With Puggsy completed, I was reminded of The Legend of Galahad on the Mega Drive. The main character actually appears as a statue in Puggsy, and I think both games, and Wiz ‘n’ Liz, were developed around the same time by pretty much the same team. Oddly, the game is only known as The Legend of Galahad on the box, bearing the shorter title of “Galahad” in-game. It’s also the same game, bar some minor differences, as the Amiga title Leander.
It’s also an annoying platformer filled with too many unexpected deaths. You can’t look up or down, so many leaps are into the unknown. Some pits are spike-filled, but others are not. Baddies respawn, some after a few minutes and some almost instantly. Some spikes that spring up from the ground can be destroyed, some cannot. And there’s know way of knowing any of these things without trial and error!
Thankfully, it’s actually quite enjoyable despite the frequent deaths, and lives and energy are plentiful so although it’s a challenge, it’s not too difficult. Money, to improve your armour and weapons, is incredibly easy to come by and once I’d found the first shop in the game I’d more than enough for the best sword already – making most of the baddies simple one hit kills. With the rest of my money spent on bombs (which make you immune for a few seconds in addition to causing massive damage) even bosses were a walkover.
Except the final boss, where your ability to use bombs is removed! I had 40+ bombs to use up on him and couldn’t activate any! In the end it didn’t matter as although I died five times to him, the damage you’ve inflicted carries over when you die, so it was a simple case of just having enough lives to sustain myself while I chipped away at his energy, which didn’t take long.
The Legend of Galahad was never a “top tier” title at the time, and it’s not surprising it has probably been forgotten by most people now. It has problems, but it’s not a bad game. Has it aged? A little, yes. More so than Puggsy, certainly.
This week, Nintendo launched Miitomo. It’s not a game (although there’s a barely-game game included), and that has taken up a lot of my time. Aside from that, HYRULE WARRIORS, anyone?
Play
HYRULE WARRIORS LEGENDS (3DS)
I’ve completed Legend Mode (which is essentially story mode), and have moved on to Adventure Mode. Completing Legend Mode also unlocked Cia’s “story” in that mode too, so I’ve also played that a bit.
Lego Lord of the Rings (360)
The only reason I have this on the Xbox 360 is because it was very cheap a few months ago. I’ve been playing it with my daughter, and it’s OK, but not one of the best Lego games. The swamp level in particular can do one. We’re part way into the final book/film so there’s not a lot left. It would help if it didn’t keep crashing and/or trapping characters as we’re having to redo levels a lot.
Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival (Wii U)
We discovered that when you’ve earned enough points in the game, you can unlock other games! One of these is a sort of cross between that board game Escape from Atlantis and Survival Kids. There’s actually a lot more to Amiibo Festival than it would appear, not that we can actually buy the Amiibo cards anywhere to use with it.
Puggsy (Mega CD)Completed this. It was excellent. The puzzles and the music are wonderful and it hasn’t aged a bit. Well, aside from the terribly grainy FMV.
Time Gal (Mega CD)
Speaking of terribly grainy FMV, I played and completed Time Gal. It was neither a game nor a film and was pretty crap. At least it was short.
The Legend of Galahad (Mega Drive)
Known as Leander on other platforms, this was one of my favourite Mega Drive games. It’s not as good as I recall, but hasn’t aged too badly. I completed it too.
Want
Same as it ever was: Firewatch, No Man’s Sky, Lego Marvel Avengers (all PS4).
Bin
Nothing this week.
Expense
You Have to Win the Game (PC) was free on Steam. That’s all though.
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Let’s look at the list of L lettered leisure lovelies, and lesser (likely lacking) litter.
L
A game I remember that was universally panned at the time, was the western version of a Fist of the North Star game, called Last Battle over here. In many ways it was a lot like Altered Beast, with side scrolling punching and kicking, and shirt-ripping power-ups. You don’t turn into an animal though, and it’s a bigger and more involving game, but it’s still pants.
Film tie-ins to cross off the list include Last Action Hero, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and The Lawnmower Man. Mainly because they are film tie-ins, but also because they’re crap. Especially The Lawnmower Man.
The award for Most Boring Game Title goes to “Lakers Versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs” which, sadly, is just a limited scope basketball game and not a graphic adventure game similar to that Indiana Jones one.
LHX Attack Chopper was never going to work well, as it’s a helicopter simulation game on a pretty underpowered-for-polygons console that also lacks enough buttons. The PC version needed half a keyboard, and EA thought three fire buttons was enough? That wasn’t quite sufficient for Desert Strike and that wasn’t a simulation!
Also off the short list are: The Legend of Galahad, (a competent platformer but hasn’t aged that well, as I found when I played it recently), The Lion King (16bit Disney platformer, so BZZZZT). Lemmings 2 (too fiddly with a controller and not as good as the original) and both Lethal Enforcers games (the graphics are too grainy).
That’s what’s not. But what’s not not?
The Lost Vikings is a platform puzzle game with a bit of a cult following. Each of your three vikings has a different skill, such as being able to jump, or fire arrows, and each level is based around using these skills to progress. It’s humourous and clever, although I never managed to find the solution to a late-game puzzle so it remains uncompleted!
Lemmings is, of course, Lemmings. Ported to every system under the sun, the Mega Drive version doesn’t differ much from other ports, although it does have a load of extra levels thanks to SunSoft who ported it. Unlike the sequel, using a controller rather than a mouse works just fine, and two player mode is incredible.
Light Crusader by Treasure, who are seemingly unable to do any wrong, is a Zelda-ish action role-playing game played out in isometric, just like Head Over Heels on the Speccy. Switch and laser puzzles mixed with NPC conversations and swording bad guys make it certainly unusual, if a little tricky to control with the isometric viewpoint.
And the Alphabest?
Thankfully, L threw up a generally better standard of game than some other recent letters, but the clear winner is Lemmings. Oft copied, and with many versions through the years, the original is still the best almost regardless of platform. Even the Game Boy version is excellent. Good as The Lost Vikings and Light Crusader are, Lemmings was a revelation at the time – a genuinely new genre of game and still the best example of that genre.
Next time: M.
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Pingback: Alphabest: Mega Drive – L - deKay's Blog
In 2016, I completed a whopping 110 games. My previous record, because of course I’ve been keeping count, was 84 in 2015. You’d think with a number like that, I’d finally be on top of my backlog, right? Ahahahahano.
I didn’t anticipate completing that many. Like in previous years, I did strive to finish the RetroCollect 52 Game Challenge (which I managed before the end of June) and then expanded that to 104 games just for a laugh (and I sorted that by mid-December), but of course I had to go and beat that too, didn’t I?
There may be some arguments over what constitutes a “game”, and what counts as “completed”. There’s no hard and fast rule, whatever feels right for a title, usually. However, normally a game is “something you play” and “completed” is “reached the final goal”, “got all the achievements” or “watched the end credits” as appropriate.
DLC and addons are usually classed as separate games even if technically they’re not – like Life is Strange episodes, or the Lego Dimensions level packs.
Anyway, here’s the full list of 110:
Fallout 4(PS4 15/01/2016)
Batman Returns(Lynx 24/01/2016)
Grim Fandango Remastered(PS4/Vita 30/01/2016)
Thomas Was Alone: Benjamin’s Flight(Vita 30/01/2016)
Hatoful Boyfriend(Vita 31/01/2016)
Nova-111(PS4 15/02/2016)
Bayonetta(Wii U 15/02/2016)
Sonic the Hedgehog(MS 28/02/2016)
Street Fighter Alpha(GBC 28/02/2016)
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush(Wii U 05/03/2016)
Disney Infinity 3.0(PS4 06/03/2016)
ToeJam and Earl(MD 10/03/2016)
Midnight Resistance(MD 12/03/2016)
Mega-lo-Mania(MD 12/03/2016)
Castle of Illusion(MS 12/03/2016)
Midnight Resistance(Spec 15/03/2016)
Land of Illusion(MS 16/03/2016)
Midnight Resistance(C64 17/03/2016)
Strider(MD 17/03/2016)
Legend of Illusion(MS 19/03/2016)
Batman(MD 19/03/2016)
Castlevania: The New Generation(MD 20/03/2016)
Hyrule Warriors Legends(3DS 28/03/2016)
Puggsy(MCD 02/04/2016)
Time Gal(MCD 02/04/2016)
The Legend of Galahad(MD 03/04/2016)
Lego Lord of the Rings(360 04/04/2016)
Broforce(PS4 05/04/2016)
My Nintendo Picross – The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess(3DS 09/04/2016)
Psycho Fox(MS 10/04/2016)
The Witness(PS4 24/04/2016)
Firewatch(PS4 27/04/2016)
The Beginner’s Guide(Mac 01/05/2016)
Freedom Planet(Wii U 02/05/2016)
Affordable Space Adventures(Wii U 06/05/2016)
Hudson Hawk(GB 07/05/2016)
Streets of Rage 3(MD 07/05/2016)
Sonic 3 & Knuckles(MD 08/05/2016)
LocoRoco Cocoreccho(PS3 13/05/2016)
Magical Flying Hat Turbo Adventure(MD 14/05/2016)
Rainbow Islands(MS 14/05/2016)
Gauntlet 4(MD 18/05/2016)
Star Fox Guard(Wii U 22/05/2016)
Emily is Away(Mac 22/05/2016)
Quiet, Please!(Wii U 26/05/2016)
Quiet Christmas(Wii U 28/05/2016)
Vacation Vexation(Wii U 28/05/2016)
Candy, Please!(Wii U 29/05/2016)
Star Fox Zero(Wii U 03/06/2016)
Teddy Boy(MS 04/06/2016)
James Pond II: Codename Robocod(MD 04/06/2016)
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars(MS 04/06/2016)
Asterix(MS 11/06/2016)
The Lucky Dime Caper(MS 12/06/2016)
Assassin’s Creed Unity(PS4 13/06/2016)
Kirby: Planet Robobot(3DS 21/06/2016)
The Temple of No(Mac 28/06/2016)
Battlefield 4(PS4 29/06/2016)
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse(3DS 02/07/2016)
There’s Poop In My Soup(Mac 02/07/2016)
Gunpoint(Mac 29/07/2016)
Missing: An Interactive Thriller – Episode One(Mac 30/07/2016)
McPixel(Mac 03/08/2016)
Beware Planet Earth(PC 15/08/2016)
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE(Wii U 16/08/2016)
Sakura Spirit(Mac 17/08/2016)
StreetPass Trader(3DS 15/09/2016)
StreetPass Slot Racer(3DS 16/09/2016)
Running Battle(MS 18/09/2016)
Ranma 1/2(SNES 18/09/2016)
StreetPass Explorers(3DS 19/09/2016)
StreetPass Ninja(3DS 21/09/2016)
No Man’s Sky(PS4 10/10/2016)
StreetPass Chef(3DS 11/10/2016)
Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~(3DS 16/10/2016)
Catherine(PS3 17/10/2016)
Pokémon Y(3DS 25/10/2016)
Year Walk(Wii U 28/10/2016)
Gargoyle’s Quest(3DS 30/10/2016)
Actual Sunlight(Vita 02/11/2016)
3D Fantasy Zone(3DS 05/11/2016)
3D Puyo Puyo 2(3DS 06/11/2016)
3D Thunderblade(3DS 06/11/2016)
3D Altered Beast(3DS 06/11/2016)
One Night Stand(Mac 11/11/2016)
3D Power Drift(3DS 12/11/2016)
3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa(3DS 12/11/2016)
3D Galaxy Force II(3DS 13/11/2016)
PaRappa the Rapper 2(PS4 13/11/2016)
Virginia(PS4 15/11/2016)
3D Maze Walker(3DS 17/11/2016)
3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa (MS Ver.)(3DS 17/11/2016)
3D Sonic the Hedgehog(3DS 19/11/2016)
Lego Marvel Avengers(PS4 21/11/2016)
Retro City Rampage DX(3DS 21/11/2016)
Apartment 666(Mac 26/11/2016)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter(PS4 26/11/2016)
Super Fantasy Zone(MD 26/11/2016)
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure(NGPC 27/11/2016)
SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium(NGPC 27/11/2016)
Sonic Triple Trouble(3DS 07/12/2016)
Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey Remastered(PS4 10/12/2016)
Sonic Blast(3DS 11/12/2016)
Lego Dimensions(PS4 15/12/2016)
Box Box Boy!(3DS 23/12/2016)
Ultratron(Wii U 24/12/2016)
Lego Dimensions: Back to the Future(PS4 26/12/2016)
Lego Dimensions: Adventure Time(PS4 28/12/2016)
Lego Dimensions: The Simpsons(PS4 30/12/2016)
Lego Dimensions: Midway Arcade(PS4 31/12/2016)
Now, will I repeat that in 2017? I doubt it. I’m not even going to try.
Oh, and I’ll write some more about some of my favourites in another post another time!
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