What Turbo game are you currently playing?

[Sinistron]

yeah it's awesome.  feels so alien to the other shooters on the system doesn't it?  the obsession with the eyeballs and the ridiculously fast enemies that move in bizarre patterns.  a lot of great powering up- and I only realized tonight for the first time  how you can switch some of your defense up when you pause it- though I find the default to be best.

[Keranu]

I've had Lost Sunheart for years, but never really played the first few levels (I remember one of them being really hard). It seems pretty cool, but it's got some harsh sound to it if I recall and the graphics were kind of a mixed bag. Maybe I'll remind myself to play that again once I'm done with other games on my plate.

Just beat Final Soldier a few hours ago, by the way. Great game!

[nat]

The final level in Final Soldier ranks among the best of all the levels that make up the Gunhed/Star Soldier series. The background fucks with your attention while the onslaught of enemies is ceaseless. The issue is compounded by a fairly difficult boss to dispatch. Fantastic end to a great game.... One of the reasons I like Final Soldier so much is that it pays homage to Gunhed in so many ways. The bio-mechanical enemies, smartbombs, and one level (5 or 6, can't recall) is like a re-visit of the green space platforms from the first game.

The sound in The Lost Sunheart is definitely harsh, but it's very PCE/Turbo and not the same kind of harsh as some other games on the platform which are bad-NES-sounding harsh. Like coffee, it's an acquired taste and easy to get hooked. Right out the gate, the game doesn't pull any punches which makes it a bit more difficult straight off than many other shooters.

[Sinistron]

Just beat Final Soldier a few hours ago, by the way. Great game!

well let's clank mugs on that. >clink<

more on lost sunheart-
It's hard not to take hits in that game but the life bar and defense power-ups help- also the full life power-ups are spread out at nice spots so just keep in your head to stay alive juuust a little longer and you'll replenish.

[esteban]

Ha! I haven't read this thread in ages. Still haven't, in fact.

I'm playing Super Raiden and Rock On. Alternating between the two. No joke.

Just beat Final Soldier a few hours ago, by the way. Great game!

well let's clank mugs on that. >clink<

more on lost sunheart-
It's hard not to take hits in that game but the life bar and defense power-ups help- also the full life power-ups are spread out at nice spots so just keep in your head to stay alive juuust a little longer and you'll replenish. 

For folks who like Lost Sunheart, I usually recommend Rabio Lepus. Rabio doesn't get much love, but for me, both games appeal to the same sort of person. OK, this isn't a scientific theory, but I've seen a correlation between folks liking both games (or disliking both!).

Sinistron, if you liked PowerGate, check out F-123. I can't remember, but I think someone wrote about it here. I had a review here or at magicengine, too (with screenshots of the goofball nicknames they gave the fighter pilots). F-123 is challenging and it was strangely satisfying to beat it. Now, most folks will not play F-123 for long, but it can provide some fun.

If you haven't checked out Download (HuCard) and Download 2 (CD), you might find them kinda enjoyable as well.

[Sinistron]

For folks who like Lost Sunheart, I usually recommend Rabio Lepus. Rabio doesn't get much love, but for me, both games appeal to the same sort of person. OK, this isn't a scientific theory, but I've seen a correlation between folks liking both games (or disliking both!).

yeah I kind of do like rabio lepus- haven't plugged that one in in a minute but at a time I was giving it a fair amount of playtime and was doing fairly well at it- probably nowhere near beating it (tough ass game!) but fairly well all the same.  Good call though I think I'll show that one a little love today.

Sinistron, if you liked PowerGate, check out F-123. I can't remember, but I think someone wrote about it here. I had a review here or at magicengine, too (with screenshots of the goofball nicknames they gave the fighter pilots). F-123 is challenging and it was strangely satisfying to beat it. Now, most folks will not play F-123 for long, but it can provide some fun.

If you haven't checked out Download (HuCard) and Download 2 (CD), you might find them kinda enjoyable as well.

Yeah I think you mean Runin's review- he's told me as well to pick it up- sounds like the games are almost board for board similar- with Hawk having much better graphics of course.  I'm definitely picking it up soon- Powergate was fun as hell.  Download 1 & 2 I unfortunately don't have yet  but that will change! Download's on my top ten most wanted hucard list    just got in the mail today the card I've been waiting the longest for- Hero Tonma- was a b1tch finding it at a price I was comfortable with...

[esteban]

Im into the PCE goodness... Burning Angels... what an ultimate shooter!!!! and have been raising hell with Dragon Saber and for the most frustrating game i have been playing it goes to... Formation ArmedF... shit its tough when you die it has a sound effect that seems to tease you!!!!!!!...

Yes! Armed F is tough as balls. I actually beat that motherf*cker, and used to have notes (I was going to write a FAQ). There are patterns to the bosses and some of the later ones are frustrating.

I like Armed F, despite its flaws and non-slick, non-Hollywood presentation.

[Digi.k]

Valkyrie no Densetsu

Just completed it yesterday and what a great game.   REALLY really shoulda made it stateside.  Anyway the japanese release has some of the nicest booklet art ever!!! 

here's a few of em' cause this game needs more love on this forum!!! 

[nat]

Hmm, that looks awesome, actually. What kind of game is it? RPG? Too hard to tell from the minute low-res screenshots on those manual pages.

[Sinistron]

yes.  Excellent game and plays much better than Fray imo.  Just wish I knew what the shopkeepers and other hut dwellers were saying to me.

[TR0N]

yes.  Excellent game and plays much better than Fray imo.  Just wish I knew what the shopkeepers and other hut dwellers were saying to me.

Well i've played the arcade version on,Namco Museum vol 5 for the PS1.

It's not that big of a deal far as what there saying though so dunno.

Later on i'll have to dig out my copy and see what it was.

[Digi.k]

The pc engine version of Valkyrie no Densetsu is different from the arcade especially later on as the levels are much different and from what I've read there is a boss not found on the arcade.  Not to mention the dreaded password system to continue at another day.

Also you will get to a point where you have to answer a random question correctly otherwise you get thrown back to the beginning of the level.. or mana/health points deducted.  Plus you might need to answer a question correctly in order to gain mana/health.. so thats a lil tricky but it just means a bit more of a challenge XD

I got the completed game up on youtube but some bits are missing.. as I'm sure you can obtain a special sword to defeat the final 2 bosses.. they took a LOOOOOONG time to kill with my "normal" upgraded sword (which was why I split it into 4 vids)..

[Sinistron]

Played Valis II for the first time today.  What a disappointment. I find it hard to believe that some people think Valis I is weaker than this game.  Valis I is at leat 3 x the game this is.  II is ridiculously easy, insanely short- and a poor platformer with poor level structure and practically zero game strategy.  Gameplay is below average.  This left a bad taste in my mouth and after clearing it it felt like a waste of my time.  The music is highly overrated.  Cutscenes- though they have nice images- are tiny with little animation.  Plenty of load time on this one too.  Future Boy Conan is better than this.

[nat]

The music is highly overrated. 

So true. Didn't I warn you about that? I have no idea why the soundtrack on Valis II gets hyped so much. When I played it for the first time, I found the tunes to be merely OK, and at their very best moments, simply "good."

Wouldn't come close to making a top 10 best-soundtrack-on-Turbo list, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it didn't even touch a top 25 list.

Valis II's soundtrack isn't bad or anything, but the soundtrack in Valis III overall is much better, and more consistently "good" than that of II.

I find Valis II's audio composition especially disappointing considering Valis is a Telenet game, and Telenet games consistently feature some of the best music on the console.

[Sinistron]

So true. Didn't I warn you about that?

Yes you did 
I had to blast the game itself as well though 

[esteban]

Played Valis II for the first time today.  What a disappointment. I find it hard to believe that some people think Valis I is weaker than this game.  Valis I is at leat 3 x the game this is.  II is ridiculously easy, insanely short- and a poor platformer with poor level structure and practically zero game strategy.  Gameplay is below average.  This left a bad taste in my mouth and after clearing it it felt like a waste of my time.  The music is highly overrated.  Cutscenes- though they have nice images- are tiny with little animation.  Plenty of load time on this one too.  Future Boy Conan is better than this.

Regarding your comments about the music: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The music is highly overrated. 

So true. Didn't I warn you about that? I have no idea why the soundtrack on Valis II gets hyped so much. When I played it for the first time, I found the tunes to be merely OK, and at their very best moments, simply "good."

Wouldn't come close to making a top 10 best-soundtrack-on-Turbo list, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it didn't even touch a top 25 list.

Valis II's soundtrack isn't bad or anything, but the soundtrack in Valis III overall is much better, and more consistently "good" than that of II.

I find Valis II's audio composition especially disappointing considering Valis is a Telenet game, and Telenet games consistently feature some of the best music on the console.

Valis III's music is pretty darn generic compared to the brilliant, creative tunes in Valis II. 

Since both you (nat) and Sinistron have uttered such blasphemous irreverence towards the sacred tunes of Valis II, let me explain.

(1) Really it is just a matter of musical preference.    I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on Double Dragon II. And if you have Lady Phantom (two decent tracks).
(2) I think most video game music (from SNES onwards) falls into the genre of muzak, but I try to appreciate it for what it is.
(3) Valis II, in many ways, transcends muzak. Or, at worst, it is really good muzak. Lots of creative stuff going on.
(4) Electronic / synth-pop / 80's / new romantics = some of my favorite genres
(5) Valis II 's music kicks your lame ass!
(6) See #5

[Keranu]

Hmm, that looks awesome, actually. What kind of game is it? RPG? Too hard to tell from the minute low-res screenshots on those manual pages.

Vertically scrolling action seasoned with a dash of RPG, kinda like Fray.

Correction: Vertically, horizontally, AND diagnolly scrolling action  ! It's a VHD, as John Brandstetter would put it!

[Sinistron]

(1) Really it is just a matter of musical preference.    I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on Double Dragon II. And if you have Lady Phantom (two decent tracks).
(2) I think most video game music (from SNES onwards) falls into the genre of muzak, but I try to appreciate it for what it is.
(3) Valis II, in many ways, transcends muzak. Or, at worst, it is really good muzak. Lots of creative stuff going on.
(4) Electronic / synth-pop / 80's / new romantics = some of my favorite genres
(5) Valis II 's music kicks your lame ass!
(6) See #5

(1) I don't have Double Dragon II or Lady Phantom- but I'd be happy to take 'em off you to give my opinion  
(2) Not a fan of muzak or SNES  
(3) I don't see how there can be "Lots of creative stuff" going on in muzak- since muzak is created to be light filler renditions of other people's music.  Not even sure how you can praise the Valis II music and in the same breath call it "really good muzak" -- that's pretty bad  
(4) Progressive symphonic and math rock / jazz fusion = some of my favorite genres- exactly why (5) and (6) need not apply  

really good muzak is really really lame  

Just an opinion of course.  I'm actually not a total music snob like I'm coming off- I like a bit of everything- folk, alternative hip-hop and classic rock included- and that said I merely implied that Valis II's music was overrated- it isn't a complete waste- I just think that the high reverence held to it is more than drastic.  As Nat said- it'd be lucky to make a realistic top 25 list of best PCECD music- and I'd place it lower than that.  Pretty much all of Hudson's CD games have much better music for example- and nothing from Valis II stuck in my head.  My initial concerns however were on Valis II's poor gameplay, structure, and lack of strategy, difficulty and length.  This makes the music even worse than it already is as a good video game should be one great experience as a whole- with each element- whether it be music, sfx, graphics or gameplay among others- harmonizing into an almost religious synthesis.  Perhaps if I listened to Valis II's music on it's own merits I'd appreciate it more- but as I already said nothing jumped out at me.

[termis]

I've played through I through III recently, and I'm in the last level for part IV.  I was never a big fan of the series before, but playing through them again makes me appreciate it a bit more this time.

As for the music for part II, I gotta agree with Sinistron & Nat.  Valis II's soundtrack is decent, but I can't ever recall going "wow" at the music.  And the gameplay is by far, far the crappiest of the series.  I'd think the only thing that really sold Part II to a large crowd is the whole "anime girls with skimpy outfits" thing.

Talking about Valis, part III gets a lot of love, but IV is quite solid.  For a "regular" CD-ROM2 game, it's probably one of the most polished looking titles I've come across.  It looks helluva lot better than a majority of the SCD titles out there, with good use of colors & parallex, and even the cut-scenes are tons better than part II.  (they must've come up with better compression algorithms by then, cause the images are a lot bigger & varied during cinemas than previous CD-entries, but the loading isn't so bad)

[nat]

I want to beat III before I start IV.

I still haven't beaten that fucking bells part yet.

[termis]

I still haven't beaten that fucking bells part yet.

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=4581.msg76144#msg76144

[esteban]

(1) Really it is just a matter of musical preference.    I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on Double Dragon II. And if you have Lady Phantom (two decent tracks).
(2) I think most video game music (from SNES onwards) falls into the genre of muzak, but I try to appreciate it for what it is.
(3) Valis II, in many ways, transcends muzak. Or, at worst, it is really good muzak. Lots of creative stuff going on.
(4) Electronic / synth-pop / 80's / new romantics = some of my favorite genres
(5) Valis II 's music kicks your lame ass!
(6) See #5

(1) I don't have Double Dragon II or Lady Phantom- but I'd be happy to take 'em off you to give my opinion 
(2) Not a fan of muzak or SNES 
(3) I don't see how there can be "Lots of creative stuff" going on in muzak- since muzak is created to be light filler renditions of other people's music.  Not even sure how you can praise the Valis II music and in the same breath call it "really good muzak" -- that's pretty bad 
(4) Progressive symphonic and math rock / jazz fusion = some of my favorite genres- exactly why (5) and (6) need not apply 

really good muzak is really really lame 

Just an opinion of course.  I'm actually not a total music snob like I'm coming off- I like a bit of everything- folk, alternative hip-hop and classic rock included- and that said I merely implied that Valis II's music was overrated- it isn't a complete waste- I just think that the high reverence held to it is more than drastic.  As Nat said- it'd be lucky to make a realistic top 25 list of best PCECD music- and I'd place it lower than that.  Pretty much all of Hudson's CD games have much better music for example- and nothing from Valis II stuck in my head.  My initial concerns however were on Valis II's poor gameplay, structure, and lack of strategy, difficulty and length.  This makes the music even worse than it already is as a good video game should be one great experience as a whole- with each element- whether it be music, sfx, graphics or gameplay among others- harmonizing into an almost religious synthesis.  Perhaps if I listened to Valis II's music on it's own merits I'd appreciate it more- but as I already said nothing jumped out at me. 

Dude, I posted mp3's in that Double Dragon II thread, just right-click and download them. Give 'em a listen!

Anyway, I am arguing that Valis II transcends muzak, and that is why I love it so much. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

If comes down to personal preference, of course, but Valis II's soundtrack really stands out from other CD games across all consoles: I have been searching for more games, any games, that offer something even remotely similar to Valis II. Unfortunately, I've yet to find any, and believe me, I've been looking...

Perhaps you have to like synth-pop and eccentric stuff to appreciate Valis II?

As for math rock, I dig that as well, though I had to look at lists of "math rock" bands just now to see if I recognized anything. As far as I can tell, I am only familiar with older stuff (early 90's) since I was buying up all of these records like a fiend.

If you dig Drive Like Jehu's first album (Yank Crime isn't as good) and if you have perused Touch and Go's catalog (math rockers and beyond), then we're probably not the mortal enemies I thought we were .

I'm actually more of a music fiend than a video game fiend, which maybe explains why I spend too much time defending the handful of excellent tunes from Dragon Spirit....

[Sinistron]

I'm actually more of a music fiend than a video game fiend, which maybe explains why I spend too much time defending the handful of excellent tunes from Dragon Spirit....

Dragon Spirit has great chip music and it really fits the laid back feel of the game- one of the reasons why I like it more than Dragon Saber. 

Last night I beat Dynastic Hero.  Loved it.  It felt shorter and much easier than Dragon's Curse- its predecessor and obvious model- but I felt it being a CD game was still justified- with the excellent music and colorful, bubbly graphics.  So far- without having beat the last boss in Bikkuriman and without having beat Monster Lair (but playing and owning both of them)- I'd rank the TG/PCE Wonder Boy adaptations as such- Dragon's Curse, New Adventure Island, Dynastic Hero, Bikkuriman World, and Monster Lair.  I love Monster Lair- so that being ranked last should tell you how I feel about this series.

I beat Last Alert last night too for the first time since I beat it back in the day when I first owned it.  A fun game- but not much in the way of strategy and challenge.  To clear this game with one life shouldn't be much of a task and all of the bosses (the "hardest" one being the sewer monster only because you can't waste your time as on that particular board you're given very little) are jokey- especially the final boss and that weapon he was building.  I'd say that this is more fun and campy than Bloody Wolf but definitely less of a challenge.

On a side note- and maybe someone can help me here- I tried to start up Exile II last night a few times but with no luck.  Problem was it kept telling me that there wasn't enough CD player memory for me to create a save file.  This puzzled me as I only had like six files at the moment.  So I erased all but two of them - erased my 100% Drac X clear and my Rainbow Islands file- neither which bothered me as it'd just give me an excuse to beat up Drac X again and for me to start from scratch again on the excellent Rainbow Islands - erased my Y's IV file which is okay because I wasn't far into it- but I also erased my girlfriend's Loom file which wasn't cool.  So I was left with two files- my clear of Lady Sword (so that I can access the nudie pics whenever I want  and my progress in Shape Shifter.  Guess what?  Exile II still said I didn't have enough memory.   : : :  What am I doing wrong here?  I even turned everything off, unplugged the unit- took a 1/2 hour walk outside, came back and got the same result.  Can someone help me here?  And yes- I KNOW that I need a tennokoe card- but aside from that- I don't get it.  I used to be able to have numerous files on the CD memory- it seems as of late the number of files I can hold are getting whittled down to nothing. 

[Zeon]

I'm actually more of a music fiend than a video game fiend, which maybe explains why I spend too much time defending the handful of excellent tunes from Dragon Spirit....

Right on! Dragon Spirit wasn't the greatest game out there, but it does have some kick ass tunes.

Your not alone either in your love of video game music, the only music I listen to is chip music!

As for your save problems Sinistron, different games require different amounts of save space, I can't remember but does the TG-16 cd/duo tell you how much space each save is taking up? I do know that many times I couldn't even start a game until I formatted the system memory. I know this is because it had not been powered on in a while and therefore the saves were lost and the ram needed to be initialized. Maybe from all of the saving and deleting your cd system memory isn't "optimally organized" for lack of a better term? Or maybe Exile II is one of those games that eat up most of the save memory? I hate to say it but you may have to format it if you want to save in Exile II.

[nat]

Can someone help me here?  And yes- I KNOW that I need a tennokoe card- but aside from that- I don't get it.  I used to be able to have numerous files on the CD memory- it seems as of late the number of files I can hold are getting whittled down to nothing. 

Some games require more space than others. Might and Magic III, for example, requires the entire save game memory to be free in order to start. Perhaps Exile II is the same. I'm not sure-- I only started it up once for literally about 3 minutes to watch the intro cinema and see what gameplay was like. I don't remember what my save memory situation was like at that time.

You need a Ten no Koe so you don't have to worry about losing files. 

[Sinistron]

looks like a format is in order.  Dang! 

[nat]

No, though Order of the Griffon and Falcon will.

Also for those folks with flash carts, CCovell has a fantastic file manager utility that not only lists file sizes but allows you to manipulate them, edit them, even back up individual files. Not to mention the standard format, delete, etc. Of course you need a flash cart to be able to use it, but I've found that one utilitiy singlehandedly almost makes it worth the price of admission.

[Sinistron]

Not so fast, tex; a format may not be necessary.  Exile: Wicked Phenomenon is a greedy bastard and eats up 1155 of the 1726 save space 'chunks'

Jesus Jones- why the hell does this game use so much save memory?  What the hell is it saving other than a coded list of your items and levels? 

Hmmm.  Thankfully I just stopped being such a crybaby and bought a tennokoe card.  It won't make up for all the files I erased- but at least I'll be able to save all the pervy pics of the fine ladies from my Lady Sword clear 

[esteban]

I'm actually more of a music fiend than a video game fiend, which maybe explains why I spend too much time defending the handful of excellent tunes from Dragon Spirit....

Dragon Spirit has great chip music and it really fits the laid back feel of the game- one of the reasons why I like it more than Dragon Saber. 
...

I beat Last Alert last night too for the first time since I beat it back in the day when I first owned it.  A fun game- but not much in the way of strategy and challenge.  To clear this game with one life shouldn't be much of a task and all of the bosses (the "hardest" one being the sewer monster only because you can't waste your time as on that particular board you're given very little) are jokey- especially the final boss and that weapon he was building.  I'd say that this is more fun and campy than Bloody Wolf but definitely less of a challenge.

Yeah, Last Alert isn't as satisfying to beat as other games because it is too easy. At least it is pretty long, but it would have been great if there was a difficulty setting (or unlockable).

In the past, I've mentioned that one of the koolest "subtle" touches that I loved in Last Alert is when our hero, Guy Kazama, yells "INDRA!!!!!!" when he's on the elevator at the end of the game. IIRC, there are two audio tracks-one with just the usual boss tune, one with boss tune + "INDRA!!!!!!". I also thought the ending credit music and "splashdown" ending sequence + credits was pretty satisfying, even though it isn't elaborate. Also, to back it up a bit, I forgot to mention that I always thought it was neat when Dr. Garcia (?) escaped and Guy ran after him and chased him into space. I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. It's a fun transition from one stage to the next. Maybe that's why I like the end of Bonk's Adventure so much!

Also, I wasn't the biggest fan of the character designs in Last Alert. I don't know how I would re-design them, but I always felt that they could be better (at least they are a step-up from the "Little People" found in R.B.I. Baseball (NES) and Power League, right?).

Don't get me wrong, I dig Last Alert, especially the different types of missions that it offered... I kinda wish they released a sequel-on-steroids.

[Sinistron]

yeah a sequel would've been choice- and it is the cat's ass when Guy yells approaching Indra- I actually got kind of freaked out and turned my head thinking someone was in the room with me- wasn't expecting it.  I too love when bosses are chased into outerspace just like in Megaman games.  Just would have been nice if just standing there shooting wasn't a way to beat the last few bosses.

[esteban]

yeah a sequel would've been choice- and it is the cat's ass when Guy yells approaching Indra- I actually got kind of freaked out and turned my head thinking someone was in the room with me- wasn't expecting it.  I too love when bosses are chased into outerspace just like in Megaman games.  Just would have been nice if just standing there shooting wasn't a way to beat the last few bosses.

Yeah, Last Alert needed some tough bosses... maybe then it would have felt O.K. to get through the stages pretty easily--only to face a formidable foe at the end. The "laser boomerang" Generalissimo dude from Bloody Wolf is far more challenging than anything in Last Alert.

[OldRover]

I've been playing Mysterious Song! Well, working on it, squashing bugs and adding new features too. Closing in on 100% game engine completion...still at 99% as of right now.

[nat]

The one bug that would make me really, really happy to see dispatched is the snowy fade-out bug.

[termis]

Beat Valis IV, finally finishing off all 4 of in the series.

Man, I'm awesome.  (It only took 4 months of on-and-off playing  )

[OldRover]

The one bug that would make me really, really happy to see dispatched is the snowy fade-out bug.

It's been identified and is being worked out as we speak.

[nat]

Beat Valis IV, finally finishing off all 4 of in the series.

Man, I'm awesome.  (It only took 4 months of on-and-off playing  )

Which one did you like best? Or can we expect an entire series review?

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Riot Zone

[esteban]

Gain Ground SX, Double Dragon II, Fray, Kiadan 00 (sp?)

Gain Ground is even more fun than I remembered it to be, plus it has excellent music that really fits each stage.

I don't know what to think of Fray (piece of crap or easy joyride?), and Kiadan 00 seems like it might have potential, even though it initially doesn't grab you by the balls, so to speak.

Double Dragon II -- just confirming that the music complements each stage. It does.

[termis]

Beat Valis IV, finally finishing off all 4 of in the series.

Man, I'm awesome.  (It only took 4 months of on-and-off playing  )

Which one did you like best? Or can we expect an entire series review?

Part IV - and yup, a review:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=5167.0

[JoshTurboTrollX]

Star Parodia

[Sinistron]

Finally got Exile II rolling after receiving my Tennokoe card- I'm actually pretty far into it- level six- the second Baghdad stage.  I heard a whole lot about this US version's difficulty- so far I can't say that I see it.  I heard that you needed to be practically leveled all the way up to beat the second boss- Crully.  Well- I did have to level up quite a bit- but not to the second to last level like I heard.  Leveling up doesn't take as long as I feared either- it actually moves along pretty quick.  Now- on the sixth stage- I believe I'm at the penultimate level- at least judging by the power bar.  Using tonics and changing your characters up mid boss fights (especially for the mummy and sword boss) is quite important too. 

Overall I dig it. It has some things better than Exile I- some things worse.  As Runin mentioned- it's more linear- that isn't an improvement.  The hit detection is spotty.  Also the overworld graphics seem less impressive.  There is some really excellent music- one song in particular impressed me where it sounded like bagpipes- which could very well have been out of place in a board that looked to be inside of a pyramid- but somehow it worked beautifully.  The fighting stages have some impressive graphics with some nice parallex in some levels- and lastly being able to choose from five different characters is really nice.  I especially like to use the character Lawrence (though where I'm at now he's separated from the rest of the bunch and just got his ass beat by some giant heart looking thing) with his giant axe. 

I'll say it's not as good as Exile I- but judged on its own merits it's a solid game- leagues better than Valis II  .  I hope to finish it this week- the part I'm at now is pretty tricky with these giant bat bastards and lightning spitting dragons- but I get further each time I try.  A fun game.

[termis]

Started a (another) wacky JP-only RPG: Aurora Quest: Otaku no Seiza in Another World

So far, it's actually not bad.  Clean graphics, nice cinemas, decent tunes, stupid humor, and lot of WTF? moments you'd expect in a game like this.

[nat]

Pack-in Video!

That game actually looks pretty good.

[GohanX]

I've been stuck in a hotel in Arizona, and I forgot to pack the controller for the emulator-filled laptop. My only friend is my Turbo Express (and my DS, but I haven't even turned it on.)

I've mostly been playing Parodius, although I'm not nearly as good as I used to be.  I've also dabbled a bit in Shinobi, Blazing Lazers, and I played Parasol Stars for the first time ever.  I don't really understand what the heck is going on in that game yet, but it's pretty fun.

I'm actually looking forward to the 4 hour plane ride home now 

[Sinistron]

Just beat Exile II- this time the Djinn boss didn't touch me- gave him a sound beating.  The final boss- that heart-on-a-wall guy- I wasn't expecting to be such a joke- that was pretty bad- like Mother Brain in the Gradius games- and what's up with the burp at the very end of the game?  Some dude burps and says something like "well that was silly" and then a chick laughs.  Felt like a giant middle finger- like "this game sucks- you wasted your time now here's your prize".  It didn't suck- it was okay- but pales next to Exile I.  I also didn't get much playtime out of it- first night I played it once- second night I got to what I didn't realize was the final board- and tonight the third night playing it I'm through it.  I remember getting much more playtime out of Exile I.  Again though it was okay.  Some good music in there.

[m3killer]

bonk 1,2 and 3 there great games =]

[OceanBlueKirby]

I'll be playing Dungeon Explorer for a while longer. I've beaten the game with the Fighter character yesterday, but I wish to obtain the level passwords for as many of the characters as desired (if not all of them). I'm currently using the Warlock character, and today I've gotten up to Level 3 with him. It's...slowly creeping up to be one of my favorite games, actually .

[Sinistron]

There you go Kirby! 

Played a whole bunch of shit today and just got done busting up Photo Boy for the umpteenth time.  Forgot that Hani and that weird looking boss from Doraemon/Cratermaze are in the museum board- who are these guys?  I'm assuming they're from some Japanese folklore or something as Hani and this guy are in games from Irem, Hudson and Face (and maybe others?)...

Got to play more Hanata Kadaka today too- Everyone needs this game- one of the most impressive hucards.

[handygrafx]

Been playing Alien Crush lately.

[Sinistron]

Not much of a task- but I beat that Future Boy Conan game last night.  Some real good cutscene stuff there between each level (6 levels), and some truly great music (for my tastes)- but the game- aside from one or two tricky jumping bits- is pretty nonexistent.  Though I've never seen any of the Future Boy Conan episodes- I'm a Miyazaki fan so this was worth me picking up- even though the game is subpar.