PixlBit

Which is to say, lots more retro gaming today. I also finished watching Dragon Quest Your Story on Netflix. It's just ok for most of it but the ending is a feast for the eyes and presents an unexpected twist. I liked it. 

Wizardry: I recovered my team with two wizards and “beat” levels 1 and 2. I define beat as defeating Murphy’s Ghost on level 1 and getting the gold key on level 2. I’m playing more conservatively than ever, using every spell I can for any enemy group of 3 or more and returning to the castle when I’m low on spells or have a downed or severely low HP team member. It’s going pretty well. I changed one of my fighters to a samurai and have long term plans to turn the other two into Lords, although, Lords require a lot of high stats, so it maybe a while. I can’t resist the alure of Wizardry, no matter how much it frustrates me. I’m still trying to understand why. I think it feels like the beginning stages of writing a book where you might create some characters, set them in a world, and see what happens.

Minecraft Dungeons: I beat the desert area, got new gear, and still played alone. I’m getting quite tired of this solo play. I’m going to have to do something about that.

SNK Anniversary Collection:

Ikari III: The Rescue: Beat the game by saving that kid. Boy, it just gets more and more punchy near the end, meaning I had to fight off many enemies with hands and feet. I realized I can do a spin kick move and a jumping kick move. They’re both not that effective in the later parts of the game, because if you stop punching for one second, you get beaten down. The bosses are just two bigger dudes whom you have to punch like crazy to beat. I enjoyed it thanks to infinite continues. I would never persist in a game like this in the arcades. It is mucho unfair on many levels.

Iron Tank: A tank battle game. Vertically scrolling. Reminded me of Vindicators or Strategy X by two other companies. It has a menu screen you can go to, like it was the inside of the tank. There you can select bullet types, call HQ and see a map. I didn’t notice any difference in my shots when certain bullet types were chosen. I need to investigate the controls a bit more.

Paddle Mania: It’s paddle ball but the variations are sort of neat. I saw one where you play against an opponent in water and another against a volleyball team. You just swat the ball back and forth and try to get it in each other’s goal. That’s not exactly what paddle ball is but more like Pong. You move with the left stick and swing with the right. I found the controls a little difficult but maybe with more practice I can get it.

P.O.W.: This is a lot like Ikari III. It’s a brawler primarily, although, you pick up a gun every so often for some brief shooting. There are some unique moves you can do like a headbutt and a back punch. The back punch uses the left trigger to make your character give a quick punch behind him. I like that move because I often get surrounded by foes where I can do little but wait to get knocked down. I beat this game and enjoyed it.

Prehistoric Isle: In this you pilot a biplane and shoot dinos along a 2D side scrolling environment. It’s very colorful and beautifully drawn. You can pick up a gun that attaches to your plane that you can rotate around the plane to help you shoot enemies below, above and behind. This game is super unfair though. Your plane is relatively big and the screen space is crowded with large enemies and obstacles. Thanks to continues I beat the game, but I never ever would have done so in the arcade. There’s just no chance you could do this on a reasonable amount of quarters. I do love my games with biplanes though.