Summer Games Challenge 2025 - GET EQUIPPED

[Key-Glyph]

Friends, it's time. I woke up yesterday with the feelings of summer in my heart. Was it the elevated humidity? The fact that I slept in unusually late? Who knows. But whatever it was, it felt exactly like the first mornings of my school vacations of old... and that means it felt like it was time to play some great games.

So let's do it!



What is the Racketboy Summer Games Challenge?

Over a decade ago, SnickerD00dle kicked off an annual challenge: pick ten classic games you've never finished, and play through them all in a summer. The point is not to create an obligation or pressure to "win" by completing your ten, but rather to inspire you to dive into a bunch of games you've been meaning to get around to anyway. Year after year this motivates a cohort of Racketpeeps to gather together, cheer each other on, and live vicariously through each other's fresh experiences with some dearly beloved classics. And here we go again!

What Counts as a Classic?

Alienjesus, legendary Challenge organizer for untold numbers of years, explained this well in a previous thread:
"It's pretty subjective, but generally it's a game that's highly regarded for the era, system, or genre it represents."

(There was once a grand and hilarious tradition of dsheinem dunking on people's lists for not being classic enough, but that was for comedic purposes only. There's no actual gatekeeping here. Play what's in your heart!)

Do I Really Need to Play Ten Games?!

The short answer is no! We've noticed that folks sometimes stress about the rules of the Challenge -- and may even refrain from joining entirely -- due to the perceived commitment of finishing ten games. Always remember that there is no obligation to do so and that the rules are just an arbitrary framework for generating fun. That said, if it helps put you at ease to approach the Summer Challenge with defined guidelines, consider adopting one of the following "difficulty levels" that best suits you:

PEACEFUL MODE:

• Make a list of 1-10 classic games you've never beaten
• Try to finish 1 before the summer's end

VETERAN MODE:

• Make a list of 5-10 classic games you've never beaten
• Try to finish 5 before the summer's end

HARDCORE MODE (SnickerD00dle's original stipulations):

• Make a list of 10 classic games you've never beaten
• Try to finish all of them before the summer's end

(And yes, a Nightmare Mode can exist for those of you who want to tackle 10+ games. People have done this before. Good luck. o7)

Season Dates

• Season Start: June 2025
• Season End: September 2025

(Please note that season dates are just loose guidelines. The goal is just to get active between now and the fall.)

So let's GET EQUIPPED by building our lists and launching into our games!

[Ack]

Must...resist...urge...to join...

Oh, who am I kidding? I'll start with a list of five, and if I manage to knock them out, then I'll go for five more.

1. Command & Conquer: Red Alert
2. Forsaken (Remastered)
3. Medieval: Total War 2
4. Gunboat
5. Saints Row: The Third

[alienjesus]

Hooray, it's summer games challenge time again!

I had been considering making this thread for several weeks but I was starting to doubt if anyone had much interest other than me, so I'm glad to see the post go up! Hopefully we can keep the tradition alive.

As mentioned, I have been working on my list already. Last year I only managed 6 out of a list of 10, so this year I very sensibly decided to make my list... longer. Oops!

I've come up with a list of 11 this year covering a range of genres. I'm starting to run out of 'classics' for Nintendo consoles I've not played before, but I managed to find a few for Nintendo, Sega and Sony systems.


1. Final Fight CD (Mega CD)
2. Sonic CD (Mega CD)
3. Daytona USA (Saturn)
4. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
5. Mega Man Legends (PS1)
6. Suikoden (PS1)
7. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (PS1)
8. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PS1)
9. Mario Golf (GBC)
10. Pokémon Pinball (GBC)
11. Super Monkey Ball 2 (GC)

[Key-Glyph]

Hooray, it's summer games challenge time again!

I had been considering making this thread for several weeks but I was starting to doubt if anyone had much interest other than me, so I'm glad to see the post go up! Hopefully we can keep the tradition alive.

I will always, always want to do the Summer Games Challenge. Even if the forum goes dark. Even when I'm 82 in a nursing home. In fact, if any of us wind up in the same elder care facility, I will probably just organize a Summer Games Challenge there if it doesn't exist already. Should we make plans?

I disappeared in the middle of last year's Challenge because life went a bit off the rails, but I'm actually going to go back and read through the entire 2024 thread. I know we had some new folks participating who were sharing some awesome stories, and the discussions and memory swaps are my favorite part of all this. I hope they return this year!

Here's my tentative list of ten, which I'll be attempting on Peaceful Mode:

CORE:

1. Mario Tennis (N64)
2. Pokemon Snap (N64)
3. Sonic CD (SegaCD)
4. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (DC)
5. Bionic Commando (NES)

BONUS:

6. Blaster Master (NES)
7. Theme Park (GEN)
8. Ultima IV (NES)
9. Resident Evil: Code Veronica (PS2)
10. ???

Reasons under the cut:

Mario Tennis: Does this even have a story mode? Not sure. But when I woke up a few days ago with those summer feelings in my heart, I NEEDED this game -- and thus it is going to be my Summer Challenge focus. One of my best friends had this back in the day and we played it to pieces in middle school; it is so much fun, and I've actually been meaning to pick it up for a while now. It's finally time! (I was also enthralled with Waluigi during his debut here and will be happy to have him back in my life.)

Pokemon Snap: This summer feels very N64ish to me for some reason, so this one popped into my mind shortly after Mario Tennis. I have a very hazy memory of playing this just once and never seeing it again -- but if modern games have taught me anything, it's that I'm a photo mode addict. Chances are high that I'll enjoy it.

Sonic CD: Really excited you're thinking of this one too, AJ! This and Knuckles' Chaotix (and sure, Sonic Eraser) are the only two Genesis-based Sonic games I've never played, and this one is obviously super beloved. I've been wanting to play it forever but never had a Sega CD. But now I have a Mega Everdrive!

Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future: Did you all hear that the first two Ecco games are getting remasters next year, and that a new game (oh please be the final installment in the trilogy that we never received) will be released at the same time too? Seems like an appropriate moment for me to finally finish Defender of the Future. I never got far when it was a new release and have only made one serious attempt at finishing it a handful of years ago. I did get relatively (?) far, but drifted away for reasons I can't remember. I was enjoying it though, so here's hoping I can pick up where I left off.

Bionic Commando: For a little while in elementary school I had a babysitter during the summer, and one year she and I dragged her family's NES out of the basement and went through her games. We spent a ton of time on Bubble Bobble and finished it together, and I also loved wandering around in Zelda II despite having no idea what I was doing (lol). But she also had Bionic Commando, and although she insisted it was a great game, my first impression was, "...I can't JUMP?! What do you mean I can't jump?!" I immediately wrote it off as unfun and/or broken. Now I know better. I'd like to give this one a shot and see what it's all about.

Blaster Master: I have never played this, not even once, despite one of its tunes being the theme song for the Legacy Music Hour podcast for whom I did volunteer work for almost nine years. Feels almost required that I give it a go considering that connection! Also I hear it's good. And difficult.

Theme Park: This is, I think, the final white whale game of my childhood. I could never finish this and I still think about that from time to time. I just want to check this one off before I die and might give it another attempt this summer.

Ultima IV: The original Apple IIe version of Ultima IV was one of my most profound gaming experiences, and I'm super intrigued to see how it translates to console. Might play this as a comfort/nostalgia kind of thing.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica: prfsnl_gmr mentioned he might be playing this one this year, so I added it to my list too! This was my first Resident Evil experience, when another of my best friends and I played through the first disc on Dreamcast together in high school (okay, he played; I was the "extra eyes"). I have it for PlayStation now and keep wanting to play it during Halloween, but just never get around to it. Considering playing it off-season to discuss it here!

You will notice that I do have a mystery 10th slot with nothing in it. I want to crowdsource opinions on an N64 game that could potentially fit there. For the record, I have already played through Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, Yoshi's Story, and Resident Evil 2. My partner has Majora's Mask, Turok 2, Gauntlet Legends, and Goldeneye, none of which I've played. If you could pick one of my partner's games for me to play, which one would it be? And if you were to recommend any N64 game out of the entire library, what would you pick?

Thanks all! Excited to get started.

[pierrot]

Oh! It's that time of year again--.

1. Final Fight CD (Mega CD)

So, I've played through the arcade version of Final Fight before, but Final Fight CD is really tough to get through with the limited continues. God speed, sir.

2. Sonic CD (Mega CD)

3. Sonic CD (SegaCD)

Mama mia! I always feel like everyone has played Sonic CD at this point, for some reason. Interested in seeing how this goes.

4. Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)

Great game, but I had to dump a ton of credits to beat it on arcade mode. The Saturn mode has some weapon level saving if you wanted to make it feel more like you're working toward actually beating it, but if the goal is to beat it on a certain low number of credits, it can be pretty brutal.

5. Mega Man Legends (PS1)

This one is a surprise only because it feels like a game I would have thought you'd already played. I played it on PSP, but have been kinda wanting to replay it on N64 for a little while. Feels kind of like a tech-demo for MML2, just from the scope and scale, but it's interesting, from what I remember.

6. Suikoden (PS1)

Oh, hell--YES!!

6. Blaster Master (NES)

I still have the mental scars as a souvenir from my time with this game working me over. You'll probably finish it in a sitting--.

9. Resident Evil: Code Veronica (PS2)[/b]

I desperately want this to be the Dreamcast version, but I love Code Veronica, anyway. Glad to see it make a list.

10. ???

My partner has Majora's Mask, Turok 2, Gauntlet Legends, and Goldeneye, none of which I've played. If you could pick one of my partner's games for me to play, which one would it be? And if you were to recommend any N64 game out of the entire library, what would you pick?

Majora's Mask, but if we're talking all N64 games, then Kirby 64 or Sin and Punishment.


I have to put a little thought into my list. I know it's not going to look pretty anyway, but I'll cobble something together.

[Ack]

My partner has Majora's Mask, Turok 2, Gauntlet Legends, and Goldeneye, none of which I've played. If you could pick one of my partner's games for me to play, which one would it be? And if you were to recommend any N64 game out of the entire library, what would you pick?

Of those choices? GoldenEye for the historical significance. It's one of the most significant console FPS games ever released. As much as I love Turok 2, GoldenEye is more important...though Turok 2 multiplayer lets you play as a velociraptor, so play that at least once for the pure fun of it.

Majora's Mask and Gauntlet Legends are both worth playing. Majora's Mask tends to be a love or hate experience for folks, though I haven't spent enough time with it myself to say how I feel. Gauntlet Legends is fun. Not really significant but fun.

For what Nintendo 64 game to play... Daikatana.

I kid. I recommend Mario Kart 64.

[pierrot]

For personal list purposes, I'm gonna start with some stuff I had on my list last year. I haven't had access to console games for a couple months, and it'll still be a few more weeks probably before I do, but first order of business is finishing Dragon Quest VII. I've had a save in progress for maybe nine months now, and I was about halfway through, I think. I'd lost some steam on it a few times despite initially really liking the game, and after not being able to progress past this artist's weird-ass clock on my last time playing, I got a little frustrated and just packed it away for moving.

After that, I still wanted to play Vagrant Story and Xenogears. Being realistic, I'm almost certainly not going to get through more than one of these, so I'd probably rather go with Vagrant Story.

This is also unlikely to happen, but as a sort of stretch goal for RPGs that I've been meaning to get through, SMT Devil Summoner on the Saturn will round out the trio.

Other than that, I mainly felt like going through a bunch of Ys games on PC, starting with Ys Origin, after hacking together the JP interfaces on DRM free NA releases that I picked up on the cheap a bit ago.

I couldn't really get JP interfaces on the Chronicles releases, but I have the Japanese Windows versions for those two, anyway. I have actually played Ys I & II (Saturn) and Ys III (PCE CD) before, but they seem to be very different in their more modern iterations on PC, which was kind of intriguing enough to make me feel like 'replaying' them.

That's the broad strokes behind this list, anyway.

1. Dragon Quest VII (PS1)
2. Vagrant Story (PS1)
3. SMT Devil Summoner (Saturn)
4. Ys Origin (Steam)
5&6. Ys I & II Chronicles (probably PC(J))
7. Ys Oath in Felghana (Steam)
8. Ys VI (Steam)
9. The Longest Journey (GOG)
10. Fighters Megamix (Saturn)

I kind of don't like to put ultimatums on things like this, but I will be finishing DQVII this summer. Ys Origin I'll be playing on the steam deck, so I think there's a good chance I make it through that. Fighters Megamix is mostly just a matter of me actually setting up and powering on. Past that would be mostly gravy if I can manage to cross them off.

[bmoc]

I didn't finish Clock Tower the last time that I participated in the Summer Games Challenge, so it is at the top of the list. My list is also going to be a little GameCube heavy because it will be a good excuse to spend time with my Switch 2.

I'm also reserving some spots for convention pickups. I'm planning to attend Southeast Game Exchange again this year so those selections will be in late July.

Clock Tower Rewind (PS5)
Alien Isolation (PS4)
Capcom Fighting Collection (Switch)
Nier (PS3)
Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
Luigi's Mansion (GameCube)
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance (GameCube)
F-Zero GX (GameCube)
Convention Pickup 1 (TBD)
Convention Pickup 2 (TBD)

For Capcom Fighting Collection, I'm going to beat each fighter once and play the puzzle games until I get tired of them.

I'm digging everyone's lists so far. I'll have some comments later when I'm not posting with a mobile device.

[Ack]

Bmoc, I was going to claim Alien: Isolation was way too new, only to look it up and realize it came out 11 years ago... I swear, I thought it was 2017 or something. Where does the time go?

[Key-Glyph]

I didn't finish Clock Tower the last time that I participated in the Summer Games Challenge, so it is at the top of the list.

Yessssssssssssss! So excited about this. I initially misread your entry and thought you were playing the sequel to the original, not the recent remake. Happy to be wrong, and really stoked to hear your thoughts. Clock Tower is one of my favorite games.

I kind of don't like to put ultimatums on things like this, but I will be finishing DQVII this summer.

Pierrot I believe in youuuuuu!!

Of those choices? GoldenEye for the historical significance. It's one of the most significant console FPS games ever released. As much as I love Turok 2, GoldenEye is more important...though Turok 2 multiplayer lets you play as a velociraptor, so play that at least once for the pure fun of it.

Yeah, you're right. I have somewhat avoided GoldenEye in the past, partly because I have no connection to James Bond whatsoever (I have never seen any of the movies) and partly due to a frustrating experience I had playing the game with some randos. But you know what? That frustrating experience makes for a good story. I'll add it to the list. I might even start with it today, while I wait for Mario Tennis to arrive.

And thank you for this important information on Turok 2, by the way. Here are the conversations I had with my partner about it.

Me: You wanna play Turok 2 with me?
Him: Nah, I don't want to play Turok 2. And you don't want to play Turok 2.
Me: Why?
Him: It's a dinosaur-hunting game!
Me: Oh. Hmm. Yeah, no thanks. [thinks for a second] ...is there a way to play without killing the dinosaurs?
Him: You mean dying?
Me: [laughs]

[later, after checking the forum]

Me: Well, Ack says you can play as a velociraptor in multiplayer, so maybe we can just do that.
Him: Ehhh --
Me: You won't shoot at me or anything. I'll just run around and chomp on you.
Him: Oh, okay, sure, we can try that.



I used to pretend I was a velociraptor on the playground all the dang time in elementary school, so I'm actually pretty invested in this.