Gism Butter

Of all the roguelikes out there, the NetHack series has always been the pinnacle. Of course, there are other contenders, like Incursion and portions of Dwarf Fortress, but Sega seems to be firmly of the opinion that NetHack is the one to beat.

Roguelikes, for those scratching their heads right now, are role playing games in which the environment is randomly generated. Unlike a traditional game, where players are confronted by pre-designed puzzles and maps, roguelikes use procedural flibbity-gibbits to generate a new map with every play.  Famous roguelikes include NetHack, Diablo 1 & 2, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. The Japanese seem to call these games “Mystery Dungeon.”

So the Shiren the Wanderer series has finally come to the US. Randomly generated dungeons, no save button, and no extra lives. It’s hard*fucking*core. GSW did a good review of it, though it’s more of a love letter and in-depth analysis of the game. At the end of the day, every day, I can smile in knowing that John Harris is absolutely obsessed with, and completely ubiquitous of the rogue-like. He’s always a good read.

Mystery Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer is out there on shelves now, for Nintendo DS, the perfect platform for the title. It’s essentially a reissue of a Japanese SNES title. This, in my opinion, is the Super Contra of role playing games. It’s about as difficult an RPG as you’ll find.

The other day, whilst walking through the ACCRC, I spied something purple in the paper bin. That’s basically a 5-foot high cardboard box big enough to fill a pallette. It’s where the sorters put all the manuals and boxes from software. Always the last place I look, and sometimes the best.

Last week was such a week, when I saw the load of Sega stuff that was being donated. Nothing stellar at all, and I’m debating about what I’ll actually keep. But it’s cool none the less. I found a Game Gear magnifying box, and a bunch of manuals and boxes from Game Gear games. No actual games, though…

My favorite is Chicago Syndicate, a spinnoff from the Eternal Champions series. Sega really went hog wild on that franchise, eh? There was no manual for this game, only the box. But inside said box was a clothing catalog! Sonic and Knuckles, 2 dudes with ati2udes! All the clothing is emblazoned with logos to this effect, and Sonic even begs the reader to unfold the thing, with a cartoon captioned “CHECK THIS OUT DUDE!!!”

Also inside, a subscription form for Sega Visions magazine. Yikes! I didn’t even remember that mag.

Then there’s the manual for Ecco The tides of Time. This Game Gear edition of the franchise had a black-and-white manual, a sign of the latter years of the Sega empire. The game was made by Novotrade, and programmed by Sttila Bus! What a name! Also programming was Balazs Papai. There’s no contact info for Novotrade, so I can’t figure out where they were located. Maybe I’ll Google them later if I feel frisky.

But now, I’d rather take a gander at the Streets of Rage manual. Only two characters to choose from in this slimmed down version. the full color manual explains things fairly well, but it has no credits at all. Such a shame whem pubs don’t print those.

There’s an ad for the SoR on the back of the Sonic The hedgehog 2 manual I found. Text reads “Martial arts madness & knock-out fighting moves on Game Gear’s Streets of Rage! join Axel or Blaze defeat lawless thugs as they fight their way through terror in order to win back the streets! Available Christmas ‘92!

And at the bottom, there’s patent references! 4442486/4454594/4452076 I’ll look them up later. Or maybe you will.

SoR manual has an ad for Chakan The Forever Man. Text reads “Slash out with Chakan’s twin swords and incredible spinning attacks as he battles the creatures of the dark, in his quest for peace. Coming in Christmas ‘92″

Same patents below.

But the EA poster I found has, perhaps, the best assortment of great games. Not even the Tecmo poster, with ninja Gaiden and Tecmo Bowl can compete with the lineup on this poster. Just a few examples: Starflight, Will Harvey presents Immortal, Power Monger, Shadow of the Beast 2, Bird Versus Jordan, NHLPA Hockey (THE hockey game of its day. Hell, THE sports game of its day), two Carmen Sandiego titles, Desert Strike, Road Rash 2 (weakest of the series, though) and Madden 93. Oh, Bulls versus Lakers, too!

Anyway, I’ll be tossing most of this back in the paper bin. Wave bye bye, or send me a note if you want any of it. I’m hanging the posters, though.