[Event] The PokeCommunity Game-Along

[Rynamite]

Here is visual proof that I have started a new file... With some guest appearances!

Spoiler:

 

[Cherrim]

Ooh, retro, hmm...

I think I will finally give Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga a shot. It's for GBA, so it should be old enough to count. :)

 

[WizardOfOdd]

Okay, I made up my mind. I'm going to play Digimon World (1999) for PS1. I'll try to write a game log if I'm not too lazy to do that.

 

[pkmin3033]

First post updated. I'm glad to see y'all participating for the second month, so thank you for that ^^

To those who didn't complete last month, or newcomers - you can still take part in February's if you'd like to!

As for me...I am probably going to regret this, because I have not enjoyed it very much, but my game this month is going to be Secret of Mana, from the Mana Collection on Switch. There is every possibility I will change that to something more enjoyable before the end of the month if it keeps on throwing stunlocks at me, though =/

 

[WizardOfOdd]

THE POKE-COMMUNITY GAME ALONG - FEBRUARY - RETRO THEME
DIGIMON WORLD 1: THE (MIS)ADVENTURES OF HERB
Chapter 1 - Enter The Digital World

So apparently I was not so lazy so I can write a game log for this month's game. So before we start the chapter log. I would like to give a few... Uh... What do you call it? Well let's say I'm just going to lay out some groundwork before the chapter log begins with few points.
1. I Love Digimon so much Not as much as Pokemon but still, this one is literally one of the first games I ever played. So a lot of fond memories here.
2. Believe it or not, it took me until 6th grade until I beat this, yeah I was a dummy. I had this game since I'm four and never managed to beat it until then.
3. This game is probably one of, if not the most grindiest in the entire series. If those reading this is doesn't understand the premise, basically Digimon here can die of old age and revert to an egg. While the technique learned is kept if it wasn't a forced revert (Back to baby form due to losing thrice in a battle). You still had to retrain your baby Digimon, basically, it's a race to upgrade the facilities available to you in order to maximize the abilities of your Digimon... Well until it died and reborn, and do it again, and again until you beat the final boss. Oh yeah, also your Digimon can just not evolve to the highest stage (ultimate at the time) and go straight to the reborn process if the stats are not enough, well... It happens to me countless times.
4. Now, usually this isn't bad when you have a guide to help you. However, this time I'm replaying this blind. Last time I played until the finish was 4 years ago, and besides major plotlines, I forgot about most items, where to recruit certain Digimon for the city, stat requirements to evolve, etc. I even forgot how to get to certain places... So this is going to be fun.
5. Also here's a map of the Island to understand better when I said certain things.

Spoiler:

So Without further ado, let's begin the log.

Spoiler:

DAY 1
- Okay, so the first thing that was happening is a cutscene that shows the player character dragged entering the digital world through the digivice, basically that. Then Herb was greeted by Jijimon who asked him a few questions... Well, nothing too major really, the questions actually determine are you going to play with a Gabumon or an Agumon. I don't remember why, but I think I almost always start with an Agumon, so Gabumon it is.
- So, Herb was tasked by Jijimon to re-populate the city since most of the Digimon who inhabited the city gone mad and left it, or some just got out and forget about it. And that's about it for the objectives.
- This is the Digimon partner of Herb, Oz. Well this is what we're going to work with in order to beat the final boss... At this point I still don't understand why I picked Agumon so often and not Gabumon. A point that I will realize soon enough.

Spoiler:

- I entered Jijimon's house once more, to take a some sort of starting kit from Poyomon (Or Punimon, or Tokomon, I forgot), these items are great to keep as right now we still haven't have someone to open a shop in the city yet. Also, in the back of Jijimon's house there is Tanemon's Meat Farm where you can get three pieces of meats per day. For now, they're plenty. But we'll have to upgrade it later by recruiting a character to the city, as it won't be enough when Oz evolved into another Digimon.
- The rest of the day was spent by training ATK, DEF, and a little bit of Brains stat at the Green Gym. ATK and DEF are pretty much what they are (There isn't special and physical split, but everything is pooled here). While for Brains it's different than INT in most games, higher Brains stat add more commands that you can give to your Digimon including, focus on guarding and keeping distance with the enemy. Brains are also important because it lets you learn techniques easier. For now, I just let Oz get Brains stat enough to be ordered 'Keep Attacking' which is 100 Brains. ATK 150 and DEF 100 respectively, then sleep due to day already falls. And the day ends.

DAY 2
- Day 2 has arrived, and well... I decided to train Oz again so I can blitz through the Digimons I had to face later on, so after raising the ATK stat by 10 more... I set off on my journey to recruit some Digimon to the File City.
- When you moved one screen to the south you immediately had to fight an Agumon, this should be easy... But here I realized why I never picked Gabumon back then... His only move is Sonic Jab... Which is a bit rubbish due to its range compared with Agumon's ranged fire attack (Again, I forgot the name). I already regretted my decision, but ah well... I don't want to restart just because of this. Also, extra challenge I guess. After getting hit by few attacks here and there, Agumon is beaten and entered the City as open Item Keeping service which is great due to only 10 slots in the backpack. After entering a few items currently not needed for the journey, Herb continued his trip.

Spoiler:

- So, I re-familiarized myself with the terrains around while foraging Digi-mushrooms just in case I'm out of food later. Also, there was a Digimon that is essential to recruit which is why we continue to traverse through the native forest.
- The next Digimon to recruit was Palmon, and oddly...

Spoiler:

Yeah, Palmon was trying to disguise itself as a flower, didn't really work though. Battling Palmon though, most of its attack could inflict poison and soon enough, Oz was poisoned and its walk turned sluggish. It took a Blue Blaster which is Gabumon's final move (You need to battle for quite a while until its charged) to beat it, and thankfully this move is ranged. Palmon expanded Tanemon's Meat Farm and made it to produce 3 Giant Meat a day, an item that fills the Digimon's belly even better than Meat. However, I wasn't able to take my share for the day due to me already taking Tanemon's meat for the day. A move that I really regret doing later.

- Seeing how I struggle to fight Palmon, I decided to postpone the fight against the next Digimon which is Kunemon, since I remembered that It was even more powerful than Palmon.
- I turned my attention south to the Coela Point (Coela Beach in the map), where Coelamon is always swimming in the evening. There I was transported to Tropical Jungle

Spoiler:

- You actually can't access Tropical Jungle at first because the bridge connecting this place and Native Forest was broken but after the Coelamon transport, it is fixed.
- The area turns dark as it was going to be night, but I decided to check Oz's stat first. Evolution to Champion stage would happen in the third day and I believe my stat was enough to ensure Oz evolves into a good Digimon...

Spoiler:

Wait... ITS WEIGHT IS JUST THREE!? If you take a look at the first pic, Oz's weight was fifteen when it's started. With weight as one of the requirements needed to evolve I groaned at this sight, I don't even have a Big Meat to inflate his weight up... Oh boy...

Will Oz evolves into a great Digimon? Will Herb finally able to recruit the Digimon he aimed at the Tropical Jungle? Find out next post on The PokeCommunity Game-Along

Spoiler:

 

[Fleurdelis]

Update: gone through the first 10 missions of the GDI campaign (the "good" guys), spamming mechs everytime I could, although I had to restart a few times due to being too cocky even against the AI

note to self i cant defeat the enemy with only 5 walkers....... need at least 40 of the buggers

 

[Cherrim]

February Progress #1
Theme: Retro
Game: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Original Console: Gameboy Advance
Playing on: Emulator for Android

Since I am not showing up the next day having beaten my game of choice, I figured I'd make my update posts a lil fancier this month. So I stole some css I wrote for an older thread to repurpose for this. 8)

And the reason I'm not showing up immediately with a beaten game is that wow, I'm not good at this game!!! I think part of it is that I've chosen to do this on an emulator, since I'm not even sure where my copy of the game is or whether I have a console that could reliably play it anymore. Not having concrete buttons for a game that's very... particular about buttons... is kind of a detriment. But I'll just say it's on hard mode and power on through. Worst case I might swap to an emulator on my computer to play since at least keyboard buttons are... a little more tactile. We'll see how it goes. :thinkrim:

Anyway! Aside from being terrible at it, the game is fun so far. I'm really enjoying the spritework. It's not super detailed or anything, but it's bright and colourful and the animations are great. I'm glad I'm playing this version and not the pseudo-3D version of the remake. It looks fine but it just doesn't have the same... zest that this one does? There's something about sprite games from this and the DS era that just feels great as you play. I love it. So far I've gotten through the first few levels—Stardust Field, Hoohoo Mountain, and I'm heading out to Chucklehuck Forest now to get something to rescue the queen (and oof, definitely tried to type something else there).

I'm making pretty good progress, but I have a library book to finish before the end of the week so I'll probably prioritize that challenge more at the start of the month. And I'm still head-deep in Kingdom Hearts obsession so I'll definitely still be playing that series more than anything else for a while.

 

[Rynamite]

Super Mario World Progress
Super Nintendo Entertainment Simulator - Nintendo Switch Port
Release Date August 23, 1991

​

Hey guys it's Rynamite! Here to bring you an update on the adventures in a very retro game!

• I have completed 21 levels so far!
• I have defeated both Iggy from Castle 1 and Morton from Castle 2
• I have activated the Yellow, Red and Green Block switches to advance further.
• I have explored the secret pathway on Donut Plains, including the secret area behind Boo House 1
• I have also encountered Star Road already and completed half of it.
• Slowly working through Vanilla Dome, however I want to go both routes. (Castle 3 and the Fortress in the secret area)

Stayed tuned for more ;)

 

[Janp]

THE POKECOMMUNITY GAME-ALONG - Super Mario 64

PART 1

​

So I never played this game and well... never played any 3D Mario games. I'm write this while playing, so you'll get my very first impression. I know almost nothing about this game, so this will be fun blind run.

Start of the game is pretty quick. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this was too quick for my taste. Like at one moment I'm excited to eat cake with Princess Peach and then out of nowhere I have to save the kingdom.

So after getting used to controls and exploring the castle, I went inside the first level - Bob-omb Battlefield and... it hit me how beautiful this game is. The atmosphere is unbelievable. I was expecting more narrow design for the levels like in Crash Bandicoot, but I'm glad they look more like in Spyro series. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what is the deal with the pink bomb marks on the ground and some blocks, but as I learned few minutes later, they were there for another stars. I made it to the top of the mountain and spent too much time figuring out how to beat Big Bob-omb. I tried attacking it, jumping on it and then randomly grabbed it and beat it.

I returned to the level and was surprised to see Koopa, who challenged me to race, which I won pretty easily. With the next return, I figured out how levels and stars work in this game. I later learned there are 6 stars in each level and I decided to get all of them. I got another star for collecting 8 red coins and moved to other level.

Whomp's Fortress' first run was pretty easy. I quickly got to The Whomp King and beat him with easy. Returning to the level I got 2nd star exactly how star's name said. Just by getting up. I then tried to get the caged star, but couldn't jump inside, so I moved to the red coins star, but got interrupted when I discovered cannon ball and another star.

And that's all for now. I really enjoy the game so far and so far I'm determinated to finish it on 100%.

 

[Venonat in Space]

I...actually want to do this. Well the main point of this post is to wish everyone the best of luck with their challenge, but with my surviving N64 just sitting there in my room, I....might want to do this. I'm still very on the fence on whether I want to do this challenge or wait for next month's theme. I will think about it more. To the current challengers, good luck.

 

[Rynamite]

I...actually want to do this. Well the main point of this post is to wish everyone the best of luck with their challenge, but with my surviving N64 just sitting there in my room, I....might want to do this. I'm still very on the fence on whether I want to do this challenge or wait for next month's theme. I will think about it more. To the current challengers, good luck.

It's just...just sitting there? Oh the humanity! >:

Chespin of Light! It begs to be back in the spotlight, to be played in the modern era. If you did it this month at least you'll have a range of games to play :)

*I'll update here shortly about my progress.

PROGRESS CHECK

Hello everyone! Last time I talked on here related to the game I was playing I made a bit of progress. Well... I guess I forgot to save :D There is a saving mechanic after beating a castle (Ghost house I think), and a switch place. Since the last save was the red switch I had to redo a few levels ;; I haven't done the Yoshi Jump Sacrifice... Be proud -_- !

Anyway's here is the list between the last post and this one :)​

• 38 Levels Complete!
• Vanilla Dome Star Road now open :D
• Vanilla Dome both the normal path and secret path done!
• Defeated Lemmy at Castle 3
• Defeated Ludwig at Castle 4
• From World 3 to World 4 I have both the Cheese Bridge (Normal Route) completed and Butter Bridge (Secret Route)

 

[gimmepie]

The great Sebulba has reigned supreme, conquering every Amateur Circuit course in first place and is ready to move on to the Semi-Pros.

This puts me about 1/4 of the way through.

 

[Rynamite]

GAME COMPLETE

Statistics​

96/96 Levels Complete
Star Road Main Path - Complete
Special Star Road Course - Untouched
Final Castle - Both Entrances Unlocked
*** Due to the earlier then anticipated end time I will attempt to beat all 96 levels , which means, taking on one of the hardest levels in gaming history according to IGN. But make no mistake PC gamers. I BEAT IT >:D ***

*** EDIT 2: 30 Minutes later and I defeated and conquered all 96 levels >;) Including the extra hard star special levels! YAAAAAA!

Final Thoughts

This was an absolute "Retro" gem of a mainstream game. Some of the levels I hated as a kid and still do today. There were some frustrating moments let me tell you... Trying to clear Bowser Valley Fortress was a nightmare (Last level before rear door) I took almost 30 minutes to clear it losing about 20 lives because I couldn't nail the last leg of the level which was all time based spikes from the ceiling at an alarming rate and from the ground. I cheered loudly when I beat the boss at that Fortress. Beating Bowser was a one shot attempt surprisingly. The moment of satisfaction was getting the main ring of Star Road done as some of those levels were unique. Beating said level regularly was not a pass, you had to find the secret exit just like some of the Boo levels and multi-ending levels.​

PROOF - Pictures are a bit big sorry :x
(Thank you Screen, Credits Screen and then all levels complete screen​

Spoiler:

 

[gimmepie]

As of now, I have completed the semi-pro circuit and have moved on to whatever the next one is called. Truth be told though, I'm starting to have a lot of trouble on this round of courses compared to the earlier ones. My eyes are not nearly as good as they were last time I played and that in combination with Nintendo 64 graphics, high speeds and complicated, windy courses is making it really hard to keep track of where courses end and things like walls begin. Might end up having to switch games if I can't adjust enough to manage with the harder levels.

 

[Janp]

THE POKECOMMUNITY GAME-ALONG - Super Mario 64

PART 2

​

A small warning, this will be pretty chaotic update.

I found secret slide level and finished it pretty easily. I later found out there is another star in this level and I returned here and after another couple of tries got another star. Then a friend of mine tells me about another secret level that unlocks when I look up in the lobby. I did and got to another secret level, which also unlocked Wing Cap.

With it I returned to Bob-omb Battlefield and got all the remaining stars there. I then accidentally walked in new level - Cool, Cool Mountain, instead of Whomp's Fortress and completed another slide. Then I died a couple of times because of the ice and so I decided to go to the Whomp's Fortress and finish all the stars there.

Now I decided to give a try to the level behind Star door and beat Bowser on the very first try with only one throw. After that I noticed a Boo in the castle and followed it to more Boos and another secret level. I got one star there and totally did not get lost. Moving on I got another star form a rabbit in the basement and entered Lethal Lava Land. I got 3 stars there before losing too many lives and deciding to rather go to less hostile areas. I got to the Hazy Maze Cave and after getting lost there, finally got one star in the water area of the level. I returned there and found another secret level that gave me Metal Cap and a star. Then I went in the Shifting Sand Land and got a star from the top of the pyramid. Then once again went and lost couple of lives in this level, so I went looking for more levels and discovered another secret level that gave me Vanish Cap. Finally, I discovered level that I skipped - Jolly Roger Bay and got all 6 stars in it.

Now I'll go to the another star room.

 

[Fleurdelis]

Tiberian Sun GDI campaign done, Titanspamming for the absolute victory.

now onto the fun campaign, artyspam simulator

 

[pkmin3033]

Not been feeling great over the last few days so I've not had time to post any updates on progress...but now I don't need to post updates, because I'm done. xD

I...did not enjoy this. I'll probably get lynched for saying it, but Secret of Mana has not aged well. The party AI is absolutely atrocious and it sucks all the fun right out of the game when you have to effectively traverse the same ground three times over with each character to get them to go anywhere - and boy, do they LOVE getting stuck in corners and fighting every enemy they see regardless of what I set their tactics to - and magic is just...ridiculously, obscenely broken. After I got magic I literally killed every boss in 4 or 5 hits with spells alone...except for the final boss, which I killed in 11 hits within about 2 minutes. Mhm. It's a very pretty game and I have definitely played worse, but considering teleporting AI was a thing back then in other games, I'm not willing to overlook this as just a sign of the times...I mean, imagine how awful Sonic 2 would have been if you'd had to wait for Tails to get to where you are with every screen.

Glad to put this one behind me.

 

[Lumina]

Due to unforseen computer issues I'm going to need to give up on Half-Life and do something else, so I'll be switching to the PS4 port of FF7. I wanted to get another run in before the remake comes out anyways.

 

[gimmepie]

Well, it wasn't a clean sweep - it definitely was not that - but I have now completed Star Wars: Ep 1 Racer.

Those last few courses are madness and my eyes and brain ache from winding around at ludicrous speeds in crappy n64 graphics but I had a lot of fun breaking out the old n64 and playing one of my childhood favourites.

Long live Sebulba. Never again.

 

[Lumina]

Aaaand that's FF7 cleared, my second completion ever. Now I am truly ready for the remake. I didn't expect it to go so quick but things just ended up going more smoothly than I thought.