Enemies get harder to kill and you will find yourself getting swarmed, surrounded, and boxed in rather quickly.

One of the other saving graces of the game, besides the infinite continues, is that each level has a checkpoint that you can continue from. This works really well and is one of the truly exceptional aspects of the game. On some levels you may find yourself relieved to have reached that checkpoint and can then battle your way through to the end. However, this is not always the case. If you have played R-Type before, you know that those checkpoints can be a hindrance more than a blessing. Where Sinistron really gets it right is that once you have reached the checkpoint and die, you can then choose to continue at the checkpoint or start over at the beginning of the level. There were a few times that I found myself using this gracious option, as some levels are best tackled from beginning to end with all of those luscious power-ups that you gain throughout. This doesn’t really make the game less challenging, as it is a true challenge, but it gives you options and doesn’t force you into a corner.

Now about those power-ups. The weapons upgrades are your usual fare, waves, fire, homing, as well as speed and satellite pods that surround your ship. But wait, there’s more! This is another area where Sinistron sets itself apart from the rest of the crowd. Your ship starts out with common pea shooter and what looks like a lance or spear-like formation on it’s nose. This

The spear/jaw thingy, pic courtesy of TMola@gamefaqs

“spear” can absorb common shots from enemies and also be used to damage enemies, as long as they don’t reach the body of your ship. Now the neat part: collect a weapon power-up and you can open the “spear” and your shots will then spread out. The drawback is that the front of your ship is then exposed and can be damaged if a shot or enemies makes it’s way between the open “spear”, which is more like an open beak or jaw. If you collect another power-up, you can then open the front of the ship further, which gives you a wider spread of blaster shots. And yes, you guessed it, this will also further expose the front of your ship to damage. With this you can cycle through the three stages of the ship’s nose configuration: closed to a fine point, slightly open, or wide open. It’s this mechanic of opening and closing of the nose of your ship that really becomes the key to success in Sinistron. You will find yourself strategically spreading out the nose, slightly or wide-open, at some points to not only spread your fire, but also to angle the defensive wall about the front of your ship. Sometimes you will opt to close the nose to fortify your ship from frontal attacks and to reach out and touch enemies with it in addition to concentrating your fire. It’s really a simple, but cool, useful, and unique gameplay mechanic that plays a crucial part in finding success in the game. There is also a “charge” shot that sends out a circular blast around your ship. As you can tell, a balance of offense and defense is the name of the game in Sinistron.

The graphics in the game are nice enough. In this regard the game is pretty much in the middle of the pack. You might even classify the looks as a bit generic. That’s not too much of a drawback, as it can be pretty hard to mess up on the tried and true space shmup look. Sinistron just doesn’t really do anything exceptional in this department, nor does it ever try to. The enemies don’t stand out much and are pretty much just canon fodder to blast your way through. As you might expect, they do have some of that H.R. Giger-esque quality that so many shmups borrowed from the classic Alien film franchise. This has been done to death in shmups of the era, but I’ve never minded it one bit. It’s just that Sinistron does the Giger and standard space enemy routine in a pretty bland and by the numbers fashion, whereas a game like R-Type invests itself into that look and feel and draws you in by the variety and creativity the developers put into it. In the audio department things are equally as vanilla. Nothing too bad, but there is a nice enough music track here and there.

If you’ve read to this point of the review, you might not know if you should play the game or not. This is a game that definitely has it’s ups and down. In my opinion the highs do outweigh the lows, as the lows are not really that low…just a bit generic and uninspired. Gameplay and controls are always the make or break deal on a shmup, and this is where Sinistron really does it’s best. The control of the ship feels spot-on and the nose-mechanic of the ship is interesting and of great strategic value. The look and feel of the game just feel a bit dialed-in by comparison. This run of the mill look and feel doesn’t lend itself to repeated play sessions of the game. We have all played any number of games through the years that we will go back to just to relive the experience and atmosphere of the game again; Sinsitron probably won’t be calling out to you in that way. However, the difficulty is definitely where the game will either draw you in or smother your interest. As I said, the infinite continues and optional mid-level checkpoints will help you navigate through the brutal difficulty, but Sinistron is truly brutal. If it’s a stiff challenge you are looking for, you will most definitely find it in Sinistron’s increasingly difficult six stages. Give it a try if you have the chance. Enjoy the tight controls and nifty gameplay mechanics…but don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you keep a swear-jar around the house, it might be best to dispense with the practice while you’re clawing your way through Sinistron.

Streets of Rage (GEN) playthrough

Streets of Rage, the classic beat-em-up by Sega for their most successful console. I'm more of a Final Fight guy, but Streets of Rage is no doubt among the greats. Not only is the gameplay tried and true, but this game has some of the best music, courtesy of Yuzo Koshiro. Yuzo Koshiro is one of the most revered of all game music composers. He has worked on the Streets of Rage series, Ys, Revenge of Shinobi, and one of my favorites, ActRaiser. Here is my playthrough of Streets of Rage. All went pretty well until the final boss, where I had to burn through a few continues. Enjoy!

Moi playing Biometal (SNES) through to the end

Here is a playthrough I did of Biometal on Super Nintendo. At first the game seems like a real back-breaker, but with a little patience it is quite doable...even by a schmoe like me. I made it to the 6th and final level before having to burn through a few continues(I edited out the continues). Overall it's a really fun little game. Getting adept with the "GAM", which is basically "options" that rotate around your ship, is key to survival and is a must; particularly the ability of "boomeranging" the GAM, which flings it across the screen before it returns back to orbit your ship, is vital. It's a pretty beat gimmick that really sets it apart from most shmup's that I've played. The review I read on shmups.com complained about the graphics being a bit drab, but I think the graphics are actually quite nice for the most part. The music on the other hand...oy vey!