Recent Posts

21

Gaming / Re: "10 Games To Get To Know Me..."

« Last post by mechaskrom on March 17, 2026, 11:03:38 pm »

A friend of mine gave this to me back in the 1990s, when we were in highschool, and showed me the basics of how this game works. The graphics and sound are pathetic for an SNES game, and while the story is okay there isn't anything too special about it.

What really sold us was all the stuff you can do outside of storyline progress. You can just forget about your mission and screw around for years of in-game time. I wanted to explore all of Japan and find the towns that you have no real reason to go to. My friend liked recruiting all the generic characters just to sell their stuff and kick them out of the party. We both liked tracking down the characters that are hostile towards the hero, so we could challenge them to a duel and beat the CRAP out of them. Later on in the game I found out you could take spying and sabotage missions, and even help out in wars between provinces. I tried to turn the entire mini-map of Japan yellow (for Tokugawa Ieyatsu) but only conquered half of it before my generals were stretched too thin.

That was a nice story about how even bad games can entertain and influence you. 

If I had made a list of games that influenced me, it would probably only have been a bunch of NES games. One I could think of right now is Swords and Serpents, a not so great NES game. Borrowed it from a friend at school, he hated it, but I really liked it despite its many flaws. Just this thing about exploring a big mysterious dungeon, building characters and having to draw maps by hand. So it's a game that strongly contributed to my interest in RPGs and game maps today.

22

Maps Of The Month / Re: 2026/03: Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima (J) (Super NES) - Guard Master

« Last post by Guard Master on March 15, 2026, 04:14:44 am »

Absolutely marvelous these maps made it to the Maps of the Month hall of fame so quickly! Quite unfortunate the game never got much recognition despite using a similar engine. I certainly didn't know its existence until recently! Hopefully these maps can help draw a little more attention to the game considering the graphics are quite attractive for a SFC game especially to those who played LoZ back in the day.

23

Maps In Progress / Re: The Pirates of Dark Water(Genesis)

« Last post by Cyartog959 on March 15, 2026, 02:17:45 am »

Greetings!
For many years, I've been hoping someone would make a map for The Pirates of Dark Water on Genesis, and now I have decided to complete it myself.
I have only just learned the basic ripping techniques and begun to experiment with it, so progress may be very slow(just finished the first jungle level). And I still trying to find a more efficient way to complete this.

Good for you to map that game based on that mostly forgotten original Hanna-Barbera TV show! I briefly had thoughts on who would do it, but, now, I already know. Take your time to finish. I have confidence in you.

Just to say, as a small heads-up, I feel quite disappointed after reading that David Kirschner's TV series didn't get its proper conclusion that should've ended with Ren finally obtaining all Thirteen Tresures of Rule, extinguish Mer's long-time oceanic threat, the Dark Water, defeating and ending the Dark Dweller and the evil pirate lord, Bloth, in the formerly thought of final battle, and saving the world once and for all.

I mean, for the fans, they never got to see the actual conclusion because of budget cost underestimations(the half-hours were costly priced at $500,000 then, and the cel frames' amount for them was 12,000 each were twice as much as a Saturday morning show at the time), quality decline and channel moving that struck a nasty blow to its run, and left with only eight of the Thirteen Treasures collected.

If anything, I still hope one of these days, the show will finally get the conclusion it should have had all those years ago. It may take a miracle, even.

24

Maps In Progress / The Pirates of Dark Water(Genesis)

« Last post by JonasReisner on March 15, 2026, 01:21:27 am »

Greetings!
For many years, I've been hoping someone would make a map for The Pirates of Dark Water on Genesis, and now I have decided to complete it myself.
I have only just learned the basic ripping techniques and begun to experiment with it, so progress may be very slow(just finished the first jungle level). And I still trying to find a more efficient way to complete this.

Progress:

JUNGLE-1 80% need remake
JUNGLE-2 80% need remake
PORT-1 100%
PORT-2 50%
PORT-3 50%
KONK BOSS 100%
CITADEL-1 100%
CITADEL-2 100%
CITADEL-3 100%
CITADEL-4 100%
CITADEL-5 50%
CITADEL-6 100%
CITADEL-7 30%
CITADEL-8 100%
CITADEL-9 100%
CITADEL-10 100%
CITADEL-11 100%
CITADEL-12 100%

MAELSTROM-LOWER-3-100%

others not started

3/30/2026: playing Diablo III Season 38

25

Gaming / Re: "10 Games To Get To Know Me..."

« Last post by dark_lord_zagato on March 14, 2026, 05:44:27 pm »

Zagato, why did you pick Inindo: Way of the Ninja? I haven't played it, but it has really mixed reviews online and doesn't seem very good. Plus, it's made by Koei. 

Is it worth playing anyway?

No, it's really not. This falls under the category of bad games that we like for personal reasons.

A friend of mine gave this to me back in the 1990s, when we were in highschool, and showed me the basics of how this game works. The graphics and sound are pathetic for an SNES game, and while the story is okay there isn't anything too special about it.

What really sold us was all the stuff you can do outside of storyline progress. You can just forget about your mission and screw around for years of in-game time. I wanted to explore all of Japan and find the towns that you have no real reason to go to. My friend liked recruiting all the generic characters just to sell their stuff and kick them out of the party. We both liked tracking down the characters that are hostile towards the hero, so we could challenge them to a duel and beat the CRAP out of them. Later on in the game I found out you could take spying and sabotage missions, and even help out in wars between provinces. I tried to turn the entire mini-map of Japan yellow (for Tokugawa Ieyatsu) but only conquered half of it before my generals were stretched too thin.

So that was pretty fun, but I always wished I could have a world map of this game to make it easier to navigate. VGmaps came along some time later, and then after waiting silently for a few years I finally realized that if I ever wanted these maps I would just have to make them myself.

You know what that means. Inindo is the game that got me into mapping in the first place. If this is a list of games that had a big influence on us then Inindo really should be on my list.

26

Maps Of The Month / A Word about the Game's Nod from The Chaotix Casefiles...

« Last post by Cyartog959 on March 14, 2026, 04:32:01 pm »

Apologies for bringing this back after inactivity, but, I really want to say this game got a good mention from Sonic's recent audio show, "The Chaotix Casefiles", the first episode.

Before leaving Angel Island, Vector the Crocodile tried to plea to Knuckles for help on their latest investigation by bringing up a rather distant memory he actually remembered.

That distant memory was the final battle against Dr. Robotnik(yes, still alternatively called Eggman) and Metal Sonic's form, powered by a captured Giant Ring that he turned into a crystallized Dark Battery Ring, Metal Sonic Kai, which he piloted from the inside, and how they were victorious against him in the central structural depths of the Newtrogic High Zone, his main base that was another attempt to conquer the world and build his own park, Robotnikland(or Eggmanland), stationed on the island they were all in, right after Knuckles and his then-newly founded allies got all the Chaos Rings.

Surely, with utilization of Sling Rings(clever name, though; not from me), the ring tethers used throughout the game, that gave them the upper hand to Robotnik's plans.

My heart felt a little down for Vector, though. Even as Angel Island's guardian, you think Knuckles could've been a bit more on-par with his memory when Vector brought the end of their first adventure up to him. I mean, he was involved.

I know, the game wasn't quite well-received because that Sling Ring gameplay mechanic dragged the game on a bit too long, among other reasons, but bear in mind that game was kinda rushed for its launch in 1995, and SEGA tried to get a Sonic game into the 32X before the Saturn became the focus at the time. The least we can do is appreciate their efforts.

I would be elated to think and see the game get a second chance by having it redone under the Retro Engine, with proper care, that is, and be given a more finely thorough polished work effort to it and loads of tiny cosmetics that were missed before the original launch day, especially having the Good Ending fleshed out quite more, to give it good closure to the game's story with the Chaos Rings.

If you haven't listened to that, give it a go.

27

Gaming / Re: "10 Games To Get To Know Me..."

« Last post by mechaskrom on March 14, 2026, 09:52:39 am »

Zagato, why did you pick Inindo: Way of the Ninja? I haven't played it, but it has really mixed reviews online and doesn't seem very good. Plus, it's made by Koei. 

Is it worth playing anyway?

28

Gaming / Re: It's MAR10 today. So what Mario game are you playing or replaying?

« Last post by mechaskrom on March 14, 2026, 09:42:45 am »

I played a few stages in Super Mario World. Happy MAR10 day!

29

Gaming / Re: It's MAR10 today. So what Mario game are you playing or replaying?

« Last post by Cyartog959 on March 10, 2026, 09:36:53 pm »

I'm maybe the only one here who recognizes this day enough to post about it...

I made this collage a few weeks back, with Japanese box art on the top and North American box art on the bottom.  The Japanese like to show the world and a bunch of other characters - the North American ones just seem to show Mario jumping.



But, hey, at least with the Game Boy, they kept the "crowded" box art:



I'm pretty busy currently with a few projects at once right now, including one with a deadline, and haven't been playing my usually-consistent 1½ hours of daily gaming while on the treadmill for almost two weeks (because I just had an operation and can't do anything strenuous), and felt guilty about playing games if I'm not on the treadmill especially as I have other things to do, but I did pick up Mario Tennis Fever on the Switch 2, so maybe I'll squeeze in a few minutes of it today somewhere just to say that I did.

Anyone playing anything with Mario in it today?

As much as I enjoyed the many Mario games before, I'm still not feeling the satisfaction of any game giving more challenge; more longer courses, more original bosses, maybe occasionally a new main villain that isn't Bowser, like how it was with a lot of his adventures.

All the increased memory and CPU Nintendo held for their computers and companies, and yet, the present minds there that made the games could at least spare extra effort to keep on challenging us; but not by shorter, tougher courses, rather the longer courses while still retaining their challenge level. Their minds need to be more open-minded to listening to others, especially their fans.

My thirst for long, challenging stages/courses could never be satisfied. Not to mention those that test our basic know-how of platform gaming for it, including using our minds to solve puzzles.

Sorry you went through an operation. Many prayers for your healing, Jon, and for your recovery!

Also, happy Mar10 Day, Jon! Hope you get well soon! Thought and prayers are all with you!

And, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is one of my recent favorites. Really great to play!

30

Gaming / Re: It's MAR10 today. So what Mario game are you playing or replaying?

« Last post by JonLeung on March 10, 2026, 08:52:58 am »

I'm maybe the only one here who recognizes this day enough to post about it...

I made this collage a few weeks back, with Japanese box art on the top and North American box art on the bottom.  The Japanese like to show the world and a bunch of other characters - the North American ones just seem to show Mario jumping.



But, hey, at least with the Game Boy, they kept the "crowded" box art:



I'm pretty busy currently with a few projects at once right now, including one with a deadline, and haven't been playing my usually-consistent 1½ hours of daily gaming while on the treadmill for almost two weeks (because I just had an operation and can't do anything strenuous), and felt guilty about playing games if I'm not on the treadmill especially as I have other things to do, but I did pick up Mario Tennis Fever on the Switch 2, so maybe I'll squeeze in a few minutes of it today somewhere just to say that I did.

Anyone playing anything with Mario in it today?