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Maps Of The Month / 2025/06: Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (Genesis) - Vertigo

« on: Yesterday at 09:30:23 pm »

Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Vertigo's Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (Genesis) maps.

Who would want to return to Isla Nublar?

In an alternate continuation to the original Jurassic Park, while Dr. Alan Grant escapes in an InGen helicopter, he spots another InGen helicopter with an armed team of field agents arriving on the island.  He deduces that they are there to recollect eggs and DNA samples for nefarious purposes, perhaps starting another Jurassic Park or creating an army of dinosaurs. Grant reaches for the helicopter radio to warn the Costa Rican army that is already there intending to destroy the park, but a fight with the InGen pilot causes it to crash back on the island.  And so, Grant's adventure on Jurassic Park continues.  (Now with more rampage, apparently.)

As with the first Genesis Jurassic Park game (which Vertigo has also mapped), Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition can be played with one of two characters, either Dr. Alan Grant or a velociraptor.  Though many of their stages are similar, the order differs slightly, and there are some landscape differences, as well as the placement and types of enemies and items, depending on who you play as.  Vertigo mapped out both Grant's and the raptor's stages, as well as both marked and unmarked, if you like to be able to see the enemies, items and weapons, or if you'd rather take in the quiet natural beauty of Isla Nublar without distraction.  That means Vertigo mapped some of these areas FOUR times!  It's a good thing that this game looks great, and Vertigo sure did it justice.

So to recognize the effort put into these maps allowing us to survive Jurassic Park again, Vertigo's Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (Genesis) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for June 2025.

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Gaming / Re: Nintendo Console History

« on: May 27, 2025, 03:30:51 pm »

With only ten days to go, I decided to FINALLY update the lower-right corner of the image, since we have long had the Switch 2 release date, we also have the original Switch's lifespan until that.  The Switch sales data is now up to the end of March of this year, and while the average daily sales are now less that when I originally posted this three years ago - unsurprising since it's now an average over a longer span of time, and it's certainly slowed down - it's interesting that it is STILL more successful than the Wii was.  And by over 5000 more units a day, wow.

This still isn't fully updated into its final form because we don't have true lifetime sales of the original Switch, which I imagine still has a couple years left at least.  And the final Switch game is probably years away yet, too.

The image was made with 4K resolution in mind, so if I wanted to update this to include the Switch 2, I would have to make a larger, non-standard image size.  I mean, that's not a problem, really, but if I'm okay with not trying to make it fit compactly on one screen, then I might as well redesign the whole thing so all the text and images aren't packed in TOO tightly.

And if I did, I guess the two games I would use to represent the launch would be... I guess Mario Kart World and... the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour?  Maybe that's a weird choice but I kind of want to keep the pattern going of choosing a second game that showcases the features of the new console and I guess that game literally does show that.  But if it's digital-only, that might be confusing, since for the game counts I only count physical releases.  And the whole "Game-Key Cards" thing might muddle how people choose to count games...

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Map Requests / Re: JonLeung's Requests

« on: May 26, 2025, 02:02:33 pm »

zagato blackfist has mapped a bunch of NES baseball games; it seems that probably all of the North American ones are done now.  That's a lot of baseball!
And besides all those, zagato has created maps for Wurm: Journey To The Center Of The Earth, an interesting multi-genre game that few people talk about.  And when they do, they usually have to say that few people talk about it.  Oops, I guess I just did that.

Thanks again, zagato!

Not many left on my NES requests list, but I had to go and add Xexyz.  As I was putting up the Wurm maps, I noticed nearby, alphabetically, that we only have one map for Xexyz, from Will Mallia.  This really surprised me, that I hadn't noticed this lack earlier, so I felt I should put it on the list.  Since zagato is trucking along in the quest to have every NES game mapped, I'm sure it will be done eventually... but I should still mention it.

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VGMaps Social Board / Re: YouTube channel! (JonLeung1)

« on: May 23, 2025, 09:11:52 pm »

This probably seems ridiculous, but It's World Turtle Day, apparently.  And my brother seems to really like making Hookbill the Koopa cough, so... here we go, 12 hours of that.  I made this in considerably less time than that, of course.

I don't know if that's going to earn me much watch time; if anyone's got 12 hours to spare they should watch my "One Minute of Music from EVERY SNES Game (US & Canada)" video instead...

I'm just finishing up another "real" video, so look forward to that!

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Map Requests / Re: List of unmapped NES games

« on: May 19, 2025, 06:29:33 pm »

That was quite the load of baseball games we got a few days ago.

Surprised that Base Wars wasn't in that batch... or as it is sometimes known as, "Cyber Stadium Series: Base Wars".  Wonder if, had it been more successful, they would have expanded the series with more futuristic games featuring robots playing other sports.  "Cyber Stadium Series: Hoop Wars" for basketball, perhaps?  (I guess there already is a robot football game, Cyberball...)

Funny how in Base Wars, the robots are mostly humanoid, and look similar to each other, except for their lower halves.  Some have humanoid legs, but others might have a single wheel, or tank treads, or a flying saucer-like bottom that enables them to hover.

Anyway, that's what I remember Base Wars for - for standing out a bit, with its unique setting and players, in a sea of baseball games.  Funny how the NES had so many.  I'm sure this one will be mapped eventually.  Looking forward to that.

Doing a search for "ball" on the list shows that there are not many of these "ball" games left!  Keep up the good work!

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Map Requests / Re: JonLeung's Requests

« on: May 07, 2025, 09:20:59 pm »

mechaskrom has mapped a great action RPG, Legend Of Mana!

All the Mana games are so colourful and detailed.  Is this not one of the most gorgeous games on the original PlayStation?  Probably one of the best-looking games with hand-drawn graphics, like, ever, even.  Free from the need to use tiles (like on the Super NES) and not bowing to that generation's push into 3D polygons, just about every screen or room looks like a painting.

I like that mechaskrom indicates how all the rooms are connected and what is in each chest, and though that is expected of RPG maps, the treasure contents are listed aside and the paths connecting screens never go over the games' graphics themselves, allowing us to see each room with no obstructions.  Now that's how you map a beautiful RPG!

Thanks again, mechaskrom!

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VGMaps Social Board / Happy (belated) 23rd birthday to VGMaps.com!

« on: May 07, 2025, 08:42:49 am »

VGMaps.com is now (over) 23 years old!

(Its birthday was yesterday, but I only realized it late at night.)  This is a big deal, since I created the site when I was 22, I've now been unquestionably running it for more than half my life.   

A big (and belated) thanks to Vince/bustin98 for all his technical assistance, and of course, to the many, many video game cartographers that have made over 40,000 screenshot maps and contributed them to VGMaps.com!

(Come to think of it, I should get around to counting the maps again.  It might be over 50,000 by now.)

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Map Requests / Re: Mega Man Maps

« on: May 06, 2025, 07:05:32 pm »

Recently (late March this year), an English patch for the Japanese mobile game, Rockman DASH: 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken! (Mega Man Legends: Great Adventure On 5 Islands!) was released, as explained here.

It's cool that there is still more Mega Man stuff.  People have been clamouring for Mega Man Legends 3.  This isn't that, but it's another Mega Man Legends chapter (which takes place between the two main games), and so now with the English patch, its audience has opened up!

Rockman DASH: 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken! is one of those Japanese Mega Man mobile games that might be lost to time, if not for the efforts of preservationists like RockmanCosmo over at Rockman Corner.

And mapper Princess Eev has mapped this game and submitted the maps here on VGMaps.com, so it is preserved in this way too.

Thanks, Princess Eev!

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Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: April 30, 2025, 10:13:57 pm »

Pew pew!

Three more from G.E.R. today: Night Striker (J), Silpheed, both for the Sega CD, and some of the maps from the hidden Space Harrier.

Thanks yet again, G.E.R.!

I also decided to honour xyzbilliu's maps of Shining Force II as the "Maps Of The Month" honouree for May 2025!  Congratulations!

Is Shining In The Darkness, mapped by Vorpal86, considered complete?

Is the end in sight?

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Maps Of The Month / 2025/05: Shining Force II (Genesis) - xyzbilliu

« on: April 30, 2025, 09:51:40 pm »

Shining Force II

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to xyzbilliu's Shining Force II (Genesis) maps.

Slade the thief has stolen the Jewel Of Light and the Jewel Of Evil from the Ancient Shrine, releasing the evil "King Of The Devils", Zeon.  Under the guidance of the wise wizard, Sir Astral, Bowie - our hero - along with his classmates, Sarah, Jaha, and Chester, will form the "Shining Force".  In strategic combat, they will repel the forces of darkness that threaten the kingdom of Granseal, as well as the world!

Sega's long-running "Shining" role-playing series has many games in a few different sub-genres, including first-person dungeon-crawling and third-person action.  The fifth game, Shining Force II, is one of the strategy games, where multiple characters are issued commands in a top-down view to clash on grid-based battlefields.  Despite its more tactical nature, it's one of the most popular games on the Sega Genesis (usually better known for its action games).  Shining Force II even made the cut to appear on the Sega Genesis Mini 2!

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this iconic Sega strategy game, xyzbilliu's Shining Force II (Genesis) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for May 2025.

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Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: April 24, 2025, 05:32:10 pm »

Today we have a map set from a mapper that we haven't seen before here, Guard Master, for ToeJam & Earl In Panic On Funkotron!

I don't usually ask people on GameFAQs for the maps they have there (the only other time I did it in recent years was for Panic! for the Sega CD... it's a funny coincidence how it's another Sega game with "Panic" in its title).

Guard Master said he was "not completely satisfied" with the maps hosted on GameFAQs, so he had to make some changes.  In a short amount of time, he produced this nice set for VGMaps!  Thanks, Guard Master!  It's good to see someone that takes pride in their work and wants to put the best versions of their work out there!

(Also, thanks to G.E.R. for suggesting that I ask Guard Master in the first place.)

There are only a handful of games remaining; will we have a full Genesis Mini 2 atlas before long?

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VGMaps Social Board / Re: YouTube channel! (JonLeung1)

« on: April 19, 2025, 08:15:29 pm »

Something I whipped up super quick.  When I saw that Nintendo released a new Switch 2 ad featuring Paul Rudd, and ALSO released the 1991 Super NES commercial featuring Paul Rudd, I decided to edit the Switch 2 ad to synch up with the Super NES one.

I also made a version for YouTube Shorts:

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Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: April 15, 2025, 03:21:18 pm »

Three more from G.E.R. today, all for the Sega CD: Final Fight CD, Night Trap, and Sewer Shark.

I had forgotten that Final Fight is on the Sega CD - in many conversations I hear of Streets Of Rage (a Sega exclusive series) vs. Final Fight (arcade and other platforms, but in this context, usually the Super NES trilogy) when it comes to beat-'em-ups on the street, so it's like... "oh, yeah, Sega DID get a Final Fight as well!"  According to the credits, it seems Sega was involved in the conversion.

The other two, Night Trap and Sewer Shark, I associate so much with the Sega CD, they're the games I immediately think of - even though I've never played Sewer Shark (which was apparently also on the 3DO, guess it wasn't exclusive). And Night Trap is funny in that it was so controversial back then, but now, it seems so incredibly tame.  I watched a compilation of death scenes on YouTube in the same room with my usually-conservative mother, who ended up laughing with me at how silly the whole game is.  I think I bought the 25th Anniversary version digitally on the Nintendo eShop for the Switch when it was on sale at the same time as another FMV game, Double Switch, and had fun with both of them for a few minutes, before deleting them and almost forgetting about them.  They're interesting games from a time period when movie scenes in games seemed to be so cool, but they feel clunky now.  I'd rather play Dragon's Lair... (which was ported to, like, everything, including the Sega CD, but isn't on the Genesis Mini 2...)

I do wonder if there's some way to "map" Night Trap and Sewer Shark... maybe screenshots of important scenes and like in a flowchart style?  I dunno...  As with the racing games from two days ago, I'm okay with marking them as "complete" for now.

Thanks yet again, G.E.R.!  You really are quite dedicated to this, and that's great to see!

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Map Gab / Re: Eternal Daughter

« on: April 14, 2025, 03:43:33 pm »

Your map is now up here.  Thanks!

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Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« on: April 13, 2025, 10:13:02 pm »

Wow, that's a lot of games from G.E.R. today.  11, which is a decent fraction of the entire Genesis Mini 2!

GENESIS
After Burner II
OutRun
OutRunners
Super Hang-On
Virtua Racing

SEGA CD
The Ninja Warriors (J)
Robo Aleste

BONUS
Fantasy Zone
Space Harrier II (Genesis Mini 2 version specifically)
Super Locomotive
VS Puyo Puyo Sun (J)

I wonder if there might be some way to more fully map out the racing games, OutRun, OutRunners, Super Hang-On, and Virtua Racing.  Those would be a technical challenge.  I'm fine to mark them off as green for "completed" as they are, though.

This actually clears up all the "Bonus" games, except for the enhanced version of the first Space Harrier, which is the 61st game that is not seen in most of the ads for this.

Incredible work as always, G.E.R.!

It's always nice to see you take out big chunks of requests like this.
(But you don't ALWAYS have to send them in batches.  )