Fruitcake MIDI Forum Treasury

[Dr Fruitcake]

[Damian]

[noenvy]

WHY DO YOU DESTROY OUR DREAMS, LUCCA??
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All your vegthro are belong to me! XB

[Ricky]

[JK9000]

[Banjo-Fella]

I find that Pokémon's a lot more fun if you have a group of friends who are currently playing it as well. I like playing the game on my own, but it's much more motivating when you can help somebody find a Pokémonstrosity they would like to have in their team. 2-vs-2 co-op battles can also be really good fun, and you can employ all sorts of different, interesting strategies for them.

Also,

[King Bowser Koopa]

So, uh.. my friend has left me in the care of her 360 for an indefinite period of time, mostly so I can finally, FINALLY play Symphony of the Night and fill the missing gap in the Castlevania series.. or at least, the missing gap in the *good* games in the series. Having played through both character modes and finishing all the achievements and everything, I can see how it was groundbreaking and awesome and all, but I think the follow-up games on GBA and DS have all but surpassed it since then.

But that's not the important thing I wanted to say.
I was looking through a secondhand game sale yesterday and I actually bought Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts.
I can see the effort put into the game. Yes, it's graphically breathtaking despite the odd art style choice, the soundtrack rules, most of the old characters sound the same as they used to, and it is fun.. but I'm still undecided.
It's like it's simultaneously paying nostalgic tribute to my childhood while beating it with a rusty pipe. It's not the Banjo I loved, everything feels too open and wide. I want little cramped tunnel mazes and doors to bust down where I can find Jiggies painstakingly stashed away. The whole "every task in the game is some kind of race" gets a little grating after a while, and because the areas are so huge and characters are seen so small on the map, their personalities seem somewhat diminished. I could be careening madly around town and suddenly be like "oh, I just ran over Mumbo. Didn't see him there in the crowd." The child in me screams "You incompetent FOOL, you just mowed down THE MUMBO JUMBO!", but this giant open space of a world makes him more ant-like, like he's tiny and expendable and barely stands out. If any of that makes sense.

I shall play the game for a long time yet, but I'm hoping Rare brings it back to the classic formula for the next game.
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[Damian]

[noenvy]

[Izzhov]

[xdrummer]

[c0j1r0]

I went to most of those events.
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c0j1r0:The return of Pi the bunny

[Izzhov]

My condolences.
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BRAND NEW FCMidi Forums!

[xdrummer]

I just downloaded "THe Camera Eye" for Rock Band 2.

It amazing.

And don't speak Damian, we know you don't care

[King Bowser Koopa]

PUMPKIN WHAT!?

So last night I downloaded the 360's Live Arcade port of Banjo-Kazooie as the lure of Stop N Swop's implementation in Tooie this April was too much to bear. Bear. See what I did there?
Anyway, I've been playing through for roughly 8 hours, I've collected everything in the game up until Click Clock Wood, and decided to skip ahead and complete Grunty's Furnace Fun. Along the way I've noticed some minor changes, both good and bad;
1. Notes collected stay collected. If you die or leave the world at 99 notes, you don't have to get them all over again.
2. The talking head icons are now much larger, and in some cases, remodeled for 720p. This.. works sometimes, but a lot of characters look scary now, particularly Mumbo. The B-K heads next to your health bar are now 3D models instead of prerendered sprites, and they don't quite look as nice as before.
3. The speech text is now between 15-20 points larger than before, and it actually feels quite intrusive when a character has a lot to say. The font has also changed, and doesn't look quite as neat as before.
4. Some of the musical synths have been replaced, making some music tracks very slightly different. The worst conversion was Mad Monster Mansion, with horribly off-key segments in all areas of the level.
5. There are some added and changed dialogue sequences revolving around the Stop N Swop items, instead of puzzling over what they are or what they're used for, they now hint at the Nuts & Bolts connectivity. My favourite line was said while collecting the Gobi's Valley egg, where Banjo says "I hope this isn't some cruel joke and we can actually use it this time!"

Anyway, all this is relatively minor to the overall experience until I beat Grunty's gameshow and get the credit roll.
I sat through, watching the characters go by, everything was fine. A couple of added lines about the "new, shinier version" since it's an enhanced port here and there, but then I reached the end. They started over from the beginning, and after waiting a while longer, I realized it was an endless loop. Upon pushing a button, the credits ended, and I find myself back at the File Select screen.
Lolwut, they've removed the barbecue scene with the fake ending. No returning home, no Roysten on the barbecue, no Tooty kicking your ass for celebrating early.
I cannot fathom any plausible reason they would remove it from the game, and it was one of my favourite scenes. I'm now wondering if they'll keep the Mumbo picture show when I get those last 11 Jiggies.

I have come to the conclusion that, Stop N Swop aside, the N64 version of the game is ultimately the better one.

EDIT:
I hate to whine and moan and bitch,
but I was hit by a horrid glitch.
They changed the way the notes were done -
and caused a fault that wrecks your fun.
Remember Bottles' puzzle game?
It no longer works the same.
The Puzzle Banjo there on the wall,
Is not just a video, not at all.
If in the puzzle, some notes he grabs,
then in that level you'll not find drabs.
Due to the way the notes are saved,
the note-thief bear has you depraved.
I did the puzzles before Click Clock Wood,
and then the glitch, it got me good.
In Zubbas' nest, four notes are there -
but when I went the place was bare.
I had to start my file again,
Because four notes caused me such pain.
They said this was fixed with a patch,
but it seems I got a faulty batch.
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[timelyminuet]

I'm playing Chrono Trigger and Resident Evil 5. Don't have a whole lot else to do while recovering from surgery.
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http://theworldends.deviantart.com

We do what we must because we can
for the good of all of us except for the ones who are dead.

[King Bowser Koopa]

I have mixed feelings about RE5.
It seems painfully short compared to the last game, and I don't like the save system or the lack of a merchant at all. Buying stuff between missions seems so disjointed.
Chris: Hooray, we beat that gigantic boss creature! These caverns are almost complete, there's the door to the next area!
But... hold on, I just gotta navigate back to the entrance, trek across the savannah to the chopper and fly to the nearest supply depot - I wanna buy some first aid spray. Wait right here Sheva, I'll be right back.
I cannot fathom why they went back to the horrible old item slot inventory as well, the attache case in RE4 was brilliantly executed and was actually fun enough to be a game in its own right.

That said, the storyline is nice and seems to be a lot more character progress intensive than the previous games.
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[Sammich Ultima]

I played Banjo Kazooie not long ago, all the way through. I had forgotten how good at was. Maybe I mentioned this earlier in the thread though. I want to play Banjo Tooie but all the copies posted on eBay are balls expensive for a game so old (most asking at least £25 for fully boxed versions -- wut?) Emulation is a no-no for me when it comes to N64, sadly.

I had been playing F-Zero, F-Zero X and F-Zero GX. Been messing around with some fan-made SNES F-Zero courses there's an editor for those now. So good!

However most recently I've been playing Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for the first time. I beat Oracle of Ages and almost beat Oracle of Seasons (both un-linked games.) I'm ashamed for having ignored them for the last 8 or so years, they're great. When I'm done with both, I'm torn on whether I should start linked games of both, or play a new game of Link's Awakening DX (which I haven't played in about 4 and a half years.)

[timelyminuet]

King Bowser Koopa, did you play RE5 solo or co-op? My main gripe with the game is how utterly USELESS Sheva is in single player. She'll routinely stand behind me firing at Chris' head(in an attempt to shoot the enemies) as I'm being swarmed by five or six people at once. Also, she often grabs ammunition for weapons that I'm completely out of, forcing me to sometimes switch equipment in the middle of a fight...

I don't have a Gold subscription at the moment, so I don't have the benefit of playing the game with someone possessing actual intelligence.
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http://theworldends.deviantart.com

We do what we must because we can
for the good of all of us except for the ones who are dead.

[LynkStar]

NEW THING

I bought a PS2 on Saturday.
I'd had one before, so I still had some games and controllers and such, but I got some new games as well.
Also, it's the nice new slim one.

I've been playing the following since then;
Soulcalibur II
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Gran Turisimo 4

All of the above are good.
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:3

[Dr Fruitcake]

This past weekend, I was bored and Steam was having a sale on indie games, so on a whim I bought Mr. Robot.

What's interesting is that it's basically two distinct games in one. It is first and foremost a 3-D isometric platformer, but now and again you'll get whisked away into a 2-D "virtual" world wherein the main character & co. engage in turn-based RPG battles. In the RPG segments, your characters level up and acquire equipment/items that have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the platforming segments. As you'd imagine, the transitions between the two feel very abrupt, but I'm finding it enjoyable because I happen to be a big fan of both genres.

Also, robots.

That inflict death.

And are occasionally giant.
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""

[Cowboy Dan]

I like the giant robots too, Doctor Fruitcake.

You should buy these games http://www.amazon.com/Top-Giant-Robot-games-time/lm/IHRGYU1L8H6A

[kaoskastle]

Still trying to finish off Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. It's so stupid, man.
Expert kart race sucks.
Getting an A on Knuckles and Rouge's 1st, 4th, and 5th missions sucks.
Taking a billion years to raise a radical Chao to beat Hard and Expert in Chao Karate sucks.
10 more emblems to go...

ALSO THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SPIRIT TRACKS COMES OUT THIS YEAR YESSSSSSS

[Snoop Dogg]

now usually i don like video games but i played grand theft auto an i like it grand theft auto reminds me of the fun i had growin up in da hood i never got my hans on no roket launchers tho an the cops neva gave up lookin for da dogg when i jacked dat caddy
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“We want people who hate to lose, like myself. Now marinate on that.”

[noenvy]

Oh look. Yet ANOTHER joke account. At least this isn't getting old.

I need to make a video game with all the joke account characters.
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All your vegthro are belong to me! XB