Triple Raidio #74 - GRUDGE MATCH DEUCE

[Reznor]

Can we get an official listing of the match-ups?

I can safely say, Life Force, all the way.

[Ekkebus]

16-bit Mario vs 16-bit Sonic
Super Castlevania IV vs Dracula X
Virtua Fighter vs Tekken
Street Fighter III vs Mark of the Wolves
PaRappa the Rapper vs Gitaroo Man vs Oendan
Okami vs Wind Waker
Dragon Quest VIII vs Final Fantasy XII
Abadox vs Life Force
Bioware vs Bethesda
Rygar vs Maximo vs Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
DMC3 vs DMC4
Mega Man 3 vs Mega Man 4
No Mercy vs HCTP
Tony Hawk 2 vs Tony Hawk 3
Time Crisis vs House of the Dead
Incredible Crisis vs Warioware
Ducktales vs Rescue Rangers vs Darkwing Duck vs Aladdin (SNES) vs Aladdin (Genesis)
Simpsons Arcade vs X-men Arcade
Guilty Gear vs BlazBlue
Pre-Symphony Castlevania vs Post-Symphony Castlevania
2D Metroid vs 3D Metroid
2D Final Fantasy vs 3D Final Fantasy
2D Zelda vs 3D Zelda
2D Mario vs 3D Mario

Grudge Match the Third PREVIEW:

Zelda II vs Other M vs New Super Mario Bros (or was it Sunshine?) as Best Worst Game of Their Respective series.

[Wood]

16-bit Mario vs 16-bit Sonic:
I think the Mario games win here. Granted, I did have fun playing Sonic 2, but I never owned a Genesis, so I played the hell out of Super Mario World. Plus, the 16 bit Mario games had some variety, where Sonic Games started to stagnate quickly.

Super Castlevania IV vs Dracula X
Somehow, I missed playing BOTH of these games when they came out. Though I have Super Castlevania IV on VIrtual Console, I haven't played a lot of it yet. The 8 way whip is pretty awesome, and an addition that really should have stayed around. Granted, it would have drastically changed level design to incorporate that, which Castlevania IV did, while maintaining the old feel of the original game. It sucks to give this to Castlevania IV by default, but it just might prompt me to get Chronicles on my Vita just to see how the other game plays.

Virtua Fighter vs Tekken
Tekken is pretty stupid. I have a whole group in SoVA that plays Tekken, and it's a very boring game to watch. It turns into a touch of death sort of game at high play levels, where you can literally be juggled from wall to wall. Virtua Fighter, on the other hand, has the simplest control scheme I've ever seen in a fighting game, yet has the most depth I've ever seen in a fighting game. Though Tekken has the more memorable characters, and truth be told, I've put more time into Tekken than Virtua Fighter. I'm just giving it to Virtua Fighter because I have strong feelings about how stupid Tekken is.

Street Fighter III vs Mark of the Wolves
When I get home, I'm picking up Mark of the Wolves for XBLA. With that said, I have to give it to 3rd Strike. I missed these games when they released. It's not until recently that I started getting into fighting games in a big way. What I found that 3rd Strike was the sort of game that really separated the men from the boys. It rewarded mix ups, and it rewarded being able to read the opponent's next move. That parry allowed for a complete reversal of offense that makes the game awesome to play and watch. That Daigo vs Wong video really got the ball rolling for me to really get into fighting games. Granted, Mark of the Wolves has more character, more color, and guest stars Terry Bogard, I just like 3rd Strike More.

PaRappa the Rapper vs Gitaroo Man vs Oendan
I haven't played any of these games.

Okami vs Wind Waker
I only played Wind Waker, and really liked it. I may play Okami at some point.

Dragon Quest VIII vs Final Fantasy XII
I found that I got really bored with Final Fantasy XII. Especially when I could find a glitch where you can kill a rare spawn over and over again, with just phoenix down, granting a ton of levels very early in the game. My fastest time through the party you crash, to where you get arrested and break out: 15 minutes. It's interesting that the first characters you pick up have absolutely nothing driving the plot, and you get to hang out with Han Solo, Sexy Chewbacca, Obi-Wan and Princess Leia in a Final Fantasy, but it's really easy to get bored with the game. DQVIII, on the other hand, was pretty fun. It was typical Akira Toriyama, very kid friendly and cel-shaded gallore, but I was hooked when I heard the Dragon Quest theme as done by an orchestra. No belts and buckles, nothing fancy in the combat, just a fun little JRPG with a orchestrated sound track. DQVIII gets my vote here.

Abadox vs Life Force
I've never heard of Abadox before Off Campus. Life Force is on my VC. 'Nuff said.

Bioware vs Bethesda
I've played KotOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1 and 2, and I'm going to play both Mass Effect 3 and SW:TOR when I get home. I've also played Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim. Where Bethesda has made amazing sandbox, western style RPG's, I'm more partial to Bioware's ability to craft amazing stories in their games. Jade Empire had a twist that totally blind sided me. Mass Effect 2 may be the greatest video game of this generation. SW:TOR managed to carve a market out of WoW, both through Star Wars Licensing and amazing story as well. Though Bethesda games are also very fun, I have to say that Bioware's stories really stick with me.

Rygar vs Maximo vs Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
I only played the 3rd Prince of Persia. I really can't comment on this one.

DMC3 vs DMC4
This is genuinely a tough choice. I beat the original version of DMC3, and told the game to go fuck itself for suggesting easy mode when I died 3 times on the 2nd stage alone. So accessibility wasn't an issue for me. DMC4 did the impossible by using a new character to make Dante look badass by comparison, but managed to make the new character badass and likeable in his own right. One of the improvements I like was making the styles from DMC3 hotswapable in game. Also made backtracking interesting because of the use of both characters. Same exact stages, but drastically different playstyles. And it did it right, where Ninja Gaiden Sigma tried doing the same thing and made me quit the game. However, DMC3 had the more memorable moments in the game. Fighting a vampire/succubus that turns into a electric guitar? Count me in. I pick DMC3 for that alone.

Mega Man 3 vs Mega Man 4
I never finished either of these games.

No Mercy vs HCTP
I don't play wrestling games

Tony Hawk 2 vs Tony Hawk 3
I honestly cant remember the differences between these two games. Whichever one had Bam Margera on, I remember playing that one the most.

Time Crisis vs House of the Dead
I've had a lot of fun with both of these games. Time Crises II I had a lot of time on especially. Using the cover mechanic to dodge and reload is really unique to the lightgun genre. House of the Dead is also fun in the old school lightgun way. House of the Dead 3 made the game really fun by adding in those plastic shotguns. But really, the deciding factor is if we're counting Overkill or not. Overkill alone makes up for every single House of the Dead the came out. It's cheesiness of House of the Dead combined with grindhouse films makes the game amazing. If we're not counting that game, than it's Time Crisis. If Overkill is counted, then it's House of the Dead.

Incredible Crisis vs Warioware
I never played Incredible Crisis, but I played the hell out of Wario Ware Touched. It's Wario Ware by default.

Ducktales vs Rescue Rangers vs Darkwing Duck vs Aladdin (SNES) vs Aladdin (Genesis)
The only game I haven't played on this list was Rescue Rangers. Though yes, Aladdin on Genesis was the best of the two, and Ducktales is really fun, I want to give it to Darkwing Duck. It's straight up a Mega Man clone, and that's not a bad thing at all.

Simpsons Arcade vs X-men Arcade
Honestly, I have never had so much fun playing a beat'em up since playing X-men with the X-strike crew, both at Game-X and when this game came out on my birthday on XBLA. Something that can't be said for Simpson's Arcade. Though what makes Simpson's arcade entertaining to me is how far away the game gets from the original licensing, and it turns out to be really funny. Still, X-men arcade wins.

Guilty Gear vs BlazBlue
I was really hoping for more discussion on the podcast on this game. I have to say that BlazBlue is still pretty good. It manages to be a very accessible game with crazy characters and a really good soundtrack. It's one of the few fighting games that has a decent story, the animations are gorgeous, and the music is awesome. However, Guilty Gear, especially post XX, managed to do all of that, better, and earlier, minus the accessibility. The characters are crazier, the story is a bit more weirder, and there's no way I could confuse the music with Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. I am excited for Accent Core to come out for XBLA

Pre-Symphony Castlevania vs Post-Symphony Castlevania
I don't think I played a whole lot of the pre-Symphony Castlevania games. I know I played a bit of 3, and a lot of Simon's Quest, but I don't think I played too much of those games. Meanwhile, I absolutely loved playing through Dawn of Sorrow. I guess I kinda like the new stuff now, though I really need to play through the old stuff. I really need to experience Rondo in some form or another.

2D Metroid vs 3D Metroid
I remember when Metroid Prime came out. I played the SHIT out of that game, and I really enjoyed it. I had many a late night playing that game. But when I got the Prime Trilogy, going back to the first game on the Wii, I got very bored of it quickly. I'm not sure what happened. Meanwhile, I got Metroid Fusion on my 3DS, and I had a blast playing that game. So I don't know what happened between me staying up until 3am playing Metroid Prime to putting it away very quickly after shelling out for the trillogy on Wii. I guess it's 2D for me.

2D Final Fantasy vs 3D Final Fantasy
I really feel that Final Fantasy 6 alone has the better story than most of the 3D games. Which is definitely a shame, considering they now are no longer limited to what they can do with sprites. Perhaps that limitation is what made them put so much emphasis in story in the 2D games.

2D Zelda vs 3D Zelda
Link's Awakening is my favorite Zelda. 'nuff said

2D Mario vs 3D Mario
Having played a lot of the Mario games, but skipping sunshine and Galaxy 2, tough choice. There's simply a lot of 2D Mario games, and the Mario Land games really aren't that bad. Maybe Land 1 isn't good, but Land 2 had a lot of neat things going on in the game. However, the 3D Mario games are also really good. Sunshine, even as the weakest of the 3D games, is still a solid game. I remember a Yatzhee review that said that they should make a game out of all of those challenge levels in alone from sunshine, and that's what Galaxy is. I may just go ahead and pick the 3D Mario games, just on the merit of how good they come out every time now.

[shadowdancer21b]

Megaman 4, Mark of the Wolves, Rygar, Life Force, Bioware, 16 bit Mario. Arcade X-Men, Post-Symphony, 2D Zelda, 2D Mario (Mario 64 sucks),

[shadowdancer21b]

Zelda II vs Other M vs New Super Mario Bros (or was it Sunshine?) as Best Worst Game of Their Respective series.

I had more fun with Zelda 2 than I did Majora's Mask or Minnish Cap. Did you forget the fucking Minnish Cap?

[Ekkebus]

Dave loves Minish Cap but I haven't played it yet. Majora's Mask is my second favorite game of the series.

[Reznor]

There are quite a few games in this grudge match that I haven't played, so I'll just trim the list down to what I have:

16-bit Mario vs 16-bit Sonic
Super Mario World, all the way

Super Castlevania IV vs Dracula X
The ability to whip in eight directions and much better overall control make Super Castlevania IV the champ in my book.

Abadox vs Life Force
Life Force. Exploding Eyeballs, be damned! I want my "options"

Bioware vs Bethesda
These two are neck and neck for me, but Bethesda just squeaks by BioWare for one simple thing: Modding ability.

Mega Man 3 vs Mega Man 4
I almost cut this category out, just because I haven't played Mega Man 4.

No Mercy vs HCTP
Create-A-Wrestler in Here Comes The Pain does slam-dunk this one as the obvious choice.

Tony Hawk 2 vs Tony Hawk 3
Gotta go with 2 on this one. Sure, 3 had better control and more things you could do, but I had a lot more fun with 2's level design

Ducktales vs Rescue Rangers vs Darkwing Duck vs Aladdin (SNES) vs Aladdin (Genesis)
Rescue Rangers, all the way. Lots of good (and bad) memories of playing through this 2-player with Black Chad

Simpsons Arcade vs X-men Arcade
Simpsons Arcade game clenches it for me, since Mom and I actually beat this together in the Valley View Mall arcade here in Roanoke a week after they put it out... on just 8 quarters, between the two of us.

Pre-Symphony Castlevania vs Post-Symphony Castlevania
Pre-Symphony clenches it for me, just because of so many good past memories attached to playing through them. I never played Symphony/Post-Symphony until much later in life.

2D Metroid vs 3D Metroid
Metroid is always better as a 2D sidescroller.

2D Final Fantasy vs 3D Final Fantasy
3D was the beginning of the downfall of Final Fantasy to me, personally.

2D Zelda vs 3D Zelda
2D wins by default on this one. Call me a sucker for top-down Adventure.

2D Mario vs 3D Mario
Mario 64 still kicks my ass to this day. Can't beat that damn thing.