CGA-2025-11 🔴🟡🔵🟢 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 PlayStation WHAT?
COLOSSAL GAME ADVENTURES PRESENTS:
🐶️⚡️🥤🎼😤 PlayStation WHAT? 🎤️🪵🏃🐰🚁
Introduction
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a 2003 Metroidvania, developed and published by Ko-
Wait, that didn't make it? What am I presenting?
Oh. Oh boy.
Here's my dirty little secret: I've only played one of these games! But I know all of 'em, at least, and I'm just as excited to play them too. So! Let's set the scene a few years back.
It's the mid-'90s, and Japan's '80s economic bubble burst due to some sick gamer-level capitalism exploit bullshit going awry. But good news! Its most successful tech megaconglomerate exports are still chugging along on good brand recognition. You go, consolidation of wealth.
Sony is riding high, and running on pure anger from their infamously botched plans for a SNES CD add-on with Nintendo. Despite some internal mix of interest and doubt, they release the PlayStation in 1994. It's selling like gangbusters, and they're in a position to take risks.
Well, sorta. They direct a production arm, Sony Computer Entertainment, to throw money at different development teams; those devs fill in to help make PlayStation hits. Ridge Racer, Crash, Tekken... Look, just check this list and peep at how often SCE pops up here. Sony wanted to make sure their library was rock solid: 14 out of the 22 of the games within the first two years had SCE's hands in the cookie jar. To sell over a million... Cookies. With a dozen genres of cookies covered. The PS1 outsold the PS3! And we all know, the PS3 had no cookies.
But you can't just live on expectation, or the big fish, or cookies. (The big cookie?) Look at the Xbox right now! You'll get stagnant and supplanted by The Bigger Thing. You need funk to stand out. Variety. IP. Je ne sais cookie. Something no one else has. Sony knew this, and a lot of Japanese creators are ready to make some reeeal fresh games.
Here's where we come in. CDs suddenly enable crazy multimedia opportunities for artists and musicians to get their ideas across, and 3D environments are the hot new thing. Myst is just a bunch of pictures, videos, and audio strung together, and people are still caught up in how immersive that PowerPoint can be. So come on, this should be easy! Slap something together - an idea, your brand, a simulacrum of this dumb thing you like. Maybe it works, and congrats, you're a cult artist! Maybe it doesn't? Give it 20 years, and congrats! You're still a cult artist. What can go wrong?
Sony enables some of these ideas themselves through SCE; others do it on their own. Either way, some very original stuff is thrown at the PlayStation. Some of the pasta really sticks to the wall. ...Or, some of those cookies stick to the jar? I'm bad with extended metaphors.
Anyway, these games speak for themselves. Let's play them!
I've got a separate post which I will keep down in the discussion for some fun context, history, and trivia about the games, for anyone who would like them. But overall, my advice: just play 'em. Most of them you'll get within five minutes, or they may already have you hooked by then. Some games are about the shock of an idea, the opportunity and newness driving them to fruition over polish, implementation, even thought. It's about the feeling.
If you haven't played some of these, promise me you'll ignore any write-ups, screenshots, videos, anything, and try at least one fresh, without any prior knowledge. I think we'll all be a little better for it!
Or, traumatized!
Here are the games:
Parappa the Rapper
Info
Versions: Original (PS1 - 1996, PSP - 2006), Remastered (PS4 - 2017)
Genre(s): Music / rhythm
Stores:
PlayStation Store (Remaster)
How Long To Beat:
2-4 Hours
Not much to replay!
Parappa the Rapper 2
Info
Versions: Original (PS2 - 2001, PS4 - 2015)
Genre(s): Music / rhythm
Stores:
PlayStation Store
How Long To Beat:
2-5 Hours
A little more replayable!
Irritating Stick
Info
Versions: Original (PS1 - 1998)
Genre(s): Arcade, precision
Stores:
Generally unavailable! ~$30 on ebay
How Long To Beat:
4.5 hours, according to a single dude on howlongtobeat
Years of therapy
Pepsiman
Info
Versions: Original (PS1 - 1999)
Genre(s): Arcade, runner
Stores:
Generally unavailable! Uhhhh, $286 on ebay secondhand? $900 for an unopened copy?? Holy hell.
How Long To Beat:
2-4 hours
Additional hours of working off those Pepsi calories
Vib-Ribbon
Info
Versions: Original (PS1 - 1999), Ports (PSP, PS3, and PS Vita - 2014)
Genre(s): Music / rhythm
Stores:
~$40 secondhand
Technically I think you can still load money to your account via an active PlayStation Store and then buy it on the Vita..?
How Long To Beat:
30 minutes - 1,349 years?
Incredible Crisis
Info
Versions: Original (Arcade, PS1 - 1999)
Genre(s): Arcade, music / rhythm, puzzle, shooter, etc, etc, etc...
Stores:
Generally unavailable! ~$30 secondhand. This CGA is expensive!
How Long To Beat:
3 hours
1 explanation to your partner about that "back massage"
Important
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Yes, these games are weird and rare! But any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.
-
Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.
<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>
Spoiler text goes here.
</details>
Game Setup
The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:
Share which version of the game you're playing
Share what hardware you're playing it on
Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
Ask questions if you need help
Ask what the hell is going on in Incredible Crisis
Get checked for RSI after Irritating Stick
Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:
Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
What about its system or era?
What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
What are you expecting from this game in particular?
U rappin' good?
Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:
Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
Ask for help if you get stuck.
Offer help to others.
Share some sick beats for Vib-Ribbon.
It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.
FAQ
What is CGA?
Colossal Game Adventure (CGA) is Tildes' retro video game club.
Each month we will play a different retro game/games, discuss our thoughts, and bask in the glorious digital experiences of yesteryear!
Colossal Game Adventure is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure. It's one of the most influential games of all time, one of the first text-based interactive games, and one of the first games to be shared online.
What do we want to do with this group? Play influential games; interact with each other through text; and share the love for retro games online!
It also abbreviates to CGA (because we love chunky pixel art), and its name communicates the Colossal amount of fun and excitement that we have with retro video Games in our shared Adventure of playing them together.
Do I have to sign up?
No. Participation is open to all.
There is a Notification List that will get pinged each time a new topic goes up. If you would like to join that list, please PM u/kfwyre.
Are there restrictions on what/how to play?
Each month will have a focus game or games that will guide our discussions. Beyond that, there are no restrictions. The philosophy of CGA is to play in a way that works for you!
This means:
- Choose whichever version of the game you want.
- You can use cheats, save states, mods, etc.
- You can watch a streamer or longplay instead of playing it.
If you have already played a game and want a different experience:
- Try a randomizer or challenge run.
- Play a different version of it.
- Play a related game (sequel, spiritual successor, something inspired by it, etc.)
There is no wrong way to participate in CGA, and every different way someone participates will make for more interesting discussions.
What is the schedule?
Each month the Insert Cartidge topic will be posted on the 1st, while the Remove Cartridge topic will be posted on the 20th.
Nomination and voting topics will happen in March and September (every 6 months).
Schedules are also posted then.
All CGA topics are available using the colossal game adventure tag.
What do Insert and Remove Cartridge mean?
Inserting and removing cartridges are our retro metaphor for starting and stopping a given game or games.
The Insert Cartridge topic happens at the beginning of the month and is primarily about getting the game up and running.
The Remove Cartridge topic happens toward the end of the month and is primarily about people reflecting on the game now that they've played it.
There are no hard restrictions on what has to go in either topic, and each can be used to discuss the game, post updates, ask questions, etc.
One last parting thought til the 20th when we eject: there are so many games for this system that are completely out of the ordinary. But for now, let's keep the conversation on these until we hit the Eject thread on the 20th! And then I'd suggest we open the floor for more weirdo shit to ricochet off the walls.
Over a week ago, I made a reply to the CGA schedule thread about how to get into playing this month's games through real hardware, giving the opportunity for tilderinos to gather the required materials ahead of time. While pretty much everything I said there is correct, I omitted which software to download and its instructions, and erroneously overlooked the fact that UDPBD superseded the SMB protocol when it comes to security and read speed.
I managed to get my SCPH-50001 PS2 running PS1 and PS2 games off from HDD, this time using the most straightforward method in the entire PS2 hacking scene, the English patch for the Japan-only PlayStation BB Navigator (PSBBN). I thought this was the way to go for everyone's interested in playing two generations of games on a single original hardware...
...Until I attempted to reach the main menu in Vib-Ribbon, to which the screen unfortunately freezes during the loading screen. Irritating Stick works fine but has some audio playback issues at the title screen, and the rest of November CGA games run nicely according to my first few minutes of cursory gameplay.
All that's left for reliable ways of playing PS1 games with real hardware is running the physical PS1 discs on PS1/PS2. Or, acquiring a PS1 console with either XStation or Terraonion's MODE installed like I did years ago, which can cost just as much, if not less, than all 5 CGA PS1 games combined.
I tried these on my PS2, booted via the POPSTARTER homebrew software. For the only PS2 title, PaRappa the Rapper 2, I ran it nicely with neutrino outside the intermittent barely noticeable microstutters, so I'd imagine the feature-packed Open PS2 Loader with Mode 1 enabled would yield similar results. Which is how I'm going to play the PS2 game for this month's CGA.
It goes to show that while there's a plethora of ways to get your stock PS2 hardware to run PS1 and PS2 ISOs, picking the right one for the situation is much easier said than done. Which is why I'll be bringing up the simplest and most reliable ways to get the PaRappa the Rapper 2 ISO up and running for tilderinos who prefers real hardware.
Playing games off from internal HDD (no exploited PS2 Memory Card required)
Required materials
Tear down the original PS2 network adapter using a screwdriver with cross-shaped tip until you can reach to the IDE connectors board. From there, disconnect the board and replace it with the SATA board.
Make sure the hard drive is visible on your OS before proceeding with the PSBBN installation. Formatting it might be required in some cases.
Once that's done, you can now proceed to follow CosmicScale's PSBBN Definitive English Patch instructions on the Internet. I won't provide the link for this one, given that some of the involved files (such as the official PSBBN and POPS binaries) are copyrighted materials.
What this does, is formatting the hard drive of your choice and installing the translated Japanese-exclusive PlayStation Broadband Navigator. This is where you'll be able to play all your soon-to-be-installed PS1 and PS2 games, homebrew apps, media, and even browsing channels through a replica of the official defunct PSBBN server purely for fun.
At least 4.8GB of storage is required to house the PaRappa the Rapper 2 ISO. You will also need to install PlayStation 2 Basic Boot Loader (PS2BBL) in order to boot straight into PSBBN. Reassigning X and O for Confirm and Back respectively is also possible during the installation process, but this setting won't apply for the in-game reset menu for POPSTARTER-loaded PS1 games.
The PSBBN installer will also automatically add the most recent version of OPL, Neutrino, NHDDL, Retro GEM Disc Launcher, and wLaunchELF_ISR file browser. It's all there for those who only wants to play games, while also leaving the door wide open for more homebrew options easily accessible in the future.
Protip: If you want to access a game much quicker in PSBBN, highlight the game in the Collection submenu of Game Collection, press Triangle button and select Add to Navigator Menu. Pressing the Select button at any point in PSBNN will bring up the Navigator Menu and launch the game from there. Keep in mind that you're allowed to have up to 4 shortcuts.
Playing games off from local network
Required materials
Required software
If you can't get your PS2 to access the internal HDD and a memory card with Free MCBoot install, you can try some of the many exploits that don't require these materials. Or simply purchasing a PS2 Memory Card with either Free MCBoot or OpenTuna already installed.
The BOOT-EXFAT.ELF file needs to be renamed into BOOT.ELF and placed in either
mc0:/BOOT/ormc1:/BOOT/, depending on which slot the exploited PS2 Memory Card is put in. Once that's done, you'll be able to boot to wLaunchELF_ISR and read any media that's formatted with FAT32 or exFAT file system.Make sure that both the PC and PS2 are connected to the same network (e.g. Wi-Fi router) for UDPBD to work. For the latter, if nhddl cannot find the udpbd_ip flag in nhddl.yaml file that's found within the same folder as the executable, it will look at
SYS-CONF/IPCONFIG.DATin the media where you're booting wLaunchELF_ISR from for the IP address.On PC, run the UDPBD Server application through a command line interface using a specific line command.
Windows:
udpbd-server.exe \\.\[insert drive letter]:Linux:
sudo ./udpbd-server /dev/[insert drive letters]Once the server is up and running, nhddl should be able to scan the networked drive and get neutrino to launch a PS2 ISO of your choice.
Your expertise never ceases to amaze me, J-Chiptunator! Your command of information about consoles and games is genuinely unparalleled.
Also, I'm one of the people that's playing the games this month on "easy mode", but I absolutely love that at least someone is being true to the hardware. It's very much in the spirit of the event.
Incredible post, thanks!
Sorry for the late post! I had this all written up, but life happened and suddenly this was the busiest day of the last couple months for me. Part of that was being home with my kids, so I'll tell them to host CGA sometime. Maybe right after potty training.
Since these games are all pretty odd, and pretty short, I very strongly suggest trying 'em out as blind as you can. But for someone who wants a little extra history, or nudge, or a bit for those who already played these, I've made some write-ups collecting various trivia and stories behind development to set the scene. Read at your own peril!
PaRappa the Rapper 1 + 2
Here's one I wanted to put effort into, because it's easily the best documented one of the gang and an anchor of sorts.Sony Computer Entertainment had more than one production division helping devs crank out games. One of these divisions isn't division two, or five - it's literally Division Zero, according to artist Rodney Greenblat. In his words, they "just make whatever".
Greenblat, too, just makes whatever. Sculptures, children's books, and... Dazzeloids, a sort of interactive book in the very '90s CD-ROM multimedia way. It turns out Japan really likes Dazzeloids, and Sony pulls him in on licensing projects. They jive, making t-shirts and whatnot.
At the same time, ex-pop star Masaya Matsuura is done with his pop group Psy-S and turns to multimedia projects. He starts a video game development company, NanaOn-Sha, and gets a very Mario Paint-like project Tunin'Glue on the Apple Pippin. Then he's got another crazy idea, which somehow ends up at Sony.
His wife likes Greenblat's brand of just making whatever, so she recommends Matsuura pull him in for this project. Greenblat goes to Division Zero, which looks like a secret laboratory to him. They also jive.
The team doesn't think it's going to make any money. They do anyway, and they make a little more than whatever.
PaRappa the Rapper
What is this?
Wikipedia is purporting PaRappa to be the "first" rhythm game. This seems a little off; Dance Aerobics used the NES Power Pad to hit buttons on beat, and it docked you points for missing in step, so, ehhh. I also found some other stuff - Rock'n Bark had you shooting targets to an 8-Track in the '70s, of which I cannot find a single video for the life of me. Simon may not require you to be on the beat, but rhythm is certainly at the heart of it. As we really know em, though, PaRappa certainly popularized the shit out of rhythm games as A Thing. beatmania would come about a year later.
PaRappa started off as a synthesizer/sampling program for kids, really a toy rather than a structured game, but the project shaped itself into a narrative. Even though he was "just" doing the art, Greenblat had a significant amount of creative input, as Matsuura and the team would find ways to incorporate his drawings into the story and lyrics. They asked for a karate master, he gave them a fucking onion-dude. The team loved it, so they leaned in on the whole onion thing.
From what it sounds like, the game was extremely fun to make. Everyone was focused on making the thing feel like something fresh, even if it wasn't going to sell. But it did! PaRappa was a de facto mascot for PlayStation for a while due to success in Japan. Greenblat says Sony of America never really got the game, but it got its cult following. Here we are!
Playing PaRappa, you can tell they had fun. It isn't very much, taking a step back and looking at it strictly as a game or a product - you get a call, you respond with the button presses, and it's only six stages. It's not particularly robust, and replayability is nonexistent past figuring out the system and high scoring. But christ, there is little else so willing to be itself in the medium like this with the level of risk involved with '90s video game publishing. It's bursting with untethered fun; colorful, funny, catchy, wild, and a beautiful fusion of American and Japanese pop culture. It's also ridiculously short! And that's not a bad thing, as it doesn't overstay its welcome.
What do I need to know?
I don't want to spoil much about the game itself, so I'd suggest jumping in. There's a little something extra, but it's more fun to stumble on rather than talk about.
The game is also a little harder than it looks! Since it's a pretty early rhythm game, the input timing is a bit tight. Certain versions and digital setups make that even tighter due to lag, so for those wondering how to play it, I'd suggest OG hardware or emulating the PS1 version on a setup with less lag if possible. (ie NOT your digital TV.) The PSP release is unfortunately somehow worse, and I don't believe the Remastered version didn't provide any options to adjust input lag? If you have trouble, a common suggestion is to ignore the track on-screen for timing and go with the music. Feel the rhythm! You gotta belieeeeve!
Also, funny story: this nomination was originally submitted as PaRappa the Rapper 2 under the pretense that @kfwyre thought it was a PS1 game. (Whoops! Who-whoops!) So we've got a PS2 game in here. These games are so short that I'm taking a little artistic liberty to loop in 1 as well, but let's talk about 2!
PaRappa the Rapper 2
PaRappa the Rapper 2 is more PaRappa! Call and response. Help PaRappa figure out a noodle epidemic. Get funky.
The first game is and was so wacky and new that it was a bit disappointing to some that there wasn't a big creative shift. In the interview which I'm using for a lot of history here, Greenblat - who I'm sure is biased - mentions that PaRappa 2 totally burnt him out, as a project that went through the motions when the spark wasn't quite there anymore due to production problems with Um Jammer Lammy. He says he considered himself done with the video game industry after that.
(Except, he forgets that he wasn't! He made Major Minor's Majestic March on the Wii, which was a collaboration with Matsuura again. It, uh, bombed. Hard. No wonder he forgot.)
PaRappa was pushed by Sony as something that could be a flagship series. Even in the US, they did a tie-in with McDonald's for 2, and there are some Happy Meal demo discs which have a McDonald's in the beginning burger-related song. We also get a motherfuckin De La Soul tie-in music video out of it. They tried! But the niche it dug for itself just wasn't deep enough, and PaRappa's been dormant since 2002.
That all said - aside from one recent particular critical review about the lack of creativity, I see VERY little opposition in retrospectives about 2, and I'm excited to play it myself. If you like 1, and you want more, then spin 2! It tightens the system up - better timing, lines change on multiple playthroughs to add some replay to the linear structure, and there's a multiplayer mode. Also, the SOUNDTRACK! unga bunga. The original is great, mind you, but it's very colorful, bouncy, MIDI stuff. These backup tracks in 2 are some crazy acid jazz shit.
Anything else?
Oh, yeah. Multiplayer! For this month's extra credit, we're totally gonna do a rap battle tournament. Ping me in the comments if you want to join in! I'll try to figure out a date and a quick tutorial to set it up. We'll all need to figure out PCSX2 netplay to make it work, but like, we can't not do this. I hear the multiplayer is totally, wonderfully, bullshit.
...Also I had to put this somewhere - Greenblat casually put a fucking sheep giving birth in Dazzeloids, which seems to be a core memory for a few people in the comments. Thanks, Rodney.
Irritating Stick
You know those carnival games with a metal stick? And you have to get it to the other side of a maze without touching anything?
No? Okay, maybe you've played The Impossible Game on Newgrounds like two decades ago? albinoblacksheep? Ebaums? Kids these days.
Operation! Like, the board game. But a maze.
Yeah.
Irritating Stick
What is this?
You have a time limit to get to the end of a maze, only using your directional input. This is supposedly based on a particular game show, so there are plenty of wacky obstacles and an announcer eggs you on. If you touch the side or an obstacle, your controller jumpscares the living shit out of you with max vibration.
You may be wondering why this is a game. But if you've ever played a precision platformer, or threaded needles, or done anything which required precise hand-eye coordination and you keep fucking up but by the grace of your cramping flexor pollicis brevis you are GOING TO DO THIS , this is about as distilled as it gets. You're either going to hate this, or you're going to get obsessed with it and you're going to hate this.
I know who you are. We're gonna have f u n . Also, potentially, RSI. Stretch and take breaks!
What do I need to know?
There's a speed changing mechanic, so you won't be entirely lost without an analog stick. But, friends, use a controller. Don't hurt yourself.
The announcer straight-up catcalls you in the Japanese version, and isn't much better in the American one. So if he's annoying the piss out of you, you can turn it off in the options.
Anything else?
@kfwyre is a sadist.
Pepsiman
PEPSIMAAAAAAAAAN!
What is this?
DUN! DUNNNN DADA DUN! DUNNNN DADA
What do I need to kn-
PEPSIMAAAAAAAAAN!
[trumpets blaring]
...Anything else?
Alright, alright. This is Pepsiman. It's a 3D runner, in the vein of Temple Runner and Subway Surfers. But Pepsi.
Aaand that's all you should really know before you start this, for full effect. Really, I think the trivia behind it is about as effective as any actual history:
It's definitely not the first runner game, as there were a decent number of 2D examples and some Mode 7-style examples on the Genesis and SNES. But Pepsiman might just be the first full-3D runner..?
You had to pay for this! It's no Chex Quest. Thankfully it wasn't full price; looking around, I saw a 2800¥ label on a wrapped copy from ebay? But still, it's like a $20 USD advertisement, in 1999-bux...
Despite being in full English VA, and despite featuring an American actor in the FMV, this had no Western release. It's Japan-only.
That actor is Mike Butters! He leans into having done this on his Twitter, and he showed up in the Angry Video Game Nerd video on Pepsiman, joking that he doesn't remember the shoot. He's also the dude from the razor wire scene in Saw, if you, uh, somehow recognize him in that state.
What a coincide that we're talking about death game scenarios ran by megalomaniacal killers, because - hey, don't you fucking leave - this was Zero Escape writer Kotaro Uchikoshi's first game! Pepsiman developed and published by KID, where he would eventually work on the Out of the Infinity series, but his first job was 3D modeling for this. For the fences and garbage cans and whatnot, though, not anything particularly important. This year he egged Pepsi to get the band back together.
The talking guy in the first 3D cutscene is Dr. Light. Like, that Dr. Light.
The game is fairly hard! If you do ollie outie, check out the legendary GDQ 2016 run for maximum APM.
Alternatively, turn RTX ON.
DRINK! SCCCHHHHLLLLUP
Vib-Ribbon
In the mid-'90s, Mercedes-Benz had a new, quirky A-class city car. Perhaps predicting the bangin' cult success of PEPSIMAAAAN, they also figured they'd jump on the PlayStation as an avenue to advertise, and hired a development studio to help them figure a game out. The gameplay would involve driving an A-Class along a line. Unfortunately for MB, one [rolled over in a moose test](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzGsvZLT3tE), prompting recalls that cost the maker a couple hundred million DM. (I can't find an actual rollover, but there are certainly enough videos of it on two wheels.) I've read that VW was gearing up to eat MB's small car lunch with the Mk4 Golf moving upmarket, so a PlayStation game dropped off the car exec priority list. The game got shelved.Of course, the game was being developed by - who else? - NanaOn-Sha. Fortunately for us, free of advertisement tethers, Masaya Matsuura took the concept and started cooking again.
Vib-Ribbon
What is this?
Instead of an unstable subcompact, Vib-Ribbon has you pilot a rabbit, named Vibri, walking through stages set to music. You press buttons to obstacles in the ground as you walk along. That's it!
The game is heavily stylized, and the graphics are all pseudo-vector lines in an extremely minimalist style. It only contains a few songs by indietronica pop group Laugh & Peace. The engine is so small, in fact, that the game runs entirely in the RAM without reading from the disc.
Why? Because you can load your own music! Throw in a CD and Vib-Ribbon will generate a course to anything you put in. Supposedly it was geared towards pop, if that helps you think of something you'd want to play. (Or, exactly what we shouldn't play...)
What do I need to know?
How to load CDs! If you're emulating, what you'll want to do is find an audio program which is capable of turning a list of MP3s into a cue format. I believe foobar is able to, but I found this utility that may be easier to use. Let us know in the comments if you have any problems.
Also, there wasn't a US release! They figured it wouldn't do well.
Anything else?
Not really! It's very straightforward, go try some tracks. But if you want a little trivia, Vibri showed up in one of the Astro Bot games. Also, Vib-Ribbon is in the MoMA's video game collection, between The Sims and (fittingly?) the Nokia Brick version of Snake.
Incredible Crisis
You ever have a bad day? THINK AGAIN.
I don't have much of a snappy intro here, because I don't think I could possibly add any spice to go along with what's already in Incredible Crisis.
Incredible Crisis
What is this?
It's about a family dealing with an incredible crisis!
...Yeah?
Okay, it's a series of incredible arcade-style minigames. About... a family, dealing with an incredible crisis. It's incredibly Japanese. Also, it's all set to ska. Incredible ska.
Like much in this collection, the less said before you dive in the better.
What do I need to know?
The Japanese relase had two extra games taken out from the Western release: a very Parappa-y karaoke game (too hard to localize to new music) and a quiz game (incredibly Japanese, reliant on kanji). Honestly you take a look at this game and it's a wonder it made it over here at all. There's a particular minigame that has a completely unbeatable pattern in the original release, so just stick with the Western release.
Enjoy the ride! The best analogue I can think of is Feel the Magic XY/XX on the DS, where it's throwing you into random shit and you go along with it the best you can.
Oh, also, speaking of minigames with erotic themes, I saw a suggestion - when you get to the ferris wheel and the married man starts giving the sexy lady a """"back massage"""", for the love of god put headphones in.
Again - I have no idea how this made it over here.
Anything else?
There are a couple Takayuki Watanabes on MobyGames; the only other game that the Incredible Crisis director is credited to is the PS1 game Vs. (which is an insanely un-searchable title on YouTube). It's odd, because that's a version of the Japanese game Fighters' Impact specifically rewrapped for Western release. The primary designer for the game, though - Kenichi Nishi - has an incredibly ecclectic rap sheet: Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Moon, L.O.L.: Lack of Love, Chibi-Robo, and... This.
That about wraps it up from my side! Or at least, until you fire these up and the sparks fly. And until I figure out PS2 netplay.
Something funny to think about with a menagerie like this: nowadays you just push an APK and call it a day to get your weirdo idea out to the public; congrats, now you're up against everything else. But back when, this stuff had to have a full retail release to get in the hands of most people and make money out of it. Production, art, manuals, getting the game to gold... No patches! So, here we are, with everything and a can of Pepsi having been put out against Gran Turismo, Spyro, Final Fantasy... And some of them did aight! Go figure. It's an odd era, so enjoy the oddities!
Great news everyone! I've revamped the CGA Schedule accordingly:
Only Irritating Stick.
In all seriousness, I am blown away by the quality of your writeups and the information you surfaced for these. The Pepsiman cutscene guy was in Saw?! And the game was made by the Zero Escape guy?!
This was such a fun read and such a great start to the month. Thank you for your seriously amazing hosting, Lapbunny!
CGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the cartridges for our first Arcade Special, PlayStation WHAT? Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing!
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I tried spinning up Pepsiman a couple months ago in anticipation of this month and my wife recognized it. Apparently, her dad played it all the time in early 2000s Hong Kong!
Unfortunately, I'm still stuck on Stage 2. No other game has made me feel like I'm in Captain Beefheart's band and he wants me to deliver him a coke in polytempo time--maybe I just need to mute the audio and not think about it like a rhythm game
That’s such a neat connection with your wife!
Also I’m abusing save states for the game, locking one in at each checkpoint. Playing as intended? Definitely not. More fun for me? Definitely.
It’s very arcadey in that it’s actually a very short game but it’s made more difficult in an attempt to pad out the experience.
But for what it’s worth, it’s a very unique experience.
Not exactly sure how I'll be playing these games this month, but probably bouncing around different emulation options, starting with the current handheld I'm using a lot, the TrimUI Brick. For Parappa The Rapper 2, I'll need to instead use either my tablet, Steam Deck or my computer. I do have a PS2, but it's very outdated and needs a lot of hardware updates and rehacking to actually function correctly, plus I'd rather be able to play untethered from a TV.
As for these games, I really only know the original Parappa the Rapper. I had a friend at the time who had relatively recently gotten a PlayStation; I was well into PC gaming at the time and had tried to bring this friend along with me. But eventually when his PC got too old, his Dad resolved to just get him a PlayStation so he could play games rather than spend the huge amount of money to upgrade their PC.
So friend got his PlayStation and I recall going to his house and us playing Parappa the Rapper off a demo disk. He seemed to really like it, but it wasn't for me; I tried a few times, but the gameplay just never enraptured me and I went away thinking it was kind of a dumb game. As an adult now, I have gone back to explore the PlayStation library since I largely missed it (again, been a PC gamer for quite awhile), but never did go back to retry Parappa, as I've never really been a rhythm game fan.
That said, I'm interested in giving it a try and seeing if my opinion is different some 30-years later. I don't think I'll make it particularly far in either game, but I'm curious to give them a go. As for the others, well, never heard of them.
Alright, sorry, ya'll, I still think Parappa is dumb and frustrating.
I've tried several times now to get beyond the very first stage and it absolutely makes no sense to me. Trying to repeat as the instructions do yields a fail, but repeatedly button mashing so the game sounds like total ass yet allows me to pass the level without an issue.
Ok, I apologize for being salty, but I don't think this game is going to be for me, like at all. The art style is fun and cute, but I hate this gameplay.
You just gotta get better rhythm bruh. 😜
In all seriousness I totally get you here. I love rhythm games but PaRappa just kind of rubs me the wrong way. It’s charming in a way that I don’t like, and I can’t exactly express why. Maybe playing it again will make me better able to explain it.
Parappa the Rapper is the Dark Souls of Rhythm games.
Have you played Vib Ribbon yet? I feel it's significantly worse.
Playing both of them I am really hating how bad the feedback is. Not knowing if you were early or late kills me.
Then again, it also just occurred to me that playing the game with a bluetooth controller probably wasn't the best idea.
I haven't yet. Honestly, Parappa left such a bad taste in my mouth, I haven't been back yet. I do have all the games loaded on my handheld, so nothing is stopping me. I need to jump back in.
I also hate this game, always have. I'm still going to give it a try because CGA honor demands it, but I don't expect to enjoy it (or almost any rhythm game).
The only game I'm excited about is Vib-Ribbon because I had never heard of it despite being huge into the PS1 and trying to find all the weird/rare games I could get my hands on. I also have always found the games that used a CD to generate content awesome (Monster Rancher did it to great effect).
I need to get to the other games, but Parappa was so off putting that I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
But I am glad there's someone else that feels the same way that I do. What an infuriating game.
I have a PS2 and OSSC and all that to have a pretty good experience if I wanted to go down kind of a real hardware route but I've never fully invested in the kind of stuff in J-Chiptunator's comment to run anything aside from real discs on it, and despite the very good breadth of the comment, none of it is frictionless so I think in this case I'll just skip using the PS2 and going with emulation. Per the emulation general wiki Mednafen and DuckStation are the way to go. (EDIT: at the time of comment I thought these were all PS1 titles, so I'm adding mention of PCSX2 for PS2 for PaRappa 2) I'm already familiar with both having tried out the retroarch cores of them on my Steam Deck (though I will set up for this CGA on my desktop PC instead of bloating my Steam Deck with isos I might not keep.)
I think I'm gonna treat this one almost like getting a game magazine demo disc for the PS1 back in the day and just kinda sample these titles without any commitment to finishing them in any way. Just checking them out to see what they're like. The only 2 of these I know anything about are Pepsiman from its GDQ appearances and PaRappa which a childhood friend had back in the day and so I've witnessed the game back then and seen it come up from time to time in internet culture like for example this lightly inappropriate meme (not much to CW just crude humor and genital injury) that I admit to finding hilarious back when it emerged.
Hooray for the first CGA "Arcade Special" have fun everyone!!
I'll emulate a little of each and I'm looking forward to it.
Like with Chrono Trigger, I'm gonna try to play these on my 3DS; hopefully it doesn't kill me!
A New 3DS with CFW is capable of running PS1 through libretro if properly configured, with a number of games running at full speed. This blog post gives some instructions which I've followed to get Parasite Eve running before, though I still need to play it fully before I can say if it's a decent experience. I expect these games to run at least a little better than it, since they don't seem as intensive. So far, I've taken the time to compress the games into .chd and tried running Parappa the Rapper for a little bit, and that one seems to work well save for some UI oddities!
If this doesn't work out, I'll simply give in and play them on a PC emulator like a normal person would. But maybe I can inspire someone to do something stupid like this too, and you can't put a price on that.
Glad to see I'm not the only one doing things on a 3DS just because its technically possible. Got moonlight game stream installed on my 3DS recently and streamed skyrim to it when some friends were over to gaslight them about a little known 3DS release. The text was as impossible to read as you'd imagine.
It's super cool that you can do that. I wish I didn't hate actually playing games on the 3DS so much. It gives me intense pain in the wrist and cramping in the hands after about 30 min of play time. It's some combination of the tiny controls and the way you need to hold it to see the second screen properly. I had the same issue with the DS, which was the first console that I every sold.
This month's selection has been quite interesting, and a slice of gaming history that I never experienced first hand. I remember some similar arcade games from the 90s, but mostly I associate this kind of games with the boom of similar concepts around the end of 2000s, with Guitar Hero and its clones, Dance Dance Revolution type games, and all the games that Wii, Kinect and Playstation Move allowed.
I think there were also some games around that time that allowed themselves the kind of freedom to experiment and genre jump that Incredible Crisis has, but I can't really name any off the top of my head. Maybe some of the Telltale games like Sam & Max had similar vibes, although definitely not in such a tight package.
That said, Pepsiman took me further back and gave me very strong flashbacks to Paperboy from the mid-80s. I spent a lot of time with that one in front of my Commodore 64. It was a very annoying game, but somehow also very addictive.
As for the rhythm game section of this month's CGA, they have pushed me to think more widely about games that are based on sequences of predetermined button presses, basically quicktime events, a style of gameplay that I particularly associate with the French studio Quantic Dream, the developer of titles like Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and Detroit. I know a lot of people have all sorts of issues with that studio and their games, but I personally quite like them, to a point where I have bought not one but three consoles pretty much solely to play a Quantic Dream game. I find their narratively tied "quicktime rhythm gaming" more interesting than the more abstract button pressing of something like Parappa or Guitar Hero.
However, I did quite enjoy it when this rhythm game concept eventually developed into titles like Rockstar, a game pretty much like Guitar Hero, but instead of a plastic toy, you connect an actual electric guitar into your system and learn to play an instrument. Nowadays, I believe there are multiple other options like that as well. Which reminds me that I should really get back to Rockstar one day. I'm an eternal beginner when it comes to string instruments.
There’s a 50% chance I will skip PaRappa 2. PS2 does not work on MiSTer, I don’t want to dig out the PS2, so I’d probably play this on the steam deck if at all. But I don’t really like the first game to be honest.
Okay, so Vib-Ribbon is adorable and surprisingly expressive for a game made entirely of angular white lines on a black screen. Also, for a rhythm game, it sure loves a tempo change!
I didn’t expect…
Spoiler
…the obstacle shapes to combine in the Hard track. It threw me for a spiky loop! That was a fun iteration on the game’s core concept.
Anyone know how to “load” a “disc” with custom songs on it while emulating? I’m currently using RetroDECK on my Steam Deck. It defaults to SwanStation via RetroArch, but it can also use:
If any of these setups are able to play custom songs, I’d love to be able to try it out.
Duckstation can read .chd image files. With that in mind, any music CD that contains a .cue and multiple .wav files, can be converted directly into that format.
Thysbelon's Convert2VibFormat scripts can pull the feat. If you're curious or stumped about the process, give this page a read for more details on how this work.
Unfortunately my MiSTer and CRT are in a completely different state. I'll have access to them over Thanksgiving but likely won't partake this month. Interested in hearing other people's thoughts on the games though!
I am hoping to set up an emulator on my computer to play some of these games, but also looks like this month is starting to get busy for me, so unsure if I will get around to it. Probably not the ideal games to play via keyboard/mouse, but that is what I got