Games Beaten 2022

Post by **Note** » Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:48 pm

1. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (N64)
2. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Arcade)*
3. Metal Slug 6 (PS2)
4. Time Crisis II (PS2)*
5. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (360)
6. Shining the Holy Ark (SAT)
7. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
8. Soul Blazer (SNES)
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)*
10. Warriors of Fate (Switch)
11. Knights of the Round (Switch)

12. Armored Warriors (Switch)

Armored Warriors is one of the titles that I had not played before on the Belt Action Collection, so I was looking forward to checking it out. It's a true shame that this arcade game didn't have a wider distribution here in the States. This game is a ton of fun, and I'm glad I sat down to spend some time with it. It's a fast paced beat 'em up with mechs as the main characters. I don't think I ever played a game in this genre based around mechs, so it's great to check out something different like this.

Armored Warriors has an interesting set up for a beat 'em up. Your character has a main weapon, which is basically your main attack, and you also have a sub weapon assigned to a different button. Your sub weapon is limited though, and the amount of ammunition you have for it depends on what sub weapon you have at the moment, but it seems that it's usually a ranged attack. The mech also has a lower half, usually consisting of legs, some type of hover, or treads, also depending on what you have at the moment. The great thing though is that after you defeat an enemy, you're able to pick up different arms to customize your main attack, different sub weapons, and different lower frames which will also change your movement and jumping attacks. Wow!

Graphics wise, the sprites are really big throughout. The mechs are way larger than your usual beat 'em up characters, and the enemies are as well. The presentation is nice, but with the game being fast-paced and having a lot of enemies at screen at once, it can be a bit difficult to always tell what is happening on screen. A lot of scenarios end up being mayhem, but it's a lot of fun. Other than the usual side-scrolling and pummeling through enemies, there are a few levels that push you a long and you're just shooting through things in your way, which reminded me a bit of similar style of levels found in Alien Storm. The soundtrack is also pretty high energy and is a great backdrop for the action packed experience.

A spiritual successor using some of the same characters was later released and titled Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness, which was ported to the Playstation and Sega Saturn, to be released only in Japan.

As a huge beat 'em up fan, it was really fun to experience a game in the genre that was new to me. It's really a shame this one didn't have the same distribution and popularity of other Capcom titles at the time, and was never ported to a home console in the 90s. I feel like a port of this game would've been great on the Saturn! Huge recommendation to check this one out.

Post by **REPO Man** » Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:37 am

Apparently Knights of the Round is going to be in Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium.

Post by **Note** » Sat Jul 16, 2022 11:14 am

1. Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth (N64)
2. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Arcade)*
3. Metal Slug 6 (PS2)
4. Time Crisis II (PS2)*
5. Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown (360)
6. Shining the Holy Ark (SAT)
7. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
8. Soul Blazer (SNES)
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)*
10. Warriors of Fate (Switch)
11. Knights of the Round (Switch)
12. Armored Warriors (Switch)

13. Battle Circuit (Switch)

The beat 'em up binge continues on the Capcom Belt Action collection for the Switch. After trying out Armored Warriors I also was anticipating giving Battle Circuit a try, as this was the other game on the collection I had never played before. Battle Circuit was originally released in 1997, which was quite late for a 2D beat 'em up, as by this point 3D gaming was starting to take off. Battle Circuit supports four player co-op which is great for a night with friends. This happens to be Capcom's last beat 'em up released in arcades.

Battle Circuit takes place in the future as you control a bounty hunter on a mission to capture an evil scientist named Dr. Saturn and retrieve a computer disk. The game seems to be influenced by science fiction and anime, which is always a great mix, IMO. The game is really bizarre, in an awesome way. For starters, two of the choosable characters are a woman riding an ostrich and a plant! Yes, that's right, a fighting plant! For this playthrough I chose Blue.

Graphics wise, the game is very bright and colorful, which I really appreciate. You will traverse through some interesting levels here, including a bright park, a forest, a gang hideout that looks to be inspired by ancient Egypt, and even a feudal Japanese area, for a total of seven levels. There is also quite a set of bizarre enemies that you will fight against, including four-armed jacked up monsters, wimpy squealing lizard men, girls on motorbikes that resemble something out of Akira, and a huge gorilla with a rocketpack on his back. Capcom really threw everything into this game! The music is pretty rocking too and includes some jazzy tunes that remind me of what was to come in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 a bit later.

Another feature I like about Battle Circuit, is that you can collect coins throughout the game, which give you the opportunity to purchase additional moves at the end of each level. This is a nice touch, as you get to expand your moveset as the game progresses and add some stronger attacks to your arsenal. The game also includes cutscenes between levels, and sometimes short dialogue sequences within levels, which drives the plot along, and the scenes here are really well done, IMO.

This is another great beat 'em up from Capcom! And it's a shame that this game was never ported to a home console back around the time it was originally released. However, I think Battle Circuit had some factors against it at the time, mainly the rise of 3D gaming and the bizarreness of the game. It's unfortunate that this didn't have wider distribution as it's a really fun beat 'em up and deserves your time. I highly recommend this game, and I look forward to playing through it again later on, especially in couch co-op. Check this one out!

Post by **MrPopo** » Sat Jul 16, 2022 10:00 pm

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

1. Underworld Ascendant - PC
2. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - PS3
3. Ni no Kuni - PS3
4. Operencia: The Stolen Sun - PC
5. RPM Racing - PC
6. Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem - PC
7. Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Switch
8. Ni no Kuni II - PS4
9. Everspace - PC
10. PowerSlave Exhumed - PC
11. Horizon Forbidden West - PS5
12. Elden Ring - PS5
13. Shadow Warrior 3 - PC
14. Ghostrunner: Project_Hel - PC
15. Triangle Strategy - Switch
16. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - PC
17. Nightmare Reaper - PC
18. Kur - PC
19. Gundam Versus - PS4
20. BIOTA - PC
21. Chantelise - PC
22. Xenoblade Chronicles - Wii
23. Forgive Me Father - PC
24. Xenoblade Chronicles X - Wii U
25. Steel Assault - Switch
26. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Switch
27. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch
28. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Switch
29. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Switch
30. Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron - Genesis
31. Postal Brain Damaged - PC
32. Valkyrie Profile Lenneth - PSP

Valkyrie Profile Lenneth is a port of the original Valkyrie Profile to the PSP. It's also apparently being rereleased for modern systems as a preorder bonus for the new game Valkyrie Elysium. As I understand it, it's a pretty straight port of the original Japanese release that swaps the anime cutscenes for CGI. The game is by Tri Ace, of Star Ocean fame, and it serves as an interesting experiment that doesn't really stick the landing but gets points for trying.

The setup of the game is that Ragnarok is around the corner and Odin sends his valkyrie to go harvest souls. You are that valkyrie, and you start off by doing some spiritual scanning. This will reveal either those near death or dungeons. See, the dungeons are needed because you need to power up those souls before they're fully ready to serve Odin; if you skimp on this step you're on your way to the bad ending. But as you go forth you might start seeing that there's more going on than the simple story you were presented with, though some of that is gated behind some particular non-obvious flags you need to trip.

As for the gameplay, it's fairly esoteric. There's essentially three modes of play. The first is a mode 7-esque world map where you do your scanning and fly from point of interest to point of interest. The second is side scrolling exploration, either in a town or in a dungeon full of monsters. When you're in a dungeon there are some light traversal puzzles making use of your ability to conjure ice crystals. And finally, there's a combat screen. You have a party of up to four characters, and each side will get to take a turn of actions. On your turn you will trigger your characters to fight, cast spells, or use items. The fighting has a real time component to it; enemies can be juggled by your attacks, building up a combo meter that lets you unleash a super move. But at the same time, enemies can defend, so you want to bring in multiple styles of attacks (think Street Fighter of attack low when they guard high). You also have to be cognizant of your attack animations, as sometimes you can juggle an enemy out of a character's attack cone. There's just enough here to keep you engaged, but once you get used to a given party you'll have a lot of samey combats.

Character recruitment is notable due to the shockingly long unskippable cutscenes involved. Essentially, once you've pinpointed a soul you go to the town they're in and get to watch the circumstances that lead to their death. This tends to take several minutes, and the dialog is voiced and not skippable, so you're stuck there for a while. Many of these characters have related stories, and some have their stories related to the main plot. But it's all very disjointed, along with the handful of dungeons that are also related to the main plot (the rest are generic). It reminds one of Romancing SaGa 3, in terms of giving you breadcrumbs spaced way too far apart. Only if you're on the good ending do you finally get to see something reasonably coherent, but it only happens at the very end.

Overall, this is the sort of game that could only exist at a handful of points in time where the market was most receptive to janky experiments. You can see the ideas they were working with, but man did they not really nail the execution of the plot. That said, the gameplay is serviceable, and I don't regret playing it. I'd say the best way to experience it is with the bundled bonus for preordering the new game, as the PS1 version is way too expensive and no one owns a PSP anymore.

Post by **ElkinFencer10** » Sat Jul 16, 2022 10:55 pm

Games Beaten in 2021 - 34
* denotes a replay

January (20 Games Beaten)

February (1 Games Beaten)

March (0 Games Beaten)

April (3 Games Beaten)

May (3 Games Beaten)

June (7 Games Beaten)

34. TimeSplitters: Future Perfect - Xbox - June 18

TimeSplitters 2 was exactly what I imagine Goldeneye in the 21st Century being like, but TimeSplitters: Future Perfect took that a step further. This game is like Free Radical took their previous game and asked themselves, "How can we make literally everything just a little bit better?" These screenshots were captured with the Xbox Series X's backwards compatibility.

Future Perfect (or, sometimes, TimeSplitters 3) keeps with the premise of the TimeSplitters trying to destroy humanity by going into its past. There's actually a story here, though. You play as Cortez, a human soldier (the protagonist from TS2) who's just returned to Earth with the time crystals that you spent the second game gathering. His ship is shot down, though, as the TimeSplitters are attacking the humans' headquarters. The human general gives him a new mission - travel to the past and investigate the origin of the TimeSplitters' attacks and, hopefully, stop them before they begin. This game's levels range from 1924 to 2401, and rather than being isolated missions like in TimeSplitters 2, there's a connected story here that actually gives some context to why you're in each period of time as well as voiced cutscenes and some witty even if somewhat dated dialog.

Visually, the game looks about like TimeSplitters 2, but the controls have gotten a revamp. The Goldeneye-style aim assisted hip fire works about like it did in TimeSplitters 2 with a bit tighter control. You still don't use the left trigger to aim unless you customize the controls, but what really got a change here was the way the aim works. Rather than moving your crosshair on a static camera, you move the camera with a static crosshair the way that modern shooters works. This is a MUCH more comfortable way to aim, and it makes sniping weapons actually usable in Future Perfect unlike TimeSplitters 2. The result is a game that just plays a lot better overall.

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is almost what the name suggests - perfect. The dialog is humorous, although it does lean a bit too hard into this to the detriment of the game's story. That said, they do a pretty good job of storytelling in light of the late 90s/early 2000s humor style. The gameplay is absolutely incredible feeling and strikes the perfect balance between nostalgia and modern quality of life. There are a couple of aspects of the game's controls and mechanics that definitely feel dated, but for being two decades old, it remains shockingly playable and enjoyable. Given that it's playable (and downloadable) on Xbox Series X with backwards compatibility, it's definitely worth playing, especially if you have nostalgia for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.

Post by **ElkinFencer10** » Sun Jul 17, 2022 10:55 am

Games Beaten in 2021 - 35
* denotes a replay

January (20 Games Beaten)

February (1 Games Beaten)

March (0 Games Beaten)

April (3 Games Beaten)

May (3 Games Beaten)

June (8 Games Beaten)

35. I Saw Black Clouds - PlayStation 4 - June 19

I Saw Black Clouds is an exemplar of interactive movies. This is what three decades of full motion video games has been progressing towards. It's the perfect marriage of storytelling, cinema, and consumer interactivity. Made by the folks at Wales Interactive, the pioneers at the forefront of the current FMV renaissance, I Saw Black Clouds is everything I've wanted in an FMV game since I first played one back in high school.

The premise of I Saw Black Clouds is that your character, Kristina, is coming to grips with the suicide of her friend and roommate, Emily. Joining her in grief is their mutual friend, Charlotte. Kristina is, understandably, looking for answers and closure. Why would Emily take her own life? As she speaks with others who knew her, she starts to realize that there's something bigger than just Emily's singular death going on in the English village. I won't say more to avoid spoiling anything, but suffice it to say that it's a fantastic thriller on its own merit before factoring in the interactivity and player choice.

I Saw Black Clouds has four distinct endings, and which ending you get depends on choices you make. It's hard to really say much about the game without spoiling it, but basically, the four endings are divided into two "main" distinct story paths, and each of those are divided into two sub-paths. There are, obviously, a LOT of overlap with story events in these branching paths, but fortunately, you unlock the ability to skip scenes that you've already seen after finishing the game once, so it's a lot quicker and easier to go back and see the scenes and endings that you missed than having to go back through a two to three hour movie again.

One criticism that people will point to is the game's length. Yes, it's only about two hours or so for a playthrough. It is, after all, an interactive movie. Most of the time you spend with the game will be spent watching scenes and making a choice every few minutes. I don't say that as a criticism, though. One of the reasons I don't usually spend much time watching movies or TV is because it's such a passive pastime. Interactive movies like this fix that for me because even if it's only making choices, I have some degree of effect on the world. My choices matter and change how the movie's story plays out. Some will say "Why would I pay $13 for an interactive movie?" Well, that's only a few dollars more than most people pay to see a movie one time in a theater. That's half to a third of what most people spend to buy a movie on Bluray, and that movie is going to be the same every time you watch it. This is a movie that has four different endings depending on your choice. That's a pretty good bang for your buck when you put it in those terms.

I Saw Black Clouds really is an exemplar of interactive movies. Like with The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, the acting isn't top tier Hollywood quality, but the actors are, for the most part, pretty dang good. The story is the high point, though. The story is REALLY good, and the different directions it can take based on your choices are super interesting. There's definitely solid reason to give it a few different plays/watches to see the different endings. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea - as far as video games go, interactive movies are by nature far more passive than most games - but if this is the kind of thing you're into, you absolutely have to download this game (or pay an arm and a leg for a Limited Run physical copy on the secondhand market). It truly is the greatest FMV game I've ever played.

Post by **REPO Man** » Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:52 pm

I'm legit surprised we haven't had a bigger FMV game revival, especially given how it could have rode in on the same wave as the rise of Telltale Games.

Also. Some of you are goddamn machines! :shock:

Post by **MrPopo** » Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:55 pm

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

1. Underworld Ascendant - PC
2. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - PS3
3. Ni no Kuni - PS3
4. Operencia: The Stolen Sun - PC
5. RPM Racing - PC
6. Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem - PC
7. Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Switch
8. Ni no Kuni II - PS4
9. Everspace - PC
10. PowerSlave Exhumed - PC
11. Horizon Forbidden West - PS5
12. Elden Ring - PS5
13. Shadow Warrior 3 - PC
14. Ghostrunner: Project_Hel - PC
15. Triangle Strategy - Switch
16. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - PC
17. Nightmare Reaper - PC
18. Kur - PC
19. Gundam Versus - PS4
20. BIOTA - PC
21. Chantelise - PC
22. Xenoblade Chronicles - Wii
23. Forgive Me Father - PC
24. Xenoblade Chronicles X - Wii U
25. Steel Assault - Switch
26. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Switch
27. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch
28. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Switch
29. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Switch
30. Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron - Genesis
31. Postal Brain Damaged - PC
32. Valkyrie Profile Lenneth - PSP
33. Super Cyborg - Switch

Super Cyborg is a loving Contra ripoff, in the same way that Blazing Chrome is a loving Contra III/Hard Corps ripoff. Pretty much the only thing that lets you know you aren't playing a lost NES game is the fact you aren't seeing flicker and the slightly higher resolution. One thing you will notice, though, is that the game is designed for people who have already beaten Contra.

The story is non-existent. They don't even bother with the minimal amount that shows up in Contra. But that's ok, you came here for pew pew run run action. The game autofires for you, so you don't need to mash on the non-machine gun weapons. You've got your spread, laser (implemented as a series of shots that fire one after another that overlap), machine gun, and an explosive gun. There's also a rapid fire mod, invincibility, and a screen clearing bomb. It's your expected eight way firing, ratchet scrolling when jumping, and the like. But there is one new thing; a button to charge up a shot. You can release a full charge shot for the most damage, or you can fire it at a fairly rapid cadence (but you can't mash) to do a midway shot, which can be quite powerful on some weapons. However, there is one major problem; it's bound to the X button while jump and shot are B and Y respectively, with no remapping available. It's pretty annoying having a powerful tool in a really inconvenient spot.

Overall, it's a fun ride, and it has infinite continues and a midway checkpoint on a handful of levels for those continues, so you should be able to make your way through it with some tenacity and learning the parts that are designed to get you.

Post by **prfsnl_gmr** » Sun Jul 17, 2022 6:20 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:
prfsnl_gmr wrote:Don’t attempt the platforming section on anything but an emulator unless you want to play the first half of the demo a half dozen times.

Those games have platforming??

Kind of…you can’t jump, but you can run. If you run fast enough, you can “jump” over small gaps (like Mario running over one block gaps in SMB). Once per game, King’s Field throws a section at you where you can run across pita like this to get a pretty good weapon. Pilot Style is no exception. The problem is, King’s Field always Throws a pit at the end of the run; so, if you don’t stop in time, you fall in a pit and die. Again, Pilot Style is no exception… :lol:

…..

Also, @mrpopo, I’m glad you like Super Cyborg! I thought it was a solid run ‘n gun.

…..

First 40

41. The Solitaire Conspiracy (Switch)
42. Super Cyborg (Switch)
43. Blazing Chrome (Switch)
44. Son Wukong v. Robot (Switch)
45. King’s Field III: Pilot Style (PS1)
46. Kirby’s Dreamland 2 (GB)

Kirby’s Dreamland 2 is a Kirby platforner that expands quite a bit on Kirby’s Dreamland, but isn’t a huge step up from Kirby’s Adventure. Specifically, the game adds three rideable animal friends that each have a unique ability. Each animal friend also upgrades the abilities absorbed by Kirby, and pairing the right animal friend with the right ability at the right time is key to unlocking the game’s extremely well-hidden secrets.

Sadly, this adds way too much complexity to a game that should be a bit simpler, and finding all of the game’s secrets, a prerequisite to the true final boss and ending, is a maddening endeavor. Moreover, the true final boss requires a lot of trial and error; so, while I enjoyed my first pass though the game, I soured on it a bit trying to unlock everything.

Still, it’s beautifully animated and up to HAL’s very high standards. I enjoyed it, but perhaps not as much as other games in the series. Recommended for a casual play through, but only hesitantly recommended for completionists.

Post by **MrPopo** » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:36 pm

Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

1. Underworld Ascendant - PC
2. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair - PS3
3. Ni no Kuni - PS3
4. Operencia: The Stolen Sun - PC
5. RPM Racing - PC
6. Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem - PC
7. Pokemon Legends: Arceus - Switch
8. Ni no Kuni II - PS4
9. Everspace - PC
10. PowerSlave Exhumed - PC
11. Horizon Forbidden West - PS5
12. Elden Ring - PS5
13. Shadow Warrior 3 - PC
14. Ghostrunner: Project_Hel - PC
15. Triangle Strategy - Switch
16. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - PC
17. Nightmare Reaper - PC
18. Kur - PC
19. Gundam Versus - PS4
20. BIOTA - PC
21. Chantelise - PC
22. Xenoblade Chronicles - Wii
23. Forgive Me Father - PC
24. Xenoblade Chronicles X - Wii U
25. Steel Assault - Switch
26. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Switch
27. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch
28. Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country - Switch
29. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Switch
30. Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron - Genesis
31. Postal Brain Damaged - PC
32. Valkyrie Profile Lenneth - PSP
33. Super Cyborg - Switch
34. Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 - Switch

In my quest to fill time before Stray comes out and without leaving a big game half finished I figured I'd work through the second Luminous Avenger game. Plus, I've been a fan of all the Gunvolt stuff and Gunvolt 3 is supposed to come out this year. This one ends up being the easiest of any of the games (somewhat intentionally) but it controls smooth and is a pretty fun play.

Like previous games, Luminous Avenger iX 2 is a riff on the Mega Man X/Zero formula. You have a dash and an air dash, both of which are key tools. Bosses give you a special skill, and each boss is weak to one of them, so you got your boss order. Like the first game, if you dash into an enemy in midair you lock on to them, which lets you spam a bunch of homing shots or have your boss skills lock on to them. Unlike the first game, though, you ditch your little gun for a saw blade that makes things feel a bit closer to the Zero end of things.

The game is set up with an intro, two boss stages, a midpoint, four boss stages, and then the final few stages to the end. Your character will level up as you kill enemies, which provides an HP boost. Like before, the Kudos system rewards you for killing enemies (especially in more interesting ways) and is lost when you activate a checkpoint. If you get 1000 you enter a powered up state, which makes traversing most levels a breeze (though some are still set up in a way that is painful). There are two other ways to lose Kudos; using one of your two special abilities. One is your "do a ton of damage to everything on the screen" move, which has a long cooldown and gives you a big bonus if you finish off a boss with it. The other is a heal, which is completely spammable. This is the part where the game gets super easy, as the only instant death is a rare bottomless pit. Spikes and rising lava? They just do damage, and you can heal through it. The game does have an unlockable hard mode (which is really a challenge mode) that turns off healing, and if you're playing for score or to keep your power up mode (which you can enhance to be quite deadly) then you can't just spam heal.

The game has a much more straightforward story; you fall through a wormhole and need to get back. It's not clear if it has any effect on the main story of the Gunvolt games, but that's ok. You have some solid platforming and a choose your own difficulty option (use heal or not) and the bosses are just as great as previous games. If you're a fan of the series pick this one up.

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