This past weekend, I pretty much just stayed at home and worked on stuff, mostly the book (which is now due in less than two months!), as well as some much needed house cleaning (plus pest control… left over trash from my roommate’s 4th of July party, plus the wet weather we’ve had all year, has led to an infestation of bugs, and I can’t stand bugs). Plus I just got to unwind and play some games…
I’ve recently become obsessed with King of Fighters. I’ve always been interested in the series, but I’ve been looking for something to really get me into things, and I guess it was playing against Robin the weekend prior. So late Saturday night, I decided to pull out every single KOF games I had and play them all. And I looked up an old IC thread I started to cross-check and verify stuff.
- KOF 98: Starting with the one I’m most familiar with, for the PSone. It’s everyone’s favorite, and I guess mine as well. Plus it still hold the title for the coolest subtitle for any game, ever: “Dream Match Never Ends.” Still really holds up well, and it wasn’t until recently that I fully understood what Dream Match actually means. Speaking off, I’m also really trying to get into the story, which is quite deep; I have a thing for fighting game story-lines, as silly as it sounds. It’s actually the best, most interesting out of any fighter out there. Then again, my personal favorite is Mortal Kombat 3′s… NOTHING is ever gonna top the awesomely ridiculousness of it all… so what do I know? Though at least I know well enough to realize that the liquid metal chick in Virtua Fighter being the ninja’s mom is pretty stupid. Anyway, I really wish the Dreamcast port was straightforward and devoid of those “upgraded” 3D backgrounds that are simply horrible. In fact, I had the import version of 99, but sold it purely because of the altered backgrounds (the original Neo Geo driven spite backdrops just have so much more personality and presence). Unfortunately, it would be something that would stick around. I’m also dumbfounded that a version was never released for the Saturn (that’s makes zero sense).
- KOF 2000: It’s really neat! I know it’s a bit too wild and wacky for most people’s tastes, with all its strikers (the absolute best being “Neo” and “Geo”), but I really dig the pace. It’s also the first game with Kula Diamond, who’s a favorite character of mine. I believe she wasn’t selectable in the arcade version, but in the PS2 edition she is, though she doesn’t have the as many moves as compared to later on.
- KOF 2001: Its not very popular with most folks, and I can certainly understand why. Back when I was first learning about King of Fighters, I was confused by how so many could love one game and emphatically hate another when it looked (on the surface) to be the same exact game, year after year. Well, I’ve come to realize that I couldn’t be more wrong. It’s amazing how the little things can make or break the whole thing. Anyway, the controls are totally wonky, the whole choosing the ratio between fighters and strikers make zero sense, and I just dislike the presentation as a whole. I particularly hate the music, but I actually enjoy the backgrounds, which are a bit odd, but they still have a certain charm (most folks totally hate it). 2001 also has one of the coolest boss sprites ever.
- KOF 2002: Yet another Dream Match (where the story doesn’t matter, and a whole bunch of characters, regardless of their background or even if they’re dead or not, show up). I really dug this one, even though it’s nothing terribly brilliant (as others have pointed out, it’s basically 98 with added characters from the second major story arc, but what worked before still works). I guess it just nice things went back to form after the mess that was 2002. Also, it’s the one with my personal favorite Athena sprite. On the downside, the Xbox version (and I’m guessing the PS2 one as well) sees a return of the crappy, 3D-ified backdrops. And its so much worse here than in 99; virtually all personality and color have been sucked out. Plus the music is pretty “eh.”
- KOF 2003: The highlight of the game is the whole 3 way tag battle system which people either love or hate. I’ve noticed that most KOF-diehards hate it, but since I’ve been weaned on Capcom Versus games, I’m quite used to it, and I feel it works out quite nicely. And surprisingly, the updated backgrounds really work this time around. Unfortunately, the cast is sort of a step back, at least for me.
- KOF NeoWave: Everyone tried telling me that this one sucked, but I picked it up because if its connection to the Atomiswave hardware (hey, Dreamcast 4 Life), plus it was only $20. What a fucking mess. It?s basically 2002 with some different characters plus new fight modes (like stuff borrowed from Garou: Mark of the Wolves), and high-res backgrounds. But conceptually most aren’t terribly interesting, on a purely technical level it’s basically the same 3D-fication that we’ve been seeing for years so the effect is less than impressive (even though it is better overall), the colors are gaudy as hell (wheras before things were too dark and dim, now its almost too bright), and they don’t match with the characters at all. Also, the gameplay feels uneven and wonky.
- KOF Maximum Impact: The first full 3D KOF, which some of its fans have managed to accept (like the hardcore IC crew), but I just can’t. It just looks and feels so sterile and boring. I played it for like five minutes, and then had to put on something else (which has always been the case). I’ll still be getting part 2 (or KOF 2006 in the US… oy vey), but my hopes are not all that high.
BTW, for those who might be interested, the team that I now go with is Kula, Whip, and Athena (naturally), along with Vanessa as a striker, if she’s available… if not, then Blue Mary. Yeah, all girls; I almost always choose female characters in any fighting game since I prefer speed over brute strength. Though Robin really put it best, while myself, him, and MK were playing Soul Calibur 3 last weekend, when he pointed out that KOF is like the only fighter out there that features female fighters that are appealing without having to rely purely on skin.
Oh, and I guess another reason why I’m getting so hot and bothered for KOF is that the PS2 port of XI just looks simply irresistible. Hence why I’m thinking of getting (back) into the import scene. I’m already getting a copy of Espgaluda from some dude at Insert Credit… after that it’s DoDonPachi DaiOuJou and Ibara. So obviously, I’m most interested in shooters. Am I forgetting anything?
Something else I’m eager to get into is the Simple 2000 series of budget games, since there’s some real gems. As most know, Play Asia is having a huge summer sale going on right now, and Zombie Vs. Ambulance is only $9. But I also know that a version is coming out for the UK, called the far the less exciting Zombie Virus, along with other Simple 2000 games, such as Global Defense Force (a.k.a. Terra Defense Force 2) and Zombie Hunters (a.k.a. Oane Chapara 2). I know that Demolition Girl has been out for a while now…
Though the problem is, despite the fact that I can play European games on a modded PS2, I won’t be able to see them because they’ll be in PAL. So to be on the safe side, I just picked up Zombie vs. Ambulance, along with Kuru Kururin Paradise, which everyone and their moms have been recommended at NeoGAF since forever. And now that it’s $15, why not?
That’s the thing, and its always my luck: if I ever come across a game I want, I have to get it ASAP, because if I wait just a little bit, no matter how unpopular it might be, it’ll be gone when I really want it. Case in point: Everblue 2. I’ve been curious about this game for seemingly forever. I’ve constantly come across it, and for the cheap (like $20), plus the concept (the entire point of the game is deep sea exploration… and that’s it… no enemies to fight or the such, just checking out fish) is outlandish enough for me (and its even made by a fave developer or mine, Arika). Yet I never took the plunge (pardon the pun)… but when John (Szczepaniak) recently ranted and raved about it (by calling it the “antithesis to so much crap we have today”), I finally realized that I had to have to fucking have it. So I decided to stop by the Fulton Street Mall this past Sunday to the store which I knew had it (I noticed it way back when I first discovered the place).
And wouldn’t you fucking know… they didn’t have it. Goddamnit. What in hell!? They’ve had the game for years (in addition to be ultra obscure, its pretty old too) and no one touches it, but when it comes time for me to pick it up, that’s when it gets fucking sold!!!
… I just knew I shouldn’t have said shit about the Fulton Street Mall in my GSW report…
Anyhow, another game that I played was Under The Skin, which encapsulates the WACKY JAPPY!!! tone in a video game quite perfectly. I actually played a bit of it the previous weekend and was going to return it (got it from GameFly), but totally forgot about it, and figured I’d give it another spin. And I can’t think of another game that I wanted to like but just couldn’t. Basically, you play an alien who has to accost the human populace by playing pranks on them. To do so, you steal a person’s identity to blend in (otherwise everyone freaks out at the sight of an alien and runs away) and then pull off one of numerous “totally zany and off the wall” tricks. The game has some really nice cartoony graphics, in look (via cel shading) and feel. Each level is teaming with all sorts of people who all look and animate quite well, which changes depending on the tricks or the theme of whatever level, so the visuals and its style is quite versatile. Unfortunately, its boring as fuck, and as neat as the tricks are, seeing them over and over again gets old real quick. But the biggest problem is that the camera absolutely sucks; it?s way too close, and since levels are mostly narrow corridors, you have absolutely no idea where to go (there’s a map, but its also zoomed in too much to be of any use). Plus the gameplay is totally broken; in each level, there’s another alien who’s trying to out do you (when you freak people out, they drop coins, and picking them up counts as points) by knocking you out, which makes you loose your human disguise along with your coins, and its both way too aggressive and hard to avoid, again due to the shitty camera.
Plus I played some of Phantasy Star 4, plus Final Fantasy 1 for the GBA. I think if I still to really old school RPGs, I’ll be fine. Hence why I guess I should really pick up Dragon Quest 8. One final game related thing: some folks at IC passed along some info and videos of SEGAGAGA. For those who don’t know, it was one of the last games released for the Dreamcast in Japan and was somewhat of a swan song of sorts to its fans. Here’s Persona with a better explanation…
“…The game is split between being an RPG where you trudge through all three of the R&D studios of Sega where you combat the soulless programmers and solve the dramas that hide behind each area. While doing so, you recruit staff members to work on your games by defeating them first in battle and then discussing their salary and wages. After the RPG sections, it’s a business sim where you have to form a team lead by a director and staffed by 3 designers and 3 programmers and you let them go at it in making their own game. However, each person has different stats and compatibilities with each other meaning that a team of like-minded people can work faster and better than those with a terrible mixup. They also get tired, pass out, run away in stress, get dumped by girlfriends, die, and other various little things depending on how well you take care of them.
The games are largely dependant on who you chose as the director to make them. There’s a Yu Suzuki-alike that can never finish his games on time but maxes out the creativity of them (and subsequently bankrupts you as he completely misses the Christmas deadline). There’s a general that can pump out games in less than a month but the creativity of them is crap and they’re usually poor sellers. It really comes down to who you chose as director, how good the staff you chose are (are how high their salaries are), and how much time you can allow them to be creative before you have to push them to finish the game. It’s pretty fun in a really simple way. But yeah, not being able to understand a lot of the game kind of took down the enjoyment of it all. I mean, it’s still fun but it’s more like a chore to play through than a laugh-a-minute experience that it seems to be…
… Segagaga is the ultimate doujin game…
So yeah, the whole thing is just dripping with countless references and in-jokes,, but most (including myself) are unable to properly experience. But thanks to the wonders of YouTube, everyone can at least enjoy the mind-blowing amazing ending sequences which EVERY SEGA FAN NEEDS TO SEE. There’s two of ‘em: part 1 and part 2.
Oh, and I caught SNL for the first time in forever (if MK was around, I’m sure we would have found something else to do), and I’m really glad since it was their best episode in a VERY long time. Though that might have something to do with the fact that it was just a Best Of clip show, but one feature the animated TV Funhouse segments, which are the best parts of any show (I was also a major fan of the Comedy Central spin-off). Included was the classic post 9/11 Rankin & Bass parody. I really hope they release a DVD eventually (same with the Comedy Central show).
Speaking off, I’m finally gonna see the Stranger with Candy movie tonight!
