@RogerRoger On a more positive note I did get one of the 4Oth Anniversary "The Empire Strikes Back" Hot Toys Boba Fett figures. I've never had anything by Hot Toys before but their reputation for attention to detail is very much deserved. The "authentic" fabric straps for attaching the rocket pack are unbelievably fiddly, though.
@LN78 Impressive, most impressive! Hot Toys really are on another level, aren't they? You see pictures online and think to yourself, "Yeah right, like it's ever gonna look that good in person!" and then your jaw hits the floor when they turn up and actually do. Although you're right, some of that fine, fiddly detail makes me real nervous about them. How long did you have to wait for your order, if you don't mind me asking?
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@LN78 Oh, thanks for the offer, but it's not necessary. I've been waiting a while, but I'm still within a reasonable window when factoring in pandemic production and shipping delays. Was just curious, s'all.
Might be my own fault anyway, as I went through a third-party seller, so that'll lengthen the chain, too.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger I imagine demand went through the roof thanks to the Disney+ series. They're not something I want to get into the habit of collecting that's for sure. I really wanted one of the Mark I "Iron Man" figures to put on the other side of the shelf but the prices are ludicrous.
@LN78 Agreed (although apologies for the confusion, as my orders aren't for that Boba Fett figure; in hindsight, your meaning was clear, and I read your reply too quickly). And yeah, they're definitely highly selective treats, that's for sure. I'm lucky to have my very modest collection but, even if you manage to snag 'em for their sticker price, the cost is borderline prohibitive.
It's a shame that the MCU stuff isn't a tad cheaper, given that it seems slightly less popular than Star Wars in collector's circles. If I ever see a Mark I Iron Man at a reasonable price, I'll let you know.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger From what I can gather they tend to appreciate in value pretty quickly once the "print run" comes to an end - especially the more high profile figures, so I don't hold out much hope of snagging a "Mark I" for anything close to the original price. There are some really nice statuettes in the DC "designer" line that I've been looking at that will look just as nice for about a third of the cost.
@RogerRoger Wow, that promo for LEGO SW Skywalker Saga actually has me interested! I’ve never played a Lego game before. I never really got into LEGOs. But this new game just looks like bonafide fun. Having not ever been in this sub-genre before, what was that mush mouth talk at the end? Do the characters actually talk in the games or do they speak gibberish?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@LN78 You're right, although there are some rare exceptions, and a "sweet spot" in which everybody's stock has been delivered and third-party sellers have units to shift. That being said, the DC Designer line boasts some very nice pieces indeed, so I'm not surprised it's caught your eye!
***
@Th3solution Early LEGO games were devoid of dialogue, beyond occasional grunts, yelps and very short samples, like battle droids saying "Roger roger!" or the series' famous library of death screams. It was part of their charm, but also a consequence of being relatively cheap to produce, as the first LEGO Star Wars was seen as a risk. As the brand grew, so did the budgets for each game, and LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes became the first to feature a fully-voiced original storyline; since then, all LEGO games have either had brand new voice acting, ripped dialogue from its source material, or used a blend of both (which appears to be the case with The Skywalker Saga). It'll be interesting to see how this unlockable bonus "Mumble Mode" works in practice, but I doubt I'll be using it all the time, now that we've got lip-synced mouth animations.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
So lately, I've been building my hype for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga by falling down a Star Wars gaming rabbit hole. I tried to fight it, honest. The whole sorry mess started with me booting up LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga to quickly refresh my memory on a few things, and what was supposed to be thirty quick minutes ended up becoming full fresh playthroughs of A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. Since I was on PC, this unlocked a bunch of stuff I'd never bothered with, and it wasn't long before I was able to enjoy myself like a bantha.
Then I decided to undertake my annual playthrough of the Episode I: The Phantom Menace game, during which I decided to test a bunch of glitches in its famous Mos Espa level, which was fun. Afterwards I really wanted to play Episode I: Jedi Power Battles, but it's one of those rare PSone games which doesn't work properly on either PS2 or PS3 backwards compatibility. I'd forgotten this fact, so saw its first few levels before all the music went wonky and my progression was blocked.
Next up was Episode I: Battle for Naboo, which I'd never played before. Got an old PC copy a while back, but making it work on modern hardware required some technical effort, which made me nervous enough to almost forget I had it. After some careful registry edits, however, I was up and running with Factor 5's semi-sequel to Rogue Squadron and having... well, having a kind of fun, I suppose. I was never that enamoured with the original Rogue Squadron anyway, so whilst swapping out its X-Wings and TIE Fighters for the vastly superior aesthetic of the Naboo Royal Guard was a definite improvement, and some ground-based speeder missions varied the gameplay, I was still underwhelmed. Seeing my character represented by two intersecting flat sprites did make me laugh, though.
Back to my PSone library I went, and out came Masters of Teräs Käsi, a clunky 3D beat 'em up from the golden age of "Quick, we need a Star Wars version of every game ever made!" This much-maligned title enjoys a special kind of notoriety for the ridiculousness of its premise (lightsabers are used like baseball bats, and there's a Tusken Raider with a very questionable name) but strip all that away and there's a mildly competent fighting game going on underneath. If nothing else, it was a nice nostalgia trip to struggle through its arcade mode with a couple of characters, balancing the game's manual on my knee as I checked its list of combo inputs. I managed to unlock Darth Vader an' everything!
This was enough blocky excitement for me, though, and so I swapped out the disc for Demolition, which is to Twisted Metal what Masters of Teräs Käsi is to Tekken. Best thing about this game is its soundtrack, which tries really hard to corrupt the majesty of John Williams. I don't usually like the phrase "guilty pleasure" (you should never feel guilty about liking something, providing that something is both legal and morally defensible) but this nonsense? This is definitely a guilty pleasure.
Alongside this, I was also playing the original Battlefront and Battlefront II on PC, spending most of my time on several Galactic Conquest attempts. It's amazing how much got added between both games, and not just in terms of obvious features like space combat; the first game lacks a sprint ability, for example, and all of its hero characters are non-playable NPCs which get activated as a bonus on certain maps. Still, when you're in the mood for some mindless blasting, either game still satisfies. I'm not somebody who'll obsessively defend them as the greatest Star Wars interactive experiences ever made, but I can also understand how somebody might come to hold them in such high regard.
Finally, after shifting to EA's more recent Battlefront II out of comparative curiosity (and playing Iden Versio's campaign missions which, despite the marketing machine's bait-and-switch, are still more good than bad) I returned to Squadrons on my PS4 Pro, and restarted its story for a long-overdue second pass. In my absence, it looks like I missed some server shenanigans, as I was greeted with a substantial amount of apologetic customisation currency. Not that it matters much to me, as I doubt I'll be booting the multiplayer back up anytime soon, but at least I was able to afford some of the rarer paint jobs I never thought I'd unlock, including the awesome "TIE Graffiti" from Rebels.
As for the campaign itself, I was hooked all over again. Absolutely fantastic stuff, and makes me wanna set about getting my GOG.com copies of X-Wing, TIE Fighter and X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter working properly (although again, the potential headache scares me).
Well, I guess there are still two weeks left to fill. Better get to Google, then!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Did you ever play the "Rogue Squadron" games across N64 and NGC? The first two in particular are excellent and the third (while not as good thanks to tedious on-foot sections) has unlockable arcade perfect versions of the Atari OT games from the early 80's.
@LN78 I've got the first Rogue Squadron on PC (again, from GOG.com) but memories of playing it non-stop during various childhood sleepovers have kept me from getting it up and running. I think I've also briefly played one of the GameCube ones, but that's a very vague memory. I remember it looking incredible, but I never really clicked with the Rogue Squadron gameplay. It just always felt a bit wonky to me, which was the same vibe I got from Battle for Naboo recently.
I know the series' reputation is rock-solid, though, and those two sequels represent one of the reasons I regret never owning a GameCube. I'm sure they're superb once you get used to them. I guess my young brain got wired by X-Wing on PC, and then Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter on PS2.
The recent spate of Aspyr remasters gave me hope, but I guess they'll be busy remaking Knights of the Old Republic for the foreseeable, and won't be resurrecting anything else anytime soon.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@nessisonett She was the other character I wanted to unlock, but Vader took me far too long, and I couldn't face another run through arcade on Jedi Mode. Maybe next time!
You never know. Disney have a habit of making "Legends" characters canon in unexpected ways.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Nintendo did pretty well in terms of top notch "Star Wars" games. I recently had a go at the SNES "Super" trilogy and they're excellent but (as their reputation suggests) really, really difficult- particularly "Empire". I've got "Shadows ot the Empire" on N64 as well but I just couldn't get the hang of it at all.
@RogerRoger@LN78 Ooh, Rogue Leader on Cube is definitely a classic for a reason. That’s honestly one of the first games I ever played, it was a launch title if I recall and while yes, the fact it’s brutally difficult meant I didn’t get that far, the cheat codes meant I still got to see the other levels 😂
@LN78 I've got the Super Star Wars remaster on PS Vita, and was gutted they never bothered to bring over the rest of the trilogy. You're right, though, it's very difficult indeed, to the point where I'd be slightly frightened to try Super Empire if it gets even tougher!
I finally got around to playing Shadows of the Empire late last year. It's a bit of a haphazard experience, that's for sure. The shooting levels are fine (although the less said about its notorious Boba Fett boss battle, the better) but the vehicle gameplay is a disaster. It's also painfully short, and I came away thinking "Oh, was that it, then?" so I wouldn't say you're missing much.
I also got the PC version of that N64 Indiana Jones game. I was real excited to play it a while back, but then Shadows kinda killed my mood. Maybe I'll save it for when the new movie's coming out.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
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Topic: Dex's Diner - The Star Wars Topic
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