Gamer Obscurea; Games in Hiding

[Quto]

Ratchet and Clank​

This is more of a tribute post than another obscure title; since the game, the older titles, are more than likely going the way of the Doodoo and Sony control's Insomniac... Something which has somewhat got me a little on edge... Why? I guess for starters, Sony hasn't been doing too well in entertainment... I mean, yea; we got a brand spanking new PS5 with a digital SSD drive option and a disk option. They're looking into making games from PS3,PS2, and PS1 Backwards compatible through the use of streaming and what not and a controller that looks as ugly as my non-existent Aunt Sally... Well, I guess I want to chalk it up to the fact where Sony has been trying to steer their ship now-a-days. Are they appealing to all sort's of folks?... Sort of? It feels to me Sony has been trying to market themselves to a smaller market so much as to move their main HQ to the USA and clamp down harder on developers creating titles for the next console under their belt, by which I mean if there's something they don't like about a game, a small detail, they shoot it out of the sky using a deadly force of destruction unfathomable; which isn't how you need to treat game titles... I can understand some censorship as it doesn't fly under 'certain' laws in specific countries such as games published in Australia can't be sold if there's so much as any blood the models spray, but this feels like a different direction of censorship as a ignorant teenager or child sees something they hate and decide we'll all hate it and throw over the side into the ocean. And it's this I really hate; it becomes another Obscure title that deserves a little light of entertainment...

Which leads me too Ratchet and Clank... A dynamic pair with enough firepower, companionship and utter destruction to wipe out armies to galaxies. The characters are colorful, remember-able and just all around fun. The first 3 games opening things up with the first introducing going into the Hero business, The 2nd; Going commando being what you do with a sequel; PERFECTING the game by adding newer and more interesting mechanics such as the upgrading guns and health and the 3rd taking the same concept from the 2nd and building it on more solider groundwork with better level designs... And since then, we've been getting the same thing since Deadlocked, The Future Series and when the developers decided to do something different such as All For One and their other Co-Op titles.

For those who have never touched on a game from this series, you play as a Space Womba-....Space Ca-..... He's a Lombax, which is some Space rat crossed with a Space Cat... I don't know how else to describe him.... Either case, You play as Ratchet, originally, just a guy looking to leave home and explore Space and having some high-flying adventures. He can't leave home due to lacking the ignition protocols most robots come equipped with until he meets Clank, a robot who escaped an evil factory with special programming different from his other war machines brothers. He goes out, looking for a hero to save the galaxy and runs into Ratchet. Clank has the ignition protocols, Ratchet wanted to leave so they pair up and grow on each other ever since.... Skipping the movie published origin as I think the game did a better origin than the film.

The gameplay itself? You go from planet to planet or level to level you can revisit. Breaking boxes and baddies to get game currency, Bolts, to purchase bigger and more wackier weapons like the belching shotgun, spider mines, decoy glove, Mr. Zurkon and the Mini Turret Glove... With the exception of the first game, all weapons are upgradable by blowing stuff up with them and using them effectively to become stronger and more useful with a handful of different mechanics such as locked doors to hack and pick, Robots to hypnotize and so on. It's just a fun game to fight things in.

So... Where do I think things are going wrong to make a tribute post?... Well, I guess the problems started on the game 'Into the Nexus.' The game's in the future series go on about Ratchet being the last of his kind and needing to find them, but having to give that ambition up because he's needed more where he is now than where he wants to be. Though Into the Nexus breaks off of that to start a side game to try and DRIVE that bit home further than when it wasn't needed, though I think the game came out near the end of the PS3's life cycle... Then the remake of the first game on the PS4... It's done well, balanced great and is a great game.... Though it's just so BORING... I've been replaying the classics over this; THE CLASSICS!!! I mean, the PS4 remake is well balanced in EVERY way, enemies aren't bullet sponges; boss fights are entertaining and what not and STILL it's so BORING!.... I don't even know where it's boring but it just IS! Insert a tactical Facepalm here!...

... We're getting another title coming up, which I know is the Dimension Shift one, but it's coming out on the PS5 after Sony bought Insomniac and ordered the game for that console alone. It just causes me to tear my hair out here a little as we already spent that much for the PS4 and expected more on the PS4, but won't get it and are expected to do this on the PS5 now... I've kinda had it!.. If you pirate and emulate or have a working console and haven't played this game, I recommend finding it and giving her a spin. You will not regret the time you put into it.

While I'm at it, while going between 'Going Commando' and 'A Crack in Time' I recommend, HIGHLY, that you unlock the Insomniac Museums as they too are worth getting into. Including goodies, programming toys at the gamer's user level and cut content of extras that never made it into the game such as cut race tracks, strategy unit controlling segments, making your own bullet projectiles, added puzzles for fun and of course, in one of the PS2 copies the most realistic programmable water that has the potential to crash a PS2 if not treated carefully... which I did once for fun and slightly regretted...

 

[Quto]

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

PC​

... The end of that title says enough why it's on this list... And I've misspelled the 2nd name of this topic.

So what is this Ancient dinosaur of another forgotten title? It's a RPG that has 2 elements I wish had in games today; Steampunk and Magic in a medieval world.

You pick a race, pick your background, pick your starting skills and your off hacking and slashing, which contray to what this game looks like, a turn based rpg, it is not, it's more like Diablo I & II, hack, slash and blow sh*t up... And it's Turn based when in town?

Game mechanics are a little.. Hard to grasp on what's going on when it's hack and slash and when it's turn based.

WHERE AM I?! ARE THESE CANNONS OR THE PHONE LINE?! THIS STEAMPUNK WORLD IS CONFUSING!!!​

So, what's the story? You and your newly established hero are on a blimp, traveling to another town to seek your fortune and Orc's come out of no where and blow it up. You, the only survivor, find an old gnomish man... who is a gnome, among the debris and gives you the one ring to rule.... Something... You don't know what that is. After getting the ring; an acolyte walks up, claiming he was waiting there for 5 minutes as apart of some prophecy to look for someone who resembles the characteristics of a phoenix, being you, surviving a blimp that crashed in a ball of fire and death as if you we're reborn and walked away from it unscathed... Which in reality with save games, is kinda what we do anyway, come back from the dead with knowledge of what's next.

Sooooo.... What can ya do mechanically?... You can build stuff, traps, guns, weapons for self defense, armor and other mechanical wonders; the more ya invest in building, the more you ability in magic wanes such as healing spells. Magic wise, there is a sh*t ton of magic schools from healing to summoning to necromancy, there is a lot to do in magic.

You may be asking me; Well, if it's a Diablo Clone, is there multiplayer at least?... I know that's not what your thinking reading this, but there is a Co-Op multiplayer. You can make your own characters and jump into this world together, exploring and shooting things with steam guns, gunpowder guns, steam magic... Ok, I'm letting steampunk get the best of me here.

Why did this game do so po- it was released in the wrong day and age at the wrong time of the internet... and I mean it too; I mean this game has a lot of everything people would enjoy today, It has steam punk, has fantasy elements and it came out before anime cons, steam punk cons and arcade cons got huge or a touch of the mainstream to go too when you need a cheap vacation and can't afford Disney World... Which we now avoid since Disney has botched everything with their Diversity battle cry... OR so are my thoughts about the mouse, no harm to Walt and his creations and what not, just more bitter to what they make now such as Artemis Fowl. I mean, it has a bit of everything.

After doing some more digging, someone has been trying to bring this title back to life as there is a silver lining.
A year ago as of 2019, there was a project in rough development called OpenArcanum, which is what it sounds like; an open ended engine to develop and bring back Arcanum to the current age of gaming... which I must state that the game itself if purchased now needs some modfying to work with today's machines.

If you want to help support the endevour, head over to the patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/libor_max

 

[Quto]

Sly Cooper and the
Thevius Racoonus​

Seeing as Sony will no longer support another Sly Cooper Game and the age where we can bet on Jak is long gone and retired, I wanted to post my own experiences. I know @Emilia added the games to the list, though I wanted to go over the titles myself and go over each one in some greater detail, starting with the first.

Sly Cooper is a game about being a thief... For kids... Other games have done this a lot better such as the game litterally called 'Thief,' every Bethesda game where you can pickpocket armor off of NPCs, and robbing that old man in the legend of zelda of his only sword while he tells you not to go alone... So, what's the difference? Well, you use the loot you rob people of to pull of huge heist's and you mainly rob from other literal thieves... Which can be more of a grey line as anyone in high society can be labeled a thief, but for all purposes, let's just say all your generic thieves...

The game's story is incredibly easy to follow; Sly was born into a family of thieves, where their entire legacy is on how to steal things dating all the way back to Caveman ages. Each pillar in Sly's generation left their knowledge imparted into a book, from how to pick pockets to treating a lady and charming her, to how to camoflague one's self into the scenery that your practically invisible, to how to do ninja stunts such as Tight-rope walks and landing on spiked points.... sh*t, now I want that book... So, he reads this into his childhood and he doesn't finish it! or even begin reading it... His folks get murdered in front of his eyes and he get's dumped off into an orphanage while his birthright is stolen from him... He grows up with his best friends who become apart of his crew; the turtle Bentley who becomes the brains and Murray, the Brawn.

They grow up to become the type of criminals to steal from other criminals, robbing gemstones, coins, artifacts and cash until they prepare for the ultimate job, stealing back Sly's Birthright.... Which you spend most of the game doing with Sly's love interest hot on his heels.

And there are a LOT of painful moments in the game... For starters, you take a hit, it's a life lost. You want to survive after a hit, you get a lucky horse shoe to be lucky enough the hit missed you... which is kinda dumb... That and the difficulty to each mission of the game ranks up there to become one of 'those' games with that 'level' to throw your controller through the wall out into the backyard.. Ouch... And the ear-grating-nails-on-chalkboard noise when you get a treasure key or this game's version of 'Super Mario Stars.' Or at least to me it is... Stuff get's better in the sequel where you get a proper life bar among other comfort of life changes are made...

But that's for another day I feel like writing; You want a good laugh, I recommend giving this a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWcJCmnDc24

 

[Quto]

Sly Cooper
and the gang in
Band of Thieves​

Continuing on the Sly bender with Sly 2 Band of Thieves, I'm also going on a little about the mechanics between the first two and the last games... Talking about the Bottles.

One of the most annoying, yet fun, yet hair tearing experience of the Sly game we're the bottles. There we're about 30 bottles total in EACH level; Though I think that number differs on the first game as they we're scattered here and there... What we're these bottles? They contained code pieces to get a safe combination to unlock a safe somewhere in the game and these safe's contained things that would help you immensely later on in the game. Such as the Knockout Drive and the 3 frames of invincibility it would give you in boss fights to speedrun a boss rush and take down an opponent or the ultimate flash bomb that stopped enemy movement for a few seconds!... The pain in the ass part was getting the bottles, but each treasure was worth it... Until they got rid of it in Sly 3; but I'll post about it later.

In Band of Thieves, it pick's up where the 1st game left off; which, spoilers, Sly kills a giant robot owl that has hunted his family since the dawn of time... I mean, it was once pure flesh until using knowledge and whatnot when it got too old to chase the family, replaced it's body, piece by piece with machines to prolong it's life span beyond time... Well, Cockwerk's body get's harvested from the magma crater you left him to die in as his body is then put up for preservation and research to see HOW THE ACTUAL FXXK DID HE LIVE THIS LONG?! THE ASSHOLE IS FXXKING IMMORTAL!!!.. Well, Sly goes to the museum to steal the Clockwerk parts, as the chips, hearts and part's we're still, technically, working. The heart was beating on it's own, the eye's we're feeding data somewhere, the motor's and sh*t; This had Sly and his friends worried so what do they do? They intend to go steal the parts and destroy them or find a way to destroy them. As this immortal being shouldn't even be alive as much of a monster it has become.

He get's to the museum and exhibit, only to discover the parts we're already stolen and his love interest, Miss Carmelita Montoya Fox, accuses him of robbing them and returning to the scene of the crime... I never bothered mentioning her in the previous post because in the first game, she has 3 minor roles, chasing Sly, being romanced and rescued by Sly and helping kill Clockwerk the first time.... The second run, she has a slightly bigger role when she get's framed and becomes more active in arresting Sly and his friends to restore her honor and name but WHO CARES?!... Furry Shippers might, but that's not where I'm gonna go with this... Anyway, you spend the entire game going from place to place across the world as each Claw Gang member you chase has used a portion of the Clockwerk parts to fast-track their own criminal empires. Tail Feathers that never go dull used to print money constantly, Lungs to keep the fires on trains burning hotter and longer to drive the engines 24/7, It's all pretty devious.

Moving onto a change in mechanics since Game one... A HEALTH BAR! FINALLY A FREAKING HP BAR! You can take multiple hits! AT LONG LAST.... And Sly's friends finally pull their own FREAKING WEIGHT AROUND! In the first game, Bently only makes plans and Murray is their get-away driver.... In Sly 2, They still fulfill those roles, but they get out in the field as Muraay can mug guards and shake them down for ALL OF THEIR MONEY as Bently can drug them and attach explosives to them, becoming an in-field operative from hacking to lord knows what else... The play-style changes heavily as well as the gadgets included that can be purchased...

While I'm at it, and your revisiting Sly 2, how about some free gadgets to make your next playthrough a little easier?

Time Rush:
Press start and using the D-pad, press:
Down, Down, Up, Down, Right, Left. Or press Down, Down, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right
The Time Rush Gadget increases the passage of time in the game... Why would you want this? To speed up travel from point A to point B, it's useful in speed runs when you need to fight fast.

Tom:
Press start and using the D-pad, press:
Left, Left, Down, Right , Left, Right
The Tom Gadget gives you a doll of TOM from Toonami before Toonami shifted itself around. What's it useful for? Well, it's like the alarm gadget, it attracts guard to where it was tossed; though in my opinion; it has a further range than the other Alarm Gadget.

 

[Emilia]

if you get 100% completion in Sly 2 then you can use Right, Left, Right, Left, R1, Left, to get mega jump :>

 

[Quto]

Sly Cooper
and the gang in
Honour Among Thieves​

There is an old saying there is no honour among thieves... and I agree with it; there's a high probability you would probably shoot the other partners or leave'em for dead while you enjoy all the loot. It's what ya'd do in Fallout New Vegas during Dead Money anyway... Or save them, send them on their way and rob the vault while sneaking past the jerk who strapped a bomb collar to your neck and go into New Vegas's Silver Rush an buy the biggest Energy Weapon they have and hold up the Gun Runners with it.

My jokes aside, this is the last Sly Cooper Game made by it's original team and artist's which we're gonna miss a lot when we move into Sly 4... Which I will post later.

In Sly 3; pick's up from the events of Sly 2. Bentley becomes a cripple, Murray leaves the team after blaming himself for turning Bentley into a cripple and Sly goes out to look for Murray instead of Bentley... Because Bentley is building a wheel chair for his crippled legs to remain operable in the field... During Sly's search, he finds an old Thief, Mc Sweeney, who claimed to be apart of Sly's Father's crew in stealing stuff, reminiscing some of his old jobs until he name drops the next Cooper Birthright, The Cooper Vault. His Ancestor's, Ancestor's, Ancestor's hiding place to stash their loot of valuables and gadgets that defy history of when certain things we're made. Going there, they find a Baboon, Dr. M, had bought the island and turned it into a fortress trying to open the vault... which he had been having trouble doing so, Taking Drills, Laser's and explosives to the thing and surprisingly, there's isn't so much of a scratch to the door.

... Which I call that fxxking impressive, how much would it take to get a set of teeth made of that so I can eat metal?.. Anyway, Sly now has a new target, to steal back his Birthright... again by going around the world and recruiting different thieves and people into the Cooper gang for the last job to the Cooper Vault as it has a sh*t ton of money.

Anything else worth mentioning?... Well, Bentley gets a rat Girlfriend who is able to keep up with him intellectually with her RC what not's from cars to choppers and Murray is now a Dream Time guru or part of one... Yeah, the rest, you'll need to figure out.... Except Dimitri, as much as I don't like his personality, he was a Claw game member from Sly 2 though he becomes more of a friend and ally in Sly 3 and has pretty good information gathering skillls... that and the man is in constant love with himself to where I want to punch him with the cane again... Still, he's funny and bearable, so I don't mind him as he play's another role in Sly 4.

Where is that driver's license? How am I gonna order wine without one?​

Mechanic updates? Well, they removed the secret bottles as now you can purchase all of your gadgets from the combat dodge to the knockout drive, meaning you'll have to do you job as a Thief exploring the levels of the world, pinching coins, pickpocketing thugs and getting as much of that sweet, sweet coinage to buy every gadget you can... So that's a thing... The bottle's we're fun, but the annoying part of them to me was trying to find them all in each over world... Other updates, Murray and Bentley have a more defined move set and role as Bently can now pickpocket thugs with a magnet fishing rod, Murray can still Mug people as well and Bently can hover across gaps with his wheel chair and rocket jumps... Murray doesn't have many changes other than using his dream time move to bounce very, very high like a high bounce ball... They needed to make a pinball level based on him. Sly's move set does not change and there's no new moves for him as he remains the same, however, there are different modes of play now such as Dog fighting in a Bi-Plane as well as using that said plane on a handful of missions and robbing a group of pirates of a pirate ships to sink other pirates for their loot.... Which, if I had to be honest, Sucker Punch had performed these ship battles in terms of their mechanics a lot better than Bethesda's Assassin's Creed: Black Sail, though they could do a lot better in some respects.

... My legs may be crippled, but my ear's aren't; Your singing is so Terrible, I would rather go deaf than to listen to you sing one more note of Opera.​

As for Carmalita Fox?.. Well, she has a much larger role as she becomes playable with her trademark shock pistol and super jump. Some of the members you recruit have their own moveset's as well from brainwashing, stealth moves, Firework lock-on's and a whole arsenal of different talent's.... Sadly, they can only be played through missions and not selected to explore the game's over-world per level, but they are a nice addition to break-up the monotony of game play... The last mechanic worth mentioning is the 3D effect, as some levels in each of the game's chapter have a 3D effect where the game leaps off the screen and they provide you with 3D glasses to do the effect... Sometimes it work's well such as the boss battle with the General Tsao's Chicken and other times it's dis jarring like when your performing a plat-former level... They removed this feature in the Sly Cooper Collection, so if you want to experience it, I recommend tracking down the PS2 copy though you ain't missing much.

Are there any cheat codes? Naaaaaaaaaaah; you don't need cheats, even though there are one or two of 'THOSE' levels, you'll be fiiiiiiiiine... Just steal lots and lots of cash, finish the bonus missions and you'll get that last pesky achievement and 2nd half of a Sly Copper Cartoon.

 

[Quto]

Sly Cooper
and the gang in
Thieves in Time​

... To end the Sly Cooper Legacy is Thieves in Time... Which kinda pisses me off by a lot in both it's installment, cliffhanger and retconing the 3rd installment... that and the game coming out after 8 YEARS!... Sly 3 released back in 2005, This installment came out in 2013... It was Like Starcraft 2 except without a marketing budget...

OK; discussing the story, once you beat Sly 3, everyone goes their seperate ways with a share of the Cooper Family Loot except for Sly, as he fakes amnesia in order to be close to his love interest, Carmiltia Fox, who has been having conflicting feelings for him as well. Running off that amnesia story, Sly becomes a model citizen in dating Carmelita while doubling as her 'assistant' as a... Whatever you call a detective's assistant, a constable?... Whatever. Murray finishes his Dream Time Training and becomes a Demolition Derby Driver remaining undefeated while Bentley and his Girlfriend Penelope have been living out their lives on the island that holds the Cooper vault to remain as it's... Protectors I guess?.. Whatever, Dr. M dies and they purchase the island with their share of the Cooper Family Loot Sly left for them... Which, in retrospect, Sly never got to touch or even use a portion of that inheritance as he traded all of that away for love he could not attain as a thief... Romantic and idiotic; but I guess he's the better man for it... Anywho, Bentley and Penelope decide to try and build a time machine to look into the future to see what becomes of the Cooper line, his Line and Murray's... Line.... If they give him anyone... Which is suppose to lead into a game sequel...

Which, I think would be a lot of fun, seeing how the cooper kids and the other descendants adapt to a new world where Law becomes more strict and blurring the lines between Justice and Injustice in a cartoony way... Instead, we get the status quo.... WHICH I'M GOING TO SPOIL THE WHOLE GAME, RIGHT NOW!; so if you love the Sly Cooper game, but never got to play or beat Sly 4, then proceed at your own risk because thing's get worse in my opinion.

Sly Cooper Costume pops! Now in 11 different flavors!​

So, to get started; as soon as Bently and Penelope invent time travel, the latter disappears and so does cooper history as the Thievius Racoonus starts to self erased itself of history.... Meaning Sly's history and his birthright is getting stolen a 3rd time from him... This time it's funny that it's not even funny; The guy steals back his families history and instruction book on how to become a master thief... Then has to rob back a vault that belonged to his family containing technological and expensive wonders... And now he has to steal back his past so he can have a future... it seems to me that a lot of his sh*t is getting stolen and there's no time cops to report a theft of ones timeline too... HOW do you steal someone's history line like this and make it illegal to make them non-existant?!.. So Bentley tracks down Murray who drops everything to help when the small guys say's there's trouble, get ahold of Sly who has been having trouble settling into civilian life and has been casing a museum because he has a hunch the curator running it has been doing some shifty things and explain they need to go back in time where the changes are and undo them... While leaving the book of the Thievius Racoonus with Dimitri, who would act as their scout across time, reading through the book about certain changes once they have rectified history for a particular cooper... A cuban Tiger in Japan, erasing the Ninja Stunts Sly uses in most games from tightrope walking to ninja spire jumping. A British Elephant in the Arbian Night's of time lines to screw with the remaining 40 Thieves one of Sly's Ancestor's was apart of. Some Gangsta Armadillo who kidnaps Carmilita in the Wild West. A terrible rapping bear in the stone age trying to pull off a cave-painting art scandal and Penelope, Bently's girlfriend screwing up a Cooper in the age of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

The last one kinda disappointed me; One, Penelope double-crossing her boyfriend. Craving for more power than to be happy with what she had. They probably still have a sh*t ton of money left over from the Cooper Vault job and probably have a sh*t ton of legal patents on some crazy inventions or designs that they could live happily without lifting a finger... PROBABLY BECOME THEIR WORLDS EQUIVALENT TO BATMAN!.. Either case, sh*t happens and to wrap it up, Sly face's Paradox, the antagonist stealing the timeline, confesses his feelings to Carmilita how he feels since he was a thief all that time, Carmilitia confesses back before the final bout and a fight across time as a blackhole takes place around the location of their final battle and some form of explosion inward seals it... I know that's not how physic's work and they call it a 'time hole,' which is a punch hole in time that being thrown in there can toss you anywhere in time, but to me; it's just a friggin black hole with no destination to the past or future...

... Well, they just got done eating, what did ya expect?​

They find Paradox in the wreckage of the battlefield, but Sly has been erased off the map. They can't find his body, family cane or trademark hat and mask... So Murray goes on a world demolition tour to search the planet for Sly, Carmilita throws herself into her work, busting Criminal's an an unheard of pace while opening a case file searching for her missing beloved while Bentley searches for him at a technological level and they can't use the time machine to go back before the battle since Bently's machine has a fatal flaw he never had a chance to work the bugs out on. He could only go as far as an item took him too at a random inter vernal or relevant point in time, he can't pinpoint the moment of when as Penelope fixed that in her final design before she betrayed him. So they know he's out there, but don't know where and don't know when he is.... Which, kinda leads me to a few other plot holes to point out.

Bentley Could get some help from a future version of himself, a future Bentley could come back in time from a point in time where they found Sly and inform them where they are going to find them or look for him. Carmalita could have the Time Hole machine in it's parts salvaged from the river and given them to Bentley for the man to re-assemble that machine in order to figure out where Sly went. He could also rebuild the better time Machine Paradox had into his own designs as to pin-point and pluck the moment Sly vanished, thus saving his gray furry ass... There are a dozen other holes I could point out, but those are my big ones... BUT NOPE! Instead, we get a vision of a probable sequel where Sly has to make his way home through time.... Which, spoilers, if you 100% the game, he's somewhere in Egypt; When he is, is still unsure.

Ok, so while you 4 get captured, Bentley Off camera is gonna come in here with a mini-giant robot and beat up his girlfriend before she kills you... Got it? Good!​

... NOW, Onto the Mechanics!... WHO WROTE THIS SH*-?! Mechanic Wise, Sly, Murray and Bentley remain the same as they have been with the same pick pocketing, Bomb laying and grappling to mug thugs rules. The GADGET's however are a rougher and slightly more sadder change to the catalog; As, aside from the Paraglide, Sly's Gadget's are attainable via story as they are costumes... The image I posted above, the first 6 Sly's are the costumes attainable; each one with a different and unique power. The last 5 Sly's in that list are Sly's Ancestors, as you can play them in their respective time line's... Which I can say is a pretty good step up, being able to explore the game's over-world as different members of the Cooper gang... And after rescuing a livid-angry-in-pure-rage Carmilitia when she discovers he had been faking amnesia, you get to explore the over world and play as her too with some of her more useful movesets to explore the game from the Super Jump too... Well, the Super Jump is badass enough and her Shock-pistol one-hit-kills everything.... which is, why, sadly, if I remember right, she's on;y used in 2 missions and that's it..... Well, one in the wild west and a belly dancer in Arabia to distract the guards.... Bentley and Murray can purchase their own gadgets, however, they barely make much of any difference when used in the field as Murray is mostly punching early game and has less of a role later on while Bentley does... Hacking.... 3 forms of Hacking from the traditional Twin-stick hacking, to the sidescroller hacking to the tilt control hacking.... Which is welcome to break up game monotony.... That and the Bottles are back, though they do not offer special game breaking tools, but passives such as 1/2 damage from falling into water and getting more coins from a pick pocket to finding all the hidden locations of bottles about 4 levels in... So there's a lot of bad, but there's also a lot of good as once you gain certain abilities, it's wise to backtrack through time to attain treasures among costume masks and other items you couldn't get too before so there's some post-game replay value to it all.

Which leads me to the Wrap-up of this Sly Cooper Franchise... It's already obvious that a different art team took over the Sly Cooper Project as Sucker Punch sold the rights to the game to Sanzaru Games as well change a lot of the mechanics to the game series as a whole... a prime example?

The current being on the left and old generation on the right. The left picks up a more Anime-French-Animation style while the old generation has a more American-French-Comic-Book style... As the old game's we're in retrospect, treated like Old-fashion comic books; from the name of the chapters, introducing the comic book arc it covers to... Everything else.... Ontop of that, while Sly 4 acted out like a Sly Cooper game, it didn't feel like it as there was a heavier shift in it's soul somewhere... I know you don't have the same people behind the old Sly games making this one around and they did a good job in re-creating the game mechanics from the top down; but it's a different shift I can neither put my finger on nor can I tell what that shift even is... As to why I think and know why we won't get a Sly 5.

Sony is now ordering games, as in they now have more control on what comes out on the platform and Ratchet and Clank is one of their bigger money makers as opposed to their other previous champions such as Jak and Daxter or Spyro and Crash... Though Crash is getting a sequel at long last to the PlayStation 1 Trilogy, we no longer have any of these 2 titans to fulfill their roles. Jak and Daxter wrapped up their story... Somewhat with the Lost Frontier, though done in rough respects and Spyro is own by whoever makes the Sky Lander games... which I weep for the purple dragon now; but that's mostly it... As Sly 4 didn't make a bigger return on funds on the platform, it's deemed 'non-efficient' and tossed to the wind... Much like how we probably don't have a new Jak game due to the returns on Lost Frontier.

Depressingly, the classics are becoming faded obscure memories as more stuff get's "updated" to meet with Today's World views and standards where if there's something you don't like or traumatizes you; you can not only shut it down with a tweet, but put it's creators out of business and crushing a long sought for dream to make something memorable... Well, I guess that's why we have Gamer's Obscurea among classics to hunt down; the entertainment industry is entering this entire chaotic mix of what is and isn't and they're losing out with what they're doubling, if not yet tripling, down on....

And this was an annoying set of post's because, aside from the cheat I missed, Thank You Emilia, there's bound to be a lot of other sh*t I missed as I just gave the barebones of my expirences on the mechanics in the most rushed and simplistic bits I could write... Like an abridged post on a TV series... minus the TV and Team Four Star...And the abridged....

... Either case, I'll now take requests to try the games myself and post my experiences instead. If you got a rare or obscure game, shoot me a message and if I can track it down and play it; I'll write a post about it with my grammatical errors and spelling mishaps along with my terrible, terrible jokes... I know my jokes are bad.

 

[CameranW]

If a game got four sequels perhaps it is not so obscure? They were all well-liked and successful. Honor among thieves even got two remakes. I play a lot of games. I think you are trying to play a trick on me.

 

[Bulky Ledian]

Dittoing the previous poster, most of the games in this thread don't count as obscure in the slightest. A shame since I was looking for something unique to play

 

[Quto]

This list also includes some games to remember as there may never be another Sly Game; as Sopny hasn't order Sly 5 in 7 years since the 2013 date.

Ontop of that, most folks don't post obscure games to start, with a handful of past contributors, it's mostly been me keeping this thing active; we have noone with a favorite out of the way title to contribute staying as active as one would like.

If you ahve a title to share, it's an open topic and if you want something unique...

If you played and liked Lemmings, I recommend Humans on the Sega Genesis or DOS.
If you want a Metrovainia with fun puzzles including a monster, I recommend Monster Tale on the Nintendo DS.

If you have something to contribute, then I'm all ears as I started this list inhopes some folks would give me something interesting to play myself and if not, I could at least contribute some stuff I have and have found that have some form of fun factor... And that's hard enough to add or even find.

 

[Quto]

Warning: this game is for Adrenaline Junkies: I am not even kidding.

Tribes: Vengeance
PC​

I wasn't kidding about the warning above. Before I explain the story, I want to explain the mechanics. Tribes is an FPS with a large array of sci-fi weapons, each one either more different or familiar than others. Such as the Machine Gun or a weapon that act's like the FLAK cannon from unreal tournament except with circular saw blades. You pick your loadout and go out and fight. So what's the difference on this title and other FPS games with better credibility such as Halo or the new Serious Sam 4 or even Star Wars Battle Front by EA?! Well, Your given Jetpacks by default and the Skiing Mechanic.

And when I say Jetpacks, I mean EVERY character regardless of race, loadout's, armor or weapons, EVERYONE gets a jetpack and it's used for the Skiing Mechanic. What is the Skiing Mechanic? To put bluntly, you slide along the battlefield as if you we're mounting a Slime Creature and if was rolling one way while you face the other and shoot that asshole with the Missile Launcher.

We're Jumping onto White base! AAAAAAH!​

With such mechanics, that kinda leads me to the warning. With such mechanics, you could literally speed past folks and wreck into walls if your not careful or watch where your going.

As for the story; It's not special as it's mostly people backstabbing people in revenge for other people. The game's lore starts it's centuries long war with a pair of Space Civilizations referred to as Tribes. Some Phoenix's from one Tribe kidnap a soon to be Queened Daniel to show her the atrocities her Tribe has committed among misdeeds by others in the universe and she agrees to try and fix this sh*t. Then a lot of weird stuff happens in between as both Tribes do underhanded things to each other while making enemies outside of their conflict of folks against the Tribes and attempting to kill them off to establish peace without them while other folks in separate factions attempt to stabilize the relationship in hopes to put an end to the fighting; only to get boned over by another force and pushing this war further through.... Kind of sucks... And I can relate...

So what happ- There is no What happened to this game here. It got run over by bigger folks. 343 With Halo and the yet to be released Halo Infinity among other titles such as The legend of Zelda and what not.

That and the game can no longer be obtained through 'proper' channels anymore as this game was abandoned by it's creators! Hi Rez studios abandoned the game after Tribes: Ascend, the last installment in this franchise before the game hit the Shelf of 5 year olds who get tired of playing with toy's they're bored of... which infuriates me, because their website to the games are still up.

https://www.tribesuniverse.com/

The games can be obtained legally for free, you can't just get the game or games in the franchise from places like this anymore! As each of those links hook up to the Wayback Machine!... The only games on the site withing th link above I provided that you can obtain are Tribez 2 from 2k1 and back. Tribes: Aerial Assault and newer lead back to the Wayback machine where those downloads are dead or deader than you can dream to obtain.

With one exception; Tribes Ascend is a title that requires a Server from Hi Rez, but the game before, Tribes: Vengence can still be obtained from here.

https://tribesrevengeance.net

They include guides, full installs of the original title and mods to bring the game into the 21st century with certain and specific setups along with a Discord Channel of folks to help out with the title itself. This is the last Tribes game that can still be played or rather, the latest that can be obtained without having to go through other channels... And If you folks want to know what Sparked this interest, it was watching this youtube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lobj9m_hQYk

About a frictionless Halo Match and that reminded me of Tribes with it's own Skiing, frictionless Mechanic.

 

[Quto]

World of Horror​

This game isn't... obscure though it isn't one played very often by.... Anyone. It has it's following on Youtube, though the people who play it and poke at it don't have enough subscribers to make that kind of impact. By which, I mean Youtube's Algorithm screwing over the folks below the big earners such as SMG4, Game Theory among others...

However, Halloween and October are some of my favorite things I love about living life and forget about the **** **** ****** ***** and the people who cause it; so I wanted to include it on the list for preservation and to revisit as it had it's place on Steam's front page, but seems to have been tossed aside and disregarded.

I bought my copy of 'World of Horror' back when the game was in 0.3.2 or one of the older builds back on itch.io in 2017; and the game it was then has vastly changed from then to the game it is now with the 0.9.15 build. Back when the game was at this stage in development.

It still looks like this; though with some more polished read-outs, stats among other items.

But let's get to brass tacks. World of Horror is a Horror based tabletop-video-game... That's the weirdest way to put it and the most fitting. Each character has a set of stats and event are randomized like pulling cards from the top of a deck; everything from solving different mysteries down to the encounters... That and the game takes on different bosses and horrific creatures each run that it will be a miracle you even still live to see the end.

Each game file, you pick a creature of horrific power and consequence to fight. Each lovecraft-ish-Japanese-Yokai being has an effect on the city and each adventure you undertake. An Example, one of them will increase the doom for each spell you cast and once doom reaches a certain point, you lose the game and have to start over... Though you have to work your way to the final boss though by solving other mysteries that are tied to the big demon. Such as the mystery of folks falling into a deep sleeps that they can't wake-up; facing nightmares they cannot awaken from; only to discover a monstrous hand is shifting their dreams. Or the Scissor Handed girl haunting the school, looking to hunt down some 'fresh blood' of students enter the school during late nights.

These mysteries lead up to the final climb towards the Lighthouse where the creature or being is to be summoned...

And this game is HAAAAAAAARD, Even on easy or normal, it is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard... So why do I recommend this title? Aside from the horror, the game's art style and choice is suppose to be similar to that of an old dinosaur of a computer, an old Mac where games such as Deja Vu we're big successes in that day and age... Of course, you can swap the game over to Gameboy Colors or one of the dozen other palette options the game offers... Do I expect anyone here to beat the game?.. Sadly, no; though if anyone beats it legitimately, you have earned my respect.

Let's kick October off right with this horror based title!

 

[Quto]

Neighbors
(back)
from Hell​

It's not Halloween based, but I can't stand by while folks ignore a game about pulling pranks on people who deserve it... And it's a fun Classic.

Before I get into the newer elements, I want to explain what this game is. You play as this British chap who is just enjoying his day on his front yard, reading the paper, listening to the birds and what not... (I don't know what real British folks do during their day; so forgive me.) Until their peace is broken by your obnoxious neighbor and his mother... and her dog. The Neighbor running his gas guzzling Lawn Mower the size of 2 cars, his mother dumping the trash bags of that house onto your lawn and the dog taking a leak on your leg. Instead of calling the cops, you decide to make some money off them by causing them a little misfortune and pull pranks on them.. well, mostly pranks on the Neighbor as you teach him some proper manners the old fashion way.

https://www.dlh.net/public/data/Articles/2992/20201010021725_2.jpg

Pardon the oversized image as it's the newer high-rez of the recent release of them game. So if your question is that you sneak around some a$$***** house while setting traps and pranks to give him his comeuppance for being a villain and nuisance to everyone? That's actually the whole point of the game. Using the environment, tools and just whatever else you can find to drive him batty. The game first released back in 2003, but it's premise remained the same since both it's first and it's sequel.

Round House Kick to your @#$!​

As for the Games Story... There just isn't one, your torturing a villainous soul who deserves a beat-down, filming it on live TV and Broadcasting it to the wide TV viewing audience. So why am I talking about this game?

Well, the title is a survivor in the sense that a LOT of people liked it's puzzle/prank solving styles and setup. Aside from only having 2 entrees, the game has spin-offs where they act as Sequels, not even using the original artwork, Neighbors from hell 3 and 4, Mods that act as season 3 or game 3 which are HARDER versions of the classic with harder puzzles; I don't know why Markiplier won't touch it or even Jackscepticeye; It is a lot of fun and has material they can work with!

For folks who know about this title, loved it and are returning to it, they've added Controller support and some GUI updates. You are also no longer trying to get a 100% mark, but as many prank 'coins' as possible.

 

[Quto]

ToonTown Rewritten​

I wrote about this back in the MMORPG topic, but I guess I wanted to give a better perspective.... that and I can't get anyone to play Barotrauma with me. If anything; I'd rather start a Dead Man's Retro group here and invite the community to play some old school/forgotten games together where they have co-op available, especially for System Shock 2.... Annnnnny way; a little background what toontown is, was and where it went after.

Toontown was built and published back in 2003 by Disney; becoming another IP and brand to try and bring kids in when emptying their parents pockets through what would be their first MMORPG you had to pay a subscription for. What do you do in Toontown online?.. Well, what couldn't ya do is more the appropriate answer.

Most MMORPG's at the time was, build a character, make a build, go into dungeon, kill, loot, spend and improve and repeat on this with new stuff happening every month from new dungeons, builds and events. ToonTown wasn't any different, though in order to fight the game's antagonist's or the business Cog's, you had to use gags or jokes.... Which from my recent playthrough's, you run out of... Example, when you start, you get access to Throwing Gag's and Surprise gags such as throwing pies and giving exploding presents, having 5 uses each(roughly, don't quote me on specifics). If you use all 5 throws and surprises, then your next run in with a Cog boots you back to town. From which, you need to buy gags with Jelly Beans.

And you earn Jelly Beans by playing mini-games which is another interesting-ish feature. You don't really get to pick the game as each time you go in, it's randomized from Pac-Man Maze clones to fishing contests to getting launched via GIANT RUBBER SLING-SHOT while measuring accuracy on a dartboard + distances!!! Anyway, beyond that, you had a house you could decorate, funny quests and at the end of the day, it was a kids game. Especially the fast travel system which was basically puling out a cartoon hole from existence and jumping into it...

Then in 2013, Disney shut down the servers and subscriptions we're pulled off until a group of dedicated fans brought the game back via Toontown Re-written. The story goes that the creator purchased the assets and right's of Toontown from Disney themselves to prevent a DMCA takedown and avoid other legal issues from Disney in order to keep the game operating. This is also the reason a LOT of Disney's old Assets are still being used in a title like this from shops named after Goofy to Mickey and Minnie being used in signs pointing to different directions of the MMO.

... Though that's just spoken, I've had hard trouble tracking down where they bought the rights to the game itself. The only information I can confirm is ToonTown's original developers support Rewritten like Futurama fans support the Futurama Series, undying and unwilling to let it die....

Which reminds me, If I get any folks sighing heavily as to why I would post about a game most folks would rather forget: You're out numbered. The development group behind the MMO have been showing up to cons to promote the rewrite with Quizzes, Swag and there are youtubers + Twitch streamer's who play, broadcast and talk about the game a lot. I even got one of their T-Shirts from an anime convention I frequent when running one of my panels. They're not going to go away and I've had a chance to play the MMO myself... Which, the battle's aren't as great, but I did have fun with everything else as the group keeps the game's own story still running.

The abandoned MMORPG that refuses to die and refuses to burnout. It's not poetic, but it's earned my respect as a game overlooked in everything else....

Last tidbit and I will hush; Disney shut-down Toontown originally in an attempt to push Toontown onto the Mobile Platform so you could play the MMORPG on the go as cellphone's, smart phones especially, we're kicking into HIGH gear with mobile gaming. They we're also intending to stack a subscription on that; so you could charge through Google Pay or Apple Pay and so on. However Disney's business structure wasn't setup to tackle this at the time being and they've been arguing about it ever since to this day to bring Toontown back over Mobile.

 

[Quto]

Evil Genius​

Let's talk about Evil Genius; I wanted to talk and post about this on Halloween, however as I live in the states and it's chaos over the elections... and I mean TRUE chaos as it's taking even LONGER to count ballots for both sides; especially with one of the states having to perform a recount and another up north where at some point it was 42% Biden and 1.7% Trump.... which I know isn't even right at all; I've been putting it off... That and fellow folks, I will NOT announce who I voted for fer my own reasons. I prefer to remain as I am, anonymous; as if I we're with one party, I get spat on and told to die and if I joined the other, I would be everything I hate... MOVING ON!

Evil Genius is a game that has both captured and squandered it's potential.... by a LOT. How so? When you think of goofy yet insane masterminds of world domination plots; who pops into your head 1st, 2nd and 3rd? For me: it's Brain from Pinky and the Brain, Dr. Eggman Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog and any villain in the Guild of Calamitous Intent from the Venture Bros... All 3 of those IP's we're published or debuted in 2003 and earlier when this game hit store shelves in 2004.

So what do you do in Evil Genius? You take over the world! You hire henchmen, send out to different country's to rob people of their capital. Plot various and dastardly deeds to earn notoriety, purchase goofy gadgets and hold the world hostage for $$$ as you threaten to CRASH THE MOON INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN WITH INTENT TO CAUSED MASSIVE FLOODS ACROSS THE WORLD AS YOUR ISLAND WILL BE THE ONLY SAFE HAVEN AND START THE NEW COUNTRY OF KICK-ASSIA; THE NEW WORLD ORDER UNDER YOUR THUMB, BECK AND CALL!!!... All set in the tone of a 1970's-1980's Spy flick involving 007 played by the recently late and currently dead Jean Connery.

Is it my turn yet mate?​

... My evil rant aside; you want to basically take control of the world after coming out of hiding, using anything and everything you can find, research and gather from the intel you can acquire. Whether you need to kidnap maids and teach your henchmen how to please folks by idiotic manipulation schemes or kidnap a former navy seal to train one henchman who to fight like a badass, kill that navy seal and teach the rest of your henchmen how to do the same in turn.

How does the game play?... It plays like Dungeoneer? Though to be fair, it's best if you pick it up for yourself and play on your own as they're getting ready to release a sequel to this classic.
Hopefully with mod support.

 

[Quto]

Freedom Force​

... The back away from the PURE EVIL of and mischief off that last post, I bring you the stuff of comic book legends that will never exist and probably never get a remake... Even then, I wouldn't bother; as to diversify this cast of character's is to beg the question as to WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT OR EVEN ASK IN THE FIRST PLACE?!

G.I.FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORCE, FREEDOM FORCE!​

Freedom Force is a tactical-action RPG played from a top-down perspective using a cast of character's you'd find in an old 1950's-1960's comic book, taking place after the cold war mostly. You start with Minute Man; not the minute men from Fallout 4 where you're basically collecting garbage to recycle to build a base to automate defenses and ammunition. The hero literally named Minute Man.

This guy.

Being passionate about 'MURICA! **** YEAH!' and it's freedom and liberty and what not... For anyone with turning stomach's, this was the style of comics back then to a T; even then, this title released back in 2002, still, there was a market for this as it got an expansion pack: Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich.

_{TODAY'S EPISODE!}
THROAT BANANA S_PLIT​

How does the game play? Well, you start off with Minute Man; a 70-ish year old man who use to work on the 'Manhattan Project' or the nuclear bomb. He finds another fellow scientist who use to work on the same project and discovers he's selling secrets to the 'REDS.' He was going to slip out and away, only to trip out of the bush he was hiding in, get shot and left for dead. He starts crawling towards the minute man statue in his death throws, only to discover the statue became radiated with some weird energy. Turning him younger, more energetic and able to beat the sh*t out of some people.... by being able to decapitate them with a flick of his finger.... Like Chuck Norris when he runs into the directors who gave him sh*tty films to take role in.... Actually, I don't think Chuck Norris would do that, he's a nice guy, through and through.... Anyway; using the statue as symbolism, he becomes the Minute Man, sworn to protect the innocent with truth, justice and a fist full of pain.

Has anyone seen my mask creme?... OH SHI-!​

When your dropped in, the RTS/RPG aspect takes place. You click an enemy to auto attack, right click to choose from a special super power to use on him like the minute missile or Freedom Force Smash to knock his blocks off a building and punch his ticket out... Except he's not dead once he hits the blacktop.... Where do they hire these guys, these thugs that can survive a 5 story fall after getting face planted with a fist?.. Aside from these fellas, your entire environment is destructible. You can destroy buildings, rip out light posts and use it as some bad-ass nun-chucks to smash some thugs around, throw cars , trees or that moron who cut you off when you we're trying to get to your exit... Anywho; you earn fame which will attract other super's to your cause for the same fight. As the lot of you need to gather radiated canisters of energy out in each level to buy into new moves and super powers in between missions to level up... To top it off, there's a Co-Op feature to go and beat sh*t up together with a friend or friends who get tired of today's more diverse set of comics run by Marvel or Disney... Eh.

Why did this game drop into obscurity?.. I have no real idea. It earned enough for an expansion pack and it had a fan base as they printed physical comics based on the computer game itself and back issues are hard to come across. Someone from Amazon is selling Issues #1-#6 for $100, so it's hard to come across collectible for an abandonned game. For we know, the game was left behind by her creators as other project's we're needed to keep the company, CRAVE Entertainment, afloat.... Which is kinda odd, I've almost never come across a CRAVE Entertainment game I didn't like. They probably had some terrible ones, but most of theirs I do own are playable and fun with some measure of care, some being my key word.

Eh, Oh well. If you can get the network libraries working or find some fan-made work around, Gog is selling the title and it's expansion pretty cheaply now.... If you can get past it's age, it's actually a lot of fun to play through. :D

 

[Quto]

Syberia​

Let's talk about Syberia and how it's not inspiring Mechanical Engineers! There's not so much to unpack about the game and a lot folks should note that this game make's the list due to the obscurity of a lot of Point and Click games such as 'The Journey Down' Where is just a duo of guys looking to fly to the 'land down under' with a pilot who has his license but is afraid of heights and closes his eyes mid flight, asking his passengers to let him know when they need to turn to avoid obstacles.... Moving on!

In Syberia, you play as a Lawyer, being sent out to small fictional French village in the middle of lord knows where to get a deal signed for a toy company. The company is looking to purchase the last of the property + rights to the Automaton factory, which when it was active, built and provided... well, a metric s**t ton of clockwork wonders... In fact, the French village relies on them; the notary you meet uses a clockwork wheelchair, the door to the office is locked by these machines, the gates and the graveyard on a handful of tombs are locked and guarded by these things... Oh well. As you go to get the deal signed and discovering the owner of the factory had died, she reveals the factory isn't hers via her will, that she has a brother who is still alive and kicking; disowned by their father after the kid became obsessed with Woolly Mammoths... Which in retrospect was a bad idea, especially after all the wonder's this guy performs.

We're ON LUNCH!​

What kind of wonders? Well, the first building a robot with it's own A.I. powered on... something, batteries, clockwork, only lord knows what he runs on and the MASSIVE CLOCKWORK TRAIN you use to go find the missing brother... The train is wound up and it goes when operated properly. When it reaches the next station, you have to solve puzzles to get the train wound-up again to continue your journey.

I mean, look at this thing!

It's not massive, but it's still impressive... So.. Yeah. It's this long Journey to find the guy... Which I'll spoil the ending for the first game as it's a 3 2-PARTER! You find him still alive at a nursing home with more of his machines built into the place from an automated bar with it's own A.I. to mix drinks to it's beds and such. He signs the contract willingly as he never learned to read and didn't care about the factory. His research for Mammoth's has lead him to Syberia, where they could still be alive and if not, lead him to where they still could live. With the contract signed, your done and have the go ahead to head home... Instead, you flip off your bosses and old life due to some BS that happens on your journey to find this guy and help this crazy genius find his Mammoth's.... In Syberia 2... Syberia 3 doesn't count as it was a cash grab on the game's mystic... At least, to me it was; the game's original story ended on 2.

And this game fascinates me as a tech guy. You have the guy, Tesla, who built the 21st century and his name being used for electric cars and this need for re-usable energy and what not that I figured, why not see if wind-up power was once a thing for transport.... And hilariously, it was!

Ref: http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/POWER/clockwork/clockwork.htm

I know having a clockwork vehicle now defeats it's purpose as you would need to wind it again; however my counter to that is 'so what?' We do these crazy things in the name of science and to see how small we can make your Ipod. We do these things to see how much closer we are to building Skynet! We do this sh*t because I tried asking Mark Rober, The NASA guy on Youtube, what it would take to make a Wind-Up Motorcycle.. and I was passed over since I was both labeled crazy for asking and more likely, for not being a Patreon supporter... As I do not make the paycheck to support Patreons...

 

[Quto]

Atari Lynx​

Like my love of the dreamcast, I want to talk about another console slightly more obscure. Everyone remembers the Game Gear? How it tried compete with Gameboy and the Gameboy color with BACKLIT SCREENS, MORE COLORS and A HANDY LIBRARY OF PORTABLE SEGA CLASSICS THAT ISN'T SONIC!!!.... Sonic on Game Gear wasn't as fun, can't see that far ahead.

Then you had the Atari Lynx, with the same BACKLIT Capabilities, colors and was omni-directional in it's handling and supported up to 8 players (ads say 16, but the available library only goes up to 8.) and it's game carts came in on cards.... When I stated that it was omni-directional in it's handling, if you we're left handed or left dominant, you could flip the console to use the A,B buttons with your left and the D-pad on your right; the game screen would also flip for that ease of access, so it's kinda impressive.

You still also, while not great, an impressive lot of games for the old console; such as Warbirds, a Mode7 dogfighter set in World War 1 and Blue Lightning for when you didn't care for Biplanes, you had JETS! There's also Steel Talons, a console game on SNES and Genesis that performs incredibly well on the Lynx, and the game is mostly 3D vector shapes... albeit, bad frame rate and what not, but it's still impressive.

And like the Dreamcast scene; there are still games being made FOR this console today, just not in the traditional cartridge card format...sadly. In fact, Atari, the old Atari, still lives and breath's as it's fans or remaining and while I would be hoping the Dreamcast community be lively, the Lynx scene for it's custom made games is more alive than Dreamcast! There's a Lynx 2020 Jingle Jam with a Jam for this console just about every year since!

.... There is no question as to why it didn't catch on; when you we're growing up in the 90's, Gameboy was the only thing planted front and center. Cartridge's we're sleek, mass produced and more IP's you recognized we're on that thing than you could shake a tail feather at, especially the game and series that nailed the theme song into every child's mind since it's inception 'POKEMOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!' It's also the game that shot each handheld dead into it's early grave and noone could compete with Nintendo in the portable market ever again... I mean, we got the PSP, that things badass still in retro circles by it's own right! Though that was the Nintendo's only and real main competition. Now Nintendo is the big dog in portable gaming and whether you love'em or hate'em or love and hate the switch for it's spec's or it's library, they know what they're doing; well, most of the time, but that's Nintendo.

Though Nintendo can't share most of the blame, you then have the state of the Atari at the time + where the company was headed. The infamous game/tech crash where Sega and Nintendo rose from the ashes, Atari's new owner and the companies continuous tumble through history until we have THIS.

_{Do not open if you don't want to hear me go on a soap box rant.}

Spoiler:

And while this looks like a 3D image, I DEMAND YOU GOOGLE IT! Atari has it's own freaking hotel!!!... I'm not Gushing either as I'm a bit more angry and laughing at the same time like the Joker from Batman!.. Which is kinda sad, because this company started from Video Games alone. Sega had it's arcades and Nintendo not only ran Love Hotels but also playing cards, but those greats crossed over into video games. Atari was, kinda, the only company to start from gaming on it's inception! They we're, technically, the source of it all to start what we have now in terms of gaming!.. Mind you, yes, Pong Consoles did it first and there are enough Pong Consoles in the world that if you throw a rock in an antique shop somewhere in the world, you'll hit at least 1 or 4. But this place kinda kick started all of this.... Eh; it's just a hollow shell now to kick it in it's belly and move on, Especially with it's Atari VCS and it's Competitor the Amico from Intellevision... Both consoles, of which will probably fail out of the gate; regardless of support due to a lack of attracting titles, that and if anyone remembers the Coleco Chameleon or doesn't remember, then that's sort of my point. These things would only be for an older crowd while the current generation yells into MIC's over FORTNITE... Which I don't even play or even bother. I'm still playing through Evil Genius and beating Halo in the Master Chief collection. After that, I intend to blaze through Torchlight 3 or what's built of it, EDF when I'm not Christmas shopping and play Monster Rancher Card battler on GBC!..

Though I guess I'm getting off topic.

If you intend to check out the console, I recommend an emulator and just to download the entire library; the whole library is roughly under 100mb + the homebrew scene is around and they are doing impressive things for the console. If you intend to get the real deal, the cartridges themselves are incredibly inexpensive, about $10-$15, it could be the easiest gaming library to collect and complete worth purchasing.

 

[Quto]

Magi Nation​

Since I opened the bag of beans for tabletop card games on Wild Storms and AVGN discontinued Board James; I wanted to pay tribute to a game's obscurity that not only deserves better, but has lasted better. I talked about Magi Nation AGES back on their GBC game title, a game with too many flaws to count, especially when you look at the combat equations; but still had some form of fun factor.

Why does this deserve it's attention? Well, to start, it's cult following and where the game started... and where she ended. SO, LET'S START WITH THE GAME'S LORE! THAT'S RIGHT, THIS THING HAD A STORY! LIKE MAGIC THE GATHERING BUT THIS SUCKER WAS SERIALIZED!

It all start's with this kid. Tony Jones.

http://bluefurok.com/PRimages/tony.jpg

Nice kid, punk hair, chain wallet, loves playing gameboy and attending Gencon. Dared to get a crystal in a cave, sh*t happens; Tony falls into a pit during a cave-in and rather than dying, ends up in a fantasy world dubbed the Moonlands. On arrival, the inhabitant's think he is Kryos or the embodiment of him, a 'Magi' who awoke from a long slumber to save the Moonlands from the Core... which are some Nasty fellas bent on turning people to evil and dark sh*t... and the card game showed it. As the card game went on from 2000 until it's discontinuation or OUT OF PRINT date in 2002, some of the Core cards we're painting pretty grim pictures. Magi Cards from previous set's had evil 'Shadow' forms and more power to manipulate with. Core card's we're becoming more powerful, it was was getting dark and in a sense at the same time, the game's story was getting pretty good. In fact, you couldn't play with any CORE cards at all unless you had a Core Magi to use them with and they we're some pretty game breaking effects...

How does the game play?.. Energy.

Out of the entire series of this card game, it's most basic resource was energy. You used Energy to summon Dream Creatures, your monster's from your hand, you used energy to pay for spells, your energy was also your sign of life or rather, your hit points.... There we're no complicated Mechanics like life points, or mana, it was just Energy.... example, You get furok, a dear looking thing; it cost's 4 energy to play. You pay it, you summon a Furok with 4 Energy. That energy Counts as it's attack and it's life. You fight a lesser creature with it who could have 2 energy; you remove 2 from Furok and 2 from the lesser monster. Lesser creature is dead, your Furok got weaker from fighting and has 2 points of attack and life left... Where does this energy come from youa sk, do you generate it from Mana Cards?

Well, that's where Magi come in. you bring a team of 3 and a deck of cards to use with that deck. They start with a set number of energy and recover only so much after every turn; when they run out and get hit, you discard them as knocked out and move onto the next Magi in your team. When you run out of Magi; the game ends and you lose... or if you knock out your opponents team before you go, you win.


So, mechanics we're basic... right?.. Well, sort of.
With Mechanics so basic and some other rules such as Nation penalties, such as paying 1 extra energy to summon creatures not belonging to the active magi's nation.. Mechanic's just got added onto. The game's monster's become so wordy, you we're basically reading book's worth of cards in play and how effect's reacted to each other. Every dream creature had some special ability or effect of some kind... Which is fine for a game with some simple mechanics, but as the game kept evolving and changing, things just got sort of out of hand. You had to read small print, if not paragraphs, of cards to know their effect's which kind of scared away a sh*t ton of new comers. Sometimes, newcomers just want to throw down before diving into the mechanics, I think everyone wants that at least once before committing to a new game or see what it has to offer.

That was part one of their downfall... Part two was that the game didn't sell in market's or stores... generally. The game was only obtainable from their online store and the creators had trouble getting a proper deal lined up with Walmart or Target, as they we're carrying Pokemon Cards, Yu-Gi-Oh cards and so on!

They did have a resurgence with their TV Show under Cookie Jar Entertainment, though the vibe of what I saw in the game's lore shifted heavily and I didn't see it taking off based on what I played and enjoyed about the series to start. After the first season, Cookie Jar Died out and became something else, still hanging onto the Magi Nation license for the Cartoon, though they removed all trace of it since from both the current site and catalog of shows they produce. They now produce Megaman Fully Charged, though I think the entertainment line for it went defunct and Cartoon Network picked up the remaining episodes. I didn't care for the Magi-Nation cartoon as it just did a whole 'Chosen One' journey story which has been done to death before and Avatar did it better than this; though I had hoped with the show, we could get to see the card game reprinted and finally on store shelves or at least played... But, nope; I don't have many details on who screwed who or who dropped the ball on what, but everything fell threw and we never heard from the creators again...

So... Where does that leave it's deep cult following?

... A continous year of tournaments, a 2020 Holiday one.
https://changevoyage.blogspot.com/2...O7FIkx6Nzyl5jzTF-QwuLPYybuuNgRbZf2779EFJguR94

an unreleased game boy color game, which was advertised in Nintendo Power before the Game Boy Color went out of print... And the game was found on a hard drive somewhere and it's Rom contents both Dumped and posted for the world to enjoy.

And a living but flopping community, trying to keep it alive... Either case, it belongs to Obscure games, especially for Tabletop's.

 

[Quto]

Sam and Max: Hit The Road​

As of this post, I want to talk about Sam and Max.

Before I get started talking about the game, I want to talk about the Freelance Police. Sam and Max, the worlds foremost best fictional police character's... At least in my opinion. To describe Sam and Max is impossible... To describe their character's, however is a lot more simpler. Sam is a stoic, ever day average Joe with a passion to 'take a bite outta crime' and Max, a hyper-kinetic-homicidal rabbity thing with a passion to pummel, maim and or destroy crime using almost anything and everything at his disposal. They are agents of.... Well, Chaotic Lawfulness... If you play DnD, or a better method to describe is if you got you car stolen, don't expect it to be returned to you unscathed as there are sure to be Max's bite marks somewhere if he gnawed at your brake line.

"Hey Sam, what do we do after we finish delivering this pizza to that Monkey Island?" "We go after the jerk's who made that lousy remaster of our older cases."​

The character's we're developed by Steve Purcell's brother, who made small comics about them, leaving them unfinished and for Steve to finish them for him just to p1$$ him off or agitate him. At some birthday, Steve's brother wrote on a piece of paper to just GIVE him the character's to do with as he saw fit; then Sam and Max became their own underground comic; strips of small cases being worked on and what not. Steve had a chance to work with game developers over at Lucas Art's, making and drawing some background art for their adventure games such as Loom and Monkey Island and we're not only familiar with the strips he drew, they loved the psychotic pair. So much so that when they published magazine's then, they let Steve draw out full colored comic pages on properties Lucas Art's owned. Parodies of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and what not. It lead up to getting Sam and Max their own Computer Game, Sam and Max Hit The Road.

Moving on though; it's a point and click game with puzzles that you might need a guide for; or at least watch a play-through on Youtube. The game's story is another matter. Sam and Max are hired by the local circus at the freak-show tent to locate a big foot that was placed on display in a giant-solid-block of ice and to bring it back. Though the problem being, A) The Bigfoot has broken free from his icy imprisonment. B) He 'kidnapped' or ran off with another one of their star attractions, Trixie and C) an Evil Country Music Star Conroy Bumpus is hunting them both down to use in his next show... against their will. A tall order, though it's nothing this pair can't handle. Especially if you've followed through with them on what they have been through together and enjoying each other's company.

Some folks say that they aren't worth while, as they're just as out-dated as daytime T.V. because it doesn't focus on something they want. Other's are either detested by the pair, swearing up a storm when thing's hit the fan and most other folks don't like the art and decor the pair painted over this title and their more recent ones. Anyone who thinks this are more or less missing the point as the enjoyment of the game is seeing the interaction between the pair and their interaction with the world when they are tackling their cases. Which in this game's case, lead's them to a bigfoot jamboree where they have partied themselves drunk and watch their way of live commit suicide, unaware of how to adapt, so they drink themselves into oblivion and destroy the western half of America with tree's. Of which is located after getting some mole-man dust from a mole-man who worked with bigfoots before when constructing one of the worlds most pointless tourist trap's.

"I do not want ANOTHER LESSON ABOUT JOHN MUIR FOR ***** SAKE!!!!"​

Sam and Max ain't on top of the popularity scale, but they ain't to far gone to be called obscure. If anything, I wanted to at least pay tribute to the pair, especially after the alterations done to the Sam and Max Save the World Remaster; which I'm glad they did, but also disappointed in. As the original has issue's running on newer hardware such as models being shot-out-of frame, warping and noticing in a longplay of the original in Episode 2, Situation Comedy that when you turn on the TV, for a few seconds, you can see Mira's legs of her model sticking out of the bottom, giving their office TV the legs to get up and run away. The Remaster fixes those issues and make's things look prettier, but the voice acting script's we're changed and other factor's that don't make it Sam and Max anymore nor does it make it a game worth playing and finishing.

This post is just another tribute to a pair who deserve a little better and little more attention, especially their creator and artist.