Last game you played?

[ID415]

The Suffering, one of my favourite PS2 games. A great game in my opinion.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Dick Tracy (NES)

Was having fun until I realized there was going to be platforming in this.

[Preki]

Konami's famous Tokimeki Memorial for Super Famicom, finally available in English thanks to the DDS Translations group. It's my first take at the dating sim genre, so this is gonna be a beautiful failure This reminds me of a scene in Full Metal Panic anime, where Sagara struggles with a game like this.

[P]

So that game was finally translated to English huh?
It's not the best version of the game but this is a cursed one that no one was able to finish so it's a good thing that it's finally done.
It's also one of the biggest heavy-hitting and super influential franchises of the '90s that hasn't been available in English until now so it's relieving to hear that someone could finally lift that two decade old curse. It inspired other big-name games like Sakura Taisen and Harvest Moon, and popularized the stat-training style of life-simulation games that first took off with Princess Maker by Gainax, so yeah its cultural importance is immense.
Serves Konami right for wanting us to forget the game by being one of two games not included in the international versions of the PC-Engine Mini.

This game is all about defusing bombs. You have to balance everything so that you don't light too many fuses too soon and at the same time avoid spilling oil on the ones already lit.

[Preki]

This game is all about defusing bombs.

Welp, there's indeed a flashing bomb symbol next to one girl's name I remember accidentally skipping a date with her which made her MAD at me.

Heheh, told ya I'm gonna screw something up! This is harder than piloting Vic Viper against yet another fleet of the Bacterions

[P]

Yeah it's a Konami game alright and it can become very stressful. The girls are ruthless, don't underestimate their innocent smiles and always expect the worst.

Bombs are unavoidable, but you want most of them to come as late as possible so don't be too nice to other girls too soon (but don't be an ass either). A bomb going off is not too bad if you still have a year or so to recover from it, but late in the game the damage can be devastating and you are probably juggling almost 10 girls around that time, which can get very intense.
Just calling or talking to a girl probably helps lengthening her fuse a bit, but only a successful date can disarm a bomb (for the time being) AFAIK.

If you fail it's not the end of the world, and in that case at least you have seen the bad ending. I don't know what you get in the SFC version, but in the PC-Engine version you unlock a Free Talk for every girl you win the game with, and Yoshio's Free Talk is unlocked even if you get the bad ending as consolation. There are also two STG minigames (which are different for each version of the game) that can be unlocked and be played at any time from the Omake option, but I think the SFC and GBC versions are missing those. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Super Mario Kart (SNES) for the first time.

Gonna be honest here, not enjoying it. I find I'm at the mercy of the RNG. I tend to stay first the first four laps then get item bombed on the fifth.

I understand this is the first Mario Kart, but it's still frustrating beyond belief. I took advice and learned the courses through the Time Trials but that hardly helped: opponents constantly knocking you off course, running out of coins and spinning out, and boosters (which aren't in Time Trial) all ruin your good run.

I think the biggest problem (which was fixed in all the sequels) is how much you get punished for little mistakes.

I also don't understand how Toad is slower than Yoshi? Whatevs, made it to Rainbow Road, got Silver. F this game. Tried to enjoy it.

[P]

What SMK is easily the best game in the series. Later games are usually waaay too easy, with some exceptions (like Mario Kart Advance).

Rather than RNG I think it's the rubber banding that kills you. No matter how good you are there is always going to be someone behind you, so you will have to learn to handle them. If you shoot a CPU opponent it will also get super rubber banding speed until it's back in its original position. Their original positions are determined by how many points they currently have (for the first race it is determined by player 1's driver choice), so it will only change if you are able to shoot someone right before the finish line so he gets less points than he is supposed to.

The driver stats are found here, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. They suggest that each pair (Mario & Luigi, Princess & Yoshi etc) are identical, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. I play well with Mario and Toad but can't handle Luigi and Koopa Troopa very well for some reason.

Toad is said to have both slower acceleration and top-speed than Yoshi, but if you look at the acceleration chart you can see that Toad overtakes Yoshi after 8 seconds, so acceleration is not a linear thing. His top-speed is only 120 km/h compared to Yoshi's 125 km/h, but that is only on asphalt. On most other surfaces Toad wins even against DK Jr.

That, plus the fact that Toad has the best handling in the game, means that Toad (and Koopa Troopa) is easily the best driver in the game overall. Especially on Special Cup that has the hardest tracks in the game. Toad is easily my favorite and I have won gold on all cups in the game using him. It's kind of weird that the manual claims that Toad and Koopa & Troopa are best for beginners when they are best for advanced players as well on the harder tracks.


A cool trick:
In most modes you can shrink your character permanently by holding Y and pressing A on the kart select screen. You still retain your normal top speed (unlike when hitting a poison mushroom) but this is mostly a handicap for your opponents. You can abuse it by playing 2-player GP and shrink the second player to get one opponent less.
2-player GP also reduces the number of certain hazards (like pipes and Thwomps), making the game a bit easier.
If you got someone to help you, you can also have a second player (shrinked or not) that waits each lap and tries to shoot your biggest rival the final lap.

There is also a trick that allows you to save one Time Trial ghost to SRAM, but you would have to look that up. A bit weird that it requires a trick not mentioned in the manual.


Edit:
There is certain techniques that are important to know in order to use things like banana peels on CPU opponents. They follow the track by aiming for certain invisible checkpoints, and they will always drive identically every lap unless a human player (or other external factor) can change that. This means that there is a very narrow line that they effectively follow for each track, and each driver pair has their own set line that they follow due to their different physics (this also means that Yoshi will often fall victim for the Princess' mushrooms and vice versa). Look for landmarks where you know they pass and try to put banana peels and green shells (press DOWN+A) there. Never throw banana peels forward (UP+A) unless you play against human players (and you have a very good aim), because the chance that it will land on the lines the opponents follows each lap is very slim (unless you have a REALLY good aim).
One such landmark is exactly in the middle of the finish line of the first track in the game. An especially cruel one is between the second zipper from the left and the next zipper on that big jump over the track in Mario Circuit 2. The opponent slipping on a banana peel here will not have enough speed to make the jump and will have to go around the final hairpin curve again. If this is the final lap they will very likely not be able to rubber band their cheating ass back to position before the finish line, so it's a good way to eliminate an opponent with too many points.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

When I said RNG I meant the items, because I assumed it was rigged like this: https://youtu.be/7suvd4UA6cU

I immediately realized that even the first Mario Kart used the crappy same cpus place in the top every time design I hate. It would've been more interesting if everyone was hard, but cpus weren't rigged to place the same every time, then you'd have some leeway.

As for drivers, I suck with Koopa Troopa; I tried 100cc Special Cup, but I could not, for the lifeforce of me, keep up with anybody. I can't use anyone with slow acceleration because there are too many tight curves and drifting won't work due to oversteering (usu. into water) or understeering (the road is too tight to keep a good drift) that I have to slow down anyway).

I get the best results from Yoshi and can manage his steering (I haven't played as Peach yet).

In most modes you can shrink your character permanently by holding Y and pressing A on the kart select screen. You still retain your normal top speed (unlike when hitting a poison mushroom) but this is mostly a handicap for your opponents

This begs the question...

so if I'm always small...

does that mean if I touch a poison mushroom I become even smaller?!

Edit: NM, you turn big, don't you?

Edit: I tried this feature. You get flattened by your opponents when they run into you. How is this an advantage?

Anyway, I'd rather not cheese the game (yet). I almost got gold on 100cc Star Cup due to the cpu racers eating lots of ass on Vanilla Lake. It's heavily luck-based, but it's not unfeasible.

I assume 150cc is entirely optional?

Edit: Somehow I made it to Rainbow Road with 30 points and Toad and Bowser behind with 19 each and I still couldn't even place 4th because those damn Thwomps take up too much space and the options are:

a. run into one and spin out
b. slow down, get rammed by another racer
c. drive off the road

Option b often ends up with me falling off the road anyway.

It's not that the road is too narrow, that there's no barriers, that the corners are sharp; it's all three of these coupled with cheating ai with unlimited items who knock you off course combined with trying to time thwomps.

To hell with this game! I've seen enough.  <- me walking away

Edit: Okay, I'm going to try your shrink technique with two players. <- me walking back

Edit: Okay, I managed to finish with Gold only because there were less thwomps on Rainbow Road. No other reason (except maybe Bowser falling behind and Koopa Troopa/DK Jr. being my rivals). I also noticed less ice blocks on Vanilla Lake, making traversing also manageable.

I think the amount of hazards on one player breaks this game's difficulty. If someone hacked this game to reduce them to the amount in two players, then that would be (chef's kiss) magnifico!

[P]

When I said RNG I meant the items, because I assumed it was rigged like this: https://youtu.be/7suvd4UA6cU

Yeah well the items do indeed represent the luck factor in this game. But you basically need skills to make up for bad luck. Then to win in the end you may need that small push of luck that never seems to come (like a mushroom or red shell near the end of the final track when you are only a few points behind the leader who is ahead of you).
Also like all other MK games, your position determines what items you can get and their probability. You will get mostly green shells, coins and banana peels when in first while stars and thunder basically requires a very bad position.

The Mario Party RNG thing is probably that the RNG seed was already determined when you made that save state, so the result will always be the same no matter when you stop the dice. On later Mario Party I suppose the seed keeps rolling every frame when the die is spinning.
Many games only change the RNG seed when on the title screen or a pause menu or something. Of course these games are not designed with save states in mind.

I immediately realized that even the first Mario Kart used the crappy same cpus place in the top every time design I hate. It would've been more interesting if everyone was hard, but cpus weren't rigged to place the same every time, then you'd have some leeway.

As for drivers, I suck with Koopa Troopa; I tried 100cc Special Cup, but I could not, for the lifeforce of me, keep up with anybody. I can't use anyone with slow acceleration because there are too many tight curves and drifting won't work due to oversteering (usu. into water) or understeering (the road is too tight to keep a good drift) that I have to slow down anyway).

I get the best results from Yoshi and can manage his steering (I haven't played as Peach yet).

Heh weird, I can't get good results with Peach and Yoshi on the harder levels, they are simply too slow top-speed-wise. They are the two best drivers in Battle Mode though as you only need acceleration in that case.
I suppose you can use Time Trial to practice a new driver with.

In most modes you can shrink your character permanently by holding Y and pressing A on the kart select screen. You still retain your normal top speed (unlike when hitting a poison mushroom) but this is mostly a handicap for your opponents

This begs the question...

so if I'm always small...

does that mean if I touch a poison mushroom I become even smaller?!

Edit: NM, you turn big, don't you?

Yeah you get big for the rest of that race when you hit a mushroom (but you will be small again the next race). If you hit another mushroom you will become temporarily small and slow like usual, then recover again. This is pretty great for you if you play a handicapped match with shrinking.

Edit: I tried this feature. You get flattened by your opponents when they run into you. How is this an advantage?

Yup you get flattened but stays small permanently. I didn't say there are any advantages, I said it's mostly a handicap.
Shrinking works in 2-player races as well (but not in Battle Mode nor in Time Trial) so it's pretty fun to mess around with. And as I said you can cheat in GP Mode by having player 2 stand still and shrinked (so he doesn't get in your way).
I always thought that you do get a bit better steering and acceleration or something as small though (due to weight being lower or something?), so in that case it's not only disadvantages. It is mostly for when you are good enough to think the game is too easy though hahaha!
Or maybe use it in 50 cc.

Anyway, I'd rather not cheese the game (yet). I almost got gold on 100cc Star Cup due to the cpu racers eating lots of ass on Vanilla Lake. It's heavily luck-based, but it's not unfeasible.

Yeah this track is pretty weird (perhaps you could even say bugged) with the CPUs as they will keep hitting the ice the first lap and give you a great head-start if you avoid the ice. I suppose the checkpoint is simply placed at the ice so they just blindly aim for it. If you play this track in the 2-player VS Mode you will see that there are pre-laid banana peels (the only ones in the game) there so you either needs to hit the ice or the banana peels. They are gone in GP Mode but the CPU pretty much acts like they are avoiding them anyway.

I suppose you could use 2-player VS Mode with a shrunk player 2 to practice instead of Time Trial mode. That way you can memorize coins and stuff. But you will also have those banana peels and those chomps-things that only appears in VS mode.

I assume 150cc is entirely optional?

Edit: Somehow I made it to Rainbow Road with 30 points and Toad and Bowser behind with 19 each and I still couldn't even place 4th because those damn Thwomps take up too much space and the options are:

a. run into one and spin out
b. slow down, get rammed by another racer
c. drive off the road

Option b often ends up with me falling off the road anyway.

It's not that the road is too narrow, that there's no barriers, that the corners are sharp; it's all three of these coupled with cheating ai with unlimited items who knock you off course combined with trying to time thwomps.

To hell with this game! I've seen enough.  <- me walking away

I hear you. This track have taken many of my tears, sweat drops and possibly a little blood. This is the first Rainbow Road in any Nintendo game and it is dreaded for its blinking Twhomps and barrierless track. In the sequel they added a star-fence to make it easier but I think they made that game too easy overall. Rainbow Road is beautiful but it's not nearly as challenging as you would expect. Thankfully they included Rainbow Road in F-Zero X and made it very balanced. I love that track (as well as Big Hand in the same game).

Edit: Okay, I'm going to try your shrink technique with two players. <- me walking back

Edit: Okay, I managed to finish with Gold only because there were less thwomps on Rainbow Road. No other reason (except maybe Bowser falling behind and Koopa Troopa/DK Jr. being my rivals). I also noticed less ice blocks on Vanilla Lake, making traversing also manageable.

I think the amount of hazards on one player breaks this game's difficulty. If someone hacked this game to reduce them to the amount in two players, then that would be (chef's kiss) magnifico!

Congratulations! Doesn't it feel great now?
You should have unlocked 150 cc now. I'm not sure what you mean by optional, to fully beat the game you of course need to beat all cups on all difficulty levels engine size classes.
I had this game since the late SFC era (1995 or so) but I didn't manage to finish 150 cc until many many years later. Nowadays I can actually beat all the cups and difficulties without cheating with a shrunk player 2, although it may take a few attempts to get that lucky push you may need, so I don't really agree that the game is too difficult anymore. It was a long journey there though, and yeah, this is a real bitch of a game! Oh the memories...
Good luck!

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Congratulations! Doesn't it feel great now?

No. I could've easily cheated using savestates on an emulator or just watched someone play it.

I wouldn't even say I beat 100cc. It felt more like cheating.

Is there anything unlocked by finishing 150cc? The only thing left that I want to do is to try to place 4th. Have you ever done that? Is it hard?

[P]

That would be boring and kinda meaningless no?

I think it's OK to "cheat" using 2-players. It's not so different from beating it with a friend and working together, which also counts. Once you are good enough to beat 150 cc in 2-player GP, you can probably easily beat 100 cc in 1-player GP.

No there are no more unlocks after you have unlocked 150 cc. You of course get a nice golden trophy that is saved forever on the cup selection screen for each cup and engine class.

I have come 4th place the natural way (when actually aiming for gold but failing), but it's quite rare. You usually come second, third or get a Game Over before the cup is over, so the 4th place scene is worth seeing at least once.
I saw some guide how you can try to aim for it, I guess it's harder than to get gold in many cases.

[Gruixeeeeet]

Classic: Kurushi, Ape Escape, Ape Escape 2 & Syphon Filter on PS+

Non-classic: Tormented Souls (current gen, but with a classic soul) on PS5 & Mario Strikers: Battle League Football on NS

[Armageddon64]

Dragon Quest V (NTSC-J SNES)

God of War (NTSC-U/C PS2)

To be more specific about material, I'm using SNES Jr. US region free RGB modded, and PAL PS2 SCPH-5000X region free C-Sync modded.

Plugged on Sony BVM 20E1 / D20F1.
Original cartridges only.

[SummerFrog]

Vampire Survivors, if you survive for more than 30 minutes, the Grim Reaper comes to instakill you, so I doubt it.