What are you playing this weekend/these days?


As i have now whit the Retroid Pocket Flip2 finally a quite capable Pocket Emulator and Android Gaming Handheld im now trying to game again much more:

Super Mario Land 1 DX (Retroarch mGBA Core, its originally an Gameboy Game but whit the Romhack i did decide to give its an .gbc ending)
Its usually my first Game i play on an new Device as long its can Emulate, so i did use it to test the DPAD on the RPF2, works quite good even though the DPAD and Buttons are a bit more far from the Hinge .. , as allways i did defeat Tatanga on the End of the Game whit one Live ..

Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Operation Resurection (Aether SX2, PS2 Game ) ..
As im owning the German PC Version where the Story had to change to fit the German Laws back then (its bad to fight na--is , allthough you would expect the oposide where much more logical) , these days the Laws got change, and Videogames are the same as ART now, you can even get the International Version of the Wolfenstein Reboot on Steam legal .. this is now the USA Version ..

Back to the Game: Its basically the PC Version, but whit Dualshock 2 Controlls which work quite good, and its got a few Prequell Levels where you are fighting nazis in the streets of an Agypt City .. , after this Prequell BJ Blascowitz and the other Agend are Landing near Castle Wolfenstein and got imprisoned in the Dungeons of the Castle, where the Original PC Game did start ..
I did use a few Safestates, im not that good in Old Shool Shooters, but i came allready quite good to this point after the breakout .. will continue soon whit the Game ... did play quite good in 2 x PS2 Resolution ..
 
River City Girls

It's a Beat 'em Up with some little Metroidvania elements, so you don't just punch people to reach the end of the game, you must go around the city following a map for even optional quests and to find secrets.
Some of the quests could have different minigames inside, like platforming sessions, etc... and there is also a "catch them all" minigame to collect all the enemies that asks for piety.

The main focus of the game is combat, but even if there are a lot of (unlockable) moves the things are kept easy, making them don't require too much buttons or long combinations.
The beating sessions are fun, there are all the basic moves of the genre plus more fun things, also the two protagonists have different sets of moves to try out.

By default there are infinite lives, and if you die you just restart at the same stage losing some money, and for me it was a so low quantity that I didn't even noticed that at the beginning... but I have seen a LOT of bad reviews just because of this fact, seems like people just want infinite lives without losing nothing at all... I suppose they never played the original games that started the genre...

In the end it's a lot of fun, the music are cool, the graphic and animation is very good and there are a lot of cheesy jokes and sarcasm.

I never played the previous games of the "River City" franchise, but now I'm very curious to have a look at them.
 
I just completed Super Mario World for the first time in 35+ years only made possible on MiSTer Pi. It's a masterpiece and a throwback to another era. I remember when I first saw it, my friend had it on Japanese import, Super Mario Brothers 3 had yet to be released in Europe, but I had on US import. I think both SMW and SMB3 are excellent, I can't choose a favorite, I love them both. My friend (who had SMW) said the ending to SMB3 was a bit sad, and it is the way Peach says "Bye!" at the end. This one is definitely happy.

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And so cute and so Japanese the way it spells out in coins YOU ARE A SUPER PLAYER as you rush to complete the last special level. They are not difficult just pure joy on a proper platform eg MiSTer.

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96 levels = 8 * 4 * 3 = 3 times the number of levels in the original SMB.
 
Finished Evoland 2 on my phone. I haven't played the first one. This one is an action-RPG centered on time travel, with each epoch having its own graphic style (low-res 2D, SNES-like 2D and 3D) and many different game styles (mostly action-RPG but also platforming, beat them up, shmup, etc.). Overall it's not too bad but playing on a touch-screen made some game styles less appealing than it would have been with a controller. I've also found the writing to be lacking. It's mostly clichés and basic gaming-culture references. The story in itself isn't too bad, I thought it kept foreshadowing a later reveal but it turns out that most of it isn't very explicit and has to been pieced together from all these hints. The biggest problem is that it doesn't leave any space for character growth so it's hard to feel invested and the ending feels a bit anticlimatic.
 
Even though i did play a lot of stuff on my Retroid Pocket Flip2 lately, i did start yesterday whit RoadCraft on my XBOX Series X
Its got the same Ground Physic like Snowrunner, but the Goal of the Game is not to transport stuff whit Heavy Trucks through heavy Offroad Terrain, but to build up stuff, like in the first Mission an Flood Wall, and to manage Transport Convoys where you have to take care that they dont get stuck which can happen as the Convoys drives "Real" through the Map whit a few KI Drivers that follow your route you did lay .. , some time you even have to build Roads for them ..

Also did play yesterday quite some DMC4 on the same System,
The Grapics are maybe a bit old, but the Charakters are looking good, i dont know from which System the Game was, might be XBOX ONE ..
Some parts of the game are quite annoying, : Im in Mission4 and there was an Plattformer thing where you had to use your Demon Arm to Grapple to another Plattform under some spikes ..
The fighting Part of the Game is quite fun though..
 
Started Shadowrun Returns, yesterday. The pen and paper Shadowrun is an RPG, that has humans, elfs, dwarfs, orks, and trolls, magic, the matrix, cybertech inplants, ranged and melee weapons, and megacorporations. Returns is a - dunno what it's called - RPG with Diablo-perspective, but combat is tactical, round-based.
 
Started Shadowrun Returns, yesterday. The pen and paper Shadowrun is an RPG, that has humans, elfs, dwarfs, orks, and trolls, magic, the matrix, cybertech inplants, ranged and melee weapons, and megacorporations. Returns is a - dunno what it's called - RPG with Diablo-perspective, but combat is tactical, round-based.
I've enjoyed the series a lot.
Returns was the first effort of the team and it's showing: Dragonfall and Hong-Kong are generally better liked. I've actually published an adventure for Dragonfall (available on the Steam Workshop).
 
Returns was the first effort of the team and it's showing
The only points I explicitly don't love so far are, I hang on obstacles' corners a lot just moving around (on Switch/no mouse) and moving is a tad slow.
I can only guess, that it was designed with mouse-point-and-click and computer moves figure in mind, and that then it do path finding. As is, if you stick-control the figure into an obstacle at an angle you don't move along its edge, you just come to a halt.
 
I had these games in the backlog for a while, so finally I found the time to massively play them...
I'll start with the real deal for me.


Arcade Paradise

I wasn't sure what kind of game was this, I was thinking it was just a collection of arcade games with micro-transactions to play them... I was so wrong !!

You start managing a laundromat and it's a really simple simulation, you just constantly remove rubbish, and put things in washing machines... but in the rear there's another room where you can start adding arcade cabinets (that can also be played), until you are able to expand that area and make it a real arcade.
There are not "real" arcade games, all are minigames made just for this game, but still are fun to play.
For now I can't just stop to play a game for too much, I always have to run to the washing machines, but luckily there's some king of limited progression autosaving... also I see that in future I could hire some people to do some of the jobs for me.

This game catch really well the atmosphere of the 90s for me... the protagonist have a "fake-casio" watch to remind you things, but also the options of the game are managed with a "fake-Palmtop" device with a "fake-Palm OS" used with a pen...
also the arcade becomes so neonish and full of posters of games, it's soo cool.

More cabinets can be added to the game as DLC.



Happy Game

Short point & click graphic adventure about a child nightmare.
The art is good, the puzzles are pretty straightforward.
The story is ok... but the end is not so clear.

CHUCHEL

Short point & click graphic adventure about some strange creatures, it is made with little stand-alone episodes.
The art is good, the puzzles are ... strange... like the rest of the game, so it is always needed some try to find out the correct solution to something, but it is not difficult anyway.
The story is not present until the end, there are mostly only fun episodes with "really" random stuff that happens.

Botanicula

Short point & click graphic adventure about strange creatures in a world with trees made of light, attacked by some dark creatures.
The art is good, the puzzles are pretty straightforward but most of the time is required a very good skill in pixel hunting, also this game include more exploration, so the solutions sometimes are split in different distant areas.
The story is ok, mostly a fable.

Gigapocalypse

A fun game where you just have to smash everything, then upgrade, and then smash everything again.
There are different mega monsters with different kind of skills, and that's it.
Easy as that is cool when you just want to cover 10 minutes to direct your anger on helpless people.
 
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The only points I explicitly don't love so far are, I hang on obstacles' corners a lot just moving around (on Switch/no mouse) and moving is a tad slow.
I can only guess, that it was designed with mouse-point-and-click and computer moves figure in mind, and that then it do path finding. As is, if you stick-control the figure into an obstacle at an angle you don't move along its edge, you just come to a halt.
Yes it was designed for mouse point and click.
I guess you won't be able to play user generated content on the Switch version. It's too bad, there are some pretty good content.
 
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