Could this be the worst game on the US Turbo?

DragonmasterDan · 05/31/2011, 08:35 PM

I just played Night Creatures for the first time, oh my god is it terrible. I spent about five minutes ducking with attack on juggling three enemies in the air. Then a bird eventually killed me. I thought, well maybe I'm missing something. I continued playing. This is horrible, how did this even get released. This is worse than either of the Disney games.

SignOfZeta · 05/31/2011, 09:44 PM

I actually hate Darkwing Duck more. Night Creatures is such an...oddity. I can't help but wonder how it got made. I know how Darkwing Duck got made (someone wrote a check to Disney) but Night Creatures? I'm facinated by the idea that someone thought this was an awesome concept for a game. Rather than copying the designs from a drug store coloring book, the creators of Night Creatures actually made all that stuff up, mostly from scratch.

Dennis: You know who would make a great bad guy for a video game? Hecate!

Nigel: Oh, I do agree! Let's learn to program!

How was this not just a DOS game? More to the point, why wasn't it also a DOS game? An American exclusive, TG16 exclusive game that wasn't based on any prior art? This is the only game like that, isn't it?

nat · 05/31/2011, 09:49 PM

I think Talespin is far worse.... I rather like the Night Creatures concept, actually.

DesmondThe3rd · 06/01/2011, 12:59 AM

Ohya, this one. I reviewed this one before and it wasn't pretty.

jlued686 · 06/01/2011, 10:23 AM

I'm surprised Talespin gets a lot of hate. Granted, I haven't played it in years and didn't love it back when it was released. But I do remember persevering to the end.

Night Creatures, on the other hand, I remember buying and absolutely despising. I remember the promo video that TTi sent out, making it look really cool. Like Altered Beast mixed with a horror movie. I think my brother and I played it for about a day or two before giving up on it completely.

Coincidentally, it's a game I've been thinking about lately, and considering re-buying just to experience its awful-ness again.

Arkhan Asylum · 06/01/2011, 11:36 AM

Night Creatures is what happens when round eye try making horror game.

DesmondThe3rd · 06/01/2011, 11:41 AM

Quote from: guest on 06/01/2011, 10:23 AMI'm surprised Talespin gets a lot of hate. Granted, I haven't played it in years and didn't love it back when it was released. But I do remember persevering to the end.

Night Creatures, on the other hand, I remember buying and absolutely despising. I remember the promo video that TTi sent out, making it look really cool. Like Altered Beast mixed with a horror movie. I think my brother and I played it for about a day or two before giving up on it completely.

Coincidentally, it's a game I've been thinking about lately, and considering re-buying just to experience its awful-ness again.

I didn't really hate Talespin that much either. Granted it's not a perfect title thanks to a few really annoying areas like the underwater stage and hard as hell endboss but it still had it's moments to me. Night Creatures on the other hand was a complete chore to play thanks to awkward controls, iffy hit detection, and lame animal powers.

JoshTurboTrollX · 06/01/2011, 11:59 AM

I still don't get all the Night Creature Hate. I actually like the art style, and while there are obvious flaws in the game, I still think its a fine addition to those that enjoy Shape Shifter or Shadow of the Beast.

I can think of several games that are worse.

jlued686 · 06/01/2011, 12:54 PM

Quote from: JoshTurboTrollX-16 on 06/01/2011, 11:59 AMI still don't get all the Night Creature Hate. I actually like the art style, and while there are obvious flaws in the game, I still think its a fine addition to those that enjoy Shape Shifter or Shadow of the Beast.

I can think of several games that are worse.

I do like the art style of the game. It's a really nice looking TurboChip title. But it's always been "the worst Turbo game" since I bought it as a kid, though I'm sure there are worse ones.

DragonmasterDan · 06/01/2011, 12:59 PM

Quote from: guest on 06/01/2011, 10:23 AMNight Creatures, on the other hand, I remember buying and absolutely despising. I remember the promo video that TTi sent out, making it look really cool. Like Altered Beast mixed with a horror movie. I think my brother and I played it for about a day or two before giving up on it completely.

Coincidentally, it's a game I've been thinking about lately, and considering re-buying just to experience its awful-ness again.

I remember it from that promo video as well "You say you've been bitten by Hecate. You've got a problem!". I watched that promo video excessively when I was younger, and only bought (at the time) a handful of games featured in it.

Arkhan Asylum · 06/01/2011, 02:13 PM

Its not bad. (Night Creatures).

Its just different. It could've been a bit better, but then again so could alot of games. All in all its decent. It just has the typical American/Western game flaws that make it sort of hokey.

CrackTiger · 06/01/2011, 02:59 PM

Night Creatures actually does some cool tricks. Apparently the graveyard uses a huge amount of dynamic tiles. There's other parallax too, which many other PCE games don't have. It obviously wasn't finished and simply shipped as-is. I really don't think that it is the polished product of incompetent programmers. I don't know how anyone can criticize the idea or basic design, since its basically Symphony of the Night before SotN existed.

Night Creatures had great potential and that is why it's such a huge disappointment. I also don't know how anyone can suggest it as the worst TG-16 game, unless you haven't played every Turbo game. It's broken, but still a real fleshed out game in a more popular genre. Falcon is more or less unplayable and Gunboat is that much better. There's probably a dozen games I'd less like to play than Night Creatures.

It's flaws aren't even that bad when compared to similar "Metroidvania" style adventure games for NES, which are heralded as classics to this day. At least it lets you save your game and diesn't require extremely long passwords with several font characters that are indistinguishable from others.

DragonmasterDan · 06/01/2011, 03:11 PM

Quote from: guest on 06/01/2011, 02:59 PMIt's flaws aren't even that bad when compared to similar "Metroidvania" style adventure games for NES, which are heralded as classics to this day. At least it lets you save your game and diesn't require extremely long passwords with several font characters that are indistinguishable from others.

It's not controllable. Faxanadu is controllable, as another Turbo example, Exile is Controllable. This.. this is just terrible. The Adams Family is a giant step forward in playability.

Just on a side note, I'm not saying the programmers were incompetent, or the basic idea is flawed. It's just executed so horribly that it's far worse than even I could have imagined.

Arkhan Asylum · 06/01/2011, 03:22 PM

It seems like everything went into the visuals which are really nice (in some spots, other spots its just average), and the controls suffered horribly.

It seems to be a recurring theme. non-Japan-based platformer games have shit controls or some other stupid gameplay flaw that ruins everything.

Up to jump, slippery/jerky, Action 52.

jlued686 · 06/01/2011, 03:24 PM

Agreed, Black Tiger. Like I said, there are probably worse games out there, but it always had that spot in my mind as "the worst" because of my experience with it as a kid. If I could find a cheap copy (under $50 complete), I'd probably pick it up again just to reacquaint myself with it.

DragonmasterDan · 06/01/2011, 03:46 PM

Quote from: guest on 06/01/2011, 03:22 PMIt seems like everything went into the visuals which are really nice (in some spots, other spots its just average), and the controls suffered horribly.

It seems to be a recurring theme. non-Japan-based platformer games have shit controls or some other stupid gameplay flaw that ruins everything.

Up to jump, slippery/jerky, Action 52.

I can think of lots of old games by say for example Rare (Wizards and Warriors) that controlled perfectly fine.

Arkhan Asylum · 06/01/2011, 04:52 PM

RARE was a complete exception to everything that makes me laugh at European/American made games of the 80s/90s.

Too bad they didn't do any TG stuff. I bet it would've been tits.

CrackTiger · 06/01/2011, 07:40 PM

Quote from: DragonmasterDan on 06/01/2011, 03:11 PM
Quote from: CrackTiger on 06/01/2011, 02:59 PMIt's flaws aren't even that bad when compared to similar "Metroidvania" style adventure games for NES, which are heralded as classics to this day. At least it lets you save your game and diesn't require extremely long passwords with several font characters that are indistinguishable from others.
It's not controllable. Faxanadu is controllable, as another Turbo example, Exile is Controllable. This.. this is just terrible. The Adams Family is a giant step forward in playability.

It depends on how you define "controllable". Obviously, it is not uncontrollable, otherwise I couldn't have finished it so many times. Many games have bad enemy placement and/or collision, where you can be juggled to death from full HP with absolutely no control over it. Dracula XX does all of this. Faxanadu has some spots that are cheaper than Night Creatures and some ridiculous backtracking if you make a mistake, plus a crappy password system. Exile WP was so bad that I gave up on it, even though I'd already conquered Night Creatures for years at that point. If anything, Night Creatures was ahead of its time and artificially balances the gameplay with extra HP like too many games do today and being able to save anywhere really makes a big difference.

QuoteJust on a side note, I'm not saying the programmers were incompetent, or the basic idea is flawed. It's just executed so horribly that it's far worse than even I could have imagined.

I had the same reaction when I first rented it back in the day. After buying it cheap secondhand, I was determined to beat it for the shear challenge alone. It was even more rewarding than I expected, once I could fully appreciate just how difficult it was to figure the game out. It helps if you enjoy this style of game in the first place. I don't think that it's a good game, but it can be entertaining and it's far from unplayable, much more so than some other Turbo games. I'd still rather play a broken adventure game like this over the average sports, FPS, strategy, puzzle, digital comic, music, management, fmv, or stealth game. But I love adventure games and don't normally enjoy most of those other genres.

QuoteI can think of lots of old games by say for example Rare (Wizards and Warriors) that controlled perfectly fine.

W&W may be playable and entertaining, but it certainly doesn't control perfectly fine.

Arkhan Asylum · 06/01/2011, 11:02 PM

I thought the sort of bouncy obnoxious platforming with giant dopey knight was part of the appeal to W&W?

I gave night creatures a play again.

Its like it doesn't know if it's a castlevania game, or a prince of persia style game.

Castlepersia!

roflmao · 06/01/2011, 11:17 PM

Quote from: guest on 06/01/2011, 11:02 PMCastlepersia!

lol.

ParanoiaDragon · 06/02/2011, 01:05 AM

It does feel like it's not finished.

For me, I never could get thru Night Creatures, I've tried & tried. However, I did persevere thru Impossamole, & rather enjoy it despite it's flaws. Same goes with Exile WP, I figured out tricks bitd that helped me to play thru, & enjoy it....though, not as much as the first.

Dyna138 · 06/02/2011, 04:55 PM

I have Night Creatures unplayed, but now this topic has got me very curious to give it a try. If it's in the same style as SoTN like CrackTiger mentions its already earned some points from me since I love those kind of games. I'll keep my expectations low and give it a chance.

Back on topic I've generally avoided the "bad" games, which is probably why I haven't gotten to Night Creatures yet. I think the closest I got is Addam's Family, but I didn't think that was terrible just disappointing.

SignOfZeta · 06/02/2011, 06:15 PM

It's absolutely nothing at all like Symphony of the Night other than the horror theme. It's also absolute fucking shit. These people defending it are the sort that defend basically anything on an NEC system.

My only point was that the Disney games are even worse.

CrackTiger · 06/02/2011, 07:55 PM

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 06/02/2011, 06:15 PMIt's absolutely nothing at all like Symphony of the Night other than the horror theme. It's also absolute fucking shit. These people defending it are the sort that defend basically anything on an NEC system.

My only point was that the Disney games are even worse.

How is saying that an NEC system has even worse games defending an NEC system? You've just said the same thing yourself. Pointing out that it's unlikely amateur programmers who pulled off tricks that many high profile developers didn't, isn't defending it either. I wouldn't have even mentioned it if you hadn't attributed the overall quality to inability of programmers.

It is exactly the same type of game as SotN, even more so than many other "Metroidvanias". It is a free roaming sidescroller, with different items and weapons you can pickup and choose to use/equip whenever you like. Along the way you gain new forms to shapeshift into. The more abilities you gain, the more areas you can access. It may not be nearly as good of a game as SotN, but it is the same type. Same with Shape Shifter.

Did you basically just turn it on, decide that you didn't like it and just guessed what type of game it is?

SignOfZeta · 06/02/2011, 10:21 PM

Back in the day Night Creatures was one of four games my brother owned for his TG16. He didn't have a CD system like me and he got the system rather late, so the selection of games in town was small, you see.

I assure you, I'm not one of those Youtube punks who downloads shiploads of ROMS and then rags on them completely out of context. My experience with Night Creatures lasted many hours longer than it deserved.

However, I'm not going to get so tied up in it's clever programing tricks (of which I have no understanding) that I forgive what a piece of shit it is. It's "like" SotN in the same way that Time Killers is like Street Fighter Alpha. There might be some similarities but %99.9 of all people who like the good game in the comparison are going to fucking HATE the shittier game.

The game is shit. I give it a few points for originality, but it ends there. I recommend it to no man.

PunkCryborg · 06/02/2011, 11:12 PM

I bought this game recently in a lot with a bunch of other stuff and I was looking forward to playing it based off the cover. I wish I didn't read this thread cause now I missed the surprise that this game is "bad". Idk, I guess I'll still have to find out for myself. I'll give it a good chance though

MasonSushi · 06/13/2011, 09:05 AM

I tried Night Creatures, and I have to say that is one of the worst games I have ever played.

TheClash603 · 06/13/2011, 10:49 PM

I was really excited for this game, graphics looked pretty cool, and I thought the "theme" was pretty good. Unfortunately the on-screen character responds to the controller about as well as my nutsack responds to a blender.

For a better horror-ish game, I stick to Shape Shifter, which is actually awesome.

spenoza · 06/13/2011, 11:42 PM

Quote from: Psycho Arkhan on 06/01/2011, 11:02 PMCastlepersia!

Perslevania?

Night Creatures had some neat ideas, but, as has been said already, the implementation is just too problematic. The attack animations give weapons much shorter range than they look like they should have and the hit box placement is abysmal. Faxanadu on the NES had similar problems but somehow managed to be a much better game in spite of this. I'm not going to attribute this to bad programmers, because I don't think that's the case. I think it's due to bad game designers. Just as good web programmers and good graphic designers often don't understand usability well (if it's pretty, it's good, right?), it's clear that the programmers and writers of this game didn't do enough play testing and didn't understand accessibility in controls.

malicedoom · 06/15/2011, 10:50 AM

Trust me, there were PLENTY of games we tried to talk them OUT of releasing (or at least suggested changes to) and our advice in the game-testing division (Wood Dale, IL) was completely ignored.

So the games would go out, sell poorly, the sales of the system would then suffer as a result and... well... you know how things ended up.

VestCunt · 06/15/2011, 03:12 PM

So basically you're solely responsible for the failure of the TurboGrafx-16. Is that what you're saying? Ban request!

MasonSushi · 06/15/2011, 04:39 PM

ok, i just played GunBoat and that was pretty bad.

Dyna138 · 06/16/2011, 02:32 PM

Having recently played through Darkwing Duck I can't imagine anything worse.

VestCunt · 06/16/2011, 04:35 PM

Night Creatures and Darkwing are crusty mustard play control-wise, but at least they're unique, they're games, and it's possible to get into them (of course, I think Hydlide and Deep Blue are decent games). I will agree that Night Creatures is the worst side-scrolling action game on the Turbo.

Bad games are:

Super Volleyball - controls are almost unplayable, one screen, almost no music.
Timeball - copyright 1983.
Falcon - it seems like Spectrum really set out to make an honest flight sim and I like how they took advantage of all the peripherals (TurboLink, backup RAM, included a TurboStick diagram in the manual), but this game sucks.

On other systems, I think Beast Wars N64 is the worst game I've ever played.

JoshTurboTrollX · 06/16/2011, 04:38 PM

TTi should have titled it Legendary Axe III

Keranu · 06/16/2011, 05:14 PM

Quote from: guest on 06/16/2011, 04:35 PMNight Creatures and Darkwing are crusty mustard play control-wise, but at least they're unique, they're games, and it's possible to get into them (of course, I think Hydlide and Deep Blue are decent games).

No way, you did not just say "crusty mustard" to describe poor controls! I thought I was the first person to invent that word usage!

VestCunt · 06/16/2011, 06:57 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 06/16/2011, 05:14 PMNo way, you did not just say "crusty mustard" to describe poor controls! I thought I was the first person to invent that word usage!

You are. I got it from you!

spenoza · 06/16/2011, 11:24 PM

Quote from: VestCunt on 06/16/2011, 04:35 PMOn other systems, I think Beast Wars N64 is the worst game I've ever played.

Then don't play the N64 Superman.

SignOfZeta · 06/16/2011, 11:31 PM

Quote from: guest on 06/16/2011, 11:24 PM
Quote from: guest on 06/16/2011, 04:35 PMOn other systems, I think Beast Wars N64 is the worst game I've ever played.
Then don't play the N64 Superman.

No kidding. Other really horrible games: Fantastic 4 for PS. Also, Cosmic Race (PS). The Playstation has a lot of shitsoft, bit these two are the worst that I can remember.

DragonmasterDan · 06/17/2011, 07:10 AM

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 06/16/2011, 11:31 PMNo kidding. Other really horrible games: Fantastic 4 for PS. Also, Cosmic Race (PS). The Playstation has a lot of shitsoft, bit these two are the worst that I can remember.

The PSone has a shocking amount of absolute garbage, games you can't stand to play, look at or anything else. Bubsy 3D is a good example.

Dyna138 · 06/17/2011, 01:28 PM

Quote from: DragonmasterDan on 06/17/2011, 07:10 AM
Quote from: SignOfZeta on 06/16/2011, 11:31 PMNo kidding. Other really horrible games: Fantastic 4 for PS. Also, Cosmic Race (PS). The Playstation has a lot of shitsoft, bit these two are the worst that I can remember.
The PSone has a shocking amount of absolute garbage, games you can't stand to play, look at or anything else. Bubsy 3D is a good example.

Yeah I remember that game, talk about the death of a franchise.

In general I think a lot of PS1 games haven't aged well. It came out during an awkward traditional phase when things were moving from 2D to 3D and I don't think the technology was completely there. Most of my favorite PS1 and Saturn games are traditional hand drawn 2D or hybrid.

SignOfZeta · 06/17/2011, 04:06 PM

The PS has some really really good games, but almost none of them are the cutting edge million seller stuff that made the machine so popular in it's era.

DragonmasterDan · 06/17/2011, 04:47 PM

Quote from: SignOfZeta on 06/17/2011, 04:06 PMThe PS has some really really good games, but almost none of them are the cutting edge million seller stuff that made the machine so popular in it's era.

Sure it does, but it has almost as high of a percentage of shovelware as the Wii.

SignOfZeta · 06/17/2011, 04:57 PM

I love the Wii, but I'm pretty sure that isn't true. The software selection on Wii is terrible. The PS was popular enough that it got a lot cool shit by accident. Stuff like Rakugaki Showtime and Parrapa the Rapper, a lot of 2D stuff in the form of "collections". The Wii has a distinct lack of "middle of the road" stuff. Aside from the Wiiware stuff there is almost none of it, in fact. They have a dozen or so great games, and about 300 carnival minigame collections, yoga simulators, etc. It's terrible.

TurboXray · 06/17/2011, 10:38 PM

Quote from: Dyna138 on 06/16/2011, 02:32 PMHaving recently played through Darkwing Duck I can't imagine anything worse.

Falcon and Gunboat. At least DW or NC will possibly/randomly make a wild hair grow out you arse to attempt to get you to play and even beat them. I cannot, for the life of me, say the same for Falcon and Gunboat. And I've tried.

blueraven · 06/17/2011, 11:14 PM

The PS1 has a lot of worthless trash.

Yeah that superman game for the N64 was a massive disappointment.

nat · 06/18/2011, 02:28 PM

Quote from: blueraven on 06/17/2011, 11:14 PMThe PS1 has a lot of worthless trash.

Yeah ~~that superman game for~~ the N64 was a massive disappointment.

TheClash603 · 06/18/2011, 04:35 PM

Just sat down with Timeball for a few minutes, because I remember buying it and playing for 45 seconds and saying "this game is shit." Now I tried it for 10 minutes, and am saying "this game is still shit."

Night Creatures was interesting enough to look at where I gave it a few hours at least, which instantly makes it better in my book than Timeball. If someone on the thread didn't previously mention Timeball, I would've forgotten it had existed.

_Paul · 06/19/2011, 06:58 AM

Has anyone mentioned Ballistix yet? That barely even counts as a game, it's more like a semi-interactive ball demo.

blueraven · 06/19/2011, 07:25 AM

Quote from: nat on 06/18/2011, 02:28 PM
Quote from: blueraven on 06/17/2011, 11:14 PMThe PS1 has a lot of worthless trash.

Yeah ~~that superman game for~~ the N64 was a massive disappointment.

The first Zelda game was redeeming; the Alien Vs. Predator of the Jaguar.

1 game to run the system.....

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Could this be the worst game on the US Turbo?