Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Megaman games, turning to Megaman X. We very briefly set it in its time, discuss the new feel that the SNES gets you, as well as other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Three bosses
Issues covered: the SNES Classic deal with using the reset, setting difficulty on the emulated game, sequels and console generations, "the new standard in entertainment," additional frames and transitional animation lending character in 16bit, depth of music and audio, designing new movement into the level design, iconic silhouettes and the expression of the concept art, heads and heroism, a different Megaman, Brett dives into the lore, hair as a poor robot lifestyle choice, distinct biomes, the ronin robot end of MegaMan 2 and its final battle, the earnestness of a SVP letter, leaning into robots, animal-named robots and Metal Gear, boss order, flying robots that destroy level bits, continuity of the series, cinematic introductions on the SNES, Tim is behind on the lore, being able to distinguish games at the time, modern indie equivalents, upgrading in the level, lack of payoff to gaining the ability/no training, discussing Proust, hearing the music a lot, an unresolved musical cue, another difficulty discussion, constraints and chiptunes, interesting orchestrations.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: SNES Classic, Celeste, Dark Souls, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, God of War, Myst, Sam and Max Hit the Road, DOOM (1993), X-Wing, Link's Awakening, Day of the Tentacle, The 7th Guest, Bill Gates, Sinistar, Super Metroid, Mario (series), Castlevania (series), Halo, Keiji Inafune, Game Boy Advance, Pinocchio, Aisha Tyler, Isaac Asimov, Metal Gear (series), Terminator (series), The Matrix, Nintendo, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, Peter, Marcel Proust, À la recherche du temps perdu, Ben "from Iowa" Zaugg, The Megas, The Immortals, J. S. Bach, Daft Punk, Gothic Chocobo, Infamous, Resident Evil, Pokemon, Mark Brown/Game Maker's Toolkit, Elden Ring, Kingdom Hearts, Tomb Raider, Destiny, Assassin's Creed, Marty O'Donnell, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.
Links:
What Capcom Didn't Tell You About Resident Evil 4
What Makes Celeste's Assist Mode Special
Game Maker's Toolkit Video Game Accessibility Playlist
Notes:
Indeed, you can re-enter levels in MegaMan X
Next time:
Finish with the game
Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub
DevGameClub@gmail.com
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on Capcom's MegaMan series, looking at the latter half of the game, exploring its difficulty and how it presents a final exam, among other topics. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Finished the Game! (Hmm...)
Issues covered: multiple forms of mastery, leaning on rewind, playing "au naturale," analogues in the podcast hosts, being confused about item 1, how the powers match up against various bosses, Brett's tornado, choosing the right weapon for the job, wondering whether you learn from earlier enemies for the final exam, plotting out your path, the final areas of the castle and challenge, divergent paths in game design, multiple ways of using the same ingredients, being frustrated by the type of game, having the gratifying sense of overcoming a boss, gaining knowledge, being surprised by a mid-game cutscene and map, puzzle rooms and weird rooms, the final exam, the bomb maze room, having to fight all the mans again, an amazing ending cutscene, wanting to know about the lore, identifying how to make games fit better to players, matchmaking very quickly, mixing different things together, the consequences of not reading mechanics and how that impacts a game, not knowing who Sen is, the Painted World, shipping your vertical slice, the terror of the Tower of Latria, showing the flaws of the mechanics.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Metroidvanias, Wonderful 101, Platinum Games, Clover Games, Okami, Hideki Kamiya, Viewtiful Joe, GameCube, Wizardry, Ultima IV, Conan the Barbarian, Sabotage, Lode Runner, Robotron, Joust, Mario (series), Metroid, Nintendo, Contra, Assassin's Creed, Raymond, Celeste, Todd Howard, Halo (series), Josh Mankey, Dark Souls, Stardew Valley, Warren Linam-Church, Ico, Sasha, Shadow of the Colossus, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Fumito Ueda, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia, Dog Game Club.
Next time:
3 Mens of MegaMan X!
Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub
DevGameClub@gmail.com
Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on MegaMan 2/X, looking at them as different platformers from the time. We set it in context a bit. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary.
Sections played:
Three enemies
Issues covered: Dog Game Club, playing a couple games instead of one, fighting mens for their weapons, playing second iterations, bringing in past favorites, setting the game in its time, mascot games, structure and wanting to choose your order of attack, using the boss for its weapons, technical limitations and difficulty, learning a level, generosity with powerups, run-based play, grinding for drops, some things that feel unfair the first time you fight them, getting the gist, having wall stages, annual release schedule, Mega Man 10 or X, tic-tac-toe enemy board, dabbling in some enemies, not knowing what order to progress, using passwords, possible orders of enemies, damage types and using the right tools for the job, Tim shades Billy Mitchell, deriving stuff from Mega Man, wanting to run, spawning enemies rhythmically rather than placement, how the platforming feels, being more methodical, character design for collision in this and Mario, good characterization with fewer states, swapping, not designing for you controller, having to be able to go to any level first, where you can get to powerups, homework: watch out for cool level design moments, books about the inside, keeping the good stuff, keeping current through peer recommendations, finding a friend group, listening to podcasts, not feeling like you have to keep up, finding threads through games, following journalists, first person football, losing perspective, the ways games are impacted by other media, butt explosion T-shirt, reactions in games, why games hit when, a return to Anor Londo.
Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Bark Souls, Soul Rover, Mark Garcia, Shibaenmue, Resident Beagle, Castlevania, SNES, PlayStation, Pokemon, GameBoy, Metroid (series), Zelda (series), Capcom, System Shock 2, Wasteland, Electronic Arts, Fallout, Dragon Quest 3, Enix, RC Pro/Am, Rare, Bionic Commando, Ultima V, Nintendo, Tecmo, Ninja Gaiden, Final Fantasy II, Pool of Radiance, Baldur's Gate, Chrono Trigger, Populous, Super Mario Land, Prince of Persia, Broderbund, SimCity, Castlevania III, Konami, Contra 2, Sierra, King's Quest, Space Quest, Manhunter, Colonel's Bequest, Keiji Inafune, Resident Evil (series), Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, Tetris, Guacamelee, Sonic (series), The Brady Bunch, Johnny Grattan, Crash Bandicoot, Ultima Underworld, Donkey Kong, King of Kong, Ratchet & Clank, Shonen Jump, Astro Boy, Sega Genesis, Tomb Raider, Spelunky, Super Meat Boy, Blood Sweat Pixels, mysterydip, Junction Point, Jason Schreier, Press Reset, Ray Chase, Bioshock Infinite, John Webb, Prey, Bioshock, Triple Click, Waypoint Radio, DLC, Kirk Hamilton, Maddie Myers, Hollow Knight, Kingdom Hearts, Dishonored, Austin Walker, Ben "from Iowa" Zaugg, ESPN NFL 2k5, Trespasser, Coleco, Mattel, Morrowind, The Honorable T. H. Isismyre Alname, Robin Hobb, David Eddings, Velvet Underground, Bloodborne, Demons's Souls, Drew Scanlon, Jeremiah Johnson, Giant Bombcast, Aaron Evers.
Next time:
Finish MegaMan 2!
Notes:
The King of Kong person Brett was thinking of was Billy Mitchell
Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub
DevGameClub@gmail.com