/vr/ - Retro Games

>>3843953
I played an loved Thunderforce 5, so about a year ago I overpaid and spent $50USD to get 4 on the original Mega Drive (even though I have the Gold Packs, and to make up for the great deal on Gleylancer). Over the course of a week, I mildly played the game (no session lasting long as work tires me out). Gradually making further and further in the game. Then at about a week's time, I started a run which went horribly bad, died a couple times and was tempted to hit the reset button as it is not a good run, but I just kept playing and actually beat the game in that run. It was exhilarating to climb that mountain to reach the top. I suspect the game in a hidden way dynamically adjusts its difficulty behind the scenes, like Resident Evil 4 does, still even with that suspicion I still enjoyed the feeling of beating Thunderforce 4 (without continues, I self-impose that challenge in all shooting games I play).

I had no idea the game has a 99 life cheat. Given how lightly I played TF4, I would say it is possible as I am not good at shooting games, and I spent about that amount of time on aggregate playing the game that week.


Also, the major wall I hit in my play was the stage called "The Wall" ... but it was okay, as the music to that stage is so fucking good:
https://youtu.be/oTQIiIKummw

Sometimes it was a method to increase game playing time, or done to coerce people to buy the game instead of constantly rent, maybe improve its metrics on reviews (I remember old magazines would even give "difficulty" a rating, instead of calling it "replayability" so a game's score can have great graphics, sound, controls, fun factor, but a low difficulty can ruin its looks in the magazine's system) ... I also heard stories where the games testers got very good at the game, given they play it a lot in all manner of ways, that the game was adjusted for that small sample of players, without accounting for the skills/memory they have attained for the game ...


I will admit, I felt that amazing rush when I beat Thunderforce 4. I kept playing, got further and further. One day, on a very poor run (worth resetting due to stupid deaths early), I just said "fuck it" and pushed forward, and surprisingly beat the game. It is possible, and I sort of felt the game readjusts its difficulty in the background, and I wouldn't be surprised if it did, but still upon completion it was fist pump worthy. I know TF4 isn't the hardest shooting game around, but that sense of accomplishment is real.


>>3662559
I too enjoy easy, fair, and difficult games. To me, it just depends on how successfully the designers want to tailor the intended experience.

>>3566456
I wish I could collect, but I'm very poor. basically got those two games in a large bundle with the Duo and TurboExpress back in the day (as described in a different /vr/ thread) but I did know I wanted Cosmic Fantasy 2 for Rimu/Cadette Babette (love at first sight).

Reposting old pic, I never got WD Thunderforce V because the Saturn was my primary system at that time (because I had to flip my Playstation at odd angles to get it to work back then) and funny enough, I think Thunderforce V spent more time in my CD-player than in the Saturn. Did WD add anything to the Playstation version?


>>3566438
I dunno, I still remember on the behind the scenes disc of the first PS Lunar:SSS, how WD was so proud of themselves by giving an NPC a flatulence problem, that they spent like 10 minutes patting themselves on the back for their creativity.

Alundra I suppose is sort of a slow-burn kind of game, and maybe it was a bit tryhard in macabre but I guess in its day, I had more time to burn for JRPGs ... so I can understand why it may not be as good as my nostalgia makes it out to be ...

I've been playing Thunderforce 4. Primarily because I loved 5 back in the day. There was a boss theme so awesomely rocking, of which I later learned was the main theme of Thunderforce 4. I had the Gold Packs but still haven't really played them, but I relatively recently got the original cartridge instead to play.

That stage in Thunderforce 5 is pretty epic for a shooting game, in my opinion. after the initial set of stages which you can select, it was time for your ship to leave the planet. So your ship docks into a large booster pack of rockets to escape the planet's gravity. You launch into space jettisoning the rockets as they become deadweight leaving orbit. Your ship is still equipped with an attachment which gave you unlimited power. Basically like your special overdriven weapons which used to deplete your craw satellites, but now you can use them to your heart's content. You punch through all the popcorn enemies and even slightly tougher ones with little effort with your almost limitless power. Only to meet the boss of the stage which apparently is the previous version of the Vasteel to your new Vasteel. It is an epic duel where the enemy also has its own booster packs it attaches to, in a match of old vs. new, all to an amazing remix to the title theme of 4 (where the old Vasteel came from).

That stage sets up the remaining stages of 5, and it is really good in my opinion. The feel is similar to Gradius 5 where you realize the assist Vic Viper is you through a time warp, just amazing.

The song I refer to:
https://youtu.be/2qIAkbHCXOQ


I've had the Gold Packs for a while since playing/loving 5 in its day, but could never bring myself to play them, but playing 4 on the Mega Drive does feel great, so I guess it is better to me on the Genesis ...