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Blues Journey/Raguy - Game of the Week
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| Kazuya_UK |
Posted on 19. February 2008 12:48
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Have you tried turning it off and on again?
  
Posts: 3062
Joined: 11/07/2006 21:55
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Please vote in the Blues Journey poll to your right! -->
NOTE: The Game of the Week is a regular feature and a new discussion will be held each week. We'll have different media (screens/mp3's/videos) posted each time, along with a poll for you to vote on. We will be (roughly) trying to go through the games in order of release, but we will occasionally throw in a newer game from time to time, and also have occasional discussions about Pocket/CD games too.
Once again it's a little late due to me being busy, but now I'm off work for a few days and actually have a little spare time! So, without further ado, let's introduce this weeks game!
Blues Journey:
^ Click for full version
Genre: Platformer
Meg Count: 47 MB
Players: 1 or 2 player
Released on: Home/MVS/CD
Brief Description:
Blues Journey by ADK is another of the early Neo Geo titles, and is a bit of a rarity on the system; it's a colourful and cutesy platformer, of which there are not many on the Neo Geo (Zupapa being another example). It bears a passing resemblance to other old platformers like Alex Kidd and Wonderboy. In the game you have to save the peaceful planet of Raguy (which is also the Japanese name for the game) from the evil Daruma Empire, who are destroying the planet by polluting it.
It was released on the Neo Geo CD as well as both MVS/AES formats, and in November 2007 it was released on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console at a cost of 900 Points.
Screenshots:
 
 
Review:
http://www.neogeo...page_id=22
Video:
Small video of the game in action:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=opPamDfJq3c[/youtube]
Other media:
Blues Journey music is now available in the Jukebox! Several (insanely cutesy) tracks have been added for your listening pleasure!
Link -->
So, let's discuss this game in detail. Have you played this game before or is it a title you have missed out on with it being one of the older titles, and do you have the cart/CD in your collection? Also, how do you rate the game for the era it was released in, and has it stood the test of time well? Maybe you only played it recently on the Wii Virtual Console and would like to share your experience with the game?
Past GotW Discussions:
#1 Magician Lord -->
#2 Nam 1975 -->
#3 Pulstar -->
#4 Baseball Stars Professional -->
Edited by Kazuya_UK on 19. February 2008 12:49
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| garu21 |
Posted on 19. February 2008 12:58
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Super Spy
Posts: 534
Joined: 12/24/2007 00:47
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I had a lot fun playing this game   |
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| Midian |
Posted on 19. February 2008 13:57
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 1213
Joined: 02/19/2007 17:41
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I love this game a lot. Though I've never played it on a real Neo Geo, me and my friend have been playing this a lot on the Wii lately and the co-op is just very very fun! Great platformer.
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| cthulhu |
Posted on 19. February 2008 15:33
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 1360
Joined: 01/14/2007 15:26
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Pretty good and considering it's age, the graphics are very nice and extremely colorful. What I like is the fact that you're given an choice on what level to play next, with most older platformers you just play from A to B in a strict linear way. Music could have been a bit better, but it fits the game pretty well. Controls are very responsive. The game can be a bit difficult, at least for me...when I was younger I could play these kind of games without any problems but now I'm a bit older I found out I really suck at old platform games...at least more than I used to. Games that were easy for me in the past have become more difficult...maybe I'm doing more stupid things nowadays like jumping when I know I shouldn't.
Nice game.
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| Shiny |
Posted on 19. February 2008 16:17
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 2157
Joined: 02/06/2007 21:50
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I really like Blue's Journey, another quality GotW!
It's a real pity there weren't more platformers on the Neo.
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| merlin |
Posted on 19. February 2008 21:24
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 3011
Joined: 01/22/2007 09:41
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I am very keen on Raguy and have spent quite a bit of time playing it. I've got the game on Neo CD. It has very nice colourful graphics (the cuteness doesn't bother me at all  ) and quite a bit of variety between the levels. I agree with cthulhu that being able to choose between different pathways is a nice feature. The difficulty level is nicely pitched so that you have a decent challenge without it being unfairly difficult.
I was just wondering a few things about the game. I never buy anything in the shops in the game to be honest. Is there much advantage to doing so? I can't even remember what the different items do. I am playing with Japanese text but I noticed there are other places you can go into and speak to people. I am going to have to check this out on an emulator with English text to see what it all means.
I was also wondering if it is possible to get an extra heart to add to your lifebar if you play on Hard setting because with only one heart I could never complete the game on Hard. On the other settings you could sometimes extend your lifebar during some kind of bonus game after you defeat a boss. I am definitely going to give this game a go during the week. |
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| Midian |
Posted on 19. February 2008 22:02
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 1213
Joined: 02/19/2007 17:41
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merlin wrote:
I was just wondering a few things about the game. I never buy anything in the shops in the game to be honest. Is there much advantage to doing so? I can't even remember what the different items do. I am playing with Japanese text but I noticed there are other places you can go into and speak to people. I am going to have to check this out on an emulator with English text to see what it all means.
It doesn't matter much. I know that in level one you can buy a boat, a leaf one and mud, I tried buying the mud one once and it all it does is ride you over the river while you can just grab the swinging leaf above it. Don't know what's the difference with the leaf and mud boat, but oh well. Guess I'll have to check that out too for other levels, but as far as I know you don't need to enter the houses.
Edited by Midian on 19. February 2008 22:05
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| Atomduck |
Posted on 20. February 2008 00:08
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Magical Droplet
Posts: 604
Joined: 08/09/2007 03:59
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Great Platformer, can be tough at times but its still enjoyable but nowhere means the fun of Mario and Sonic. It's a pretty good game but short when compared to Top Hunter and Spin Master.
I wanna ride the King of Fighters Roller Coaster.  |
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| Goemon |
Posted on 20. February 2008 09:27
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Shock Trooper
Posts: 698
Joined: 11/10/2006 03:18
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I've actually never played this game before, but here goes...
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| Kazuya_UK |
Posted on 20. February 2008 09:35
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Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Posts: 3062
Joined: 11/07/2006 21:55
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cthulhu wrote:The game can be a bit difficult, at least for me...when I was younger I could play these kind of games without any problems but now I'm a bit older I found out I really suck at old platform games...at least more than I used to. Games that were easy for me in the past have become more difficult...maybe I'm doing more stupid things nowadays like jumping when I know I shouldn't.
Nice game.
I know exactly what you mean, and it's a VERY valid point. I think we've all been turned soft over the years by these easy mainstream 3D games!  I remember the days when I would persevere and master a game like this (and probably Magician Lord if I had played it upon its initial release), whereas now I just completely suck at them!
It's been an absolute age since I played this game properly, but I'm getting some practice in. It's always been a cool game and I wish the Neo Geo had more titles like this. One things for sure though - SNK didn't have a spellchecker when they translated this game
Kaz
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| Goemon |
Posted on 20. February 2008 09:40
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Shock Trooper
Posts: 698
Joined: 11/10/2006 03:18
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Kazuya_UK wrote:
I know exactly what you mean, and it's a VERY valid point. I think we've all been turned soft over the years by these easy mainstream 3D games!
Kaz
Don't even get me started. I couldn't agree more.
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| Kazuya_UK |
Posted on 20. February 2008 13:09
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Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Posts: 3062
Joined: 11/07/2006 21:55
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Well, been playing some more this morning. The games starting to get hard now but I would really like to complete it again.
I do like the alternate paths, not just the fact that it gives you a choice between what stage you want to do next, but also in that there are sometimes different routes in the stages themselves. Metal Slug 3 wasn't the first on the Neo Geo to do that . Also, the more I play it the more I start to remember that this game adheres to all the old platform cliches. You can see the meeting at ADK when they were planning the game:
"Hey, what stage shall we do next?"
"Well we've done a forest, we have to get a mechanical type stage and the obligatory ice and desert stages in there somewhere too!"
"Good idea... what about enemies?"
"Well, we've got those rock type dudes on the forst stage... change their colour a few times and they'll do for the other stages as well. And on the mechanical stage we'll use the same dino bad guys from stage 1 but give them wheels instead of legs!"
"Good stuff dude, now we're talkin'!!!"
Kidding aside, this is a fun game, but like I said before I wish there were more like this on the Neo Geo, or even some darker Castlevania style platformers.
Kaz
Edited by Kazuya_UK on 20. February 2008 13:09
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| Kazuya_UK |
Posted on 20. February 2008 15:08
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Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Posts: 3062
Joined: 11/07/2006 21:55
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Merlin: not sure about your question... I know when you do the lottery thing, if you get first prize then you can get an extra heart, but it's very random. Never managed to get the heart on hard so I don't know if you can.
Maybe we could try booting it up in an emulator and making a save state from right before the lottery starts, then replaying it until you get first prize... could find out what happens that way?
Kaz
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| boogiepop |
Posted on 20. February 2008 16:31
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 1587
Joined: 01/25/2007 08:13
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This has to be the hardest game we've done yet for me to just sit down and actually play. It's hard to put down what it is about Raguy that I hate so much. Maybe it's the weak animation, maybe the bland (if colorful) backgrounds, the shallow gameplay... I dunno. I just get the impression that Raguy pushes the Neo's capabilities in no way, shape, or form. Honestly, why couldn't this have been made for another system?
At least Magician Lord was cool.
Born to Die
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| merlin |
Posted on 20. February 2008 20:52
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 3011
Joined: 01/22/2007 09:41
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Kazuya_UK wrote:
Merlin: not sure about your question... I know when you do the lottery thing, if you get first prize then you can get an extra heart, but it's very random. Never managed to get the heart on hard so I don't know if you can.
Maybe we could try booting it up in an emulator and making a save state from right before the lottery starts, then replaying it until you get first prize... could find out what happens that way?
Kaz
That's a good idea of yours but for some reason I can't choose a difficulty setting when playing it on an emulator. To be honest I have a strong feeling that you can't get more than one heart on hard level which does make it very difficult but it is called hard level after all so I can't have any complaints.
I completed the game on easy level earlier today. Being out of practice I did die quite a few times in particular falling down holes and that giant insect type creature just before the last boss caused me a few problems. Tomorrow I'm going to play on Normal and choose a different route on the map.
Boogiepop: I suppose this game isn't going to appeal to everyone. When I first played this many years ago I wasn't all that impressed and thought it a bit average but Raguy really grew on me and I love it now. You never know it might grow on you a bit. At least it does offer a nice change if you have overdosed on Neo fighting/shooting games.
Edited by merlin on 20. February 2008 20:54
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| boogiepop |
Posted on 20. February 2008 22:32
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 1587
Joined: 01/25/2007 08:13
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I hope I didn't come off as being too harsh a critic. I know that quite a few of you guys enjoy the game quite a bit so you can probably write my post off as a first impression (because really, that's what it is). I'm obviously going to have to give this one more time.
Here's hoping it'll grow on me as you said.
Born to Die
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| Kazuya_UK |
Posted on 20. February 2008 22:59
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Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Posts: 3062
Joined: 11/07/2006 21:55
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merlin wrote:
Kazuya_UK wrote:
Merlin: not sure about your question... I know when you do the lottery thing, if you get first prize then you can get an extra heart, but it's very random. Never managed to get the heart on hard so I don't know if you can.
Maybe we could try booting it up in an emulator and making a save state from right before the lottery starts, then replaying it until you get first prize... could find out what happens that way?
Kaz
That's a good idea of yours but for some reason I can't choose a difficulty setting when playing it on an emulator. To be honest I have a strong feeling that you can't get more than one heart on hard level which does make it very difficult but it is called hard level after all so I can't have any complaints.
I managed to finish the first stage on an emulator on level 8 difficulty (it was set to MVS mode) and via the magic of save states I found that you can indeed gain an extra heart on the hardest difficulty via the lottery, but obviously you need a lot of luck to pick the correct prize. Seems a tad unfair really, because it makes the game SO much easier having the extra heart so to make it that random seems silly. But anyways, see the pic below, that was taken right after getting the extra heart at the end of stage 1. Like I say this was in MVS mode, but I'm sure the home cart would be the same.
As for the emulator thing, you probably have the emu set in arcade mode, so to change difficulty in that you'll need to mess with the dip-settings. It's easy though, I can show you how if you want? Otherwise just change the emulator setting to home mode rather than MVS and it'll be the same as playing it on a home console.
Kaz
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| merlin |
Posted on 21. February 2008 00:42
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 3011
Joined: 01/22/2007 09:41
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I managed to finish the first stage on an emulator on level 8 difficulty (it was set to MVS mode) and via the magic of save states I found that you can indeed gain an extra heart on the hardest difficulty via the lottery, but obviously you need a lot of luck to pick the correct prize. Seems a tad unfair really, because it makes the game SO much easier having the extra heart so to make it that random seems silly. But anyways, see the pic below, that was taken right after getting the extra heart at the end of stage 1. Like I say this was in MVS mode, but I'm sure the home cart would be the same.
As for the emulator thing, you probably have the emu set in arcade mode, so to change difficulty in that you'll need to mess with the dip-settings. It's easy though, I can show you how if you want? Otherwise just change the emulator setting to home mode rather than MVS and it'll be the same as playing it on a home console.
Kaz
That's good to know Kaz. Thanks for finding out about that. I don't really know much about dip-settings to be honest. Thanks for offering to show me how to use them but I think now that I know it's possible to get the extra heart I'll just try and play on Hard level on my Neo CD. Hopefully I'll get lucky because as you say it does make a big difference to the difficulty. |
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| boogiepop |
Posted on 22. February 2008 17:31
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NeoGeoForLife!
Posts: 1587
Joined: 01/25/2007 08:13
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Okay, so I've put a little more time in and it's not nearly as unbearable as I first thought. Nor are the later levels not nearly as short on gameplay as, say Magician Lord.
I still wonder who thought this title was a good match for the Neo though. It seems really lacking in both the visual and audio departments in my opinion.
Born to Die
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