anyway, D2...








I've always been a fan of Warp, the game company, they had a team of like 5 people (including the genius who was later behind ICO) and they made games wrapped in condoms and games for blind people and all sorts of really really weird shit.

They also made a little game called D, one of the first "survival horror" games; you can't save in it, you have to complete it in 2 hours, or you die. There's some puzzles.. it's kinda like Myst.. it's disturbing, atmospheric, weird, kinda awful by today's standards but also a work of art, one of the most brilliant and confounding games in the history of gaming.

Then, ENEMY ZERO, another frustrating but brilliant game that is atmospheric as hell, harder than shit, and has probably the best sound design.. ever... which is a good thing, since the enemies and where they are is based on sound.

Anyway, D2...

D fucking 2!

This game is genius! A true work of art. Man. Wow. Okay, okay, it's kinda like one of those Resident Evil "survival horror" type games, but a lot better -- there's no zombies, the game is a billion times more atmospheric; there's just no silliness at all, actually, the game is genuinely DISTURBING in places and it is just mindblowing as hell.

Running around in the snow and shooting monsters... god this game rules.. every monster you kill gives experience points, too!

This is truly the next generation of gaming (albeit released 11 years ago). Do whatever you can to get D2.

super meat boy is supercool, challenging but hyperfun and less frustrating than similar ones.
I finished just a couple "worlds" and it's really impressive how you start a level (say, a though one), work your way through it in a matter of seconds (it litterally takes you just a few secs to end the levels if you do EVERYTHING right) and then die like 200 times in the very same spot.
Still, you can't help but restarting, redoing everything superfast (after 20 tries you go auto-pilot even the hardest bits, kinda those rhythm games) and retry that last jump or wathever that is that divides you from your beloved pink square.

sweet!

I will have to check it out, when able to!

ha ha yes!
do it!
and when you get things right you get the replay of the level like you're playing all your tries at the same time and there are all your alter-egos that die along the way till the last survivor ends the level,super fun

Yeah, the D series has always interested me, gotta play that. The game soundtrack was remixed by some cool artists too, can't remember who though.

nice man. I have an extra Advantage lying around actually.

Yup, I've got 2! :D

D2
D2
D2
D2
D2

right on! I think hardfloor and coldcut were both on it, if I remember correctly.

Isn't it a bit early to play video games NR?

I've had a problem lately. I took out a lot of furniture from my room because I'll be moving out in a week or so....and well....I haven't had a comfortable place to play video games....which to me is huge. It's fucking annoying me to the max....but soon...it will all be over.

haha that's what I was playing last night.

GHOSTCHASE:

http://www.dcisozone.com/downloads/1...und-Track.html

There's the D2 original soundtrack - -I think this is the one with the 99 tracks on it; the remix one is on slsk.

So, I just found a download for Dreamcast game REAL SOUND, a game for blind people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jrGP098U6I

there, you can "watch" the game.

There are two versions of the game: One with static shots. One completely blank. Both have no gameplay besides pressing a button to progress the story. It's just sound. It was made specifically for blind people, though the static shot version has subtitles -- for deaf people.

Warp -- specifically Kenji Eno -- is one of my all time biggest influences. Yeah, I make experimental music and films, and he makes video games, but the atmosphere he conjures up in his work is absolutely incredible. I mean, he is kind of making "movies" too, really... His unconventional narratives, his odd gameplay devices (in Enemy Zero, you can only save so many times... your batteries eventually run out! Oh, also in Enemy Zero, EVERY ENEMY IN THE GAME IS INVISIBLE, you have to use your sound to play it -- hope you have a new tv, since a lot of older tv's dont' work well with stereo... they still make it mono... if possible, play game with headphones on).

Like, has anyone played D?



Not going to lie, I can't see this game getting any fans aside from some of the more fucked up people out there. But by my estimation, it's better than many of the Resident Evil games, and better than all Silent Hill games (dunno about that newest one -- 6, I guess? Was it any good? The second game in the series is the only one I like, and that's for the atmosphere and music... the music is incredible.. for the life of me, I can't remember that composer's old band.. p-model I think? They were an AWESOME Japanese new wave band I listened to many years ago, whne on my big polysics/spoozys/metronome/motocompo/[some] coaltar of the deepers "weird Japanese new wave influenced rock stuff" kick... but yeah, the silent hill games are just about unplayable aside from the aesthetics... the combat is horrible, the games are just you running through fog, hitting people with sticks, and solving idiotic puzzles).


...

ANYWAY.

I've played through and beaten D and I loved it. You gotta beat it in under 3 hours or you die. Hahaha. The thing is on like 3 discs, too. Unbelievable. But again, the atmosphere, the music, etc... I mean, yeah, the voice acting is extremely bad -- what localized voice acting isn't? -- but instead of being b-movie-hilarious like Resident Evil, it makes the game weirder.. it's surreal as hell, with all the rubber lip having characters... lips flopping but words not matching up... uhhh yeah. Truly creepy as hell, y'all.


SPOILER





...people wonder what "D" stands for right? It stands for DRACULA. You find out at the end of D you're the daughter of Dracula or some shit. Okay. It's not a happy ending, really, at least, or I guess not.

END SPOILER



Anyway, D2 is absolutely my favorite Dreamcast game, aside from Bangai-O and Ikaruga and ... well ... Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate... which is probably the only bullet hell game on the system (plenty of shmups but no "bullet hells")...



NR... JOE? ... please tell me you've played Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate (I have to bold it -- it's that damn good)? They really don't make more impressive shmups. It's like Mars Matrix but more insane. It's as colorful as Border Down, as epic as Ikaruga, as crazy as Mars Matrix, with a challenge level about on par with Trigger Heart Elexica.

...continued in next post...

RE: NR... JOE? ... please tell me you've played Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate (I have to bold it -- it's that damn good)? They really don't make more impressive shmups. It's like Mars Matrix but more insane. It's as colorful as Border Down, as epic as Ikaruga, as crazy as Mars Matrix, with a challenge level about on par with Trigger Heart Elexica.

--> no, but it looks phenomenal. Wow.

Adam, did you by any chance check out my blogpost on World Reborn? It's an unreleased GBA shmup. You should check it. If you dnt have a way to play GBA stuff, try Visual Boy Advance emu. It's not a perfect game (Iridion II is) but it certainly should have been released!

(how beautiful is that?)

But yeah, D2. FUCK. This is the single most atmospheric game ever made. Period. Forget Clock Tower, Phantasmagoriana, Silent Hill, Resient Evil (back when they were survival horror games and not buddy-action games that take place in daylight, of all things), even.. gulp... Metroid.

I have a weakness for snow. Batman Returns, Simple Plan, Home Alone, Christmas Evil, Fargo -- all movies made a thousand times better by the snow (in Christmas Evil, it was -- get this -- shredded plastic bags!). D2 has snow. Lots and lots and lots of snow. You run around in high heels and a secretary outfit (?!) in the snow after a plane crash. You kill creatures. You level up! The first person perspective where you can't move is sorta like Killer 7... it works great, and I wasn't expecting to level up! Experience points and shit in an action-adventure game? Cool! It works great, giving you more health, making you faster, making the aim on your sniper rifle more steady... cuz you also hunt for game, well before Metal Gear Solid 3, and it's a lot more fun too. You also take pictures, before Metal Gear Solid 2, and save em to your memory card (er, was that feature in MGS1? I dont' think so. I think it was in Twin Snakes though).

The game is disturbing. Flower demon monsters force women to gag on their big monster dick!

The game, with much skill, combines disturbing images, psychosis, imaginative puzzles, a twisted plot and decision making, which is accompanied by brilliant audio and sound effects. Definitely one of the best soundtracks ever for a game. The game just remains consistently fun, inventive, and a true work of art. If I remember correctly, it was a launch title, and was touted as a killer app for the system (along with Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur).

Dreamcast, to me, represents something far greater than mere video games. The amount of innoative, truly unique titles on that system borders on the insane. There is very very little absolute CRAP on it. And D2 basically represents just about everything I love about video games: it's unique, it's fun, it's inventive but not so convoluted that it's ridiculous.

Warp very much embodied gaming as an experience. Hideo Kojima (to mixed results), Team Ico (with -- so far -- always-brilliant results), and Grasshopper (about 80% overwhelmingly brilliant) have taken what Warp did and ran with it. The designer of Ico actually helped on Enemy Zero. Warp for life..... After like a decade, the creator of Warp and all the games -- Kenji Eno -- is working on a new game for the Wii, btw (he already released one, not sure how it is though the screens look amazing). He came out of retirement specifically to work on games for the Wii, basically. Another reason to get a Wii.


....
Speaking of Wii and Grasshoppers and whatnot, I just bought this for my girlfriend for X-Mas:


Got it for cheaper than fuck, almost for free really. I've played through most of it a few years back, it's quite awesome, it's no Killer7 which is probably in my top 10 games of all time but it's almost as fucked up and brilliant, and the sloundtrack is possibly better. If she likes it, I'll buy her the 2nd one too. I'm glad those games did really really well in the U.S.A, as they sold horribly in Japan. All people want to play in Japan is Brain Age and shit.

GOOD NEWS: THE SILENT HILL COMPOSER I MENTIONED ABOVE -- ...Akira Yamaoka... -- LEFT KONAMI AND JOINED GRASSHOPPER! I didn't realize he helped with the music on Snatcher -- which is an amazing soundtrack, btw -- as well as rocket Knight Adventures (developed by the team that went on to become Treasure), Contra:Shattered Soldier (an absolutely AMAZING Contra game for the PS2, which is just a tad too easy; it feels more like Hard corps than Contra 3, thank god, and it's nothing like the 3D PS1 games, THANK FUCKING GOD. Neo-Contra isn't... TOOO... bad, but who else is SUPER excited for the new Contra Hard Corps sequel developed by the Guilty Gear team?! fuck yes! Anyway, isn't it weird I bought this game and I just mentioned Silent Hill and the composer left to go to Grasshopper?!?!? Weird shit like that happens to me frequently... Anyway... that was my post with lots of random info no one will find interesting, hope you all liked!)

NR, I'll check it out asap. I have a great GBA emulator, actually, so I'll go download that game right now.

One more thing, for more warp, for those interested:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/warp/warp.htm = great article, mainly on the D games
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3169166 = 10 page interview with Kenji; you can hear about the games that were packaged in condoms!

Psyvariar 2 is easy to find, just type in the game title and cdi self boot and it'll come up, for once the one on dcisozone is fucked up, in some weird ass format.


WHEE!

Adam, FYI it's a horizontal shmup. It's more like Phalanx than anything. But combines RPG leveling-up.

but for great GBA shmups, can't suggest Iridion II enough. Please play it if you havent.

ps, we were just laughing at the plastic bags in Christmas Evil the other night. haha.

^nice good doctor. I have that for GB.

meat boy.

my stack of new games from Japan!

Darius R (GBA)
Twinbee (GBA)
Twinbee Da! (GB)
R-Type II (GB)

MagMax (NES)

The thing that I enjoy most about this game is the level of ship customization, there are various robo-body parts that can be picked up throughout each level - each acting as an additional gun for your ship, that can be acquired in pretty much any order. The option of playing above ground or underground is another unique trait of this memorable shooter.





Guerrilla War (NES)

Anyone else a fan of this classic? It's so fast-paced and action packed. I'd take this game over any stinky Black Ops any day. You get unlimited continues, and always start off exactly where you died, so it's as if the developers are insinuating that you play the game as chaotically as possible... which is an absolute blast. Easily one of my all-time favorites on the NES.

this game is so f'ing hard, but I'm so glad I finally own it. Japanese packaging was always amazing for GBA games. For instance the Famicom Mini collection came in little plastic see-through cases that then had little tiny cartridge-sized boxes that were modeled after Famicom game boxes. So sick. Or the Bit Generation series came in even smaller boxes. I think they were like 3"x3" boxes. So cute. Anyway, a lot of them came in these shaped boxes, which sort of resembled Fami boxes. This just looks so sick. Look at that cover!

The Darius games are great. I probably prefer them over R-Type, Gradius, Parodius, etc horizontal shmup games from the same era. There's something so perfect about them. Maybe it's the robotic sea creatures? I don't know. Just seems so ... as it should be. Most people don't realize that there even were Darius releases on GB systems, and for good reason as both (that I can think of) were Japan-only. Darius R for GBA is pretty much a port of the original arcade game. It's really really hard (at least to me -- though I'm a lot better at vertical shmups that horizontals) and it's a great R(evision) looking and sounding amazing on the GBA.

the other Darius release on a GB system was Sagaia if yr wondering which was surprisingly released on the original GB. I'm still looking for a copy of this one.

Decided to test out my brand new NES Max that I picked up at the pawn shop today.






It was my first time using this controller, and I've gotta say - it plays like a charm! Definitely not as cool as the NES Advantage, but I'd say it's a new favorite aside from that. Now all I have to get is the R.O.B. (I'll finally be able to play Gyromite!) and a Powerglove, and I'll officially have every official first party controller made for the system (including the 'dogbone', and both versions of the lightgun).

I picked up Wild Gunman too.






I was also looking at this game Siren, for PS2. Anyone familiar with it? It looked like a pretty neat survival horror title, but I decided that I had better check out a few reviews, and whatnot before dropping any more dough.

Joe too bad, I sold a Powerglove this past year... do you have the PowerPad? (the running mat thing?) I have one of those, but it's so big it'll cost like $14 just to ship the fucker. Plus I have like 3 or so games for it on my trade list.

Oh fuck! I forgot all about the PowerPad!

Looks like my bragging rights are even further from coming true than I thought. :(

sorry mang. Get a job and then you can just buy mine.

Odd, MagMax was the first NES game I ever owned.

...Played SIN AND PUNISHMENT 2 with the girlfriend today. Yep, best Wii game I've played. A masterpiece. Highly reccomended.

Now, back to D2. This is probably the most involving and awesome mindfuck of a game I've played since Killer7.

yeah I need to really check out Sin & Pun 2.

It's even better than the first one - and the first one ruled!

word. I actually just kind of keep forgetting to look into it.

So, nobody has played Siren (PS2)? The reviews are pretty mixed. I might take the risk - it's only $5 anyhow.

havent played it, no. Sorry.

I got 24 new GB games in the mail yesterday though.