Game Sack

[GeckoYamori]

Unreal- I know a lot of people weren't thrilled with the second game, but I enjoyed the first two games. And given the ending in part II, we really need a third game to find out what the hell happened.

Metroid Prime really felt more like a spiritual Unreal sequel rather than the second game. It evoked everything I liked about Unreal, while Unreal 2 felt more like an average post Half-Life FPS which happened to be in the same universe.

I played the fuck out of Return Fire in split-screen multiplayer. The game did get a sequel for the PC. I can't recall if it was as good as the first one, but probably not. It had a more typical 3rd person view. There was also some tank game released around the same time for PS1 and PC which was not unlike Return Fire, can't remember what it was called.

There may not be any sequel to Hexen 2 aside from a very faithful looking Doom 3 mod, but I'd say Arkane's Might & Magic: Dark Messiah very much felt like a spiritual successor. It felt more like Hexen than the more rigid, tile-based M&M dungeon crawlers it is derived from anyway.

If I can make my own obscure pick, it would be Raven Software's overhead action game Take No Prisoners.

[sheath]

I loved this ep, only care about half of the game series that were mentioned though. Also, Golden Axe Beast Rider. If you don't like it, you don't just get to blurt out that it sucks. It doesn't suck, it is in fact the best group fighting game outside of Shenmue's 70 man battle and Spike Out Battle Street.

Even whathisbutt from Classic Game Room has to simplify the game to even say something positive about it:


I'm seriously wondering right now whether the lack of "Trophies" in the PS3 version is why the game gets trashed so much.

[M4R14NO94]

There was also some tank game released around the same time for PS1 and PC which was not unlike Return Fire, can't remember what it was called.

Mass Destruction? That was also on Saturn. It's also an awesome game.

Return Fire also had PS1 and PC ports, though. Just in case.

[Joe Redifer]

I honestly thought a lot more people would be mentioning Mass Destruction but you're the first, Mr. Samburg. It's a cool game but without the capture the flag element and full of 60fps goodness. I hope to talk about it some time.

[Obviously]

The games that need a new/true sequel? My thoughts are...

Thunder Force- TFVI doesn't count as a sequel, as it feels more like a "best of" or "homage" game in ways. And the horrid Broken Thunder doesn't count either. This series shouldn't be left to rot after a fan-made game that sucked, and an official product that was mediocre.

Yeah, VI was alright but disappointing. I haven't played Broken Thunder and don't really have any drive to.

Descent- The first two games rocked, and the third one wasn't bad either. It's time for a new entry, assuming anyone remembers who owns the rights to it anymore.

It seems like a no-brainer to revive Descent to me. I wouldn't mind seeing another entry in the Freespace series either.

MechWarrior- I have no idea what happened with the reboot that was talked about, but it's time for MechWarrior V to see the light of day.

Legal issues with the losers at Harmony Gold ensued and other arguments over who-owns-what took place and then MechWarrior Online happened instead. I was really looking forward to a proper MechWarrior sequel so I'm still pissed about it.

Darkstalkers- They were setting some serious shit up with the third game, and then... nothing. Come on Capcom. Stopping focusing on so-so franchises like Lost Planet, and give this great fighting series more love.

I seriously don't know what happened there. It seemed like a certainty and now I hear nothing but crickets. Capcom really needs to get its ducks in a row.

Einhander- It'll never, ever happen. SE is too busy suckling from the Final Fantasy tit to do anything else. But wouldn't it be cool?

Unfortunately they barely seem interested in the majority of Square's old products that aren't named Final Fantasy these days, which is a shame because a lot of them were fantastic and deserve a re-visit.

[Joe Redifer]

Did Thunder Force 6 even have any of the proper developers involved? I forget. It was super easy and it didn't push the system like previous Thunder Force games did (though 5 wasn't really a system-pusher either with its pre-rendered sprite nonsense).

[David J.]

I heard that Mass Destruction was better on the Saturn than the PS1.

[The Coop]

Did Thunder Force 6 even have any of the proper developers involved? I forget. It was super easy and it didn't push the system like previous Thunder Force games did (though 5 wasn't really a system-pusher either with its pre-rendered sprite nonsense).

TF V also happened to feature lighting effects and true transparencies (two things the Saturn wasn't known for), which likely drew more resources on the Saturn than those things would have on the PS1. That's probably part of the reason why some enemies were sprites (easier to render), while others were polygons.

That, or Tecno Soft couldn't get the amount of enemies on-screen that they wanted with polygons due to heavy slowdown. Or they were just lazy. Who the hell knows

[DJ_Convoy]

Everyone who beat Govellius on the SMS (or on the MSX, I suppose) knows what a good sequel would be.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

I'd love to see Panzer Dragoon get some HD love. Though there is Crimson Dragon as a spiritual successor, I'll be damned if I buy an Xbox One just for that game.

[kool kitty89]

Unreal- I know a lot of people weren't thrilled with the second game, but I enjoyed the first two games. And given the ending in part II, we really need a third game to find out what the hell happened.

Metroid Prime really felt more like a spiritual Unreal sequel rather than the second game. It evoked everything I liked about Unreal, while Unreal 2 felt more like an average post Half-Life FPS which happened to be in the same universe.

I thought Unreal 2 looked/felt more like a Halo cash-in than Half Life, but I suppose either could apply. (that and I'm not that familiar with Half Life's single player campaign anyway, so I shouldn't comment that much there )

But in any case, yeah, Unreal REALLY should have had a proper follow-up in general . . . a shame the "Unreal" Franchise has been pretty much knocked down to UT games. Though I also can't help but think that the lack of Unreal and Return to Na Pali never making it to home consoles had something to do with this whole thing. (that and then I think of how cool it would have been if Unreal+RtN had hit the Dreamcast alongside UT in fall of '99 . . . they had the engine down for the DC, so why not bring over the awesome campaign/story/adventure driven game)

Good point with Metroid Prime, I hadn't really thought of that before, but yeah, that definitely has that gritty sci-fi world and adventure/exploration thing there. Though the Prime games are more puzzle oriented.

Cliff Bleszinski isn't at Epic anymore (and I think a fair chunk of the classic Unreal guys too), but I suppose that makes more potential for them to create other spiritual sequels of sorts too. (would be really cool to see a direct sequel to the original Unreal storyline and game style though)

The fact that Unreal 2 was neither developed by any of the original Unreal team nor by Epic at all certainly must have contributed to how it ended up. (seems more like a case of a game designed mostly on its own with a franchise/universe slapped onto it for marketing reasons . . . which is OK for a spin-off title, but it was marketed/billed as a direct sequel)

Eh, who cares? I don't think his opinion is a very informed one, but it's still his opinion.

Yeah, the "Nintendo Guy" talks as much shit as whoever the hell that other guy is.

Besides, everyone knows they're both a couple of clowns! Did you see that collection/room tour video? Don't they know they can emulate all those games for free??? What a couple of suckers!

On a more sincere note . . . I do find Dave's acting and overall personality a bit weak in the show. I get the goofy "less cool" thing going on with Dave and the way the 2 characters are set-up, and that works fine, but it's more that Dave sounds like he's reading lines way too much and seems kind of stiff and forced at times, and that's both a problem during the review/explanation segments and the banter/jokes. (Joe doesn't have that problem at all)

[Joe Redifer]

TF V also happened to feature lighting effects and true transparencies (two things the Saturn wasn't known for)

Were there any polygon transparencies? I remember some 2D transparencies (a transparent 2D layer on top of polygons maybe) but that effect is fairly prevalent on the Saturn.

[MrMatthews]

On a more sincere note . . . I do find Dave's acting and overall personality a bit weak in the show. I get the goofy "less cool" thing going on with Dave and the way the 2 characters are set-up, and that works fine, but it's more that Dave sounds like he's reading lines way too much and seems kind of stiff and forced at times, and that's both a problem during the review/explanation segments and the banter/jokes. (Joe doesn't have that problem at all)

Too much has been made of voice acting on Game Sack. For the first few episodes, the comments were understandable for those who hadn't seen Joe's earlier videos. But over a hundred episodes of Game Sack later? Shouldn't you either be "dealing with it" or avoiding the show by now?

[DJ_Convoy]

Too much has been made of voice acting on Game Sack. For the first few episodes, the comments were understandable for those who hadn't seen Joe's earlier videos. But over a hundred episodes of Game Sack later? Shouldn't you either be "dealing with it" or avoiding the show by now?

Pretty much. There is little finer than Dave bagging on voice acting and being "caught" reading from a script, as in a recent ep. It's part of the show's charm, IMO*.

To me, it's a tad disingenuous to complain about something that's brought you so much entertainment for FREE. Not that you can't have an opinion or anything, but c'mon. Joe and Dave are just a couple of guys, and they spend a lot of time bringing us a 20 to 30 minute show every two weeks that's always more hit than miss. I personally can't ask for much more.


*Even so, I think Dave's improved a ton from the earlier eps.

[Zz Badnusty]

Everyone who says Thunder Force VI was super easy forgets to play the other game modes.
The default game mode was for casual players.