Games Beaten 2015

[wclem]

16. Super Mario World - (Snes)!

I still admire the attention to sound in SMW. When you're in a cave your sound echoes. When you jump on Yoshi a galloping cadence is added to the music.

The game blew my mind when I was probably 16 or so, and still does these many years later. The game is beatable by a player who is not a well trained player but brings a challenge for those willing to undertake it. 100% in this game is not easy. Still never collected all of the Yoshi coins.

1. Resident Evil 4 (PS3) Digital
2. Resident Evil 6 (PS3) Disc Version
3. Dying Light (PS4) Disc Version
4. Red Dead Redemption (PS3) Disc Version (Replay)
5. Batman Arkham City (PS3) Disc Version
6. The Order (PS4) Disc Version
7. Valiant Hearts (PS4) Digital Version
8. DMC Definitive (PS4) Disc Version
9. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4) Disc Version
10. God of War - Ghost of Sparta (PS3) PSP digital port
11. God of War - Chains of Olympus (PS3) PSP digital port
12. Max Payne 3 - (PC) Digital Version (Replay)
13. Witcher 3 - (PS4) Physical Version
14. Evil Within - (PC) Digital Version (Replay)
15. Freedom Planet - (PC) Digital Version
16. Super Mario World - (Snes) Physical Version (Replay)
17. Mega Man 7 - (Snes) Physical Version
18. Contra - (Nes) Physical Version (Replay)

On a roll today, forgot how short this one was.

[Kidpanda]

This is why I consider SMW to be the perfect platformer. Easy to best for anyone that keeps at it. But to master it takes learned skill.

[Sarge]

I wish I could get a copy of Mega Man 7 cheaply. I've never actually seen it in person.

Contra is definitely short, and if you've been through it as many times as I have, it's even shorter! It took a long time to get to that point, though.

[Flake]

July came and went without any games beaten. Started plenty - finished none.

1/3: Super Mario Bros 2: Lost Levels (Luigi Run) (3DS VC/NES)
1/4: Super Mario Bros. (Wii / All-Stars)
1/15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1/20: Super Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
1/28: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
2/15: Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (3DS)
2/15: Super Mario Land (3DS VC/GB)
2/16: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (3DS VC/GB)
3/3: Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (3DS VC/GB)
3/13: Dragon Ball Xenoverse (PS4)
3/23: Metroid Prime (Wii)
4/18: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii)
5/3: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
5/10: Donkey Kong Country (WiiU VC/SNES)
5/16: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyper Stone Heist (GEN)
5/23: Mario Party 10 (WiiU)
5/25: New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
6/18: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
8/9: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (WiiU VC/SNES)

I did something different for this run through LttP. This is a game that I played to completion dozens of times when I was a kid and although I adore the game, graphics, and story, that familiarity had made it difficult to see a play through to completion. This time I played the game using the Wii Fight Stick by Hori - and it completely changed the experience for me.

This way, the game felt much more like a Gauntlet game or similar arcade style title. The slightly reduced accuracy of the sticks movements required more careful attention to spacing so that I could deal with multiple enemies at once. Since Link's sword play was less reliable due to the input method, it made other crowd control items that I've always ignored insanely valuable. I emphasized anything that would let me attack from a distance so the bow became my main weapon of choice and the fire rod and magic pendants were there to get me out of scrapes.

Essentially, it was a Zelda game where Link sucks at sword fighting and it was a great experience.

[Markies]

I beat Chaos Wars on the PS2 this evening!

I really love SRPG's such as games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea and Phantom Brave. I bought Chaos Wars because it is in the same mold and after playing it for almost three years, I beat the damn game. The best part of the game is being able to play with so many different characters from so many different games. They have characters from Shadow Hearts, Growlanser & Gungrave just to name a few. It was great to see these characters as it got me excited to play those games. Also, they have a randomized battle map, so you are not fighting the same map over and over again for experience points.

The voice acting is notoriously bad and even though it is not too terrible, it is clearly done by just random people. The amount of grinding in the game is insane as you have so many characters and you need so many of them at random times for different battles. Also, the game implements a double health bar like in a fighting game. When I only have five characters on screen at once, one of those bars usually refills and they regain health. It makes fighting bosses rather painful.

Overall, the game isn't as awesome as those other games, but if are a hardcore SRPG fan, then it is not a bad game. It is perfectly salvageable and a decent game.

[Sarge]

Oh, I dunno, that voice acting is pretty awful.

[Ack]

1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)
5. The Tick (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Alien vs Predator (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. X-Kaliber 2097 (SNES)(Action Platformer)
8. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
9. Shadowrun (SNES)(RPG)
10. Quake II (PC)(FPS)
11. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)(RPG)
12. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PC)(Action)
13. A Story About My Uncle (PC)(Platformer)
14. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)(FPS)
15. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (PC)(FPS)
16. Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
17. Catacomb Abyss (PC)(FPS)
18. Catacomb Armageddon (PC)(FPS)
19. Catacomb Apocalypse (PC)(FPS)
20. The Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
21. Catacomb 3-D (PC)(FPS)
22. EarthBound (SNES)(RPG)
23. Quake II: Ground Zero (PC)(FPS)
24. Quake II: The Reckoning (PC)(FPS)
25. Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (PC)(RPG)
26. The 7th Guest (PC)(Puzzle)
27. Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (PC)(RPG)
28. Loom (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
29. Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)(Action Platformer)
30. System Shock 2 (PC)(Survival Horror FPS)
31. Final Fantasy V (SNES)(RPG)
32. Descent (PC)(FPS)
33. Mortal Kombat 2 (SNES)(Fighting)
34. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
35. Alien Shooter (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
36. Alien Shooter: Fight for Life (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
37. Alien Shooter: The Experiment (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
38. F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (PC)(FPS)
39. F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (PC)(FPS)
40. Among the Sleep (PC)(Survival Horror)
41. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (PC)(FPS/RPG)
42. Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)

Alien Shooter 2 takes the basic top-down gameplay formula of the first game, adds in an RPG-esque experience and stat system, introduces a variety of weapons across different types, brings new items to the table, improves upon the enemy design of the original game, and then tosses in a better translated plot. Basically it is Alien Shooter improved in just about every way it could possibly be improved without changing the basic formula and then better explains why all of this is happening. There are even a couple of vehicle levels where you drive a pickup truck with a mounted minigun or a tank that fires mini-nukes. Awesome!

It's also a considerably easier game, depending on how you build your character. I went for a lady with high accuracy(which affects damage potential) and spent most of the game mowing alien hordes down with a machine gun until finally grabbing the most powerful shotgun in the game. With a hard hitting handgun along for the ride and my focus staying on rapid fire for crowds and shotgun for damage spikes against tougher critters, I ended up almost never bothering with explosives or energy weapons. I never died and only used a medkit once during the game, in contrast to the brutal ending of the original Alien Shooter and its expansions.

Unfortunately it's not a perfect game. There are some bugs which can get annoying quick, particularly when they force you to restart a level. I ended up having to run through the 6th mission three times before finally beating it because I kept getting stuck on broken boxes and walls. The third time I did it again but somehow managed to sneak my way out right as I was thinking I would just quit and go play something else. I also encountered a level later that claimed to have 0 secrets present, yet when I beat it the game claimed there had been quite a few that I missed. That irked me a bit, though it didn't stop me from pressing on. And while there aren't nearly as many grammatical errors as the original game, a couple still managed to sneak their way in.

If you like top-down shooters, I think you should try out the Alien Shooter series, particularly the second one. It's an improvement on the first in nearly every way. I bought both on GOG when they were on sale, so overall I spent about $5. They were definitely worth the cost of entry.

I should note that the version on GOG is Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded. This version is apparently an updated release of Alien Shooter 2 and added in a new level as well as a variety of tweaks to the RPG system and the weapons. If you are going to try AS2, get Reloaded.

[Damm64]

1- Heavenly Sword (Ps3)
2- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3)
3- Sonic Generations (Ps3)
4- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (3DS)
5- Legend of Zelda: Link between worlds (3DS)
6- Castlevania: Mirror of Fate (3DS)
7- Pokemón Crystal (GBC)
8- Pokemón Fire Red (GBA)
9- Pokémon Y (3DS)*
10- Duke Nukem Forever (PS3)
11- New Super Mario Bros (DS)
12- Dishonored (PS3)
13- Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
14- House of the dead overkill (Ps3)
15- The Evil Within (PS3)
16- Portal 2 (PS3)
17- Ratchet & Clank (PS3)

I remember someone on the forum warned me that this game had some flaws and make it sound like it was almost unplayable... maybe i will feel it after playing the others but this game is cool. It is a bit rough around the edges but is totally playable, besides the dificulty curve on some planets, i had a good time with the game. It's like Mario 64, banjo kazooie and crash bandicoot had a baby and the that baby got a bunch of guns.

Not sure if i will play the second right away or let it rest a bit to avoid franchise fatigue.

[Markies]

Oh, I dunno, that voice acting is pretty awful.

Oh, don't get me wrong, it's bad. Uru & Karen in particular always bothered me...

But, it's also done by regular people. It felt like that they hired some random people to do the acting as I think most of them were family members of employees.

It's just not the worse thing in the world. Personally, I'd take under voice acting rather than over voice acting any day.

[Ack]

1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)
5. The Tick (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Alien vs Predator (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. X-Kaliber 2097 (SNES)(Action Platformer)
8. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
9. Shadowrun (SNES)(RPG)
10. Quake II (PC)(FPS)
11. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)(RPG)
12. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PC)(Action)
13. A Story About My Uncle (PC)(Platformer)
14. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)(FPS)
15. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (PC)(FPS)
16. Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
17. Catacomb Abyss (PC)(FPS)
18. Catacomb Armageddon (PC)(FPS)
19. Catacomb Apocalypse (PC)(FPS)
20. The Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
21. Catacomb 3-D (PC)(FPS)
22. EarthBound (SNES)(RPG)
23. Quake II: Ground Zero (PC)(FPS)
24. Quake II: The Reckoning (PC)(FPS)
25. Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (PC)(RPG)
26. The 7th Guest (PC)(Puzzle)
27. Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (PC)(RPG)
28. Loom (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
29. Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)(Action Platformer)
30. System Shock 2 (PC)(Survival Horror FPS)
31. Final Fantasy V (SNES)(RPG)
32. Descent (PC)(FPS)
33. Mortal Kombat 2 (SNES)(Fighting)
34. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
35. Alien Shooter (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
36. Alien Shooter: Fight for Life (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
37. Alien Shooter: The Experiment (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
38. F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (PC)(FPS)
39. F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (PC)(FPS)
40. Among the Sleep (PC)(Survival Horror)
41. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (PC)(FPS/RPG)
42. Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
43. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (SNES via Super Mario All-Stars/Super Mario World)(Platformer)

I may or may not have run through my house shouting, "GOAL!" when I beat this.

Lost Levels is a frustrating master class in Super Mario Bros. game design. I do not like it, but I definitely have a greater appreciation for the speed and substance of it and its predecessor. My run involved me getting to the end of level 8-4, defeating the dual Bowsers, and rescuing Princess Peach for the end screen, so I consider this game beaten but not completed. I'm now in a level apparently named after a steak condiment.

So what makes Lost Levels so hard? For one, it requires that you throw yourself into its levels at full tilt, but it also requires that you memorize the level layout to understand just when you need to jump, when to dodge, what blocks to go after, and what to avoid. You cannot take this cautiously and survive. You don't have time, and the game will penalize you in places for doing so. But more importantly, you have to learn to mesh and flow with the level design. Every level in Lost Levels is beatable, but you have to learn how that level is beatable. Do you run through this series of pits or try to jump it? If you jump at this point over an enemy, you may hit an invisible block, so train yourself to jump slightly earlier or later than you normally would. A lot of the design involves building muscle memory and then breaking that muscle memory to build understanding, appreciation, and ultimately transcendence. When you finally reach the "hardest" jump in the game, a nasty hook that requires you perfectly curve yourself around to reach a pipe under you without a safety net, you will be ready for it.

I won't lie, it's a daunting challenge. The hype is well deserved. My girlfriend had played through the first Super Mario Bros. on the NES years ago and enjoyed it, so I invited her to take a look at level 8-4 as I struggled with it. She watched for a minute, shook her head, and left the room saying, "Nope, nope, nope," at the challenge. It is tough. But it can be done, and it is a definite thrill once you do it.

I admit, I've gotten my ass kicked and walked away in frustration more than once with this game. But I kept coming back to it and working my way through the challenge, slowly uncovering each new piece of the level until finally making the push through it to the end. Now I have the letter levels to get through, where I hear the game goes from hard to sublime. I don't know if I'm up to that, but I admit that part of me really does want to try.