/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.4205458]

Kind of an esoteric idea, but how about we do a thread where we would "fix" problems that almost-good games had?

>pic somewhat related, the most broken good game on the NES

[Anonymous No.4205550]

>>4205458
Here's one for Sonic The Hedgehog on Genesis. Let the player roll into a ball mid-air, such as after hitting a spring.

[Anonymous No.4205595]

>>4205458
not a bad idea for a thread
FF1 is okay for the most part, 2 is the one that has the potential to be fantastic with some improvements
already said this in other FF2 threads, but whatever, blame it on the autism

>remove trap rooms
>getting new spells should be a joy, not a thing to be dreaded - make the starting level of spells dependant on a character's intelligence/soul instead of having it always start at level fucking 1, a new flare spell should automatically start at level 10 for a character with 60 int
>let the player choose which level of spell he wants to use, even if you have Flare 10 you should be able to use Flare 1 or Flare 3
>fix the "hit yourself to get HP" exploit, maybe by disabling the characters from targeting themselves with Fight or offensive spells
>guest characters suck (except Minwu), give them better stats and some decently leveled spells
>nerf evasion, improve defense
>include an option to skip turns so your caster doesn't need to waste MP or risk losing intelligence by attacking
>ineffective attacks shouldn't raise weapon skills
>reduce encounter rate, increase stat gain rate
>fix enemy formations, squishy casters like wizards should always be behind 4 soldiers, souls should be behind green jellys etc.
>nerf or remove the blood sword
>enemy casters should use more single target spells instead of weak multi target elemental spells
>remove key items from the inventory once they're no longer needed
>give bosses (especially the emperor) more immunities
>nerf or remove berserk

[Anonymous No.4205607]

>>4205595
>ineffective attacks shouldn't raise weapon skills

I kinda like this though since it makes it so you're not discouraged from ending encounters quickly. It's actually pretty annoying in Romancing SaGa where slower characters can end up weak because they don't get to act as much as faster characters, unless you purposefully drag out battles.

[Anonymous No.4205612]

>>4205607
it's really exploitable though, you can give a backrow character a short range weapon ( or fists) and have him whack the air until the cows come home

[Anonymous No.4205669]

Silver Surfer (NES)

- Make foreground and background distinguishable (or remove collision entirely)
- Add autofire, capped at a reasonable rate

Honestly would be one of the better shmups on the NES if you just fixed those two things.

[Anonymous No.4205684]

>change the speed leveling to scale with everything else rather than based on how much you walk
>make aiming in combat a bit easier (highlight areas where you're spells target)
other than those, not much I can think of to improve this. maybe a fast travel system? can't remember if it had that or not

[Anonymous No.4205691]

>>4205458
Zelda 1 clues.

[Anonymous No.4205728]

>>4205684
From what I remember, each town had a unique consumable item that would return you to them. A little weird compared to the way other RPGs do it.

[Anonymous No.4205748]

Generic entry for ALL PS1 era JRPGs:
>remove newgame+ content and turn it into postgame content.
It sounds like its the same, but replaying ALL of a game to go to a single dungeon that only an endgame character would access anyway. I don't have time to play your game more than once, then do that for every game coming out I'm interested in.
>get rid of the long ass animations to be cool, only show the long animation if it is a critical hit.
This will make people look forward to seeing that long animation due to its rarity and the overt implication that its good.
>give equipment back to me if a party member leaves, only keep it if they betray you but don't overplay the betray you angle.
Character's leaving for 10 hours and taking a third of your resources, sometimes your best resources, is not a fun thing. You should feel jilted if they betray you though.
>notify the player if they are about to save in a no way out scenario, but only if they are an acceptable level below where they should be at that time
A whole slew of games in this era would give you a save point, then have a casual filter boss right after. If you can't beat it you are just stuck there until you can bruteforce it or restart. Just no fun.

Those are the only complaints I have right now, as I am replaying a bunch of PS1 JRPGs. I love the genre and its tropes, but some of the things they fell into were just annoying when done wrong.

[Anonymous No.4205759]

>>4205458
Lakitu egg bug in Super Mario Bros.

[Anonymous No.4205815]

>>4205748
>>get rid of the long ass animations to be cool, only show the long animation if it is a critical hit.
how about just a skip button?

[Anonymous No.4205824]

>>4205815
>why not tacitly imply your game design choice is wasted effort?
You only think you want a skip button because the long animations ruined what they were supposed to invoke. My plan attempts to restore the emotion or feel you want to evoke (being badass) by a simple change. I really don't think game devs should add anything to a game that shows they have doubts about a choice they made.

[Anonymous No.4205834]

>>4205550
>Let the player roll into a ball mid-air, such as after hitting a spring.
Yes, please, let's suck all the difficulty out of an already-easy game.

[Anonymous No.4205839]

>>4205458
Square already tried and failed. FF1 just sucks, it would need a complete remake. Maybe following original d&d rules more closely.

[Anonymous No.4205857]

>>4205748
First I disagree with. Though I prefer post game content some work well designed around replays like Legend of Mana and Crono Cross. It's different from a Lunar style post game but I also like it.

Second I agree with the skip buttons. Let me skip them if it's an issue. If I was that concerned about time I wouldn't be playing a jrpg in the first place. A separate animation which is maybe longer for crits could be cool.

Third, not a big deal but sure.

Fourth same thing. I don't think it's necessary but wouldn't bother me.

[Anonymous No.4206347]

>>4205458
FF3 is just a direct upgrade in every single way. Same aestetic design, less bugs, better balance, more classes, class changing, it's even paced better.

I think the only reason anyone even cares that FF1 exists is because they didn't know FF3 exists also. Console fags.

[Anonymous No.4206509]

How to make these games 10/10's:

>Solar Jetman
>save instead of passwords, and saves your ship and items in addition to level
>make the final level a battle with a boss using the same physics as the rest of the game, just in the legendary golden warship
>make treasures more valuable so you don't feel the need to scavenge for every damn container

>Wonder Boy in Monster Land
>make shops offer items based on the game's level not what you currently have, so you don't have to know the correct progression to be able to afford the final gear AND be able to buy it
>slow timer down a tad
>remove the bullshit jumping section from the last level, possibly the maze itself

>A Boy and his Blob
>just remove the 2nd half of the game, expand the first half to fill
>more jellybeans, more uses for the abilities

>TMNT(NES)
>fix the fucking hit detection goddamn
>stop letting enemies and the player jump through walls and floors fucking halfassed shit
>stop letting enemies and projectiles flood the screen to the point of slowdown and flickering, what the fuck were you thinking goddamn
>basic enemies shouldn't be allowed to knock off a quarter of your lifebar
>fix it so the bosses aren't the easiest parts of the fucking levels
>add another underwater level so people stop bitching about the fucking easy dam level

>Master of Darkness
>two switchable weapon slots, so you don't lose your gun and all ammo for a dozen knives
>better clarity on what is a platform and what fucking isn't

>B.O.B.
>save instead of password, and save your items/weapons instead of starting you with nothing when you input a password
>remove Turbo-Tunnel-style segments

>E.V.O.
>cut down on the fucking grinding holy shit
>more attack methods so it isn't so damn repetitive
>more evolution paths per level, and not just weak animal to stronger version of that animal
>stats should slowly level up independent of body parts, so you have something to grind for besides the top ranked parts

[Anonymous No.4206521]

Okay, Doom really isn't an "almost good game", but this is the one thing I've always wished the vanilla game had:

>Doom
>Add a rifle of some kind dropped by the zombie troopers. It makes absolutely no sense that you can pick up every single weapon zombies drop save the basic troopers' rifles. Also, that'd fulfill the jarring lack of a long-range weapon (that isn't a piss-poor peashooter like the chaingun or requiring you to pray to the RNG gods like the shotgun) in the arsenal.

[Anonymous No.4206995]

>>4206521
>you can pick up every single weapon zombies drop save the basic troopers' rifles

Their sprites show them carrying a rifle but they're actually just armed with a pistol as far as the mechanics work.

>pray to the RNG gods like the shotgun

wut

The shotty is laser accurate in Doom. Unlike virtually every video game depiction of a shotgun thereafter.

[Anonymous No.4206997]

>>4205839

[Anonymous No.4207007]

-Have multiple equip slots

[Anonymous No.4209006]

>Zombies Ate My Neighbors
>stop spawning enemies directly on top of the neighbors, or right next to them
>smooth out the world and hit detection a bit so you don't get caught on edges trying to get through a door
>slow down the fucking giant babies
>have passwords spawn you with a selection of weapons and items based on the level, rather than just dump you deep into the game with the water pistol and a health kit

>Herc's Adventures
>let the player jump over enemies, for fucks sake let the player jump over enemies
>change the minotaur's maze so the minotaur can't pin the player between a wall and a wall of spikes
>upgrade the rarer special weapons to do more damage than the maximum 20 so boss fights don't go on forever
>let the player buy flaming spears the first time they go to crete, instead of making them backtrack
>make the player press a button to use a key, instead of using them on doors automatically five feet away
>allow flaming breath to count as a "fire" weapon for the Hydra fight, so you have an option besides the flaming spears
>lower Minos's health, fucking shit that fight took way too long
>shorten the time being squashed makes the player unmovable, the minotaur fight took far longer than it should have, even with the 1HP damage max BS
>let the player swim faster by pressing the run button
>give the player a reason to return to anywhere besides Ellis, Athens, or possibly Egypt(if you didn't stock up on Ray Guns the first time around)

>Shadowrun(Genesis)
>better payoff to the missions, 98% of this game is grinding for nuyen/karma
>more variety to the generic missions
>a better curve to the plot missions, instead of grind up 1000 nuyen and visit a few people to doing Corp runs and Elvish territories with nothing in between but grinding
>more major side missions, two isn't enough

>Twisted Metal 3 and 4
>use Twisted Metal 2's controls and physics

[Anonymous No.4209013]

>>4206521
So basically brutal doom in classic mode.

[Anonymous No.4209015]

>>4209006
>>Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Allow for system link so players aren't locked to the same screen.

[Anonymous No.4209024]

>>4205691
the game had a map in the instruction booklet

[Anonymous No.4209035]

>>4205691
Zelda 1 doesn't get difficult until quest 2, and that was bullshit on purpose.

[Anonymous No.4209098]

>>4205748
>Generic entry for ALL PS1 era JRPGs:
This are my ideas for that genre:
>Remove the grinding
>A button to speed up battle. I don't want to skip anything, I just want to be able to finish the random encounters quickly. I know it would mess up some games like Legend of Dragoon.

An alternative to both would be to skip battles if you outlevel the enemy by X. You just get the xp and the loot.

[Anonymous No.4209152]

>give more incentive for the player to go into the future e.g. hidden cupcakes that unlock stuff. (more cupcakes in good future)
>have a scarce signpost/thing that allows travel directly from Future to Past
>getting all Time Stones enables Super Sanic, Super Sanic can toggle a Future rush with his Burnout (up + jump) and Past with Spin Dash. this also entices people to do the UFO stages

[Anonymous No.4209835]

>>4209098
You know you don't ever have to grind in most jrpgs. People just do it to make the game easy on themselves.

This to me is the central problem with the genre. Anything a player can do to remove challenge is the first thing they focus on. Half the people who try FF2 literally can't stop themselves from exploiting it and ruining the game fir themselves.

[Anonymous No.4209846]

>>4209835
>This to me is the central problem with the genre

or the problem with the people who play it

[Anonymous No.4210436]

>>4209846
Pretty much yeah. Amy time a dev assumes the player won't do anything it takes to remove the shadow of actual challenge it bites them in the ass.

[Anonymous No.4210753]

>>4210436
In fairness to the players, it can be hard to tell when you've stumbled across a game-breaking exploit, and when the devs were expecting you to figure this out. Were you supposed to know you can spin-jump kill those enemies in SMW, or is that making the game too easy? If you manage to catch the side of one of the bricks while falling into a pit in SMB and jump out, is that a legit save or you taking advantage of sloppy programming? Using the shield rod in SotN? Using Fenix Downs against undead bosses in Final Fantasy games? Standing under the boss on level 4 of TMNT and attacking up with Don? Where is the line?