Messages

1

Map Requests / Capcom's Aladdin GBA Not Up?

« on: September 12, 2025, 11:20:33 pm »

I couldn't help but notice that there's a GBA port of Disney's Aladdin not present in the Atlas.

I already saw the maps from Capcom's take on Disney's Aladdin game on SNES, but did anyone here not notice that the game got a GBA port? I did.

What I saw from a few longplay Youtube videos online, that game's GBA port is mostly the same, but there's numerous changes, such as having one additional area in each stage, and all the 70 red gems relocated to accommodate them, barring the "Whole New World" carpet ride stage labelled as a bonus stage, which I kinda feel is not one at all, the extra actual bonus stages, like one where you land the Genie's face during the "Break Time" bonus game that gives you a chance to gain more goods, but ends shortly if you take a dead end with an extra life in it, replacing the password system with an actual game save, and the removal of Alan Menken's songs, "Friend Like Me" and "A Whole New World", replaced by all-different original themes, due to additional costs from that movie composer, I'm guessing. They're rather neat to listen, though. One upside, you don't have to turn off the handheld to replay it all over again after seeing the credits and being stuck there until then.

Overall, the adventure to thwart Jafar's Agrabah conquest still remains the same.

The additional areas in each stage does address a few complaints about the game being quite too short, in my perspective, and the additional changes do make the game a bit more enjoyable.

If any mapper's interested, the port's maps are needed to be seen.

2

Gaming / Re: Silksong's Launch is Nigh! Excited?

« on: September 09, 2025, 11:25:30 pm »

Pretty excited to see what TC has cooked up. Even if it's more of the same, HK was one of my favorite metroidvanias. Only thing I'm dreading is how difficult the optional lategame stuff will be, based on some of HK's insane challenges...

You mean challenges like the "White Palace", or the "Delicate Flower" quest? I have a feeling their challenges may be a bit more tougher for Silksong this time around. Better strengthen your endurance and determination, pal. You'll need it.

"Guacamelee! 2" was quite more of the same, the moves and such, but that didn't stop me from having loads of fun. Longer and  tougher, yes, but still fun. And, before many Metroidvanias were made, loads of people enjoyed more of mostly the same hi-speed 2D adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, and there weren't many complaints about it.

Even I enjoyed it all, and I still don't gripe about the later 2D Classic Sonic games being quite the same(well, maybe more should continue along the treads of Mania's, but not the anniversary themes, to say). Its the material and substance that matters in each game, on the inside.

On a small note, the game's RAM requirements for the PC version is more or less the same as HK's, but I think its more leaning towards 8GB of RAM than HK's 4 to 8GB. My one guess, its to accommodate for the larger world, Pharloom.

You know, a bit unrelated, but, so far, many Metroidvanias have used about 4GB, to 8GB, and sometimes, even 16GB of RAM for creating big worlds, but not a one has yet to reach about 24GB or 48GB of RAM(yes, I know the shocked feeling you got, go ahead).

I mean, not that they cannot reach it, but I'm just saying. All the loads of RAM memory we got and it may need to be put to use in creating larger Metroidvania maps... at least, sometime soon.

Think about it.

To compare, "Noreya: The Gold Project" uses about 8 to 16GB of RAM, providing two rather large worlds based on choices on path allegiances, one for The Path of Light, the other for The Path of Gold.

In short, they're about roughly twice as much as any Metroidvania world put together.

Well, hope you have fun!

3

VGMaps Social Board / Re: Sonic 3 Unlocked, Act Transitions, A Blog Series

« on: September 09, 2025, 12:49:20 am »

Thanks for sharing, the Sonic 3 Unlocked series is a fascinating deep dive into how the game achieved seamless stage transitions on the Genesis, and it’s a great resource for anyone interested in game coding or level design.

You're quite welcome! I wonder how such coding can be readjusted to commit stage-to-stage seguing beyond Act 2 in a Zone, and so on?

As far as I saw before, I think Retro Engine got that continued in Sonic Mania, and I also think Hatch Game Engine does it too in Sonic Galactic.

Even Freedom Planet, as I actually recall from memory, replicated that kind of Act-to-Act seguing when I first saw the video showcasing its first stage, Dragon Valley, that is, when it was a Sonic fangame at the time. I was very impressed it took on the kind of formula from Sonic 3's both halves, whereas most Sonic fangames followed on those of either Sonic 1 or 2, which doesn't have seamless seguing in stages.

I did get the video link, actually archived by Iceland's/Iceland's Old Channel, due to that original from its original user's video being shuttered into privacy quite some time before the game's launch. Thankfully, for its preservation, that YouTube user was able to secure it for anyone to watch it again.

Here it is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_32k_5gWmc

Maybe there should be a video tutorial series centered on coding stage seguing in games in the fashion of Sonic 3, for those interested.

4

Maps Of The Month / Re: 2025/09: SOS (Super NES) - Tropicon

« on: September 02, 2025, 01:15:04 pm »

Yeah, it is rather a bit disappointing for the PS1 sequel not to be globally launched.

I would like to say this. That SNES game is one of the few, if any, that uses all of Mode 0's 4 available background layers, because it wasn't used more often due to its limited capabilities, compared to other games using other modes, even Mode 7.

Makes you wonder how and why many SNES games' backgrounds in many stages appear to be vertically static in place while they move horizontally, not doing both at once.

A bit disappointing that we don't see many SNES games use Mode 0 to utilize its 4 layers at the time.

5

Gaming / Silksong's Launch is Nigh! Excited?

« on: August 31, 2025, 03:09:03 am »

Well, the launch of "Hollow Knight: Silksong" is only days away, and loads of people are really itching to venture through all of Pharloom with Hornet taking the reins as the main heroine in the sequel to "Hollow Knight".

I'm just really glad Team Cherry's able to put the brakes on delaying the game again and again while working in absolute silence, after so long. Complete lack of communication really hurt so many people eager for at least a few updates on its progress.

What previously started as a planned campaign after backer funding, it went into becoming a whole game in itself, because of its increased size, scope, and length. Team Cherry's minimal staff creating a far larger world compared to the previous did also contribute to said delays, but, out of my opinion, they could have, and perhaps, probably would have, avoided much of it if a few more people were brought onboard to help out and guarantee a more sooner launch date, but their choice for doing all that solo dev work is their choice. Not pinning any blame, though.

Team Cherry's got talent, but more people may be necessary for their later projects. Just saying.

Hollow Knight's come quite far, and despite the long wait for Silksong, people are really thrilled to play that game and enjoy so many additions, not to mention exploring a more bigger map than Hallownest's.

With this, of course, the process of mapping all of Pharloom will once again be done by the one mapper that did Hallownest's, Theembracedone. I'm sure those of you in the VGMaps community remember, as well as the praise Team Cherry gave for it.

However, as much as Theembracedone would really have the honor of mapping it with the same tools and programs to do it, I feel it may be on wait, due to that mapper being occupied with work on the choice-making, mystery, mature horror-induced, visual novel, "Where Birds Go To Sleep".

That is not to say Theembracedone has to do it alone this time. Any mapper, if willing, can feel free to contribute to the process, so it would be done in less than years' time. I do commend that mapper doing Hallownest, but a little help now and then is needed, and given the increased size of Pharloom's map, that may be a necessary requirement. The more volunteers, the better, I say.

Who's looking forward to playing it, as I am on the former, and mapping Pharloom, if any for the latter, may volunteer to it?

6

Maps In Progress / Re: VGCartography - getting to work on PS1 maps!

« on: August 27, 2025, 03:33:18 pm »

Really neat that you're getting to other PS1 games that are in need of mapping, even if those have been other platforms and PC.

You're certainly trying to go a bit widespread on many games, even "Ape Escape", "Crash Bandicoot" games, and even "Toy Story 2". Well, no matter what, can't wait to see loads of them mapped!

Wonder how huge or long MDK's maps were at the time before MDK2?

7

Map Requests / Re: List of unmapped NES games

« on: August 25, 2025, 10:57:20 pm »

I think it's possible to speed up the our NES-mapping process by using Cheat Engine codes, this is my method which I use rip 2D-maps (usually).
First need to find values for X/Y player position and set hotkeys somethink like this:

Code: [Select]

[i]Presskey "DEL" decreased X_pos value by 160 pixels
Presskey "PG DOWN" increased X_pos value by 160 pixels
Presskey "HOME" decreased Y_pos value by 100 pixels
Presskey "END" increased Y_pos value by 100 pixels
Presskey "INS" freeze X_pos and Y_pos
Presskey "PG UP" unfreeze X_pos and Y_pos[/i]Then find values for player health/weapon ect and freeze them. This will give free movement on levels without player hit.
Maybe it can be usefull for some difficulties/problem games?

A good solution for those shedding time on doing NES maps. Wonder if other platforms besides NES use same or different methods for free movement on stages without damages/map changing/event triggers in their games' coding by reaching certain one/two-way entry/exit points in them to guarantee more familiarly efficient mapping via Cheat Engine. Is it the same as what you explained, or quite different on others?

8

Map Gab / Purrfect Collection is Nigh, and a bit more

« on: August 23, 2025, 01:18:30 pm »

Just a heads-up, but, the long-anticipated Bubsy Purrfect Collection is just days away, and I for one am thrilled to see it coming!

It's a joy to see just about every game from Bubsy's past come back to the hands of fans once again, and that's including the rather obscure Jaguar game, "Fractured Furry Tales", and the infamous installment, Bubsy 3D, but the game's getting new improvements to ensure there's no direct repeat of why it went down as one of its badly-received 3D games in gaming history(and I don't blame that not much couldn't be fine tuned in time for its launch at that time).

A bit to relate on Bubsy 3D, it's getting a somewhat sequel, and the name may kinda sound like an April Fools joke, but believe me, it sure is not; "Bubsy 4D", made by an indie studio, Fabraz, and published by Atari.

Its story centers on Bubsy facing, once again, the Woolies, up to stealing yarnballs and Bubsy's Golden Fleece again, the very item Bubsy took back from the end of "The Woolies Strike Back", but this time, they're absconding the flocks of sheep on his planet to force them to steal it. However, they underestimated the sheep, because they revolted against them and are attempting to fight back the Woolies by building their own weapons, the "Baabots", to steal away the Fleece for themselves. Once again, its up to Bubsy to step in and save the Golden Fleece and his planet from their madness, but doing so won't be easier for him this time, because he's got two enemies in their newly-formed two-front war between them.

Needless to say, Bubsy's got a few new tricks up his sleeve for that game(alongside minor cosmetics, including the model from Bubsy 3D), including one ability to become a rolling hairball... sorta. In fact, that strongly reminds me of how Homer Simpson did his "Homer Ball", the power that can turn into a big ball of flab, from "The Simpsons Game", only Bubsy's weighing far less than everybody's favorite goofy, albeit notably rotund, but family protective and good-hearted, family man.

The newest Bubsy game's level amount is, well, once more, going to have 3 different planets, each having 5 levels, for a total of 15 levels, and, to guess right, new bosses are fought in the end of each planet's final level.

I think many of Bubsy's games' amounts on their worlds, levels, and bosses may need to be stepped up beyond that said repeated amounts.

If anyone asks, I wasn't too fond of "Paws on Fire" because the unnecessarily placed Bit Trip rhythm-based gameplay doesn't really suit the bobcat, me, and plenty of others, quite well. Sure, it was neat to take down Oinker P. Hamm again, and it was nice to see many of the characters from Bubsy II and the Bubsy TV pilot show up in the game, but I still felt that kind of rhythm-based gameplay should've been kept out in that.

While I do enjoy Bubsy's adventures, and I know that its not so bad to slightly experiment a bit differently now and then(but not far too much that can deviate away from its true roots), I still would've felt they were quite more in-line with its past 2D games, in hi-bit format, because, well, so many people grew up playing them, and Atari's present CEO, Wade Ross, thinks and believes that, to quote "the last thing anyone wants is a really generic platformer".

Really? "Generic"? In Bubsy's games? The majority of our gaming audience grew up playing and making 2D games, before and after Bubsy was made, and many still do today, because as long as imaginations sticks around, and great creative spirits are within us, NOTHING is ever completely generic in 2D games! I still love them! It all only depends on keeping them coherent to their original vision and their teams working well and in-line, too. I think his tastes on 2D games are quite off-kilter, as others', so far.

And, so far, there's not yet a 2D Bubsy game that had its levels made longer and larger than the past games' maps. The basic tech used to make them has increased greatly, so why not go for it?

Nevertheless, for those willing to get back to Bubsy's past adventures, they're probably gonna feel a bit rusty on level route memorization, and the games' maps are still yet to be charted.

9

VGMaps Social Board / More Kokopolo Images

« on: August 17, 2025, 02:21:42 am »

I was able to find images about the first Kokopolo game that had Developer Diaries covers from NGamer's magazines through the months, from Oct 2008 to Apr 2009, before it became a DSiWare game, and then its post-launch article in Sep 2011 after its launch. They have W.I.P. screenshots, stage layouts, complete with placeholder tilesets, and sprites of the game at the time, and many of Keith's interviews printed in them.

If you look a bit closely on the 4th Developer Diary at the bottom-right of the image, you'll find a potential box cover of the game when it was targeted for DS in physical, with Kokopolo in it. That exact cover would be updated twice, the first time to remove the whiskers and accommodate the DSiWare addition, and the second time to reflect his recognizable design and added Jinbe in it for the 3DS re-release(still not seeing Tatsumo in it, though).

Take a look at them.













There's even artwork about All-Gen Gamers featuring Kokopolo's characters Keith made as tribute to it.

10

Gaming / Re: About "Hatch Tales"...

« on: August 15, 2025, 02:29:52 am »

Ever wonder why some games flop despite talented developers? I think it's because the vision isn't clear or cohesive. I once worked on a project where everyone had different ideas, and the final product was a mess.

Ooh... Sorry you went through some chaotic disorganization for that project. Guess they didn't follow some order and organized control on its vision through its development process. I could guess a few factors that contributed, such as scope-creeping, if its a game, but what else is new?

From my familiar experience in waiting too long to see Hatch Tales finished after all this time, its director delayed it so many times after diverting focus away from its development and put its development process into complete disorganization. It upset many backers after donating their pledges during its KickStarter campaign and gave up hope waiting for it to be released in disappointment.

It was meant to be a redoing of "Chicken Wiggle", the 3DS original game(not that the game ever needed one a short time after its launch), complete with extra bonus levels, even with its own theme, and a new campaign featuring Holly and Max, from Mutant Mudds, having his own adventure, too, that was ALL PROMISED for its launch, but Jools, its director, pulled EVERYTHING from it all, and STARTED OVER by axing EVERYTHING he and his hired contractors worked on and off for long, and making it just about Hatch trekking through Talonreach to stop Nazar's chilling ambitions for the kingdom, and leaving only most of Chicken Wiggle itself as its only hidden unlockable.

If anything, a game director IS responsible for managing organization and keeping game development well in order, retain any game project's coherency to its original vision, make sure the team/teams stay in-line to ensure its completion, and try their very best to minimize delay, unless necessary, not for excuse-making reasons, especially if it gets backed through a crowd-funding campaign and cannot disappoint backers that pledged to it.

I feel your kind of disappointment, pal, about the chaos you went through. If Jools continues that kind of chaotic disorganization for his game dev line of work, I worry of how he could maintain goodwill to the fans of his games, as others.

11

VGMaps Social Board / Happy Anniversary, Kokopolo!

« on: August 11, 2025, 09:31:54 am »

It's Kokopolo's debut anniversary today, and I felt showing some artwork to celebrate this day. (I can only give video links for the moment, unless I learn how to display actual videos from YouTube here. Sorry.)

The first game's artwork


Here's some links from Mediafire, courtesy of a user, "Goldmetalsonic", by request of sharing artwork of the first game in 2011 via NeoGAF.

The playable characters, Kokopolo and Tatsumo...
https://www.mediafire.com/view/ykdu2niqs450ylr/01_KOKOPOLO.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/54ptm5lrselvoqb/02_TATSUMO.jpg#

The SnapSnap Plant
https://www.mediafire.com/view/by1yirt7n363eh2/SNAPSNAP.jpg#

The 20 enemies appeared in the games so far(really would like some new enemies now and then)...
https://www.mediafire.com/view/5dpjparbihxssd1/01-PAPPYO.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/82h45i6chussd6l/02-HAWANUTS.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/ibw5k4ulqrz4h4q/03-MERRIKET.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/fytf8bsavylrtvr/04-TROPAKAHN.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/d4bth7z8idhiyyh/05-LUPAWAII.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/rlx9apnn7x1r6l9/06-CHICKABOOM.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/4m0uaa83ihwqyiu/07-PONPORUU.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/aqk7fplisnsin82/08-THORNOPIO.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/xmiasd1oydejd48/09-STUNION.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/decs5bnerk10vdb/10-KASANOBARKA.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/q8m19mwfovvy3wy/11-MOGUMA.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/xobozm9q0ahf188/12-STARPHID.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/zr8hj8kezbv4vye/13-STARPHAT.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/g1yf5keg53fjjfl/14-POWPIPER.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/xgi92byz1g0mybp/15-KURAKURA.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/o6c0neod3en0eoz/16-COCANOISE.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/qtcgcqb8ghjgesc/17-TOPLOCANO.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/88tkfff4cr6bkad/18-ROCKTOPUS.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/dobmdd00w8lxbov/19-DIZZYLINE.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/x1a99o1nwa9x5ka/20-SPACEMANBOSCARO.jpg#

The first game's bosses...
https://www.mediafire.com/view/m51bphpaivwqk7k/A_SACRATOPS.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/ogx1cfetwesdvdl/B-OAKLEYPOKLEY.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/avwa4488z8d2633/C_RAIKU.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/4z4d43sxa3e1osz/D_TOTEMATOR.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/2x3b3hqqeej51bc/E-PICCOLOCO.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/91slgaga4c045h3/F_PEKTAIL.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/vgxhihb0j448bhk/G-BURNSIDES.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/8l4zm41z3xirl2q/H-PANDORA.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/tvrzv4chsels2m7/I-BABABOOM.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/fip9xwaxkofse95/J-JINBE.jpg#
https://www.mediafire.com/view/4gzv202x2e1rl37/CHOMPCHOMP.jpg#

Houdini Starfish
https://www.mediafire.com/view/43q74894keg2g2j/HOUDINI-STARFISH.jpg#

Astrobug
https://www.mediafire.com/view/1dbuq1h1xyu7b0l/ASTROBUG.jpg#

The Sun and Moon POW Brothers
https://www.mediafire.com/view/286pcy4vy3op668/POW-BROTHERS.jpg#

I have a few maps of the two games Keith showed as part of the 10th anniversary run. Mind you, two of them are in jpgs, the rest are pngs. I didn't do any map ripping, so you know; Keith just only provided them.

Here they are!









Here's the bosses of Kokopolo 3D Keith Webb made when it was in the works in 2012, a very short time after it began in June 2012(still would be nice to see clean versions of these bosses).

SCARECLOWN

DUST RA RA

KAMALOON

JITSTAR

KINTARON

CACTUSK

BANDOZA(Incorrectly spelled as "BANDOZER")

SHINTOTO

ROCK A TOCK

MIKOSUKI


Here's Kokopolo DX's Logo and Cover Artwork for those who want to see.




There's some artwork about the game's development history when it was targeted for Neo Geo Pocket Color, before it was changed and moved to Game Boy Advance, DS, and finally, DSiWare. Let me tell you, I have never seen it before now, and it is amazing! Take a look!

KOKOPOLO SKETCHES 1

KOKOPOLO SKETCHES 2

KOKOPOLO LINEUP

KOKOPOLO BOSS LINEUP


Keith pondered if he could make a new Neo Geo Pocket Color game for it as a de-make, but I would honestly feel it should be a prequel, fittingly called "Go! Go! Kokopolo Pocket", centered on how Kokopolo and Tatsumo became best friends and how their adventures began, before the DSiWare debut. And, the handheld should have new second screen hardware add-on created that acts as a precursor to the DS dual-screen gameplay.

If I could see the finalized artwork of all of Kokpolo DX's bosses, I'd show them to you here.

Keith made a very well-known favorite artwork centered on the Wii's Virtual Console's commemoration. Here's the image called "Hyper 8-Bit Memories"!



There's a video review about Kokopolo 3D after its launch. Here's the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc5VkWvOePo

If Keith could stop by, he'd know I was doing good at bringing more attention to the series. Maybe he'd come by sometime, if he's able.

If you like to see some insight about him and his pal, Jmac, there's a video here. If you want to watch the whole thing, go ahead. The timestamp for Keith's projects in the works is 19:20, if you want to skip to it. Here's the video's link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViFp0M1EyC8

If anyone here wants to do some celebrating about the series, feel free.

12

Map Requests / Re: "Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics"

« on: August 03, 2025, 11:30:01 pm »

Well, it is really nice to have you in the VGMaps community, and I'm really glad you share the forum's love here! I'm sure you'll enjoy some time hanging out here! Welcome!

And, yes, the process can be oftentimes long, depending on maps' sizes, but, with building endurance and confidence, you'll get the hang of it in no time.

Once you have all the game's maps finished, which is always nice, you can submit the maps to the site so it can be seen in the Atlas very soon.

13

Map Requests / Re: Maps to Cover...

« on: August 02, 2025, 11:15:47 pm »

OK... More I've got in my next list, and many may lean to games that are more mature, licensed based or not. Many are from Xbox and other platforms not visited a bit frequently today.

81 - Shrek/Extra Large (2001/02, Xbox/GameCube) Dev: Digital Illusions Canada, Publisher: TDK Mediactive
82 - Batman Begins (2005, GameCube, GBA, PS2, Xbox, Mobile) Dev: Eurocom (Consoles), Vicarious Visions (GBA), Kiear Games (Mobile), Publisher: EA Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
83 - Harm's Way (2010, X360) Dev: Bongfish Gmbh, Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios(from Unlock XBOX '10, finalist entry)
84 - Azurik: Rise of Perathia (2001, Xbox) Dev: Adrenium Games, Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
85 - Shrek The Third Game (2007, X360, Wii, PC, GBA, DS, PS2, PSP) Dev: Amaze Entertainment(PC, Consoles), Vicarious Visions(GBA & DS), Publisher: Activision
86 - Nightcaster: Defeat the Darkness (2002, Xbox) Dev: VR1 Entertainment, Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
87 - Men in Black II: Crossfire (2002, PC) Dev: Wild Tangent, Publisher: Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment
88 - Alien X (2000, PC) Dev: The Groove Alliance, Publisher: Shockwave
89 - Reign of Fire (2002, PS2, GameCube, Xbox, GBA) Dev: Kuju London(consoles), Crawfish Interactive(GBA)
90 - The Simpsons Game (2007, Xbox, X360, PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP) Dev: EA Redwood Shores(Most consoles), Rebellions Developments(PS2, PSP, & Wii), Amaze Entertainment (DS)
91 - Pocketbike Racer (2006, Xbox, X360) Dev: Blitz Games, Publisher: King Games
92 - Big Bumpin' (2006, Xbox, X360) Dev: Blitz Games, Publisher: King Games
93 - Sneak King (2006, Xbox, X360) Dev: Blitz Games, Publisher: King Games
94 - Spare Parts (2011, X360, PS3) Dev: EA Bright Light, Publisher: Electronic Arts
95 - Driver: Renegade (2011, 3DS) Dev: VD-Dev, Publisher: Ubisoft
96 - Re-Volt (1999, N64, PS1, Dreamcast) Dev: Acclaim Studios London, Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
97 - Mad Tracks (2006/07/09, PC, X360, Wii) Dev: Load Inc. Publisher: Numerous(PC, international), D3 Publisher (X360)
98 - MDK (1997, DOS, PC, PS1) Dev: Shiny Entertainment, Publisher: PIE, Shiny Entertainment
99 - New Legends (2002, Xbox) Dev: Infinite Machine, Publisher: THQ
100 - MDK 2 (2000/01/11, Dreamcast, PC, PS2, Wii) Dev: BioWare, Publisher: Interplay Entertainment

I'll think of more again later.

14

Maps Of The Month / Re: 2024/12: Sonic X Shadow Generations (Switch) - G.E.R.

« on: July 28, 2025, 09:09:33 pm »

If Shadow was curious and surprised enough to know why he was sent to specific locations Sonic will travel to in his later adventures, he would've been slightly interested to learn where he would go later. But, knowing Shadow's own nature, he doesn't have time to sight-see later locations or anything Sonic would do. He's only around to find and settle matters with Black Doom, nothing more.

And, whatever memory of future locations Shadow visited will pretty much be wiped away the moment he finishes off that vile intergalactic conqueror and leaves White Space when Sonic defeats Time Eater. Better off he doesn't know about them yet. Trust me on that.

What I'm kinda feeling a bit curious, though, is that most of each stage's Acts were kinda a bit shorter, compared to select past games' stages, and that Classic Sonic's speed was kinda too fast when using Spin Dash, compared to the proper speed in past games. Act 1 in many stages, aside from Plant Wisp, did feel they were over with far too soon than I previously thought.

City Escape's chase with the G.U.N. truck was a bit longer than the original chase from Sonic Adventure 2, yes, but the length was quite shorter, too.

Well, Sonic Forces' stages were underwhelmingly shorter than Unleashed and Generations' stages, too, don't get me wrong, but that was because the focus and time spent at that time was having the updated Hedgehog Engine 2 ready for later games; comparably, about 3 years of work, and 1 year of dev time it took for Forces to be made, aside from its rather slow pre-production work time alongside those spent years. It and the story was rather undercooked, too, proverbially, but that's not the point.

Shadow Generations' stages, other than the 2D and 3D perspectives being flipped, do have more or less their lengths being matched from others'. I would not think of any stage in it being a bit more longer than any of Sonic's past game's 3D stages, even when it runs on Hedgehog Engine 2, compared to Generations' use of its Hedgehog Engine.

On a more comparable note, regardless of version and platform, didn't any of you feel how shorter and different Rooftop Run's Act 2, for Modern Sonic, is, compared to how it originally was from Sonic Unleashed in Act 1, in Daytime Spagonia?

What I do remember is that stage taking reasonably long because of how good it is to see great fast speed across many sections involving using Boost, Quick Step, and Drift. That was so good! I can only guess the level's layouts between Unleashed and Generations were designed differently.

The more memorable setpiece from Rooftop Run was climbing up to the tall clock tower and grinding all the way down and forward, and I felt that in Generations, the tower seemed to be taller, yet the grinding speed was a bit faster compared to Unleashed, as if nearly approaching the ground from the top was faster than before.

I would think the actual stage length was cut down greatly for other additional side content and such to accommodate the anniversary aesthetics about celebrating Sonic's adventures.

Well, given the 360 & PS3's hardware's specs were slightly behind across each other, numerous differences aside, and if they were given reasonable hardware upgrades to better improve their handling on their graphics and CPUs, and if the 360's game discs were that of HD-DVD's capacities for some more bigger games instead(imagine if we got that alongside better reliability chances as better suited console refreshes, too), it seems like it was justifiable.

Overall, Sonic Generations still remains a very fun game, and Shadow Generations couldn't be any more different.

For the true handheld counterpart, on the other hand, should we have a more powerful and new standalone dual-screen handheld system, I would kinda think Silver the Hedgehog would get his own standalone adventure, aptly called "Sonic X Silver Generations", and that new adventure bundled with the 3DS version of Generations would be "Silver Generations", showcasing Silver being thrown into another adventure, and running across different stages from Sonic's adventures, only those truly from the handheld games, like Scrambled Egg, Aqua Planet, Red Volcano, Cosmic Angel, Ice Paradise, Sunset Hill, even Huge Crisis and Pirates' Island, to stop a nearly-forgotten threat that attempts to ruin his future again, which is, of course, Eggman Nega, with particular friends of Sonic's(like Gemerl, Tikal, Commander Towers, and Marine) and brief enemies turned temporary allies(Chief Pachacamac and his soldiers) the Time Eater dragged in, but having no involvement in Nega's latest scheme, would aid Silver's efforts to save the future, and its story would closely weave in with Sonic's approaching battle with Silver for the Chaos Emerald he held.

Well, any story with loose plot threads have to be closely knitted up sooner or later. And, the 3DS version of Sonic Generations only has one stage that represented Sonic's original handheld adventures, and, honestly, its not fair for only having one stage from it while the rest of the stages are from Sonic's past home console games.

Silver, so far, has not received his own solo adventures. It wouldn't be fair for Silver not to have one, right?

It's not entirely impossible for that to happen, too, having that and Silver's own adventure with it. Well, we can only hope.

15

VGMaps Social Board / Re: Awareness for "Go! Go! Kokopolo" Series

« on: July 22, 2025, 04:15:36 am »

you're probably the only person on the planet who knows the answer to this question (outside of the game's developers), but

how does the game end? i never managed to beat it as a kid, and i no longer have the means to go back and try again. emulating it has also been unsuccessful. i can't find any videos of any gameplay beyond the first 3/4 worlds. the only thing i found is that there's an expert difficulty mode which is unlocked after beating normal mode, where you play the stages in reverse order as a robot version of jinbe. also wondering how that plays out too, do you still fight the bosses in that mode?

Well, I think there are others that have played it, and some did win, but hardly took their time talking about it(there was a Facebook page about the game that had the brief answer to it, though), but...

If "Easy Mode" is selected, you can only go up to World D, Maple Park, and defeat its boss, Totemator, and no farther. You're only treated to a brief "End of the road" ending in it. "Normal Mode" goes all the way to World J, Cloud Garden, where you face Jinbe and defeat him, and it ends the game in victory for Kokopolo and Tatsumo's journey. That is where it ends.

"Expert Mode", on the other hand, I'm afraid there's no bosses to fight, but at the very end, it does have one more new boss fight only in it, only against the duo themselves. And given that the mode does have a different time limit that only gets tighter by going through each world because Mech-Jinbe has an unstable battery detonates if its up, especially with Scratch Meadow, where it is the mode's last world and its tight limit is 1 minute to finish each round, you're bound to face many stumbles, unless you can memorize them very well and try to be as fast as you can, even in reverse order, and mirror-flipped.

Once you do get to the game's actual last fight, which is the only original round that isn't mirror-flipped, all you have to do is to keep on Dash-Slashing Kokopolo and Tatsumo as they try to fight back, as it is that mode's goal for the robot's creator, Jinbe, to deal justice to them(which is obvious why after finishing "Normal Mode"). The thing is, regardless of how much time you spent trying to reach it or gained more time by normal means, even gaining some more by jumping up to get treats from digesting enemies from the SnapSnap Plant, you only get 1 minute for the whole fight until the robot explodes and knocks the duo out, unconscious(they do wake up shortly, though).

The little neat surprise after it is before the robot could deliver its success, the ChompChomp Plant, the giant plant seen in the fight against Jinbe, arrives, and mistook it as its creator and snatches it up in its jaws. You do, though, get to tap the money icons afterward, and by doing so, the plant will try to shake it up, but all it will do is fling out so much money within its body, which is pretty much what's been put into the robot after Jinbe invented it and some more's been collected through its run, and goes all over Kokopolo's territory. Don't know how much, but it was quite a lot, from the looks of it.

That leads to one more ending to see in finishing Expert Mode, where the duo gets to enjoy their time with the loads of golden coins they're spending, leaving Jinbe, at that moment, down and out, and getting his last dealings of scratches from them, which is where the game's story truly ends. Not to worry, the sequel shows he's gotten better and back on his tracks. He can't really stay down from that very long.

I, of course, would've enjoyed a good boss rush mode in the game, but the DSiWare's tight size limits for its games pretty much bars it there. Too bad the 3DS port didn't have it added as a new unlockable bonus, either, but, not by beating "Expert Mode", that would be a bit frustrating. Sure, we do have Time Attack, but that's not the point.

I would've enjoyed beating the bosses back-to-back, but would also enjoy a new treat after finishing that mode under a required fast time. I was thinking more of a "Where are they now?" montage moment for all the defeated bosses that showcases what they're doing now after their defeats. My guess, other than trying to recover from their wounds, judging from the damage they received by the many harsh scratches/self-harming inflictions they took in their battles, many of them taking many different hobbies and choices in their lives.

Well, that's your answer. Hope it helps. Sorry if emulating that game was rough for you, by the way, but don't give up trying. Takes some well-adjusting, but its not impossible. And, more people should have made more videos of it past those 3/4 worlds, too. If only they took the time doing it.