Welcome back to another installment of Backlog Summer! How much progress have the staff made through their backlogs since last week? Read on to find out!
Anthony Vigna
Almost a half a year after I bought Puzzle Quest 2, I finally finished it! I really like how the game mixed the turned-based combat of RPGs with match-3 puzzle games, but I stopped playing it because it was way too long. Don’t get me wrong, the game is great, but it needs to be played in short bursts. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why it took me so long to beat a 25 hour game like this. I’m really happy that I finished it, though, as I can finally cross that game off my long backlog list!
After that, I tried playing Phantasy Star IV for the first time after seeing tons of praise about it on the Internet. I can appreciate the futuristic setting, the fantastic turn-based combat, and comic book-esque cutscenes, but I’m not really feeling it right now. The game is really well made, but I don’t think I’m in the mood for something like this at the moment. Maybe it’ll have to wait for another backlog summer!
Nicolas Vestre
After some very tough battles in Dr. Wily’s castle, I’ve completed a buster only run of Mega Man 2! The Robot Masters went down pretty easily, and I had to defeat them over and over to have a shot at taking down Dr. Wily to the point that it became second nature to dispatch them (except for Quick Man, because he’s erratic and just plain evil). One boss in Dr. Wily’s castle requires using a certain Robot Master weapon to take it down, but the weapon uses a lot of energy really quickly, so even one missed shot meant I had to get a game over just to try again. Because this was a buster only run, I could only use Items 1, 2, and 3 when the game absolutely required them, making for some tricky platforming. One boss in Dr. Wily’s castle uses an attack that is physically impossible to avoid, even if you’re the best player in the world. It took all my health not to meet an untimely death; if the battle had gone on for two more seconds, I would have been a goner.
Now I’m doing a much easier run of Mega Man 2: a weapons only run. That means I can’t use the Mega Buster on any enemy except the first boss I fight, where I then have to exclusively use Robot Master weapons for the entire game. Most people would probably start with Quick Man (because his stage has few enemies and the Quick Boomerang has almost unending weapon energy) or Metal Man (his weapon has lots of weapon energy and can be fired in many directions), but I decided to try a path I found on YouTube and start with Heat Man. After getting the Atomic Fire, I went in the order of Flash Man, Quick Man, Wood Man, Air Man, Crash Man, Bubble Man, and Metal Man (purposely last because his weapon is so useful). Taking down the Robot Masters was a lot easier than the buster only run, even in this peculiar order. Now I’m in the middle of Dr. Wily’s castle, and things are going pretty well.
After all that Mega Man fun, I’m going to try the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog on 3DS Virtual Console. I don’t know very much about the game, but I want to try a Game Gear game, and this is a great place to start. To make things better, I don’t have to go find 6 AA batteries to have a shot at this game!
Robert Marrujo
I love RPGs, but I tend to balance them out with something a little more action-oriented when I play them. So while I’ve been plugging away at Fossil Fighters: Champions, I’ve been playing Mega Man ZX! Ah, Mega Man, why does Capcom deny me? In the wait for Mighty No.9 (let’s face it, it’s the closest we’ll get to a real Mega Man game for a good, long time), I thought ZX would be the perfect complimentary experience for my fossil hunting. This game is so crazy. I have to give it to Capcom; when they were still making Mega Man games, despite the endless sequel abuse, they were pretty risky with the series. ZX was THE Mega Man platformer when it came out, not just a spin-off, and it turned the game’s mythology on its head.
With a new cast and setup, ZX picked up the story after the Mega Man Zero series, and was totally unafraid to go against tradition. The gameplay also got a little Metroidvania-ish, adding another twist to things. I used to hate slogging through the stories in Mega Man games, but going back to ZX, I’ve developed a new appreciation for the narrative. This game is rocking my DS right now, and I’m looking forward to chipping away at this one as I finish Fossil Fighters. Speaking of everyone’s favorite dino game, I’m meandering through it right now, taking my time. I’ve been getting my team primed for bigger and better things, so I haven’t progressed story-wise a lot from last week. Expect much more in my update next Saturday. Between ZX and Champions, I’ve been having a blast!
Anthony Pershkin
I didn’t play much this week because of my trip to Germany, but before that I did manage to squeeze some time to do a quick look at games like Wario World and Gotcha Force.
Wario World has got to be the only game by Treasure (the “old gods” of action games) that I missed. So far, it’s turning out to be one of my favorite action platformers out there. Wario World satisfies both my inner OCD gamer and my action maniac who dreams of doing piledrivers to people all day, every day. It’s also surprising to see Treasure finally nail the traditional, not-on-rails 3D gameplay. The studio had some troubles in the past. (I’m looking at you, Stretch Panic.)
Gotcha Force is also another great game that went under my radar. If you like Virtual-On, horrible anime dubs, and Pokémon, then it’s a one hell of a game. It’s also very time-consuming thanks to it’s straight-to-the-point design and fast-paced gameplay. I would love to devote more time into it after I’m finished with Wario World.
Marc Deschamps
This week, I’ve entered the final stretch in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. I conquered the Wind Temple, and now I’ve moved on to the moment I’ve been dreading: the Triforce quest. The boss in the Wind Temple provided me with my biggest challenge yet in this play through. If not for the bottle of blue potion I had on me, I might not have finished him off in one attempt. I’d better stock up before my meeting with Ganon!
I must say, despite my feelings of dread, the Triforce quest is going pretty well so far. I have three of the eight pieces, and haven’t really broken a sweat! Back in 2003, I actually had to cave and look for help online with one or two of them. It killed me to do it, and I really hope to avoid that same shameful fate this time around!
What older games are you playing through this summer? Share your progress with us in the comments section!
I actually played further into the game FF6 (well the cartridge says 3, but what did we know in the mid 90s) than I have in around 20 years. From beating Larry, Moe, and Curly, to finally getting the Ultima spell I’m going to beat it this time!
Well unless Kefka makes me cry in sadness again like he did two years ago.