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General Gaming / Re: Backlaugust 2022: Round 3 so we can break our backlogs and be free.
« on: August 30, 2022, 01:18:40 PM »Things are looking grim.
I'll agree. More and more people have been pulling me aside wanting to know how I'm doing and what it's like going 7 days without seeing a credits reel. Gotta say, it's been hard.
I got your back Khush, here's two more for the pile in my slow bid to start Sega World Report:
Daaaaaytoooooonaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa USA
I'm not very good at this, but with only 3 tracks and a few tries it's still pretty easy to land some first place finishes and call it a day. Really good Sega vibes on this one, an iconic soundtrack, great sense of speed, and since there's so many other racers you get to do loads of overtaking.
I didn't realize Nagoshi directed this, but in retrospect the Monkey Ball to F-Zero GX transition makes even more sense now.
Continuing my Sega journey I also tried NiGHTS Into Dreams... but didn't finish it, so probably shouldn't count it for Backlaugust.
I guess I had somehow convinced myself this would be a really good, overlooked game, and the Wii sequel didn't do it justice at all. But nah, NiGHTS on Saturn has aged terribly. You can't see far ahead enough to really chart a path, it has issues with basic depth perception, and the curved design of everything gave me a headache.
Failing to finish a level within the timeframe is amusing since it suddenly reverts from a 2D flight game to a 3D platformer of sorts with absolutely awful controls and a really warped sense of scale. The game also has issues indicating what the various collectables are needed for, or at an even more basic level... just you're supposed to do. It's not a huge problem, but it stinks to head into a boss battle not sure whether your attack is damaging them or hurting you. I hate to say it, but the Wii game is at least a lot easier to grasp. I suppose the air of mystery around the Saturn title does make it more interesting, though.
It's a very creative setting, and stuff like Christmas NiGHTS is very forward-looking for where the industry would eventually head in terms of expansions/DLC. This whole series feels like something I want to like, but almost everything about it (from the gameplay to the graphics and even some of the music) is kind of off-putting. Maybe I just don't like clowns.