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[ace harding: private eye]

What's with the logs? Looks like some Crash Bandicoot-ass shit.

Sparkster is also kinda creepy looking now:

They made him British.

 

[Catalix]

For a lot of people, this will be their first ever exposure to the series

Think about that... :/

 

[Hypereides]

Looks like a phoenix games super quality product.

Was climax acquired any time recently?

 

[Bluemercury]

How many sparkster games there were?one for the megadrive and one for the snes???

 

[Dr. Chaos]

*watches trailer*

Damn..I actually take back what I said earlier. Sparkster kind of looks like shit now in motion.

Best part of that was the footage of the classics which was a strange choice since it kind of emphasizes just how off the mark this looks.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

How many sparkster games there were?one for the megadrive and one for the snes???

The 2 superior games are for the Mega Drive: Rocket Knight Adventures (you are fighting pigs) and Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (you are fighting reptiles).

The semi-remake for the SNES came at the same time as the MD Sparkster, and was titled Sparkster too, and was sort of a fusion of stuff from the first game, second and original stuff and you are fighting wolves. So essentially there are 3 completely different Rocket Knight games.

And now theres this...abomination.

 

[dark10x]

What's with the logs? Looks like some Crash Bandicoot-ass shit.

Pretty much. Looks like a Crash game or the original Jak and Daxter or something. The style simply doesn't fit the game.

To see that style of trailer done better go check out the reveal trailer for Bionic Commando Rearmed. Beautiful!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc_utuHk7xk

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Contra 4 bombed because they released it on the wrong platform. Sorry but this game would have been a hit on XBLA, PSN and Wiiware. Not the damn DS.

Wayfoward is deff the right devs for this

despite Contra's standing status among the '80 crowd here (which includes me), Contra never did go mainstream at any point and had been ultraniche / dead since the last 2D efforts on Snes and Genesis AFAIK. (also note the average age on GAF and what that means)

Contra 4 was not intended to bring the series back to life (it's mainly a collection of series highlights and the interviews included even say it outright) and wasn't published with the advertising campaign needed to bring something dead back into active circulation.


It is what the name says it is: anniversary edition. Which means it's pure fanservice. Which means it could't possible bomb because no one should expect to make a large profit on anniversaries.
But I can understand why people would confuse fans with cult, since cult seems to be the dominant 'fanmode' with todays extensive and more effective marketing.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Little disappointed, but there's a little overreaction in this thread. We've only seen one stage. Who's to say the other stages don't look a lot better or bring back some of the steampunk?

When you have people complaining about the logo to a cartoony video game being too cartoony, it's a little bit much.

Very wary of the game, but it looks like it could still be good, even if it's not a good sequel.

Sparkster on Genesis hugely disappointed me. I remember it controlling very differently than the original. But someone said the SNES one felt more like the original.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

When you have people complaining about the logo to a cartoony video game being too cartoony, it's a little bit much.

This is the exact mindset at Climax that took the steampunk medieval cartoon-contra enemies from the previous games and has replaced them with stripey-panted wolves straight out of a Looney Tunes platformer throwing red sticks of dynamite and red bottle-rockets instead of real machine guns or laser rifles or the very same armour as Sparkster.

A classic test for any 'revival' of a franchise is erasing Sparkster out of the screenshots. Can you still tell its a Rocket Knight game? No.

Also perhaps look at this from the point of view of someone that loved both RKA and Sparkster, you know, an actual fan and label things as over-reacting. Here, one of my favourite franchises from 15 years ago was finally given the go ahead for a new outing and its fundamentally shitty. I'm not sure I've seen a positive post yet about the trailer, so that says a lot as well.

This game too will control differently because the boost button, like in Sparkster, is its own button. So if you only liked RKA, this is even further from a game you should start up a defense force for.

 

[nincompoop]

Whose dumbass idea was it to show the vastly superior Rocket Knight games at the start of the trailer? That just makes the new look even more unbearable :lol

 

[Ri'Orius]

Great, now I want to play the original again (and maybe even the two sequels that I hadn't even heard of), but it looks like they aren't very available (no VC, etc.). Unless they made it into a Sega collection or something?

Anyone know of a

Spoiler

legit

way to play these games without hunting down a Sega Genesis and a cartridge?

 

[theMrCravens]

Whose dumbass idea was it to show the vastly superior Rocket Knight games at the start of the trailer? That just makes the new look even more unbearable :lol

Seriously.
Even the music sounded better.

 

[Sparkster]

This trailer crushed the little bit of hope I had left for this game after seeing the screenshots. It's impressive how thoroughly they've fucked up every aspect of the first three games. Once again, fuck this shit.

 

[D-X]

Should've given it to Sumo they're a UK dev who knows how to treat franchises. So disappointed...

 

[Brannon]

...fix this.

 

[JEKKI]

ah dang that'd be tite is konami made a new Jackal

 

[ace harding: private eye]

As shitty as the game looks, I think the gameplay seems decent from the trailer. The shooter sections look fun, and I'm glad the camera zooms out for them. The control doesn't appear to have the slight sluggishness that 2.5D sometimes creates.

It's just a shame about those god-damned fucking logs.

Seriously.
Even the music sounded better.

Your avatar ROCKS.

 

[JEKKI]

the game looks like Cool Spot kinda...

it's like you're a small ass rodent adventuring on sum desktops or in a big kitchen like the freakin Tom n Jerry game.

btw that Tom n Jerry game was fukkyn awesome!!!!

 

[Rummy Bunnz]

despite Contra's standing status among the '80 crowd here (which includes me), Contra never did go mainstream at any point

That is total nonsense. Contra was as mainstream as it got back in the 80s. Definitely one of the bigger third party NES games.

This is the exact mindset at Climax that took the steampunk medieval cartoon-contra enemies from the previous games and has replaced them with stripey-panted wolves straight out of a Looney Tunes platformer throwing red sticks of dynamite and red bottle-rockets instead of real machine guns or laser rifles or the very same armour as Sparkster.

Please stop comparing these wolves to Looney Tunes. I never saw anything so ugly in Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, man. I said it before, but they're straight outta some furry's deviantart page. Who is to blame for that style! Who originated that awful furry smirk! I would like to know who to blame for decades of terrible furry art like this.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

Please stop comparing these wolves to Looney Tunes. I never saw anything so ugly in Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, man. I said it before, but they're straight outta some furry's deviantart page. Who is to blame for that style! Who originated that awful furry smirk! I would like to know who to blame for decades of terrible furry art like this.

Its the ACME red dynamite and rockets dude, can't help it. Sparkster might as well be a fucking roadrunner and not an opossum!

 

[nightside]

the trailer is simply awful.

 

[Angelcurio]

The worst thing of all is that Konami actually knows how to properly make 2.5d games. They should have done it in-house.

Spoiler

BTW, Konami, re-release Contra Shattered Soldiers on PSN and XBLA with online play

 

[Catalix]

The worst thing of all is that Konami actually knows how to properly make 2.5d games. They should have done it in-house.

Spoiler

BTW, Konami, re-release Contra Shattered Soldiers on PSN and XBLA with online play

That's fitting. Nobuya Nakazato, the man who directed C:SS, also designed the original Rocket Knight Adventures

There was also a Sparkster cameo in a bonus video after you S-ranked the game.

 

[SecretBonusPoint]

The worst thing of all is that Konami actually knows how to properly make 2.5d games. They should have done it in-house.

Oh certainly. While I didn't care for the game too much (frustrating collision detection), the PSP Castlevania retained all the visual appeal of the series and the game on which it was a remake:

While I don't mind Sparkster's redesign in concept artwork, it hasn't been competently modelled into the game. Its that lack of talent that just results in an ugly game. If youre taking black outlined artwork as the concept, you have to go with a cel-shaded graphic engine to replicate it. Instead you lose all that funky detail and end up with Mr Cereal Box Animal as we now recoil from.

 

[magicalsoundshower]

Personally, I think the PSP Rondo of Blood remake looks horrid and doesn't retain anything from the somewhat clean, cartoony style of the original and its often bold colors. It looks like they tried to make it look too realistic and the visuals and their sharpness really suffered as a result. But each to their own, I guess. Rondo is a beautiful game and it was pretty obvious that its style was tough to remake.

 

[∀ Narayan]

This is such tremendous disappoint.

 

[Rummy Bunnz]

Personally, I think the PSP Rondo of Blood remake looks horrid and doesn't retain anything from the somewhat clean, cartoony style of the original and its often bold colors. It looks like they tried to make it look too realistic and the visuals and their sharpness really suffered as a result. But each to their own, I guess. Rondo is a beautiful game and it was pretty obvious that its style was tough to remake.

I agree. I thought it was pretty damn ugly. Totally farmed out to TOSE China or some shit. I can't believe you had to play it to unlock the better games. What junk.

I'm also not a fan of Shattered Soldier. Devoid of color and cheap looking. That HUD! Ugh! And getting killed by puke fumes from a turtle was bullshit. I know I'm in the minority, but I hated that game.

 

[D-X]

It's the generic levels that really let it down. Seriously - sodding large planks of wood?

Konami - bring this in house

 

[VariantX]

Just how far along is this game anyway....hope to god its nowhere near done, it needs to go back in the oven for another 6 months at least just to get it looking right.

 

[Syril]

Just how far along is this game anyway....hope to god its nowhere near done, it needs to go back in the oven for another 6 months at least just to get it looking right.

One of the articles was talking about looking at a pre-alpha build I think.

 

[octopusman]

God that trailer looked terrible, so much wasted space, such poor graphics, UGH.

 

[JaseMath]

C'mon GAF, other than an overly muddy color palette and and some weird animations, it didn't look that bad. It's got a few more months to get it right.

 

[KittenMaster]

For a lot of people, this will be their first ever exposure to the series

Think about that... :/

I...

I think I'm about to cry.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

I agree. I thought it was pretty damn ugly. Totally farmed out to TOSE China or some shit. I can't believe you had to play it to unlock the better games. What junk.

I'm also not a fan of Shattered Soldier. Devoid of color and cheap looking. That HUD! Ugh! And getting killed by puke fumes from a turtle was bullshit. I know I'm in the minority, but I hated that game.

You're right, the PSP version was outsourced. I can't remember who to though (It wasn't TOSE)

As a sidenote, Ultimate Ghosts N' Goblins was outsourced to Tose and it looks great! (Shame the level design sucks though )

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I'm no Modus or Orioto, but allow me to rub salt in to a wound...

Took me a little over a day to whip this up. Some of it's kind of sloppy, but... I'm one guy and I don't usually do videogame tiles, especially at this resolution.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I'm no Modus or Orioto, but allow me to rub salt in to a wound...

Took me a little over a day to whip this up. Some of it's kind of sloppy, but... I'm one guy and I don't usually do videogame tiles, especially at this resolution.

goddamn

 

[The Hermit]

The hit detection, the enemies, everything looked off... what the hell?!

 

[dark10x]

I've played it before, but I just found an original Genesis copy of the game for $4 on Sunday and decided to pick it up. The game is really quite brilliant (the original RKA). The amount of variety in the stages is just incredible and it still looks really nice.

Anyone familiar with the SNES game, by the way? I thought it was really pretty bad next to the Genesis titles. It has TONS of slowdown and the level design just isn't as enjoyable. There's something off about the game...

 

[Label]

edit: oh shit I do not think I was allowed to say that. :lol