/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.2683210]

>Non linear beat em up in a open world with rpg elements

Was this even a thing outside of the Kunio series? It's weird how literally no one tried to copy such a goat formula.

Also what do you guys think about this game and its spiritual sequels, Downtown Special and Shodai Nekketsu Koha?

[Anonymous No.2683224]

River City Ransom is great. Played a ways into Downtown Special, and have been enjoying it. Just wish there was the same variety to the stores like in RCR, but I'm guessing they were pushing the memory limits with the scope of the game as is.

Haven't played many of the Kunio sports titles, but they look pretty fun for two players.

[Anonymous No.2683234]

Well, I know of Knights of the Round, King of Dragons, Magic Sword, Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara by Capcom, Light Bringer by Taito, Guardian Heroes on the Saturn, Panzer Bandit and Dragon Valor on the PS1, the korean pc game Eojjeonji Jeonyeok.

They all featured an exp system with some limited exploration.

[Anonymous No.2683235]

>>2683234
I almost forgot, the Knights of Valor series are also pretty great with items, equipment and exp systems.

[Anonymous No.2683239]

>>2683234
Gaiapolis

[Anonymous No.2683259]

>>2683234
>They all featured an exp system with some limited exploration.
Aren't all of those lineal? What makes this branch of the kunio series so unique is that you're completly free to explore it's world while looking for your objectives, then explore new paths that opened due to your actions. Sure the Yakuza series come to mind too, but they aren't retro.

[Anonymous No.2683265]

>>2683259
yep. they're all linear.

[Anonymous No.2683271]

>>2683259
Yep, the thing is that beat'em ups didn't do well outside of arcades since home consoles at the time couldn't push too many big sprites on screen at once. And all arcade games had to be linear by design.
One irrelated game that always reminded of the grinding found in kunio kun, funnily enough, was the Goemon series.

[Anonymous No.2683274]

>>2683259
Do Tales of Phantasia count? The battle system was reminiscent of a beat'em up. Probably not.

[Anonymous No.2683280]

>>2683210
I dont play modern beat em ups, but I see many people complaining about modern beat em ups having rpg elements and not being straightforward action games, so I think you may like the new ones.

IIRC Dragon's Crown is one of those.

[Anonymous No.2683283]

>>2683259
By the way most of those games had branching paths so they're not entirely linear.

[Anonymous No.2683294]

>>2683280
Developers just can't win, if they had made Dragon's Clown have the same length as Shadow Over Mystara then most of the gaming press would be complaining about how the game is over in just 40 minutes.

[Anonymous No.2683350]

>>2683210
Not /vr/, but the Scott Pilgrim game pretty much copied the RCR formula.

Downtown Special is nice enough although the slowdown can get pretty bad.

I'm pretty torn on Shodai. The first time I played it, the romsites were still calling it RCR2 so I was expecting something similar to RCR. The game feels like a rush job much like Super Double Dragon. It could have been the emulator I was using, but I've had the game randomly freeze a few times and it even erased my save once. There's also a lot of slowdown for no reason. Technos made a lot of bone-headed decisions with this game. The game uses 3 out of 6 buttons, yet attack, pick up weapon, use weapon, throw weapon, and block are all assigned to the same button (fucking WHY?!). Inventory management is slow and clunky once pick up enough items. Currency is in the form of prepaid cards that randomly drop off of enemies (1 item = 1 prepaid card), and your inventory doesn't even tell you have many you have. There's also a lot of forced random encounters that you can't run from even if you outlevel all the enemies, so getting to the place you need to be is a chore because you have to fight someone every 10 seconds. I really want to like this game because it's Kunio, but damn if it doesn't test my patience. At least Shodai's follow-up, Kunio Tachi no Banka, is damn good even if it's just a straight beat-em-up.

[Anonymous No.2683351]

>>2683350
At the very least they tried something different with each game.

[Anonymous No.2683381]

>>2683210
i dunno if you can still find it but i played the shit out of a game called zombie smashers when i was a kid. it was an indie game back in like 2000 i think on pc. was bretty sweet.

[Anonymous No.2683389]

>>2683350
Shodai is pretty bad. It was a major disappointment for me.

Kunio-tachi no Banka is good but fuck sitting through all those unskippable cutscenes. Those cutscenes are only interesting on your first 1-2 playthroughs. But when you want to play the game to unwind and punch some faces, those cutscenes get in the way.

[Anonymous No.2683396]

I probably played Shadow over Mystara more than any other beat'em up in my life, but I find myself returning to older games like Final Fight (arcade), Streets of Rage 2, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, etc. The more basic a game is in terms of game mechanics, the less room it has to fuck things up.

[Anonymous No.2683401]

I love River City Ransom. The PCE has a really nice remake too.

I haven't played Special, or the X68000 port of the original. I do not like Shodai at all, and the GBA port is weird.

[Anonymous No.2683402]

>>2683396
>The more basic a game is in terms of game mechanics, the less room it has to fuck things up
So true, because instead of caring about unnecessary features and gimmicky moves they cared about balancing the game and enemies.

[Anonymous No.2683404]

>>2683389
I liked Kunio no Banka, but the game was definitely designed for 2 player. Some of those bosses take an assload of hits.

The final boss takes like 25 jump kicks and he can kill Kunio or Riki in 2 hits.

[Anonymous No.2683426]

Shounen Ninja Sasuke uses the same basic formula. It's also pretty entertaining due to how incredibly fast-paced it is; it's rare to have so much mobility in a brawler.

RCR is one of those games I missed out on as a kid, but enjoyed greatly when I later discovered it through emulation.

[Anonymous No.2683458]

>>2683402
Word. Now that I'm older and a bit wiser I appreciate the classics much more.

>Shadow over Mystara
Bugs, glitches, exploits, and cheese up the ass. Has a huge wow factor but the deeper u get the more disgusted u get knowing all the flaws and problems.

>Alien vs Predator
Linn ruins the game for me. Her gun just ruins the game because it literally nullifies the enemy AI that is entirely based on close combat. If Linn didn't have a super-jump then maybe it wouldn't be SO bad. But, derp, let's give her a ridiculously OP ranged weapon (and a reload-animation-cancel) AND all the speed and mobility in the world to avoid enemies too. Think about it. A powerful ranged weapon that you can rely on for 98% of the game IN A BEAT'EM UP, a genre that gets its name from beating ppl up with your fists. "Well, don't choose Linn then asshole." Nah, i have a better idea. I won't play this game at all.

>sengoku 3
don't get me started on this crap.

>guardians
this is the only post-1993 beatemup i can tolerate these days because its just fun to play and doesn't takeitself seiously

Games like Final Fight and SOR2 are pure and perfect. Great balance throughout the game, beautiful presentation, and solid mechanics. You can tell the devs put a lot of thought into making a COMPLETE package, rather than trying to insert as many "cool and flashy gimmicks" as possible.

Maybe it's because i've practically played every single ROM in existence over the past decade and a half (yes, i know that i have no life), but how i judge games has changed drastically over the years.

in the past, i would've scoffed at Final Fight and praised Shadow over Mystara, but now I can appreciate Final Fight for being the superior game and being MUCH MUCH MUCH closer to perfection

[Anonymous No.2684831]

Super Chinese is a game series that has been localized under a lot of different names*. It works kinda like an RPG with stats and overworld, but the random battles play out like beat'em ups.

*Kung Fu Heroes
Little Ninja Borthers
Ninja Boy
Ninja Boy 2
Super Ninja Boy

I wish we could get some fan translations. The later SFC games look amazing. Way ahead of the first games.

[Anonymous No.2684867]

>>2683458
In AvP the ranged weapon trivialize the combat when using other characters too, it's a cool game but it should have been just pure melee.

I love Guardians,because it feels like a real evolution of what Final Fight/Cadillacs/SoR2 intended, it has great combat mechanics, the only problem is that it's a bit on the easy side and some bosses are kinda lame, the best one being the Ninja.

[Anonymous No.2684870]

>>2683426

>someone knows this game

I really wish more people know about it, it's a fucking great title

[Anonymous No.2684889]

It literally hasn't evolved in like 30 years. Its crazy what wasted potential it was.

[Anonymous No.2684908]

>>2683210
not retro, but Yakuza series does this

[Anonymous No.2684961]

>>2684908
Yakuza 2 is so damn good. Too bad I don't have a PS2 anymore. I'll just wait to emulate it once I get a better computer.

[Anonymous No.2684976]

mighty final fight?

[Anonymous No.2685094]

>>2684976
That's linear and the RPG elements are very basic. Still prefer it over RCR though

[Anonymous No.2685116]

>>2685094
both are great in my book.

but mighty final fight is severely underrated. i like it better than all the snes final fights

even though it has a 2 enemy on screen limit, capcom made it work. for instance, the stages have short vertical height to prevent aimless wandering and enemies have fast walking speed.

the gameplay is good too with some hidden depth. the infinites and tricks are fun to do and make the game charming.

Guy's secret move:
jump, back, up, (land), attack

[Anonymous No.2685182]

>>2684961
>I'll just wait to emulate it once I get a better computer.
Don't do that, just get a real PS2 and softmod/modchip it. PS2 emulation is mostly godawful

[Anonymous No.2686613]

>>2683210
RCR was fun, but what the FUCK was up with its password system? They really should've just went with battery saves for it, or at least devised a more efficient encoding scheme.

[Anonymous No.2686625]

>>2686613
>not playing it all in one go

[Anonymous No.2686632]

>>2686613
it takes about 40 minutes to max every stat if you know what you're doing. You can beat the game in about 15.