 | aka Nightmare PlayStation 2 Edition |
So I've been writing a review for a game... for two and a half weeks now. And it's been driving me nuts that I haven't finished it yet. My goal is to complete it sometime this week, all I need to do is just sit down and commit to the rest of the review.
In the meantime, I've decided to take a tiny break and fool around with some other games on my PlayStation 2. I recently got the console back from my brother a few months back, I think maybe around November, and I just got back a few games yesterday he's been borrowing for almost two years now. So I hooked up the PlayStation 2, plopped in Taito Legends 2, and booted the system. I got the start-up screen, but then it sent me to the system's menu screen several times, telling me the disc won't load. I thought this to be extremely odd, considering there's no scratches on the disc. For a few of the star-ups, the disc sounded like it wanted to jump out, and upon further inspection of the tray's inside, it appeared that the little latches on the black "button" in the center that you lock the disc in won't latch all the way. I thought this was a lost cause until I had to manually press into each latch with my fingernail once the disc is in place.
I start the system, the disc sounds like it's running fine this time, but still nothing. Afterwards, I put the PS2 in the vertical position, and while it still didn't run the game, it didn't outright say the disc wouldn't run. Progress! Eventually, I tried something I thought would be stupid... I put the console upside down. It worked. Thinking my troubles to be long past me, I got up to take a dump while the system played Taito Legends 2.
When I got back, a new problem arose: half the buttons on the controller were malfunctioning. They weren't completely broken, just required harder pushes to work. The one button that gave me the hardest time was L1. Guess what Taito Legends 2 uses to start a game? L1. Horrifyingly, there's no control configuration to switch the game start button. I was able to deal with it for the first two games I tried, but when I tried starting the third game, the L1 button caved in on itself due to all the pressure I was applying. Wonderful. Later I browsed Amazon for a new controller, and, the hell? Was the PS2 controller always that expensive?
Conclusion: I REALLY need to stop letting my brother borrow consoles. Over the last 16+ years, he's demonstrated that he does not know how to take proper care of one.
As for the two Taito Legends 2 games I've played, one stuck out as atrocious...
The Legend of Kage
I've known about this game for eons, specifically the NES version, about its notoriously awful and awkward mechanics, but the arcade version can't be like that, right? Well, it is. Your character controls bizarrely, where you can only shoot diagonally when jumping, which is not a great thing considering how random the enemies respond in this game. It's extremely difficult to predict what anyone is going to do. There's ALWAYS a 50/50 chance you'll jump or run into a shuriken or a monk jumping out of nowhere with flames, something impossible to dodge.
As badly as the game controls and the enemies react, it seems like only the beginning and ending stages, both taking place in the forest, are the toughest levels in the whole game. Every other level can almost be won just by jumping away from enemies. You know what the worst part of Kage was? I didn't even realize I beat the game until I noticed I was in the second stage loop. The final "boss" was so unceremonious, that the game suddenly looped back into the starting forest stage when I defeated the boss. Well... at least I can say I completed The Legend of Kage. With a broken controller. I always wanted to try out Kage 2 on the Nintendo DS, but I felt that I should give the original a shot first. And did I.
Afterwards, the L1 button broke, so I moved on to the SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, so that I could play...
Neo Turf Masters
One of my favorite golf games ever simply because of how easy and fun it is to get into. I'm very rusty though; the two sessions I played resulted in several double bogeys, mainly from hitting trees I thought I could pass over. Game has a relaxing, yet catchy, soundtrack, too.
Movies!
Watched a billion movies the last few weeks, and it'll take forever to comment in detail on all, so I'll just list them, some with brief comments. Potential, unintentional spoilers.
Kelly's Heroes - Enjoyed the movie, especially the ending segment. Though, I don't understand why some consider this a comedy?
Two Mules for Sister Sara - Haven't watched this in ages. Was surprised to realize how much the movie mainly focused on the two main characters and no one else.
Inglorious Basterds - Favorite scene: the bar. That's all I'll say about that. Also, since I watched Kelly's Heroes before this, I got a kick out of one of its themes playing at one point.
Escape Plan - Stallone and Arnold. Surprisingly better than I expected. Also was thrown off by the amount of recognizable faces that appeared in the cast, Vincent D'Onofrio and Vinnie Jones to name a few.
Olympus Has Fallen - I didn't realize this movie was rated R when I got it. And they sure made use of it. If you want to watch a "Die Hard in a (blank)" movie, here you go.
Heartbreak Ridge - I dunno, there's just something about a movie that's both directed and starring Clint Eastwood that feels.... homely. Can't explain it. Some of the acting felt campy, though.
Machine Gun Preacher - Actually not bad. Though, with all "based on a true story" movies, I always go in expecting stuff to be exaggerated, and at least make an attempt to do some research after watching the movie.
Defiance (Daniel Craig) - Another "based on a true story movie", I was a little worried about the quality of the directing and acting at first, but by the end, it was an interesting watch. Several performances saved the movie from dipping into bland territory. Though, the one thing that really distracted me was Craig's white horse. One minute he doesn't have a horse, and the next, he owns a white horse... and he's the only one with a horse! What.
Drive - I've been hearing a lot about this movie for the last few years, mainly in passing. Finally decided to check it out. I'll just say: Ryan Gosling's character freaked me out for the first half. His weird, often emotionless, demeanor made me feel like the film was gonna suddenly turn into a horror picture at one point.
Breakdown (Kurt Russell) - A simple, tense, fun thriller. Action got a bit silly right at the end, but eh.
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Germ - March 10, 2015 (11:11 AM) There's something interesting about compilation discs on the PS2. Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on PS2 (and then 3), the Midway Arcade Treasures titles, and others were a lot of fun. Maybe it's that it was the first console generation to allow really big compilations without compromises. I've seen Heartbreak Ridge, which I remember being okay but I can't really tell you what the plot was. I've also seen Inglorious Basterds. I didn't care for it. The wife and I watched Whiplash and Gone Girl over the last few days. Gone Girl was a lot different than I thought it would be. Remain as ignorant of it as you possibly can and go in blind, if you're at all interested. Whiplash was very, very good. I don't know much about jazz, but a relative who studied music in college who watched it said the intensity of competition portrayed there is somewhat accurate. And that's horrifying. Miles Teller and JK Simmons are fantastic. This weekend we're going to watch Birdman. The only movie we saw in theaters in 2014 was Foxcatcher, and we're trying to catch up. |
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dementedhut - March 10, 2015 (12:33 PM) Yeah, compilations during that era were fun, give or take a few emulation anomalies, or a collection full of crap games. Except mainly for HD rereleases, it's a shame that they're less common nowadays, but that's not surprising given the digital marketplace. The biggest thing about collections, though, is that you're forced to use restraint when playing one, since it's very easy to quickly switch to another game if you die a few times. I'd be lying if I said I never did that during the early years of the compilation "boom". |
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honestgamer - March 10, 2015 (02:34 PM) Your brother sounds like he would have zero chance whatsoever of borrowing any of my games or hardware. Actually, I stopped letting most people borrow anything from me a long time ago. I don't like being angry and impotent when they return my beloved possessions in mangled condition and act like it's no big deal... |
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dementedhut - March 10, 2015 (07:51 PM) I've lost wayyy too many games I cherished over my lifetime due to borrowing. To name a few: Sonic 1 pack-in from the original Genesis, original Game Boy brick (person took it with him to New York), original Sony PlayStation (same person borrowed it for eons, then when he was ready to return it, he dropped it), 20-some, pre-Greatest Hits PlayStation 1 games (Street Fighter Alpha 3, Knockout Kings 2000, MTV Music Generator, Crash Bandicoot 3 to name a few), Namco Museum: Virtual Console (currently going for $100 new on Amazon), etc. etc. What makes it more infuriating is how all of these games were in near-perfect condition, most of which would fetch fantastic prices if I was in a situation of having to sell them. Life! |
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JoeTheDestroyer - March 10, 2015 (11:11 PM) Ah, Legend of Kage. I recall reviewing the NES version for GameFAQs ages ago because I wanted some bash fodder. I gave it a 1/10 then. I've since bumped up my score on it, but I maintain that it's just not a good game, IMO, no matter how much people on GF argued with me regarding its supposed greatness. I do hope you're reviewing that. I'd like to see what you have to say about it. As far as movies go, I haven't done a whole lot of watching lately. I did catch both Birdman and St. Vincent, both of which I enjoyed (although Birdman's ending annoyed the crap out of me--ugh, enough with the vague endings, artsy movies!!!). |
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dementedhut - March 11, 2015 (08:45 PM) Dunno if I have the focus to do a review for Kage 1 at the moment. It does feel like an interesting challenge to do, though, so maybe I might do it sometime later. |
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