Whatcha Been Playing?

[Suits]

I'd also like a nice pre-order poster please Nintendo.

I got a feeling this is gonna get a swanky collectors editon

Ah, man - I’d be soooo keen for that.

Mind, I think we’ll be more likely to maybe get a few amiibo.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I took the dive and picked up an original Splatterhouse PCB! Being born 1980 means the first time I saw this game in the arcade I would have been 7-8 years old, and boy, did it leave a long-lasting impression. I think I was both too intimidated to play it at that age, plus it was one of the more expensive machines, and my income is was whatever loose change my parents had.

After reading this wonderful interview I spent a bit of time in the sound test menu, listening GWAAA's! and GYAAA's! that embarrassed them to do at the time. There's a lot of Hammer-horror-esque organ too... such a horror movie love-letter of a game.

Plus there was a 3D test option in the settings, which was a thing I forgot this game had. I never saw a 3D Splatterhouse cab in the wild, and it must have been pretty rare. In retrospect it kind of fell under the radar - it certainly didn't get the attention Mortal Kombat got - so I can kinda understand why it would just be chucked in a regular cab.

I won't bang on about the game - it's Splatterhouse! It's a very arcade-y arcade game, great for short bursts of gaming goodness. A real B-movie level, 1980's, video-nasty-type game!

[Stanshall]

In the absence of a PC at home now, and no real interest in getting one, I did some research and picked up a 4K Amazon Fire Stick to run some emulation, and it's very very good. I've basically just been playing shmups in FB Alpha via Retroarch.

How did I never give Progear enough time before? What a tremendous game. It r. eally captures the intensity of a top tier vert but with an almost Metal Slug aesthetic sensibility. It's so chunky and full of personality. The range of options with different ships and secondary characters means lots of variety, too. This is going to do me very nicely til Devil Engine on Thurs.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

In the absence of a PC at home now, and no real interest in getting one, I did some research and picked up a 4K Amazon Fire Stick to run some emulation, and it's very very good. I've basically just been playing shmups in FB Alpha via Retroarch.

How did I never give Progear enough time before? What a tremendous game. It r. eally captures the intensity of a top tier vert but with an almost Metal Slug aesthetic sensibility. It's so chunky and full of personality. The range of options with different ships and secondary characters means lots of variety, too. This is going to do me very nicely til Devil Engine on Thurs.

Seeing as Progear never got ported (Cave IP on Capcom hardware may be the reason?) it's understandable that it wasn't more widely played.

But yeah, it is a beautiful looking game! There is a section in the second stage where the slowdown kicks in, the bullets increasingly fill the screen, and you slowly nudge your plane through the chaos, positioning yourself ever so slightly out of danger... it gets wonderfully intense!

Glad you're playing it! It definitely deserves a wider audience.

[Stanshall]

In the absence of a PC at home now, and no real interest in getting one, I did some research and picked up a 4K Amazon Fire Stick to run some emulation, and it's very very good. I've basically just been playing shmups in FB Alpha via Retroarch.

How did I never give Progear enough time before? What a tremendous game. It r. eally captures the intensity of a top tier vert but with an almost Metal Slug aesthetic sensibility. It's so chunky and full of personality. The range of options with different ships and secondary characters means lots of variety, too. This is going to do me very nicely til Devil Engine on Thurs.

Seeing as Progear never got ported (Cave IP on Capcom hardware may be the reason?) it's understandable that it wasn't more widely played.

But yeah, it is a beautiful looking game! There is a section in the second stage where the slowdown kicks in, the bullets increasingly fill the screen, and you slowly nudge your plane through the chaos, positioning yourself ever so slightly out of danger... it gets wonderfully intense!

Glad you're playing it! It definitely deserves a wider audience.

It certainly seems like an interesting set of circumstances and it's a real shame it's not been ported because this is already up there with my favourite horis. I should say that I'm not a massive fan in general, I don't get much from the Gradius or R-Type or Pulstar style, but it compares very well to stuff I do love like Blazing Star and Tengai. If I'm honest, I prefer it to them in pretty much every way so far!

On another horizontal shmup tip, I've really enjoyed Super Hydorah recently on the Switch. It's very much in the Gradius vein but it's just a little more accessible to my tastes/skill and it's got some excellent, well balanced level design and bosses. Compared to something like Last Resort which I find too brutal, this feels like it's been tested and tested to get the difficulty curve just right. I love the range of load outs as well, different stats for different missions. It just works really well, a labour of love as well as a tightly designed little package.

[Craig]

Been pushing through a few games on the Capcom Belt Scrolling Action Collection (the Beat Em up one) and blimey it’s just the right thing right now. A quick 30 minute blast of mostly mindless punching, great fun and they manage to change things up just to keep you pushing on (and back in the day paying.)

[Magical_Isopod]

Picked up Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator (only $5.49 on PSN right now), and PHEW LADS is that every a flashy, flamboyant game. I love it. Not sure I like the character roster or overall aesthetic more than BlazBlue, but I love the crazy snippets of cutscene before and after each battle, and during all the specials. It's a pretty hekkin game.

[ADumican83]

Tetris 99. I'm not the best at it but I'm finding it really addictive atm. I even bought Puyo Puyo Tetris so I can play when I'm offline. I can manage every few games to break into the Top 10 and have managed a few 4th place finishes. This is my first Tetirs game I've bothered with since the Game Boy version so I'm probably way off the pace with how its probably evolved, I just think there's something I'm not understanding tactically when it gets to the last 10 in order to hold out til the end. Either way I think it's great.

[duskvstweak]

So, my wife and I are playing through Super Mario 64. She played it a lot as a kid, but I never got on with it. It was actually the game the helped cement my love for 2D platformers, because I also never had a great time with Banjo, DK64 or Jak. I can see the appeal, and I'm amazed at how great it looks after all these years, but 3D platformers just don't do it for me, even the ones that are at the top of their game.
I do love the music for Dire, Dire Docks and Bower's first dungeon, though.

[dezm0nd]

Regarding Tetris 99 late game, there's quite a detailed system regarding how much damage you do based on badges etc.

I need to read into it but im having too much fun not taking it too seriously at the mo

[Suits]

I’m worried I’m going to run out of steam and never fisnhed with a 1st, just a couple of 2nd’s .

[DomsBeard]

I’m worried I’m going to run out of steam and never fisnhed with a 1st, just a couple of 2nd’s .

Ha yes I am the same. I think my only issue with this amazing and free game is that I will feel when I win it will be down to luck rather than skill. I tend to get beat regularly by being targeted by 2 or 3 when in the top 10/20. It then flashes to say you are screwed then boom gone.

Would love a version where you can limit it to 8 so we could have community nights etc.

[duskvstweak]

Regarding Tetris 99 late game, there's quite a detailed system regarding how much damage you do based on badges etc.

I need to read into it but im having too much fun not taking it too seriously at the mo

I'd download this YESTERDAY if it was on the PC.

[dezm0nd]

Yeah, Nintendo don't do PC... yet.

[stvnorman]

I spent a couple of hours during the day enjoying the Trials Rising beta on Switch. Then I downloaded the PS4 version after work and it looks like a different game. As much as I wanted it on Switch, I couldn’t ignore how crap it looked in comparison, so I switched my pre-order to PS4. Then I thought if I’m getting it on there, it will be loads cheaper within a couple of weeks, so I cancelled that too. I think I’m just going to order the new physical Dynasties Edition of Mutant Football League on Switch instead, and save myself a fiver for the time being at least.

[ColinAlonso]

I’m worried I’m going to run out of steam and never fisnhed with a 1st, just a couple of 2nd’s .

Yeah, I have a couple of 2nds myself, it really does fell like hanging on for ages and then 1st just picks me off. Around the top 10 it reaches a speed I just can't handle.

[dezm0nd]

I really am struggling to see any game through to the end at the moment, after Resident Evil 2 I just cant find the energy to start another single player game so I've been dipping in and out of Sea of Thieves, Apex Legends and Tetris 99.

As good as Steamworld Heist is, I can't really play it on my laptop as it's just a bit too much of a faff playing games on it really so I knocked it on the head.

I have picked up Mothergunship which seems exactly what I needed. It's a short burst, FPS roguelike blah blah blah but as a spiritual sequel to Tower of Guns it feels like a hug from an old friend.

[Scrustle]

I'm kind of between games at the moment, waiting for DMC5 just around the corner. So on a whim I decided to boot up Race Driver: GRID for a little bit of nostalgia. Previously played it on 360 back when it was new, but this time I was on the PC, from having picked it up free at some point. Decided I was finally going to sort of the mod that adds in the DLC that was never officially released on PC, or on 360 either if I remember rightly. At least I had never played it before. Seemed to work okay. The TVR Speed 12 is very hard to drive, and Bathurst is a very hard track too.

But after messing around with that I went in to the career mode for a bit. And to my surprise, it got me hooked again. Still stands up really well. I was expecting that after not playing it for so many years the sheen would have worn off, and my appreciation for it was just based on nostalgia for the time when it came out and there wasn't much else like it. After all, the sequels never managed to recapture that same feeling, despite being fine enough games in their own right. But I was pleased to find out it's still as cool as ever. Despite looking rather aged these days, the aesthetic is still really nice and creates a decent mood. It's a real shame that more racing games don't try to do something interesting with their aesthetic. This game proves it can actually produce from great results.

But more than anything, it still retains that edge of your seat intensity it always had. Driving feels dangerous as you're trying to thread those really twitchy cars through tight streets and hard walls. So even though the game feels pretty arcadey in handling, getting your line right still feels important as you have to be pretty precise as to not mess up in a spectacular fashion. But even when you do, that's pretty fun as well. The damage modelling is still great, with how your car can deform and bits fall off it in a believable way. The game also did the rewind thing better than any game that copied it too. It turns crashing in to a show, so even if you mess up and have to redo a corner you get some enjoyment out of it, instead of it simply being a button that gives you another chance. Limiting how many times you can retry also helps make the mechanic not feel too exploitable. You can't just lean on it to get infinite tries at every corner. You have to be conservative with it, so that doesn't take the edge off the feeling of danger.

And another thing that I forgot how much I liked is how it deals with helping the player get their braking points right. Instead of the coloured racing line that you see in a lot of games now, it simply has a little icon down by the map that flashes red when you need to brake for a corner. It's subtle and doesn't get in the way, but still does a good job of giving you some really helpful info. I wish other games copied that system too. The Forza style racing line is good, but sometimes I feel like it's too much. Yet turning it off can feel like a huge leap that can be hard to overcome. Just having something small like this game has would be a really good middle ground. It doesn't tell you the exact right line, and there's a bit of ambiguity for the exact right braking point. But it gives you a really helpful hint. I'm probably going to stick with this game for a little while. Good to have another racing game to play again which isn't just more Forza.

[CynicBang]

I am still having an absolutely unreasonable amount of fun with Resident Evil 2. I managed to achieve the Platinum on it a little over and week ago and I am still coming back for more. I can't remember a single player game in recent memory that has kept me coming back for more like this one has.

I installed Apex last weekend with the intention of finally giving that a try, so I will be trying to jump on that this weekend. I really enjoyed the Titanfall series, so I am confident that it's going to be a blast to play.

I'll also hopefully finally be getting around to playing Frost Punk on Steam. I picked it up in Steam's Lunar sale and I've heard really positive thing.

[Simonsloth]

Continuing my classic platformer playthroughs I’m tackling Donkey Kong country. All I can say is that this game has the most ridiculous difficulty spikes followed by some of the easiest levels in the game. Almost like a pat on the back after doing a tricky bit. The continue points in the levels aren’t especially generous either. Glad I’m doing this now so I can space them throughout the year.