On Feb 22, 2:00 pm, "BelPowerslave"
whipassgaming.com> wrote:> I've still yet to play Herzog Zwei. I see it from time to time, but
> it's always cart-only and I just don't know that I'll be able to get
> the hang of it without a full manual.
When we first rented it, it was the cart only. (Off-topic: I never
understood how people got away with stealing the game manual from
rental shops.) It took us a little while to figure out how to play it
because we had never played a real-time strategy game before. I was
always surprised that it didn't spawn a series of games or at least
clones from the competition. Anyways, we never even knew that you
could give an existing unit new orders until after I was able to
purchase the game (used but at least I got a manual this time).
This is still a game that I will play from time to time against
somebody that knows how to play because it's so much fun but noobs
don't really stand a chance against experience. That includes PC RTS
game players usually because they spend most of their time bitching
about the interface / gamepad and don't seem to grasp the arcade
aspect of it. You actually control a robot/fighter-jet transformer
directly that not only deploys units but can be used directly in
battle.
The computer is a good opponent for a beginner in one-player mode.
Actually, it's quite good even against an experienced player but I get
a little tired of it's single-minded sameness strategy. When it
decides it wants a base, it will never give up trying! It's not easy
to use misdirection on it. But even if you don't have anyone to play
against, playing in single-player mode is fun.
The only other game like this that I ever saw on Genesis was Dune 2.
But it's a single player game and there is no arcade element. Herzog
Zwei is the best RTS on Genesis, period.
I recommend picking this one up if you ever see it if it's reasonably
priced. Even cart only, you can figure it out. You can always ask
around for help!
>> Master of Monsters was another strategy game that always
>> turned into an all-nighter.
>
> This was a Renovation-published title wasn't it? I remember seeing ads
> and reviews for it...but never got a chance to try it. Need to break
> it out in an emulator and see what it's all about.
Yeah, Renovation, they always seemed to have the strangest games, not
always a bad thing. I haven't played it in a long time. The graphics
are a lot simpler than Herzog Zwei and probably don't stand up well
today. It's all turn-based, too. It's really best with four players
which is why I don't play it anymore. Nobody gets together anymore to
play games. It's all over the internet now.
I think there is a Master of Monsters for Playstation but I've never
tried it. I know there was an import for Saturn but I don't read
Japanese.
>
> Oddly enough, I've only ever played any of the RR series via
> emulation...and not for very long. I'd like to pick up all of them as
> people just rave about the series.
I think the original is the best one on the Genesis. Maybe it's the
music or maybe it's just because it was something new, I don't know
for sure. I also enjoyed Rash 3D on Playstation because it's possible
to race forever (literally!) -- the tracks are are huge and all
interconnected -- plus it has awesome music. My all-time favorite
Rash is the one for N64, though, because you can play with four people
at once and the computer really makes you fight to win, you can't get
away with just avoiding fights.
>
>> The "hacking" levels of Shadowrun.
>
> A buddy of mine let me borrow this. I opened it, looked at that thick-
> ass manual and immediately closed the box. I'll play this someday, but
> only once I actually own it. I'm not putting in a 5 hour read for
> something I'm renting or just borrowing. ;)
You'll definitely need to spend some time with this one if you get
it. It's a fairly deep game for a cart.
>> Those twisting star charts in Star Control.
>
> Yeah, those were hip. Weren't they all vector-based?
>
Yeah, I think so. I can remember playing all night then trying to
sleep afterwards. When I would close my eyes, I would "see" those
twisting charts!
>> Two-player cooperative games were great on the Genesis. I had great
>> games for the SNES, as well, but most of them were single-player
>> only. The Genesis always seemed to have the better games to play when
>> friends were around. The X-Men platform games, especially the second
>> one, were always a blast to play along with a good friend
>
> A buddy of mine and I went all the way through X-Men two via some help
> of the Game Genie. It was great.
I've never made it all the way to the end in two-player. The other
player can never make it that far. The rising water level is as far
as any partner I've had can ever make it. They always end up getting
trapped and drowning, even if I let them be Nightcrawler. Maybe we
should have used a Genie, too. I've made it to the end by myself and
even once after the other player used up all of the other lives but
that wasn't easy.
>
>> Even
>> the competitve games, the versus-fighting games like the Mortal Kombat
>> or Street Fighter series, were great fun.
>
> Not to mention old school fighters like Fighting Masters...
That was Renovation, too, wasn't it? All of the old fighting games
before Street Fighter 2 were real button-mashers. We enjoyed 'em
because we didn't know any better!
>
>> Mutant League Football, one of the last great game from the good and
>> inventive old Electronic Arts before they became the boring sequel-
>> spawning corporate EA. The old Electronic Arts spun creative and fun
>> games like Mutant League Football and Powermonger.
>
> The Immortal and General Chaos too. :)
>
>> The new corporate
>> EA are the ones that bought then cancelled games like Thrill Kill for
>> PSX or bought up the NFL license to shut down Sega's competition in
>> the football market.
>
> Yep, they are pretty much the Nazis of the gaming development
> community now. I feel sorry for anyone associated with them.
>
Yeah, I feel like such a nerd saying how much I hate their company.
But they really used to make the most original games! Now if it's not
a sequel of something they made money on before or a clone of
something somebody else made money on, forget it. Plus, I hate how
they leveraged Sega out of the football game market with money because
they knew Sega was making a better game. As much as I liked the first
John Madden game for Genesis, sometimes I wish they had never made it
just because it seemed like the root of their "evil".
>> Once the multi-tap came out, sports games just exploded in fun. Yeah,
>> online games are fun bu there's still nothing like you and three of
>> your friends playing a good sports game in the same room together. I
>> still think back fondly to multi-tap games of Madden and Live. There
>> were also some great non-sports multi-tap games, too, like Yu Yu
>> Hakusho (by Treasure) and General Chaos.
>
> General Chaos was about the only game I got a chance to play via the
> multi tap. It was awesome to no end though!
>
Yu Yu Hakusho is a great multi-tap versus fighting game for four
players. It plays a lot like Guardian Heroes for Saturn (both games
were made by Treasure).
>> The six-button controller. It came out a little too late to be great
>> in the Genesis days but it did lead to the almighty-awesome Saturn six-
>> button pad.
>
> I don't know about that...I mean, I got it *right* after SF2:SCE came
> out, in fact I bought it the day I rented the game(right after it came
> out) and the Genesis still had quite a bit of life left int it. I
> don't know the exact date it surfaced, but I am pretty sure the
> Genesis still had 2 or 3 years left in it.
>
You're right, the six-button pad was great for fighting games. I wish
they had used it better for sports games, though.
>> The add-ons were great fun despite the naysayers:
>
>> Game Genie - I never used much for "cheating" my way to the end of
>> games as much as I did for the bonus effects. We did like using the
>> "Finish Him" codes for Mortal Kombat, for example.
>
> I can't live, or game, without the Game Genie. Too many games are
> ruined by their developers, the GG lets you combat that with unlimited
> lives, continues, etc.
>
I've never understood why game developers hide stuff in games. Let me
have all of the characters and levels. At least, if you want me to
earn it, unlock everything after I've played so many hours.
>> Sega CD - my first exposure to CD-ROM games; several of my PC playing
>> friends were amazed by the games compared to what they were able to
>> play on CD at the time. Okay, I admit it's stupid now but I really
>> did enjoy playing Sewer Shark when I first got it.
>
> Same here...I still kind of like it.
>
Hah, yeah, I think I might even fire up the ol' Shark when I get home
just for laughs. I loved the commercials for that game, too.
>> And with Lethal
>> Enforcers CD, I added a pair of lightguns to my collection of
>> accessories.
>
> I am still disappointed with LE 1 and 2 on SCD, but they *are* better
> than the Genesis versions. I, too, have both of the light guns.
> Debating selling them, and both LEs once I pick up LE Collection on
> PSX.
>
You have the second gun, too?! I thought I was the only one that ever
sent away for it. I mean, the second gun that plugs into the first
gun. I wonder if it's a collectible?
I'm sure that I'm the only one that ever sent away for the link cable
for Zero Tolerance. ; )
>
> I saw the X-Band at Blockbuster, but never got to try it. Was it
> pretty much like the Netlink where you needed to already have an ISP,
> or did it provide some sort of connection like the Sega Channel did?
> Also, how were the matches...were they seriously laggy or anything?
>
Nope, you didn't even need an internet connection at all. Just a
phone line. You called in to a phone server. Once a match was found,
the server would conference in the other player then drop out of the
connection, leaving the two of you directly connected. When they
first started, everything was direct-dial and response in the games
was perfect. I even played a few games cross-country that were
totally smooth. The only problem was if you played somebody long
distance, whoever was the original player got stuck with the whole
phone bill. Not cool. You could set your preference for local
challenges only but I never had many opponents locally.
Then XBand set-up a phone server called Nationwide. The way this
worked was that XBand's phone server would stay in the conference so
that both players would split any long-distance charges. Great idea,
bad execution. The added phone magic meant lag-time in the controls,
sometimes pretty bad. It made fighting games way too choppy. Of
course, you could still do local matches and those still played great.
If I remember correctly, they could send program updates to your XBand
cart. I always thought they should have given everyone a way to
direct-dial once they went out of business. It would be so cool to be
able to still play some of those games over the phone.
The Saturn Netlink uses a lot of the same graphics as the XBand
network when you link to play games. It's basically the same thing
with true direct-dial.
>> 32X - my first exposure to Doom.
>
> Same here. I got this a little while after I got my first 32X unit(it
> was $19.99, clearanced at Toys R Us). Played it until my eyes
> bled...then broke out the Visine and played it somemore.
>
I went out and bought a PC gamepad just to play Doom that way at my
friend's house. They would network all of their PC's together. I
always got the old spare PC but I was used to playing on a slightly
smaller screen anyways. I used to replay on the 32X at the hardest
level just to practice for those deathmatches.
> The 32X really did have a quite solid library of titles. I wish more
> people could see that. Right now, on this planet, I think it's you,
> myself, Scott H and like 4 others that know it. ;)
>
I remember when Incredible Universe (Radio Shack) was clearancing
32X's with Virtua Fighter for something like twenty bucks. I told
everyone that I knew about it. They were all like, "32X? No way I'm
buying that crap!" But I did manage to get some of my friends to buy
it because they had played mine and new it was at least worth a
Jackson.
I think it's too bad that they couldn't have come out with the 32X at
around the time they released Virtua Racing. And maybe did it for
$99, too. But I guess that wasn't financially possible. Even so, I
had a blast with my 32X. It held me over until I got my Saturn,
another greatly unappreciated Sega machine.
