Bumpy Trot

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:19 pm

Hey, what do you guys think of <a href="http://www.bumpytrot.com/">[u]this[/u]</a>? It isn't getting alot of attention, but I think it looks pretty swell. It strikes me as one of those clunky but well-meaning, light hearted sort of action-RPG mech games like Mega Man Legends and Tail Concerto. You also play in a band, so you have the PaRappa-looking mini game, and there's some samples of the horrible music you can download on the site. They even have some controller decorations that you print out and wrap around your Dual Shock.

I get a mid-90's Saturn/PS1 vibe from this, like it's something naive but wonderful anyway and perhaps wonderful because it's naive. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it strikes me as a remnant of an innocence lost. Plus, the main character's name is Vanillabeans. I'm totally in.

Kishi · Post by **Kishi** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:24 pm

I remember when it was first announced and Jeremy Parish said the title sounded like some kind of gastral-intestinal affliction. "Tennis? Sorry, I better sit this one out. I've got a terrible case of the bumpy trots."

Looks good, though.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 7:37 pm

I also noticed that there's a link to the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi page (and vice-versa), so I wonder if this is from the same team? It sure looks like it could be, because Zettai was exactly like that, ridiculously flawed and clunky, but wonderful in spite of it (the sequel looks stellar, too).

Who the fuck is Jeremy Parish?

Kishi · Post by **Kishi** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:03 pm

He's the long-standing patron saint of <a href="http://www.toastyfrog.com/">Internet nerdery</a>.

I always wanted to play Zettai Zetsumei Toshi.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:54 pm

You totally should, you can probably grab a used copy of Disaster Report for, like, three bucks, if you don't mind the fact that everyone's hair was changed to blonde.

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:02 pm

Parish, or Toastyfrog to the nerdy elite, ran a longstanding site concerning generally everything the GHZ itself stands for besides Sonic, and without forums. He is best known for his creation of thumbnail theatres, which are little, bitingly sharp summaries of movies and animes by way of dialogue with little pictures of the speakers to the side. They were pretty damn funny, but he purged his site of all past projects a while back, and is currently one of the main editors at 1up.com.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Post by **G.Silver** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:15 pm

I've been looking forward to this one for a bit, I plan on picking up the import next month. Is anyone looking at it for a US release?

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:21 pm

The inclusion of a trumpet playing minigame has won me over.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:15 pm

I really want to import this and probably will, though I fear the language barrier will stand between me and total immersion. I imagine if anyone picks it up for US release, it'll be Agetec, who will bring it over three years from now under the title "Gearbolt Grappler" with all alcohol references removed and Vanillabean changed to a freckled redhead named Johnny Blue.

muke · Post by **muke** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:11 pm

This game looks pretty decent, also speaking of Stupid language barriers:
looks odd

what the hell is this? It looks like a Mexican mockery of that shadow game

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 9:16 am

Mockery!? It's a fucking improvement!

muke · Post by **muke** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 9:56 am

Omni Hunter wrote:Mockery!? It's a fucking improvement!

good point, it is an improvement

Protodude · Post by **Protodude** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 5:45 pm

Oh! I remember hearing about this game a month ago. I think it looks pretty cool.

Nova · Post by **Nova** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:39 pm

Shadow the pistolero!

Post by **G.Silver** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:48 am

Apparently Play Asia needs this game to move, you can get the <a href="http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-43- ... ml#">Asian version for $8.90</a>, which is about $50 less than I paid for it. There's a frustrated, angry sound in here somewhere.

It's charming and all that but as usual I bought an adventure game and played it for a few enjoyable hours and then never picked it up again. The mech controls are just Virtual On-enough to be somewhat intuitive but also different enough to completely throw off a person for whom VO's controls are deeply, deeply ingrained (that would be me). The game throws Japanese at you constantly and you probably won't get far without a walkthrough of some kind but for $8.90 it might be worth having anyway.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:51 pm

I guess Savory doesn't get naked, then?

So assuming you would be the kind of person who really, really likes adventure games (such as myself) - do you think that would've heightened your enjoyment, or would you still only have given it one or two sittings and then moved on?

Either way, I wouldn't want to sit down and try to stumble my way through with a walkthrough, but I guess I would like to own it anyway, for potential future use. What, exactly, is the difference between Asia region and Japan region games other than the fact that Asia region games are usually a few bucks cheaper?

Post by **G.Silver** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:48 pm

If I had a recent history of playing adventure games to completion then I probably would have given it significantly more time. There's nothing wrong about the game in that regard, this is a weakness on my part. I like the idea of adventure games and sometimes I play them (does Psychonauts count?), I just can't seem to keep it up. It might be some kind of dysfunction, I dunno.

Asian games come in slightly different packaging (the fine print on the back is the main difference) and include a little fold-up "quick reference guide" covering the game's basics in English and Chinese, but in my experience the contents of the game and the instruction manual are identical to their Japanese counterparts, even when it's some kind of crazy adventure game with a ton of Japanese voice and text. I wonder how all those "asian countries" (those obscure ones, y'know, like China) feel about that kind of localization, whereas in Europe you see games that play in several different languages. Sonic and Jak & Daxter spring to mind anyway..

Adam Adamant · Post by **Adam Adamant** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 5:38 pm

I got a really cool promotional booklet for this in Japan. It looked amazing from that and I didn't even know it had the rythm action pieces.

I want to play this game, but I think I'd have to go for an english version. I couldn't cope with having to play the game through a walkthrough or something.