2019/9/22: Nintendo Switch: Horizon Chase Turbo, Dragon's Lair Trilogy

[Stalvern]

My apologies for the comment mis-interpreted as rude. I have some difficulty with interpretation and communication with others.

May I ask that any copies of my post quoted above be edited out?

Then I will delete the content of this post, as I find it a little embarrassing to admit the above.

The rude comment was Cataclysm's rant on page 2. There was nothing remotely wrong with your post (and nothing embarrassing to admit).

[Retro STrife]

Great reads. In fact, your review for Dragon's Lair Trilogy intrigued me so much that I just bought the digital version last night on PS4! (By the way, it's currently on sale for $10 on the PS Store for anyone interested. The physical copies were made by Limited Run, so they are now rare and expensive.)

I have been a long-time detractor of Dragon's Lair and Space Ace - I try to love them, but I just find them so unintuitive, I have no clue what's going on, and I get nowhere with them. Maybe that method made sense in the arcade, but it's very frustrating on a console. Outside of the historical significance, they're F games to me. But it sounds like this Trilogy version really improves that problem, with some options to make my life easier, so I'm willing to give it another shot. We'll see how it goes once I play it.

As for Horizon Chase, I downloaded that game in July when it was free on PS4, but I haven't tried it yet. The controversy is making me interested though.

I noticed someone mentioned "why not get online?"

Why should I capitulate? There's nothing on the box description that says you need to be online. Why should I go out of my way to let them off the hook? It's like me complaining about DLC, and somebody saying "why don't you just buy it?"

I think "why not get online" is a weaker argument- we all read your reviews already knowing that you prefer to be offline. Perhaps it's better put this way- why dock a game's score for something that barely anyone else experiences? While you have an aversion to connecting online, most gamers are fine with it, and they use online features, and their experience is usually better as a result of it. I don't know how much the online issues affected the score. If it was docked from a C- to an F, like the C64 Critic mentioned, that might be pretty harsh for something only 10 or 20% of gamers are experiencing.

[Retro STrife]

I finally got around to trying Horizon Chase Turbo (the identical PS4 version) and I agree with a lot of your review. Screenshots had led me to compare this game to Outrun, but you're right, that's not a fair comparison at all. Neither the gameplay style or quality are the same. And "this game has no heart" really nails it. For the first hour, I was having good fun, whipping around the tracks and weaving through cars -- it's easy, mindless racing, where braking is almost never needed. But eventually I realized I was doing the same thing over and over again, with no real substance.

Still, for a budget title (which I downloaded for free with PS+), I don't have too many complaints. But I wouldn't pay more than $5-$10 for this game, and I wouldn't play it more than a few hours. I also still disagree with saying that the game should be docked "two letter grades at the very least" for prompting you to connect online. It's worth noting it in the review, but almost everyone is connected online, so it's hard to dock a game that much for something that's not an issue for the vast majority of gamers.

Next up- Dragon's Lair Trilogy. Your review got me to buy that game on PS4, so I'll hopefully try it out soon.

[VideoGameCritic]

I also still disagree with saying that the game should be docked "two letter grades at the very least" for prompting you to connect online. It's worth noting it in the review, but almost everyone is connected online, so it's hard to dock a game that much for something that's not an issue for the vast majority of gamers.

I disagree. I think this is tantamount to saying "Nobody's going to play mode X, so you shouldn't dock it for not working".
I know a lot of people who play their Switches offline, including relatives and friends who like to travel with the system.

[Retro STrife]

I also still disagree with saying that the game should be docked "two letter grades at the very least" for prompting you to connect online. It's worth noting it in the review, but almost everyone is connected online, so it's hard to dock a game that much for something that's not an issue for the vast majority of gamers.

I disagree. I think this is tantamount to saying "Nobody's going to play mode X, so you shouldn't dock it for not working".
I know a lot of people who play their Switches offline, including relatives and friends who like to travel with the system.

Ya know... that's actually a fair point - I might agree with you on that after all. The Switch is marketed for having portable capabilities, so being "always online" just isn't feasible if you're leaving home with it. (I was thinking of it more from the PS4 perspective, where you're always at home. And I don't see any upside to keeping a PS4 offline at home if you have the option to be online.)

Anyway, overall, my impression of Horizon Chase was that it's most glaring weakness is that it doesn't have any glaring strength. I didn't find anything major wrong with it, but I also didn't find any good reason to keep playing it. I might give it a D (rather than an F), but overall I think your review was spot on.

[Matchstick]

Interesting to see this thread revived again!

I'm starting to be very, very glad that I missed the boat on Horizon Chase Turbo. I, too, heard that it was an "OutRun-inspired" game, but whenever I would see the game in motion, it made me think more of the Top Gear series. I think it even has the same composer. Not that I really have anything against the Top Gear games, but they aren't the same as OutRun, and lumping them together for comparison's sake (as some reviewers out there have done) is not the most accurate pairing.

I love OutRun. Always will. I may have mentioned it on this forum or another one, but I own it for at least four or five different consoles. It's one of those games where I would absolutely go out of my way to purchase a cabinet if one were available near where I lived. Don't worry, honey, we'll make room for it!! My wife loves the game, and listens to the soundtrack in her car whenever she takes a longer road trip. My cats love the game, and will sit nearby me when I play it and turn their heads to listen to the sound of cars whizzing by when I pass them. It's just a bonafide classic.

In that regard, I don't care if we ever get a new OutRun, or a new "OutRun-inspired" game such as HCT. We already have the original, and as far as I'm concerned, for the type of game it is, it can't be beat.

On a side note, I highly recommend the Sega Ages port of OutRun that's currently on the Switch eShop. Bought it on sale for $3.99 and it was worth every penny. It clocks in at about 90 MB and never nags you to go online unless you want to post high scores. It's OutRun, the best possible version of the game aside from the arcade cabinet, itself - and you can take it with you wherever you go. I think it practically sells itself!

[Retro STrife]

Ok, I'm back one more time to revive this thread.. inspired by the VGC review, I bought Dragon's Lair Trilogy before and finally got around to playing through it. And I think the review and score is spot on. Most of my thoughts on the game were in-line with the review. Thanks for the review and drawing my attention to this game - after years of trying the Dragon's Lair series and hating it, I FINALLY was able to play through the games thanks to this Trilogy version. It has huge quality of life upgrades (like the "move guide" button prompts that show you which moves to press), that finally make these games playable for the ordinary person. Still, even with those, the games are an extreme challenge -- which really just emphasizes how bad they were before these upgrades were added. Anyway, my thoughts:

Overall: Really impressive package, with the interviews, watching the full game play out, no long loading times anymore, etc. This must be the definitive way to play all 3 of the games. I think it's important to play these games for historical significance, and this is the best way to do it (...and maybe the only way to do it).

Dragon's Lair (DL): Short sequences are nice, but less time to input the commands is annoying. I like the totally randomized sequence order. The story and rooms are pretty boring though, compared to the later games. And it just seems to go on and on, with rooms repeating too.

Space Ace (SA): Here's the only point where I diverge from the review.. I think SA is superior to DL in almost every way. The story and setting is much better, the animation is better, there is more leeway with input time and it is more obvious what you need to do. SA has longer sequences between checkpoints though, but they're still manageable.

Dragon's Lair II (DL2): DL2 is sooo much wasted potential. It has the best story and animation of the 3 games, IMO. Compared to DL, DL2 is more obvious about what moves you need to make, which is nice. But, as the VGC review notes, the game is completely ruined by one monumental flaw-- the sequences are way too long between checkpoints, making the gaming virtually impossible to play and finish. While I beat DL and SA, I had to give up on DL2 after finishing about 35%. It was just impossible. Imagine playing the game in arcades without all this extra help!! It's so unfortunate that the animation/story department did their job and the programmers ruined this game.

Anyway, thanks for the review VGC and, I just re-read it, and (after just rambling to give my thoughts on the game), I have to say it's impressive how well you described the game with so few words.